Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump on Sunday sharply criticized two Supreme Court justices he appointed, saying their votes against his administration’s tariff policies had harmed the country.
“I ‘Love’ Justice Neil Gorsuch! He’s a really smart and good man, but he voted against me, and our Country, on Tariffs, a devastating move,” the president wrote, referring to Neil Gorsuch.
He added similar criticism of Amy Coney Barrett, saying, “I have, likewise, always liked and respected Amy Coney Barrett, but the same thing with her.”
The remarks followed a Supreme Court decision in February that found the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize a president to impose broad tariffs, rejecting a key element of President Trump’s trade policy.
The president argued the ruling would have major financial consequences, claiming it could force the United States to repay large sums.
“The court’s ruling would cost the United States ‘159 Billion Dollars that we have to pay back,’” he wrote, calling the decision a “Supreme Court Tariff catastrophe.”
He also suggested the justices could have mitigated the impact by including language allowing the government to retain tariff revenues already collected.
President Trump further accused some Republican-appointed justices of ruling against him to demonstrate independence.
“Democrat Justices always remain true to the people that honored them for that very special Nomination,” he wrote. “Republican Justices often go out of their way to oppose me, because they want to show how ‘independent’ or, ‘above it all,’ they are.”
The president also warned the court could soon rule against his administration on birthright citizenship, which he described as economically unsustainable.
“I don’t want loyalty, but I do want and expect it for our Country,” he wrote, adding that repeated decisions of similar magnitude could have lasting consequences.
“Yes, I have another way of doing Tariffs, but it is far slower, and more laborious than what was just determined, in a close decision, to be “illegal” or “unconstitutional,” with three powerful, and highly accurate, dissents! Well, maybe Neil, and Amy, just had a really bad day, but our Country can only handle so many decisions of that magnitude before it breaks down, and cracks!!! Sometimes decisions have to be allowed to use Good, Strong, Common Sense as a guide. A negative ruling on Birthright Citizenship, on top of the recent Supreme Court Tariff catastrophe, is not Economically sustainable for the United States of America,” the president concluded.
