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But this week, when Politico tried to revive the rumor mill, Donald Trump immediately shut the door on the manipulation. When asked about the so-called retirement chatter, Trump delivered two crystal-clear sentences:
“I hope they stay,” Trump said. **”‘Cause I think they’re fantastic.”**³
That wasn’t just an endorsement — it was a warning shot. Trump was signaling to the establishment that they don’t get to decide the careers of two justices who have spent their lives defending the Constitution. The message was unmistakable: stop meddling, stop speculating, and stop treating principled jurists like disposable political assets.
The backlash to the retirement-pressure campaign didn’t stop with Trump. Leonard Leo, long considered the backbone of the conservative judicial movement, issued one of the strongest public reprimands the Beltway has heard in years. He blasted the insider talk as beneath the dignity of the movement.
“No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date is unwise, uninformed, and, frankly, just crass,” Leo declared.⁴
He continued, **”Justices Thomas and Alito have given their lives to our country and our Constitution, and should be treated with more dignity and respect than they are getting from some pundits.”**⁵
Charles Cooper, a longtime ally of both justices, went even further, calling the campaign shameful:
“It’s unseemly for members of the conservative legal movement to be mounting any type of campaign to pressure these two historically great justices into retirement,” Cooper said.⁶
Even those close to Alito made it clear that the justice isn’t remotely interested in playing Washington’s political games. A source told The Wall Street Journal, **”The idea that he’s going to retire for political considerations is not consistent with who he is.”**⁷
Thomas — the longest-serving member of the Court — has spent nearly 34 years unapologetically defending originalism since taking his seat in 1991. If he remains on the bench another three years, he will become the longest-serving justice in U.S. history.⁸
Alito, appointed in 2006, has partnered with Thomas to form the backbone of the Court’s conservative majority.⁹ Together, they helped overturn Roe v. Wade, bolster religious freedom, defend the Second Amendment, and push back against the unelected bureaucracy that has suffocated American life for decades.
And contrary to Beltway gossip, both men remain fully committed to their work. They’ve each hired full teams of clerks for the next two terms — a strong signal that they have no plans to bow out.¹¹
Washington insiders thought they could engineer yet another political outcome behind closed doors. They miscalculated — badly.
Trump’s message was unmistakable: Alito and Thomas have earned the right to serve for as long as they choose. The establishment’s irritation with that fact is exactly why millions of voters trust Trump — he refuses to treat the Supreme Court like a revolving door for political convenience.
