Trump calls tariffs ruling ‘unfortunate’ but says administration is pursuing legal alternatives
As we expected, the president bemoaned the supreme court’s ruling that Trump exceeded his presidential authority by implementing many global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars, to make great deals for our country, both economically and on a national security basis, everything was working well,” Trump said. “They were ripping us so badly. You all know that. Everybody knows that, even the Democrats know it.”
The president called the supreme court’s ruling “unfortunate”, as the four justices attending today’s address sat directly in the president’s eyeline.
While Trump falsely claimed the tariffs led to “no inflation” and “tremendous growth”, he said Friday’s decision was “disappointing”.
However, the president went on to tout his new 15% global tariffs under section 122 of the Trade Act. “They’re a little more complex, but they’re actually probably better, leading to a solution that will be even stronger than before,” he said.
Trump incorrectly said that these duties won’t require congressional oversight; however, these tariffs can only last 150 days before Congress has to agree to extend them.
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Updated at 02.54 GMT
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Trump sparred with Democrats when he asked all lawmakers to stand if they agreed that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens” and restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which remains shuttered.
It was a clear opportunity to chide lawmakers on the left, while Republican lawmakers stood with gusto. “You should be ashamed of yourself for not standing up,” Trump told Democrats, as several shouted back in response. “You’ve killed Americans,” Ilhan Omar said, as the president managed to provide his first visual example of the chasm in Congress.
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Updated at 03.19 GMT
Trump repeats xenophobic rant against Somali community
The president repeated his xenophobic comments that the “Somali pirates ransacked Minnesota” through “bribery, corruption and lawlessness” during his speech.
“Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings those problems right here to the USA,” Trump added. Democratic representative Ilhan Omar from Minnesota called the president a “liar” from her seat in the audience.
Trump said that the administration’s “war on fraud” would now be led by his vice-president, JD Vance.
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Updated at 03.16 GMT
Reporters in the House chamber are noting that Democratic representative Lauren Underwood, of Illinois, appears to have walked out of the president’s State of the Union address.
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Updated at 03.15 GMT
Hugo Lowell
Trump said what congressional Republicans have been wanting him to emphasize before the midterm elections: the tax cuts they enacted last year through his massive policy legislation.
The president said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act brought the “largest tax cuts” in history, which is not accurate because they’re actually the sixth-largest, according to the Tax Foundation, and this messaging does not appear to have really broken through.
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Updated at 03.17 GMT
Trump calls tariffs ruling ‘unfortunate’ but says administration is pursuing legal alternatives
As we expected, the president bemoaned the supreme court’s ruling that Trump exceeded his presidential authority by implementing many global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars, to make great deals for our country, both economically and on a national security basis, everything was working well,” Trump said. “They were ripping us so badly. You all know that. Everybody knows that, even the Democrats know it.”
The president called the supreme court’s ruling “unfortunate”, as the four justices attending today’s address sat directly in the president’s eyeline.
While Trump falsely claimed the tariffs led to “no inflation” and “tremendous growth”, he said Friday’s decision was “disappointing”.
However, the president went on to tout his new 15% global tariffs under section 122 of the Trade Act. “They’re a little more complex, but they’re actually probably better, leading to a solution that will be even stronger than before,” he said.
Trump incorrectly said that these duties won’t require congressional oversight; however, these tariffs can only last 150 days before Congress has to agree to extend them.
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Updated at 02.54 GMT
Dharna Noor
Trump has touted his “drill, baby drill” agenda at the State of the Union address.
“American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels a day,” he said. “American natural gas production is at an all-time high because I kept my promise to drill, baby, drill.”
Since re-entering office, Trump has worked to boost fossil fuels and roll back dozens upon dozens of environmental policies and incentives. Data shows that agenda has not worked out for the fossil fuel workers Trump claims to protect, one advocate noted on social media.
“Since President Trump took office, the drive to achieve energy dominance has resulted in the loss of 15,000 mining, oil, and natural gas jobs,” Sean O’Leary, a senior researcher at the Appalachia-focused clean energy and jobs thinktank Ohio River Valley Institute, wrote on social media, citing US Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
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Updated at 02.50 GMT
Trump boasts low gas prices despite scrapping key environmental finding
Dharna Noor
Trump touted low gas prices during his state of the union speech, saying they are “now below $2.30 a gallon in most states and in some places, $1.99 a gallon”.
But a major environmental rollback his administration enacted two weeks ago could push gas prices up.
The repeal of the endangerment finding – the legal underpinning for all greenhouse gas regulations in the US – is expected to create a rise in gas prices, as I explained in an analysis last week. That’s according to the administration’s own data. Check it out here.
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Updated at 02.45 GMT
Hugo Lowell
Trump is spending a lot of time boasting about sports accomplishments in a way that he does at rallies. He just announced that the US men’s Olympic hockey team goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who played a key role in their gold medal win against Canada, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Updated at 02.45 GMT
David Smith
Reporting from the House chamber
When Trump began his address, everyone in the chamber sat down except for the representative Al Green, who continued to brandish his sign – which read “Black people aren’t apes!”, a reference to the US president recently sharing a racist video depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama.
Then a man came over – perhaps from security – and senator Markwayne Mullin again approached Green menacingly.
Green decided to leave. As he walked up the aisle, clutching his walking stick and protest sign, there were some acrimonious exchanges with Republicans, a few of whom began chanting: “USA! USA!”
Green’s seat is now empty save for a handwritten cardboard sign that says: “Al Green.”
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Updated at 02.44 GMT
Trump welcomes US men’s Olympic hockey team into House chamber to standing ovation
Hugo Lowell
This is some extraordinary choreography organized by Trump: he introduced the US men’s Olympic team, who entered the House chamber on the steps of the press gallery.
“Here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud,” Trump said, before the Olympians appeared, raising their gold medals to raucous applause.
Members of the Olympic US men’s hockey team, who won the gold medal, cheer during the State of the Union address. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Trump says the US women’s Olympic hockey team will soon be coming to the White House. It’s unclear whether something has changed since the team earlier declined an invitation this morning citing scheduling conflicts.
Before introducing the team, Trump said: “Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, please, please, please, Mr President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore.”
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Updated at 02.43 GMT
