Trump blasts judges blocking his orders, fuelling fear of constitutional clash

US President Donald Trump accused the judges blocking his executive orders of committing a “serious violation” on Tuesday as his administration veered towards a constitutional clash with the courts over his plans to radically downsize the government.

With the Republican Party controlling Congress and completely loyal to Trump, the billionaire president has largely ignored the legislature as he carries out his unprecedented policies.

But he has faced growing pushback from the courts since taking office three weeks ago, with around a dozen court orders issued against the administration from some 40 lawsuits.

As the courts and Trump appeared increasingly to be on a collision course, the president pledged to stand by their rulings – but claimed that judges were preventing him from cleaning up the government.

“We want to weed out the corruption. And it seems hard to believe that a judge could say we don’t want you to do that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.