A federal judge has strongly pushed back against one of Donald Trump’s more petty executive orders—and did it in a way that seemed tailor-made for Trump to understand.
Judge Richard Leon, who works in Washington, D.C., ruled against an order Trump issued that targeted certain law firms he didn’t like. These were firms that either wouldn’t represent him or were connected to people he had clashed with, like Robert Mueller, the former special counsel in the Russia investigation. In one case, Trump went after the law firm WilmerHale simply because it had hired Mueller. Trump’s administration tried to block WilmerHale lawyers from accessing federal buildings and suspended their security clearances.
WilmerHale fought back and sued, saying Trump’s actions were illegal and violated their basic rights—including the right to represent clients and freedom of speech. The judge agreed. In a detailed 73-page opinion, Judge Leon said the executive order was not just overreach—it was outright unconstitutional.
What really stood out was the tone of the ruling. Judge Leon didn’t just issue a dry legal opinion; he filled his writing with emotion, even using 26 exclamation points, which is extremely rare in legal documents. At one point, he even sarcastically wrote “Please!” in response to one of the government’s arguments and called their position “absurd!” He said the executive order felt like it was yelling at people with a bullhorn, warning them that if they stood up to Trump, they’d be punished.
Legal experts say this kind of dramatic tone is unusual for a judge, but Leon might have been trying to speak in a style Trump would understand—using bold and exaggerated language, just like the former president often does.
Judge Leon also used his ruling to give Trump a bit of a civics lesson. He explained that the justice system depends on judges and lawyers being independent—free to take on even unpopular cases without fear of punishment. He said that kind of independence is a key part of the American legal system and has been protected since the Constitution was written nearly 250 years ago. He reminded Trump that no president had ever tried to attack those principles in this way before. Leon ended by saying that the executive order had to be thrown out entirely because it violated these fundamental rights. To do otherwise, he wrote, would go against everything the Founding Fathers believed in.
This is actually the third time in one month that federal judges in Washington, D.C., have ruled against Trump on similar legal attacks. And while Trump’s team continues to insist he’s acting within his rights, the courts are making it clear they won’t let him use presidential power to go after his personal enemies—especially when it comes to the legal system.
