Trump lashes out at own US Supreme Court picks' ballot ruling ahead of midterms

US President Donald Trump has turned his anger on the Supreme Court after the justices rejected his administration's attempt to impose new restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections.

In a striking broadside on Tuesday, Trump criticised even some of the justices he appointed to the court, accusing the institution of being influenced by Democrats and repeatedly ruling against policies main to his agenda.

The US Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, with Trump having appointed three of its members during his first term. However, the court's decision on mail-in ballots delivered a setback to his administration's efforts to change how mail ballots are handled before the midterms.

Trump called the ruling a "big loss for Republicans" and accused the court of failing to protect what he described as election integrity.

"This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves," he added. "It is a Court that will go down as having rendered some of the most destructive, hurtful, and damaging decisions in our Country's history."

US SUPREME COURT BLOCKS MAIL-BALLOT RESTRICTIONS

The confrontation followed the Supreme Court's decision Monday to reject Trump's bid to bring new mail-ballot requirements into force. The decision allows states to continue using the mail-ballot systems already in place. Mail voting has become a major part of the US electoral system, accounting for nearly one-third of votes cast in recent elections.

The court's emergency order did not provide a detailed explanation, but the majority indicated that the administration’s attempt to introduce the restrictions this year was likely to fail in court.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Alito argued that the US Postal Service "has broad authority to regulate the mail" and that it likely has the power to enforce the restrictions sought by the Trump administration. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed that the rules should not take effect for the 2026 midterms but suggested he could take a different position if the matter returns to the court later.

The administration had argued that federal control over the Postal Service gave it the authority to establish requirements for handling election mail. The restrictions would have required states to use a uniform envelope format and submit lists of eligible voters through an online portal. The Postal Service could then refuse to deliver ballots from states that did not meet the requirements.

The timing of the administration's proposal had become a major issue in the legal battle. Election officials said there was little practical possibility of completely changing their systems only weeks before voting. Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin had already begun sending mail ballots to voters while the proposed system was not yet operational.

The restrictions also threatened to create big disruption in US states where voting by mail is particularly common.

TRUMP EXPANDS ATTACK ON US COURT

Trump's criticism went beyond the mail-ballot ruling.

In his lengthy statement, the US President also attacked previous Supreme Court decisions involving his tariff programme and his effort to restrict birthright citizenship. He accused the justices of causing enormous damage to the US through rulings he strongly opposed.

"Their horrible decision on Tariffs will be costing the USA, for many years to come, Trillions and Trillions of Dollars," Trump wrote.

He also described the court's decision on birthright citizenship as "a complete and total disaster for America" and claimed it had already contributed to "massive corruption" over citizenship. Trump reserved particular criticism for justices who, in his view, had failed to show sufficient support for his policies.

"Certain Justices are petrified of these crazed and depraved Democrats, and are totally unable to show the courage necessary to save our America," he said.

Mail voting has long been a contentious issue for Trump. He has repeatedly attacked the practice and blamed it for his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, despite continuing to use mail voting himself, including this year.

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With inputs from agencies