US President Donald Trump said Friday that the Supreme Court decision declaring his sweeping global tariffs illegal was “deeply disappointing.”
Trump also told reporters he was “absolutely ashamed” of “certain members” of the conservative-dominated court who ruled against him.
Trump said, “To show you how ridiculous the opinion is, the Court said that I`m not allowed to charge even one dollar. I can`t charge one dollar — not even a dollar. I would have used one penny, but we don’t make pennies anymore… Not one dollar, I assume, to protect other countries. This must have been done to protect those other countries, certainly not the United States of America, which they should be protecting. That’s what they’re supposed to protect. But I am allowed to cut off any and all trade or business with that same country. In other words, I can destroy the trade. I can destroy the country…”
The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump`s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda. The 6-3 decision centres on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.
Trump said he will impose a global 10 per cent tariff as an alternative while pressing his trade policies by other means. The new tariffs would come under a law that restricts them to 150 days.
He made that announcement after lashing out at the Supreme Court for striking down much of his sweeping tariff infrastructure as an illegal use of emergency power.
“Their decision is incorrect,” he said. “But it doesn`t matter because we have very powerful alternatives.”
“Tariffs have likewise been used to end five of the eight wars that I settled. I settled eight wars, whether you like it or not, including India, Pakistan, big ones, nuclear, could have been nuclear,” Trump said during a news conference just hours after the Supreme Court verdict.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention in resolving the conflict with Pakistan.
“Prime Minister of Pakistan said yesterday at the great meeting that we had the peace board. He said yesterday that President Trump could have saved 35 million lives by getting us to stop fighting. They were getting ready to do some bad things. But they`ve given us great national security, these tariffs have,” he said.
President Trump Delivers Remarks, Feb 20, 2026 https://t.co/GXRBUFyThY
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 20, 2026
