TRUMP’S TARIFF TRAGEDY: It’s safe to say President Donald Trump is having a very, very bad day. The Supreme Court this morning struck down the president’s sweeping tariffs in an extraordinary rejection of both his signature economic policy and the lever of power he’s used to bend the global economy to his will. In the 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch joined the court’s three liberals in repudiating the White House’s argument that Trump has “extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs.” They ruled that Trump “must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it” — dealing a massive blow to a central piece of Trump’s agenda and a stunning contraction of the executive power he’s sought to exercise. Trump during an ongoing news conference at the White House responded to the ruling by vowing to go further — imposing a new 10 percent global tariff under a separate authority he claimed the ruling had solidified. “The numbers could be far greater than the hundreds of billions we’ve already taken in,” Trump said. But a source close to the White House told Playbook’s Dasha Burns that the ruling is a “huge blow” to Trump’s agenda. The decision details: “The ruling wipes out the 10 percent tariff Trump imposed on nearly every country in the world, as well as specific, higher tariffs on some of the top U.S. trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, China, the European Union, Japan and South Korea,” POLITICO’s Doug Palmer, Josh Gerstein and Daniel Desrochers report. The six justices in the majority agreed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the White House’s lawyers cited gave the president tariff authority, could not be properly read to do so. The ruling made no mention of refunds, which could amount to billions of dollars the federal government may now be forced to issue to companies that shouldered the cost of the tariffs. But in Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s dissenting opinion — which Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito joined — the justice wrote that those potential refunds would “have significant consequences” for the Treasury and be a “mess” to navigate. More on the lack of direction from POLITICO’s Ari Hawkins Trump told reporters at the White House this afternoon that the ruling was “deeply disappointing” and 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.” He called those who brought the case against the tariffs “major sleazebags” and “real slimeballs.” The high court’s decision came just hours after news broke that Trump’s economy slowed dramatically in the final months of 2025, with GDP growth dropping three percentage points amid the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown, while inflation grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in December — a full percentage point above the Federal Reserve’s target. Taken together, those flagging figures and the Supreme Court’s strikedown are hitting the White House as it seeks to improve voters’ sour views of the economy ahead of midterm elections. Just yesterday, the president told a crowd in Georgia he had “won affordability.” He told his supporters in Georgia that the tariff “is the greatest thing that’s happened in this country.” The view from the Hill: The ruling has anti-tariff Republicans on Capitol Hill jubilant. Last week, six House Republicans joined Democrats to block Trump’s tariffs on Canada — a vote that nine days ago was simply symbolic, but now offers a preview for the challenges Trump will face in reinstating his tariffs. “The checks and balances our Constitution puts in place works,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill today. Bacon said the decision might render the prospect of more tariff disapproval votes moot. Asked today if he would work with Congress to impose tariffs, Trump replied: “I don’t have to. I have the right to do tariffs, and I’ve always had the right to do tariffs.” The trail tail: The ruling is certain to shake up midterm messaging in both parties — especially in manufacturing hubs like Michigan. Mike Duggan, the former Detroit mayor running for governor as an independent, told Playbook’s Adam Wren “predictable and targeted tariffs can bring jobs back to the United States,” but that “we’ve been hurt because of the frequent and sudden changes.” Mike Rogers, the lone Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, said in a statement that Trump “can’t” protect domestic manufacturing “alone.” He said Trump should have “every tool in his toolkit to save American manufacturing and to do it urgently — before we lose the jobs and billions of dollars of investments that have reshored to the United States.” The ruling may impede Democrats’ ability to prosecute the issue on the campaign trail — but Abdul El-Sayed, one of the three leading Democratic Senate candidates in Michigan, told Adam he wasn’t worried. “The damage has already been done,” he said. “Let's be clear about Trump's tariffs, they were always hamfisted, chaotic and self-serving.” IF ALL THAT WASN’T ENOUGH: Trump is heading to China in April for a high-stakes meeting with President Xi Jinping, with whom he has been engaged in a yearlong trade war. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at isentner@politico.com.
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