President Trump did not mince his words when attacking the Supreme Court for striking down his global tariffs. According to Trump, the ruling was “deeply disappointing,” and the judges lacked the courage to “do the right thing.”
While Trump has always been vocal about people who have stood in the way of him getting whatever he wanted, bashing the Supreme Court in such terms has shocked many.
Continuing his criticism, Trump added, “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
It should be noted here that the six judges who struck down Trump’s tariff were appointed by both Democrats and Republicans.
Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson were appointed by Democrats, whereas Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett were appointed by Republicans.
Trump responded with fury to a Supreme Court ruling that he did not have the power to unilaterally set tariffs on imports, denigrating individual justices as he vowed to wield a more restrictive law to continue his global trade war https://t.co/uSWSWh9qCV pic.twitter.com/uwVeHZUoKI
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 21, 2026
Since the decision went unanimously against Trump, he naturally did not discriminate when bashing them. He said, “They’re just being fools and lapdogs for the Rhinos and the radical left Democrats.”
Moreover, he also mentioned, “It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests.” However, when asked by a journalist to elaborate what he meant by the statement, Trump refused to explain.
Interestingly, despite his tariffs being stuck down, Trump said, “although I firmly disagree with the court’s holding today, the decision might not substantially constrain a President’s ability to order tariffs going forward.”
He then added, “think of that the decision might not substantially constrain and it doesn’t. He’s right. In fact, I can charge much more than I was charging.”
While his observation did not make much sense, Trump proceeded to explain it further. The President added, “the decision might not substantially constrain a president’s ability to order tariffs going forward. That’s because numerous other federal statutes, which is so true, authorize the president to impose tariffs and might justify most if not all of the tariffs issued in this case, even more tariffs.”
He then further added, “Actually, those statutes include, think of that, those statutes include, for example, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, section 232. All of these things I know so well. The Trade Act of 1974, sections 122, 2011, 301, and the Tariff Act of 1930, section 338, all clear, but it’s a little bit longer process.”
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Trump then again emphasized on the fact that while the Supreme Court has struck down his tariffs, that has ultimately worked in his favor as he would be able to charge more now.
While he bashed the Supreme Court’s decision, he did not forget to praise Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh, who voted against striking his tariffs down.
He gave a special shout out to Kavanaugh, highlighting “his genius and his great ability.” Kavanaugh was appointed by Trump himself during his first term as the President.
With the tariffs being downright struck down, it now remains to be seen how Trump plans to move forward since so much of his current politics depends on these tariffs getting approved by the Supreme Court.
