KAITLAN COLLINS: Blizzard-like conditions may have more than 35 million Americans snow- bound or struggling to dig themselves out this evening. But one person who is plowing straight ahead is the President of the United States.
Fresh off being handed a major defeat from the Supreme Court, on the eve of his State of the Union address, Donald Trump is making one thing very clear. Even when it comes to powers, the Constitution explicitly gives to Congress, he says that he has no plans to consult with the legislative branch that he’ll address tomorrow night in prime time.
For example, he posted today, As President, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of Tariffs. Sticking to that claim from Friday that he made hours after the Supreme Court struck down his tariffs. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Well why wouldn’t you just work with Congress to come up with a plan–
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don’t have to.
REPORTER: –to push tariffs through?
TRUMP: I have the right to do tariffs, and I’ve always had the right to do tariffs, and it’s all been approved by Congress, so there’s no reason to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The President backed that up with another threat, posting that, Any country that wants to play games, as he put it, With the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have Ripped Off the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff.
That comes as, over the weekend, we saw the President say that his 10 percent global tariff that he put in place, after the Supreme Court struck down the measures on Friday, would now go up to 15 percent. That sent markets tumbling, as investors, business owners, consumers have been trying to make sense of it all.
That uncertainty is now threatening to upend much of the work that the President’s administration has spent the last year focused on, when it comes to trade. For example, we saw the European Union delaying votes on a trade deal that the administration spent the summer negotiating, perhaps sensing that the President now has a weaker hand to play on this front.
And the President’s position toward Congress isn’t just on tariffs. It also extends to the possibility of what he has described, in the President’s words, War and Iran.
CNN and others have been reporting that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a familiar face, General Dan Caine, and other military leaders have privately been raising concerns about the scale, the complexity, the potential for American casualties that could result if there is a major, extended military operation against Iran.
The President has been weighing his options here. And laying out all scenarios, for a Commander-in-Chief, is not unusual. But that did prompt the President to post this, saying, Everything that has been written about a potential War with Iran has been written incorrectly, and purposefully so. He said, I am the one that makes the decision.
Now, of course, the Constitution is clear. Both the powers to tax and the decision to declare war rest in that building, the United States Capitol, with the United States Congress.
But this particular Congress, controlled by Republicans in both chambers, has ceded its power to the President on multiple occasions. They’ll be listening in, of course, tomorrow night, as we all are, as the President makes that speech, also making the case for his accomplishment — his accomplishments and his goals so far, going forward in his agenda.
That comes, despite a new CNN poll that shows only 32 percent of Americans believe the President has the right priorities.
He’s been offering a preview of that one thing we do know about tomorrow night, is the State of our Union will be long.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have a country that’s now doing well. We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had. We have the most activity we’ve ever had. I’m making a speech tomorrow night, and you’ll be hearing me say that. I mean, it’s going to be a long speech, because we have so much to talk about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)