What did Donald Trump do today?

He threatened the "disloyal" judges who overturned his illegal import tax scheme.

As had been expected for months, the Supreme Court today struck down most of Trump's tariffs as illegal taxes that he had no statutory authority to levy. Certain laws already on the books do give the president a very limited authority to impose tariffs in a bona fide national emergency. But Trump seemed to go out of his way to make the case against himself, declaring in social media rants that he was imposing specific tariffs to punish his political enemies or because foreign governments tried to fight corruption caused by his own political allies.

Trump held a press conference shortly after the ruling was announced, and gave a bitter and sarcastic monologue about what he saw as flaws in the decision. Not for the first time, he treated the votes against him by justices he'd appointed, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, as personal betrayals. In fact, he paid the Court's three liberal members a backhanded compliment for what he imagined was their partisan "loyalty," although anger at Trump's tariffs is a pretty bipartisan thing these days: the impact of the illegal taxes hit red America the hardest, and staunch Republican groups like the US Chamber of Commerce were among the challengers.

But in a clearly emotional tone, Trump said he was "absolutely ashamed" of Gorsuch and Barrett and, for some reason, added that their families would be too. (Trump has a history of trying to menace judges by talking about their families.) He also said that the justices who voted against him were captives of an unspecified "foreign influence," but refused to provide any details when asked.

(Trump himself is known to be under the direct influence of the Putin regime in Russia, which he directly begged to interfere in the 2016 election. This is a conclusion that was endorsed by a Senate committee led by a majority of Republicans in 2020, even before the election he lost to Joe Biden that year, and before his attempts to illegally install himself in office in spite of that election. He's also sought and received financial gifts from foreign governments while in office, ranging from mere gold bars to luxury jets to scam cryptocurrency profits.) 

Of course, Trump is entitled to his opinion, and this is far from the first time he's lashed out at judges who held him to the law. In fact, usually his outbursts are a lot worse and more overtly threatening. 

But he's also made it clear that he thinks only he is entitled to an opinion, and that people who criticize judges who have issued rulings he liked are somehow breaking the law. Just before returning to office, Trump called for people who say things like he did today about Supreme Court Justices to be put in jail for trying to influence them. At the time, he was talking about the court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade and women's right to reproductive freedom. Most Americans support those rights and were critical of the ruling, but none of them had the power to force the executive branch to "investigate" justices for ties to supposed foreign puppetmasters.

Perhaps the only clear and consistent message out of the Trump administration on the subject of tariffs today was that everyday Americans will not see any kind of refund for the thousands of dollars in taxes that they indirectly paid. (Importing businesses might be able to recoup those taxes, but unlike a surprise surtax like the ones Trump imposed, windfall profits are never passed along to consumers.) Asked about it today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent literally laughed at the notion, saying "I got a feeling the American people won't see it." 

Why does this matter?

• Donald Trump is not the only American who gets to have an opinion or a say in how the United States is governed.  

• Puppets installed in glass White Houses shouldn't throw stones.