Rupert Murdoch-owned The Wall Street Journal ridiculed President Donald Trump after judges slammed the brakes on his sweeping trade war.
The Journal, which Trump called a “rotten” newspaper in an unhinged attack aboard Air Force One this month, published a scathing piece on Thursday titled, “President Trump Isn’t a Tariff King.”
“A sweeping trade court ruling puts the executive in his proper constitutional place,” the editorial board wrote, referring to the stinging blow dealt to the president when his sweeping tariffs were ruled to be illegal.
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In a unanimous decision, three judges from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which included Trump appointee Judge Timothy Reif, ruled on Wednesday that the president had overstepped his power under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), which the administration had used to justify the president’s imposition of tariffs. The ruling, however, doesn’t affect the levies slapped on sectors such as steel and car imports.
However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit placed a hold on the decision on Thursday, giving the plaintiffs until June 5 to respond.
“This is an important moment for the rule of law as much as for the economy, proving again that America doesn’t have a king who can rule by decree,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote. “The Trump tariffs have created enormous costs and uncertainty, but now we know they’re illegal.”
“Mr. Trump invoked IEEPA because he wanted to impose tariffs as he sees fit,” it added. “But the Constitution doesn’t let the President ignore Congress and do whatever he wants.”
The ruling came after weeks of market chaos triggered by Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on more than 180 countries, which he imposed on April 2.
Trump announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs just a week later, granting a brief window for trade negotiations to take place between every country except China. The U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day truce on May 14 to significantly lower tariffs.
Then on Friday, Trump reignited his scorched-earth trade war, taking aim at Apple and Europe with fresh tariff threats.
According to the Journal, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the president is able to impose tariffs using other laws, “though most are more limited than his emergency claims.”
“The most expansive is Section 338 of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Act, which lets a President impose duties up to 50% on countries found to discriminate against the U.S. But no President has ever done so,” the board said.
The president “would be wiser to heed the trade court’s ruling as the political gift it is and liberate his Presidency and the economy from his destructive tariff obsessions,” the op-ed concluded.
Earlier this month, Trump called the Journal a “rotten” newspaper that has “gone to hell.”
“Who are you with?” Trump asked a reporter aboard Air Force One, who said they were with the Journal.
“That’s what I thought,” the president hit back. “Boy, you people treat us so badly. Wall Street Journal has truly gone to hell. Rotten newspaper. You hear me, what I said? It’s a rotten newspaper.”
Trump asked the reporter to “go ahead” with asking their question, but then refused to answer.
“I wouldn’t tell The Wall Street Journal because it’d be wasting my time,” the president said. “There are talks, but I don’t want to talk to The Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal is China-oriented, and they’re really bad for this country.”
The newspaper has criticized Trump’s tariffs for months. It previously ran an opinion piece claiming Trump’s tariffs could “sink his Presidency.”
“Mr. Trump was elected to control inflation and raise real incomes, but tariffs do the opposite,” the board noted, adding that “the tariff shock he’s unleashed could sink his second term.”
