Trump: "I always abide by the courts, but then I'll have to appeal it."

Everyone take a deep breath.

President Trump gave a press conference today from the Oval Office. A reporter asked "If a judge does block one of your policies, will you abide by that ruling?"

Trump replied, without hesitation, "I always abide by the court, but then I'll have to appeal it." You can see it at the video around the 17:30 mark.

"I always abide by the courts," Trump says. pic.twitter.com/QVha7a6fl7

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 11, 2025

Everyone needs to take a deep, deep breath. There is no constitutional crisis.

And to be clear, none of the temporary restraining orders run against the President. The injunctions run against appointed officers in the executive branch. It is impossible for Trump to ignore any of these pending orders because they do not actually bind him. Have we learned anything from Seth Barrett Tillman's work on Ex Parte Merryman? See Ed Whelan's post today.

So what are people actually afraid of? They're afraid that Trump will order his subordinates to disobey a court order. I've seen no evidence of that. At most, it is difficult for the government to comply with the torrent of nationwide TROs. If the court finds there are willful efforts to not comply that may be different. Instead, I think they will find the government struggling to keep up with the litigation front.