President Donald Trump took aim at the Supreme Court’s “very unfortunate ruling” striking down his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs as four of the justices were in the chamber for his State of the Union.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, striking down the wide-ranging tariffs that have been a cornerstone of Trump’s economic and foreign relations policy. Three of the six justices who struck down Trump’s tariffs were in the House chamber when the president took aim at the ruling, but vowed to continue using tariffs as a key part of his economic agenda through other laws.
“A very unfortunate ruling, but the good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made … knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them, and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement,” Trump said.
“So despite the disappointing ruling, these powerful country saving – it’s saving our country the kind of money we’re taking in – peace protecting – many of the wars I settled was because of the threat of tariffs I wouldn’t have been able to settle them without – will remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes,” Trump added, added that “congressional action will not be necessary.”
Four justices were in the House chamber for Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term: Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Trump shook hands with all four prior to giving his address. For Trump’s joint address to Congress last year, an unofficial State of the Union, the same four justices were in attendance.
Roberts wrote the majority ruling striking down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, while Kagan and Barrett were among those who joined the opinion. Kavanaugh penned the dissent, which slammed the “serious political consequences of the majority ruling and outlined how Trump could still carry out his sweeping tariff agenda using other laws.
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Since the ruling, Trump has raged against the six-justice majority, which struck down his tariffs, including saying they should be “absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.” While Trump has been critical of the six justices who struck down his tariffs, he has been complimentary toward Kavanaugh’s dissenting opinion.
The Supreme Court will issue rulings in the coming months in two other pivotal cases for the Trump administration, on his birthright citizenship executive order and his firing of independent agency heads.