Spicer: No question that Trump ‘respects the judicial branch’

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that President Trump unequivocally “respects” the judicial branch ahead of Tuesday evening’s arguments about his immigration ban before an appeals court.

The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Tuesday night about restoring Trump’s order on temporarily banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries and an indefinite halt on Syrian refugees from entering the country.

Asked at Tuesday’s White House briefing if Trump would accept the court’s ruling, Spicer said that the president will respect the ruling, but also voiced confidence that the administration will “prevail … on the merits of the case.”

{mosads}“There’s no question the president respects the judicial branch and its ruling,” Spicer said.

“I think he feels confident, just like in the ruling in Boston, that we’re going to prevail on this on the merits of the case because it is done so in a very lawful way,” he continued.

The question was prompted by a tweet from Trump over the weekend when he defended the order and criticized the “so-called judge” who halted the travel ban. Last Friday, a federal judge appointed by former President George W. Bush issued an immediate nationwide restraining order against Trump’s immigration action.

“The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” Trump tweeted in response.

It wasn’t the first time he has publicly attacked a judge. Last year during the presidential campaign, he criticized an Indiana-born judge’s ability to rule on the case partially due to his “Mexican heritage,” saying he should recuse himself from lawsuits surrounding the now-defunct Trump University.