Supreme Court Weighs Trump’s Tariffs And The Limits Of Presidential Power

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Politics, Daily News, News

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Supreme Court heard arguments this week about whether President Trump overstepped the limits of his power when he implemented widespread tariffs to address trade deficits. We discuss what both sides argue and the potential ramifications of the court striking down the president’s tariff policy.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben.

This podcast was produced by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.

Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Transcript

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0:15.5	Hi, my name's Oscar, and right now I'm sitting outside of an LSAT testing center in Anaheim, California,
0:21.7	because five months ago, my girlfriend told me that before I can propose, I need to fulfill my
0:26.0	lifelong dream of going to law school and becoming an attorney. This podcast was recorded at...
0:31.6	That was a journey. 103 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 6th.
0:37.0	Things may have changed by the time you hear it, but hopefully I'll be one step closer to fulfilling that dream.
0:42.9	Enjoy the show.
0:46.9	Well, I am proud of your commitment to commitment in many ways.
0:50.5	No kidding. I'll say, I took the LSAT once. It's a hard one.
0:54.3	Look forward to seeing you in the federal court, sir. Yeah. Hey there. It's the NPR Politics
0:59.4	Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Carrie Johnson. I cover the Justice Department.
1:04.5	And I'm Danielle Kurtzleben. I also cover the White House. And today on the show, the Supreme Court considers President Trump's tariff policy and key questions about presidential power.
1:14.5	But before we get to the arguments, Danielle, take us back to Liberation Day and remind us of how President Trump is using tariffs in this second term.
1:24.2	Sure. Well, the short answer to how Trump is using tariffs is however he wants to. He has
1:28.5	imposed widespread tariffs, and he announces them just at the drop of a hat. He goes on social
1:34.0	media and says the tariff on X country is 50%, 40, 30, whatever. I'm remembering he saw an ad
1:40.7	featuring Ronald Reagan a couple of weeks ago, and bam, Canada gets a 10% additional
1:45.8	tariff.
1:46.3	Absolutely.
1:46.9	And what he's doing to impose these country-by-country tariffs is using a law called
	...

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