One of Donald Trump’s own Supreme Court appointees has refused to show up to the president’s State of the Union address, days after striking down his signature economic policy.
Conservative justice Neil Gorsuch—one of the justices Trump described as a “lap dog” and a “disgrace to our nation” for voting against his global tariffs — was a notable no-show on Tuesday night.
Only four of the court’s nine justices attended: Chief Justice John Roberts, Trump appointees Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh and liberal justice Elena Kagan.
Conservative justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas (who doesn’t often attend State of the Union speeches), and liberal justices Sonya Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson were also absent.
The president shook hands with each of the justices after entering the chamber to an enthusiastic response from GOP lawmakers.
Gorsuch’s snub came after he hit out at the president’s overreach when it came to his tariffs, criticizing the president’s overreach, declaring that major decisions affecting Americans—“including the duty to pay taxes and tariffs”—should not be determined through “one faction or man.”
“Yes, legislating can be hard and take time. And, yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design,” Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion.
“Through that process, the Nation can tap the combined wisdom of the people’s elected representatives, not just that of one faction or man. There, deliberation tempers impulse, and compromise hammers disagreements into workable solutions.”
It was a stark contrast to a similar address Trump gave last year, after the court gave Trump and all other presidents broad immunity from prosecution for official acts committed in office.
At the time, Trump had been criminally convicted for falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal with a porn star, but the court’s decision helped him avoid a jail term.
“Thank you again. I won’t forget,” Trump told Roberts last year as he patted the chief justice on the back.
Supreme Court justices, by tradition, attend the annual address and sit in the House chamber as silent witnesses while the president outlines his priorities.
But their presence this year adds an edge to an already high-stakes moment for the administration.
Friday’s historic 6-3 ruling undercut one of Trump’s biggest tools to reshape U.S. trade and exert pressure on other countries.
The president made no secret of his rage, telling reporters in the aftermath: “They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.”
He also declared that he would use a different set of trade powers, known as Section 122, to impose an across-the-board global 10 percent tariff.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I’m ashamed of certain members of the Court—absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” he said on Friday.
“Far too often with certain members of this court, and it’s happened so often with this court… they’re just being fools and lap dogs for the RINOs (Republican In Name Only) and the radical left Democrats.”
Trump was expected to use his speech on Tuesday to double down on his economic message, arguing that his trade and tariff policies had been a boon for America after years of being “ripped off” by foreign countries.
But the address comes amid political headwinds for the president, whose popularity is at its lowest point since he took office.
With the midterm elections in November, opinion polls show Trump’s approval rating sinking as Americans increasingly question his leadership and priorities.
A new Washington Post–ABC/Ipsos poll released on Monday, for instance, shows 60 per cent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with 47 per cent strongly disapproving—the highest disapproval level in years.
“It just amazes me that there’s not more support out there,” a forlorn-looking Trump said on Monday, insisting the polls were fake.
“We actually have silent support. I think it’s silent. I think that’s how I won.”
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