'We'll get it done one way or the another': Trump defiant on tariffs

The US president criticised judges blocking his tariff regime and said he would find other ways to impose duties if the court rules against him

US President Donald Trump addressed ongoing legal challenges to his tariff policies during a campaign-style stop in Clive, Iowa, expressing hope that the Supreme Court would ultimately rule in favour of his administration even as lower courts have declared his sweeping tariff regime illegal. 

Referring to the pending legal challenge, Trump criticised judicial decisions blocking his tariffs and portrayed them as being favourable to China.

"I hope we win the Supreme Court case," Trump said. "You know, we have people that are China-oriented, people literally that [are] very China-oriented and foreign-country-oriented trying to stop that."

Trump warned that even an adverse ruling from the Supreme Court would not deter him from pursuing wide-ranging tariffs, insisting his administration would find alternative ways to implement them.

"We'll get it done. One way or the other, we're going to do it. If we have to do it a different way, we'll do it," he said.

Defending his trade approach, Trump claimed his policies were generating massive revenue for the United States.

"But we're taking in hundreds of billions of dollars. We're doing amazing. Nobody can even believe it. Foreign countries cannot believe what's happened. They're studying us, but it won't work."

His remarks followed developments at the US Supreme Court, which on January 20 issued three rulings but stopped short of deciding the closely watched case challenging the legality of Trump's global tariff policy.

The court did not provide any indication on when it might take up the dispute next, maintaining its practice of not announcing in advance which decisions will be delivered on any given day.

Reacting to the developments, Trump said he was uncertain about how the Supreme Court would rule, warning that the government could be forced to return hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff revenue if it loses the case.

"I don't know what the Supreme Court is going to do ... To me, it reads so plainly. It couldn't be plainer," Trump said, reiterating his belief that the tariffs were imposed legally.

He also cautioned that reimbursing duties already collected would be difficult "without hurting a lot of people."

The court's decision to defer a ruling has left uncertainty hanging over Trump's trade agenda, even as lower courts have already questioned the legality of the sweeping measures.