In a fiery response from the White House briefing room on Friday, President Trump expressed his dismay over the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling against the legality of his “reciprocal” and fentanyl tariffs. The decision, which saw two of his own appointees, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, siding with the majority, prompted a sharp critique from the president.
Trump did not hold back, stating, “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.” His disappointment was palpable as he accused some justices of lacking patriotism and loyalty to the Constitution. He suggested that the court’s decision might have been influenced by foreign interests and a political movement he described as smaller than widely perceived.
Particularly critical of the court’s Democratic appointees, Trump labeled Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor as predictable opponents of his policies, calling them a “disgrace to our nation.”
The majority opinion, penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, a nominee of President George W. Bush, concluded that Trump had overstepped his authority by misusing emergency powers to impose the tariffs. This ruling underscored a significant setback for the president’s trade strategy.
Reflecting on the decision, Trump speculated that Roberts, along with Barrett and Gorsuch, might have been motivated by a desire to be “politically correct,” a tendency he claims has previously influenced court members’ decisions.
The president said it’s possible that Roberts, Barrett and Gorsuch were “being politically correct, which has happened before, far too often with certain members of this court.”
“In fact,” Trump said, “they’re just being fools and lap dogs for the RINOs and the radical-left Democrats.”
Here’s the latest on President Trump’s tariffs following Supreme Court ruling:
He said that for Barrett and Gorsuch, the ruling should be “an embarrassment to their families.”
The remaining three Republican-nominated justices — Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas — dissented and Trump singled out Kavanaugh for praise, gushing, “I’m so proud of him.”
The president went on to say that some of the opponents of his tariffs who argued before the court were “real slimeballs,” in possible reference to Neal Katyal, former President Barack Obama’s solicitor general, who argued against the tariffs on behalf of two educational toymakers.
“These people [opposed to tariffs] are obnoxious, ignorant and loud,” Trump said. “They’re very loud, and I think certain justices are afraid of that. They don’t want to do the right thing. They’re afraid of it.”
Trump also ripped the justices for not issuing a decision sooner following oral arguments in November — which allowed the amount of money subject to refunds to grow to $175 billion and delayed his plans to attempt to use a different legal authority to replace the tariff scheme.
“They should have released this a long time ago,” Trump said. “We waited months, and that gave uncertainty. Now we have certainty, and I think you’re going to see the country get much stronger because of it.”
The president promised to impose a new 10% global tariff under a separate trade law to replace the “Liberation Day” baseline tariff that the justices had invalidated.
Trump is due to deliver his annual State of the Union speech next Tuesday before a joint session of Congress, which traditionally is attended by a cohort of justices.
“They’re barely invited. Honestly, I couldn’t care less if they come,” Trump said.
