Scott Bessent, US treasury secretary, throughout an Financial Membership of Minnesota occasion in Golden Valley, Minnesota, US, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.
Ben Brewer | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday mentioned it is “not possible” that the Supreme Court docket will overturn President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs, with a possible determination from the courtroom looming as early as this week.
“I imagine that it is extremely unlikely that the Supreme Court docket will overrule a president’s signature financial coverage,” Bessent mentioned on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They didn’t overrule Obamacare, I imagine that the Supreme Court docket doesn’t need to create chaos.”
In June, the Supreme Court docket upheld a key Inexpensive Care Act provision that arrange a panel to advocate preventive care providers that insurers should present without charge to sufferers.
Bessent’s feedback come sooner or later after Trump mentioned he would impose a brand new slate of tariffs on items coming from Europe till “a Deal is reached for the Full and Complete buy of Greenland.”
Trump didn’t specify in his Reality Social submit which statute he was invoking to impose the tariffs, although the transfer seems to reflect the “liberation day” duties he has imposed on dozens of countries below the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act.
The tariffs on items from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland will start at 10% on Feb. 1, Trump mentioned. They are going to then escalate to 25% on June 1, Trump mentioned.
The Supreme Court docket is about to rule on Trump’s use of the IEEPA to impose tariffs earlier than the top of its time period, however a call might come as quickly as this week. IEEPA provides the president vast latitude to make use of financial instruments in response to an “uncommon and extraordinary risk.”
Bessent mentioned Trump’s new tariffs on Europe relating to Greenland are a response to an emergency.
“The nationwide emergency is avoiding a nationwide emergency,” Bessent mentioned. “It’s a strategic determination by the president … he is ready to use the financial may of the U.S. to keep away from a sizzling warfare.”
Trump has lengthy sought to amass Greenland, the Arctic territory of Denmark, and has ratcheted up his strain marketing campaign for a U.S. takeover of the island in current weeks. Leaders in Greenland, Denmark and throughout Europe have broadly rejected Trump’s calls for to take over the island.
European leaders of nations focused by the brand new tariffs responded on Sunday.
“Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and threat a harmful downward spiral. We’ll proceed to face united and coordinated in our response,” the leaders of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK mentioned in a joint assertion.
“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the folks of Greenland. Constructing on the method begun final week, we stand prepared to have interaction in a dialogue based mostly on the rules of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind,” the assertion learn.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Danish International Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland’s Minister of International Affairs Vivian Motzfeldt on the White Home final week in a gathering that Rasmussen described as “frank however constructive.”
After the assembly, the group mentioned the U.S. and Denmark would set up a high-level working group to chart Greenland’s future.
The Trump administration claims {that a} U.S. acquisition of Greenland is important to nationwide safety to counter the growth of Russia and China within the area.
CNBC has reached out to the White Home and the Treasury Division to make clear what statute Trump is utilizing to impose the brand new European tariffs.
CORRECTION: Vivian Motzfeldt is Greenland’s Minister of International Affairs. A earlier model of this text misstated her title.
This story is growing. Please test again for updates.
