President Donald Trump is freaking out on the eve of a Supreme Court showdown that could decide just how far his power really goes.
“Tomorrow’s United States Supreme Court case is, literally, LIFE OR DEATH for our Country,” the president declared on Truth Social Tuesday.
Trump has grown anxious ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, where the justices will weigh whether or not he can bypass Congress and unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
“With a Victory, we have tremendous, but fair, Financial and National Security. Without it, we are virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us,” Trump said.
He then claimed that his sweeping tariffs had created “Economic Security,” which he credited for fueling the stock market’s continued growth—failing to mention the sharp tumble that followed his “Liberation Day” tariff rollout in April.
“Our Stock Market is consistently hitting Record Highs, and our Country has never been more respected than it is right now,” the 79-year-old president said. “A big part of this is the Economic Security created by Tariffs, and the Deals that we have negotiated because of them. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
It’s not the first time Trump has cast the Supreme Court case in apocalyptic terms; last week he called it one of the most important cases “in the History of the Country.”
He had initially told reporters that he might make the unprecedented decision to attend Wednesday’s oral arguments in the case, Learning Resources, Inc. v Trump.
But he scrapped the plan on Monday after his own allies warned him that the move could backfire. No sitting president has ever attended a Supreme Court hearing, historians and lawyers told Politico.
Trump claimed that he reversed course because he didn’t want to “distract from the importance of this Decision.” He warned dramatically, “If we lose, our Country could be reduced to almost Third World status.”
Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the power to regulate international commerce in response to an unusual or extraordinary threat against the U.S., to impose his massive tariffs in April.
Two lower courts already found that the law did not give Trump the power to implement his tariffs, but they have been allowed to remain in effect throughout the appeals process.
Tariffs are a type of import tax paid by American companies, with the costs typically passed on to consumers.
U.S. consumers are bearing the brunt of Trump’s tariffs, shouldering as much as 55 percent of their costs, according to a Goldman Sachs report from October.
