The court fight over Trump's emergency tariffs and the Supreme Court's ruling

Key momentsthe most covered; every story is below

Who covered it, over timeindependent sources per week, by side

LeftCenterRight

Point at or tap a week to see its count by side.

Stories before June 28, 2026 come from archived pages, so who covered them is limited to the outlets we recovered for that period.

27% left · 56% center · 17% right of 292 independent sources among the outlets we track, across 55 stories.

Every storyoldest first

1. April 2025

   Apr 14– 15U.S. businesses sue to block Trump tariffs, say trade deficits are not an emergency14 articles · 9 independent sources

   0 left, 3 center, 2 right
2. Apr 16– 17California will sue to stop Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs:46 articles · 35 independent sources

   6 left, 13 center, 8 right
3. Apr 23– 24A dozen states sue the Trump administration to stop tariff policy54 articles · 39 independent sources

   9 left, 14 center, 2 right

4. May 2025

   May 26– 29Stock market futures jump after court halts most Trump's tariffs6 articles · 3 independent sources

   1 left, 2 center, 0 right
5. May 28– 30Appeals court halts ruling Trump didn’t have authority on tariffs164 articles · 80 independent sources

   15 left, 36 center, 14 right
6. May 29Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Struck Down In Court12 articles · 10 independent sources

   4 left, 2 center, 3 right

7. June 2025

   Jun 1Trump advisers defend tariffs amid legal fight, insisting they're ‘not going away'8 articles · 5 independent sources

   0 left, 2 center, 1 right
8. Jun 11– 12Trump tariffs may remain in effect while appeals proceed, federal appeals court rules18 articles · 18 independent sources

   4 left, 8 center, 4 right
9. Jun 17American toy companies bring Trump’s tariffs to the Supreme Court11 articles · 11 independent sources

   2 left, 2 center, 1 right

10. July 2025

    Jul 28– 31Trump's tariffs face crucial court test on eve of latest deadline31 articles · 19 independent sources

    3 left, 8 center, 2 right

11. August 2025

    Aug 29– 30Appeals court finds Trump’s sweeping tariffs unconstitutional but leaves them in place for now76 articles · 52 independent sources

    8 left, 15 center, 12 right
12. Aug 30– Sep 4Trump asks Supreme Court to quickly take up tariffs case and reverse ruling finding them illegal49 articles · 33 independent sources

    4 left, 15 center, 3 right

13. September 2025

    Sep 3– 10Supreme Court says it will hear Trump appeal on tariffs in key economic case66 articles · 34 independent sources

    5 left, 16 center, 7 right
14. Sep 3– 4Here's who would get refunds if Trump's tariffs get thrown out10 articles · 7 independent sources

    1 left, 2 center, 1 right

15. November 2025

    Nov 2– 4Tariffs are Trump’s favorite foreign policy tool. The Supreme Court could change how he uses them.35 articles · 26 independent sources

    8 left, 7 center, 4 right
16. Nov 3– 7Court appears dubious of Trump’s tariffs119 articles · 66 independent sources

    15 left, 25 center, 16 right
17. Nov 6Trump has other tariff options if the Supreme Court strikes down his worldwide import taxes5 articles · 5 independent sources

    1 left, 2 center, 0 right

18. December 2025

    Dec 1– 3Costco sues the Trump administration over tariffs78 articles · 43 independent sources

    10 left, 14 center, 6 right

19. January 2026

    Jan 28Three months after rapidly scheduled arguments, Supreme Court has yet to decide on Trump's tariffs8 articles · 8 independent sources

    2 left, 2 center, 1 right

20. February 2026

    Feb 20Supreme Court Tariffs7 articles · 6 independent sources

    0 left, 3 center, 3 right
21. Feb 20– 21President Trump wants to impose a 15% tariff, up from 10% he announced after Supreme Court decision26 articles · 23 independent sources

    5 left, 10 center, 6 right
22. Feb 20– 21Supreme Court rules Trump's tariffs violated federal law192 articles · 92 independent sources

    25 left, 29 center, 17 right
23. Feb 20– 23Tariff refunds: Who's getting them and when will they be issued?39 articles · 22 independent sources

    6 left, 7 center, 3 right
24. Feb 20– 24Donald Trump’s new 10% global tariff comes into effect63 articles · 44 independent sources

    9 left, 14 center, 11 right
25. Feb 20– 25Trump avoids tariffs confrontation with Supreme Court justices at State of the Union64 articles · 40 independent sources

    8 left, 13 center, 13 right
26. Feb 23– 24Stocks drop after Trump ramps up his tariffs7 articles · 7 independent sources

    2 left, 4 center, 1 right
27. Feb 24FedEx sues Trump administration for "full refund" of tariff payments19 articles · 14 independent sources

    3 left, 3 center, 5 right
28. Feb 24– 27FedEx sues Trump administration for tariff refunds, says it will give money back to customers39 articles · 20 independent sources

    3 left, 12 center, 2 right
29. Feb 27– Mar 6Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court25 articles · 19 independent sources

    2 left, 4 center, 6 right

30. March 2026

    Mar 4– 5Judge rules companies entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by SCOTUS10 articles · 4 independent sources

    1 left, 2 center, 0 right
31. Mar 5– 62 dozen states sue Trump over his latest round of global tariffs45 articles · 29 independent sources

    6 left, 10 center, 1 right
32. Mar 14Trump seeks to close $1.6 trillion revenue gap with raft of new tariffs5 articles · 5 independent sources

    1 left, 0 center, 2 right

33. April 2026

    Apr 10Federal court hears new case against Trump's latest global tariffs5 articles · 5 independent sources

    2 left, 0 center, 1 right
34. Apr 16– 21Businesses can claim refunds starting Monday for Trump tariffs declared unconstitutional34 articles · 24 independent sources

    8 left, 9 center, 3 right
35. Apr 20– 21$166 billion tariff refunds: Consumers ‘might have a claim’ to their share8 articles · 6 independent sources

    1 left, 2 center, 1 right
36. Apr 28GM expects a whopping $500M tariff refund after Supreme Court strikes down levies7 articles · 7 independent sources

    1 left, 2 center, 4 right

37. May 2026

    May 7– 8Federal court rules against new global tariffs Trump imposed after loss at the Supreme Court38 articles · 33 independent sources

    7 left, 10 center, 4 right
38. May 27– 31Trump plans to appeal order allowing all importers that paid struck-down tariffs to seek refunds15 articles · 11 independent sources

    1 left, 3 center, 1 right

39. June 2026

    Jun 11– 12Tariff refunds for small businesses past due, US Senate Dems tell Trump administration6 articles · 1 independent sources

    2 left, 0 center, 0 right

40. July 2026

    Jul 11South Africa seeks tariff exemption as US probes forced labor tied to imports5 articles · 5 independent sources

    1 left, 0 center, 0 right
41. Jul 14Tariff refunds push US June budget deficit to $120 billion5 articles · 4 independent sources

    3 left, 0 center, 0 right
42. Jul 16– 17Trump administration races the clock to rebuild US tariff wall knocked down by Supreme Court13 articles · 13 independent sources

    2 left, 1 center, 0 right
43. Jul 21– 22Customers ‘not entitled’ to tariff refunds, Nintendo says10 articles · 10 independent sources

    2 left, 2 center, 1 right
44. Jul 23– 27Trump’s new tariffs dodge Congress191 articles · 78 independent sources

    20 left, 20 center, 10 right
45. Jul 24– 27Small businesses launch new Trump tariff challenge25 articles · 23 independent sources

    2 left, 3 center, 3 right
46. Jul 26A forced-labor crackdown or an end-run around Congress? Dissecting Trump's new tariffs18 articles · 15 independent sources

    1 left, 1 center, 0 right
47. Jul 31– Aug 2Amazon to pass on some of its $600 million tariff refunds to customers11 articles · 11 independent sources

    4 left, 4 center, 1 right

48. August 2026

    Aug 3– 525 states sue over Trump's new tariffs, calling them 'pretext' to replace his old ones59 articles · 41 independent sources

    8 left, 16 center, 5 right
49. Aug 5– 8Will you get any tariff money back? Here's what to know about the refund checks to major US companies32 articles · 17 independent sources

    5 left, 4 center, 2 right
50. Aug 6Pritzker pens letter to Trump, seeking tariff refunds for Illinois families5 articles · 5 independent sources

    0 left, 3 center, 0 right
51. Aug 11Government fights trade judge’s order for tariff refunds to all importers5 articles · 5 independent sources

    2 left, 0 center, 0 right
52. Aug 13– 15A surprise credit after an overseas purchase: The tariff refunds now flowing through shippers23 articles · 15 independent sources

    0 left, 2 center, 0 right
53. Aug 19– 20Target’s comeback quarter: New merchandise, more shoppers and a $994M tariff refund7 articles · 5 independent sources

    2 left, 3 center, 0 right
54. Aug 20– 21Here's how Walmart is using $2.9B in tariff refunds52 articles · 31 independent sources

    6 left, 6 center, 2 right
55. Aug 22– 24Tariffs raised prices you paid. But most businesses won’t be passing tariffs refunds back to you8 articles · 8 independent sources

    1 left, 1 center, 0 right