President Donald Trump is spinning defeat into victory.
After the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping tariffs, Trump claimed the ruling actually handed him more power than before.
In a fiery Truth Social post Monday morning, Trump blasted what he called the “supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!)” and insisted the justices had “accidentally and unwittingly” strengthened his authority.
According to Trump, the Court’s decision gives him “far more powers and strength” than he had before their “ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling.”
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That’s not how most people read a 6–3 loss.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump overstepped when he imposed broad tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law meant for genuine national emergencies. The Court’s message was straightforward. Congress must sign off on tariffs.
“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” the Court wrote. “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.”
The ruling went further.
“IEEPA’s grant of authority to ‘regulate . . . importation’ falls short. IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties. The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word ‘regulate’ to authorize taxation. And until now no President has read IEEPA to confer such power.”
That sounds definitive, but Trump sees it very differently.
He now argues he can issue “Licenses to do absolutely ‘terrible’ things to foreign countries,” especially those he says have been “RIPPING US OFF for many decades.”
“BUT ALL LICENSES CHARGE FEES, why can’t the United States do so?” he wrote. “You do a license to get a fee! The opinion doesn’t explain that, but I know the answer!”
He also claimed the Court “approved all other Tariffs” and that they can now be used “in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty.”
He called the justices “incompetent” and said they “did a great job for the wrong people.”
Within hours of the ruling, Trump announced a new 10% blanket tariff on all countries, arguing many had been “ripping the U.S. off for decades.” By Saturday, that number jumped to 15%, pending what he described as “new and legally permissible tariffs.”
The White House says the new tariffs will take effect Tuesday.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
