'So It's A Loss?': How Trump Reacted After Learning Of Tariff Blow During White House Meeting

Last Updated:February 22, 2026, 16:58 IST

Shortly afterwards, Trump cut short a question-and-answer session and left the meeting, saying he needed to prepare a response.

US President Donald Trump was in the middle of a closed-door meeting with governors at the White House when he first learnt that the Supreme Court of the United States had struck down his global tariff programme.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, a trade adviser quietly handed Trump a note during the session in the State Dining Room on Friday. The note informed him that the court had ruled his sweeping tariffs illegal.

“So it’s a loss, then?" Trump asked, according to people in the room. When the adviser confirmed the decision, the president told the governors that he appeared calm on the outside, but was angry inside. He called the ruling as a “disgrace", those present said.

Shortly afterwards, Trump cut short a question-and-answer session and left the meeting, saying he needed to prepare a response.

Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court had delivered a 6-3 ruling against the president’s tariff policy. In a decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court said Trump had overstepped his authority by using a 1977 emergency economic powers law to impose broad “reciprocal tariffs". The justices held that the law did not permit such sweeping trade measures.

News world 'So It's A Loss?': How Trump Reacted After Learning Of Tariff Blow During White House Meeting

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