Donald Trump publicly criticized two conservative Supreme Court justices he appointed, accusing them of harming the country after they joined a majority ruling limiting his administration’s tariff powers.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social Sunday night, Trump singled out Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett over a recent Supreme Court decision striking down his use of emergency economic powers to impose broad tariffs.
“I ‘Love’ Justice Neil Gorsuch! He’s a really smart and good man, but he voted against me, and our Country, on Tariffs,” Trump wrote. “I have, likewise, always liked and respected Amy Coney Barrett, but the same thing with her.”
Trump described the ruling as a “tariff catastrophe” and claimed it could cost the United States $159 billion in refunds to foreign companies and governments that paid the tariffs.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against the Trump administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, commonly known as IEEPA, to justify sweeping tariffs tied to national security and trade disputes.
Gorsuch and Barrett joined Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson — in the majority opinion.
Dissenting were Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump suggested the conservative justices who ruled against him were attempting to appear independent rather than supporting the administration’s policy objectives.
“Republican Justices often go out of their way to oppose me, because they want to show how ‘independent’ or ‘above it all,’ they are,” Trump wrote.
He also controversially suggested that justices should show some degree of loyalty to the presidents who appointed them.
“I don’t want loyalty, but I do want and expect it for our Country,” Trump wrote. “It’s really OK for them to be loyal to the person that appointed them.”
The comments immediately sparked renewed debate about judicial independence and the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches.
Trump also tied the tariff ruling to an upcoming Supreme Court decision on birthright citizenship, warning that a ruling against his administration’s position would be “economically unsustainable” for the country.
The birthright citizenship case centers on Trump’s efforts to restrict automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to certain foreign nationals, including cases involving what critics describe as “birth tourism.”
The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision before the end of June or in early July.
Separately, the United States Court of International Trade recently ruled 2-1 against the Trump administration’s sweeping 10 percent global tariff policy enacted under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
The court found the tariffs “invalid” and “unauthorized by law,” ordering the administration to halt collections from the plaintiffs and refund prior payments. The ruling currently applies only to the specific plaintiffs involved in the case, including the state of Washington and businesses Burlap & Barrel and Basic Fun.
In response to the court setbacks, the Trump administration has increasingly turned to Section 301 investigations under the Trade Act, which authorize the United States Trade Representative to investigate unfair foreign trade practices and impose retaliatory measures.
There are now multiple ongoing Section 301 investigations involving more than 70 countries, including probes into alleged overproduction practices and forced labor concerns.
Legal analysts expect the administration to appeal the Court of International Trade ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, setting the stage for another major legal battle over presidential tariff authority and executive power.
