Karoline Leavitt Freaks Out After Two Brutal Tariff Losses in 24 Hours
Washington doesn’t know what to do about its tariff plan anymore.
Components of the White House’s tariff plan were shot down by two different judges on Wednesday and Thursday, sending the Trump administration’s controversial economic strategy—and its subsequent public defense—into a tailspin. During a White House press briefing on Thursday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt aggressively asserted that the administration would “win” its appeals, all while insisting that other countries would blindly continue to negotiate with Donald Trump, even as the future of his tariff agenda is up in the air.
“Why would other countries continue these trade deal negotiations?” asked NBC News’s Gabe Gutierrez.
“Because other countries around the world have faith in the negotiator in chief, President Donald J. Trump. And they also probably see how ridiculous this ruling is, and they understand the administration is going to win,” Leavitt said. “And we intend to win, we already filed an emergency appeal, we expect to fight this battle all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Leavitt then shared a missive for foreign nations, claiming that the president “reserves other authorities” to enact the trade policy.
“But I can confirm our ambassador for trade, Jamison Greer, already heard from other countries this morning that they intend to continue with the negotiations,” she added.
REPORTER: Why would other countries continue trade deal negotiations given the ruling?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 29, 2025
LEAVITT: Because other countries around the world have faith in the negotiator in chief, President Donald J Trump. And they also probably see how ridiculous this ruling is pic.twitter.com/jc8md7ikJt
Trump’s tariff plan was blocked by a trade court Wednesday, with a three-judge panel ruling that the president’s plan exceeded “any authority granted” by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Less than 24 hours later, another court intervened in Trump’s levies, denoting in a two-page order that the duties were “unlawful.”
Even Fox News’s Peter Doocy poked holes in the administration’s strategy, asking why—if the judiciary says the tariffs are illegal—Trump wouldn’t ask House and Senate Republicans to just draft a new law. In response, Leavitt lied.
“Well, these laws have already been granted to the president by the Constitution, and by laws that have been previously passed,” Leavitt said. (If that were true, the court system would not have blocked the trade policy.)
Earlier this month, Justice Department lawyers were rebuked by the Supreme Court for refusing to accept lower court rulings, with Justice Elena Kagan flaming administration officials for driving cases they had uniformly lost to the nation’s highest judiciary.