White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt just cannot seem to grasp the whole “checks and balances” part of the U.S. Constitution.
During a press briefing Thursday, Leavitt railed against the recent ruling of a little-known federal court that found Donald Trump had exceeded his legal authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries, based on vague claims of “national emergencies.” In a separate ruling, another federal judge also found that Trump could not collect tariffs on any of his orders.
“The courts should have no role here. There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process. America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges,” Leavitt said.
But the first decision was made by the U.S. Court of International Trade, which has nationwide jurisdiction over civil cases arising from international trade. The three-judge panel ruled that Trump had wrongly invoked the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, which allows him to respond to national emergencies, to justify sweeping retaliatory tariffs on Canada, China, Mexico, and dozens more countries.
Shortly after the briefing, the Trump administration was granted a temporary stay of the trade court ruling while the government appeals. Leavitt also asked the Supreme Court to step in on behalf of the president. In the meantime, Trump officials have set out to downplay the impact of the rulings, which could potentially upend ongoing negotiations with other countries.
Leavitt has repeatedly claimed that federal judges have no jurisdiction over the president’s ability to conduct foreign policy matters, rendering them powerless to rule against his illegal deportation policies. Earlier this week, Trump asked the Supreme Court to back up the administration’s efforts to remove immigrants to countries where they did not originate, after a federal judge ruled that he couldn’t deport individuals to South Sudan if they weren’t from there. Leavitt has also railed against the judge who paused Trump’s deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.
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