Trump praises Amy Coney Barrett, rips NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani: Recap
The Republican president called a surprise news conference after the Supreme Court limited the extent that lower courts could block his policies nationwide.
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump and his top aides are declaring victory over federal judges who have blocked the Republican administration's policies at unprecedented rates, after the Supreme Court said nationwide decisions from regional judges likely exceed their authority.
"This was a big decision, one that we're very happy about," Trump told reporters in a previously-unscheduled White House press conference on June 27. Later, he added, “The Constitution has been brought back."
The Supreme Court earlier in the day ordered U.S. district court judges to review their orders temporarily blocking Trump policies, in a case about the second-term president's executive order limiting birthright citizenship for children whose parents were in the country temporarily or without legal authorization.
Trump said he was grateful for the Supreme Court to stop some 700 district court judges from imposing nationwide injunctions. He specifically thanked Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who wrote the decision, and Chief Justice John Roberts.
“These judges have attempted to dictate the law for the entire nation,” Trump said. “This was a colossal abuse of power.”
Appearing alongside Trump at the White House, Attorney General Pam Bondi took aim at what she called "imperial judges" who have tried to block the Trump administration's policies. She singled out federal judges that ordered 35 of 40 nationwide blocks against Trump’s policies who were in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Washington and the District of Columbia and noted the high court halted that practice.
“Americans are finally getting what they voted for,” Bondi said. “No longer will we have rogue judges striking down President Trump’s policies across the entire nation.”
The president's news conference came at the tail end of another whirlwind week that started with the U.S. military launching air strikes on three Iran nuclear sites and ends with Senate Republicans struggling to find the votes to pass Trump's major tax, spending and policy legislative package before a self-imposed July 4 deadline.
That bill includes Trump priorities such as tax cuts and greater spending on border security. The House approved the 1,100-page bill but the Senate parliamentarian has said several key provisions such as restrictions on Medicaid healthcare coverage don't enjoy special status in that chamber.
Asked how important it is for Congress to finish its work and send him the measure by Independence Day, Trump replied "it's not the end-all, but we'd like to get it done by that time if possible."
Trump: 14th Amendment ‘for the babies of slaves’
Trump said the Supreme Court ruling allows his administration to go back to court and win its case opposing birthright citizenship, which was established under the 14th Amendment just after the Civil War.
“That was meant for the babies of slaves,” he said. “It wasn’t meant for people trying to scam the system and come into the country on a vacation.”
“This lets us go there and finally win that case because hundreds of thousands people are pouring into our country under birthright citizenship,” Trump said. - Erin Mansfield
Bondi: SCOTUS ruling solves ‘bipartisan problem’
Attorney General Pam Bondi touted the Supreme Court ruling as a win not only for Trump, but all presidents.
“These injunctions have allowed district court judges to be emperors,” she said, adding, “This has been a bipartisan problem that has lasted five presidential terms. Five different presidents. And it has ended today.”
National injunctions have plagued Republican and Democratic presidents alike. Former President Barack Obama dealt with 12 during his two terms, former President Joe Biden had 14 in three years.
Trump faced 64 injunctions in his first term, and more than 200 lawsuits have already been filed against the administration in his second. - Savannah Kuchar and Maureen Groppe
‘I have great respect for her’: Trump praises Amy Coney Barrett
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has been targeted by some MAGA activists for siding against President Donald Trump, but the president said he’s happy with her.
Barrett wrote the majority opinion in a 6-3 decision limiting the use of nationwide injunctions by federal courts, something the Trump administration has railed against.
“I have great respect for her, I always have, and her decision was brilliantly written today,” Trump said June 27 during a press conference celebrating the ruling.
Barrett earlier had ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze foreign aide funding, drawing criticism from the right. - Zac Anderson
Trump on tax bill: Senate ‘parliamentarian’s been a little difficult’
Trump during his press conference acknowledged erecent setbacks to his “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill as it approaches a critical moment before the Senate.
“The parliamentarian’s been a little difficult,” Trump said, referring to Elizabeth MacDonough, a longtime Senate aide who has served under Democratic and GOP majorities. “And I would say that I disagree with the parliamentarian on some things, and on other ways, she’s been fine.”
MacDonough, a nonpartisan official, has struck a variety of provisions from Trump’s marquee legislation package, setting his self-imposed timeline on shaky ground.
Trump notably did not go as far as some of his backers in Congress, who have called for McDonough to be fired. - Savannah Kuchar and Francesca Chambers
Trump calls winner of NY mayoral primary a “terrible thing for our country”
Trump took aim New York's winner of this week's Democratic primary, Zohran Mamdani, labelling him incorrectly “this communist from New York.”
“I can’t believe that’s happening,” Trump told reporters. “He’s a communist. We’re going to go to a communistic…so bad for New York, but the rest f the country is revolting against it”
Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and state Assembly Member, defied political expectations and beat the establishment-preferred candidate Andrew Cuomo by a 7-point margin in the June 24 democratic primary. Mamdani is not a communist. -Sarah D. Wire
Trump mocks tariff critics: ‘They should go back to business school’
Economists who predicted the Trump administration’s tariffs could cause a recession should “go back to business school,” the president said in defending his second-term levies.
“We’re taking in billions and billions of dollars from China and a lot of other countries,” Trump added.
Trump unveiled a slew of tariffs that roiled economic markets, but paused many of them as he negotiates trade deals and later lowered steep tariffs on China. Markets have since recovered. - Zac Anderson
Trump’s July 4 deadline for tax and policy bill ‘not the end-all’
Trump said his self-imposed deadline of July 4 for Congress to complete his major tax and policy legislation isn’t firm, but Republicans have numerous concerns about the bill that must be resolved for lack of any Democratic support.
“It’s not the end-all, but we’d like to get it done by that time if possible,” Trump said.
The bill includes the $4 trillion extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, so he argued that a failure to approve the legislation would lead to a tax hike.
“You could have a couple of grandstanders,” Trump said. "I think there’s a lot of pressure to get that approved.” -Bart Jansen
Trump on threat to his life: ‘I get that throbbing feeling’
Trump appeared to suggest during the press conference that he still has lingering physical effects from the bullet that grazed his ear during an assassination attempt last year in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Discussing the threat to his life, Trump noted he’d been under threat in the past and said “I get that throbbing feeling every once in a while. Get that throbbing feeling,” Trump said, in an apparent reference to the injury.
“But you know what? That’s ok. This is a dangerous business,” the president added. -Zac Anderson
Trump's surprise press conference goes nearly an hour
Trump appeared to be enjoying himself at the surprise news conference with reporters, which his White House announced less than a half hour before it took place.
He grinned as he picked who among the more than 75 reporters to call on during the question-and-answer session.
As the news conference in the White House press briefing room hit the 45-minute mark, Trump asked reporters, "Should we keep this going?"
The June 27 event was Trump's second news conference in the briefing room since he returned to office. At one point, he told the journalists he'd end the news conference when it got boring. Ten minutes later, he decided he'd had enough and exited the briefing room. - Francesca Chambers