Alan Zendell, February 20, 2026

On November 5, 2025, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about President Trump’s tariff policy. Six of the nine Justices, including Conservatives John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neal Gorsuch all expressed pessimism that the tariffs were legal. Today’s six to three decision confirming that they are illegal was exactly what most people expected.

The Justices’ reaction to oral arguments was clear enough that most observers predicted a decision could be released shortly after New Years. That it took so long suggests that the Court was concerned with Justice Kavanaugh’s warning that having to refund as much as $200 billion to the nations who paid the illegal tariffs and the complicating effect the ruling could have on trade agreements that stemmed from them could throw the government into chaos.

In a perfect world, Supreme Court decisions are always based on nonpolitical interpretations of the Constitution, but Courts have often let considerations of possible civic disruption or economic trauma influence their decisions. This decision came against a backdrop of Trump’s belief that presidents ought to be able to do whatever they want. He hasn’t been shy about beating that drum. Even if Trump’s approval rating were a hundred percent, allowing a president that kind of power would set a precedent that any unscrupulous successor in the White House could use to undermine the Constitution.

In today’s world, in which Trump’s policies are focused on changing our American democracy into a white Christian-dominated fascist oligarchy, the president’s approval rating is below water in every major category. The Court had to be aware that bending with his illegal tariffs would be a signal that it had no intention of trying to reign in Trump’s autocratic ambitions, and it would be opposed by at least two-thirds of Americans. Imagine Trump, J. D. Vance, and Stephen Miller with no guard rails and their own get out of jail free cards. On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t.

This view is supported by the opinions of Kavanaugh and many other legal experts that the president has several other legal avenues that might support most of his tariffs, which makes it clear that the Court’s ruling wasn’t about tariffs, but telling Trump that if he violates the Constitution, they will stop him. In a more subtle way, the decision divided the Court in two parts, one of which includes Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, both of whom have been enjoying lavish vacations and other gifts provided by right-wing billionaires. The six to three decision is a statement to Trump and the world that a strong majority of the Court will not permit Trump to tear up the Constitution.

It’s also interesting that the Court’s decision occurred just as Trump was teasing the idea that he would create a new pan-American trade bloc that excluded Canada, which has steadfastly rebuked his policy and seems on the verge of a major trade agreement with China. Perhaps the saner heads on the Court clearly saw that allowing Trump to weaponize tariffs whenever anyone opposed him was undermining both our diplomatic and economic standing in the world. That’s especially frightening, because with those powerful forces blunted, Trump can only achieve his fantasy of sharing the world with Putin and Xi militarily, which brings us, again, to Iran. Let’s not forget that in Trump, we have a president who will never give up trying to control everything. If he believes the Court is disloyal to him, and he only hears advice from Yes-people, we may find ourselves involved in a major war in the Middle East that could spread to the entire world.

Of great interest to many Americans is what this decision portends for other issues before the Court. Will the Court support Trump’s attempt to outlaw birthright citizenship? Will it give the White Supremacists pause in their quest to kill immigration from nonwhite countries to assure that white Americans are always in the majority? If Trump knows the Court will make him obey the law, perhaps his handlers will realize that it’s time to reconsider the bipartisan immigration bill he ordered House Majority Leader Mike Johnson to kill before the 2024 election. There was never any doubt among objective observers that that bill would have gone a long way to solving our immigration and border problems. But by scuttling the bill, Trump created a pretext for expanding ICE into a federal domestic strike force that answered only to itself.

Once again, we see evidence that the Trump administration is rapidly losing its mojo. Independents have turned on him, and he knows evangelists will when they realize the full implications of the Epstein files. Republicans have been pummeled in every special election since Trump took office, and now, MAHA mothers who have followed HHS Secretary Kennedy’s push to eliminate vaccines and change the way Americans view health and nutrition are turning against him. Relax, it’s only a matter of time.