Trump Rips His Own Dark Money Buddy in Bonkers Rant Over Tariff Losses
Donald Trump tore into Leonard Leo, who recommended several of Trump’s Supreme Court picks.

Donald Trump unleashed a furious screed lamenting his recent legal loss on tariffs, and pointed the finger at “sleazebag” conservative billionaire Leonard Leo, the ex-chairman of the Federalist Society.
In a post on Truth Social Thursday night, Trump railed against the U.S. Court of International Trade’s ruling the previous day, which found that the president had exceeded his legal authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries, based on vague claims of “national emergencies.”
On Thursday, the Trump administration was granted a temporary stay of the little-known federal court’s ruling while the government appeals—but that didn’t keep Trump from flying off the handle.
“Where do these initial three Judges come from? How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America? Is it purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP?’ What other reason could it be?” Trump wrote.
Trump said that he regretted taking recommendations for judges from the Federalist Society, and lashed out at Leo specifically.
“I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges. I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions,” Trump wrote. “He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court—I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is!”
Leo is single-handedly responsible for installing the conservative majority in the U.S. Supreme Court, and tracelessly pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the conservative legal movement every year. While two of the judges responsible for blocking Trump’s sweeping retaliatory tariffs were appointed by other presidents, one, Judge Timothy Reif, was appointed by Trump during his first term.
In 2020, Leo left the Federalist Society to start his for-profit conservative consulting group, CRC Advisors.
“In any event, Leo left The Federalist Society to do his own ‘thing.’ I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten!” Trump wrote.
Trump continued with a lengthy call for the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling, adding, “Backroom ‘hustlers’ must not be allowed to destroy our Nation!”
Trump’s move to shade the conservative playmaker comes as he prepares his own judicial nominees. Crucially, the Trump administration appears to have decided it no longer wants qualified judges in the first place, just political sycophants.
Pam Bondi told the American Bar Association Thursday that the administration would not cooperate with its vetting process, claiming that it favored candidates put forth by Democratic administrations. This move came shortly after Trump announced that he would nominate Emil Bove, his personal lawyer in the Stormy Daniels trial, for a lifetime federal judiciary appointment.