Is Donald Trump illegally defying court orders?

One of the hallmarks of a dictator is wilfully defying the rule of law. As anyone who’s sat through a single civics class knows, the United States government is run on a system of checks and balances, with each arm of the government having the authority to check the power of the others. In the USA these are the legislative (Congress), the executive (the president), and the judicial (the courts).

The United States has seen some wobbles over the centuries, but this tried-and-tested system hasn’t failed its citizens yet. Until now. From the moment Donald Trump assumed power, he’s behaved more like a king than a president, issuing decrees without much consideration of their legality (or, to be frank, their practicality).

A critical moment for U.S. democracy

But now he may have gone a step too far even for him, defying a judge’s explicit order not to deport a group of people alleged to be members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador. On the evening of Mar. 15 Judge James Boasberg issued an order immediately halting these deportations, including a direction that any flights currently in the air be turned around and return to the United States. As Boasberg said:

“Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished. Make sure it’s complied with immediately.”

This is a temporary block on these removals, designed to give the judge 14 days to consider the legality of Trump’s order and issue a ruling. But, as it appears, the Trump administration simply disregarded the order and carried on regardless.

Boasberg’s verbal order was issued at 6:45 pm EDT, with the written document issued soon afterward at 7:26 pm EDT. Flight logs indicated that the planes touched down in El Salvador after the judge told them to return, thus breaking the terms of the order. But we don’t need forensic analysis of flight logs, as Axios reports that a “senior administration official” told them “they were already outside of U.S. airspace. We believe the order is not applicable.”

The message is clear: they don’t care

In a telling mood, the Trump administration so far isn’t attempting a legal defense to their actions (though soon will have to before Judge Boasberg) but is simply making a moral case that they won’t allow “a plane full of rapists, murderers, and gangsters” to return to the United States. That’s despite many of those present on the flight appearing to have very flimsy or nonexistent connections to gangs. And anyway, even if they are “rapists, murderers, and gangsters”, we still need to follow the rule of law in deciding what to do with them.

NEW: I spoke with a lawyer who says her client, an LGBTQ Venezuelan who came to the US seeking asylum through proper channels, was deported as part of the Alien Enemies Act sweep. She says he is not a Tren deAragua member and that ICE misidentified his tatoos.…

— Sam Stein (@samstein) March 17, 2025

As for Boasberg? Well, Trump is… let’s go with “agitated”:

So yes, Donald Trump and his administration are wilfully defying court orders. Unfortunately, they know there’s nothing Boasberg can do to stop them. Even if he rules that the executive branch is in contempt of court, Trump’s lawyers can and will appeal that to the Supreme Court if necessary, which is stacked with Trump-friendly conservatives for at least the next 30 years. The Supreme Court judges will inevitably dutifully line up to rubberstamp Trump’s decisions, and he can continue to do what he wants.

Yup, it was a real nice political system of checks and balances we had here once. Crying shame what happened to it really… Oh hello Mr ICE agent. Wait, why are you holding that black bag? Now hang on a minute, this is simply unconstit… *muffled yelling, van door slams shut, tires screech”.