Dread grows that Trump will retaliate against courts amid legal defeats

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to a Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., February 27, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote in her week-ahead newsletter that one of Trump's ongoing domestic conflicts will move forward, despite previous thoughts that he'd be dropping it.

The ongoing war against big law firms that employ former special counsels Bob Mueller and Jack Smith moves forward. It was renewed after reports last week claimed that the war had ended.

Trump's administration filed a brief over the weekend attacking the judiciary for trying to keep a check or balance on him, and Vance is calling it the top case to watch, noting it will likely be fought all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Courts cannot tell the President what to say. Courts cannot tell the President what not to say. They cannot tell the President how to handle national security clearances," the brief began.

Vance said, "It’s almost as though the government’s lawyers don’t know there’s a Constitution out there, a rule of law that both assigns power to and constrains the exercise of power by the executive branch of government, which is one of three branches of government in this democratic Republic, and not an all-powerful dictator."

The Trump filing goes on to complain that the district courts struck down at least four executive orders, "ignoring those constraints" that block them from telling Trump what to do. The Judiciary is an equal branch to both the legislative and executive under the Constitution.

"And there we have it," wrote Vance. "As with virtually everything we’ve seen in Trump 2.0, this is about creating an all-powerful presidency, and trying to bulldoze over anyone, federal district court judges included, who stand in Trump’s way."

She noted that there weren't mere objections to Trump's executive orders; the judges called it a "grave error," writing that he is “encroaching on the constitutional power of the president.”

Until the case makes its way to the high court, Vance couldn't help but notice that the law firms have" certainly gotten under the president's skin." Even though the case is likely to be a lower, Trump demanded "his lawyers" at the DOJ move forward with the personal grievances he has with Mueller and Smith.

"That, almost by definition, is how a dictator operates, not a democratically elected president whose power comes from the people," she said.

Typically, the case would be handled by the DOJ's Civil Division in the appellate section, she said, but Trump's priority means the Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr., the number three at DOJ, is personally navigating it.

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