WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to slam the Supreme Court’s decision striking down his sweeping emergency tariffs, repeatedly calling the ruling “unfortunate” even as he suggested his administration would quickly move past it.The annual address, which has created uncomfortable moments for Supreme Court justices in the past, could highlight the tensions between Trump and the three conservative justices who joined its three liberal members in the 6-3 ruling on Friday: Chief Justice John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.Roberts and Barrett are attending, along with their colleagues Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan. Trump greeted and shook hands with all four justices as he arrived. Gorsuch was among the five justices who skipped this year’s speech.The Republican president appointed Gorsuch in 2017 and Barrett in 2020 during his first term in office. Roberts has served as chief justice for more than two decades since being appointed by President George W Bush in 2005.After the ruling was issued on Friday, Trump denounced the court and the justices who ruled against him. The court in the decision found that Trump had exceeded his powers by bypassing Congress and imposing the tariffs under a US law meant for use in national emergencies.With the four justices sitting mere feet away, their hands folded, Trump touted what he described as a vast economic benefit from the global tariffs before lamenting the “unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court.”“It just came down,” the president said. “Very unfortunate ruling.”Though it was likely an awkward moment for the justices, Trump’s criticism of the court was far more tempered than on Friday, when he railed against the justices who voted against his tariffs.In an angry press conference at the White House, he described the court’s decision as a “disgrace” and at one point said that justices in the majority were an “embarrassment to their families.”The justices themselves have made clear for years they would prefer to be almost anywhere besides a State of the Union address. Stone-faced and silent, their front-row presence is an oddity at an event where lawmakers repeatedly erupt into applause or jeers.Trump last week praised Kavanaugh, who penned the dissent in the case, but called those who voted against him a disgrace and suggested without evidence that their decision may have been driven by foreign influence.On Tuesday, Trump exchanged pleasantries and shook hands with all four justices in attendance as he worked his way through the chamber before the speech.After calling the decision “unfortunate” and “disappointing,” he framed its impact as limited.“The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made,” the president said. — Agencies
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