On April 21, 2026, in a CNBC 'Squawk Box' interview, Donald Trump told companies that they should not seek tariff refunds they are legally entitled to receive following a Supreme Court ruling that struck down his tariffs. He said: 'If they don't do that, I'll remember them.'
The Supreme Court ruled the tariffs unconstitutional. Affected companies are entitled to recover what they paid. According to The New Republic, Apple and Amazon are among the firms that have not sought reimbursement, with sources citing fear of 'offending' Trump as a reason. The administration is, in practice, conditioning future favorable treatment, including regulatory and procurement decisions, on companies abandoning a legitimate legal claim against the federal government.
The pattern matches other documented quid-pro-quo arrangements this administration has set up: ballroom corporate donations from firms that have $191 billion in federal contracts (Lockheed Martin alone), 14 of 24 ballroom donors with active federal enforcement actions against them, and a separate pattern of withholding regulatory action against firms that meet the administration's political requirements. The legal mechanism here is that the executive branch has discretion over how diligently it processes refund claims, prioritizes them, and contests procedural objections; firms that believe they may face Trump's retaliation have a rational reason to walk away from money they are owed.
The behavior also has a structural cost beyond the firms it directly affects. A presidency that publicly conditions its administrative cooperation on private parties forfeiting court-ordered remedies is, by definition, undermining the rule of law it is sworn to faithfully execute. Senate Democrats and law professors have noted the precedent. The administration has not denied Trump made the comments.