President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to criticise the Supreme Court for striking down his emergency tariff powers, calling the ruling “very unfortunate.” Speaking before a joint session of Congress, Trump claimed foreign countries were “paying us hundreds of billions of dollars” in tariffs, despite tariffs being taxes paid by importers and passed on to consumers.
Four Supreme Court justices—Chief Justice John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett—sat stone-faced as Trump denounced the court’s “unfortunate involvement.” The ruling, issued four days prior, found that Trump could not impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as the law did not explicitly authorise import taxes.
Trump insisted the tariffs would remain in place under “alternative legal statutes” and claimed congressional action would not be necessary, despite one authority requiring approval to keep tariffs beyond 150 days. He also falsely asserted that tariffs would eventually replace income tax, a claim unsupported by economic evidence.
The president’s attack followed earlier remarks where he called three conservative justices—including his own appointees Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett—“disloyal” and “unpatriotic.” Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, had stated that Trump failed to “identify clear congressional authorization” for the emergency powers.
