The Supreme Court Just Made Trump's Biggest Problem Worse
A brutal rebuke from the once loyal court
After years of doing Trump’s bidding, the Supreme Court just delivered a devastating rebuke to President Trump, his economic agenda, and the central pillar of his second term. As the Wall Street Journal wrote:
President Trump’s global tariffs are illegal, the Supreme Court ruled Friday, in a stinging repudiation of a signature White House initiative.
The 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, removes a diplomatic tool that Trump has aggressively wielded to remake U.S. trade deals and collect tens of billions of dollars from companies importing foreign goods. The ruling didn’t address whether the government will have to pay back the tariff revenue it already has collected.
In a particularly painful blow, the majority included two justices that Trump put on the court, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
As I write this, there are more questions than answers about what comes next. The largest among them: what happens to the more than $100 billion that was illegally collected from American companies and consumers?
Many Democrats saw this legal win at the Supreme Court and immediately saw a political loss. Some even postulated that the Court was intentionally doing Trump a favor. As crazy as that sounds, it makes a certain logical sense on paper. Trump’s biggest problem is that voters hold him responsible for higher prices, and they specifically hate the tariffs. A Marquette University poll found that 56% of voters think tariffs hurt the economy, and a CNN poll found that more than six in ten disapprove of them.
If the Supreme Court takes the economic matches from the baby, won’t Trump stop lighting himself on fire?
I get that argument. But it’s wrong.
The Supreme Court decision is going to make Trump’s political problems worse, not better.
Here’s why:
