Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury, said that it is “very unlikely” that the Supreme Court will overturn President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs. A ruling could come as soon as this week.
Bessent said on Meet the Press, “I don’t think the Supreme Court will overrule a president’s signature economic policy.” “They did not go against Obamacare.” I think the Supreme Court doesn’t want to make things worse.
CNBC said that last month, the Supreme Court upheld an important part of the Affordable Care Act that lets a federal panel suggest preventive services that insurers must cover at no cost to patients.
Bessent’s comments came the day after Trump said he would put new tariffs on European goods until he reached “a Deal for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
Trump didn’t say which law he was using, but the action is similar to “liberation day” tariffs that were put in place before under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Trump said that starting on February 1, tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will be 10% and then go up to 25% on June 1.
He said that only the United States has the money and the ability to protect the island and deal with the growing geopolitical threats in the Arctic.
Trump wrote, “We have supported Denmark, all of the European Union countries, and others for many years by not charging them tariffs or any other form of payment.” “Now, after hundreds of years, Denmark needs to give back.”
The tariffs will affect Denmark as well as Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. All of these countries have promised to send troops to Greenland to support Denmark’s sovereignty.
Trump said that those actions have made things much worse.
He wrote, “This is a very dangerous situation for the safety, security, and survival of our planet.” “These countries have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable.”
The Supreme Court is likely to make a decision about Trump’s use of IEEPA to set tariffs before the end of its term, but it could happen this week. The law gives the president a lot of power to use economic tools to deal with what it calls a “unusual and extraordinary threat.”
According to Bessent, the administration sees the tariffs on Greenland as an emergency measure.
Bessent said, “The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency.” “The president made a strategic choice. He can use the U.S.’s economic power to stop a hot war.
Trump has wanted to buy Greenland, which is an independent territory of Denmark, for a long time. In the past few weeks, he has stepped up his calls for the U.S. to take over. The leaders of Greenland, Denmark, and all of Europe have turned down the idea.
Leaders from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom all said in a joint statement on Sunday that threats of tariffs could hurt relations between the two sides of the Atlantic.
The statement said, “We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland.” It also said that any conversation must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Last week, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Motzfeldt met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House.
Following the meeting, U.S. and Danish officials said they would form a high-level working group to discuss Greenland’s future.
