ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for the impeachment of a federal judge who tried to block his administration’s use of wartime legislation to deport suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

On social media, Trump blasted the judge as a “Radical Left Lunatic” and “troublemaker” who was not elected but appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama.

Trump did not name any judge, but it is thought he meant Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the D.C. District Court, as on Saturday he tried to block the administration’s move. Boasberg was appointed by Obama in 2010 and confirmed by the US Senate the following year, like all federal judges, including hundreds named by Trump.

Trump continued: “HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY.”

Trump won last November’s election with 49.97% of the vote, according to official results.

He accused the judge of obstructing his efforts to remove “vicious, violent, and demented criminals” from the US, claiming he is doing what voters asked him to.

“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED,” he added, but gave no evidence of criminal acts by the judge.

Supreme Court head urges appeal, not impeachment

Later Tuesday, John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, publicly criticized Trump's call for impeachment, saying it was not a proper response to a dispute over a ruling.

"For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose," said Roberts.

Trump’s name was not mentioned, but given the timing of Roberts’ statement, his meaning was clear.

The judge’s ruling, issued on Saturday, sought to temporarily halt the deportation of Venezuelan nationals linked to the Venezuelan gang and later expanded the order to cover all non-citizens affected by Trump’s proclamation.

The administration said that 250 deportees had already been removed to El Salvador before the ruling.

Critics say they were deported without due process, with no chance to show they were not members of any gang. Lawyers for several say the men were not gang members and so they were deported illegally.

Boasberg has also said the government ignored his ruling to halt or reverse the men’s deportation.

The Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law, allows the president to detain or deport non-citizens from hostile nations, but currently there is no declaration of war by Congress.

Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan transnational criminal and designated foreign terrorist organization in the US.