President Trump says he will raise global tariffs by 15% days after the Supreme Court ruled he does not have emergency power to raise tariffs. And the world waits to see if Trump will attack Iran.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a surprising decision saying that President Trump does not have emergency power to raise tariffs, one of his signature promises. But the president says he will raise global tariffs by 15% anyway, under different authority. On Friday he said he was disappointed in the judges who voted against it.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They are against anything that will make America strong and healthy and great again. Those judges are also frankly an embarrassment to our nation.
RASCOE: And the world is bracing for possible attacks on Iran as Trump beefs up the U.S. military presence in the Middle East. We’re joined now by NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Welcome to the program, Mara.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Hello.
RASCOE: Well, you’re always here. But you know, welcome.
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RASCOE: Let’s start with those tariffs. Trump wasn’t happy with the court’s decision, right?
LIASSON: No. He was furious as expected. He said the Supreme Court justices were disloyal, unpatriotic, influenced by foreign interests, a disgrace and the decision was un-American. He called them lap dogs and fools. The importance of this sentence was really great. I mean, this is the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on the merits, and this is a court that has a conservative supermajority appointed by Trump to curb Trump’s efforts to expand executive power. They defended checks and balances. They reaffirmed the powers of Congress, which is supposed to be an equal branch of government, at a time when Congress appears unwilling to do so itself.
RASCOE: Well, now President Trump says he’s going to raise tariffs anyway under different authority. Can you do that?
LIASSON: The short answer is yes, it can. He says he will impose global tariffs of 15% on all foreign products. It is going to use a different section of the Trade Act, but those sections are much more cumbersome than the legal authority under which it claims to have broad powers. For example, some of the tariffs will only last 150 days before Congress has to intervene. Others could be permanent, but require lengthy investigations.
RASCOE: So how much does it matter that we’re in a midterm election year?
LIASSON: It matters a lot. The policies on this are very complicated and are changing. At first, this ruling seemed like a blessing for Republicans. They were breathing a sigh of relief. The Supreme Court saved them from tariffs, which were costing consumers money, increasing voter dissatisfaction with the economy. Sixty percent of voters say they disapprove of Trump’s tariffs and thought they would no longer have to defend these unpopular tariffs and maybe prices would go down. But that optimism lasted about five minutes because Trump immediately said that not only was he going to impose more tariffs under different authority, but that authority requires congressional approval. So now Republicans in Congress will have to show their loyalty to Donald Trump by voting to impose tariffs, taking personal responsibility for it. This is something they don’t want to do. Now he could back down if he doesn’t have the votes. We saw six House Republicans join Democrats in voting against Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
RASCOE: And the bad news for the administration keeps coming. And I mean, it’s not good for the country. Friday’s economic report was not very good.
LIASSON: No, it’s just one quarter, but GDP didn’t grow as much as expected, only 1.4%. Inflation remains high at 3%, and this comes at a time when the midterm elections, the number one issue for voters is affordability, and Republicans and the president have been on the defensive on that issue.
RASCOE: Meanwhile, the world is waiting to see if Trump is going to follow through on this threat to bomb Iran. What are you hearing about that?
LIASSON: Well, he sent the largest buildup of American military force to the Persian Gulf since 2003. So if he decides he wants to make a major military strike against Iran, he has the weapons ready in the Middle East to do it. But no one is quite sure what he will decide. He says he prefers a deal in which Iran agrees to abandon its nuclear program. And in the past, Trump has shown that he prefers military actions that could be called one-offs, a quick bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities or a quick attack on Venezuela to catch Nicolás Maduro. We don’t know if he has the stomach for a long, drawn-out fight. And if you want to change the regime in Iran, that’s what it would entail.
RASCOE: So the State of the Union is on Tuesday. What will you be listening to?
LIASSON: Well, the timing of this is really incredible. The State of the Union is the president’s greatest opportunity to speak before the public, the greatest opportunity for any president. It is their biggest audience of the year. And the big question for me is how much time Trump will spend in his State of the Union address criticizing the Supreme Court justices, who will be sitting right in front of him. And how long will you talk about affordability? How much time will you spend trying to convince voters that you are lowering prices? This is something he has constantly fought for for many months.
RASCOE: That’s NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Thank you so much.
LIASSON: You’re welcome.
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