WASHINGTON — Days after he publicly rebuked Supreme Court justices who ruled most of his tariffs were unlawful, President Donald Trump steered clear of direct confrontation when he came face-to-face with three of them at his State of the Union address Tuesday.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, both conservatives, and liberal Justice Elena Kagan were in attendance after they joined a 6-3 majority to overturn many of Trump's tariffs. With them was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who dissented in the case released Friday.
The majority opinion was written by Roberts.
During his speech, Trump referred to the ruling as "disappointing" and "unfortunate" while the justices sat stony-faced in front of him. Earlier, Trump greeted each justice individually when he entered the chamber.
But that was the extent of his remarks about the ruling.
In stark contrast, Trump on Friday launched a barrage of blunt attacks on the justices in the majority, saying they are a “disgrace to our nation” and “very unpatriotic and disloyal to the Constitution.” He also suggested that the court was influenced by foreign interests.
Two of the justices in the majority, Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, were appointed by Trump.
Trump had also singled out justices who dissented in the ruling for special praise, including his third appointee, Kavanaugh.
Members of the Supreme Court are generally invited to the political extravaganza in their official capacity. Usually, a handful show up and generally sit uncomfortably as the president speaks. Unlike the politicians present, the justices refrain from applauding or showing any outward support for a president's policies.
Conservative Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas, who dissented with Kavanaugh in the tariffs case, usually do not attend the State of the Union.
Roberts, who usually attends, has expressed frustration about the event and the optics it creates.
"To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally," he said in public remarks in 2010, “I’m not sure why we’re there.”
Roberts was speaking then in the aftermath of a previous State of the Union controversy involving the sitting president and the Supreme Court.
The 2010 speech came just days after the Supreme Court opened the doors to unlimited private corporate expenditure in elections, with President Barack Obama taking the opportunity to criticize the decision.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito was seen to mouth the words "not true" in response to Obama's characterization of the ruling.
The resulting brouhaha prompted criticism of Obama from the right, although his comments focused on the decision itself and did not include any personal criticisms of the justices.
