Trump tweets on a ‘mean & nasty world,’ 'unsafe' judges and, yes, Thanksgiving

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump makes Thanksgiving threat to close border President Donald Trump is threatening to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines that its southern ally has lost "control" on its side. (Nov. 22)

President Donald Trump got his holiday tweet-a-thon rolling early Thursday with a Thanksgiving Day reminder that it’s a “mean & nasty world out there” before he accused some judges of making the country unsafe.

In a tweet at 6:58 a.m. from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the president quoted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia, underscoring that the grim state of the world applies “in particular” to the Middle East.

Without mentioning his decision Wednesday to not let the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi interfere with U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Trump pointed to Pompeo's reference to a "long and historic commitment" with the Saudis, adding that it is "absolutely vital to America’s national security.”

Noting his "100%" agreement with his secretary of state, the president said "many Billions of Dollars of purchases made in U.S., big Jobs & Oil!"

The president has taken widespread criticism, including from Republican senators, over his response – “it is what it is” – to the killing Oct. 2 of the U.S.-based journalist and the suspected involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result. Judges must not Legislate Security... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2018

Three minutes after his opening salvo, Trump was back in trademark all-caps and exclamation-points mode to mark the holiday:

"HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!"

After Twitter followers soaked up the salutation for 20 minutes, Trump was back in attack mode, reviving his back-and-forth with Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who rebuked the president Wednesday for referring to an “Obama judge.”

....and Safety at the Border, or anywhere else. They know nothing about it and are making our Country unsafe. Our great Law Enforcement professionals MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB! If not there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death. We want the Constitution as written! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2018

Roberts, from his perch in the third branch, asserted that there were no “Obama judges” or “Trump judges,” rather “an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”

Trump, for the second day running, begged to differ.

"Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster," Trump tweeted. "It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result. Judges must not Legislate Security..."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2018

After leaving his readers hanging for nine minutes, Trump added that judges must not legislate about "Safety at the Border, or anywhere else."

"They know nothing about it and are making our Country unsafe. Our great Law Enforcement professionals MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB! If not there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death. We want the Constitution as written!"

Our highly trained security professionals are not allowed to do their job on the Border because of the Judicial Activism and Interference by the 9th Circuit. Nevertheless, they are working hard to make America a safer place, though hard to do when anybody filing a lawsuit wins! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2018

A California judge's ruling Monday halted the administration's attempts to bar immigrants who enter the country illegally from applying for asylum.

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