The Conversation -- May 25, 2025

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link.

Man Controls International Economy via Involuntary Brain Farts. Erin Doherty of CNBC: “... Donald Trump said Sunday that he agreed to an extension on the 50% tariff deadline on the European Union until July 9. 'I received a call today from Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, requesting an extension on the June 1st deadline on the 50% Tariff with respect to Trade and the European Union,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.... The extension comes after Trump last week suggested a 'straight 50% tariff' [to be imposed beginning June 1] on the EU, saying that the 27-nation bloc 'has been very difficult to deal with.'”

Ian Swanson of the Hill: Donald “Trump offered some of his toughest remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, saying he was 'not happy' at all with Putin after the latest deadly attacks in Ukraine. 'Yeah, I’ll give you an update, I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing. He’s killing a lot of people and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,' Trump told reporters who asked for an update on Russia. 'I’ve known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don’t like it at all. OK. We’re in the middle of talking and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don’t like it at all,' Trump continued in remarks from Morristown, N.J., where he was preparing to take Air Force One back to Washington, D.C. Trump also said he’s 'surprised at what he’s seeing.'”

Marie: Trump seems to be so over Bibi, because here's the international diplomat he sent to Israel:

Jerusalem Post: "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem landed in Israel on Sunday following the murder of Israeli embassy employees in Washington, per the instructions of ... Donald Trump. Noem is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and will arrive at the Western Wall on Sunday." MB: I hope she found the right outfits to wear for this trip.

Kate Shaw in a New York Times op-ed: “In violation of numerous laws or longstanding presidential practice (or both), [Donald Trump] has ordered the removal of many high-level officials who normally retain their positions regardless of who is in the Oval Office. Some of these high-level officials have successfully challenged their removal in the lower courts. But on Thursday, in a case involving members of the National Labor Relations and Merit Systems Protection Boards, the Supreme Court quietly blessed some or all of these firings [in a supposedly temporary, procedural finding].... The decision was radical.... Over the last four months, the legal world — and the country — has been plunged into chaos, and the Supreme Court bears a heavy dose of responsibility.... Many of its decisions involving the presidency — including last year’s on presidential immunity — have enabled the president to declare himself above the law....The court may believe that it retains the ultimate authority to check presidential lawlessness, even as it signs off on the elimination of many other constraints on presidential power. The danger is that by the time the court actually tries to exercise that authority, it may be too late.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What we are experiencing is a disruption at best, or an end at worst of our quasi-democratic system of government. And what we're discovering is that it takes many people -- determined people -- to make this happen. These determined people do not necessarily get together in dark room and plot against the state. Rather, they have come to a tacit agreement to overlook the law and logic, tradition and precedent, moral rectitude and the common good. They are members of the administration, of Congress and of the highest court. Together or separately, they are making something happen. Something that is very bad for the rest of us, here and in the wider world. ~~~

~~~ Now that Peter Baker has come to understand this, he is wondering, "Where are you people?"

     ~~~ “A Death of Outrage.” Peter Baker of the New York Times: “When Hillary Clinton was first lady, a furor erupted over reports that she had once made $100,000 from a $1,000 investment in cattle futures. Even though it had happened a dozen years before her husband became president, it became a scandal that lasted weeks and forced the White House to initiate a review. Thirty-one years later, after dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Jeff Bezos agreed to finance a promotional film about Melania Trump that will reportedly put $28 million directly in her pocket — 280 times the Clinton lucre and in this case from a person with a vested interest in policies set by her husband’s government. Scandal? Furor? Washington moved on while barely taking notice. The Trumps ... have done more to monetize the presidency than anyone who has ever occupied the White House. The scale and the scope of the presidential mercantilism has been breathtaking.... Yet a mark of how much Mr. Trump has transformed Washington since his return to power is the normalization of moneymaking schemes that once would have generated endless political blowback, televised hearings, official investigations and damage control.... There will be no official investigations because Mr. Trump has made sure of it.”

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Erica Green of the New York Times: Donald “Trump told cadets in a commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that they were the first graduates to serve in a 'golden age' of the nation that was a result of his efforts to rebuild the military and reshape American society.... Wearing his red 'Make America Great Again' hat, Mr. Trump leaned into his aggressive agenda to purge diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the government, military and virtually every facet of American life, in making his pitch that the nation was worth fighting for again.... Mr. Trump’s crusade against diversity has been particularly pronounced in the military, where there has been an aggressive erasure of the valor of Black people, women and other groups, down to eliminating and obscuring content honoring those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Trump has also sought to overhaul the military by making its ranks less diverse. He removed a Black four-star general as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and dismissed high-ranking women. He also banned transgender people from serving in the military.” ~~~

     ~~~ Giselle Ewing of Politico: “... Donald Trump addressed West Point graduates in a Saturday morning speech that quickly veered from remarks about American military prowess to what sounded more like a political rally — tying an institution refashioned under his administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies to his broader political agenda.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I know Trump is the commander-in-chief, but I hope that had I been the top officer at the West Point ceremony, I would have politely asked him to remove his MAGA hat and offered him an apolitical cap to ward off the sunshine. Had he refused, I would have acknowledged his presence on the stage but would not have given him an opportunity to speak. In light of the political content in the speech he did give, that would have been the better part of valor. And if the West Point campus was the battlefield on which my career died, I would know I had fallen for the American ideal.

Ours is not the only government Donald Trump is corrupting: ~~~

~~~ The Biggest Grifter. Damien Cave of the New York Times: A “$1.5 billion golf complex outside [Vietnam's] capital, Hanoi, as well as plans for a Trump skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City, are the Trump family’s first projects in Vietnam — part of a global moneymaking enterprise.... And as that blitz makes the Trumps richer, it is distorting how countries interact with the United States. To fast-track the Trump development, Vietnam has ignored its own laws, legal experts said, granting concessions more generous than what even the most connected locals receive. Vietnamese officials, in a letter obtained by The New York Times, explicitly stated that the project required special support from the top ranks of the Vietnamese government because it was 'receiving special attention from the Trump administration and ... Donald Trump personally.'... Vietnamese officials ... face intense pressure to strike a trade deal that would head off President Trump’s threat of steep tariffs, which would hit about 30 percent of Vietnam’s exports.... The line between Trump the president and Trump the tycoon is now seen by diplomats, trade officials and corporations worldwide as so obviously blurred that governments feel more compelled than ever to favor anything Trump-related.”

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: “How can Americans best defend their democracy from their president? In my last column, I recounted three lessons from other countries where popular movements have made headway challenging authoritarian rulers. Critics of ... [Donald] Trump have frankly been fairly ineffective — witness his election and the way his approval ratings have risen in some polls lately — but Trump does give us a great deal to work with. He is immensely vulnerable. Drawing upon these lessons from my last column, here are what I see as the most promising lines of attack for his critics: [1] Trump is deeply corrupt.... [2] Trump is hurting you in the pocketbook.... [3] Trump looks down on you and thinks he can manipulate you.” See also Akhilleus's commentary in today's thread on the necessity to defend against Trump.

I thought Donald Trump was so upset about possible antisemitism that he has been forced to heavily sanction universities and law firms. So how did this happen? ~~~

~~~ Gabby Deutch of the Jewish Insider (May 23): "Kingsley Wilson, a deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense who has come under fire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Jewish communal organizations for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, has been promoted to serve as the department’s press secretary, the Pentagon announced on Friday."

Sam Biddle of the Intercept (May 22): “The U.S. intelligence community is now buying up vast volumes of sensitive [personal] information that would have previously required a court order, essentially bypassing the Fourth Amendment. But ... there’s simply too much data on sale from too many corporations and brokers. So the government has a plan for a one-stop shop. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is working on a system to centralize and “streamline” the use of commercially available information, or CAI, like location data derived from mobile ads, by American spy agencies, according to contract documents reviewed by The Intercept.... The ODNI has previously defined 'sensitive' CAI as information 'not widely known about an individual that could be used to cause harm to the person’s reputation, emotional well-being, or physical safety.'” Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: Great news for hackers, too! Now they have to hack into only one place to get all your personal data. Hey, guys, start with Drunk Pete's phone. Easy peasy. ~~~

     (~~~ See also this Washington Post report, linked here May 7.)

The Law & Order Party sure went belly-up right quick: ~~~

~~~ Martin Kaste of NPR: "The Justice Department has drastically scaled back its support for anti-crime initiatives across the country, leaving law enforcement agencies and private groups scrambling to try to replace the money. The cuts were announced in late April, and the Council on Criminal Justice estimates 373 grants were terminated, totaling about $500 million. The sweeping nature of the cuts took many public safety groups by surprise." ~~~

~~~ And How 'bout That New Pardon King? Ed White of the AP: “The U.S. Justice Department’s new pardon attorney said he is going to take a 'hard look' at two men who are serving long prison terms for leading a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 'On the pardon front, we can’t leave these guys behind,' Ed Martin Jr. said this week on 'The Breanna Morello Show.... In my opinion these are victims just like January 6,' Martin said, referring to 1,500 people pardoned by ... Donald Trump for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The arrests of Barry Croft Jr., Adam Fox and other anti-government extremists rocked the home stretch of the 2020 presidential election. Authorities said the cabal wanted to grab Whitmer, a Democrat, at her vacation home and start a civil war.  Croft, 49, and Fox, 42, were portrayed as leaders of the scheme. They were convicted of conspiracy in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2022. Croft, a trucker from Delaware, was also found guilty of a weapons charge.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Apparently it is never a crime, no matter how odious, if it is planned or committed against a Democrat.

Abigail Hauslohner & Emily Wax-Thibodeaux of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s move to end deportation protections for wartime allies who fled to the United States after the fall of Afghanistan has infuriated veterans of the 20-year conflict there, who say the U.S. government is betraying a sacred promise made to some of America’s most vulnerable partners. This month Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem announced the administration’s termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Afghans, exposing thousands, potentially, to deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as soon as July, when the policy is to take effect. The fear, veterans and other advocates say, is that anyone who returns to Afghanistan will almost certainly face reprisal by the Taliban.... In announcing an end to Afghans’ TPS, the administration said there have been 'notable improvements; in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s authoritarian rule.... Human Rights Watch wrote in its 2025 report on Afghanistan that the situation there has 'worsened' over the past year as 'Taliban authorities intensified their crackdown on human rights, particularly against women and girls.' More than half the population needed urgent humanitarian assistance last year, the group found, including nearly 3 million people who faced 'emergency levels of hunger.'”

Trump's EPA Plans Slow Death of Life on Earth. Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the United States, according to internal agency documents reviewed by The New York Times. In its proposed regulation, the agency argued that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels 'do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution' or to climate change because they are a small and declining share of global emissions. Eliminating those emissions would have no meaningful effect on public health and welfare, the agency said. But in the United States, the power sector was the second biggest source of greenhouse gases, behind transportation, according to the most recent data available on the E.P.A. website. And globally, power plants account for about 30 percent of the pollution that is driving climate change.”

Josh Marshall has a nice, short post on the Supreme's do-it-yourself Constitution. Marshall's commentary is in line with Justice Kagan's dissent in yesterday's decision to let Trump run roughshod over "independent" agencies -- except the Federal Reserve.

Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post: “Millions of Americans are suddenly facing dramatically lower credit scores from delinquent student loans, making it tougher for them to secure housing, insurance, car loans, even employment at a vulnerable time for the U.S. economy.... The slide in credit scores could lead to pricier loans for millions as borrowing costs are near 20-year highs. The Federal Reserve has signaled that it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates right away. Already there are signs that lower credit scores are making it harder for more Americans to get loans.... Federal student loan payments were paused early in the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.... Although payments started back up in late 2023, the Biden administration offered a year-long grace period. That ended on Sept. 30, but millions of borrowers have yet to make a payment on their student loans. This month the federal government restarted collection efforts for defaulted student loans and said it plans to resume seizing wages, tax returns and Social Security payments this summer, making the stakes even higher. Nearly 1 in 4 borrowers required to make loan repayments were more than 90 days behind at the end of March....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: An "educational system" that puts millions of young Americans deep in debt, so deep many cannot escape, is a disgrace. We know how to run a system that gives young people the opportunities they need to receive quality educations that prepare them for life and work opportunities. We had one in the 1960s. We not only abandoned that system, the institutional memory of that system is dying with my generation. We cannot blame this critical lapse on Donald Trump, though of course he and his ilk are making it worse. While we bemoan what Trump is doing to scientific research and international students, we should also address what is happening to our own young people seeking university educations.

2020 Presidential Election. Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "As part of his endless promotional tour, Jake Tapper repeats the very commonly repeated fiction that Joe Biden was imposed on an unwilling party by a backdoor elite conspiracy[.] In some detail, Lemieux explains why the nomination was not engineered by an elite cabal of Democratic insiders.

Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: “Susan Brownmiller, the feminist author, journalist and activist whose book 'Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape' helped define the modern view of rape, debunking it as an act of passion and reframing it as a crime of power and violence, died on Saturday. She was 90.... 'Against Our Will,' published in 1975, was translated into a dozen languages and ranked by the New York Public Library as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century.”

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Marie: This is definitely not what I had in mind when I opined we needed a better educational system: ~~~

Texas. Jessica Priest of the Texas Tribune: "The Texas House gave preliminary approval Saturday to a bill that would grant political appointees unprecedented oversight of the state’s public universities. Other conservative-led states, including Florida and North Carolina, have sought to influence who leads colleges and what gets taught in classrooms. Texas is poised to go further by shifting some of those responsibilities, traditionally held by professors, to politically appointed university regents. The legislation would also create a state office with the power to investigate universities and would threaten their funding if they don’t comply with the law."

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Scott Roxborough of the Hollywood Reporter: "Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has won the Palme d’Or for best film for It Was Just an Accident at the 78th Cannes international film festival. Panahi, who just a few years ago was imprisoned in Tehran and under a 20-year travel and work ban, returned triumphantly to Cannes, accepting his award from jury president (and vocal Panahi fan) Juliette Binoche. Panahi’s film, his first since being released from prison in 2023, is a direct assault on Iran’s authoritarian regime. The thriller follows a former political prisoner who kidnaps a man he believes to be his torturer and then debates with other dissidents whether to kill or forgive him." ~~~

     ~~~ Manohla Dargis of the New York Times: “... Panahi had until recently been barred from making movies in Iran or traveling outside the country. Although the restriction has been lifted, he shot]Un Simple Accident' clandestinely.... Panahi, who has been imprisoned several times, drew his inspiration from stories he heard from other inmates while he was at Evin Prison in Tehran.”

Ukraine/Russia, et al. Zelensky Shames Trump. Siobhán O’Grady & Serhiy Morgunov of the Washington Post: “Russia launched another massive missile and drone attack across Ukraine early Sunday, killing 12 people, including at least three children — casting further doubt on Moscow’s intentions in an already shaky peace process brokered by ... Donald Trump. he attack, which lasted several hours and followed another large attack the night before, came even as Russia and Ukraine proceeded with a days-long prisoner exchange the two sides agreed to during a rare summit in Istanbul last week. 'The world may go into weekend mode, but the war does not stop for weekends or weekdays. This cannot be ignored,' President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. 'Silence of America and others around the world only emboldens Putin.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: “Russia’s battlefield strength in Ukraine has started to wane and it could run into serious shortages of manpower and weaponry by next year, even as ... Donald Trump retreats from pressure on Moscow to end the war, according to senior U.S. and European officials and military experts.”

The Conversation -- May 24, 2025

Josh Marshall has a nice, short post on the Supreme's do-it-yourself Constitution. Marshall's commentary is in line with Justice Kagan's dissent in yesterday's decision to let Trump run roughshod over "independent" agencies -- except the Federal Reserve.

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Marie: Dana Milbank of the Washington Post shares my feelings about Trump's behavior: “This is just embarrassing — maybe not for our president, who seems incapable of such a sentiment, but for the rest of us. Everywhere I looked this week, I cringed for my country.” Besides ambushing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with racist lies & his solicitation for Qatar Force One (which he pretended was a surprise gift), there were other Trumpian embarrassments. For instance, “Asked this week for his thoughts on the first American pope, Trump turned it into a celebration of himself. The pope’s brother 'is a major MAGA fan,' Trump said. 'He’s got MAGA and he’s got Trump, and I look forward to getting him to the White House.'... To be sure, 'embarrassing' isn’t the only adjective that comes to mind. There’s also 'lawless.'” This is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

David Fahrenthold, et al., of the New York Times: “The invitees for ... [Donald] Trump’s private dinner for customers of his cryptocurrency business on Thursday included a Chinese billionaire fighting a lawsuit from U.S. regulators, a lawyer for Justice Clarence Thomas and a former basketball star, according to a guest list obtained by The New York Times and social media posts. The dinner, at which Mr. Trump gave remarks, was an extraordinary moment in which the president leveraged his position to make money — for his crypto business and for his Virginia golf club, which hosted the event.... The following [people] were among those who were invited to the festivities.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have bad news for the influence-seekers. They have paid only the entrance fee. To get what they want, more is required. Dana Milbank (linked above) provides one example: “Vietnam is in talks with the Trump Organization to build a new Trump Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Reuters reported — a transparent attempt to buy Trump’s favor while it tries to persuade him to drop tariffs he imposed against the country. Vietnam just approved a $1.5 billion golf project by the Trump Organization, and has offered favorable terms to Musk’s Starlink internet service.” ~~~

~~~ Eric, et al., Launch Another Trump Bribe Repository. David Fahrenthold & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s son Eric and son-in-law Michael Boulos have founded a new nonprofit to raise money for Mr. Trump’s presidential library, according to incorporation papers filed Friday in Florida. The nonprofit, called the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, is intended to 'steward, preserve, and celebrate the legacy and historical record of President Donald J. Trump and his presidency,' the filing said. It was signed on May 19, but filed on Friday.... The foundation’s trustees include Eric Trump, Mr. Boulos — who is married to Mr. Trump’s daughter Tiffany — and James Kiley, a Long Island attorney who has represented Mr. Trump.... The foundation’s address, at least for now, is at a Trump golf course in Jupiter, Fla. This is the second nonprofit set up in Florida to raise money for Mr. Trump’s presidential library. The first, the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund, was incorporated in late December.... Mr. Kiley did not immediately respond to an email asking why there were two.”

Mitchell Berman in a Washington Post op-ed: “Trump uses federal funds and other government benefits to pressure individuals and institutions [-- universities, law firms, media, Democratic-run states] into exercising their constitutional rights as he prefers. This is extortionate. And therefore unconstitutional.... If Trump can use threats over tariffs to pressure nations into opening their markets or strengthening their currencies or ordering more U.S. arms, why can’t he do the same with American institutions? Because foreign nations have no constitutional rights, but American universities, lawyers, journalists and states do — rights protected by the First, Fifth, Sixth and Tenth Amendments.... This is a well-established legal principle.”

“From the Idiot-King Dept.” Karl Bode of TechDirt: “Last week we noted how Trump illegally declared he was killing the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act. The law, passed as part of the infrastructure bill, was slated to bring millions in new broadband grants and digital literacy tools to Americans of all kinds long stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. The bill helped everybody (including Trump-supporting rural veterans), but because Trump’s team assumed that the word equity meant 'exclusively help minorities,' the program has become the latest victim of our mad, incoherent, con man king and his army of mindless earlobe nibblers. It hasn’t taken long for the decision to have ripple effects in the real world. South Dakota, for example, says it’s cancelling $5 million in broadband investment because of the uncertain future of the grants that were going to be funding the plan[.]” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jack Detsch, et al., of Politico: “... Donald Trump ... can’t build [his 'Golden Dome' missile defense system] without Canada. And it’s not clear America’s northern neighbor wants in. Canada would need to play a pivotal role in Trump’s signature, potentially $500 billion effort to build the so-called Golden Dome, according to U.S. officials and experts, with Ottawa providing radars and airspace needed to track incoming missiles in the Arctic.... Trump, in his Golden Dome announcement on Tuesday, dismissed what Canada could offer the project. 'They want to have protection also, so as usual, we help Canada,' he said. Yet whether he realizes it or not, Trump suddenly finds himself in need of an ally he has largely forsaken. He has singled out Canada for free riding on American military might and preferential trade ties, and has engaged in a tariff battle that has stilted relations. Prime Minister Mark Carney has warned the United States can’t take Ottawa for granted and has begun searching for other security partners. The shield, therefore, gives Canada some new leverage in the countries’ tenuous relationship.... Canada has always played a big role in air and missile defense for North America.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, here's more proof that Trump's whiney complaints about Canada's being a defense freeloader are fake-victimhood lies. So, gosh, it looks like all those "51st state" insults and steep tariffs have yet another downside. Although to be fair to Trump, the whole Golden Dome thing appears to be nothing more than a kleptocratic excuse to give Elon Musk some huge Starlink contracts.

David Lynch & Rachel Lerman of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump appeared to approve a long-pending deal between U.S. Steel and its Japanese rival Nippon Steel on Friday, posting on his Truth Social account that there will be a 'planned partnership' between the companies. But no details of the transaction were made public.... The president’s celebratory declaration skirted the central question about U.S. Steel’s fate: Will it remain American-owned, as Biden and the steelworkers union had insisted, or will it become part of a Japanese rival?... The lack of detail about a transaction that has been in the works for nearly two years left key stakeholders, including investors and the affected union, frustrated.” The AP's story is here.

Ellen Nakashima & Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: “Scores of staffers at the White House National Security Council were abruptly dismissed on Friday, as the Trump administration moved to dramatically downsize the coordinating body.... The staff sent home included both career officials who were detailed to the NSC and some political appointees.... The cuts were made under ... Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Marco Rubio, who also is serving as secretary of state.... Most NSC staffers are detailed to the White House from other parts of the federal government and were expected to go back to their home agencies, including the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies, said people familiar with the shake-up.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Robbie Gramer, et al., of Politico: “The Trump administration is carrying out a dramatic overhaul of the White House National Security Council, shrinking the nerve center of the American foreign policy machinery, according to five people familiar with the plans. The plans involve slashing the number of staffers at the NSC to less than 150 from around 350 currently — and some of those cuts have already begun. The White House also plans to cut the number of NSC committees and for those that remain to meet less often.... Some staffers have been told they are being put on administrative leave and others who were on temporary detail to the NSC have been told they are going back to their agencies, two ... people said.” MB: It was national security staff who during Trump's first term flagged his scheme to bribe President Zelensky to frame Joe Biden. That “perfect call” led to Trump's first impeachment. So you can see that it's impossible for Trump to conduct his usual business with those busybodies nosing around.

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "I'm not so sure that [Kristi] Noem, who has been neck-deep in [the] debate about basic human rights for months, is as dumb as she seemed in that moment [when she got the definition of 'habeas corpus' ass-backwards].... Whether Noem comes by her confusion honestly or she was just play-acting, she's there to play the role of the proud MAGA bimbo, in the grand tradition of figures like Sarah Palin.... She's contemptuous of people who actually know what they're talking about, especially if those facts-laden human beings are fellow women.... It's in reality TV where the [traditional, unthreatening] bimbo morphed from the sweet-but-stupid image portrayed by [Marilyn] Monroe to the vindictive trophy wife [-- 'Real Housewives' --] who takes out her pointless grievances by throwing glasses of wine.... The vision of the wine-throwing real housewife is the stereotype that Noem has shaped herself around, pairing her expensive clothes and plastic surgery with displays of breathtaking sadism, all performed as if she is literally too stupid to know better." (Also linked yesterday.)

Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “Harvard University sued the Trump administration on Friday, less than 24 hours after the Department of Homeland Security said it would block international students from attending the nation’s oldest university and one of its most prestigious. The administration action, and Harvard’s response, signified a dramatic escalation of the battle between the administration and Harvard. And the university’s forceful and almost immediate response served as evidence that stopping the flow of international students to Harvard, which draws some of the world’s top scholars, would destabilize Harvard’s very existence. In a letter to the Harvard community delivered Friday morning, Dr. Alan M. Garber, Harvard’s president, wrote, 'We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,' adding that it 'imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.'” The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The NYT story has been updated: “Later Friday morning, at the university’s request, a federal judge in Boston moved swiftly to block implementation of the federal government’s order. The judge, Allison D. Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order against the federal edict, agreeing that Harvard had shown that its implementation would cause 'immediate and irreparable injury' to the university.” The Harvard Crimson story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, Dear. We Are Not Amused. Charlotte Van Campenhout of Reuters: “Princess Elisabeth, the 23-year-old future queen of Belgium, has just completed her first year at Harvard University but the ban imposed by ... Donald Trump's administration on foreign students studying there could jeopardise her continued studies.... '... The impact of (the Trump administration's) decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation,' the Belgian Royal Palace's spokesperson Lore Vandoorne said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Bender of the New York Times: “Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, sent a letter to Harvard requesting, among other things, coursework for every international student and information on any student visa holder involved in misconduct or illegal activity.... [Ms. Noem] also expanded [the government's] request for records to include any videos of international students, on campus or off, involved in protests or illegal or dangerous activity. The administration’s attempt to vacuum up vast amounts of private student data opens a new front in Mr. Trump’s crackdown on dissent from his political agenda. The strategy is aimed at realigning a higher education system the president sees as hostile to conservatives by stamping out what it says is antisemitism on campus and the transgender and diversity policies it says are rooted in 'woke' ideology. Harvard counters that it has provided all the data that is legally required and that the administration’s unrelenting pressure campaign — including the termination of billions in federal research grants — amounts to an attempted takeover of the institution, bullying the university into changing what it can teach and whom it can hire. Harvard said the government’s latest action “is the culmination of an unprecedented and retaliatory attack” on the school’s freedom of speech....

“Earlier this month, the Justice Department ... demanded records, written statements and sworn testimony from Harvard about its admissions policies.... The Justice Department also requested all documents and communications related to the university’s evaluation of undergraduate applicants. The agency also asked for all internal deliberations about the Supreme Court decision that struck down affirmative action and all records related to the university’s compliance with that ruling. The department also told Harvard to produce all texts, emails, Signal chats and other correspondence from current or former employees discussing [one of] Mr. Trump’s executive orders.... [Ten days earlier,] the Education Department had asked for access to data and personnel related to Harvard’s admission policies. A second Education Department investigation, opened on April 17, included a records request that is three pages long — but no specific allegation of misconduct.... The move [to block all international students] was the 'unfortunate result,' Ms. Noem wrote in a letter to the university, ;of Harvard’s failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Even if none of Noem's request violated privacy rights, the purpose of these demands is obviously to harass the university by drowning it in records requests. Does anybody think that, should Harvard comply, DHS will pore over thousands and thousands of student records?

One reason the Trump administration keeps losing cases is that its lawyers, though they "have a duty of candor" (i.e., a duty to be truthful to the trier of fact) keep lying to the courts. Fer instance ~~~

~~~ Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: “A federal judge ordered the Trump administration late Friday night to facilitate the return of a Guatemalan man who had been deported to Mexico, despite fearing persecution and having told U.S. authorities about the violence he had experienced there. The man, known by the initials O.C.G., is gay and is now living in hiding in Guatemala.... The ruling, by Judge Brian E. Murphy of the U.S. District Court in Boston, criticized the government for first claiming that O.C.G. had said he was not afraid of being sent to Mexico, where he said he was raped and held captive, but later admitting that it was 'unable to identify' the officials to whom he had supposedly made that statement. Judge Murphy also found that O.C.G. was likely to 'succeed in showing that his removal lacked any semblance of due process.'... The judge also ordered the government to investigate and report in more detail on how it had come to claim that O.C.G. did not fear being deported to Mexico, after a Department of Homeland Security official said the statement was based on data from a software tool.... 'It really is a big deal to lie to a court under oath,' Judge Murphy said at a hearing on Wednesday.”

Arelis Hernández & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: “Masked officers descended on courthouses across the country this week and arrested stunned immigrants showing up for scheduled immigration hearings as part of a new directive from federal officials aimed at dramatically accelerating deportations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Arizona, Virginia and more than 20 other states have been instructed to arrest people immediately after a judge has ordered them to be deported or after prosecutors move to drop their cases, according to internal documents issued this month.... The Trump administration is planning to then place immigrants whose cases are dismissed and who have been in the country less than two years into a fast-track removal process that does not involve a hearing before a judge.... [Trump] made a similar attempt during his first term in 2019 but was stopped by a federal judge. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups filed a federal lawsuit in January in the District of Columbia seeking to block the latest expansion, saying it violates immigrants’ constitutional rights as well as other U.S. laws. They said asylum seekers 'would get less due process contesting their deportation than they would contesting a traffic ticket.'” ~~~

     ~~~ According to the report, immigration judges oversee civil courts and have no power to stop ICE officers from detaining and deporting immigrants.

Suzanne Gamboa of NBC News: "A U.S.-born citizen who was wrestled into the dirt, handcuffed and detained in a vehicle as part of an immigration raid had a REAL ID on him that was dismissed as fake, the man's cousin said Friday. Video of the arrest, aired by Noticias Telemundo, showed authorities grabbing Leonardo Garcia Venegas, 25, while at a job site in Foley, Alabama, on Wednesday and bending his arms behind him. Someone off-camera can be heard yelling, 'He's a citizen.'... Garcia said he was released from the vehicle where he was held after he gave the arresting officials his Social Security number, which showed he is a U.S. citizen." A relative said the officers also arrested Garcia's brother, who is not in the U.S. legally.

Angie Hernandez of the Washington Post: “A private security officer at an immigrant detention center in Texas was criminally charged last week with choking a handcuffed detainee, who was later transported to the facility’s medical unit. Charles Siringi is accused of putting his hands around the detainee’s neck and throat and slamming him against walls March 31 in Conroe, Texas, according to a criminal complaint.”

Mark Berman of the Washington Post: “A federal judge on Friday struck down ... Donald Trump’s executive order sanctioning the law firm Jenner & Block, the second time a court has struck down one of Trump’s efforts to punish a firm. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates wrote that Trump’s order was unconstitutional, saying the president was trying 'to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like, thereby insulating the Executive Branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers.'... Trump has targeted firms with ties to his perceived political opponents or that have challenged his policies and actions, highlighting some of these people by name in his orders.” (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's report is here.

So now our very excellent Chief Justice is covering for former Co-president* Elon Musk: ~~~

~~~ Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: “Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. temporarily blocked a government watchdog group from obtaining records from the Trump administration’s cost-cutting U.S. DOGE Service, whose inner workings have largely been shielded from public view. The brief administrative stay issued Friday will give the court more time to consider the underlying issues. Trump officials asked the high court to block a judge’s order requiring DOGE’s administrator, Amy Gleason, to give a deposition and disclose details about its operations. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a Freedom of Information request seeking details about DOGE’s secretive operations. Trump officials rebuffed it, saying that DOGE was a presidential advisory board, not a government agency, so it was not subject to disclosure laws. CREW then sued to obtain the information.”

     ~~~ Lawrence Hurley & Gary Grumbach of NBC News: "CREW's lawyers said in court papers said that [the district judge] had merely issued a 'narrowly-tailored discovery order' to ascertain whether DOGE is a federal agency. The Supreme Court, they added, 'rarely intervenes in ongoing discovery disputes' and there was 'no basis for such extraordinary intervention here." MB: No, there was not. And isn't this convenient?: the government is arguing that DOGE is not subject to FOIA requests because it's not really a government department. Right. Most of its employees, including the titutal head of the not-department Amy Gleason, are federal workers. Some workers are regular federal employees assigned to DOGE & others are special federal employees (SGEs). DOGE has taken or tried to take charge of large swaths of the administration. By Trump's executive order, all government departments have to accommodate DOGE teams. So to argue their work product is not subject to federal laws is ridiculous. And so is Chief Johnnie's DOGE Protection Order.

Michael Gold of the New York Times: “The sprawling domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House on Thursday would limit the power of federal judges to hold people in contempt, potentially shielding ... [Donald] Trump and members of his administration from the consequences of violating court orders. Republicans tucked the provision into the tax and spending cut bill at a time when they have moved aggressively to curb the power of federal courts to issue injunctions blocking Mr. Trump’s executive actions.... Under the rules that govern civil lawsuits in the federal courts, federal judges are supposed to order a bond from a person seeking a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. The amount is supposed to be set at what 'the court considers proper' to cover any costs that might be suffered if that injunction is later found to have been incorrectly issued.... Samuel L. Bray, a Notre Dame law professor, said many judges do not order injunction bonds in cases where people are seeking to stop government actions.... The language in the House-passed bill would block federal judges from enforcing their contempt citations if they had not previously ordered a bond.... The provision would apply retroactively to court orders that were made before it was enacted....” Democracy Docket's post is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It seems to me that requiring a plaintiff to post bond in an amount sufficient to cover any government costs is a violation of the First Amendment's guarantee that the people have a right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." If an ordinary person has to post, say, a billion-dollar bond to redress her grievance, then she effectively does not have a right to sue the government. But then I'm no Sam Alito. I'm sure he can think of a specious reason to apply this right only to members of the Federalist Society and right-wing religious petitioners. Thanks to Ken W. & Patrick, who discussed this new wrinkle in yesterday's thread & linked to other articles covering the bill's provision.

Joe Heim of the Washington Post: “More than three years after its installation was approved by Congress, a plaque honoring law enforcement personnel for defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is instead sitting in a Capitol basement utility room surrounded by tools and maintenance equipment. The cast bronze memorial to the officers, which declares that 'their heroism will never be forgotten,' was required by law to be installed by March 2023 near the west front of the building.... At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing last month, Architect of the Capitol Thomas E. Austin said that modifications on the House side of the Capitol are directed by the office of the speaker and that he had not received instructions to install the plaque.... 'The reason why the law hasn’t been complied with and a plaque hasn’t been erected is because Republicans, directed by their puppet master Donald Trump, have been told try to erase January 6 as if it has never happened,' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said in a news conference last week.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Let's see how the cowards & collaborators are doing: ~~~

~~~ Marc Tracy of the New York Times: “The executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning 'American Masters' series insisted on removing a scene critical of ... [Donald] Trump from a documentary about the comic artist Art Spiegelman two weeks before it was set to air nationwide on public television stations. The filmmakers say it is another example of public media organizations bowing to pressure as the Trump administration tries to defund the sector, while the programmers say their decision was a matter of taste. Alicia Sams, a producer of 'Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse,' said in an interview that approximately two weeks before the movie’s April 15 airdate, she received a call from Michael Kantor, the executive producer of 'American Masters,' informing her that roughly 90 seconds featuring a cartoon critical of Trump would need to be excised from the film.... [Stephen] Segaller [of the WNET Group that produces the series] said WNET felt the scatological imagery in the comic, which Spiegelman drew shortly after the 2016 election — it portrays what appears to be fly-infested feces on Trump’s head — was a 'breach of taste.' that might prove unpalatable...” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, indeed, a portrayal of feces on the head of the president* (or anybody) is a “breach of taste” and people will find it disgusting. I think that was the idea. You can't make an honest, informative film about an artist who declares “Disaster is my muse” without including the occasional “breach of taste.” As for criticizing Trump, well, he's a lot more dangerous than an artistic “breach of taste.” ~~~

~~~ Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: “Four top partners at Paul Weiss announced late Friday that they were leaving the law firm, a major blow to the firm in the wake of its decision to cut a deal with ... [Donald] Trump to head off an executive order that would have restricted its business. The partners — Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jeannie Rhee and Jessica Phillips — said they would form their own law firm. Ms. Dunn is a prominent Democratic lawyer, having overseen debate preparation for former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during their presidential campaigns. She has also been a key partner at Paul Weiss, representing Alphabet, Apple, Uber and Amazon. Ms. Rhee served as a top prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller III’s special counsel investigation and oversaw the firm’s Washington office. Mr. Isaacson is considered one of the country’s top antitrust lawyers. Ms. Phillips clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.... Two other prominent lawyers at Paul Weiss — Jeh Johnson, a former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Steven Banks, the leader of the firm’s pro bono practice — also announced recently that they were departing.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's not clear why the four partners left Paul Weiss. The reporters note, “Ms. Dunn was supportive of the decision to strike a deal with Mr. Trump and was part of the firm’s leadership team that worked with Mr. Karp in getting other partners’ support....”

Kate Kelly of the New York Times: “Two commercial flights were diverted from Ronald Reagan National Airport on May 1 in part because of a communications glitch between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and Pentagon air traffic controllers, according to an Army official who was briefed on an internal review of the matter. The Black Hawk helicopter had tried to land on the helipad near the Pentagon but was asked to fly around and land a short while later, according to an Army statement issued Friday. That request, which came from air traffic controllers at the Pentagon, arose from a short period in which the controllers lost audio and visual contact with the helicopter just moments before it was set to land, the official said. The helicopter 'initiated a go-around due to a delay in clearance from the Pentagon Tower,' the Army wrote in its statement.... The May 1 episode, which included the aborted landings of a Delta Air Lines flight and a Republic Airways flight, has been under unusual scrutiny because of the recent spate of problems in U.S. aviation.” The AP report is here.

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New York. Flippity-Doo-Dah. Jacob Weindling of Splinter: "... New York’s State Senate District 22 produced a margin [in a special election] that defies all conventional political logic and wisdom. Trump won this south Brooklyn district 77 percent to 22 percent in November, then Democrat Sam Sutton won his election this week by a margin of 35 points — a gobsmacking 90 percent swing from how this district voted in the presidential election just a little over six months ago.... [This] should come with the caveat that ever since 2017, special elections have favored Democrats...." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

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Israel/Palestine, et al. Louisa Loveluck, et al., of the Washington Post: “Fifteen World Food Program trucks carrying aid were looted overnight in Gaza, the U.N. agency said Friday, underscoring the insecurity and desperation more than two months into Israel’s blockade on food, water and aid to the shattered enclave. The trucks were among the trickle of humanitarian supplies that Israel has allowed to enter Gaza in recent days amid mounting international criticism. Ninety trucks carrying flour, baby food and nutritional supplements entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the U.N. humanitarian affairs agency said, the first aid to enter in 80 days. There were 107 trucks on Thursday, according to COGAT, the arm of Israel’s Defense Ministry that coordinates aid in Gaza. Relief workers say the population needs 500 truckloads of aid a day.... Looters sacked the World Food Program trucks in southern Gaza late Thursday, the agency said in a statement.... 'Hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming, is contributing to rising insecurity,' the agency said. 'We need support from the Israeli authorities to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster, more consistently, and transported along safer routes.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: And it is appalling that the trucks are not getting the Israeli support they need to ensure the safety of aid workers and to get the food & supplies to the starving Palestinians.

The Conversation -- May 23, 2025

David Fahrenthold, et al., of the New York Times: “The invitees for ... [Donald] Trump’s private dinner for customers of his cryptocurrency business on Thursday included a Chinese billionaire fighting a lawsuit from U.S. regulators, a lawyer for Justice Clarence Thomas and a former basketball star, according to a guest list obtained by The New York Times and social media posts. The dinner, at which Mr. Trump gave remarks, was an extraordinary moment in which the president leveraged his position to make money — for his crypto business and for his Virginia golf club, which hosted the event.... The following [people] were among those who were invited to the festivities.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have bad news for the influence-seekers. They have paid only the entrance fee. To get what they want, more is required. Dana Milbank (linked below) provides one example: “Vietnam is in talks with the Trump Organization to build a new Trump Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, Reuters reported — a transparent attempt to buy Trump’s favor while it tries to persuade him to drop tariffs he imposed against the country. Vietnam just approved a $1.5 billion golf project by the Trump Organization, and has offered favorable terms to Musk’s Starlink internet service.”

Marie: Dana Milbank of the Washington Post shares my feelings about Trump's behavior: “This is just embarrassing — maybe not for our president, who seems incapable of such a sentiment, but for the rest of us. Everywhere I looked this week, I cringed for my country.” Besides ambushing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with racist lies & his solicitation for Qatar Force One (which he pretended was a surprise gift), there were other Trumpian embarrassments. For instance, “Asked this week for his thoughts on the first American pope, Trump turned it into a celebration of himself. The pope’s brother 'is a major MAGA fan,' Trump said. 'He’s got MAGA and he’s got Trump, and I look forward to getting him to the White House.'... To be sure, 'embarrassing' isn’t the only adjective that comes to mind. There’s also 'lawless.'” This is a gift link.

Ellen Nakashima & Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: “Scores of staffers at the White House National Security Council were abruptly dismissed on Friday, as the Trump administration moved to dramatically downsize the coordinating body.... The staff sent home included both career officials who were detailed to the NSC and some political appointees.... The cuts were made under ... Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Marco Rubio, who also is serving as secretary of state.... Most NSC staffers are detailed to the White House from other parts of the federal government and were expected to go back to their home agencies, including the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies, said people familiar with the shake-up.”

Mark Berman of the Washington Post: “A federal judge on Friday struck down ... Donald Trump’s executive order sanctioning the law firm Jenner & Block, the second time a court has struck down one of Trump’s efforts to punish a firm. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates wrote that Trump’s order was unconstitutional, saying the president was trying 'to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like, thereby insulating the Executive Branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers.'... Trump has targeted firms with ties to his perceived political opponents or that have challenged his policies and actions, highlighting some of these people by name in his orders.”

Joe Heim of the Washington Post: “More than three years after its installation was approved by Congress, a plaque honoring law enforcement personnel for defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is instead sitting in a Capitol basement utility room surrounded by tools and maintenance equipment. The cast bronze memorial to the officers, which declares that 'their heroism will never be forgotten,' was required by law to be installed by March 2023 near the west front of the building.... At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing last month, Architect of the Capitol Thomas E. Austin said that modifications on the House side of the Capitol are directed by the office of the speaker and that he had not received instructions to install the plaque.... 'The reason why the law hasn’t been complied with and a plaque hasn’t been erected is because Republicans, directed by their puppet master Donald Trump, have been told try to erase January 6 as if it has never happened,' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said in a news conference last week.”

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "I'm not so sure that Noem, who has been neck-deep in [the] debate about basic human rights for months, is as dumb as she seemed in that moment [when she got the definition of 'habeas corpus' ass-backwards].... Whether Noem comes by her confusion honestly or she was just play-acting, she's there to play the role of the proud MAGA bimbo, in the grand tradition of figures like Sarah Palin.... She's contemptuous of people who actually know what they're talking about, especially if those facts-laden human beings are fellow women.... It's in reality TV where the [traditional, unthreatening] bimbo morphed from the sweet-but-stupid image portrayed by [Marilyn] Monroe to the vindictive trophy wife [-- 'Real Housewives' --] who takes out her pointless grievances by throwing glasses of wine.... The vision of the wine-throwing real housewife is the stereotype that Noem has shaped herself around, pairing her expensive clothes and plastic surgery with displays of breathtaking sadism, all performed as if she is literally too stupid to know better."

Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “Harvard University sued the Trump administration on Friday, less than 24 hours after the Department of Homeland Security said it would block international students from attending the nation’s oldest university and one of its most prestigious. The administration action, and Harvard’s response, signified a dramatic escalation of the battle between the administration and Harvard. And the university’s forceful and almost immediate response served as evidence that stopping the flow of international students to Harvard, which draws some of the world’s top scholars, would destabilize Harvard’s very existence. In a letter to the Harvard community delivered Friday morning, Dr. Alan M. Garber, Harvard’s president, wrote, 'We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,' adding that it 'imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.'” The NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The NYT story has been updated: “Later Friday morning, at the university’s request, a federal judge in Boston moved swiftly to block implementation of the federal government’s order. The judge, Allison D. Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order against the federal edict, agreeing that Harvard had shown that its implementation would cause 'immediate and irreparable injury' to the university.” The Harvard Crimson story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, Dear. We Are Not Amused. Charlotte Van Campenhout of Reuters: “Princess Elisabeth, the 23-year-old future queen of Belgium, has just completed her first year at Harvard University but the ban imposed by ... Donald Trump's administration on foreign students studying there could jeopardise her continued studies.... '... The impact of (the Trump administration's) decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation,' the Belgian Royal Palace's spokesperson Lore Vandoorne said."

“From the Idiot-King Dept.” Karl Bode of TechDirt: “Last week we noted how Trump illegally declared he was killing the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act. The law, passed as part of the infrastructure bill, was slated to bring millions in new broadband grants and digital literacy tools to Americans of all kinds long stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. The bill helped everybody (including Trump-supporting rural veterans), but because Trump’s team assumed that the word equity meant 'exclusively help minorities,' the program has become the latest victim of our mad, incoherent, con man king and his army of mindless earlobe nibblers. It hasn’t taken long for the decision to have ripple effects in the real world. South Dakota, for example, says it’s cancelling $5 million in broadband investment because of the uncertain future of the grants that were going to be funding the plan[.]” Thanks to RAS for the link.

Flippity-Doo-Dah. Jacob Weindling of Splinter: "... New York’s State Senate District 22 produced a margin [in a special election] that defies all conventional political logic and wisdom. Trump won this south Brooklyn district 77 percent to 22 percent in November, then Democrat Sam Sutton won his election this week by a margin of 35 points — a gobsmacking 90 percent swing from how this district voted in the presidential election just a little over six months ago.... [This] should come with the caveat that ever since 2017, special elections have favored Democrats...." Thanks to RAS for the link.

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An “Historic Corruption of the Presidency.” David Yaffe-Bellany & Eric Lipton of the New York Times: Donald “Trump gathered Thursday evening at his Virginia golf club with the highest-paying customers of his personal cryptocurrency, promising that he would promote the crypto industry from the White House as protesters outside condemned the event as a historic corruption of the presidency. The gala dinner held at the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Washington, where Mr. Trump flew from the White House on a military helicopter, turned into an extraordinary spectacle as hundreds of guests arrived, many having flown to the United States from overseas. At the club’s entrance, the guests were greeted by dozens of protesters chanting 'shame, shame, shame.'... Several of the dinner guests, in interviews with The New York Times, said that they attended the event with the explicit intent of influencing Mr. Trump and U.S. financial regulations....

“Mr. Trump and his business partners organized the dinner to promote sales of his $TRUMP cryptocurrency, a memecoin launched just days before Mr. Trump’s inauguration. A memecoin is a type of digital currency tied to an online joke or mascot; it typically has no function beyond speculation. But Mr. Trump’s coins have become a vehicle for investors, including many foreigners, to funnel money to his family.... The start of Mr. Trump’s second term has been punctuated with more than a dozen of these lucrative transactions for his family and partners: real estate deals from Qatar to Serbia that involve foreign governments, a new banklike crypto venture that has pulled in $2 billion from the government of the United Arab Emirates, a golf tournament at his Miami club sponsored by a Saudi-funded venture. Mr. Trump is estimated to have added billions to his personal fortune, at least on paper, since the start of his new term, much of it through crypto.” The Independent's report, which concentrates on the protesters, is here. ~~~

~~~ It’s absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency. -- Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, Thursday

Mr. Trump spoke [at the crypto-dinner] from a lectern adorned with the presidential seal and with American flags arrayed behind him. -- Yaffe-Bellany & Lipton report linked above ~~~

~~~ Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “On Wednesday, a dangerous joke was told in the Oval Office. The South African president [Cyril Ramaphosa] turned to the American president and said: 'I’m sorry I don’t have a plane to give you.' There was a lot packed into this one little aperçu. Nothing has so succinctly summed up the way the rest of the world feels it must now approach America as these 10 words.... The context was lost on no one. Earlier that day, the U.S. government had, under ... [Donald] Trump’s directive, finally and officially accepted [a] free jumbo jet from Qatar.... 'I wish you did' have a plane to offer up, [Mr. Trump] said.... 'I’d take it. If your country offered the U.S. Air Force a plane, I would take it.'” ~~~

~~~ Gary Legum of Wonkette, with a little help from his friends, speculates on the likely source of Trump's fake video "proof" of rampant white genocide in South Africa: "This video was aerial footage of a long procession of vehicles driving on a road lined with thousands of white crosses. Trump claimed each cross represented a murdered white farmer.... It was bullshit, of course.... The video appears to have been from the protest of the murder of one couple, Glen and Vida Rafferty, who were killed during a botched robbery. They were not targeted because they are white.... [The video] was apparently shared most widely on X by an account with the handle @twatterbaas. The @twatterbaas account is apparently known for showing all sorts of racist material.... [twatterbaas has 163K followers but] only two subscribers. One of those subscribers is Elon Musk.... Another source of President White Genocide’s presentation in the Oval Office appears to be American Thinker, a cut-rate wingnut blog that has been pushing paranoid and racist gibberish for many years." Do read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It is impossible to exaggerate how embarrassing it is for the POTUS* to ambush a foreign leader with fake video and photos of fake atrocities which the POTUS* falsely claims are going on in the leader's country. To the best of my recollection, past real presidents -- even past real Republican presidents -- never did such a thing.

Trader Don Threatens Europe, Apple, U.S. Consumers. Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “... Donald Trump on Friday said he is 'recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union' after complaining that trade negotiations have stalled. The steep new import duties would start on June 1, Trump wrote on Truth Social. The EU 'has been very difficult to deal with,' Trump wrote. “Our discussions with them are going nowhere!' Trump’s announcement came less than 30 minutes after he threatened to impose a tariff of at least 25% on Apple if the company does not start manufacturing iPhones in the United States. U.S. stock futures sank immediately following the posts, which showed the Republican president once again wielding the threat of massive import taxes in response to economic activity he disfavors. European stock markets fell 2%.”

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump and the White House levied harsh criticism Thursday against a federal judge who ruled against the administration in a deportation case this week, the latest in a long line of attacks the administration has lodged against judges who halted the president’s actions in his second term. Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday that the judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston, 'knew absolutely nothing about the situation' in which the administration attempted to deport several migrants to South Sudan. 'The Judges are absolutely out of control, they’re hurting our Country, and they know nothing about particular situations, or what they are doing — And this must change, IMMEDIATELY,' Trump added. '… If this is not worked out quickly, and the World is watching, our Country will be under siege again, with hundreds of thousands of hardened criminals, “BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS.”’” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have shuttered the windows and barred the doors and am huddled in a basement corner in fear of the coming of “hundreds of thousands of hardened criminals comma 'BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS.’” And all because a radical liberal activist East Coast-elite judge will not let Trump deport people to the unstable nation of South Sudan -- at least not without due process.

Michael Schmidt & Michael Bender of the New York Times: “The Trump administration on Thursday halted Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, taking aim at a crucial funding source for the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college in a major escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure the elite school to fall in line with the president’s agenda. The administration notified Harvard about the decision after a back-and-forth in recent days over the legality of a sprawling records request as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation.... The latest move is likely to prompt a second legal challenge from Harvard....” (Also linked yesterday.) The Guardian's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, et al., of the Washington Post: “Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem ordered the agency to terminate Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, which allows U.S. universities to admit international students, for allegedly allowing 'anti-American, pro-terrorist' foreigners 'to harass and physically assault individuals … and obstruct its once-venerable learning environment.' The secretary also accused the university of working with the Chinese Communist Party by hosting and training members of its paramilitary group. The decision means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students, and existing international students at Harvard must transfer or lose their legal status, Noem said.” MB: This is pure harassment. Not only that, Kristi Noem should be begging Harvard to let her audit a Constitutional law class instead of badgering the university. See related story by Chris Cameron of the NYT, linked below. ~~~

~~~ Noem Threatens All U.S. Universities. Sareen Habeshian of Axios: "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned universities on Thursday to 'get your act together' after halting Harvard's program to enroll international students.... 'This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together,' Noem said on Fox News on Thursday." ~~~

~~~ Robert Reich on Substack: “This could affect more than a quarter of Harvard’s student body. Noem said she did this because of the university’s 'failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.' Rubbish. There was nothing simple about the trove of information Noem demanded from Harvard — including the coursework of every international student and information on any student visa holder who had been involved in 'illegal' activity — information beyond what Harvard is legally allowed to share with the government. We are in deep authoritarian fascist territory, friends. Trump is escalating his war against American higher education and against the rest of the world.” ~~~

~~~ Steven Pinker in a New York Times op-ed: “... the invective now being aimed at Harvard has become unhinged.... [Donald Trump has said] that Harvard is 'an Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution,; a 'Liberal mess' and a 'threat to Democracy,' which has been 'hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and “birdbrains” who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called future leaders.'... Mr. Trump’s strangling of [scientific grants] will harm Jews more than any president in my lifetime. Many practicing and aspiring scientists are Jewish.... The concern for Jews is patently disingenuous, given Mr. Trump’s sympathy for Holocaust deniers and Hitler fans.” This is a long essay on what's wrong with Harvard and ways to fix it. Trump's approach is not one of Pinker's prescriptions.

Francesca Regalado of the New York Times: “Columbia University violated civil rights law by 'acting with deliberate indifference' toward harassment against Jewish students, the Health and Human Services Department said Thursday night, the Trump administration’s latest accusation of antisemitism against the school. No new action against Columbia, one of the nation’s most prominent universities, was included in Thursday’s announcement. The finding of a civil rights violation often precedes consequences. In Columbia’s case, the administration has already suspended more than $400 million in grants and contracts. It was not immediately clear whether the administration would seek further penalties.” MB: Nothing said about the deliberate malice and harassment the Trump administration has showered on universities, especially the ivies.

Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: “The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it was investigating the admissions system at an elite public high school in Fairfax County, Va., which has been accused of discriminating against Asian American students to favor other racial groups. The administration has repeatedly argued that the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action in college admissions should also apply to K-12 education. But the court has never made such a statement, and it chose last year to allow the high school’s admissions program to stand. The school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, is considered one of the best in the country. In 2020, the Fairfax County School Board overhauled the admissions process for Thomas Jefferson in an effort to diversify the majority-Asian student body. It did away with a high-stakes admissions exam and instituted a policy to reserve seats for top students from each area middle school. Applicants must also submit grades and essays. Under the new admissions process, evaluators do not know the names or races of applicants. But they do consider whether candidates overcame challenges such as poverty or learning English as a second language.”

Trump's Fascist Program, Ctd. Kate Conger, et al., of the New York Times: “The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday opened an investigation into Media Matters, a liberal advocacy organization that has published research on hateful and antisemitic content on X.... The regulator said in a letter sent to the organization that it was investigating the group, which is aligned with Democrats, over whether it illegally colluded with advertisers.... The letter ... required the organization to share copies of its budgets, documents showing the effects of “harmful” online content on advertisers, and communications with other watchdog groups. Elon Musk ... sued Media Matters in 2023 over claims that it tried to damage the social media platform’s relationship with advertisers. That lawsuit continues. As part of its demands, the F.T.C. also asked Media Matters to turn over all the documents it had produced or received from X in that litigation.

“The investigation is the latest example of the Trump administration’s taking actions against individuals and organizations that play critical roles in the infrastructure of the political left. Mr. Trump previously signed executive orders targeting law firms that serve Democrats and other clients who oppose him.... The president has also directed the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, a digital fund-raising platform used by progressive causes and Democratic candidates.” ~~~

~~~ The House Piles On. Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: Donald “Trump already has the weight of the executive branch behind his efforts to strip funding from top universities, deport millions of unauthorized migrants and pressure foreign governments to change their economic policies. With the sprawling bill that passed through the House on Thursday, Republicans are also preparing to enlist the tax code as another tool against Mr. Trump’s political foils. The legislation, which could change as it heads to the Senate, would raise taxes on universities like Harvard, as well as on immigrants and on companies based in countries with taxes that the Trump administration deems unfair. Owners of major sports franchises, a group that Mr. Trump repeatedly tried and failed to join, would also see a tax increase.” Duehren adds a few specifics.

Aaron Davis & Jonathan Baran of the Washington Post analyze video and photos of the confrontation among federal officers and Democratic lawmakers at Delaney Hall, a federal detention center in New Jersey. In court documents made public Tuesday, the Justice Department alleged that amid the ensuing scrum on May 9, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-New Jersey) struck one federal agent with a forearm, 'slammed' her arm into another and 'reached out and tried to restrain' the arresting officer.... The Post’s review confirms McIver made contact with at least two agents while in the turbulent scrum during that time, but it is difficult to discern the force of the contact and to what extent it was intentional or the result of the chaotic moment.... On Tuesday ... Donald Trump dismissed a question about whether the arrest signaled a weaponization of the Justice Department, saying: 'Oh, give me a break. Did you see her? She was out of control,' he said. 'Those days are over, the days of woke are over.'...

“Speaking about the events outside the Delaney Hall detention facility, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem last week testified to Congress that a 'mob of protesters including three members of Congress stormed the gate and they trespassed into the detention facility.' Her department published a news release claiming the lawmakers used an arriving 'bus of detainees' as a decoy to gain entrance, then 'holed up in a guard shack.' A department spokeswoman said lawmakers attacked officers, including 'body slamming a female ICE officer.' The videos examined by The Post did not support those descriptions of the events, and the government did not include them in its charges against McIver.” MB: IOW, even Bondi's DOJ conceded Noem is an irresponsible liar. ~~~

~~~ Joyce Vance of Civil Discourse: "Even if the case were to go to trial, it’s hard to imagine a unanimous jury verdict [against Rep. McIver] on these facts. But this sort of prosecution by the federal government achieves an entirely different goal, one reminiscent of the charges against Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan. This is how autocrats ... chill dissent. It’s another step on the path toward autocracy." Before Vance goes into the case re: McIver, she points out that the person who charged McIver -- Alina Habba -- is lying about what job she herself holds.

⭐Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s wide-reaching effort to detain and deport international students, barring the federal government from arresting those students or revoking their visas while the case plays out in court. Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California, who was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush, granted a temporary injunction protecting international students who were among the thousands whose visas were revoked earlier this year without clear justification, writing that government officials had 'uniformly wreaked havoc' and 'likely exceeded their authority and acted arbitrarily and capriciously' by the mass revocation of students’ immigration status...., Judge White wrote in the 21-page order.... Judge White’s ruling said that the order applied to all 'similarly situated individuals' who participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which is the system governing student visas. In the order, he expressed suspicion that the Trump administration was trying to place future visa 'terminations beyond judicial review.'... The order comes hours after the Trump administration halted Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, and it is likely that this nationwide order could at least in part prevent the Trump administration’s move from being enforced.” The NBC News story is here.

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: “A judge handed workers across a broad swath of the federal government a reprieve on Thursday night, extending her pause on ... [Donald] Trump’s plans for vast layoffs until a case challenging them is resolved. The order, issued by Judge Susan Illston of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California, affects tens of thousands of employees at 22 agencies, including the departments of Housing and Urban Development, State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. She also ordered the administration not to shut down offices and programs in those agencies, or move them between agencies, as Trump officials have sometimes done in their efforts to dismantle parts of the government.... Judge Illston said Mr. Trump was not following the laws set by Congress to address such reductions.... The administration has already asked the Supreme Court to block the two-week pause that Judge Illston initially issued this month. The court has yet to rule on the emergency application, and the government is expected to request that the justices overturn Judge Illston’s new ruling as well.”

Michael Bender of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Thursday blocked ... [Donald] Trump’s executive order aimed at dismantling the Education Department and ordered officials to reinstate thousands of fired employees in a ruling that marked at least a temporary setback for the president and his plans. The decision from Judge Myong J. Joun of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts was a preliminary injunction.... The injunction was requested by a pair of school districts in Massachusetts, the American Federation of Teachers and 21 Democratic state attorneys general who sued Mr. Trump in March to block his executive order and reverse a massive round of layoffs. Judge Joun agreed with their argument that the actions equated to an illegal shutdown of the agency, which only Congress can abolish. 'The record abundantly reveals that defendants’ true intention is to effectively dismantle the department without an authorizing statute,' Judge Joun wrote in his order.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Supremes: He Has an Article II Where He Has a Right to Do Whatever He Wants. Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “A divided Supreme Court on Thursday refused to immediately reinstate a pair of independent regulators fired by the Trump administration, saying the president may have the power to summarily oust the board members and calling into question a 90-year-old legal precedent that has protected the independence of key regulatory bodies. The court’s unsigned order, which drew a sharp dissent from the three liberal justices, did not decide the underlying merits of the case, which will continue to play out in the lower courts. But it was a strong endorsement of presidential authority at a time when ... Donald Trump is trying to seize greater control of the federal bureaucracy. 'Because the Constitution vests the executive power in the President,' the conservative majority said, 'he may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf, subject to narrow exceptions recognized by our precedents.'”The NBC News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Kate Riga of TPM: "The Supreme Court majority all but declared Thursday that it is ready to overturn a nearly century-old precedent meant to protect independent agencies from at-will firing by the President. It’s the last brick to fall in the division between the President and the parts of the executive branch Congress created to be beyond his reach.... Coupled with the Trump administration’s annihilation of the civil service, the executive branch will become something much closer to a fiefdom, an extension of presidential power with few institutional guardrails. This was a guiding light of Project 2025.... Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the three dissenting liberals, dispensed with the usual niceties to upbraid her conservative colleagues for bending to President Trump’s whims, and doing so in a two-page ruling on the emergency docket." Read on; Kagan exposes the majority not just for its subservience to Trump but also for its lack of logic. The article includes the ruling and Kagan's dissent." ~~~

     ~~~ Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy, elaborates on Riga's thesis.

Lauren Weber, et al., of the Washington Post: “The White House blamed exposure to environmental toxins, poor nutrition and increased screen time for a decline in Americans’ life expectancy Thursday, in a major administration report that also casts doubt on the current vaccine schedule and medications deemed safe by mainstream medicine. 'The MAHA Report: Making Our Children Healthy Again,' written by Cabinet officials and administration scientific leaders in response to an executive order from ... Donald Trump, declared that 'today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease.'... Some of the report’s suggestions ... stretched the limits of science, medical experts said. Several sections of the report offer misleading representations of findings in scientific papers.... Gun violence, the leading cause of death for children and teens in 2020 and 2021 according to the CDC, is not mentioned in the report. Many of the points in the environmental exposures, overmedicalization and corporate capture sections similarly overstate or misstate scientific findings. Scientific experts have similarly criticized the ways [HHS Secretary Robert] Kennedy discusses scientific studies. Here are five issues addressed in the report[.]”

Will Steakin of ABC News: "The newly sworn-in head of the Social Security Administration told agency staff this week that when he was first offered the job in the Trump administration, he wasn't familiar with the position and had to look it up online. Frank Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, said during a town hall with Social Security managers from around the country on Wednesday that he wasn't seeking a position in the Trump administration when he received a call about leading the SSA.... While Bisignano, who previously served as chairman and CEO of financial technology company Fiserv Inc., brings experience managing large organizations and overseeing complex payment systems to his new role, he has no prior history working in government or with the Social Security system."

Fatima Hussein & Alan Suderman of the AP: “The U.S. Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out, a Treasury Department official confirmed Thursday. This move comes as the cost of making pennies has increased markedly, by upward of 20% in 2024, according to the Treasury. By stopping the penny’s production, the Treasury expects an immediate annual savings of $56 million in reduced material costs, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the news. In February..., Donald Trump announced that he had ordered his administration to cease production of the 1-cent coin.... Jay Zagorsky [of] Boston University said that while he supports the move to end penny production, Congress must include language in any proposed legislation to require rounding up in pricing, which will eliminate the demand for pennies.” (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here.

Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post: “The Senate voted Thursday to block California from enforcing a rule that would ban sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035, a move that could have far-reaching implications for auto sales in a dozen states. The vote marks Republicans’ latest effort to curtail state-level efforts to tackle climate change, even as ... Donald Trump and congressional leaders have empowered states to set their own education policies and abortion laws.... The House already passed the [auto] resolution, which now heads to Trump, who has indicated he will sign the measure into law.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Risky Business. Colby Smith & Joe Rennison of the New York Times: “The market for U.S. government bonds, the bedrock of the global financial system, continued to shudder on Thursday, as ... [Donald] Trump’s bill to extend expensive tax cuts and create new ones without significantly slashing spending passed through the House of Representatives. The bill has unnerved investors, deepening worries that the country’s debt is becoming unmanageable. Yields on U.S. bonds, which underpin consumer and business interest rates around the world, from mortgages to corporate loans, have been rising in recent weeks. Yields rise as prices fall, and the higher the yields, the more risk investors perceive in to lending to the government.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So after Trump imposed irresponsible tariffs, he strongarmed House Republicans into passing an irresponsible budget bill (which, admittedly, they always do), thus proving Trump is bad for business in nearly every way a country's "leader" can be bad for business. But I expect businesspeople will get over reality soon and go back to believing that the anti-regulatory party is their friend.

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “A divided Supreme Court rejected a plan on Thursday to allow Oklahoma to use government money to run the nation’s first religious charter school, which would teach a curriculum infused by Catholic doctrine. The court split 4 to 4 over the Oklahoma plan, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett recusing herself from the case, and the decision provided no reasoning. That deadlock means that an earlier ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court will be allowed to stand. The state court blocked a proposal for the Oklahoma school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which was to be operated by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, and aimed to incorporate Catholic teachings into every aspect of its activities. Because there was no majority in the case, the court’s decision sets no nationwide precedent on the larger question of whether the First Amendment permits states to sponsor and finance religious charter schools, which are public schools with substantial autonomy.... Legal experts speculated that the 4-to-4 tie likely resulted from the chief justice joining Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.” Thanks to Ken W. for the heads-up. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Julie Bosman of the New York Times: “Elias Rodriguez, a Chicago resident, was charged on Thursday with first-degree murder and other crimes in the killings of two Israeli Embassy aides outside a Jewish museum in Washington. By some accounts, Mr. Rodriguez, 31, led a life typical of a college-educated young professional in Chicago, residing in an apartment in a middle-class North Side neighborhood, with friends and family nearby. But he was also increasingly active in left-wing politics, posting on social media and joining demonstrations in Chicago in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, large corporations and racism. When Mr. Rodriguez was taken into custody after the shooting on Wednesday night, he told police officers, 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,' according to an F.B.I. affidavit filed in federal court.”

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