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President Donald Trump called the Supreme Court's landmark decision striking down his sweeping emergency tariffs "unfortunate" during his State of the Union address Tuesday (February 24), delivering the rebuke directly to the justices seated in the front row of the House chamber.
Trump defended his use of tariffs, saying he used them to "make great deals for our country," before acknowledging the court's ruling. "Just four days ago an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court — it just came down, a very unfortunate ruling," the president said, with the justices watching stone-faced from the floor below.
The confrontation followed a 6-3 Supreme Court decision on Friday (February 20), in which the justices ruled that Trump's tariffs — imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — were unconstitutional.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito joined Justice Brett Kavanaugh in dissent.
In response to the ruling, the Trump administration is expected to use the 150-day window to build legal groundwork for tariffs under other authorities, including statutes tied to national security and unfair trade practices. Legal challenges to the Section 122 tariffs are also widely anticipated.