Trump Slams Ex-Federalist Society Leader After Tariff Ruling (1)

President Donald Trump said he was “disappointed” in the Federalist Society and called out as a “sleazebag,” the group’s former leader Leonard Leo, who served as an influential adviser on judicial nominations during his first term.

“I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations,” Trump said Thursday in a Truth Social post.

Trump’s criticism of Leo and the Federalist Society was part of a longer post expressing anger about a ruling against his tariff plan by a panel of the US Court of International Trade, which included a judge he’d appointed in his first term.

The Thursday post is the most public sign yet that he has turned against the conservative legal networking organization and Leo and is looking elsewhere for advice about judicial nominations who will be more likely to support his agenda.

“I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges,” Trump wrote in his post. “I did so, openly and freely, but then realized they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions. He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court - I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is!”

The 3-0 tariff decision joined by Trump appointee Timothy Reif is the latest example of a judge he appointed in his first term ruling against him early in his second.

In a statement Thursday night, Leo said, “I’m very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved. There’s more work to be done, for sure, but the Federal Judiciary is better than it’s ever been in modern history, and that will be President Trump’s most important legacy.”

Leo has more typically faced criticism from Democrats for his role in building a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court and subsequently funneling tens of millions of dollars to conservative causes through a network of tax-exempt groups he leads.

Trump announced plans Wednesday to nominate Emil Bove, his former personal lawyer turned top Justice Department lawyer, to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

“Emil is the kind of judicial nominee who doesn’t flinch when it counts, and that’s what our courts desperately need,” said Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, who has urged Trump to look beyond the Federalist Society for judicial nominees.