Why did Chief Justice John Roberts rebuke Trump?

Amid all the hullabaloo that’s taken place in Washington of late, you’d be forgiven for missing the increasing tensions between President Donald Trump and Chief Justice John Roberts. In between all of Trump’s other spats, be it with the President of Ukraine or the Prime Minister of Canada, this more recent clash with Roberts has flown somewhat under the radar, which is not to say it’s devoid of jaw-dropping verbal takedowns. 

The tit-for-tat between the president and the Supreme Court Chief Justice began earlier this month, and has to do with the implementation of one of the key policies that Trump has been hellbent on seeing through. The clash culminated this week when Chief Justice Roberts rebuked Trump for making a suggestion that he deemed was “not an appropriate response.”

Trump clashed with a federal judge over immigration.

The tensions between Chief Justice Roberts and Trump began when Trump called for the impeachment of Judge James Boasberg, a federal judge who tried to stop the Republican administration from deporting hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members. Trump sought to do so, in alignment with his campaign promises of mass deportation, through the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that was last used during World War II. 

The Trump administration claimed the Venezuelans were members of a gang called Tren de Aragua, and called for their deportation as a matter of national security. However, lawyers for the Venezuelans say they were not given due process. In any case, Boasberg attempted to temporarily block Trump’s efforts to deport the alleged gang via the long-dormant Alien Enemies Act, which unsurprisingly prompted an angered response from Trump. 

Trump called for Boasberg to be impeached. 

Trump calls for impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, calling him “a troublemaker and agitator.” pic.twitter.com/PYPSfi93xA

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) March 18, 2025

In the fallout of Boasberg refusing to side with his policies, Trump launched a tirade against the federal judge on social media. The president wrote in a Truth Social post that Boasberg, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, was a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge” and “a troublemaker and agitator.” The president said Boasberg had prevented him from fulfilling the “OVERWHELMING MANDATE” that is his immigration and deportation policies. Going a step further, Trump described Boasberg as one of multiple “Crooked Judges,” and declared that he “should be IMPEACHED!!!”

Doubling-down on the sentiment, Trump received support in his calls for Boasberg’s impeachment from ally Elon Musk, who wrote on X that it was “necessary” to file impeachment orders against Boasberg. That was in response to fellow Trump loyalist, Congressman Brandon Gill, who led Republican calls to have Boasberg impeached for his decision to block the enactment of the Alien Enemies Act. It was amid all this anti-judiciary rhetoric that Roberts weighed in. 

Chief Justice Roberts rejected Trump’s calls for impeachment. 

Chief Justice John Roberts issues a statement related to President Donald Trump’s calls for the impeachment of judges who rule against him. pic.twitter.com/QXrtL82Sws

— 𝓝𝓸𝓼𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓾 (@FourWinns298) March 18, 2025

Trump’s calls for Boasberg to be impeached were rebuked by Roberts, who reminded the president that it is not the way things are done. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a rare public statement released by the Supreme Court.

“The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Roberts’ statement did not mention Trump by name, but it came hours after the president, but it came just hours after Trump had launched his Truth Social attack on Boasberg. A hearing has been scheduled for Friday, March 21 to determine whether the injunction will be extended.