Posted on 02/20/2026 3:45:11 PM PST by Signalman
President Donald Trump on Friday escalated his criticism of the U.S. Supreme Court following its decision to strike down most of his sweeping global tariffs, suggesting that “foreign interests” may have influenced the justices who ruled against him.
The comments came just hours after the high court, in a 6–3 ruling, determined that Trump had exceeded his authority by imposing broad import duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that the statute does not grant a president the power to levy tariffs, a responsibility the Constitution assigns to Congress.
During a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room, Trump reacted with visible frustration, reserving particular criticism for Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, both of whom he appointed during his first term and who joined the majority.
Calling their votes “a disgrace to our nation,” Trump said he was “absolutely ashamed” of certain members of the court. He then went a step further, hinting that outside forces may have swayed the outcome.
“You’ve mentioned multiple times foreign influence over the Supreme Court, do you have evidence of that? Will you investigate that?” a reporter asked.
“You’re going to find out!” Trump replied.
Trump also lashed out at those who backed the legal challenge to his tariff authority, referring to them as “sleaze-bags” and accusing them of siding with foreign competitors over American workers. He singled out Leonard Leo, a longtime legal activist who advised Trump on Supreme Court nominations during his first term.
Leo, through nonprofit networks he supports, helped fund the lawsuit challenging the president’s use of emergency powers to impose the tariffs. Trump described Leo as a bad person, marking a sharp break from their past alliance.
The legal challenge centered on Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping import duties on a wide range of foreign goods. The Supreme Court ruled that while the law allows a president to regulate certain economic transactions during a declared national emergency, it does not authorize the imposition of tariffs.
Despite the setback, Trump made clear that he has no intention of abandoning his trade agenda.
“We will be able to take in more money, because there’s always doubt,” Trump said.
During the briefing, he announced plans to pivot to alternative statutory authorities, including Section 122 of federal trade law, which permits temporary tariffs under certain conditions. He also signaled that his administration would initiate new Section 301 investigations into what he described as unfair trade practices by foreign nations.
The president argued that the court’s ruling would not meaningfully limit his ability to reshape U.S. trade policy, asserting that other legal pathways could provide even greater flexibility in setting tariffs.
For now, the Supreme Court’s decision stands as a significant check on presidential trade authority under emergency powers. But if Trump’s remarks are any indication, the political and legal battle over tariffs—and the forces behind them—is far from over.
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He should just lay off this. Some you win, some you lose, and Trump certainly doesn’t want the Dems de-legitimizing Supreme Court decisions with which they don’t agree...of which there are plenty.
“Trump certainly doesn’t want the Dems de-legitimizing Supreme Court decisions with which they don’t agree”
They already have been.
Trump has lost the tariff battle but not the tariff war
New York Post ^ | Feb. 20, 2026 | Ilya Shapiro
Posted on 2/20/2026, 1:27:06 PM by MinorityRepublican
The Supreme Court’s tariff decision landed about where conventional wisdom said it would: The justices ruled 6–3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act simply doesn’t give the president the sweeping authority the Trump administration claimed. That’s not a political rebuke. It’s a legal one, and a narrow one at that.
Chief Justice John Roberts put the bottom line plainly: “We hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” That’s it. Not that tariffs are unconstitutional. Not that Trump’s trade agenda is illegitimate. Just that this particular statute doesn’t do the work the administration wanted it to do.
The core of the majority’s reasoning is straightforward and, frankly, hard to argue with. Article I gives Congress the power to tax, and tariffs are taxes. As Roberts explained, “The power to impose tariffs is ‘very clear[ly] . . . a branch of the taxing power.’” The administration conceded the president has no inherent authority to impose tariffs. So everything turned on whether Congress clearly delegated that power in IEEPA. (Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Sounds like several SCOTUS members are paid off by Singham and probably Soros idiot. They are the billionaires financing the left.
https://www.vornews.com/china/billionaire-singham-funding-radical-left/
President Trump is way ahead of his enemies on the tariff issue
He intentionally ran wild with IEEPA tariffs knowing full well that the Supreme Court would likely overturn them
He caused the opposition to burn up a year and big bucks fighting him and he may , plus he may have collected some useful info on the opposition in the process. We shall see where this leads
Can you smell Fried Rice ?
FAFO
Assuming what Trump said is at least remotely accurate, and the receipts are provided that indeed show foreign influence can be shown to be directing the decisions of Supreme Court justices, perhaps even direct evidence on several critical cases. Furthermore, its not refuted, and Congress refuses to act on that information?
What then?
Trump has other avenues. I personally would have held off doing the sweeping tariffs til AFTER the midterms, imposing a tariff on China when he took office would have been enough for now..then do the reciprocal tariffs after the midterms, now it just gives something for the commies to run on even though many of them were Pro Tariff until Trump went after their butt buddy China
“...and Trump certainly doesn’t want the Dems de-legitimizing Supreme Court decisions with which they don’t agree..”
That is a strange statement to make. Where have you been? Why do you think the democrats want to pack the court?
Seems like an overreaction on his part. He can’t muse method A but still has other ways to affect trade tariffs so he should act like a big boy and just do the same thing under a different name.
He should just lay off this.
Another comment from the Globalist Dem side, from Brucie Chin.
Some of these other sections 301, 201 require investigation by Commerce into unfair trade practices but there is no minimum time requirement (there are maximums of 180d) for a report after which Trump can decide what to do. Section 122 requires no investigation but is limited to 150 days w/o congressional approval. I don’t know exactly what Commerce can investigate, but hopefully they could look at foreign trade related influence in Congress and SCOTUS. Maybe that’s what Trump meant by “you’ll find out”
Assuming what Trump said is at least remotely accurate, and the receipts are provided that indeed show foreign influence can be shown to be directing the decisions of Supreme Court justices, perhaps even direct evidence on several critical cases. Furthermore, its not refuted, and Congress refuses to act on that information?
What then?
.......
One option is hanging on the Oval Office wall
I also note that the effort failed miserably and was unpopular with voters. Accusing them of being owned by foreign governments hands the Dems more ammo when they want to make that argument again.
Trump has won at SCOTUS more than he has lost. He's a guy who should be bolstering the reputation of the Supreme Court, not tearing it down.
More like from the ass dimple...
I’m not a lawyer. But especially considering that John Solomo is reporting that the foreign manipulation of election systems is about to be exposed, I think this will be proof that the entire us government has been taken over by hostile belligerents. That is the threshold for the .military to step in, re.ove the belligerent, and restore legitimate constitutional government
For demoncrats, no matter what Trump says or does, it’s wrong.
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