‘SCOTUS just wrecked our country’: Supreme Court throws obstacle at President Trump’s tariffs agenda
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a majority opinion that appears to spend more time complaining about three justices who dissented than supporting its own arguments, has thrown an obstacle at President Donald Trump’s tariffs agenda.
Trump repeatedly has used tariffs as a way to protect American business interests and get trade agreements that actually benefit Americans and their business enterprises.
The 6-3 opinion released Friday throws some, but not all, of those into question now.
The majority, first, ignored the facts outlined by Justice Clarence Thomas, who dissented with the simple statement, “Congress authorizes the president to ‘regulate … importation.’ Throughout American history, the authority to ‘regulate importation has been understood to include the authority to impose duties on imports.”
He continued, “The statute that the president relied on therefore authorized him to impose the duties on imports at issue in these cases.”
The result?
“The court errs in concluding otherwise.”
The case was Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and involved two companies suing over Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs from 2025.
The plaintiffs complained that the president exceeded his authority by imposing tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump’s administration had confirmed that the trade imbalances costing Americans billions, even trillions, of dollars was, in fact, an emergency.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion and said the law has no reference to tariffs.
“The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word ‘regulate’ to authorize taxation. And until now no President has read IEEPA to confer such power,” Roberts said. “We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh also dissented.
MAJOR BREAKING: The US Supreme Court has just STRUCK DOWN President Trump’s tariff authority, 6-3
SCOTUS just WRECKED our country.
One of the biggest economic comebacks in world history just got thrown in the incinerator.
What a shame. pic.twitter.com/c7ye3bqKrk
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 20, 2026
Social media immediate pointed out the injury that the ruling would do to America’s economy,
TRUMP: PEOPLE SUING OVER TARIFFS ARE CHINA ORIENTED, SOME ARE AMERICANS
“The people who brought the tariff litigation against our country, now in the United States Supreme Court, are strongly China oriented and very upset by the fact that the United States is doing so… pic.twitter.com/SaSQ8R0bt9
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 22, 2026
Thomas continued, “Neither the statutory text nor the Constitution provide a basis for ruling against the President,” and “The meaning of that phrase was beyond doubt by the time that Congress enacted this statute, shortly after President Nixon’s highly publicized duties on imports were UPHELD based on identical language.”
BREAKING: Justice Clarence Thomas just UNLEASHED pure FIRE in his dissent on the tariff ruling, dropping TRUTH BOMBS that expose the majority’s BS and defend President Trump’s America First authority like a boss!
He didn’t mince words. He straight-up NAILED it:
“NEITHER the… pic.twitter.com/H9RIuXj5tj
— Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) February 20, 2026
Among the looming fights now are what refunds from the tariffs that already were collected may be due. Reports confirm the Trump administration has set aside money for that possibility, but they could take months or more to process.
Trump also previously has discussed other laws that may give him the option to impose tariffs.
Already, it is known that this ruling does not affect tariffs on aluminum, steel, cars and more products.
The Department of Justice had warned the court that taking away the president’s authority on such matters would be to effectively “disarm the president in the highly competitive arena of international trade.”
The president’s lawyers also have pointed out the administration could recreate most of the fees using other laws if the Supreme Court so desired. And constitutional expert Jonathan Turley confirmed the administration “has other tools in its toolbox. It can actually impose tariffs under other statutes.”
The opinion by Roberts admitted the “obvious foreign affairs implications of tariffs,” a province of the president, but said “Whatever may be said of other powers that implicate foreign affairs, we would not expect Congress to relinquish its tariff power through vague language, or without careful limits.”
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has struck down President Trump’s tariff authority, saying his claim of emergency authority to issue sweeping tariffs to America’s trading partners was unlawful. https://t.co/Hmmh0kVXOi pic.twitter.com/OcsRwiyCCb
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 20, 2026
Legal powerhouse Jonathan Turley just CONFIRMED, President Trump’s got a MASSIVE TOOLBOX of tariff options still locked and loaded, and that 6-3 SCOTUS ruling is NOWHERE NEAR the end of the fight!pic.twitter.com/IAcsnG86k8
— Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) February 20, 2026