Before we get too far into this, let's address the 500-pound gorilla in the room. Former Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has suffered several losing presidential campaigns in recent cycles, doesn't often inspire praise in these pages, whether from front-page contributors or commenters out across the fruited plain. When one gets in the habit of calling someone by a nickname as pleasing to the ear as "Krispy Kreme," it's sometimes irresistible to veer away from it.

On Sunday morning, though, Gov. Christie gave conservatives a compelling reason to offer him a compliment. He appeared on ABC's "This Week," in an interview with co-host Jon Karl.

Here's how it begins, with Christie actually defending President Trump's tough talk about judges, albeit in a tepid way; he also comments on Border Czar Tom Homan's remarks--just before Karl's sit-down with Christie--about continuing to capture and repatriate illegal aliens, while also continuing to respect judicial rulings:

KARL: So, let me start with something I asked Homan. I asked, are you saying – you say you don't care what judges think, but you're going to abide by their orders? Trump has said the same thing, he's not going to defy a judicial order. Do you believe him?

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: I do. And the reason I do, Jon, is I've known him for 23 years. he has used the courts to his advantage in every aspect of his life, going all the way back to his business career. Even in the early parts of his political career you remember Trump University, that controversy in 2016, and he had a real confrontation with that judge, but then ultimately backed off, apologized to the judge and settled the case.

Donald Trump knows that, in general, in his life courts have been his friend not his foe and --

KARL: He's been very good at using them. I mean --

CHRISTIE: Very good. Very effective.

Christie continues:

CHRISTIE: Look, I think what you see, Jon, is a flip from the first term to the second term. In the first term I think the person who was most pushing to try to expand their power and push the courts was Donald Trump himself, and then you had folks inside, like John Kelly, like Reince Priebus, like Don McGahn, and others who were saying, go slowly here, Mr. President. We don't want to do this.

This is, I think, the exact opposite. I think you have folks like Stephen Miller and Russ Vought, both of whom I know from the first term who were pushing him to be more aggressive. They now are the people on the inside, and I think Trump may, in fact, be the person who says, I'm not sure that I want to do all of that.

KARL: So Trump -- so Donald Trump is the moderating influence in the second term?

CHRISTIE: That's the difference between the first term and the second term, that on this issue Trump will be the moderating influence. He'll still use it rhetorically, as we saw this week with the judge, Judge Boasberg, but he's not going to -- I will be shocked to see him defy a court order. I think he'll use the appellate process, and he thinks he's going to win most of the time if he gets to the United States Supreme Court.

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.@GovChristie tells @JonKarl that he believes Pres. Trump when the president says will not defy a judicial order.

“He has used the courts to his advantage in every aspect of his life … Courts have been his friend, not his foe.” https://t.co/csDEQqIvCL pic.twitter.com/j9Sptxalt5

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 23, 2025

While the blind squirrel finds a nut or two during that part of the interview, Christie totally reverts to form before the segment ends, warning that Team Trump's recent memo to AG Bondi and others to sue law firms that file frivolous lawsuits in hopes of gumming up the administration's work, could permanently change the U.S. legal system.

Look, it is the MO of this first quarter of the Trump administration, which is we are going to try to use the power of the presidency in every way we can, and in this instance to intimidate people from availing themselves of the rights they have as American citizens to access the court system if they think the government has done something wrong. Any suit that’s filed against Trump’s administration, Donald Trump will, by definition, believe is frivolous and vexatious. What he’s saying to them is, punish anybody who sues us. Again, if people stand up and say, I don’t care, I don’t think that this is going to be a huge problem, but if they continue to act like Paul Weiss did and cave and be intimidated, well then we’re going to have a much different legal system in this country.

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But Karl couldn't resist one final jab at the GOP, asking Christie how he thinks the Trump administration will fare with the Supreme Court, in the wake of Chief Justice John Roberts' rare, recent statement. Christie opined on the relationship between the president and Roberts, as he sees it--while offering his unsolicited advice to Trump:

So even though they may agree philosophically, Roberts cares about the most, what John Roberts cares about the most is the independence and reputation of the court. If he looks like Trump is making him look like he is in his pocket he may go the other way. So Trump tactically should keep quiet on the judges.

Something tells me we'll be hearing a rejoinder on that admonition by Chris Christie from the commander in chief--sooner rather than later.

Update: I have a feeling Pres. Trump hasn't forgotten that Christie said he didn't think Trump could beat Joe Biden in 2024.

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