Trump warns that rulings against his tariff plan could trigger depression

President Trump on Friday warned that a ruling against his sweeping tariff policy would trigger a depression similar to the Great Depression of the 1920s, warning that the country wouldn’t be able to recover.

“ If a Radical Left Court ruled against us at this late date, in an attempt to bring down or disturb the largest amount of money, wealth creation and influence the U.S.A. has ever seen, it would be impossible to ever recover, or pay back, these massive sums of money and honor. It would be 1929 all over again, a GREAT DEPRESSION!” he said on Truth Social.

The president added that if a court ruled against his tariff plan, “they should have done so LONG AGO,” but he also expressed optimism that the courts would rule in his favor.

“There is no way America could recover from such a judicial tragedy, but I know our Court System better than anyone, there is no one in history that has gone through the trials, tribulations and uncertainties such as I, and absolutely terrible, but also amazingly beautiful, things can happen. Our Country deserves SUCCESS AND GREATNESS, NOT TURMOIL, FAILURE, AND DISGRACE,” Trump said.

The president’s tariffs hit on Thursday, which he has celebrated and sought to reassure the public about while the economy reacts to the upending of the global trade system.

Trump on Friday morning pointed to the stock markets, which didn’t close strong Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of 0.5 percent, falling 224 points, as Trump’s tariffs went into place, while the S&P 500 index fell by roughly 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq composite closed up 0.4 percent after being up by as much as 1 percent in the morning.

Stocks rose Friday; the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 percent, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.8 percent.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is reviewing Trump’s assertion that emergency powers justify his tariffs and a week before the sweeping tariff policy was imposed, the court scrutinized it in high-stakes oral arguments.

Trump cites the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law authorizing the president to issue certain economic sanctions in an emergency to counter an “unusual and extraordinary threat.”

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) earlier this week predicted Trump’s emergency tariff authority is likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court.

“It’s more than likely that the Supreme Court knocks out IEEPA, the law that’s being used for these tariffs, which doesn’t have the word ‘tariff’ in it. Then the president is going to have to go to other laws to justify tariffs — 232, 201, 301. There’s a bunch of laws, and those are harder laws to operate with,” Ryan told CNBC.

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