President Donald Trump reacted Friday morning after the Supreme Court struck down his global tariffs in a 6-3 ruling.
Trump reportedly described the ruling as a “disgrace” and signaled he has a backup plan.
The court’s decision targeted tariffs that Trump has imposed this past year under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The majority ruled the law “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs,” according to the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts.
President Trump’s claim that a decades-old law gives him the power to unilaterally impose tariffs “falls short” of the high legal bar needed to justify the sweeping tariffs, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a 6-3 majority opinion. https://t.co/QGkf5iXBit pic.twitter.com/NFTZ1hpWdq
— ABC News (@ABC) February 20, 2026
Associate Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch joined Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
Trump addressed the ruling during a White House breakfast with governors, according to a report after the ruling was made public.
According to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Trump went after the court.
“News: President Trump commented on the Supreme Court ruling striking down his tariffs while inside the White House breakfast with governors this morning, calling it a ‘disgrace,’ I’m told,” she posted on X.
Collins concluded, “He told those gathered that he has a backup plan.”
News: President Trump commented on the Supreme Court ruling striking down his tariffs while inside the White House breakfast with governors this morning, calling it a “disgrace,” I’m told. He told those gathered that he has a backup plan.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 20, 2026
The president did not immediately release a statement on the issue.
In his dissenting opinion, Kavanaugh appeared to signal there was a workaround to the ruling for Trump.
Kavanaugh points out that even if today’s mess of a ruling creates all sorts of chaos for previously imposed tariffs, Trump has many other options for imposing tariffs going forward. pic.twitter.com/Rdw2ab4o1G
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 20, 2026
Citing “numerous avenues to impose tariffs, the associate justice wrote, “Although I firmly disagree with the Court’s holding today, the decision might not substantially constrain a President’s ability to order tariffs going forward.”
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