By Admin 
US President Donald Trump strongly defended his economic policies in his State of the Union address to the joint session of Congress. He claimed that tariffs (import duties) from many countries will over time replace the modern income tax system, thereby reducing the huge financial burden on American citizens.
Countries that looted us are now giving us billions of dollars: Trump
Trump said, ‘Over time, I am confident that in the coming days, tariffs coming from abroad will largely replace the advanced income tax system. This will remove a huge burden from the heads of the people I love. Trump described the tariffs as his biggest success and said that they have brought in hundreds of billions of dollars, with which America has made excellent deals.
Trump said, ‘I used these tariffs, earned hundreds of billions of dollars, made great deals for the country in terms of economic and national security. Everything was going well. The countries which were looting us for decades are now giving us hundreds of billions of dollars. Inflation ended, there was tremendous growth.
Supreme Court’s decision very sad: Trump
This address came at a time when just four days ago (February 20, 2026), the US Supreme Court had struck down Trump’s tariffs in a 6-3 decision. The court said that under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the President does not have the right to impose tariffs.
Trump expressed displeasure over this decision and called it ‘very sad’. He said, ‘Four days ago a sad decision of the Supreme Court came. Very sad decision. But the good thing is that almost all countries and companies want to maintain the previous deal, because they know that the President has the legal power to make new deals which may be even worse for them.
Tariffs ended wars and kept peace: Trump
Trump insisted that Congress would not be needed because he would continue the tariffs under “fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes.” He claimed that the tariff also helped end the war and maintain peace.
The Supreme Court accepted that the right to impose taxes lies with Congress and not with the President through emergency power. The decision was a major blow to Trump’s economic agenda, which included ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs and drug trafficking/trade deficit-based duties. Even after the decision, Trump had talked about starting a new 10% global tariff and other investigations.