John Roberts made Trump's authoritarianism possible. He could still save his own legacy Steven Greenhouse

[Uncle Joe]

The supreme court judge has emboldened and enabled Trump, but the president’s second term must surely have him worried

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Ever since Roberts became chief justice in 2005, two of his main objectives have been clear: to boost corporate America and to help Republicans consolidate power. Roberts didn’t seem to mind that several of his key court rulings, especially Citizens United, were turning the US into a plutocracy, with the rich and corporations having huge, undue power. But he must feel very uncomfortable that second-term Trump is quickly transforming the US into an authoritarian state, as Trump and Elon Musk steamroll the constitution and federal law while the president seeks retribution against perceived enemies and fails to fully comply with several judicial decisions.

Citizens United and several rulings that flowed from it – rulings that let corporations and wealthy individuals spend unlimited money on political campaigns – have played a key role in enabling Trump, in a mere few weeks, to create the most authoritarian presidency in US history. Thanks to those rulings, Musk was able to give more than $250m to help elect Trump and with that money, seemingly purchase unprecedented power by becoming Trump’s unelected chief operating officer and hatchet man.

Citizens United was dangerously myopic. Not only did it fail to see that income inequality was rapidly worsening, but also failed to foresee that super-rich individuals would someday give gargantuan amounts – like Musk’s $250m-plus and Miriam Adelson’s $100m – that would go far to overwhelm the voices of average Americans. What’s more, having the world’s richest man at his side has supercharged Trump’s ability to act in authoritarian ways. Republicans in Congress have grown terrified of opposing Trump, whether on his stabbing Ukraine in the back, his wholesale firings of federal employees or his trashing agencies that Congress funded, because they know that Musk can singlehandedly bankroll a primary challenge against them (and use his X account, with more than 200 million followers, to pummel them and sic the mob on them).

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Crucially for Roberts and the nation, it might not be too late for the chief justice to do something meaningful to rescue his legacy, and our democracy. But doing something might not be easy because of the rightwing’s 6-3 supreme court supermajority and because Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas seem eager to serve as Trump’s lap dogs.

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/18/supreme-court-john-roberts-trump