The US leader has said rolling back his import taxes would make America a “pathetic laughingstock” as the Supreme Court mulls their legality
President Donald Trump has claimed that the US holds “all the cards” thanks to his tariffs, without which the country “would be a poor and pathetic laughingstock again.”
In April, Trump introduced sweeping import duties affecting dozens of nations worldwide, citing allegedly unfair trade imbalances with partners. The US president used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the legal basis for the measures. The law allows the president to regulate or block international trade and financial transactions during a declared national emergency involving foreign threats.
The move has come under fire from some lawmakers who argue that it could harm the domestic economy.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump wrote that “Tariffs have made our Country Rich, Strong, Powerful, and Safe…, and because of what I have set in place, WE HAVE ALL THE CARDS.”
The Republican warned that “Evil, American hating Forces are fighting us at the United States Supreme Court.”
Earlier this month, Trump predicted a “national security catastrophe” if his tariffs were rolled back, with losses for the US potentially totaling more than $2 trillion.
In late summer, the US Court of Appeals ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority by imposing tariffs under the IEEPA, stating that only Congress can authorize such measures. The court stopped short of canceling the duties, pending a Supreme Court ruling.
It remains unclear when the Supreme Court will announce its decision, though some legal analysts expect it by July 2026.
Meanwhile, in his Thanksgiving message on Thursday, Trump announced that “we will be cutting income tax, could be almost completely cutting it.”
In early November, the US president pledged that a “dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone,” funded by revenue from tariffs.
Around the same time, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told ABC News that the tariff dividend could come “in lots of forms,” including tax breaks.
