U.S. President Donald Trump. AFP=Yonhap News.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 2nd (local time), ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the legality of his tariff policies on the 5th, "If we lose, the United States could be reduced to almost third-world status," adding, "Let us pray to God that this does not happen."

Trump stated this on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, "The tariff trial next week is one of the most important cases in our country's history."

He added, "If the president cannot use tariffs, we will be at a significant disadvantage in competing with all other countries worldwide, especially 'major powers'," and described it as "being defenseless."

He further claimed, "During the nine months I served as president, tariffs brought us immense wealth and national security. The stock market reached all-time highs multiple times during my short term, prices barely rose, and our national security was second to none."

In particular, he emphasized, "The reason we were able to successfully negotiate (trade deals) with China and many other countries recently is because we had 'tariffs' as a negotiating card to achieve fair and sustainable agreements."

Trump had previously announced he would attend the Supreme Court hearing on the 5th in person, but reversed his stance on the 2nd, saying, "I will not be going to court on Wednesday."

He explained the reason was, "I don't want to dilute the importance of this decision." He then added, "If we win, the United States will undoubtedly be the wealthiest and most secure country in the world."

On his way back to the White House from Palm Beach, Florida, on Air Force One, Trump also told reporters that "if there are no tariffs and we cannot use tariffs freely and fully, national security will suffer immense damage."

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hold oral arguments on the 5th to hear the case concerning the imposition of tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

This is a process to ultimately determine whether the reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Trump, with differential rates by country on most items from countries worldwide, including South Korea, have legal grounds.

President Trump used IEEPA as the basis for his executive order on imposing reciprocal tariffs. However, the Court of International Trade (USCIT) in the first instance and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., in the second instance, ruled that while IEEPA grants the president 'authority to regulate imports,' it does not extend to 'broad authority to impose tariffs.'

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