President Donald Trump slammed the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision that ruled he does not have the authority to levy sweeping tariffs under a specific emergency powers law, noting he will pursue ‘alternatives’ to tariffs under emergency law.
‘Other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the court incorrectly rejected,’ Trump said during a White House press briefing Friday afternoon. ‘We have alternatives. Great alternatives. Could be more money. We’ll take in more money, and we’ll be a lot stronger for it. We’re taking in hundreds of billions of dollars. We’ll continue to do so.’
The president also announced he is imposing a 10% ‘global tariff’ following the court’s decision.
‘Today I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under section 122 over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,’ Trump said. ‘And we’re also initiating several section 301 and other investigations to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.’
The high court blocked Trump’s tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in what amounts to a major test of executive branch authority.
Trump called the ruling ‘deeply disappointing,’ saying he was ‘ashamed’ of certain members of the court.
‘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 actuality, I was very modest in my ask of other countries and businesses because… I wanted to be very well-behaved.
‘I didn’t want to do anything that would affect the decision of the court, because I understand the court. I understand how they are very easily swayed. I want to be a good boy. I have very effectively utilized tariffs over the past year to make America great again,’ he said.
A source outside the Trump administration told Fox News that an aide came into the closed-door White House breakfast with governors earlier Friday and handed Trump a note about the Supreme Court ruling.
The source said Trump ‘called it a disgrace, and then he went on with the remarks.’
Some of the Supreme Court’s nine justices will likely be sitting in the audience when the president delivers the State of the Union address on Tuesday.
‘The Democrats on the court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote no,’ Trump said during the news conference. ‘They also are a, frankly, disgrace to our nation… They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution. 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.’
In the opinion, the high court declared, ‘Our task today is to decide only whether the power to ‘regulate… importation,’ as granted to the President in IEEPA, embraces the power to impose tariffs. It does not.’
Trump has made tariffs a key plank of his economic agenda since retaking the Oval Office last year, but his policies have not come without controversy.
Republican reaction to the ruling has been mixed.
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., slammed the high court’s decision.
‘The Supreme Court just undercut the President’s ability to defend American workers. President Donald Trump was elected to fight unfair trade and stop the United States from being ripped off. I’m outraged by this decision; it’s clearly judicial overreach,’ Carter asserted in a post on X.
But Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., welcomed the ruling.
‘In defense of our Republic, the Supreme Court struck down using emergency powers to enact taxes. This ruling will also prevent a future President such as AOC from using emergency powers to enact socialism,’ Paul noted in a post on X.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., also hailed the decision.
‘The Constitution’s checks and balances still work. Article One gives tariff authority to Congress. This was a common-sense and straightforward ruling by the Supreme Court. I feel vindicated as I’ve been saying this for the last 12 months. In the future, Congress should defend its own authorities and not rely on the Supreme Court. Besides the Constitutional concerns I had on the Administration’s broad-based tariffs, I also do not think tariffs are smart economic policy. Broad-based tariffs are bad economics,’ Bacon wrote in a post on X.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Congress and the administration will determine the ‘best path forward’ in the coming weeks.
‘No one can deny that the President’s use of tariffs has brought in billions of dollars and created immense leverage for America’s trade strategy and for securing strong, reciprocal America-first trade agreements with countries that had been taking advantage of American workers for decades,’ Johnson wrote in an X post.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.