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- [00:04]
A
Hey, everybody. Welcome to here's the scoop of NBC News. I'm Yazan Basugian. It has been a landmark day at the Supreme Court. The justices struck down most of President Trump's tariffs, a centerpiece of his economic agenda, ruling that he exceeded his authority by using a law reserved for a national emergency. It's a rare loss for President Trump at the Supreme Court, but at a press conference today, he said it was not going to set him back. We're going to break down the decision, the fallout from Wall street to Main street and what cards the president may have left to play. Also, after the arrest of former Prince Andrew, British police are still searching his former home at Royal Lodge. What could be next in the investigation? And the age old question, are we alone in the universe? While we may finally have that answer, but first we're going to unpack the Supreme Court decision on tariffs and the ripple effects it's having across the first. I want to bring in NBC News senior Supreme Court reporter Lawrence Hurley and senior business correspondent Christine Romance. Hey, guys. Whoa. What a day. Give me your reactions, your gut reactions. Lawrence, you first.
- [01:15]
B
Well, from my perspective as a Supreme Court reporter, this was the first significant ruling in which the court has really pushed back on President Trump since he took office again last year. Something that some people want were questioning last year when the court was frequently ruling in his favor on a lot of emergency cases.
- [01:32]
C
Christine, look, this is the president has said he wanted to remake the global economy. He didn't want to use Congress to do that, only he knew how to do it. And this is the first time that he has been told no. The Supreme Court ruling that he illegally collected $133 billion from American businesses and importers and that he does not have the power to do that. So it is, it is a very significant, significant moment in what is his signature economic policy.
- [02:04]
A
So let's break down the decision and that $133 billion. Lawrence, to you first. Talk about this decision. Six, three, walk us through it.
- [02:13]
B
Yeah. So the way this broke down was the court's conservative majority. Six justices were divided. So there were three in the majority, three in dissent, plus the three liberal justices in the major, all agreeing with the three other conservatives that President Trump could not do these tariffs under this law called ipa, which allows for some emergency measures to be taken regarding the economy. But the law doesn't actually mention tariffs. And the court said, you know, under this statute, you just can't do tariffs. Like you can't do it. That doesn't mean President Trump can't do any tariffs because there are other laws that do allow him to do this. They're a little more onerous and require a bit more homework. They don't allow President Trump to immediately announce he's going to do them, and they'll immediately go into effect the way that he's done with these IPA tariffs. So it imposes new restrictions on President Trump's power in a way that hasn't happened yet since he's taken office. Again, the fact that three of the conservative justices dissented is also pretty interesting because there's this theory that they adopted during the Biden presidency when they ruled against Biden on various big issues, including his student loan debt relief plan, saying that the President can't do things unless Congress, Congress has authorized them. And some of the justices didn't seem to think that applies to President Trump, at least in this case.
- [03:37]
A
Christine, there's a point in which we understand that this affects most, but not all tariffs. Right? And Lawrence talked a little bit about that. But what, what tariffs is this actually affecting?
- [03:50]
C
Okay, so if you remember, in April, the President stood in the Rose Garden, he had this big, like, placard made with the names of all these countries and a number, a big, big number. 67%, 80, 27%. These were his reciprocal tariffs. These were the country specific tariffs that he put on for a national emergency. And the national emergency he said was drugs and it was trade deficits. Well, now the Supreme Court has ruled he doesn't have that power to just impose those tariffs in that way. Remember, those tariffs were the basis for a bunch of different trade negotiations even. And the President elicited a bunch of commitments from countries to invest in the United States. I mean, all of that. Now that authority has been thrown out. Now what, what the President is promising to do is use other authorities he has. And Lawrence is right that those are a little more onerous, a little more difficult. He has teased in this press conference today that he's going to put an immediate 10% tariff on everyone and start from there. He does have that authority, but only for 150 days after that. I mean, the statute's very clear. I mean, Congress has to be on board and help him renew those so he doesn't have sort of what critics and what the plaintiffs had said was this king like ability to just pick and choose and put these tariffs on. He's lost that authority.
- [05:07]
A
I want to talk about the $133 billion gained because of these tariffs here in the United States. In his speech Today the president said that tariffs were important for economic national security. He touted the dow had passed 50,000 and the S&P is above 7,000. We just got those new GDP numbers as well today, saying US economic growth slowed at the end of 2025. You had Justice Kavanaugh and his dissenting opinion saying refunds of billions of dollars would have, quote, significant consequences for the US Treasury. How do you unravel billion, Christine?
- [05:40]
C
Yeah, and the Supreme Court did not give a playbook for that. But it is clear that money was illegally collected from American companies and in many cases passed on to American consumers. Those are illegally collected billions of dollars. So what the government could do, and it has the ability to do this, these tariffs are directly deducted from the customs of all of this is electronically done. They could just refund with or without interest, whatever. The president today said, calling the plaintiffs, who are small business owners sleazebags. I think he said that they're going to have to fight him in court. It could take up for up to five years. Some companies like Costco and others have already sued in front of a trade court in the United States saying we want a refund, that the president illegally used this authority. It's interesting to me too, because it's a White House that's trying to stay on message about affordability. But you have the president saying he doesn't want to give these small sized businesses any money back and he will find new ways to put on, to put on these tariffs.
- [06:46]
A
Well, and you could have consumers sitting at home saying, wait, does that mean that he doesn't care about whether or not I'm getting that money back in my pocketbook because I paid more for that couch than I should have because of these illegal tariffs? I mean, is there a possibility in the future, I know it's all going to be tied up in the court system for some time, Christine, but is there a possibility that American consumers could see some of that money?
- [07:08]
C
It's unclear. And you know, remember the president had said he was going to use this tariff money. He has at times he has teased he was going to give a $2,000 check to people. Just now he said he gave $12 billion in tariff money to farmers last week. Let's remember that farmers were retaliated against by countries who were angry about these reciprocal tariffs that have now been proven to be illegal. It's a big mess. Unclear how it all unravels.
- [07:33]
A
Lawrence, what does this decision mean for how the court is making decisions when it comes to the Trump administration? This year in the president's second year in office.
- [07:45]
B
Yeah, I think it's really significant because we heard a lot last year about how the court was ruling in favor of Trump quite frequently on these kind of emergency applications that were getting filed with great frequency over all kinds of policies on whether they could go into effect or not while litigation continued. But those weren't final rulings on the merits of those policies, whereas this one is. And it's quite significant because obviously the Trump has lost this case. Right. So even though he won all these other cases last year, as soon as the court hears full arguments and thinks about it for a while and issues a big written decision like we have got today, they found against the president and there's going to be more cases coming up like this as we go further into the presidency and perhaps Trump continues to lose popularity and the court feels like it has more freedom to perhaps rule against him because it's always a weapon of public opinion. So we may see more of this, especially in the case coming up on Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship.
- [08:44]
A
Lawrence Hurley, Christine Romans, thank you, guys.
- [08:46]
B
Thank you.
- [08:47]
A
Thanks, guys. All right, we are going to take a very quick break. And when we are back, we are heading to the White House. What is the president's plan after this blow to a centerpiece of his economic agenda? Stay with us, guys.
- [09:06]
D
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- [09:38]
A
And we're back with here's the scoop from NBC News. So tariffs were key to President Trump's economic agenda, meant to rebalance the trade deficit and bring manufacturing jobs back here to the United States. Now that the Supreme Court has actually struck down most of these tariffs, the question is, what does this mean for the president's economic agenda going forward? For that, I want to bring in White House correspondent Monica Alba. Hey, Monica.
- [10:03]
E
Hello.
- [10:04]
A
Okay, so take us through it. In a press conference this afternoon, the president slammed the ruling, said he was, quote, unquote, ashamed of the justices that voted against his tariffs. Talk about how he first learned about the Supreme Court decision and what else he said in that press conference this afternoon.
- [10:24]
E
So earlier this morning, the President was meeting with a bipartisan group of governors in the state dining room. It was a breakfast. And as we know, those Supreme Court decisions come down right around that 10am Eastern marker. And we all said to ourselves, ooh, this, if it's tariffs, is gonna happen while he's speaking. So when the world learned about it, the President actually was one of the last people to know, because he was in that room. And it was an aide who passed him a note eventually informing him of what had happen. And he immediately reacted to it in real time in front of these governors, saying, according to a person familiar with his reaction, that the ruling was a disgrace. He told the people assembled there that he did have a backup plan. And then he actually left earlier than he had planned to stay at this event. He said to go and deal with how they were going to react to this. And we found out that that was in the form of this press briefing. The President, this, for him is personal. This is a cornerstone of his complete agend, his policy. This is a hallmark. This is what he ran on, and this is what he often points to as being what he's most proud of now majorly dismantled.
- [11:35]
A
Monica, in the press conference today, the President announced a new global 10% tariff. And he also said that there could be other, quote, unquote, alternatives, and he listed a bunch of other acts. Walk us through what the President believes these alternatives could be in continuing to impose the tariffs.
- [11:52]
E
This is a president who basically is always looking for more ways to implement more tariffs. And what he is saying he might do now, or what he is directing his top officials to do, is essentially to carry out tariffs under a bigger national security umbrella. But the rate of these tariffs appears to be much lower than what it would have been under the far larger tariffs that he announced on Liberation Day, so called Liberation Day, last April. So, of course, that's a major change, but that is the argum that the Treasury Secretary was making as well. And they are trying to position this as we will find a way to potentially, in the words of the president, potentially, quote, take in more money. He said he argued that there will be some way to have what they would call a tariff revenue stream that they think is going to be just as large in 2026 as it was in 2025. But we really just don't know actually exactly how they plan to do that. And the president's been talking about using licensing fees or using potential other avenues if this were to come down. But again, we haven't actually seen the specifics on how this would work.
- [13:03]
A
I want to be clear here, because the tariffs, Monica, that have been imposed so far have cost US Businesses and American consumers a lot of money. You have now small business groups that are calling for refunds. You have Senators Elizabeth Warren getting on board with that, California Governor Gavin Newsom as well. Is he addressing this at all or from your sources that you're speaking to inside the White House? Is this a concern of theirs as they look ahead to reimburse the American consumer?
- [13:33]
E
And who knows how that's actually going to work? I mean, that was a big question in the opinion, because to say that would be messy is to put it really, really lightly. Again, it's not really clear how that might work. And the White House, I think, politically views this as a definite sensitivity, that ultimately, when you talk to all voters, overwhelmingly, their number one concern is the economy. Right. And that is always factored into a couple of different buckets when we're talking about the economy. For some people, that is, you know, just daily cost of living and high prices and expenses.
- [14:10]
A
Sure.
- [14:11]
E
And for others, you mentioned small businesses. Certainly it is the larger economic policy of the Trump administration, which we should point out. It was our own colleague Tom Yamas, who asked the president recently, are we in the Trump economy now? Are you owning this current economy? And the president said, yes, this is my Trump economy. Because remember that before tariffs, the argument was, well, this is still the leftover Biden economy. You need to wait and you need to see the benefits. And it's going to take some time. He has now owned this and now he owns the real repercussions and fallout now of this. And I do think people definitely have looked to the president, some of his biggest fans, some of his biggest supporters have said, well, we don't really understand some of why he's doing this on tariffs, but we're sure in the end it's going to work out. And then you have a decision like this today, and you're going to probably start to see more concerns about why the president went down this road only to now end back up in this position.
- [15:09]
A
I got to also say, what about, you know, Republican members of Congress? Because, you know, we've got a growing list of reaction from Democratic members of Congress, both in the House and the Senate. We don't have that list yet for Republican members of the House and or the Senate. They're going to have an uphill battle with this thing as well, having supported the president on tariffs through it all.
- [15:26]
E
What's so interesting, though, is that you have seen some Republicans speak out against tariffs because that's what they were hearing in their districts, that's what they were hearing from members, that this was hurting their bottom line or was hurting their small businesses. And our colleague Ryan Nobles really positioned a great line of questioning to the president, which was, why not work with Congress to then potentially pursue a path where you could have these tariffs set up again through Congress, through law and establish that. And the president really said he didn't have an appetite for that and that he wasn't going to do that. But as Ryan smartly pointed out in the moment, too, that's also because there isn't enough of an appetite in Congress to necessarily pass that. And you saw Congress a couple of months ago rebuke specific tariffs that the Trump administration had announced on a couple of select countries. And so you have seen them at times, some Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly speak out against this policy and raise questions about what it meant ultimately for American consumers.
- [16:30]
A
I was just speaking with Lawrence Hurley about Justice Gorsuch's concurring opinion about the separation of powers. The conservative justices of the Supreme Court have had an expansive view of presidential power under Trump. I would look especially to the immunity decision out of the Supreme Court. But Gorsuch in his opinion, essentially said, and I'm paraphrasing here, there are limits to presidential power, and this, in fact, is the limit. How is this going to impact not just the president's agenda, but how he acts on his?
- [17:06]
E
Well, it was interesting. The president was asked, what does this mean for the justices who basically voted against your policy in terms of the State of the Union, which is coming up in just a couple of days? Typically, you would see the Supreme Court justices, not always all of them, but a majority of them, sitting there among the first few rows. And he was asked if that means that those who basically disagreed with him are not invited anymore. And he said, well, they're still invited, but barely. They're barely invited, which was a moment. And it really is going to be striking, I mean, for a president who is obsessed with the optics and the images. And we should mention that today in the press conference, they had special lighting for the president that the White House adjusted before he came out there that we have never seen before in the press briefing room. There was sort of more of a blue lighting behind him. It almost had a little bit of a cinematic effect. And we certainly, all of us you know, who've worked and covered this White House for a while and previous administrations, we've never seen anything like that. But I think the State of the Union is sort of another incredible opportunity a couple of days from now to see the optics of this, to see some of these Supreme Court justices potentially who just issued this landmark ruling sit before him, and to likely watch the president, who has never been one to shy away from expressing his real feelings about them and about this overall, potentially do that in a major primetime address like the State of the Union is gonna be really something to watch for quite a day.
- [18:40]
A
Always on a Friday, though. Always on a Friday.
- [18:44]
E
No such thing as a slow news day ever.
- [18:48]
A
Monica Alba, thank you. Coming up next, an update on the investigation into former Prince Andrew and why we might might soon know if aliens are real. Plus, what to watch for on this last Olympic weekend. Stay with us for the headlines. Also, while you wait, why don't you use the time to go ahead and subscribe to here's the scoop. That way you won't miss us when we drop tomorrow.
- [19:15]
F
If you're looking for new ways to get ahead, then you're our kind of person. We're Udemy and we help learners like you upskill in AI productivity, leadership and management and more. Learn at your own pace from real world experts. You can also prep for certifications that show employers what, you know, upskill for the career you want@udemy.com now back to your regularly scheduled listening.
- [19:49]
A
And we're back with here's the Scoop from NBC News. Let's get to some headlines. British police are continuing the search of Royal Lodge, the former residence of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, as part of their ongoing investigation into potential misconduct in public office. The former Prince Andrew was arrested and released from custody on Thursday. Documents in the recent trove of Epstein files released by the Justice Department detailed communications between the late sex offender and Mountbatten Windsor while he was serving as British trade envoy. He has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, but has made no comment on allegations arising from the recent file drop. In a damning report, NASA is blaming inadequate testing, breakdowns in communication and leadership failures for the 2024 Starliner fight that left two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station for months. The starliner mission was meant to last eight days and show that the spacecraft was ready to shuttle astronauts to and from the International Space Station. But there were malfunctions shortly after launch. And after weeks of test, the starliner came back to Earth without the crew. Astronauts butch Wilmore and Suni Williams waited on the ISS for more than nine months before getting a ride home. The space agency is calling it a, quote, Type A mishap, NASA's most severe designation. And speaking of space, everybody, the president has given the go ahead to make government files about aliens public. In a true social post on Thursday, Trump said he would order the Pentagon and other agencies to identify and release files relating to extraterrestrial life, UFOs, and other information connected to, quote, these highly complex but extremely interesting and important matters. In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a screenshot of Trump's post with an alien emoji and a saluting emoji. The move comes after former President Obama said in a podcast that he believes aliens are real. And finally, our last Olympic minute for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. Here is NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster.
- [22:00]
G
Team USA is really showing out, doing what they can to end strong. The women of USA hockey. They're still celebrating that gold medal victory that we saw against Canada in overtime in the most dramatic fashion, the latest in this rivalry between United States and Canada. Well, now the women are doing what they can to support the men as the men's hockey team competes for a medal of any type. Many of the women saying that they will be in attendance at some of the Games as the men try to end what has been a drought, a metal drought since 2010. Meanwhile, we know Jordan Soules will be back out on the ice. He is coming in with two gold medals and a silver medal, trying to add to that count in his competition on Saturday. And all of this is happening ahead of the closing ceremony, not here in Milan or Cortina, but instead Verona. Team USA announcing their flag bearers. We know Hillary Knight and Evan Bates will carry the flag as we march toward the end of these Winter Games.
- [23:02]
A
Thank you, Shaq. And that was our final Olympic minute. But we do have another Olympic treat for you tomorrow. We are going to have our full interview with four time Olympic gold medalist Michaela Shiffrin here in the feed for you. She talks about her amazing comeback this year, her mental health journey and how she keeps herself focused, focused on the moment, not on the metal. We're going to have that here in the feed Saturday morning. You do not want to miss that conversation. But for today, that's going to do it for us at here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasin Vasugin. We'll be back with a full show on Monday with whatever the weekend may bring. And if you like what you heard, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And you can also subscribe to our daily newsletter, the Inside Scoop. It is a deeper dive on the main stories of the day that comes out every weeknight straight to your inbox. You can sign up for the Inside Scoop as part of our paid subscription@nbcnews.com we'll see you tomorrow.
- [24:08]
F
If you're looking for new ways to get ahead, then you're our kind of person. We're Udemy, and we help learners like you upskill in AI, productivity, leadership and management, and more. Learn at your own pace from real world experts. You can also prep for certifications that show employers what you know upskill for the career you want@udemy.com now back to your regularly scheduled listening.