Trump units up face-to-face showdown with ‘disloyal’ Supreme Court justices after tariff ruling
Donald Trump will come face-to-face with the Supreme Court justices who last week struck down his landmark tariff policy in what is anticipated to be an uncomfortable showdown.
Last week, the Supreme Court made the extraordinary move of ruling against his widespread tariff policy.
The court’s rejection comes despite the President having the benefit of a conservative majority. He appointed three Supreme Court Justices in his first term – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
But despite the Court’s 6-3 rightward lean, Gorsuch and Barrett ruled against the President on Friday, while Kavanaugh penned the dissent in support of Trump.
The president was furious. He claimed that ‘foreign influence’ and political machinations scared the justices into ruling against him.
He called an emergency press briefing at the White House where he called Amy Comey Barrett and Neil Gorsuch traitors and an ’embarrassment to their families.’
He said he was ‘ashamed’ of them and claimed they were ‘disloyal to the Constitution.’
Trump complained that conservative justices are not as loyal as liberal ones are to Democratic presidents.
President Donald Trump is likely at his State of the Union speech to face at least a few Supreme Court justices who ruled against his tariff policies
It’s the first time Trump could see the justices he called ‘disloyal’
The Court ruled that Trump was overreaching his executive powers when it came to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
During his sixth State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening, Trump will likely have the chance to see in-person Supreme Court justices for the first time since that ruling.
At the Friday press conference, Trump glowed about Justice Brett Kavanaugh – the lone justice he picked who ruled the tariffs should stay in place.
He was joined in the dissent by conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samual Alito, who is rumored to be considering stepping down before the end of the current president’s term so Trump gets yet another pick.
With a 6-3 conservative majority on the court – and three being trump picks – it was hard to imagine an instance where the current president faced dissent on one of his policies.
He said as much during his tirade in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Friday.
‘The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the Court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,’ the president said before taking questions.
‘It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,’ he alleged without proof.
The Supreme Court building is right across from the US Capitol, will Trump will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, February 24, 2026
The president also spun the legal defeat into a win, saying that now he has a greater ability to regulate trade.
‘While I am sure that they did not mean to do so, the Supreme Court’s decision today made a President’s ability to both regulate trade and impose tariffs more powerful and more crystal clear rather than less,’ Trump said. ‘I don’t think they meant that.’
The president continued to tear into the conservative justices on Truth Social that day, accusing Gorsuch and Barrett of voting against Republicans ‘and never against themselves.’
‘At least I didn’t appoint Roberts, who led the effort to allow Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for years to continue to do so — But we won’t let it happen. The new TARIFFS, totally tested and accepted as Law, are on their way!’ Trump continued.
On Monday, he said on social media that he would refer to the highest US court with lowercase letters because he doesn’t have respect for them.
