The Introspective

The week ended with weaker 2025 growth, a high court setback on trade policy, and a 15% global tariff.

Dante Belcher

Feb 23, 2026

Trump’s 57th week ended with updates to the economy, the Supreme Court and the trade war. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump’s tariffs were illegal, a major blow to Trump’s economic policies in his second term. Trump later imposed a 15% global tariff despite the ruling, raising implications as data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed that the economy slowed at the end of 2025.

Economy and Tariffs

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—a 1977 law allowing the president to declare a national emergency and regulate international commerce—does not give Trump the ability to unilaterally impose tariffs.

“We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the ruling.

“Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”

“Based on two words separated by 16 others in Section 1702(a)(1)(B) of IEEPA—‘regulate’ and ‘importation’—the President asserts the independent power to impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time,” he continued.

“Those words cannot bear such weight.”

Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito dissented, claiming that Trump should have the power to impose tariffs during national emergencies.

“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” wrote Kavanaugh.

Trump later criticized the judges after the ruling, saying he was “ashamed.”

“The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” he said.

He further criticized the judges in a Truth Social post.

“What happened today with the two United States Supreme Court justices that I appointed against great opposition, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, whether people like it or not, never seems to happen with Democrats,” he wrote.

“They vote against the Republicans, and never against themselves, almost every single time, no matter how good a case we have,” he continued.

“At least I didn’t appoint Roberts, who led the effort to allow foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years to continue to do so—but we won’t let it happen.”

Trump then said Saturday that he would be imposing a 15% global tariff under the 1974 Trade Act, after previously threatening 10%.

“I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘ripping’ the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed that the U.S. economy slowed at the end of 2025 to an annual rate of 1.4%.