Donald Trump came out guns blazing against his conservative majority Supreme Court on Friday for striking down most of his tariffs. He slammed the highest US court as a ‘disgrace to our nation’ in an emergency press conference called on Friday and alleged justices on the panel are being ‘swayed by foreign interests.’ In his seething condemnation, Trump said that some conservative justices are ‘not loyal’ like those appointed by Democrat presidents and accused then of going against the US Constitution.
Trump Criticizes Court’s Limits on Tariff Authority
He lamented that the decision is nonsensical, claiming that the Court admitted he can do anything he wants as president other than charge other countries tariffs for US goods. ‘I’m allowed to destroy the country, but I can’t charge them a little fee,’ Trump complained. ‘I can do anything I want to do to them, but I can’t charge any money.’ Trump threatened using ‘powerful alternatives’ to his tariffs as a way to ensure the US ‘takes in more money’ from foreign countries, and said he would sign a 10 percent global tariff on Friday after his briefing.
Supreme Court Issues 6–3 Ruling Against Proposal
‘We have alternatives – great alternatives,’ he insisted. ‘Could be more money, we’ll take in more money, and we’ll be a lot stronger for it.’ Three conservative justices joined all three liberals on the panel to rule against Trump on Friday, handing down a 6-3 decision that rebuked one of the president’s biggest economic proposals of his second term. ‘The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing and I’m ashamed of certain members of the Court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,’ the president said in the press briefing room. ‘It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,’ he added.
The president was meeting with members of the National Governors Association on Friday when the bombshell ruling came down. Despite the Court’s rightward lean, two justices that Trump appointed – Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett – joined Chief Justice John Roberts to rule against him. It was a rare moment of consensus among conservative justices to go against the president. ‘I think it’s embarrassment to their families,’ Trump said specifically of his picks Gorsuch and Barrett ruling against his policy. Meanwhile, Justice Brett Kavanaugh , the third Trump Supreme Court appointee, penned the dissent. He was joined by fellow conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. As Trump tore into the Court, Wall Street celebrated a stock market spike that resulted from the tariff ruling.
In the majority opinion, penned by Roberts, the court said Trump did not have the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to impose tariffs . Trump had used the law as a legal footing for his widespread tariff policy, which he boasted would enrich the nation. In the press briefing room, Trump said that he would sign a new order on Friday to impose a 10 percent global tariff that wasn’t blocked by the Supreme Court. An estimated $175 billion in tariff revenue is at stake, according to the Penn-Wharton Budget Model, Reuters reported. On April 2, he celebrated ‘Liberation Day,’ announcing reciprocal tariffs on nations around the globe – even on uninhabited islands.
The President used the justification that there was a national emergency due to trade deficits and national security threats. As he entered office last year, he imposed tariffs on Mexico , Canada and China over fentanyl flooding into the U.S. Trump also used tariffs to threaten other countries, such as dangling a 25 percent tariff on Indian imports due to the country continuing to buy Russian oil. But Roberts, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, wrote in the ruling that if Congress had intended to allow the President the ‘distinct and extraordinary power to impose tariffs, it would have done so expressly – as it consistently has in other tariff statutes.’ The Chief Justice said that the ‘president must ‘point to clear congressional authorization’ to justify his extraordinary assertion of the power to impose tariffs.’
‘He cannot,’ Roberts said. For months, Trump has publicly pushed the high court to rule in his favor, even flirting with coming to the Court’s chambers to watch oral arguments. ‘If we don’t win that case, we will be a weakened, troubled financial mess for many, many years to come,’ Trump said in October. ‘I don’t even know if it is survivable. That’s why I think I’m going to the Supreme Court to watch it. I’ve not done that. And I’ve had some pretty big cases.’ Trump ended up not viewing oral arguments, which critics suggested could have raised constitutional questions related to the separation of powers. But the President had the benefit of a conservative majority, having appointed three Supreme Court Justices in his first term – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
‘In essence, the Court today concludes that the President checked the wrong statutory box by relying on IEEPA rather than another statute to impose these tariffs,’ Kavanaugh wrote in his dissent. The decision also said Trump could seek Congressional authorization. Trump still retains a Republican majority in the House and the Senate, ahead of this year’s midterm races. Still, he’d likely need to strike a deal with Senate Democrats to get any tariff legislation across the line. While the Court gave the administration those avenues to explore, it did not deal in the decision with how to handle tariff refunds. That battle will likely play out in the lower courts.
