John Roberts' 'grimace' of misery flagged by court watchers: 'He looked awful'

Supreme Court insiders were abuzz after Chief Justice John Roberts showed up to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address looking absolutely miserable.

During a roundtable discussion about covering the increasingly politicized Supreme Court, NPR's veteran court correspondent Nina Totenberg observed: "The Chief looked so awful at the State of the Union. I’ve never seen him scowl or have a furrowed brow like that for so long. Do any of you have any sense of why? He’s usually a pretty cool cat. He doesn’t show much. But he certainly didn’t look happy to me."

The comment set off a lively debate among the nation's top Supreme Court reporters gathered for Politico's "Infiltrating the Supreme Court" roundtable. Wall Street Journal reporter James Romoser pushed back slightly, suggesting Roberts simply looked like someone who "didn't really want to be there."

"I saw a lot of commentary suggesting that Roberts looked especially grumpy at the State of the Union. I would voice a note of dissent. I definitely don’t think he looked happy, but I just think he looked like a man who didn’t really want to be there with Trump, but was trying his best to keep his best possible poker face. I don’t know what we’re expecting him to look like. If he smiled, people would comment on that," said Romoser.

He added, "I mean, he always has a bit of a grimace on the bench. In my view, I don’t think we can read much into it. I’m not suggesting that he or any other justices actually enjoy sitting at the State of the Union for two hours.

Tension between Roberts and Trump has simmered beneath the surface since Trump's tariff case defeat. With immigration battles looming at the court, all eyes are on whether the chief justice will continue enabling Trump or try to rein him in.