Judges say Trump attacks put their safety at risk

Federal judges are describing President Donald Trump’s attacks as more than political theater: they say the rhetoric has brought real security risks, from swatting calls to bomb threats, and has pushed the court system into a test of its own independence. In an updated 60 Minutes investigation, CBS News said it spoke with 26 federal judges, including nine Democratic appointees and 17 Republican appointees, and most of the sitting judges would not appear on camera because they feared for their safety.

One of the clearest examples came from John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. On February 6, 2025, Coughenour temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship and called it “blatantly unconstitutional.” He said that decision was followed by a swatting hoax aimed at him and his wife, then a bomb threat the next day, and then “dozens if not hundreds” of death threats.

The pressure intensified again after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most of Trump’s tariffs on February 20, 2026. Trump lashed out at two justices he had appointed, calling them “fools and lapdogs.” CBS also reported that a congressman circulated a wanted poster with photos of judges who had ruled against the administration, a sign of how quickly political criticism can spill into personal intimidation.

The White House said Trump “understands the dangers of political violence,” but the threat numbers suggest the judiciary is operating in a harsher environment. The U.S. Marshals Service, which protects about 2,600 active federal judges, said it recorded 403 threats against judges in fiscal 2022, 630 in fiscal 2023, 509 in fiscal 2024 and 564 in fiscal 2025. Through June 2, 2026, it had recorded 324 threats, with 253 different judges identified as threatened so far in fiscal 2026.

Marshals Service officials have said the pattern has changed. Threats that once usually came from litigants angry about their own cases are now increasingly driven by politics and the post-2020 election environment. In April 2025, Senate Judiciary Democrats led by Sheldon Whitehouse warned of an “elevated threat environment” for judges, justices and their families, and the judiciary created a Judicial Security and Independence Task Force in response. Chief Justice John Roberts reinforced the warning on March 17, 2026, saying personal attacks on judges are “dangerous” and “got to stop.”

For the courts, the issue is no longer just sharp words from the political branches. It is whether the system can protect judges well enough for them to rule without fear.