President Trump announced Saturday that he is raising his newly imposed global tariff from 10 percent to 15 percent, one day after the Supreme Court struck down his authority to levy sweeping import taxes under emergency powers. The move shifts the legal foundation for the tariffs while escalating their economic impact.

The announcement came via Truth Social, where Trump offered his assessment of the Court's Friday ruling in characteristically unvarnished terms:

"Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday, after MANY months of contemplation, by the United States Supreme Court, please let this statement serve to represent that I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been 'ripping' the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level."

The new tariffs take effect Feb. 24.

A Different Legal Lane

According to The Hill, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that the Trump administration was unjustified in issuing sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. That statute, which grants broad presidential authority during declared emergencies, had served as the original vehicle for the tariff regime. The Court disagreed that it could stretch that far.

Rather than absorb the blow, the White House pivoted. The executive order now cites Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows for tariffs up to 15 percent for a duration of 150 days to address "large and serious" trade deficits. The legal basis is narrower but tested. And at 15 percent, the new rate pushes right to the ceiling of what the statute permits.

That is not an accident. The Court closed one door, and the president walked through another at full stride.

What's In, What's Out

The order excludes a wide range of goods, signaling that this is a more targeted instrument than the original emergency tariffs. Among the exemptions:

• Agricultural products
• Pharmaceuticals
• Electronics
• Certain vital minerals and metals

Goods from Canada and Mexico are also excluded, owing to a trade agreement between the three countries brokered in 2020 under the first Trump administration. The White House has indicated it will roll out the global taxes over the next several months.

The carve-outs matter. They undercut the inevitable headlines about grocery prices and medicine costs, while keeping the pressure squarely on the foreign manufactured goods where the trade deficit bites hardest.

Republican Dissent, and Its Limits

Not every Republican cheered. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska signaled on Friday that the updated import taxes likely will "be defeated" in Congress. In a CNN interview, Bacon laid out his case plainly:

"It may not have a veto-proof majority, but it will have a majority that will go against that 10 percent global tariff, so I think the president is making a mistake here."

Note what Bacon conceded even as he objected: no veto-proof majority. A congressional majority that opposes a tariff but cannot override a veto is a majority without teeth. The distinction between symbolic opposition and operative opposition is everything in Washington, and Bacon drew the line himself.

The updated import taxes have received flak from some Republicans, though Bacon is the most vocal name on record. The broader GOP caucus faces a familiar tension: free-trade instincts refined over decades of Chamber of Commerce orthodoxy versus the populist trade posture that now defines the party's base. That tension is real, but it has resolved in the same direction at every major inflection point since 2016.

The Bigger Picture

What happened this week reveals something important about how this administration operates under pressure. The Supreme Court issued a significant rebuke on Friday. By Saturday, the president had not retreated, recalibrated downward, or convened a task force to study the implications. He found a different statute, raised the rate, and posted the announcement before most of Washington had finished its morning coffee.

The 150-day window under Section 122 is worth watching. It creates a built-in deadline that forces trading partners to negotiate now rather than wait out the clock. Countries that have enjoyed lopsided trade relationships with the United States for decades suddenly face a ticking calendar. That kind of leverage does not come from polite multilateral summits. It comes from credible economic pressure with an expiration date.

Lawmakers under the 16th Amendment hold broad authority over federal taxes, including tariffs. Congress can act if it has the votes. But as Bacon himself admitted, the votes to override are not there. Until they are, the president holds the pen.

The Court said no to one path. The president found another. The tariffs go up on Monday.