The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Psaki: Tariffs are a tool of Trump's corruption at taxpayers' expense
21 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: How did Trump manipulate tariffs for personal gain?
The U.S. military deployed on the streets of America. Whole communities targeted for removal. There was tremendous anxiety as they saw neighbors and friends being taken. And when accountability finally came knocking, the burn order to cover it all up. I never believed that America would be doing this. A stain on this country, one that we said we would never repeat.
Rachel Maddow presents Burn Order. All episodes available now.
As you all know, it was another one of those Fridays where the news gods dumped a massive story on us, with the Supreme Court striking down the vast majority of Donald Trump's tariffs and sending the president spiraling into an absolute toddler-esque temper tantrum on national television with some very creepy dark lighting in the briefing room, I would note. Now, Illinois Governor J.B.
Pritzker, as Steph just mentioned, is going to join me here in just a moment. My bet is he has some thoughts on that public tantrum. I'm also going to ask him about his very direct message to Trump after the decision came down. Steph also referenced this.
Chapter 2: What are the implications of the Supreme Court's ruling on Trump's tariffs?
He basically said Illinois wants its money back, demanding the Trump administration refund residents of his state $1,700 each for the money they lost to tariffs. He even sent the Trump administration a literal invoice for the money. We'll show that. You can see that right there. So there's a lot to talk with the governor of Illinois about tonight.
And with a big decision like this reversing one of Trump's most catastrophic economic policies and with Trump threatening to try and revive the policy in almost any way he can, I think a lot of people are wondering what this all means for the economy, from how much things cost to whether they will actually ever see a dime back of the cost of these tariffs.
And the one person I can know who can answer all of these questions and knows all the levers is Senator and Professor Elizabeth Warren, who's also going to join me here later to explain what happens next. So we've got a lot to get to tonight, but I just want to start with this. Every president has specific things they like to focus on.
And I worked for two, I know this, certain issues or beliefs or campaign slogans that they will go back to over and over again. But there's only one president that I know who has taken such a liking to one particular word, a single noun from the English language, which he seems to prize above all else.
It's called tariffs. I said, my favorite word in the whole dictionary is tariff. I said, tariff is my favorite word in the whole dictionary. I said, my favorite word of every word is tariff.
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Chapter 3: How can Illinois residents get reimbursed for tariff costs?
I've loved it for 40 years. My favorite word... In the English dictionary is the word tariff. One of my favorite words is the word tariff. My favorite word is the word tariff. My favorite word, tariffs. I said tariff.
My favorite word is tariff. It's like he's grunting it out. It's his favorite word. That's clear. Nobody loves tariffs, it seems, more than Donald Trump loves tariffs. It's why, against all reason, Trump blanketed the world with steep tariffs, arbitrarily and chaotically driving up prices for millions of American consumers.
And it's why today, when an aide walked into a meeting between Trump and a bunch of governors and handed him a note saying that the Supreme Court had struck down the vast majority of his tariffs, Trump went ballistic.
Chapter 4: What patterns of behavior does Trump exhibit regarding tariffs?
I mean, immediately after that meeting, Trump held a hastily assembled press conference to mourn his precious tariffs. I mean, again, it's like the lighting in there is a funeral of sorts. I've never seen it lit like that. Over the course of 45 minutes, the American people got to watch him experience basically all five stages of grief live on television. I mean, there was stage one, denial.
I have the right to do tariffs, and I've always had the right to do tariffs. The Supreme Court's decision today made a president's ability to both regulate trade and impose tariffs more powerful. I don't think the court meant that. I don't think the court meant it. I don't think they meant that. I'm sure they didn't.
Didn't mean it. Lots of denial. Now, of course, there's also stage two, anger.
They're against anything that makes America strong, healthy, and great again.
Chapter 5: What is the economic impact of Trump's tariffs on American consumers?
They also are a, frankly, disgrace to our nation, those justices. They're just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats. There was stage three, the form of bargaining. I want to be very well-behaved because I understand the court. I understand how they're very easily swayed. I want to be a good boy.
I want to be a good boy. Okay. There was stage four, which is depression.
The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed.
And then eventually there was stage five, some form of acceptance.
It's ridiculous, but it's okay because we have other ways, numerous other ways. Now I'm going to go in a different direction, probably the direction that I should have gone the first time. Now I'll go the way I could have gone originally.
And because it was Donald Trump, there was, of course, also a sixth stage of grief, saying whatever absolutely unhinged thing popped into his head at any given moment.
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Chapter 6: How does Senator Warren view the future of tariffs under Trump's administration?
I can do anything I want to do to them, but I can't charge any money. So I'm allowed to destroy the country, but I can't charge them a little fee. And I don't like them. I think they're real slime balls. I read the paragraphs. I read very well. Great comprehension. 30 years longer, they made chip, chip, chip. He said, sir, I want to kiss you so badly. This is a very powerful man.
I don't want to be kissed by that man.
So that was on one press conference today, everyone. I mean, it's very clear Donald Trump is going through some things right now. It's the only way to explain it. He desperately, obviously, did not want to give up his tariffs, and there's a reason for that.
Chapter 7: What strategies does Trump use to circumvent legal limitations on tariffs?
For the past 40 years, long before he ever ran for president, Donald Trump has been obsessed with the idea of levying tariffs on other countries, talking about it in interview after interview. And it has never been based on any sort of economic theory. It's always been about one thing. And one thing only, power. Because Trump believes tariffs give him power over other countries.
He doesn't care if that power comes at the expense of regular Americans who end up paying the tariffs. He's okay with that pain as long as it gives him power over other world leaders. As long as he gets to feel big and tough and powerful. Just listen to the way he talked about using tariffs against the nation of Switzerland.
You know, I had an incident with a very nice country, Switzerland. So I put on a 30% tariff, which is very low. Still, we were having a big deficit, but it was half the deficit. Then I got an emergency call from, I believe, the prime minister of Switzerland, and she was very aggressive, but nice, but very aggressive. Sir, we are a small country. We can't do this.
Chapter 8: What accountability measures are needed for Trump's tariff policies?
We can't do this. I couldn't get her off the phone. We are a small country. I said, you may be a small country, but we have a $42 billion deficit with you. No, no, we are a small country. Again and again and again, I couldn't get her off the phone. So it was at 30%. I didn't really like the way she talked to us. And so instead of giving her a reduction, I raised it to 39 percent.
OK. First off, when Trump says the prime minister of Switzerland, he's probably referring to the former president of Switzerland, Karen Keller Sutter, who you can see right there. But the point here is that Trump claims he raised tariffs on Switzerland by 9 percent simply because he did not like the president's tone.
It didn't matter that it would be regular Americans and Swiss citizens who would suffer as a result of those tariffs. All that mattered was Trump's ego. And even this conservative majority Supreme Court could not deny that there's no rationale or constitutional basis for letting a president create that kind of pain for his own personal vanity.
I mean, Trump repeatedly claimed that his tariff policy was about helping American workers. At one point, he even promised to send every American a rebate check from all the money the US was taking in from the tariffs.
But this was never actually about helping regular people, to state the obvious, which is why even after the Supreme Court declared these tariffs illegal and paved the way for repaying the people who were hurt by them, the Trump administration suddenly has no interest in helping regular people. I mean, here was Trump's very in touch Treasury Secretary on that particular subject just today.
It's going to be a food fight going after $175 billion, isn't it?
I got a feeling the American people won't see it.
I mean, he sounded almost gleeful there. Trump doesn't want to help people with his tariffs. Neither does anybody who works for him. He wants power. He wants to act like a king, which is why tonight he signed a new executive order that will impose new 10% tariffs on all countries under a different statute.
Now, those new tariffs are also likely to be challenged, and the statute he's using only allows those tariffs to be in place for 150 days before Congress would have to make them permanent. And for those of you who don't have calculators in front of you right now, 150 days from now is August, which is right before the midterm elections. So there's that.
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