President Trump is not exactly known for shrugging and moving on when the Supreme Court rules against him. So when the high court struck down his sweeping global tariffs in a 6 to 3 decision, calling his reliance on emergency powers unlawful, it is safe to say he did not send the justices a thank you note.
According to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, President Trump called the ruling a “disgrace” while speaking at a White House breakfast with governors. She reported that he told those in the room he has a backup plan ready. Predictably, rumors started flying that he went on some kind of expletive laced tirade. Fox News quickly knocked that down. One source said, “An aide came in, handed him a note, he called it a disgrace, and then he went on with the remarks.” So much for the dramatic meltdown narrative.
The Court’s majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch along with the liberal wing, leaned heavily on the so called major questions doctrine. Roberts wrote, “There is no exception to the major questions doctrine for emergency statutes.” He added that the Constitution gives “Congress alone” the power to impose tariffs during peacetime. In other words, the Court was not buying the argument that a decades old emergency law could be stretched to cover a sweeping global trade overhaul.
It is a serious legal setback for one of the centerpieces of President Trump’s economic strategy. His second term trade agenda has been built around aggressive tariff use to pressure foreign governments and rebalance trade relationships. The Court just told him that if he wants to do that at this scale, Congress needs to be clearer.
But here is where things get interesting. The administration has been preparing for this possibility for months. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said back in January, “We’ve got a very, very detailed backup plan. We’re confident that if we were to lose this case, that we can get all of the president’s policies in place almost immediately with alternative authorities.”
Among the tools reportedly under consideration are Section 301 powers and Section 122 of the Trade Act. These authorities are narrower and come with tighter limits, but they still give the president room to act. Translation, this fight is far from over.
A long term fix could require Congress to grant clearer tariff authority. That will not be easy with a narrow House majority and predictable opposition. Still, if there is one thing President Trump has shown repeatedly, it is that he does not treat a legal roadblock as the end of the road.
For now, the message from the White House is simple. The Court may have closed one door, but there are others still very much unlocked.
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