Donald Trump Reacts As the U.S. Supreme Court Overturns His Tariffs

• United States President Donald Trump reacted with disgust after the US Supreme Court overturned his tariffs
• The courts ruled against Trump after he unilaterally imposed sanctions on over 100 countries, including South Africa
• Trump reacted to the news and said that he had a backup plan for his tariffs and announced a global tariff despite the ruling

Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, covered local and international politics, political analysis, and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his 10 years of experience.

WASHINGTON, USA— United States President Donald Trump said that he has a backup plan for the tariffs he imposed globally, as the United States Supreme Court ruled against his tariffs on 20 February 2026.

Watcher.Guru posted a series of tweets breaking the announcement and Trump’s reaction down on its @WatcherGuru X account. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump exceeded powers by imposing tariffs without Congress’s approval. This includes the 30% tariffs imposed on South Africa on 1 August.

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Donald Trump reacts to tariff ruling

Trump said that the rulings are a disgrace and added that he has a backup plan for the tariffs.

View the tweet on X here:

Trump announces global tariff

Trump later addressed the media, and his address was posted on the White House's @WhiteHouse X account. Trump said that he will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged. He added that the existing tariffs remain in place. He said that a president can charge more tariffs than those charged in the past.

"We can use other of the statutes, other of the tariff authorities which have also been confirmed and fully allowed," he said.

View the X tweet here:

Impact of Trump's tariffs on the South African economy

Martlé Keyter, the CEO of Operations for the Motor Industry Staff Association, noted that Trump's tariffs would have a devastating effect on the South African economy. She said that the motor trade is already struggling amidst the uncertainty of tariff percentage increases. This will result in unemployment and a drastic reduction of the workweek.

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Netizens stunned by Trump's announcement

Social media users were reeling from Trump's decision to impose more tariffs.

John Withshire said:

"Wow. He's going all in to rob Americans as quickly as he can. As a reminder, tariffshave cost Americans $170 billion over the past year. The trade deficit is up 7% from 2024 to 2025."

Vesper observed:

"There is more that Trump needs to admit to, namely how he plans to return the billions of dollars to the US Treasury."

Salem was concerned.

"10% global tariff on top of existing ones? That's a take hike on American consumers. Expect higher prices on everything from electronics to food. History shows tariffs fuel inflation."

Victoria Zeev mused:

"Tariffs don't punish China. They punish consumers who don't read economics."

Warren was angry.

"Give us our money back."

Ronald Lamola weighs in on exports to the U.S.

In a related article, Briefly News reported that International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said that South African exports are not in competition with U.S. exports. He spoke days after Trump imposed a 30% tariff on South African goods.

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Lamola said that South Africa's agricultural products are counter-seasonal and fill in the gaps in the U.S. markets.

Source: Briefly News