A dispute broke out Friday between two senior White House correspondents after CNN reported that President Donald Trump reacted angrily — and with profanity — to the Supreme Court’s decision striking down his emergency tariffs.
Shortly after the Court’s ruling was released, CNN’s Kristen Holmes reported on air that there had been no official reaction yet from the White House or the president. She said Trump was meeting with governors when he learned of the decision and described what she characterized as an explosive response behind closed doors.
According to Holmes, the breakfast meeting had been proceeding smoothly before an aide informed Trump of the Court’s decision. She said the president became enraged, calling the ruling a “disgrace” and attacking the courts. Holmes further claimed that Trump used an expletive in referencing the courts, stating that he said, “These effing courts,” though she noted she was not repeating the exact language on air.
Holmes also framed the decision as a major setback for Trump, saying it could not be a bigger loss for the president. She pointed out that tariffs have been central to Trump’s economic and foreign policy agenda, noting that he has frequently used them as leverage in discussions with world leaders and has described them as a key pillar of his economic strategy.
“This could not be a bigger decision for President Trump,” Holmes said. “Not only is so much of his economic agenda based on these tariffs, so much his foreign policy is based on the tariffs.”
But Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich quickly challenged that characterization, suggesting that CNN’s version of events did not match what her source described.
About an hour after Holmes’ report aired, Heinrich posted on X that she had received information from a source outside the administration regarding Trump’s reaction during the governors’ breakfast.
“According to a source OUTSIDE THE ADMINISTRATION on POTUS reaction to tariff ruling during governors breakfast: ‘an aide came in, handed him a note, he called it a disgrace and then he went on with the remarks,’” Heinrich wrote.
She added that this account “contradicts CNN reporting about an expletive-laden rant.”
Heinrich’s response highlights a stark difference in how the moment was portrayed. While CNN described an enraged president delivering a profanity-filled tirade, Heinrich’s source depicted a more restrained reaction in which Trump acknowledged the ruling as a “disgrace” before continuing the meeting.
The clash underscores the high stakes surrounding the Supreme Court’s decision, which struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Given the central role tariffs have played in Trump’s economic messaging, the president’s reaction was closely watched by media outlets across the political spectrum.
As of Holmes’ initial report, there had been no formal public statement from the White House on the ruling. The conflicting accounts from two veteran correspondents, however, quickly became a story of their own — reflecting broader tensions in media coverage surrounding the president and his policies.
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