Natalie Kittroff

From The New York Times, I'm Nathalie Kittrowef.

This is a special episode of The Daily.

Today, in a historic 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that President Trump's sweeping global tariffs are illegal, jeopardizing a pillar of the president's second term.

I spoke with my colleague, Adam Liptak, about the legal logic of the ruling and its potentially seismic impacts.

It's Friday, February 20th.

Adam, thank you for taking time to speak with us today on a very busy news day.

So we're coming to you on a Friday afternoon because something quite extraordinary has happened on the Supreme Court.

The court has struck down many of President Trump's tariffs.

These tariffs aren't just at the core of his economic policy.

They are also the tool that he has used to wield just enormous power across the world.

They have been his main source of leverage.

And now they've been invalidated.

And while we have the sense that the court might rule this way, the reality of it actually happening in this moment hits much differently.

Is that how you're seeing it?

Okay, I want to dig into the specifics of the decision, why the court ruled the way it did.

Can you just walk me through what the majority's reasoning was for rejecting these tariffs?

The chief justice, you're saying, is basically doing a close reading of this statute and saying if you look at the actual language in it, it does not authorize the president to wield this kind of power, to impose these kinds of tariffs.

Right.

And to that point, Adam, this was a 6-3 decision.

And what stood out to me as I was looking through the opinions on this was that the conservatives on the court were split.