Overview

• In a Truth Social post, Trump labeled Leo a “sleazebag” and blamed the Federalist Society for giving him “bad advice” on judicial picks.
• His outburst followed a three-judge U.S. Court of International Trade ruling that halted his broad tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
• Leo and the Federalist Society were central to Trump’s first-term appointments of Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett.
• Conservative legal expert John Yoo warned that Trump’s legal standing and his immunity hinge on the independent judiciary cultivated by the Federalist Society.
• Analysts caution that Trump’s public break with his former allies risks undermining judicial independence and fracturing the conservative legal movement.