Trump's Dramatic Day At US Supreme Court: What He Won And What He Lost

Published 30 June 2026 · world

Trump's Dramatic Day At US Supreme Court: What He Won And What He Lost Published By, Last Updated: June 30, 2026, 18:12 IST The SC

Trump's Dramatic Day At US Supreme Court: What He Won And What He Lost Published By, Last Updated: June 30, 2026, 18:12 IST The SC strengthened presidential powers by allowing Trump to remove officials from independent federal agencies. Rapid Read US President Donald Trump (Representational image. Source: Reuters) US President Donald Trump had a mixed day at the US Supreme Court on Monday, securing a major victory that expands presidential authority over independent federal agencies while suffering a setback after the apex court declined to hear his appeal in the USD 5 million E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse and defamation case. What Trump Won In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court strengthened presidential powers by allowing Trump to remove officials from independent federal agencies, a decision expected to give the White House greater control over key regulatory bodies. In a 6-3 decision, the court’s conservative majority rejected a challenge brought by Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who argued that her dismissal without cause violated legal protections designed to shield independent agency officials from political interference.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that “subordinates who exercise the President’s power are subject to removal by him." The ruling relied on constitutional principles and previous Supreme Court decisions affirming broad presidential authority over executive branch personnel. Roberts also described a landmark 1935 ruling that restricted the president’s ability to remove FTC commissioners as an “outlier" that reflected an outdated understanding of the agency’s role. The decision is expected to have implications beyond the FTC, potentially expanding the president’s authority to appoint and remove officials across other independent federal agencies. Reacting to the verdict, Trump hailed it as “one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers." Where Trump Lost In a separate development, the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal seeking to overturn a jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving intact the USD 5 million judgment against him. The court issued the decision without explanation, as is customary when it declines to hear an appeal.

In May 2023, a federal jury in Manhattan concluded that Trump had sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in 1996 and later defamed her by denying her allegations. The jury ordered him to pay USD 5 million in damages. Trump criticised the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the appeal, calling the case “fake" in a post on social media. “Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to review a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met," Trump wrote, adding that he would continue fighting what he described as “weaponization" and “lawfare." Carroll, now 82, first made the allegations public in a 2019 memoir, accusing Trump of assaulting her in a department store dressing room decades earlier. Trump denied the allegations and publicly attacked Carroll, remarks that led to the defamation finding. The two rulings capped a consequential day for Trump at the nation’s highest court, delivering a significant constitutional victory on presidential authority while leaving one of the most high-profile civil judgments against him firmly in place.