President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered a backhanded critique of a federal judge he himself appointed, calling U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden “somewhat liberal” over a ruling in a case involving the White House's ban on the Associated Press (AP).
McFadden, whom Trump nominated in 2017, ruled in April that the White House’s exclusion of AP reporters from certain presidential events violated the First Amendment. He described the administration’s decision to bar the AP from spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One as “brazen” and discriminatory.
While speaking to a gathering of senior military officials in Virginia Tuesday, Trump said of his decision to rename Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America: "I made the change and it went smoothly. We had a couple of fake news outlets that refused to make the change. AP took us to court and we won and the judge, who was a somewhat liberal judge said the name is the Gulf of America."
The remark triggered a wave of commentary on social media about the irony of Trump criticizing a judge of his own choosing.
The president's choice of descriptor immediately provoked reactions online. Many journalists, pundits and observers pointed out the stark incongruity: He is criticizing a judge he installed, and one who previously served in his Department of Justice and clerked for a Republican-appointed federal appellate judge.
Josh Gerstein, Legal Affairs reporter at Politico, wrote on the social platform X on Wednesday: "OVERLOOKED: Trump praised judge/his ruling in case over AP being kicked out of White House pool. Called Judge Trevor McFadden (his own appointee, Trump DOJ atty, Colloton clerk) 'somewhat liberal.' McFadden found WH 'brazen' move violated AP's 1A rights."
Kyle Cheney, another Politico reporter, wrote: "Trump literally got everything about this wrong: McFadden ruled *against* him, is his own appointee, and never said anything approaching this."