Two Trump-appointed justices joined the majority against his global tariffs, and Trump responded by attacking them in personal terms, according to AP.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling against Donald Trump’s global tariffs did more than undo a policy imposed under an emergency powers law. It put two of his own Supreme Court appointees, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, in the majority against him.
According to The Associated Press, Trump later singled out Barrett and Gorsuch when asked about their votes, saying, “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, if you want to know the truth, the two of them.”
The vote that changed the tariff fight
The court rejected the administration’s legal theory for global tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, according to AP. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion.
Barrett and Gorsuch joined Roberts and the court’s three Democratic appointees in the majority. The result struck down one of Trump’s signature economic policies as it had been defended in the case.
The ruling did not turn on whether tariffs can ever be used by a president. The dispute was narrower: whether the emergency powers argument used by Trump could support the sweeping global tariffs at issue. The majority said it could not, as AP described the decision.
Why Barrett and Gorsuch drew attention
Barrett was Trump’s third Supreme Court appointee, following Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Her 2020 confirmation, after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, gave the court a 6-3 conservative majority.
That made the votes by Barrett and Gorsuch especially notable politically, even though Supreme Court justices do not serve as representatives of the presidents who nominate them.
Justices have life tenure, a design meant to insulate the court from elections and direct presidential pressure. The tariff ruling showed that a conservative court majority did not guarantee a win for Trump when the case tested presidential power.
Trump framed the ruling as a loyalty problem
Trump did not confine his response to the court’s legal reasoning. Speaking in the White House briefing room hours after the decision, he said he was “ashamed” of certain members of the court for not having “the courage to do what’s right for the country,” AP reported.
He said he expected the three Democratic appointees to vote as they did. “But you can’t knock their loyalty,” Trump said, according to AP. “It’s one thing you can do with some of our people.”
That language put the focus on whether Trump believed justices he appointed should be aligned with him in major cases. His later remark about Barrett and Gorsuch made the criticism personal.
The challenge came from beyond Trump’s usual opponents
The case did not line up only as Trump versus Democrats. According to AP, a key challenge came from the libertarian-leaning Liberty Justice Center, and pro-business groups including the Chamber of Commerce supported the opposition to the tariffs.
That mix matters because it placed two conservative priorities in tension: support for Trump’s trade agenda on one side, and resistance to broad executive power on the other.
Vice President JD Vance also criticized the court. According to AP, Vance wrote on X, “This is lawlessness from the Court, plain and simple.”
Presidents have clashed with the court before
Presidential anger at Supreme Court rulings is not new. Thomas Jefferson objected to the court’s assertion of judicial review in Marbury v. Madison. Franklin Roosevelt tried and failed to expand the court after rulings against New Deal programs.
Barack Obama criticized the Citizens United decision during a State of the Union address while justices were present. Presidents have also soured on their own nominees: Dwight Eisenhower reportedly came to view appointing Chief Justice Earl Warren as a major mistake, and Theodore Roosevelt was said to have mocked Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes after a dissent he disliked.
AP cited legal conservative Ed Whelan, who said it is “entirely fine” for a president to criticize a ruling, but called it “demagogic” to accuse justices of lacking courage because they voted against him.
What remains open after the decision
The ruling, as described by AP, struck down tariffs imposed under the emergency powers theory at issue. It does not mean every possible tariff tool is unavailable to the administration.
The next policy question is whether Trump tries to revive or replace the tariffs through another legal path, and how the administration responds to the court’s mandate.
AP reported that Trump and several justices are expected to be in the same room for the State of the Union address, creating a public setting after his criticism of sitting justices.
For now, the central fact is clear: Barrett and Gorsuch helped form the majority that rejected Trump’s tariff argument, and Trump answered by attacking two of the justices he put on the court.
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