In a fiery response on Friday, Donald Trump criticized the conservative-led Supreme Court for overturning a majority of his tariffs. During an emergency press conference, Trump labeled the nation’s highest court as a “disgrace to our nation” and claimed the justices were being influenced by foreign interests. The former president accused some conservative justices of lacking loyalty, contrasting them with those appointed by Democratic presidents, and suggested their decision contradicted the U.S. Constitution.

Trump expressed his discontent with the ruling, arguing it was illogical. He claimed that while the Court acknowledged his broad presidential powers, it restricted him from imposing tariffs on foreign goods. “I can do anything, but I can’t charge other countries a small fee,” he lamented. He further threatened to explore “powerful alternatives” to tariffs to ensure the U.S. benefits financially from international relations, even pledging to implement a 10 percent global tariff following his address.

“We have alternatives—great alternatives,” Trump emphasized. “We could collect more revenue, and it would strengthen us significantly.” The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision, which included the support of three conservative justices alongside three liberal ones, marked a significant setback to one of Trump’s key economic plans for his second term. “The Supreme Court’s decision on tariffs is deeply disappointing,” Trump stated during the press briefing. “I’m utterly ashamed of certain Court members for lacking the courage to act in the country’s best interest,” he continued, alleging the Court was unduly influenced by foreign interests and a minor political movement.

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.