Trump accused the judges who at that point were still considering the case of playing politics.
WASHINGTON D.C. - On Wednesday, the day after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments over the travel ban, Trump accused judges of playing politics. “It’s a sad day,” Trump said, at a meeting with police chiefs. “I think our security is at risk today, and it will be at risk until we get what we are entitled to.” Citing the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the legislation he claims gives him the unreviewable power to do what is best for national security, he sneered at the judges: “A bad high school student would understand this.”
It all started with an attack on the federal judge George W. Bush appointee James Robart, who last issued a temporary stay on the president's travel ban. "Because the ban was lifted by a judge, many very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country. A terrible decision." Trump responded. He believes that if a terrorist attack were to happen the judge should be at blame.
Nobody should be surprised that there are now reports of threats against the federal judges who heard the appeal at the 9th circuit. Those threats have prompted federal and local law enforcement to increase security protection for those judges. The White House dispatched Leonard Leo, one of Trump’s principal advisers on his Supreme Court nomination, to assure CNN that it was a “huge stretch” to connect President Trump’s ongoing attacks on judges with any physical threats to judges. “President Trump is not threatening a judge, and he’s not encouraging any form of lawlessness,” Leo said. “What he is doing is criticizing a judge for what he believes to be a failure to follow the law properly.”
Having a judge strike down the executive order might have been exactly what Trump was aiming for, Goldsmith wrote “assuming that he is acting with knowledge and purpose. The only reason I can think of is that Trump is setting the scene to blame judges after an attack that has any conceivable connection to immigration," So if Trump "loses in court he credibly will say to the American people that he tried and failed to create tighter immigration controls. This will deflect blame for the attack."This is not the first time Trump has gone after a federal judge. During the campaign, he claimed that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was presiding over the fraud case against Trump University, could not give him a fair hearing because he is "Mexican."
Judge James L. Robart did not have to actually rule on the legality of President Trump's executive order barring people from seven countries from entering the United States. He decided there was more harm letting the ban continue than there was blocking it until the full case could be heard. He thought it was unconstitutional as people in those states could suffer irreparable harm if the ban continued and blocking the president's order was in the public interest.
