Trump's knee-jerk response to the judges' unanimous decision was "See you in court" - as if, somehow, this shemozzle had taken place somewhere other than the courts.

Trump seems determined to alienate the judicial branch of government. No doubt he has already instructed his new Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, to appeal the decision directly to the Supreme Court. The outcome of that appeal will depend - in Trump's mind - on whether the high court is run by justices or so-called justices. 

He might even wait until his nomination of Gorsuch is ratified by Congress to stack the deck a little in his favour. And while Gorsuch has taken a dim view of Trump's denigration of the judges - calling it 'disheartening and demoralizing' - he is a self-proclaimed originalist. He believes America's quarter-century old constitution should be interpreted literally which, of course, warms the cockles of conservative hearts all over America.