Trump Renews Attack on Supreme Court, Says Tariff and Citizenship Rulings Cost 'Trillions of Dollars'

Since the Supreme Court struck down Trump's global tariffs in February and upheld broad birthright citizenship protections in June, the president has periodically turned his fire on the same court he shaped with three first-term appointments. He did it again Saturday, September 19.

"Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court has lacked the Courage to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Over the last 6 months, with their faulty, political, and ridiculous decisions on TARIFFS and Birthright Citizenship, they have cost the United States of America Trillions of Dollars, and forever damaged the way people become Citizens of our great Country."

He closed with: "It has been a sad chapter in the life and times of America, but we will prevail!"

What the rulings actually said

The tariff case turned on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In February, the Supreme Court ruled the law didn't give Trump authority to impose sweeping global tariffs on his own, forcing the administration to unwind the policy, refund importers, and search for other legal footing to impose duties.

On birthright citizenship, the court ruled in June that children born in the U.S. to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present remain citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority that the Citizenship Clause extends to "every free-born person in this land," adding, "We keep that promise today." Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, writing he wasn't convinced the majority's reading would "stand the test of time."

Both rulings came from a court with a conservative majority that includes three Trump appointees, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, none of whom dissented in either case.

Trump's "trillions of dollars" figure is his own claim. None of the sources reviewed here cite an independent economic analysis backing that number, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Newsweek. The claim should be read as Trump's characterization of the rulings' cost, not a verified tally.

Not the first time, and not the only ruling in play

This Saturday post follows a similar, more expansive outburst the Associated Press reported on, in which Trump called the justices "shells" of their "original selves" and said certain justices are "petrified" of "crazed and depraved Democrats," according to CNN. That earlier screed came a day after the court blocked the administration's planned changes to mail-in voting ahead of the midterms, with only Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas siding with the administration.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended Trump's right to criticize the court after that ruling, saying the president was "very frustrated" and "has every right, and indeed he should communicate his concerns with the Supreme Court whenever he has them." Blanche also said the Justice Department would comply with the ruling while continuing to pursue mail-voting changes ahead of 2028.

Anadolu Agency reported that Trump's frustration spans "trade, immigration, and holding elections," but the actual Truth Social text Trump posted Saturday names only tariffs and birthright citizenship, not the mail-voting ruling. That's a meaningful distinction: Trump's own words on Saturday didn't revisit the election case directly, even though it appears to be part of the broader grievance driving his mood.

The court hasn't only ruled against him

The Associated Press's Erin Murphy, an appellate attorney who clerked for Roberts, noted at a Georgetown Law panel that many of Trump's roughly two dozen emergency-appeal wins, including on immigration enforcement, the transgender military ban, and dismantling the Department of Education, reflect outcomes any administration pursuing the same legal theories likely would have gotten. The court also ruled presidents have broad criminal immunity for official acts and allowed construction to continue on Trump's White House ballroom project over preservationists' objections.

Where the court has given Trump full briefing and oral argument, though, his record is mixed. The justices rejected his tariffs, his birthright citizenship restrictions, and blocked his push to fire a Federal Reserve Board member. Those are the losses Trump keeps returning to.

What's unresolved

Trump's post announced no new lawsuit, executive order, or legal strategy. The administration is still pursuing birthright citizenship restrictions through other channels; earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman blocked enforcement of one such order, writing, "The Supreme Court has spoken: Children in the certified class are 'citizens at birth.' ... The president must follow it." Whether Trump escalates beyond social media criticism, or the administration finds a tariff authority the courts will accept, remains an open question heading into the Trump-Xi summit and New York trade talks scheduled for the coming days.