Trump holds news conference in wake of Supreme Court tariff decision

A conservative reporter asked the president if he thinks he will get to nominate additional conservative justices later this year. 

“I don’t know, but they’re great justices,” Mr. Trump said. “That’s all I can say. And I hope they’re going to be around a long time.” 

Mr. Trump said existing tariffs imposed under other trade authorities known as Section 122 and Section 301 remain “in full force and effect.” 

He also said he will sign an executive order Friday to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose a baseline tariff of up to 15% for no more than 150 days to deal with “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits.

The president also said he will initiate investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act to protect the country from unfair trading practices from foreign countries and companies. Mr. Trump has invoked that law to impose tariffs before. 

“Going forward, we will be able to take in more money,” he claimed. 

The president claimed the justice who ruled against him actually increased the power and flexibility presidents have to impose tariffs and trade restrictions.

“In actuality, 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,” he said. “I don’t think they meant that. I’m sure they didn’t.”

Mr. Trump read from a portion of Kavanaugh’s principal dissent, which said the president could use other statutes to impose tariffs. He called his writing  “genius” and said he was “very proud” of Kavanaugh’s appointment. 

Kavanaugh’s stock, he said, “has gone so up. I’m so proud of him.”

Mr.Trump appointed Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.

The president claimed without evidence that the Supreme Court is “swayed by foreign interests and a  political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think.”

“These people are obnoxious, ignorant and loud,” Mr. Trump said, without identifying the purported movement. “They’re very loud, and I think certain justices are afraid of that. They don’t want to do the right thing. They’re afraid of it.”

Solicitor General John Sauer, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, joined the president for his remarks.

The president appointed three of the six justices in the court’s conservative majority: Kavanaugh, Gorsuch and Barrett. Gorsuch and Barrett ruled against him in the tariff case.

Mr. Trump extended praise for Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh, who dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision striking down his global tariffs.

He thanked the three “for their strength and wisdom and love of our country.”

“There’s no way that anyone can argue against them, there’s no way,” he said. “Foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic. They’re so happy, and they’re dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long, that I can assure you.”

Mr. Trump began his remarks by expressing his disappointment in the justices who voted against his tariffs, which includes two of the justices he nominated, Barrett and Gorsuch. 

“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,” he said. 

Referring to “the Democrats on the court,” the president said, “They also are a frankly disgrace to our nation. Those justices. They’re an automatic no. No matter how good a case you have, it’s a no.”

The Supreme Court’s decision crossed ideological lines, with three conservative justices and the court’s three liberals forming a majority to strike down the president’s tariffs:

The majority itself was split, however, with the liberals and conservatives disagreeing about why the tariffs should be struck down. 

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett said the tariffs fail to meet the standard set under the “major questions doctrine,” which states broad assertions of power claimed by the executive branch on issues of political or economic significance must be clearly authorized by Congress. 

Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson — the three liberals — said that ordinary interpretation of the statute was enough to strike down the tariffs.

The ruling came down while the president was meeting with the nation’s governors at the White House. 

Mr. Trump was handed a note while speaking, and announced the tariff decision to the room, according to a governor who was present. He called the decision a “disgrace” and left, the governor said.

The Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. The Supreme Court divided 6-3, with Chief Justice John Roberts delivering the opinion for the court. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

“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,” Roberts wrote in a portion of the decision joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. “We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”

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