Trump attacks his own Supreme Court appointees after mail ballot ruling, escalating feud with conservative justices over election rules ahead of November midterms

Former President Donald Trump on September 15, 2026, sharply criticized the U.S. Supreme Court following its decision to block his administration’s changes to mail-in ballot procedures ahead of the November midterm elections. Trump called the ruling “horrible” and accused the justices of being influenced by the “Radical Left,” according to his social media posts.

The Supreme Court on September 14, 2026, blocked a Trump administration plan to change mail-in ballot procedures ahead of the November midterm elections, leaving in place a lower-court order that prevented the U.S. Postal Service from implementing new mail-ballot requirements, according to court records and multiple news reports. The brief, unsigned order indicated that the administration was unlikely to succeed in time for the election, effectively maintaining existing rules governing how mailed ballots are handled, officials said.

The Postal Service rule at the center of the dispute would have imposed new requirements on the processing and delivery of mail ballots, a move critics warned could disrupt ballot delivery and disenfranchise voters if ballots were not delivered promptly.

Politico reported the blocked plan could have severely disrupted the upcoming elections by changing ballot delivery rules, while The New York Times described it as a dramatic shift in how Americans vote by mail. Several states had challenged the rule, arguing it would interfere with election administration, and the Supreme Court’s decision sided with those opponents, Reuters and BBC noted.

Following the ruling, former President Donald Trump sharply criticized the Supreme Court on September 15, 2026, posting on his social media platform that the decision was a “horrible, highly political, ruling.” He accused the justices of being “bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left” and said their decisions had set the country back “at least a hundred years,” according to Reuters. Trump also claimed that the justices were “not the people I interviewed” for the Court, escalating his criticism of the judiciary and his own appointees.

Trump singled out his three Supreme Court appointees—Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh—who all joined the majority that allowed the lower-court block on the Postal Service rule to remain in place, The New York Times and Reuters reported. In his comments, Trump described them as “a shell of their original selves,” marking a public rupture with justices he had previously praised as central to reshaping the Court. This was described as unusually direct criticism of the judiciary from a former president attacking justices he appointed.

The only justices publicly identified as dissenting in the case were Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who supported allowing the mail-ballot restrictions to proceed. Trump praised Alito and Thomas as “legends both,” Reuters reported. The dissent underscored a divide between the Court’s most loyal judicial allies to Trump and his other appointees. The majority opinion reportedly included the Court’s three liberal justices, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Trump’s three appointees, according to multiple sources.

The dispute unfolded just weeks before the November midterm elections, during which early voting had already begun in some states. Reuters described Trump’s comments as part of an ongoing pattern of sharp criticism of the Court after rulings unfavorable to his administration. BBC and CNBC characterized the Supreme Court’s decision as a significant setback for Republican efforts to reshape mail voting rules and a blow to the White House’s strategy.

The controversy is part of a broader political and legal struggle over election administration and voting access ahead of the midterms. The Court’s action reinforced that the administration could not immediately impose the new mail-ballot restrictions, reflecting ongoing tensions between the executive branch and the judiciary over election rules. Media coverage noted that Supreme Court rulings on election administration often become immediate campaign issues, with this episode highlighting divisions within the Court and the political stakes of postal voting regulations.

The Postal Service rule dispute follows a series of clashes between the Trump administration and the judiciary over election-related policies. As the midterms approach, the legal battles over voting procedures remain a contentious and closely watched aspect of the electoral landscape.