SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It is not like the chief justice of the nation’s highest court to rebuke a sitting president. But it happened on Wednesday [11-21-18], when Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. — a conservative not known for being publicly outspoken — pushed back on comments made by President Trump…The president has criticized judges and courts he disagreed with on many occasions, often in partisan terms that have rankled judges and legal scholars. But Mr. Trump’s own judicial nominations have been a boon to conservatives: Dozens of federal judges and two Supreme Court justices have taken their seats during his administration. That legacy could last for decades…While some figures on the right objected to the statement from Chief Justice Roberts, the reaction from several prominent conservatives in the legal community has been more muted. John G. Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation, a powerful conservative think tank, said he was ‘a bit surprised’ that the chief justice would issue a public response to the president but he did not object to the statement itself.”
–Jacey Fortin, “Among Conservatives, Some Measured Support for Chief Justice’s Rebuke of Trump,” The New York Times online, November 23, 2018