Trump is not taking this well – and his humiliation was laid bare in a lengthy, unhinged and petulant rant live on TV. Here’s a roundup of everything you need to know from a wild 24 hours in Trumpworld
Donald Trump was offered a lifeline by the Supreme Court, and promptly set fire to it in a lengthy, petulant TV meltdown. The Supreme Court’s decision to declare his tariffs illegal could have been the best thing that happened to his presidency. It gave him an excuse to jettison a policy that Americans hate. Instead he’s looking for every loophole, plausible and implausible to keep his tariffs alive, and in doing so keep American retail prices high. Which considering his administration’s big push ahead of the midterms is to go hard on the cost of living and “affordability” is what Sir Humphrey would have called a “courageous” strategy. Not only that, but he’s given struggling American families something to blame for their corn flakes costing three times as much as they used to.
Great job, Donald. Here’s how Trump’s unhinged breakdown unfolded on live TV.
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1. He launched personal attacks on the Conservative judges who opposed him
Trump started his 45 minute rant by saying the ruling was “deeply disappointing” in the result. But it wasn’t just the result that disappointed him. “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court,” he said. “Absolutely ashamed. For not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.” He thanked and congratulated the three justices on his side “for their strength and wisdom and love of our country. Which is right now very proud of those justices….” He said the result was down to the justices being “politically correct”, which doesn’t make a lick of sense.
“In fact they’re just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and the radical left democrats and, not that this should have anything to do with it, they’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our constitution’s.” Particularly attacking Justices Gorsich and Barrett, whom he appointed, he said: “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, if you want to know the truth. The pair of them.”
2. He’s very good at reading and comprehension
At several points during the press conference, Trump boasted about how good he is at reading and comprehension, like a six year old trying to impress his mum. “I read the language,” he said at one point. “I’m very good at reading language. And it read our way 100%.” He later added: “I read the paragraphs. I read very well. Great comprehension. Uh, I read everything there is to read and I said ‘We can’t lose this case’.”
3. He went on for ages about how a ‘very powerful man’ wanted to kiss him
He recalled the previous night meeting the owner of a steel plant in Georgia, who – Trump claims – was so delighted with his tariff regime, that he wanted to make out with the leader of the Free World. “I said how are you, how’s business. [And he said:] ‘President, I’d like to kiss you.’. “This is a very powerful man, I don’t want to be kissed by that man. A very powerful, strong man who’s been in the steel business for many years.” He went on to explain that the owner’s ardour was a result, he claimed, of tariffs being good for his factory’s business. Trump added: “He said, ‘sir, I want to kiss you so badly.’ And I said no thankyou.”
4. He wanted to be a good boy
Trump claimed he was very modest in the tariffs he’s slapped on countries around the world, including an island inhabited only by penguins. “Because I wanted to be very well-behaved,” he said. “I didn’t want to do anything that would affect the decision of the court. Because I understand the court. I understand they can be very easily swayed. I wanted to be a good boy.”
5. He suggested the dissenting opinion was impossible to argue against, which is weird
When a Supreme Court judgement is handed down, as well as the majority opinion, there’s a dissenting opinion written by one of the judges who opposed the ruling – in this case Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh. Trump said at the press conference: “When you read the dissenting opinions there is no way that anyone can argue against them. There’s no way.” Which is weird, because the ruling was the result of a lengthy argument by the Supreme Court, leading to a majority opinion that, successfully, argues against them. That’s kind of the point. It’s just a weird thing to say.
6. ‘At least the Democrats on the court are loyal’
Not satisfied with impugning the integrity and independence of the judges that voted against him, Trump gave a backhanded compliment to the three remaining Democrat appointed judges. “The Democrats on the court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote no. …They also are a frankly disgrace to our nation,” he said. “But you can’t knock their loyalty…that’s one thing you can do with some of our people…” See, to Trump, none of this is about whether something is legal, illegal, right or wrong. Like an ageing mob boss, everything is about loyalty to him or not.
7. He claimed the court had been nobbled by foreign interests, but couldn’t give any evidence
“It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests, and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,” Trump said. Asked if he had any evidence for this claim, he said: “You’re going to find out.”
8. But it’s all ok. In fact, it’s better this way
“We have alternatives,” Trump said, shrugging and looking forlornly at his lectern. “Great alternatives. Could be more money. We’ll take in more money.” The Supreme Court ruling prevents Trump from issuing tariffs under the 1977 emergency law he claimed gave him sweeping powers to do whatever he wants. Instead, he’s going to have to use the Trade Act of 1972, which allows him to impose import duties of up to 15% for a maximum of 150 days. Which he’s done. And he suggested, maybe, it’s better this way. Because this means he can possibly impose even higher tariffs (he can’t, not without congressional approval), and because it ends the uncertainty of the lengthy court battle. “The good news is that there are methods, practices, statutes and authorities…that are even stronger than the IEEPA (emergency law) tariffs available to me as President of the United States,” he said.
He later said: “In actuality, while I am sure they did not mean to do so, the Supreme Court’s decision made a President’s ability to regulate trade and impose tariffs MORE powerful and MORE crystal clear, rather than less.” In reality what this means is that any non-IEEPA tariffs or trade deals remain in place, and the rest of the world gets slapped with a 10% tariff for 150 days. Beyond that, he has to go to Congress. He added: “There will no longer be any doubt, and the income coming in and the protection of our companies and country, will actually INCREASE because of this decision.”
It won’t, but sure. Of course, there will still be the uncertainty of lengthy court battles with companies lining up to sue the government for refunds on the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tariffs they’ve already had to pay. But that’s an uncertainty for another day.
8. “I can do anything I like. I can destroy the country”
Trump moaned for ages that the court’s decision effectively means he can block or embargo trade from another country, but isn’t allowed to levy a tax. “I can do anything I want with IEEPA. Anything. I just can’t charge anybody for it,” he said. “The court says I can’t charge even $1. Not $1. I would have used a penny, but we don’t make the pennies any more, we save money…. But I am allowed to cut off any and all trade with that same country. In other words, I can destroy the trade, I can destroy the country….I can do ANYTHING I WANT, but I can’t charge one dollar.” In case any Democrats hadn’t quite got the clip they wanted for their attack ads this November, Trump repeated: “So I’m allowed to destroy the country, but I can’t charge a little fee.”
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