US President Donald Trump sharply criticized the Supreme Court on Friday (February 20) after it struck down his sweeping global tariffs in a 6–3 ruling, calling the decision “deeply disappointing”.
In the White House briefing room, Trump said he was “ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.” He described the ruling as “a disgrace” and said some justices were “frankly a disgrace to our nation. They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.”
Criticism of the court’s authority
Trump condemned the ruling for preventing him from charging even a single dollar under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
“This must have been done to protect those other countries, certainly not the United States of America, which they should be interested in protecting. That’s what they’re supposed to be protecting,” he said.
He also referenced voter fraud, a frequent talking point, while denouncing the ruling.
“I won by millions of votes. We won in a landslide. With all the cheating that went on, there was a lot of it, we still won in a landslide too big to rig,” Trump said.
Praise for dissenting justices
Trump praised the three conservative justices who dissented—Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh.
“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,” he said.
He singled out Kavanaugh, highlighting his dissent: “I would like to thank Justice Kavanaugh for his, frankly, his genius and his great ability. Very proud of that appointment in actuality.”
Harsh words for majority justices
Trump did not hold back in criticizing the justices who struck down the tariffs, including Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
“They’re against anything that makes America strong, healthy and great again. They also are, frankly, a disgrace to our nation, those justices, they’re an automatic no,” Trump said.
When asked if he regretted nominating Gorsuch and Barrett, he said: “I think their decision was terrible. I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, you want to know the truth, the two of them.”
Economic concerns highlighted
The President warned that without tariffs, foreign countries have been and will continue to outperform the US in certain sectors.
“This should have been done by presidents many years ago,” Trump said. “They allowed our country to be eaten alive.” He specifically referenced industries such as automobiles as areas where US competitiveness has suffered.
President Trump’s press conference comes shortly after the US Supreme Court struck down the sweeping US tariffs, which he pursued under a law intended for use during national emergencies.
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The ruling delivered a significant legal setback to the Republican leader, curbing his use of emergency powers to reshape US trade policy and casting uncertainty over the future of his tariff strategy. Trump claimed that he has a “backup plan”. reuters reported.
What US Supreme Court said?
In a landmark opinion issued on Friday (February 20), the justices, in a 6-3 ruling authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, upheld a lower court’s decision that Trump exceeded his authority in invoking a 1977 law to impose sweeping tariffs.
The court held that the statute in question — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, did not grant the President the power he claimed to impose broad tariff measures on most of America’s trading partners.
The ruling came down while the President was meeting with the nation’s governors at the White House. He called the decision a “disgrace” and left, reuters reported.
Will US have to refund billions?
On Friday, economists at the Penn Wharton Budget Model reportedly estimated that tariffs imposed under IEEPA have generated over $175 billion in revenue. And that amount would likely need to be refunded with the Supreme Court ruling against the IEEPA-based tariffs, mentioned a report by Reuters.
Earlier, Trump had mentioned on Truth Social that repaying the money would be “a complete mess” and “almost impossible for our Country to pay”. He said that refunds could run into “many Hundreds of Billions of Dollars” – which is estimated to be over $130 billion, a BBC report, published in January 2026, mentioned.
