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President Donald Trump\u2019s trade war isn\u2019t over, despite the Supreme Court striking down his global tariffs, but the legal setback adds to the growing wall of resistance.<\/p>\n
The last two months represent a stunning reversal from the first year of his second term when lawmakers, CEOs, foreign governments, and the high court itself deferred to the president\u2014even as he sought to tear down the existing world order.<\/p>\n
The 6-3 ruling against Trump\u2019s levies under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act earned the six justices in the majority a severe tongue lashing. In a press briefing on Friday, he said they were a \u201cdisgrace to our nation,\u201d adding that they\u2019re \u201cfools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n
He combined his insults with bravado over his ability to enact a fresh set of tariffs under separate laws, and he quickly followed through by imposing a 10% global duty that he hiked to 15% just a day later.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill, the importance of this judgment is another step in piercing President Trump\u2019s seeming invincibility,\u201d wrote Kurt Campbell, a longtime diplomat and national security official who is also chairman of the Asia Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00a0have seen\u00a0a series of domestic actions, including the withdrawal of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement from Minneapolis, various Republicans separating from the White House on domestic legislation and now the Supreme Court\u00a0basically hollowing\u00a0out the most important plank on President Trump\u2019s economic vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a note on Friday, he also pointed out that Congress had already pushed back on his tariff agenda. In fact, several Republicans joined Democrats in the House of Representatives to revoke Trump\u2019s import taxes on Canada, though the vote earlier this month was largely symbolic.<\/p>\n
Campbell predicted that lawmakers on Capitol Hill from both parties will reaffirm the Supreme Court decision, making it difficult for the Trump to pass any legislation meant to reinforce his tariff authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is significant at a time that the president\u00a0seeks\u00a0to head into midterm elections with a head full of steam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s rush to establish alternate tariffs clashes with his attempts to address the affordability crisis, which helped Democrats win off-year elections in 2025 and is shaping up to deliver control of at least one chamber of Congress in 2026.<\/p>\n
If Democrats do take over Congress, it will severely limit Trump\u2019s maneuvering room as they seek to rein in his administration\u2019s spending and policies, especially in areas like immigration. <\/p>\n
The Supreme Court\u2019s tariff decision could signal that the judicial branch may join the legislative branch in drawing a line against the executive branch.<\/p>\n
Harvard law professor and Bloomberg columnist Noah Feldman called the ruling a turning point and compared it to the high court striking down President Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s first New Deal in 1935.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took almost a decade, but Chief Justice John Roberts and the Supreme Court finally found a way to stand up to President Donald Trump\u2019s executive power overreach,\u00a0striking down\u00a0the tariffs that are the signature initiative of his presidency,\u201d he wrote on Friday.<\/p>\n
For months, cracks have been forming in Trump\u2019s support. After Democrats scored big election victories in November, Congress ordered the release of the Epstein files on near-unanimous votes with broad GOP approval. In December, heavy redactions and the Justice Department\u2019s failure to disclose all of the records by the deadline added to the tension.<\/p>\n
At the start of the new year, Trump seemed to be riding high after the U.S. military pulled off a stunning raid that captured Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro,\u00a0despite grumblings that another foreign intervention strayed from his \u201cAmerica first\u201d motto.<\/p>\n
Then a series of events in rapid succession quickly unwound his aura of invincibility. A week after the Maduro raid, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell issued a defiant video statement that revealed he was facing a Justice Department criminal investigation\u00a0related to a renovation project at the central bank\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n
That rallied support for Powell on Capitol Hill, including from key Republicans who want to preserve central bank independence.<\/p>\n
A week after that, Trump\u00a0announced tariffs\u00a0against several NATO countries unless they supported his bid to seize control of Greenland. Canada and Europe held firm on protecting the semi-autonomous Danish territory, and Trump backed down.<\/p>\n
And the following week, federal agents shot to death a second U.S. citizen in Minnesota during Trump\u2019s deportation campaign in the state. <\/p>\n
Silicon Valley workers\u00a0expressed their anger, and Minnesota-based CEOs\u00a0pleaded for de-escalation. Democrats in Congress stiffened their opposition to an appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, leading to a partial government shutdown. Meanwhile, more Republicans\u00a0voiced some uneasiness\u00a0with federal agents\u2019 tactics. <\/p>\n
Eventually, Trump dispatched his border czar, who ousted the Border Patrol\u2019s Greg Bovino and announced an end to the Minnesota surge. <\/p>\n
At the time, the swirl of events added up to a tipping point for Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting to feel like we are in the midst of a historic hinge moment here,\u201d political scientist Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at the New America think tank,\u00a0posted on X last month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Supreme #Courts #tariff #ruling #marks #latest #defeatpiercing #President #Trumps #invincibility<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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