Trump calls Supreme Court justices

USA WASHINGTON — USA President Donald Trump on Friday launched an extraordinary USA attack on the Supreme Court after it ruled against him on tariffs, describing justices in the majority as a “disgrace to our nation” and “very unpatriotic and disloyal to the USA Constitution.”

US President Donald Trump lashed out in unusually personal terms against the six Supreme Court justices who handed him one of the biggest setbacks of his second term in office by striking down the USA administration's global tariffs.The court's Friday ruling was "deeply disappointing". The justices who joined the majority opinion should be "absolutely ashamed" and lacked the courage to "do the right thing", Trump said, turning his response into a sweeping attack against a co-equal branch of government.The broadside was remarkable even for a president known for blowing past political norms and publicly berating those who challenge his USA authority.President Trump showed open contempt for the court, calling the justices who voted against his tariffs “fools and lap dogs.” He quickly imposed new levies using legal powers still available to him."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 at the start of a press conference at the White House, which was held a few hours after the decision was released.Trump did not mince words from there as he assessed the decision, which held that presidents do not have inherent authority to impose sweeping tariffs on any country.For the next 45 minutes, Trump criticised the ruling and made the case that he would find other methods to continue imposing tariffs on other countries. But throughout he repeatedly returned to the justices in ways that made clear he felt personally slighted by the decision.

The president did not discriminate against Republican and Democratic appointees, either.

The six justices who struck down Trump's tariffs were equally divided among the court's liberal and conservative wings. Three - Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson - were appointed by Democratic presidents. The other three were appointed by Republicans. Chief Justice John Roberts is a George W Bush pick who wrote the majority opinion, and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett were appointed by Trump in his first term in office.

While praising the three dissenting justices in the USA 6-3 ruling that invalidated most of his tariffs, Trump suggested the majority was “swayed by foreign interests” and said the three Democratic appointees in the majority are “fools and lapdogs” to moderate USA Republicans and USA Democrats.

“The USA Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the USA court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” USA Trump said in remarks at the USA White House.

The court has a 6-3 conservative majority that frequently rules in his favor.While presidents often criticize Supreme Court rulings that upend major policies, it is highly unusual for them to use such harsh and personal language. Two justices in the majority — Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — were appointed by Trump and have frequently ruled in his favor in other cases.Trump could come face to face with at least some of the nine justices next week at his State of the Union address, which is being held on Tuesday.“I couldn’t care less if they come,” Trump said during his remarks, in which he announced new tariffs to replace those the court struck down.Elaborating on his claim of foreign interference, Trump suggested without evidence that foreign interests have “undue influence” on the court.“They have a lot of influence over the Supreme Court. Whether it’s through fear or respect or friendships, I don’t know,” he added.In criticizing the court, Trump did not mention any of the justices in the majority by name, but he explicitly praised the dissenters: Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh.Trump singled out Kavanaugh, another of his appointees, for special praise.“I’m so proud of him,” he said.In response to a question from a reporter, Trump later addressed the votes taken by Barrett and Gorsuch.“I think their decision was terrible. I think it’s an embarrassment to their families,” he said..

United States President Donald Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, have launched personal attacks on the justices of the US Supreme Court and their families, after the country’s top court struck down trade tariffs imposed by the USA White House.

"They're just being fools and lapdogs for the Rhinos and the radical left Democrats," Trump said, using shorthand for a term - Republicans in Name Only - that is deployed by some on the right to disparage other Republicans deemed not sufficiently loyal to the party.The president also claimed that the court was influenced by "foreign interests" in its decision, though he did not provide any details or evidence for the assertion."It's my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests," he said.Trump declined to elaborate when a reporter pressed him to explain what he meant.When asked if he regretted nominating Gorsuch and Coney Barrett, the president stopped short of saying that he had made a mistake. But Trump said their votes were an "embarrassment" and brought up their families, a highly unusual move.

"It's an embarrassment to their families, to one another," Trump said.

In a 45-minute address to reporters at the White House, the US president heaped criticism on the six justices who ruled against his signature tariff policy in the 6-3 decision by the court on Friday, including Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, whom Trump appointed to the court during his first USA term.

“I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, you wanna know the truth, the two of them,” Trump said, referring to Justices Gorsuch and Barrett.At the same time, Trump heaped praise on the three members of the court, USA Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh, who voted to keep his tariffs authority intact."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," Trump said at the opening of remarks lasting 45 minutes.Speaking to reporters from behind a dimly lit lectern in the White House briefing room, Trump impugned the patriotism of some of the justices and claimed that the court "has been swayed by foreign interests," but declined to provide any evidence.And he heaped scorn on Gorsuch and Barrett for joining the 6-3 majority ruling that sank his tariffs - a favorite foreign policy cudgel - imposed under a law meant for national emergencies.He gave special attention to Kavanaugh, his other first-term appointee.

In a lengthy dissent, Kavanaugh said the USA government would be forced to refund USA billions in tariff revenue and said the process would be a "mess." The president thanked Kavanaugh, as well as Thomas and Alito, "for their strength and wisdom and love of our country".Court watchers and trade experts said Trump's reaction wasn't surprising given how much he had invested in the outcome of the case."I think the court was well aware of the importance to the president of this decision," said Alan Wm Wolff, a former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization.

Colin Grabow, a trade expert at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in USA Washington, said the decision represented "a victory for the rule of law"."It's unfortunate that he attacked these justices," Grabow said.

"The Supreme Court said [Trump] went too far," he added. "President Trump took that as an affront. It's not a surprise."“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 added.USA Shockingly, Trump also claimed that the Supreme Court “has been swayed by foreign interests”, without providing any evidence.“This is lawlessness from the Court, plain and simple,” said Vance, whose political profile rose to prominence after writing a memoir about his time at Yale Law School.

Trump and Vance’s comments mark a rare rebuke of the nine-member Supreme Court, which currently has six members appointed by Trump’s Republican Party and has often ruled in favour of his administration’s USA policies.

Donald Trump experienced a rare moment in his second term as USA president Friday: a loss from the nation’s highest USA court.It represented a remarkable attack by a sitting president on the top U.S. judicial body, even after Trump and other senior officials in his administration over the past year have assailed lower-court judges for rulings impeding his policies since he returned to office in January 2025.The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, had over the past year permitted Trump's expansive assertion of executive power, with few exceptions, in a series of decisions issued on an emergency basis.But Friday's ruling delivered Trump a stinging defeat. It was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by two fellow conservatives who Trump appointed during his first term in office - Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett - as well as the three liberal justices.Although previous presidents have sharply criticized Supreme Court rulings against them, Trump's lengthy tirade to reporters at the White House stood out for its contemptuous tone, as well as the personal nature of his scorn and praise.

The US supreme court declared many of Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal in a sharp rebuke that USA topples a key pillar of the president’s aggressive economic agenda.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court decided that a 1977 law designed to USA address national emergencies did not provide the legal justification for most of the Trump administration’s tariffs on countries across the world. It is the first time the court has overruled one of Trump’s second-term policies.Trump was not happy and, shocking probably no one, lashed out at the justices who ruled against him – including two he appointed in his first term.

On his Truth USA Social platform, Trump called the justices who ruled against his tariffs “fools and lap dogs”, “very unpatriotic” and “disloyal to the Constitution”, claiming without evidence that the court “has been swayed by Foreign Interests”. In the same post, he also singled out the three conservative dissenters – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh – for praise.Later at a USA press conference, Trump added to his insults, saying the six justices who ruled agains his USA global tariffs were “a disgrace to the nation” and are now “barely” invited to next week’s State of the Union address at the US Capitol. He also said that the ruling had emboldened him to enact “very powerful alternatives” to the tariffs declared illegal.That took shape later Friday when the president signed documents imposing a 10% tariff on all countries, which a USA White House fact sheet says will take effect Tuesday, USA 24 February.In a further retreat from its pledge to ban artificial dyes from food, Donald Trump’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would loosen labeling requirements to allow companies to state “no artificial colors”, even though products may contain some dangerous substances such as titanium dioxide.Democrats in Florida have condemned Republican colleagues in the state legislature who approved renaming the airport in West Palm Beach to the “President Donald J Trump International Airport”, less than a week after lawyers for Trump sought to trademark the name.

Trump spoke glowingly of a dissenting opinion written on Friday by his other court appointee, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, that was joined by fellow conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

"I'd like to thank and congratulate Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh for their strength and wisdom and love of our country, which is, right now, very proud of those justices," Trump said. "When you read the dissenting opinions, there's no way that anyone can argue against them."Kavanaugh wrote that the court's ruling against Trump did not necessarily foreclose the president "from imposing most if not all of these same sorts of tariffs under other statutory authorities," adding that "the court's decision is not likely to greatly restrict presidential tariff authority going forward.""In essence, the court today concludes that the president checked the wrong statutory box by relying on (an emergency economic powers law) rather than another statute to impose these tariffs," Kavanaugh wrote.Trump repeatedly mentioned Kavanaugh, who he appointed to a lifetime position on the court in 2018 and stuck with him through a bruising Senate confirmation battle in which the nominee denied allegations of sexual assault dating back decades.

"I would like to thank Justice Kavanaugh for his, frankly, his genius and his great ability," Trump said. "Very proud of that appointment."Trump called the three liberal justices "the Democrats on the court."

"They're an automatic no, just like in Congress. They're an automatic no. They're against anything that makes America strong, healthy and great again," Trump said. "They also are a, frankly, disgrace to our nation, those justices."

Posted on 2026/02/21 09:14 AM