Four of the nine Supreme Court justices attended President Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term Tuesday night, just days after he railed against the six justices who voted against his sweeping tariff policy.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., with Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan showed up in their robes. Justice Kagan was the only Democrat-nominated member of the high court in attendance.
They sat straight-faced as he scolded them for the “very unfortunate ruling” from Friday that he overstepped by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to put blanket tariffs on nations.
He called their decision “unfortunate.”
At a White House press briefing after the ruling, Mr. Trump heavily criticized the six justices who ruled against him.
He told reporters at a White House press briefing that the justices were “barely” still invited to the address and he “couldn’t care less if they come,” but said the three justices who sided with him are “happily invited.”
Two of the six justices who ruled against him were Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Justice Barrett, both of whom he nominated to the high court.
Mr. Trump went on to say that the decision by Justices Gorsuch and Barrett to rule against him was “an embarrassment to their families.”
“I don’t want to say whether I regret nominating them,” he said at the briefing. “I think their decision was terrible.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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