Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Economic Council, has described the court as “very, very confident” to support President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.
Hassett issued a statement during his Sunday morning appearance on ABC “This Week,” telling host George Stephanopulos that the White House “hopes “the ” will work out.”
“And we’re very excited. We’re very confident that the judge will support this law. And I think that’s Plan A. We’re very confident that Plan A is everything we need,” Hassett said.
“But if for some reason, if some judges say that when more Americans die in fentanyl than they have died in combination with American wars, it’s not an emergency where the president has authority, then if that stupid statement is made somewhere, then we have other alternatives that we can pursue to ensure American trade.”
Twelve states sued Trump over tariffs, claiming they were “illegal” and harmful to the US economy
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Economic Council, defended President Donald Trump’s tariff plans on Sunday. (Andrew Haller/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Hassett’s appearance is only for the appeals court to issue a temporary stay to protect the tariffs during the suit after federal court defeated Trump’s tariffs in last week’s ruling.
The Court of Appeal’s decision suspends the decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) and therefore allows Trump to continue enacting a baseline tariff of 10% and the so-called “mutual tariffs” announced on April 2 under the International Emergency Economic Force Act or the IEEPA.
The CIT unanimously ruled that it blocked tariffs the day before.
Federal judge blocks Trump’s tariff enforcement order 5
President Donald Trump has used tariff threats for months in office. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Former President Barack Obama and former President Ronald Reagan, the three Trump-appointed judge panel members, have unanimously ruled that Trump has stepped over his authority under Yepa.
They pointed out that as Commander-in-Chief, Trump does not have the “unlimited authority” to impose tariffs under the emergency law.
President Donald Trump holds charts with reciprocal tariff remarks at an event at the Rose Garden, which once again makes America wealthy at the White House in Washington, DC (Brendansmirowski/AFP via Getty Images)
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For now, the burden of proof will be shifted to the government. The government must convince the court that if an injunction is in force, it is a high legal standard that the Trump administration must meet, it will suffer “irreparable harm.”
Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter for Fox News Digital, covering national politics and major broken news events. Submit your tip to anders.hagstrom@fox.com or via Twitter: @hagstrom_anders.
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