U.S. President Donald Trump, next to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, arrives to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
President Donald Trump appeared to stare down the Supreme Court justices who attended his State of the Union address on Tuesday as he discussed their recent ruling on his tariffs.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump's signature tariff regime was illegal. Conservative justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, both of whom attended the SOTU speech, ruled against Trump in the case.
"Just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that just came down. Very unfortunate ruling," Trump said, as he looked in the direction of the justices.
"The good news is that all of the countries and corporations want to keep the deal that was already made ... knowing that the legal power that I have to make as president could be much worse for them, until the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement," he added. "Despite the ruling, these powerful, country-saving — it's saving our country with the kind of money we're taking in — peace-protecting — many of the wars I've settled were because of tariffs — will remain in place."