Chief Justice John Roberts has issued a pointed warning over what he described as increasingly “dangerous” attacks on judges, as tensions grow between the judiciary and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speaking on Tuesday, March 17, during rare public remarks at the Rice University Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, Roberts cautioned against criticism that targets judges personally rather than focusing on their legal decisions.
“Personally directed hostility is dangerous, and it’s got to stop,” Roberts said, underscoring concerns about the tone of public discourse surrounding the courts.
Warning comes amid court criticism by Trump
Although Roberts did not name Trump directly, his remarks came days after the president launched a series of sharp attacks against the Supreme Court of the United States and lower federal courts.
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In social media posts this month, Trump criticized the court following a ruling that struck down much of his administration’s sweeping tariff policy, calling the bench “completely inept and embarrassing.”
“The decision that mattered most to me was TARIFFS!” Trump wrote, expressing frustration over the ruling, which dealt a blow to a key economic pillar of his second-term agenda.
He also accused the court’s majority of acting against national interests and suggested they were trying to prove their independence through “bad and wrongful rulings.”
Roberts emphasized that judicial decisions should always be open to scrutiny—but warned that crossing into personal attacks risks undermining the institution.
“We don’t believe that we’re flawless,” he said. “It’s important that our decisions are subjected to scrutiny.”
However, he added that criticism has increasingly shifted away from legal analysis toward targeting individual judges, a trend he said is coming “from all over,” not just one political side.
“That, quite frankly, can be quite dangerous,” Roberts warned.
Broader attacks on judiciary raise concern
Trump’s criticism has extended beyond the Supreme Court to include lower courts and key figures within the U.S. legal system.
In one instance, he targeted federal judge James Boasberg, accusing him of bias after a ruling blocking subpoenas tied to an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
He said that because of his “well justified criticism” of Powell, he has been “viciously and wrongfully blamed by, as usual, a Wacky, Nasty, Crooked, and totally Out of Control Judge,” naming Boasberg.
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The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled against Trump before and last week ordered subpoenas linked to the Administration-led investigation into Powell to be nixed on the basis, according to an unsealed opinion, that “a mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning.”
Trump has also repeatedly criticized Powell, blaming him for economic challenges and accusing him of mismanaging the Federal Reserve.
The president also argued that courts have treated him and other Republicans unfairly, claiming they “always seem to protect those who should not be protected.”
The comments also mark Roberts’ first public appearance since the Supreme Court’s decision on tariffs, which triggered Trump’s latest wave of criticism.
