US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) criticized the Supreme Court, calling it “incompetent” and favoring the “wrong people” for its recent ruling and reversal of tariffs imposed by his administration.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “Our incompetent Supreme Court has done a great job for the wrong people and they should be ashamed of themselves (but not the Big 3!) for that. Next thing you know they’ll be ruling in favor of China and others making an absolute fortune off of Birthright Citizenship,” saying the 14th Amendment wasn’t written EXACTLY to take care of TIMesslav. its construction, submission and ratification, which coincided perfectly with the END OF THE CIVIL WAR (sic)”.
He went on to say that the US Supreme Court will find a way to make China and other nations happy and rich, adding that even if the court’s decisions are bad and harmful to the future of Americans, it will continue to do its job to make America great again.
The US Supreme Court overturned Trump’s tariffs
Trump’s post came days after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on more than 100 countries aimed at “making the country rich again.” In its ruling on February 20 (local time), the court struck down the tariffs, finding that it had relied on a national emergency law to justify the measure. Hours after the verdict, Trump said he had “other alternatives” to apply the tariffs and announced his plan to impose a 10% global tariff using another agency. The global 10% tariff is an addition to the existing tariffs.
The 6-3 verdict marked a significant setback for Trump, Reuters reported. The verdict drew a furious response from Trump, who criticized the judge. His power to quickly impose tariffs on goods from foreign countries by declaring a national emergency greatly increased his bargaining leverage. The move also prompted world leaders to rush to Washington last year to secure trade deals, many of which included promises of billions of dollars in investment or expanded market access for US-based companies.
Has the US Supreme Court given Trump more powers?
Trump criticized the Supreme Court and said he would use lowercase letters for some time to indicate his “total lack of respect” for it. He went on to mock the court, adding that it accidentally gave the president far more power and authority than he had before.
Elaborating further, he said that, for one thing, he can now use licenses to do absolutely “terrible” things with foreign countries, especially those that have been robbing the US for many decades. But he argued that a recent court ruling prevents his administration from charging a fee for such licenses, noting that such licenses typically include fees.
He added that the Supreme Court had upheld other existing tariffs, noting that there were several alternative authorities that he said could be deployed in a more forceful and legally secure manner than the tariffs originally imposed.
Trump Administration Looking for Alternatives to Keeping Tariffs?
According to a Reuters report, following the court’s decision, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other officials would invoke other legal arguments to maintain as many of Trump’s tariffs as possible. These include a law that authorizes tariffs on imports deemed a threat to national security. Another provision authorizes retaliation, including tariffs, against trading partners found by the U.S. Trade Commissioner to be engaged in unfair trade practices targeting U.S. exporters, the report added.
