'Bull-headed' Trump smacked down by Wall Street Journal: 'Democrats must be thrilled'

President Donald Trump was given a dressing-down by the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board for persisting with his tariffs policy after the U.S. Supreme Court struck them down.

The court ruled 6-3 last week that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing tariffs without congressional approval. He has raged against the decision for days and threatened to implement the levies using alternative legal means.

The conservative Journal's editorial board urged him to knock it off.

"Well, that will show the Supreme Court — or something," the op-ed opened. "President Trump is reacting to his Friday tariff defeat not by calming the trade waters but by roiling them further. He is aiming in fury at the Supreme Court, but he will end up hitting the economy and Republicans in Congress."

"The smart play after his legal defeat would be to take an off-ramp and forgo or pause new tariffs," the board added. "Instead, the White House this weekend dusted off Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 as a work-around."

That provision – which the board notes is a "holdover from a bygone era of the gold standard, fixed exchange rates and periodic panics about global liquidity" – allows presidents to impose 15 percent tariffs for up to 150 days to manage balance-of-payments deficits, but the board said that encompasses an economy’s total international position, not just its trade balance.

"The larger reality is that Mr. Trump is so bull-headed about tariffs that he’s going to re-impose them any way he can," the board wrote.

Trump will likely fire off other tariffs under sections, 201, 301 and 232, which the board dismissed as "pea shooters" compared to the International Emergency Economic Powers Ac tariffs struck down buy the court, but those duties could still create uncertainty for businesses and do other harm to the economy – and Republican congressional candidates.

"With the midterm elections coming soon, this timing is fraught for Republicans," the board wrote. "Amid an 'affordability' panic, Mr. Trump says he is going to impose more border taxes on enough imports to make up for his lost emergency tariffs. Democrats must be thrilled at their dumb luck."

"Mr. Trump is so ideologically fixated on tariffs that he is willing to bet his Presidency on them," the op-ed added. "This looks increasingly like a losing wager for Republicans."