Trump Asks SCOTUS To Rule On Tariff Legality

President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to expedite acceptance of an appeal seeking to overturn court decisions that ruled most of his tariffs illegal.

The Details: Trump’s request follows a 7-4 ruling in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stating Trump’s tariffs on nearly every country were an overstep of his authority. Trump is requesting the Supreme Court to hear arguments in early November and issue a final decision shortly thereafter.

For Context: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attached a declaration to Trump’s request saying the lower courts' ruling “gravely undermines the President’s ability to conduct real-world diplomacy,” and some legal experts have noted that the US economy could struggle as the decision could cause the forced refund of $159 billion in tariffs collected through August.

How The Media Covered It: An opinion writer for Politico (Lean Left bias) called the Supreme Court request “blackmail,” saying “Trump hopes that the Republican appointees will come to his rescue.” “In a last-ditch effort to salvage his beloved, beleaguered tariff policy,” the writer said “the desperation is palpable and warranted given the conspicuous weakness” of the legal arguments for the policy. Fox News (Right) focused coverage around the warning of forced refunds if the tariff policies are deemed to be illegal, highlighting Trump’s argument that “striking down the tariffs could cause serious economic harm.” Both Fox and BBC News (Center) highlighted arguments from small business owners opposed to the tariff policies, but BBC mentioned the lawyers representing the small business owners were “confident they would win the case.”     

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