Why is President Donald Trump subverting his own agenda?

This week, Trump posited that a federal judge should be impeached. Trump’s rationale? Judge James Boasberg challenged Trump’s decision to deport illegal immigrant Venezuelan citizens who belong to the organized crime gang Tren de Aragua. Boasberg had ruled that the illegal immigrants could not be deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a legislative provision last used during World War II to deport Japanese immigrants. 

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This infuriated the president. Trump asserts that deportation under the 1798 Act was a political decision solely within the authority of the Executive Branch of the federal government. In response to Trump’s social media post demanding Boasberg’s impeachment, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts observed that “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement regarding a judicial decision.” 

Roberts rarely comments about non-judicial matters. But Roberts is right, and Trump is wrong in this matter. The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. Each President, including Trump, swears allegiance to the Constitution. Under the Constitution, the federal courts say what the law is, not the President or any member of either the executive branch or the legislative branch, Congress. 

In the seminal Supreme Court case, Marbury v. Madison, 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the court, said that the judiciary branch of the government says what the law is. To repeat, it is a settled principle of U.S. law that the judicial branch decides what the law is. In this specific case involving deportation, the federal courts decide whether Trump has the authority to order deportation without any judicial review. Deportation is a political question, but the federal courts decide whether that political process is subject to judicial review. 

Moreover, it is ludicrous for Trump to assert that Judge Boasberg should be impeached. Under the Constitution, only Congress has the authority to impeach a federal judge. To impeach a federal judge, a vote of impeachment by the House of Representatives is required. Two-thirds of the members of the House must vote to impeach. The United States Senate decides the matter of conviction, whether to impeach or not. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is also required to convict. Republicans do not have a two-thirds majority in either the House or the Senate. And it is inane to think that the Democrats would vote to impeach Judge Boasberg.

What is even more mystifying about Trump’s social media post is that last week the President asserted that he would support the rule of law and that his Department of Justice would be impartial. By his social media post, Trump, who exercises authority over the Department of Justice, is contradicting his own statements, not for the first time.  

Seemingly, Trump is pandering to his base, but this is a poor political strategy. Trump’s MAGA base is secure. Calling for the impeachment of a federal judge alienates centrist voters who will decide whether or not Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate in the 2026 midterm elections. The vast majority of the public believes that Trump should respect the courts, not deride them with partisan attacks. And surely Trump should be trying to expand his political base, not narrow it?

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Most fundamentally, however, Trump’s attacks on the judiciary are a terrible long-term strategy.  American history teaches that at some point, Democrats will regain control of the presidency and both branches of Congress. By attacking the judiciary and attempting to expand the power of the imperial presidency further, Trump will create a precedent for the next Democratic president.

In other words, Trump should take a breath and remember that here, at least, his Constitutional obligations and his political interests are aligned.

James Rogan is a former U.S. foreign service officer who later worked in finance and law for 30 years. He writes a daily note on the markets, politics, and society. He can be reached at [email protected].