By Tom Howell Jr. The Washington Times Tuesday, March 18, 2025

President Trump on Tuesday singled out an Obama-appointed federal judge as a “troublemaker and agitator” for demanding the return of a deportation flight carrying illegal immigrants to El Salvador.

Mr. Trump, posting on Truth Social, did not mention U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg by name, but his target was clear.

Mr. Trump said the judge “was not elected President — he didn’t win the popular vote,” Mr. Trump said.

“He didn’t win anything! I won for many reasons, in an overwhelming mandate, but fighting illegal immigration may have been the number one reason for this historic victory,” Mr. Trump posted, using all caps for emphasis in places. “I’m just doing what the voters wanted me to do.”

The administration over the weekend sent nearly 250 Venezuelans purported to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, drawing scrutiny from Judge Boasberg, who had ordered the planes to be turned around, and from immigrant rights defenders who said Mr. Trump was trampling on fundamental constitutional rights.

The Department of Justice said Mr. Trump has declared Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization and was acting under his commander-in-chief powers and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 when he ousted the suspected gang members.

The fight goes to the heart of Mr. Trump’s biggest claims of his second term, including that his national security powers are virtually unfettered and that the country has seen an “invasion” of illegal immigrants.

For now, Mr. Trump and his allies are going after the judge for his scrutiny of the deportation flights.

The president said the judge should be impeached.

“We don’t want vicious, violent, and demented criminals, many of them deranged murderers, in our country,” Mr. Trump wrote.