Revealed: Surprising reason John Roberts may like Trump's 'tongue-lashing'

President Donald Trump ruthlessly slammed the Supreme Court on Friday in reaction to the justices voiding his authority to enact tariffs under emergency powers law — but those attacks probably are of no concern to Chief Justice John Roberts, CNN's Jeff Zeleny speculated.

In fact, Zeleny wrote in a text update displayed on the network, he is likely pleased to see it, for a simple reason.

"Aside from the incivility of it all, Chief Justice Roberts may not mind the tongue-lashing — at least it sends a signal the Court isn't in Trump's pocket, as many critics often suggest," wrote Zeleny.

The Supreme Court has been under the majority control of Republican appointees since the 1970s, but in recent years has faced increased accusations of partisan decision-making, particularly under Trump's second term, where the justices have developed a pattern of summarily overturning lower-court rulings against the president on the so-called "shadow docket" with little or no explanation.

The pattern has grown so frequent that even federal judges are increasingly speaking out in frustration, pointing out that the conservative justices are giving them little guidance for why their reasoning is wrong.