Trump lashes out at Supreme Court justices who struck down his tariffs: 'Fools and lapdogs'

• President Donald Trump blasted the Supreme Court for striking down most of his tariffs.
• On Friday, justices handed down a 6-3 decision that ruled that Trump overstepped his power.
• The ruling was a major rebuke of Trump's trade policy.

President Donald Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court after justices dealt a sweeping rebuke of his trade policy.

"It its deeply disappointing," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump said some justices should be "absolutely ashamed" for siding against him. Without evidence, Trump accused justices of being "swayed by foreign interests."

"Others think being politically correct, which has happened before far too often with members of this court," he said. "They are just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOS and radical left Democrats."

Trump said "alternatives" will now be used to impose tariffs and suggested that the new tariffs will generate even more money.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump did not have the power under a 1970s law to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs as he did in April 2025 during "Liberation Day." The ruling does not invalidate all of Trump's tariffs, as other tariffs were imposed under different authorities. It does mean that Trump is significantly more limited in imposing broad, general tariffs against countries, one of his preferred methods in trade negotiations.

"The President must 'point to clear congressional authorization' to justify his extraordinary assertion to justify his extraordinary assertion of the power to impose tariffs," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "He cannot."

Trump, who has repeatedly proclaimed himself to be "Tariff Man," has also repeatedly suggested that he would use revenue from tariffs to pay for a range of things, from refund checks to paying down the national debt to helping fund childcare.

In total, Treasury Department data showed that the US has collected more than $133 billion in tariffs as of December.

The White House and top Trump administration officials have repeatedly suggested that if the court struck down most of Trump's tariffs that it would be a mess to sort out any potential refund process.

"It won't be a problem if we have to do it, but I can tell you that if it happens - which I don't think it's going to - it's just a corporate boondoggle," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently told Reuters. "Costco, who's suing the US government, are they going to give the money back to their clients?"

Roberts' opinion did not explicitly address a potential refund process, a point that Justice Brett Kavanaugh seized on in his 63-page dissent.

"The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers," Kavanaugh wrote. "But that process is likely to be a 'mess,' as was acknowledged at oral argument."

This is unlikely to be Trump's last word on the soon-to-be historic ruling. On Tuesday, he is set to deliver his annual State of the Union address.

Historically, the justices occupy front-row seats on the House floor.