On Tuesday night, what should have been a straightforward State of the Union address quickly turned into a showdown between President Donald Trump and the Supreme Court.

Trump, 79, used the nationally televised address to blast the court’s recent 6–3 ruling against his sweeping import tariff plan, a policy he has sold as central to his “America first” platform.

“It was an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court, a very unfortunate ruling,” he said, staring out at Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett seated in the front row in their black robes.

​The tense moment played out with only four of the nine justices in the room, revealing a growing rift between the White House and the nation’s highest court.

The SCOTUS ruling last week limited Trump’s power to unilaterally slap unprecedented tariffs on imports from almost every U.S. trading partner, a measure invoked by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. But instead of signaling a reset, Trump doubled down.

“The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made…knowing that the legal power that I have as president could be far worse for them," he said, addressing the room. "Congressional action will not be necessary... We finally have a president who puts America first."

Tuesday’s remarks followed days of much more pointed attacks. A CNN correspondent also shared online that during a closed-door meeting, Trump called the ruling “deeply disappointing” and a “disgrace,” saying he was “ashamed of certain members of the court.”

He praised the three dissenting conservatives — Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas — while branding those in the majority “a disgrace to our nation” and even “an embarrassment to their families.”

Trump has hinted he has a “backup plan” to keep tariffs in place using other legal tools, suggesting the fight between the president and the court over who gets to shape the economy is far from over.