US Attorney General Todd Blanche has defended President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Supreme Court after the justices blocked the administration’s attempt to impose new restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm elections.
He said the Trump administration would follow the court’s ruling, which prevents the administration from putting new postal requirements into effect for this year’s elections. At the same time, he backed the president’s right to criticise the justices who issued the decision.
“Of course we are going to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision,” he told reporters on Tuesday (September 15), a day after the court rejected the administration’s request to put the new rules into effect.
The apex court’s decision preserved a lower-court order blocking parts of Trump’s March executive order on mail-in voting. The proposed changes would have required states to provide voter-specific information and use Postal Service-approved ballot envelopes with barcodes. The justices concluded that there was not enough time to introduce the changes before the November 3 midterm elections.
Trump responded by attacking the Supreme Court, including three justices (Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett) he appointed during his first presidency.
“This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years. These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” he wrote on Truth Social.
He also wrote, “The Supreme Court has really let our Country down! Certain Justices are petrified of these crazed and depraved Democrats, and are totally unable to show the courage necessary to save our America.”
Blanche defended the president’s decision to speak publicly about the ruling.
“As far as President Trump’s truth about the justices, he is very frustrated. He has every right. And indeed he should communicate his concerns with the Supreme Court whenever he has them,” he said.
The court’s ruling means states can continue preparing for the midterms under their existing mail-voting procedures. The decision has also ended the immediate legal uncertainty over whether the administration could introduce the new federal postal requirements before the election.
‘Election fight isn’t over’
He also said the administration’s efforts to change election rules will continue beyond the November midterms.
“President Trump’s efforts to make sure that we have free and fair elections are not going to stop just in November or after or thereafter. So I expect you are going to see that work continue,” he said.
The comments show a longer-running effort by the Trump administration to change how federal and state election systems operate. The mail-ballot case is one of several legal disputes surrounding the administration’s approach to election rules ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The Supreme Court has previously delivered major victories to Trump. In 2024, it ruled that presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts carried out while in office. More recently, the justices allowed construction work on Trump’s planned White House ballroom to continue after preservation groups sought court intervention.
Blanche brushes off Trump Jr.’s Russian-funded wedding
Blanche also faced questions at the White House over reports that Russian businessman Umar Kremlev paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward celebrations for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas.
ProPublica reported that Kremlev, who heads the International Boxing Association and has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, paid expenses including the rental of a private island and other parts of the wedding weekend. Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Trump, later confirmed Kremlev’s contribution and described it as a generous gift from a friend.
Asked whether the Justice Department was investigating the matter, Blanche responded, “When you say, ‘Am I investigating?’ Am I investigating what?”
Blanche also said, “The president doesn’t know who this person is. I think other members of the family don’t know who this person is.”
Trump Jr. and Bettina Trump have rejected suggestions that the payment carried a political motive. In a statement, they called Kremlev their “dear friend” and described the contribution as “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend”.
“Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda,” they said, adding, “NO CONSPIRACY, NO MYSTERY.”
Democrats in Congress have also questioned the payment. House Oversight Committee Democrat Robert Garcia asked what Kremlev expected in return for spending the money, while other Democrats have sought more details about the relationship. Reuters reported that lawmakers have been examining the payments and their possible implications.
Kremlev’s connection to Putin has also been documented. ProPublica reported that Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship in April and that Kremlev travelled to China with the Russian president in May. He has also headed the International Boxing Association, an organisation that lost its recognition from the International Olympic Committee in 2023 over governance and financial transparency issues.
Blanche dismissed the need for a Justice Department investigation into the wedding funding.
“I like that it’s fun to talk about this issue and the rhetoric around it, but I think all the relevant people involved, the president, his kids, have already addressed it,” he said.
