In a Barrage of Social Media Posts, Trump Rages Against Tariff Critics and Promises $2,000 ‘Dividend’ Checks for Many Americans

President Trump on Sunday raged against those who criticize and challenge his authority to impose tariffs on foreign imports, as he and other members of his administration worry that the Supreme Court could limit his tariff powers in the coming months. Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two separate cases brought by groups of small businesses and Democratic-led states. Based on the questions asked by the justices during the hearing, it appears that a majority of the court is more than ready to impose some restrictions on Mr. Trump’s import taxes. On Sunday, it seems as if someone shared that analysis with Mr. Trump himself, leading the president to offer up a series of lengthy messages on his Truth Social platform before he hit the golf course near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “So, let’s get this straight??? The President of the United States is allowed (and fully approved by Congress!) to stop ALL TRADE with a Foreign Country (Which is far more onerous than a Tariff!), and LICENSE a Foreign Country, but is not allowed to put a simple Tariff on a Foreign Country, even for purposes of NATIONAL SECURITY,” Mr. Trump wrote in one message. “That is NOT what our great Founders had in mind! The whole thing is ridiculous!”“Other Countries can Tariff us, but we can’t Tariff them??? It is their DREAM!!!” he exclaimed. “Businesses are pouring into the USA ONLY BECAUSE OF TARIFFS.”“HAS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT NOT BEEN TOLD THIS??? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???” he asked. In a separate message Mr. Trump wrote that those who oppose his tariffs are “FOOLS!”“We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER,” he wrote. “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threw cold water on the idea of a tariff dividend, however. During an interview with ABC News’s “This Week” on Sunday, Mr. Bessent said that the dividend to which Mr. Trump was referring could take the form of tax cuts signed into law over the summer. “The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms and lots of ways,” the treasury secretary said. “It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda — you know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security.”Mr. Trump’s tariffs were already declared illegal by the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, though the import taxes have remained in place as the appellate process plays out. The justices of the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case last week, and the arguments did not go well for the administration. One member of the court who seemed especially concerned about the president’s unprecedented, unilateral imposition of tariffs was Mr. Trump’s first nominee to the high court — Justice Neal Gorsuch. During Wednesday’s arguments, he pressed solicitor general D. John Sauer about his theory of Congress abdicating the power of taxation in this way. “What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce, for that matter, declare war, to the President?” the justice asked, clearly concerned with the executive branch’s expanded power. He also pressed Mr. Sauer about the possibility of a Democratic president using “emergency” tariff powers under the guise of a “climate” emergency. Chief Justice Roberts similarly asked pointed questions of Mr. Sauer. “Who pays the tariffs?” he asked, leading Mr. Sauer to offer a kind of winding answer about how it depended on the context of the relationship between the foreign exporter and the domestic importer. The chief justice made his skepticism crystal clear to those in attendance. He noted to Mr. Sauer during arguments that taxation has always been a “core power of Congress” which a president cannot usurp.

In a Barrage of Social Media Posts, Trump Rages Against Tariff Critics and Promises $2,000 ‘Dividend’ Checks for Many Americans

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