President Donald Trump grudgingly praised the trio of liberal justices on the U.S. Supreme Court who helped block his use of an emergency law to impose sweeping tariffs on trading partners, pointing to their “loyalty” to Democrats.
“The Democrats on the court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote no,” Trump said Friday during a press conference. “They’re no automatic no. Just like in Congress, they’re an automatic no. They’re against anything that makes America strong, healthy and great again. They also are frankly a disgrace to our nation. Those justices, they’re an automatic no. No matter how good a case you have. It’s a no.”
“You can’t knock their loyalty. It’s one thing you can do with some of our people,” he said.
DEMOCRATS CHEER SUPREME COURT MOVE BLOCKING TRUMP TARIFFS — DESPITE PAST SUPPORT FOR TRADE DUTIES
Trump held a press conference at the White House Friday, just hours after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs using emergency powers. The decision was a 6-3 ruling, with conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting.
Trump praised the three conservatives who dissented.
“I’d like to thank and congratulate Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh for their strength and wisdom and love of our country, which is right now very proud of those justices,” he said. “When you read the dissenting opinions, there’s no way that anyone can argue against them.”
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Trump had promoted tariffs under emergency orders as a key piece of his policy related to the economy, arguing tariffs would usher in a flood of revenue from foreign nations that had been “ripping off” the U.S. for decades.
Tariffs also were leveraged to attract foreign businesses, as well as U.S. companies, to open up shop on U.S. soil to avoid the taxes, while simultaneously bolstering U.S. jobs and manufacturing.
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Trump continued that the ruling “did not overrule tariffs, but “merely overruled a particular use of IEEPA tariffs.”
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act is a 1977 emergency powers law that lets a president, after declaring a national emergency tied to a foreign threat, restrict or regulate certain international economic transactions — most commonly to impose sanctions.
Trump relied on IEEPA as the legal basis for the tariffs the Court struck down, ruling that the statute does not authorize tariffs.