Karoline Leavitt Comes Out Swinging Against Judges Who ‘Usurped’ Trump’s Power to Impose Tariffs
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt began Thursday’s briefing by railing against judges for blocking President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The day before, a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump “overstepped his authority to impose sweeping tariffs.” Their decision halted Trump’s tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada, and also blocked his universal 10% tariffs with all U.S. trade partners. The Trump administration quickly appealed the decision.
On Thursday afternoon, Leavitt opened the briefing with an attack on the judges:
Last night, the Trump administration faced another example of judicial overreach. Using his full and proper legal authority, President Trump imposed universal tariffs and reciprocal tariffs on “Liberation Day” to address the extraordinary threat to our national security and economy posed by large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits. The United States has run a trade deficit of goods every year since 1975. In 2024, our trade deficit in goods exceeded $1 trillion. Everybody agrees this is unacceptable. President Trump is delivering on his promise to fix this problem, and he has taken a long overdue and much needed bold stance for American workers after decades of our manufacturing base being hollowed out.
The president’s rationale for imposing these powerful tariffs was legally sound and grounded in common sense. President Trump correctly believes that America cannot function safely long-term if we are unable to scale advanced domestic manufacturing capacity, have our own secure critical supply chains, and our defense industrial base is dependent on foreign adversaries.
Three judges of the U.S. Court of International Trade disagreed and brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump to stop him from carrying out the mandate that the American people gave him. These judges failed to acknowledge that the President of the United States has core foreign affairs powers and authority given to him by Congress to protect the United States economy and national security.
Leavitt later confirmed that the administration had “already filed an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal and an immediate administrative stay to strike down this egregious decision.”
Watch above via Fox News.
