WATCH: Trump says tariffs may cost Americans 'something' but keep U.S. safe

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump said Thursday Americans should be thankful for his tariffs, which he said he has used to end wars that Americans would otherwise be fighting in.

Trump's remarks followed Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' characterization of the tariffs as "taxes on Americans" during a high-profile hearing on Wednesday.

For months, the White House has insisted that foreign nations would bear the costs of the tariffs, which are taxes on imports. However, more recent data suggests Americans are paying for at least a portion of the tariffs. 

Trump said Thursday that while U.S. consumers may be paying part of the costs, the tariffs are keeping Americans from fighting in foreign wars.

"I think they might be paying something, but when you take the overall impact, Americans are gaining tremendously," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting. "They're gaining through national security – I'm ending war because of these tariffs, Americans would have to fight in some of these wars." 

Trump has helped broker peace deals between eight groups, most recently Israel and Hamas. The other seven conflicts Trump frequently cites are Israel and Iran, Pakistan and India, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand and Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Serbia and Kosovo.

Trump also said his tariffs are helping Americans get respect.

"They're gaining in self-respect for our own country," Trump said. "Other countries used to laugh at us." 

Exit polls from Tuesday's elections showed voters were focused on pocketbook issues, including prices at the grocery store. While gas prices have fallen since Trump took office, others have increased significantly, including coffee (up 18.9%) and ground beef (up 12.9%). Those exit polls also track with pre-election polling from The Center Square, which found prices were top of mind for voters. Democrats won most of the key races on Tuesday, frustrating Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms. 

Trump also said his tariffs were helping to keep the U.S. financially afloat.

"This is national security. And, by the way, [not] going bankrupt is national security," the president said. "Our country was really in trouble. The difference between going bankrupt and thriving, that's also national security. When you go bankrupt, when you don't have any money, you have no national security."

That contradicts arguments made by Trump's Solicitor General, D. John Sauer, before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. During that hearing, Sauer said the tariffs were regulatory in nature and not intended to raise revenue. 

The U.S. debt stands at about $38 trillion, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

On Wednesday, Supreme Court justices sharply questioned attorneys on both sides of a case challenging Trump's tariff authority.

Twelve states, five small businesses and two Illinois-based toymakers have challenged Trump's authority to impose tariffs under a 1977 law without Congressional approval. That law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, doesn't mention the word "tariff" and has never been used to impose tariffs. Trump's legal team argues that the law is a clear delegation of emergency power, granting the president broad authority to act in times of crisis.

The Supreme Court is expected to decide the case before the end of June, if not sooner.

Trump has said he wants to use tariffs to restore manufacturing jobs lost to lower-wage countries in decades past, shift the tax burden away from U.S. families and pay down the national debt. Economists, businesses and some public companies have warned that tariffs will raise prices on a wide range of consumer products.

A Congressional Budget Office report from August estimated tariffs could bring in $4 trillion over the next decade. That CBO report came with caveats and noted that tariffs will raise consumer prices and reduce the purchasing power of U.S. families.