President Donald Trump on Friday outlined a new plan to impose his global tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down most of the levies as illegal — a decision he lambasted as “deeply disappointing.”
“Other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the court incorrectly rejected,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room. “We have alternatives, great alternatives, could be more money. We’ll take in more money and we’ll be a lot stronger for it.”
He announced he will soon be imposing a new 10% global tariff under a different legal authority.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling marked a major blow to what has been the cornerstone of Trump’s economic agenda in his second term and one of his longtime political goals. Trump publicly lobbied the court for months to rule in his favor.
The court’s majority deemed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not give him the power to unilaterally impose tariffs. Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs and taxes, the majority concluded.
“I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, February 20, 2026.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Three conservative justices joined the liberal justices in invalidating the IEEPA tariffs, including two justices nominated by Trump: Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch. The opinion was delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Further attacking the court, Trump said “they’re just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats.” He said that the families of the conservative justices who ruled against the administration should be embarrassed, and called the liberal justices on the court a “disgrace to our nation.”
Trump said that because of the ruling, “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.”
On what’s next, Trump said he will sign an order to enact a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. He said those tariffs could take effect as early as Monday.
But such tariffs can only last for 150 days without congressional approval. When asked about that limitation, Trump claimed he could “do pretty much what we want to do.”
Pressed more broadly on whether he was going to ask Congress (where Republicans currently hold a majority in the House and Senate) to take additional action on tariffs, Trump said he didn’t believe he needed to.
The president also said he will start investigations under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, though he did not specify which countries or sectors they would target. These investigations can take weeks or months, and are used in response to an adverse trade policy taken up by another country.
“We’re going forward,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, February 20, 2026.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Trump congratulated Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh for their dissents in this case. He specifically praised Kavanaugh, saying his “stock has gone so up.”
From the White House briefing room podium, Trump read aloud part of Kavanaugh’s dissent in which Kavanaugh said the court’s decision “might not substantially constrain a President’s ability to order tariffs going forward.”
Kavanaugh also noted in his dissent the silence from the court’s majority on the issue of refunds or how that process would work. As of December, the administration had collected $142 billion through the tariffs, according to the Yale Budget Lab.
“It’s not discussed. We’ll end up being in court for the next five years,” Trump said, signaling he would not voluntarily pay out refunds.
ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.
