US President Donald Trump escalated his clash with the Supreme Court on Friday, launching a direct and personal attack against justices who struck down his global tariffs, including two of his own appointees.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said he was “ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
“They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution,” he said, at one point calling them “fools and lap dogs.”
The remarks came after the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that Trump’s sweeping global tariffs were illegal. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, along with the court’s three liberal members, in the majority. Barrett and Gorsuch were both nominated by Trump.
Asked whether he regretted nominating Barrett and Gorsuch, Trump said he did not “want to say whether or not I regret.”
“I think their decision was terrible,” he said. “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families if you want to know the truth, the two of them.”
At the same time, Trump praised the three conservative justices who voted to uphold his authority to levy tariffs. He thanked Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh “for their strength and wisdom, and love of our country.”
Trump singled out Kavanaugh, who wrote a 63 page dissent, calling him a “genius” and saying he was “so proud of him.”
The president also alleged foreign influence behind the ruling.
“It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests,” he said. “I think that foreign interests are represented by people that I believe have undue influence.”
“They have a lot of influence over the Supreme Court, whether it’s through fear or respect or friendships, I don’t know,” he said.
When asked if he had evidence of foreign influence, Trump responded, “You’re going to find out.”
Vice President JD Vance joined the criticism, calling the ruling “lawlessness from the court, plain and simple.”
Legal scholar Steven Schwinn of the University of Illinois Chicago said Trump’s attacks on individual justices reflect “his fundamental misunderstanding of the separation of powers.”
“He seems to believe that any good faith disagreement with his own interpretation of the law is, by definition, illegitimate,” Schwinn said. “At the same time, he lacks any serious interpretation of the law of his own, except to say that the law is what he wants it to be. This is not how a democracy works.”
Tensions between the White House and the Supreme Court intensified further when Trump was asked whether the six justices who voted against him would be welcome at next week’s State of the Union address.
“Three are happily invited,” he said.
The others are “invited, barely,” he added. “I couldn’t care less if they come.”
