In a press briefing at the White House, Trump stressed the need for an expedited Supreme Court ruling. “We’re going to be going to the Supreme Court, we think tomorrow, because we need an early decision,” he told reporters.
Trump added that if the higher court makes “the wrong decision, it will be devastation for our country” as “we would have to give trillions and trillions of dollars back to countries that have been ripping us off for the last 35 years”. For the 2025 fiscal year, so far tariffs have generated some $142 billion in federal revenue, according to US Treasury Department data.
“Without the tariffs, we wouldn’t have a chance, because we wouldn’t be able to protect those investments of the companies coming in. So if you took away tariffs, we could end up being a third world country,” he argued.
The tariffs, implemented in two waves, were justified by the administration as necessary to address national emergencies, including trade deficits and fentanyl trafficking.