The Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, attended the State of the Union address on Tuesday, the first of President Donald Trump's second term following a Supreme Court decision that partially struck down tariffs. In addition to Roberts, three other Supreme Court justices also went to the Capitol on Tuesday: Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The same group of judges attended last year, a sign that the judges have not changed their plans or behavior despite the president's highly personal attacks after his ruling on the tariffs. The unwritten tradition is for the Supreme Court justices and the President of the United States to coincide on this annual date, and rarely has the tension between the Executive and Judicial branches been as intense as tonight. Since the Supreme Court partially struck down the tariffs last Friday, one of the main axes of the White House's economic policy, Trump has spared no criticism of the judicial decision. The president reacted with personal attacks against the six Supreme Court justices who voted against the tariffs and, after calling the ruling 'deeply disappointing,' claimed without evidence that the judges had made the decision 'due to foreign interests.' When asked, after the tariffs were struck down, if the judges who voted against him were still invited to the State of the Union, he responded bluntly: 'To be honest, I don't care if they come or not.' Justice Roberts was responsible for drafting the opinion of the ruling, which declared that Trump had exceeded his legal authority by relying on a emergency statute to impose excessive tariffs without the approval of Congress.
