Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) on Friday demanded over $8.6 billion in damages from President Donald Trump over his tariff policies following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Trump’s “Liberation Day” duties.
“Your tariff taxes wreaked havoc on farmers, enraged our allies, and sent grocery prices through
the roof. This morning, your hand-picked Supreme Court Justices notified you that they are also
unconstitutional,” Pritzker wrote to the President.
Pritzker said he is seeking a $1,700 refund for every family in the 5,105,448 households in Illinois.
White House Spokesman Kush Desai said Pritzker should take a look at his own state’s taxes in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“The immense weight of Illinois’s sky-high taxes and regulations is matched only by JB Pritzker’s own personal bloat. If this slob really cared about delivering economic relief for Illinois, he’d start with his own state government instead of chasing another stupid headline,” Desai said.
Pritzker’s campaign sent an invoice to Trump, along with the threat of “further action” in the letter if he does not cough up the money.
“If you do not comply, we will pursue further action,” Pritzker wrote.
Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has sued the Trump administration before, when Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s order to deploy 300 Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago.
The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Trump’s tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were invalid, dealing a major blow to the President’s trade policy. The ruling has sparked major global questions about whether the tariffs will be renegotiated, whether the United States owes foreign companies reimbursements, and how the Trump administration will proceed with its trade policies.
Trump announced on Friday, in response to the ruling, that his administration would be initiating a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. He also said during a press conference that he will keep all national security, non-IEEPA tariffs in place and initiate investigations “to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.”
Though it was not immediately clear how the Pritzker campaign calculated the $1,700-per-family figure, the campaign wrote on the invoice, “tariffs are taxes, and working families were the ones who paid them.”
“Illinois families paid the price for illegal tariffs – at the grocery store, at the hardware store, and around the kitchen table. Tariffs are taxes, and working families were the ones who paid them. Illinois families paid the bill. Time for Trump to pay us back,” Pritzker’s invoice reads.
The campaign did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment on their calculation.
Other 2028 presidential candidates and Democratic governors such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) also celebrated the tariff ruling on Friday.
