President Donald Trump is wading into still more swamps of controversy as he raises new questions about his sensitivity to potential conflicts of interest and whether he has sufficient respect for an independent judiciary.

In a pre-emptive strike, Trump attacked a panel of three federal judges considering whether to support or void a court order blocking the president's recent travel bans. Trump told law enforcement officials Wednesday in Washington that the judges should reinstate his executive order that temporarily stopped immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and severely limited the entry of refugees into the United States. "Courts seem to be so political and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what's right," Trump said. He issued the executive order to help prevent terrorists from entering the United States, he said.

Trump argued that the Constitution and the law give him enormous power to decide who enters and leaves the United States, and he said the judicial panel – the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco – should have recognized this immediately.

Calling their proceedings "disgraceful," Trump added: "I think it's a sad day. I think our security is at risk today. And it will be at risk until such time that we are entitled and get what we are entitled to as citizens of this country. We want security."

In response, federal Judge Neil Gorsuch, nominated by Trump to the Supreme Court, took the highly unusual step of criticizing the president for his comments about the judiciary. Gorsuch said Trump's criticism of judges was "demoralizing" and "disheartening." He was apparently referring to Trump's comments about the 9th Circuit panel and Trump's criticism of federal Judge James Robart of Seattle, who blocked his travel bans. Trump derided Robart as a "so-called judge" whose ruling was "ridiculous."

In another case of defying the norms of the presidency, Trump condemned Nordstrom, the department store, for dropping the clothing line of Ivanka Trump, his daughter. "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom," he wrote on Twitter. "She is a great person--always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!"

Nordstrom officials said Ivanka Trump's apparel line was dropped because it wasn't selling well.