Donald Trump Issues Chilling New Threat to Countries Who Want to 'Play Games' After Supreme Court Tariff Decision
Donald Trump issued a new warning to other countries regarding tariffs.
Feb. 23 2026, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to the rest of the world after the Supreme Court ruled his emergency tariffs were illegal, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
On Monday, February 23, Trump, 79, took to his Truth Social platform and proclaimed he would be open to imposing retaliatory tariffs on "any country that wants to 'play games' with the ridiculous Supreme Court decision."
'Buyer Beware!'
Donald Trump said he doesn't need approval from Congress for new tariffs.
Trump claimed countries that he believes have "ripped off" the United States "for years, and even decades" could be met with a "much higher tariff" that was "worse" than the increase he recently announced.
"BUYER BEWARE!!!" he concluded.
In a follow-up post, the POTUS declared he also doesn't need to seek approval from Congress for any new tariffs.
"(Approval) has already been gotten, in many forms, a long time ago!" he continued. "They were also just reaffirmed by the ridiculous and poorly crafted supreme court decision!"
The Supreme Court's Ruling
The Supreme Court ruled IEEP tariffs were illegal.
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 that the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) did not apply to tariffs on Friday. Chief John Roberts claimed they came to the decision because the IEEPA's "grant of authority" for the POTUS to "regulate" things such as "importation" fell short.
"The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word 'regulate' to authorize taxation," Roberts wrote in a statement at the time. "And until now no President has read IEEPA to confer such power."
Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas all dissented.
"Although I firmly disagree with the Court’s holding today, the decision might not substantially constrain a President’s ability to order tariffs going forward," Kavanaugh said after the ruling. "That is because numerous other federal statutes authorize the President to impose tariffs and might justify most (if not all) of the tariffs at issue in this case – albeit perhaps with a few additional procedural steps that IEEPA, as an emergency statute, does not require."
Trump Rages He Can 'Cut Off' Trade and 'Destroy' Countries
Donald Trump said he could 'destroy' other countries by cutting off trade.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling, Trump ranted that he was able to "cut off any and all trade or business" with another country, but wasn't allowed to charge them even "one dollar" under the old tariffs.
"In other words, I can destroy the trade. I can destroy the country!" he said. "I can do anything I wanted to do to them, but can’t charge any money. I’m allowed to destroy the country, but it can’t be a little fee. I could give them a little two, two-cent fee. But I cannot charge under any circumstances. I cannot charge them anything. Think of that. How ridiculous is that?"
Trump Rails Against Justices Who Voted Against Tariffs
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Donald Trump called Brett Kavanaugh his 'hero.'
Earlier this month, Trump claimed the members of the Supreme Court who "voted against our very acceptable and proper method of TARIFFS" should be "ashamed of themselves" in a wild tirade.
However, he commended the three Supreme Court Justices who stood with him on the issue, going so far as to strangely dub Kavanaugh his "new hero."
"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that they want to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he wrote at the time.
