"Oopsie, too late" Trump blows the whistle on the courts - and brings America to the brink of a constitutional crisis

Because US courts are restricting various political measures, Donald Trump is going on a confrontational course against the judiciary. One case in particular looks like the harbinger of an impending constitutional crisis.

The various decrees and measures that Donald Trump has issued and taken since taking office are coming up against legal limits.

Sometimes the US courts order the DOGE efficiency department to be more transparent, sometimes they release frozen loans. Then they declare the dissolution of the development agency USAID illegal and overturn the ban on trans soldiers in the military.

One case clearly shows that the president and the judiciary are on a fatal collision course. The case has led to the rare occurrence of the Chief Justice speaking out on his own initiative. It is also unusual that John Roberts is considered a conservative - and is putting Donald Trump in his place.

Conservative chief justice admonishes Trump

"It has been settled for more than two centuries that impeachment is not an appropriate response to a disagreement over a judicial decision," writes Roberts. "For that purpose, there is the normal appellate process."

What happened? The legal drama takes its course on Saturday morning, 15 March: two organizations turn to the federal court in Washington. They want to prevent the deportation of five Venezuelans who have allegedly been falsely declared gang members and could now be flown out to El Salvador.

According to the AP, Judge James E. Boasberg orders at 9.40 am that the quintet may not be deported and schedules a hearing for 5 pm. At around 4 p.m., the White House announces that it has enacted the Alien Enemies Act, which is intended to facilitate rapid deportations.

Minutes of a courtroom drama

When Boasberg asks at 5 p.m. whether deportation of the five is planned "in the next 24 or 48 hours", the prosecution says it knows nothing about it - and waits. The plaintiffs warn that the deportation flights are already waiting. The judge wants to resume the hearing at around 5.55 pm.

In the meantime - at 5.26 p.m. and 5.45 p.m. - two planes, which probably have the deportees on board, take off from Harlingen airport in Texas.

When the trial resumes, the prosecution still knows nothing. At 6.45 pm, Boasberg verbally instructs them to stop the deportation flights. At 7.26 pm, the whole thing is in writing.

"Opsie... Too late"

On Sunday morning at 7.45 a.m., the president of El Salvador reposted a report from the New York Post about the judicial ban on deportation. "Oopsie," writes Nayib Bukele. "Too late." With a laugh emoji.

At 8.13 am, Bukele follows up with a video showing how the deportees are transferred to his huge horror prison. 26 minutes later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposts Bukele's tweet. At 9.29 am, the White House communications officer reposted the tweet with the laughing emoji.

When Judge Boasberg resumes the hearing at 5 p.m. on Monday, he asks why his instructions have been disregarded. The public prosecutor argues that only the written order was binding. By the time this came, the planes had already left US airspace.

This "left-wing lunatic of a judge"

Boasberg calls this argument "quite a mouthful". According to the AP, the plaintiffs' lawyer, referring to a constitutional crisis, says: "I think we're getting very close to that." This happens before Donald Trump speaks at 8.05 a. m . on Tuesday morning.

Trump deports convictsNo cutlery and only chains - this is how tough the mega prison in El Salvador is

The US President loses his temper: the 78-year-old calls Boasberg a "left-wing lunatic of a judge" and a "troublemaker and agitator". According to Trump, the deportations were a basis for his election victory: "I am only doing what the voters want me to do. This judge - like many of the corrupt judges I have had to appear before - should be removed!!!"

All of this leads to Chief Justice John Roberts speaking out less than four hours later at 11.56 a.m. - with familiar content. There has been no response from Trump so far. The legal dispute is unlikely to end there: there are still doubts that the deportees were all gang members.

And now? The state facade in the USA is still holding up, but it is crumbling: It may only be a matter of time before Donald Trump and his administration refuse to follow the orders of American judges. A constitutional crisis is looming - in an already extremely divided United States.