Wow! This was very surprising to hear.
President Donald Trump has revealed that he regrets one of the most consequential decisions of his first term in the White House: choosing three justices for the U.S. Supreme Court.
In an interview with TIME published Thursday, Trump was asked whether he regretted nominating Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the nation’s highest court.
His response left little room for doubt.
“Yeah. Yeah. What can I do? I put them in,” Trump said.
The remarkable admission comes after several major Supreme Court decisions went against Trump and his administration, despite all three justices having been selected by him.
Trump’s three appointments helped establish the court’s current 6-3 conservative majority, making his impact on the federal judiciary one of the most lasting parts of his presidency. But Trump now says those same justices have ruled against him too many times.
Trump Says His Supreme Court Picks Have Disappointed Him
Trump did not hide his frustration when discussing the justices.
“They voted against me too often,” he told TIME.
The president acknowledged that Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett have also sided with his administration in important cases. Still, he suggested that their overall records have been disappointing compared with what he expected when he nominated them.
Supreme Court justices receive lifetime appointments after confirmation by the Senate. Once on the bench, they are independent of the president who selected them and are not required to support that president’s policies.
Trump nevertheless argued that Democrats appear to receive greater loyalty from people they elevate to powerful positions.
During the interview, he pointed to former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden while contrasting what he views as Democratic Party loyalty with the treatment he has received from some of his own judicial nominees.
Trump Says He Is Looking For “Good Decisions”
The president was also pressed on whether he expects personal loyalty from Supreme Court justices he appointed.
Trump said his concern was not simply about loyalty. Instead, he said he wants the court to make what he considers the right decisions for the United States.
One ruling that clearly remains a sore point involves Trump’s tariffs.
The Supreme Court ruled in February that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not provide the president with the authority used to impose a broad set of tariffs.
The case was closely watched because it addressed the limits of presidential power over trade and emergency economic policy.
For Trump, the ruling represented a significant setback for an economic policy that has remained central to his approach to international trade.
It also contributed to his growing dissatisfaction with some of the justices he personally placed on the court.
Birthright Citizenship Delivered Another Major Defeat
Trump has also criticized the Supreme Court over its handling of his attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.
On June 30, the court ruled that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country are covered by the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The ruling rejected the administration’s interpretation and preserved the longstanding constitutional understanding of citizenship for people born on U.S. soil under the circumstances addressed by the case.
Birthright citizenship has been one of the most closely watched legal battles of Trump’s second term because of the potentially enormous consequences for immigration policy and the interpretation of the 14th Amendment.
The defeat added to Trump’s frustration with a Supreme Court whose conservative majority he played a major role in creating.
Mail-In Ballot Fight Added To Trump’s Frustration
Another dispute involved rules affecting mail-in ballots ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections.
The Supreme Court recently blocked enforcement of a Postal Service rule connected to the Trump administration’s efforts to tighten requirements surrounding mail voting.
The controversy has become particularly important with the congressional elections approaching and millions of Americans expected to use mailed ballots.
On October 1, the U.S. Postal Service announced additional measures intended to help election mail reach its destination on time, including expanded ballot handling procedures and additional pickups and deliveries.
Trump had already criticized his Supreme Court nominees following the court’s action in the mail-ballot dispute.
The episode appears to have further strained his relationship with justices he once presented as major accomplishments of his first administration.
Three Appointments Reshaped The Supreme Court
Trump’s frustration does not change the enormous impact his appointments have had on the judiciary.
Neil Gorsuch joined the Supreme Court in 2017.
Brett Kavanaugh followed in 2018.
Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed in 2020.
Together, those appointments shifted the ideological balance of the court and created a six-member conservative majority.
That majority has produced numerous decisions favored by conservative legal advocates. But having a conservative majority has never guaranteed that the court will automatically accept the legal arguments of a Republican president.
The justices have repeatedly demonstrated that they can divide in unexpected ways depending on the legal and constitutional questions before them.
Trump’s Comments Highlight An Important Reality About The Court
Presidents can nominate Supreme Court justices, but they cannot control how those justices rule once they are confirmed.
The Constitution provides federal judges with lifetime tenure, subject to limited exceptions, specifically insulating the judiciary from direct political control.
That independence means a justice appointed by a Republican president can rule against a Republican administration, just as a justice selected by a Democratic president can reach conclusions that disappoint Democrats.
Trump’s latest comments provide an unusually public example of the tension that can emerge between a president and his own judicial appointments.
A Supreme Court Legacy That Could Last For Decades
Whatever Trump now thinks about Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, the three appointments remain a central part of his political and legal legacy.
Supreme Court justices frequently remain on the bench for decades, meaning decisions made during Trump’s first term could influence American law long after his presidency ends.
The court will continue hearing disputes involving presidential authority, immigration, elections, economic policy, religious liberty, gun rights and other major constitutional questions.
That makes Trump’s admission particularly striking.
Presidents often celebrate their Supreme Court appointments as major achievements. Trump is now openly acknowledging that some of his most important selections have not always produced the results he expected.
And when TIME asked him directly whether he regretted putting Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett on the Supreme Court, Trump gave one of his clearest answers yet.
He does.
