Legal experts react to Trump’s SCOTUS clash and tariff pivot in fiery SOTU
Legal experts and commentators toed a careful line Wednesday in responding to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, with many using the moment to weigh in on the...
By Fox News · Fox News
Legal experts and commentators toed a careful line Wednesday in responding to President Donald Trump ’s State of the Union address, with many using the moment to weigh in on the broader legal and political climate itself, rather than Trump’s actual remarks. Some of the biggest moments of Trump's address included his response to the Supreme Court’s 6–3 ruling that invalidated his use of a 1977 emergency law to impose tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, as well as his administration's crackdown on violent crime in major U.S. cities, among other things. "This is the golden age of America," Trump proclaimed Tuesday night. "And you've seen nothing yet. We're going to do better, and better, and better." SUPREME COURT BLOCKS TRUMP TARIFFS IN MAJOR TEST OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH POWERS Trump struck a notably measured tone in responding to the Supreme Court's tariff ruling during the State of the Union , briefly describing the 6–3 majority decision as "unfortunate" before pivoting to highlight the 10% import fees his administration had announced shortly after the high court's ruling under Section 122 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974. "Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said of the tariffs, which he previously described as "life or death" for the nation's economy. "The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made" with the U.S., Trump said Tuesday night, "knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them." "Therefore, they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement," he added. Four of the nine Supreme Court justices present for the State of the Union, including Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who had ruled against Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, o…