President Donald Trump brutally snubbed Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan at his State of the Union address on Tuesday. This comes days after the 79-year-old slammed the six judges of the Supreme Court, who voted to strike down his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs.
Trump said Friday at the White House that he was “ashamed of certain members of the court” and said some of the justices were “frankly a disgrace to our nation.”
“They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution,” Trump said.
While Trump shook hands with all the justices in the House on Tuesday, social media users observed that he particularly gave a ‘cold shoulder’ to Coney Barrett.
“He’s so petty. Trump only shook the hand of SCOTUS justice Brett Kavanaugh 😆 Amy Coney Barrett standing next to Kavanaugh, laughed. #SOTU2026,” one person wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
Trump vs SCOTUS
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Trump exceeded his authority by invoking a federal emergency-powers law to impose his “reciprocal” tariffs across the globe, as well as targeted import taxes the administration says address fentanyl trafficking.
Two justices appointed by Trump in his first term—Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett—joined the majority in striking down the tariffs.
The decision leaves unresolved the question of whether importers are entitled to refunds, remanding that issue to a lower court. If fully allowed, refunds could reach as much as $170 billion—more than half the total revenue generated by Trump’s tariffs.
White House officials have vowed to replace the tariffs with other tools, though reimposing the import taxes will be more difficult, and the president is likely to face more substantial restrictions on the scope and duration of future tariffs he can impose.
“Foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic. They’re so happy, and they’re dancing in the streets—but they won’t be dancing for long,” Trump said.
(With Bloomberg inputs)
