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President Trump blasted a federal judge's ruling against the Justice Department's effort to compel California to separate 20,000 ballots the department claims were sent to noncitizens, calling the state "very corrupt."

"California is very corrupt. The elections are extremely corrupt. The judge should not have done that but we'll appeal that, of course," he told reporters, claiming there were "millions" of "bad ballots" in the state.

In a blistering ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Carter warned that preventing the ballots from being processed would "wreak havoc" on the elections and potentially disenfranchise thousands of legitimate voters.

"Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred," he wrote. "If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such process."

Hours later, the Justice Department appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, urging the court to rule as quickly as possible due to "irreversible ballot processing occurring on an ongoing basis."

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