Trump Hints at Lame Duck Supreme Court Retirement Bombshell
The president offered a strange early-morning take on Justice Samuel Alito and his future on the Supreme Court.
Win McNamee/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump had the Supreme Court on his mind overnight, dropping a strange hint on the future of the country’s highest court.
The president, 80, posted on Truth Social at 4:47 a.m. to share a two-week-old Politico report about conservative Justice Samuel Alito, a close ally on the court.
“A great man!!! President DJT” Trump posted, signaling he was posting it himself. He included a link to the October 2 article titled “Justice Alito confirms he is considering retirement.”
If Alito retired, Trump would have the opportunity to nominate a fourth Supreme Court judge. He also already appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Trump drops post about Justice Alito's retirement plans.
Truth Social
The post could serve as a reminder to voters that a Supreme Court seat could soon be at stake and help mobilize voters in the midterms to ensure Republicans maintain the Senate majority.
The Daily Beast asked the White House for comment.
Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images
The article focused on an interview the 76-year-old justice gave to CBS News in which he addressed his retirement plans, including the possibility that it could happen after the current Supreme Court term that ends next summer.
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“It’s something that I think that somebody at my age has to think about every term,” Alito said in the interview. “But I thought that I could still make a valuable contribution, which is why I became a justice and a judge in the first place.”
The conservative justice also pushed back on the concerns about the timing of his retirement and potential replacement.
President Trump with Justice Alito on July 23, 2019.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
“It’s too hard to predict what the political situation will be and what any president might do with respect to a replacement,” he told CBS News.
If Democrats take control of the Senate and are in charge of confirming the next nominee, the president could have to choose someone Democrats are willing to confirm rather than someone with the most conservative credentials.
The article Trump shared also included Alito defending his majority opinion in 2022 that overturned Roe v Wade, which ended the constitutional right to an abortion.
“We didn’t know it when we produced the draft that was leaked, but it required courage to go ahead with that because of the implications,” Alito told CBS News.
In the end, the decision to overturn Roe turned into a rallying cry that energized Democrats and helped them avoid more devastating losses in the 2022 midterms that fall.
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