{"id":3829,"date":"2026-02-21T21:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/?p=3829"},"modified":"2026-02-21T21:23:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:23:00","slug":"supreme-court-checks-trumps-expansive-view-of-executive-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heightshowtime.com\/?p=3829","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court checks Trump\u2019s expansive view of executive power"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a press briefing at the White House, following the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 20, 2026. REUTERS\/Elizabeth Frantz<\/div>\n
[1\/2]<\/b>U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a press briefing at the White House, following the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs, in Washington, D.C.,\u2026\u00a0Purchase Licensing\u00a0Rights<\/span>, opens new tab\u00a0Read more<\/span><\/div>\n
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  • Summary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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    • Conservative court neuters Trump\u2019s \u2018favorite\u2019 policy<\/li>\n
    • Defeat diminishes president\u2019s power ahead of midterms<\/li>\n
    • \u2018Seething\u2019 president maintains his power is barely diminished<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) \u2013 For more than a year,\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0has moved through Washington\u00a0like a monarch, in a capital increasingly shaped by his power, threats and whims.<\/div>\n
      On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court abruptly altered that trajectory. In\u00a0striking down\u00a0his administration\u2019s signature economic policy, the justices delivered a rare and public rebuke that signaled the dominant Republican president had finally reached the limits of his authority.<\/div>\n

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      Trump\u2019s reaction was immediate and visceral.<\/div>\n
      Upon learning of the ruling, Trump told governors gathered at the White House that he was \u201cseething\u201d and had to do something about the courts, said Delaware Governor Matt Meyer, a Democrat who was in the room.<\/div>\n
      Later, in front of reporters, Trump tore into the justices who ruled against him \u2013 including two of his own nominees \u2013 calling them weak, a disgrace and an\u00a0\u201cembarrassment to their families.\u201d\u00a0He scoffed at what he cast as the majority\u2019s tortured logic.<\/div>\n
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      \u201cFor someone who never admits losing,\u201d said Chris Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Pennsylvania\u2019s Muhlenberg College, \u201cthis is a pretty significant loss.\u201d<\/div>\n

      TRUMP\u2019S FAVORITE WORD<\/h2>\n
      Few policies have defined Trump\u2019s second term in office more than his aggressive use of tariffs. To Trump, a tariff is not just a tax imposed on goods when they cross the U.S. border, but \u201cmy favorite word\u201d and \u201cthe most beautiful word in the dictionary,\u201d as he has repeatedly told supporters.<\/div>\n
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      He has wielded the threat of tariffs as a cudgel to extract concessions on soybean purchases, win billions in foreign investment pledges, stem the flow of narcotics, wade into international conflicts, adjust prescription drug prices and boost favored U.S. industries.<\/div>\n
      The Republican-controlled Congress, despite its constitutional authority over taxation, mostly stood aside.<\/div>\n
      The conservative Supreme Court often enhanced Trump\u2019s power, granting him immunity for his actions in office and issuing emergency rulings that favored his policies.<\/div>\n
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      But the court\u2019s 6-3 decision on Friday, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, punctured Trump\u2019s long-held assertion that he could impose sweeping tariffs in the name of U.S. economic security. The ruling injected fresh uncertainty into a political landscape already shaped by volatile markets, uneasy foreign partners and looming midterm elections that could further curtail Trump\u2019s power.<\/div>\n
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      \u201cIt is a blow to his expansive vision of emergency powers, which was the pillar for his entire economic agenda and more,\u201d said Julian E. Zelizer, presidential historian at Princeton University.<\/div>\n

      WOUNDED PRESIDENT LASHES OUT<\/h2>\n
      Met with the biggest setback of his current term in office, an angry Trump responded characteristically: lashing out at those who dared to stand in his way, while still claiming victory.<\/div>\n
      Under theatrically dimmed lights in the White House press briefing room, Trump berated judges he had appointed. He suggested that their ruling had clarified his broad powers to use tariffs or cut off trade with other countries entirely. And he quoted a dissenting Supreme Court opinion that said the decision might not substantially constrain a president\u2019s ability to order tariffs in the future.<\/div>\n
      \u201cI can charge much more than I was charging,\u201d Trump concluded.<\/div>\n
      \u201cIt\u2019s a little more complicated,\u201d he said. \u201cThe process takes a little more time, but the end result is going to get us more money, and I think it\u2019s going to be great.\u201d<\/div>\n
      Asked if he would ask Congress to give him the powers the Supreme Court said he did not have, Trump was defiant.<\/div>\n
      \u201cNo, I don\u2019t need to, it\u2019s already been approved,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, I would ask Congress and probably get it.\u201d<\/div>\n
      No president has used the law that was in dispute, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as expansively as Trump. And despite his bravado at Friday\u2019s press briefing, the alternative laws he could tap to impose tariffs would be slower to implement, require more exhaustive justification and come with time limits.<\/div>\n
      \u201cThe presidency is definitely weaker\u201d as a result of the ruling, said Saikrishna Prakash, a constitutional scholar at the University of Virginia School of Law. \u201cHe\u2019s weaker.\u201d<\/div>\n
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      Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal and Bo Erickson; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Diane Craft<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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