Donald Trump Says His Appointed Supreme Court Justices Are 'Merely a Shell of Their Original Selves'

President Donald Trump said three Supreme Court justices he appointed were 'merely a shell of their original selves' in a September Truth Social post, after the court blocked his administration's attempt to implement new mail-in ballot restrictions ahead of the 2026 US midterms.

Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined the decision against rules arising from Trump's March directive. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas were the only two who dissented.

Donald Trump Questions His Supreme Court Appointments

They were 'not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court,' Trump wrote, according to CNN. His post followed the court's decision a day earlier.

Alito and Thomas were the only two justices who opposed the decision. Trump described it as a 'horrible, highly political ruling', directing his criticism at a court whose membership included his own nominees.

He portrayed the outcome as a loss for Republicans and the United States, alleging that it would allow Democrats to cheat. He referred to them as 'Dumocrats'. The report provides no evidence supporting that allegation.

Trump also described the country as enduring a 'nation-destroying SCAM', presenting the blocked changes as an attempt to address his concerns about mail-in voting.

The Ballot Rules Behind Donald Trump's Criticism

The proposed changes would have placed the US Postal Service at the centre of new requirements for mail-in voting. They included standardised ballot envelopes and unique barcodes, with USPS permitted to return ballots that failed to meet the requirements to election officials.

Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction against the USPS rule on 4 September, which the Supreme Court left in place on 14 September. Judge Carl Nichols separately blocked the rule in another case on 13 September.

Trump's post also addressed Kavanaugh's concurring statement on the decision. The objections described in the report concerned both the Postal Service's authority to impose the rules and the time states would have to comply. Introducing the requirements before the midterms was described as 'arbitrary and capricious'.

Donald Trump Also Challenges Citizenship Decision

Trump used the same post to revisit a separate ruling against his executive order on birthright citizenship. That order sought to deny US citizenship to children whose parents were undocumented immigrants or temporary residents.

The court ruled against Trump's position in June, holding that the relevant children remained covered by the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause. Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the majority, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment and Justice Neil Gorsuch joined Justice Clarence Thomas's dissent.

Trump called that decision a 'complete and total disaster for America' and alleged that it had led to corruption involving citizenship.

Trump acknowledged that making such comments about the court could bring consequences beyond the immediate dispute. He said it was 'not easy' to write the criticism and that it would 'likely cost me dearly for years to come', but maintained that speaking out was his 'obligation and duty, as President' to 'the America we love'.

Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was sworn in during August, said the administration would comply with the court's order. He defended Trump's decision to criticise the justices, describing the president as 'very frustrated'.

'He has every right, and indeed he should communicate his concerns with the Supreme Court whenever he has them. This isn't the first time that he's done it, and it won't be the last,' Blanche said.

Blanche said the administration would keep working towards implementing the ballot changes in the years ahead.

'President Trump's efforts to make sure that we have free and fair elections are not going to stop just in November or after or thereafter. So I expect you're going to see that work continue,' he said.