Washington DC - Donald Trump's rumbling conflict with the judiciary burst into open confrontation on Tuesday as Supreme Court Justice John Roberts issued a rare public rebuke of the president over his call for the impeachment of a federal court judge.

"For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," Roberts said in a statement. "The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose."

Roberts's extraordinary rebuke of the president came shortly after Trump called for the impeachment of a federal judge who ordered the suspension of deportation flights of alleged undocumented migrants.

"This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges' I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

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The White House has been critical of federal district courts, which have blocked some of the president's executive actions, but this was the first time Trump has personally called for a judge's impeachment since he took office in January.

Federal judges are nominated by the president for life and can only be removed by being impeached by the House of Representatives for "high crimes or misdemeanors" and convicted by the Senate.

Impeachment of federal judges is exceedingly rare, and the last time a judge was removed by Congress was in 2010.

Shortly after Trump's message, a Republican lawmaker from Texas, Brandon Gill, said on X that articles of impeachment would be introduced in the House "very soon."