President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery Monday.
Art of the Flip – As president-elect last December, Donald J. Trump opposed a deal by Japan’s Nippon Steel to purchase the American industrial icon United States Steel. On January 3, then-President Biden blocked the deal.
On Friday, President Trump visits U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works plant in Pittsburgh to announce a “merger” deal between Nippon and U.S. Steel that appears more like the original purchase by the Japanese company, according to NPR.
The US will get what Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) describes as a “golden share” that gives the federal government a controlling roll in the company, CQ Roll Call reports. U.S. Steel will maintain its Pittsburgh headquarters and be run by an American CEO. The deal is said to save 10,000 US jobs and add 10,000 more for a new steel furnace in Pennsylvania, location TBD.
But we can’t ignore the fact that while the “golden share” might indeed be straight out of The Art of the Deal it does not seem very laissez-faire Republican.
--TL
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Tariffs On or Off?
THURSDAY 5/29/25
UPDATE: The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a brief order Thursday issuing an administrative stay that put temporary hold on the Court of International Trade's ruling that blocked President Trump's tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Trump administration said it will take the matter to the US Supreme Court, possibly before the end of the week. The federal appeals court stay immediately followed a ruling by District of Columbia District Judge Rudolph Contreras' issue of a preliminary injunction on collection of duties in Learning Resources Inc. et.al. v. Donald J. Trump et.al., reports The Hill.
Justice Department attorneys had urged Contreras not to approve the stay, saying it would act like a "magnet" in attracting thousands of other companies to challenge the duty. Following the federal appeals court ruling, Contreras said his injunction would not go into effect for two weeks from Thursday -- to June 12 -- to allow time for the administration to appeal to the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (per WSJ).
Wine Imports Win – New York-based wine importer V.O.S. Selections and four other small businesses won the day late Wednesday when the Court of International Trade blocked President Trump’s assertion of executive power in imposing sweeping tariffs, according to The Wall Street Journal. The three-judge panel ruled in V.O.S. Selections Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Powers Act of 1977 does not give the president such power. Trump administration attorneys plan to appeal.
“The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imported thereunder,” the judges wrote in their decision, which takes effect immediately.
The court’s three judges were appointed by Presidents Reagan, Obama and Trump.
Their ruling does not affect Trump’s tariffs on cars, car parts, steel and aluminum, and soon likely pharmaceuticals, which the president imposed under a separate statute, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.
•••
Is Trump Catching Up? – Or, catching on? It has been three months since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned President Trump, in person, during the infamous Oval Office ambush, not to trust Russia’s president-dictator, Vladimir Putin. Trump appears to finally be catching up.
Trump is growing very tired of Moscow’s continued attacks on Ukraine when Putin is supposed to be negotiating a ceasefire.
"They seem to want to do something,” Trump told reporters in a White House briefing Wednesday. “But until the document is signed, I can't tell you... I'm very disappointed at what happened. A couple of nights now where people were killed in the middle of what you would call a negotiation."
Trump, reports The Kyiv Independent, did not identify the documents to which he was referring.
In any event, Trump said “We’ll know in two weeks” whether Putin is serious about reaching a peace deal, artful or otherwise. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to pound Ukraine and is pushing further into its northeastern corner so there is more occupied territory to hold on to after the deal is struck.
•••
Art of Student Deportation – The US will begin revoking visas for Chinese students, including those “with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday. A senior Trump administration official noted to Axios that Rubio’s announcement coincides with trade negotiations between the Trump administration and China.
“Everything is connected,” the official said.
•••
Musk Up and Out – Department Of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk is leaving Washington to return to running SpaceX and Tesla, the latter of which’s board wants him to put in at least 40 hours of work per week.
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote on his X-Twitter, according to Politico. “The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
As of Thursday morning, doge-tracker.com claims DOGE has saved $170 billion. So it is of course far short of the $2 trillion Musk said his federal baby would save when it launched just after President Trump’s inauguration.
Most independent calculations put the actual savings much lower. The non-profit Partnership for Public Service says DOGE’s efforts actually have cost an extra $135 billion to pay for leave for laid-off federal employees, Marketplace reports.
House passage of the Big Beautiful Bill Act last week doesn’t help. Interviewed for the June 1 edition of CBS News Sunday Morning, Musk told Jane Pauley; “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it and undermines the work the DOGE team is doing.”
Tune in Sunday to see whether Pauley asks The World’s Richest Lifeform what he thinks about the huge tax cut he will receive if the Senate passes the House bill in-tact.
--TL
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Constitution Lives!
WEDNESDAY 5/28/25
Not for Retribution – District of Columbia Federal District Judge Richard T. Leon ruled Tuesday ruled that a Trump White House executive order banning WilmerHale from federal buildings and stripping the white shoe law firm of security clearances is unconstitutional.
President Trump has gone after several such law firms associated with the Democratic Party, including firms associated with investigating Moscow’s involvement in Trump’s 2016 presidential election win. Robert S. Mueller III, who as special counsel investigated the Russia-Trump connection during Trump’s first term, has long been associated with WilmerHale. Mueller returned to the firm after releasing his report and retired in 2021.
“The cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The founding fathers knew this!” Judge Leon wrote in a 73-page opinion The New York Times reports is “laced with more than two-dozen exclamation points.”
Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey sued the Trump administration alongside WilmerHale, asking the judge to proceed to a decision without trial, as the EO was the only issue to be considered. Other firms, including Paul Weiss and Latham & Watkins have capitulated to Trump’s orders, agreeing to perform pro-bono work on behalf of the president’s favorite causes.
Judge Leon in his decision said that targeted law firms already have been damaged because they lost clients, and that the Trump administration was trying to intimidate other law firms in a way that would damage the legal profession as a whole (per the NYTreport).
“The order shouts through a bullhorn: If you take on causes disfavored by President Trump, you will be punished!” Leon wrote.
•••
No Relief in Gaza – Israeli troops killed at least one civilian Palestinian and wounded 48 when they opened fire at a food distribution center Wednesday, The Guardian reports. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GDF), chosen by the Israeli government to ship food into the region had lost control when starving Palestinians stormed the distribution point, according to reports.
Casualties were reported by Gaza’s health ministry.
Israeli war crimes … Meanwhile, Ehud Olmert, prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, said in an op-ed in Haaretz that the current government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is guilty of war crimes.
“The government of Israel is currently waging a war without purpose, without clear goals or clear planning and with no chance of success,” Olmert wrote. “Never since its establishment has the State of Israel waged such a war. The criminal gang headed by Benjamin Netanyahu has set a precedent without equal in Israel’s history in this area too.”
•••
NPR vs. Trump – NPR and three Colorado public radio stations are suing President Trump and others within his administration over his efforts to ban any federal funds for the public radio network or PBS. The stations involved in the suit are Colorado Public Radio, a statewide network, plus largely rural Aspen Public Radio and KSUT, which was founded by the Native American Ute tribe.
NPR CEO Katherine Maher told All Things Considered host Marie Louise Kelly that freedom to make editorial decisions, but not “politics,” is behind the suit.
“We are choosing to do this as a matter of necessity and principle,” Maher said. “All of our rights that we enjoy in this democracy flow from the First Amendment – freedom of speech, association, freedom of the press. When we see those rights infringed upon, we have an obligation to challenge them, and that’s what’s at stake here.”
--TL
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Another Tariff Pause
TUESDAY 5/27/25
Brace for another rally on Wall Street, boosting President Trump’s confidence in his tariff-forward Art of economic policy Tuesday. By 11 am Wall Street time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 500 points, or +1.2%.
On Wall Street, a burst of good news from the Trump White House trumps the roller-coaster uncertainty of the president’s tariff policy. Trump on Sunday agreed to a delay to July his 50% tariff on European imports after a phoner with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump last week had announced a 50% tariff on the EU, same day he announced a 25% tariff on Apple iPhones.
Don’t miss … Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s column on Trump’s black-tie dinner for crypto currency moguls and the iPhone tariff, in the right column.
•••
How Was Your Memorial Day Weekend? – President Trump’s was “weird,” according to Politico, beginning Saturday with his commencement address to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he wore a red MAGA hat and gave a campaign rally-style speech attacking “drag shows” and critical race theory, and complaining about his treatment by law enforcement. He wrapped up with musings on “trophy” wives.
Then on Sunday … Politico continues, Trump suspended his 50% tariffs on the European Union and called Russian President Vladimir Putin “crazy” on his Truth Social for continuing to kill Ukrainian civilians, which the dictator has done for three years.
And on Memorial Day Monday … Trump gave a solemn tribute to fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, while posting on Truth Social: HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY. (Author’s caps.) Trump singled out MENTALLY INSANE immigrants, WARPED RADICAL Democrats and USA HATING judges.
•••
Three and Two-Thirds More Years – The Hill helpfully offers this list of “seven most likely successors” to President Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028: Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald J. Trump Jr., Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Notes … We’d give Rubio, second on the list, primacy over Vance even as Rubio has moved to the right to comply with Trump’s MAGA vision of international relations. The next 43+ months will tell whether or not Noem has to learn the true meaning of habeas corpus.
Meanwhile … Kemp, first and foremost, and Youngkin are the only two of the list after shape-shifting Rubio who might be considered “moderate” Republicans. Any more out there?
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa