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Here is where things stand on Thursday 29 May 2025:
- The United States Court of International Trade has blocked most of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, boosting markets with a ruling that could derail his trade strategy.
- Stock futures have climbed on Wall Street in the wake of the court’s decision, while shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia gained following stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late on Wednesday that authorities would “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students, long a major revenue stream for American colleges and universities.
- Beijing reacted in fury at the US government’s vow to revoke Chinese students’ visas, condemning Trump’s crackdown on international scholars as “political and discriminatory”.
Trump’s lawyers say he experienced ‘mental anguish’ from CBS News interview
The president’s lawyers have argued he suffered from “mental anguish” because of a CBS News interview featuring his rival in the 2024 presidential race, Kamala Harris.
Trump has long argued that the interview, aired on the TV show 60 Minutes, was edited to portray her in a more flattering light.
But in new court filings, his lawyers say Trump’s status as a “content creator” was damaged by the attention Harris received in the interview, saying the president is a “media icon” who was “forced to redirect significant time, money and effort to correcting the public record”.
Press freedom groups have said that the lawsuit is a frivolous effort that violates press freedom.
Who is Larry Hoover, and why has Trump commuted his sentence?
The US president issued a series of pardons and sentence commutations this week, including one for a man named Larry Hoover.
Hoover’s commutation in particular has garnered a lot of attention. A former gang leader, Hoover is currently serving multiple life sentences — amounting to up to 200 years in prison — in connection to federal and state convictions.
Supporters of the 74-year-old point to his age and say he should benefit from the First Step Act, a law passed under Trump’s first term to reduce excessive sentences. But some critics have opposed any reduction in his sentence, due to the severity of his crimes.
So who is Hoover, and why has Trump commuted his sentence?
You can read our story here.
Trump can impose tariffs, but not ‘country-by-country’
Bruce Fein, a former US associate deputy attorney general, says that a US trade court was correct in ruling that Trump had exceeded his power by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to back up his sweeping tariffs.
“The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t say anything at all about tariffs,” he told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.
Fein added that there is a statute, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows tariffs in the event of a national emergency. However, he said it requires a study by the commerce secretary and can only be imposed on a product-by-product basis.
“This is not an issue of whether the president can impose tariffs,” Fein said. “He can under the 1962 act after there’s a study and after showing that it’s not arbitrary and capricious and that it’s a product-by-product, not a country-by-country approach.”
“If he doesn’t like that, he can ask Congress to amend the statute.”
An appeals court has since issued a temporary stay on the trade court’s ruling.
Appeals court keeps Trump’s tariffs in place
A US appeals court has temporarily reinstated Trump’s sweeping tariffs as the appeal process moves forward.
The decision comes after a trade court blocked many of Trump’s most severe tariffs in a ruling late on Wednesday, stating that he had exceeded his presidential authority.
The Trump White House had immediately contested the trade court’s decision, resulting in the appeals court granting its motion for a pause.
The plaintiffs in the case were ordered to respond by June 5 to the latest order, and the administration by June 9.
White House downplays split with Musk
The Trump administration once again side-stepped questions about billionaire Elon Musk’s comments criticising the president’s signature budget legislation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill”.
Speaking at a briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt answered reporters’ questions by saying, “The president is very proud of the One Big Beautiful Bill, and he wants to see it passed.”
She also noted that Musk was stepping away from his role as a special government employee. Previously, he had been a leading figure in the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“ We thank him for his service. We thank him for getting DOGE off of the ground in the effort to cut waste, fraud, and abuse,” Leavitt said of Musk.
But, she added, DOGE will carry on even as Musk steps back from his work in the government.
“The entire cabinet understands the need to cut government waste, fraud, and abuse, and each cabinet secretary at their respective agencies is committed to that,” Leavitt said.
Powell stresses that policy decisions will be based on economic developments
The Federal Reserve has underscored the bank’s independence following a meeting with Trump, who has consistently pressured the its chief Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
“Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook,” a statement from the Federal Reserve said.
“Chair Powell said that he and his colleagues on the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] will set monetary policy, as required by law, to support maximum employment and stable prices and will make those decisions based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis.”
‘Clearly extremely frustrating’: US State Department weighs in on Kyiv attack
Speaking at a US State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce weighed in on US President Donald Trump’s public frustrations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“ I think the president has judged Putin based on the nature of what was clearly extremely frustrating to him regarding the killing of civilians while talks are going on for a ceasefire,” she said.
Earlier this week, Trump wrote on social media that Putin was “playing with fire” by launching an attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The US president also warned that “bad things would have already happened to Russia” had he not been there to stop them.
The Trump administration has been attempting to broker a peace deal since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that has since led to a deadly, long-grinding war.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, and Bruce offered further details on that meeting from the podium.
“We’ve said multiple times that we’re going to judge Russia based not on what they say, but on what they do,” Bruce said. “And right now, what’s happening is not good, right?”
She added that Rubio emphasised to Lavrov that a “ constructive good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path forward” for peace.
Here’s what happened at today’s White House news conference
- Press secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced a court decision that will pause many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs as a case of “judicial overreach” and an effort to “usurp the authority of President Trump”.
- The White House urged Senate Republicans to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, a massive tax package that analysts say would largely benefit the wealthiest earners and slash social programmes.
- Leavitt emphasised that the bill includes a record investment in immigration enforcement, a key priority of the administration.
- The administration continues to defend visa revocations for international students, arguing that doing so falls within the authority of the executive branch.
- Leavitt stated that Trump told Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell that he would like the US central bank to lower interest rates during a meeting at the White House earlier in the day.
- She also suggested former First Lady Jill Biden should be called to testify on her husband Joe Biden’s mental decline.
Photos: Inside Harvard’s commencement ceremony
It was a day of celebration at Harvard University despite fears about the school’s future.
On Thursday, the oldest university in the US marked its 374th commencement ceremony, where thousands of students celebrated receiving their diplomas.
Honorary doctorates were bestowed to luminaries including basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Broadway icon Rita Moreno, who has won awards including a Tony and an Oscar.
A few of those recipients, including physician and author Abraham Verghese, spoke to Harvard’s ongoing battle with the Trump administration, which has revoked its federal funding and threatened its ability to enrol international students.
“More people than you realise are grateful for Harvard for the example it has set,” Verghese said.
Federal Reserve chief meets Trump at the White House
Jerome Powell, the leader of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, has met President Trump at the White House, according to a statement.
Experts and financial analysts have expressed concern that Trump may attempt to interfere in the independence of the bank.
Trump has frequently criticised Powell himself, blasting the Federal Reserve chief’s decision not to lower interest rates and calling him slow and a “loser”. Powell, in turn, has defended his decision, warning that lowering interest rates too quickly could ramp up inflation.
At a Thursday news briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump reiterated his desire to see the Fed cut interest rates during his meeting with Powell.
“The president did say that he believes the Fed chair is making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, which is putting us at an economic disadvantage to China and other countries. The president has been very vocal about that, both publicly and now, I can reveal, privately as well,” she said.
Asked if Trump had spoken about whether he has plans to remove Powell from his job, Leavitt said no.
State Department defends decision to remove visas from Chinese students
At a news briefing for the State Department, spokesperson Tammy Bruce faced questions about Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to “aggressively” revoke visas from Chinese students, particularly those linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“The State Department is determined to protect American’s right to free speech and to counter the malign influence and actions of the Chinese Communist Party,” Bruce said.
“The bottom line: We are using and will continue to use every tool in our tool chest to make sure that we know who it is who wants to come into this country and if they should be allowed to come in.”
She added that the policy would apply to Hong Kong passport holders, as well as those from mainland China. Bruce further accused China of seeking to access US education for its own advancement.
“The United States, I further can say here, will not tolerate the CCP’s exploitation of US universities or theft of US research, intellectual property or technologies to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition,” she said.
While Bruce declined to comment on the number of visas revoked or individual cases, she did add, “ Every visa adjudication is a national security decision.”
Rights groups express alarm over rights violations at migrant detention facilities
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other civil rights groups have released a joint statement denouncing “frequent illegal and inhumane conditions” at immigrant detention facilities overseen by federal agencies.
They accused the Federal Correctional Institution Leavenworth in Kansas and Federal Detention Center-Miami in Florida of demonstrating “frequent and systemic failures” to uphold basic rights and maintain humane confinement conditions.
“The Trump administration’s use of federal prisons to detain immigrants must end. Holding people in extended lockdown, and denying them access to adequate medical care, legal counsel, and even sunlight isn’t just inhumane – it’s illegal,” Eunice Cho, a senior staff lawyer at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, said in a statement.
“The taxpayer-funded conditions faced by immigrants held at FCI Leavenworth and FDC-Miami should concern us all.”
Antiwar protesters hold vigil outside of Harvard campus
A group of pro-Palestine demonstrators are holding a silent vigil just beyond the grounds of Harvard University as its commencement ceremony takes place.
The protesters called for an end to US support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Some held signs reading “ceasefire now” and “not another bomb”.
“As a US citizen, my money is supporting the genocide that’s happening in Gaza, and I’ve got to stand out against it,” said Carole Rein, a Harvard graduate who has been an activist for 50 years.
“I have to stand out against it, and there’s many of us who are standing out against it.”
White House says Jill Biden should testify about mental state of husband during presidency
At Thursday’s news briefing, the White House press secretary was asked whether she would like to see former First Lady Jill Biden testify about her husband’s mental acuity while in office.
Since President Joe Biden left office in January, reports have indicated that the Democrat experienced a greater decline in his health than previously reported.
From her podium on Thursday, Leavitt accused Jill Biden of being complicit in a “cover-up” that sought to hide the extent of her husband’s physical and mental deterioration from the public.
“This was a clear cover-up, and Jill Biden was certainly complicit in that cover-up. There’s documentation, video evidence, of her clearly shielding her husband away from the cameras,” said Leavitt.
“They were just on The View [a TV programme] last week. She was saying everything is fine. She is still lying to the American people. She still thinks the American public are so stupid that they’re going believe her lies. And frankly, it’s insulting, and she needs to answer for it.”
White House defends visa revocations
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said that the administration is acting within its legal authority to revoke the visas of international students.
She suggested that judges who have blocked its attempts to strip students of visas are overstepping their authority.
“We’ve been blocked in court for the revocation of visas from individuals who have the privilege of studying in the United States of America,” she said.
“Secretary of State Rubio has simply used his authority to revoke that privilege, and we’ve seen the courts try to block that. So if these judges want to be the secretary of state or they want to be the president, they can run for office themselves.”
Who has Trump pardoned this week?
President Trump has faced scrutiny this week for pardoning a string of supporters and commuting the sentences of others.
Who are some of the individuals Trump pardoned? Let’s take a look:
- Former US Representative Michael Grimm, a Republican who pleaded guilty to felony tax fraud in 2014
- Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland, a Republican who was found guilty of corruption-related charges after allegedly attempting to conceal his activity in federal congressional campaigns
- Rapper Kentrell Gaulden, who goes by the stage name NBA YoungBoy and was sentenced to prison on gun-related charges
- Labour union leader James Callahan, who faced sentencing for failing to report compensation he received in his role, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in sports tickets, concert tickets and other amenities
- Reality TV show stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud
Trump also commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, a gang leader who allegedly founded the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples. While Trump’s commutation affects Hoover’s prison term, Hoover still faces a state-level sentence for murder.
Trump has also signalled he is considering pardons for those convicted as part of a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
What are Trump’s next moves after a federal court strikes down his tariff policy?
The Trump administration has 10 days in which to comply with this court order. In other words, to remove these tariffs.
But that is not something that appears to be imminent. In fact, we know that already the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal and will be challenging this. So, in terms of what could play out, there are few options.
The bottom line is that, with this ruling, there are some tariffs that are remaining in place. There’s the tariffs on aluminium, autos and also steel.
But everything else was announced back in April on so-called Liberation Day — things like [the fentanyl-related tariffs] for China or anything to do with Canada or Mexico — is all subject to this ruling. So the Trump administration is likely hoping that it will go to a higher court and get a better, more favourable ruling, one that allows them to keep this policy in place.
Or there is another law that they could use from 1974. But it only allows for 15-percent tariffs, and it can only be put in place for 150 days if it’s determined there is an egregious trade deficit.
White House says Senate Republicans must pass tax bill
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during Thursday’s news briefing that Republicans in Congress must pass a massive budget bill that contains key Trump priorities.
Dubbed by Trump as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, the legislation would increase spending on immigration enforcement and cement tax cuts he first implemented in 2017.
But critics argue its tax savings would benefit the wealthy most of all, and that those tax breaks would have to be offset by cuts to social programmes and a $4 trillion increase to the federal debt.
Still, Leavitt called on Republicans to unify behind the bill.
“With Congress returning next week, it’s critical that Senate Republicans maintain the momentum and quickly pass the One Big Beautiful Bill. The One Big Beautiful Bill will truly make America safe and prosperous. The One Big Beautiful Bill includes the largest border security investment ever,” Leavitt said.
White House blasts ‘judicial overreach’ after courts rule against tariff programme
At a White House news conference, press secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced a federal court’s decision to strike down much of Trump’s tariff policy.
“Last night, the Trump administration faced another example of judicial overreach,” Leavitt said. “Using his full and proper legal authority, President Trump imposed universal tariffs and reciprocal tariffs on Liberation Day to address the extraordinary threat to our national security posed by large and persistent trade deficits.”
She added that the tariffs were necessary to boost manufacturing in the US and reduce reliance on foreign countries.
“Three judges of the US Court of International Trade disagreed and brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump,” she added.
Trump’s effort to bar Harvard from enrolling international students stuck in legal limbo
The Trump administration notified Harvard that it would have 30 days to address its concerns about international students.
Last week, the administration said Harvard would no longer be able to enrol international students, effective immediately. Now, it says Harvard has 30 days to respond.
However, it’s all become a bit moot now because of a court proceeding today. Harvard sued the administration and got a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s order, and now they have succeeded in getting a broad preliminary injunction against the implementation of this ban on Harvard enrolling international students for as long as legal proceedings are under way.
And, as you can imagine, like so many of Donald Trump’s policies, this may go all the way to the Supreme Court, which is good news for the international students here at Harvard.
Universities should produce ‘more than a social activist who lives in your basement’: spokesperson
At the State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce brushed aside concerns that limits on international student visas might dampen interest in attending US universities.
“People come here because this is where you start new lives, where you have every opportunity in the world,” Bruce replied.
She also echoed Trump administration concerns that US education had swung too far towards left-leaning ideologies.
Parents, she said, want their kids to have “skills and an education that can improve their future, that can get them a job, that can help facilitate the dreams that they’ve had as opposed to political indoctrination or the idea of just activism or a certain political framework”.
“It’s a certainly an important dynamic for believing and understanding that your child’s going to be safe and that you’re going get something that you’ve paid for, more than a social activist who lives in your basement.”
Trump’s effort to bar Harvard from enrolling international students stuck in legal limbo
The Trump administration notified Harvard that it would have 30 days to address its concerns about international students.
Last week, the administration said Harvard would no longer be able to enrol international students, effective immediately. Now, it says Harvard has 30 days to respond.
However, it’s all become a bit moot now because of a court proceeding today. Harvard sued the administration and got a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s order, and now they have succeeded in getting a broad preliminary injunction against the implementation of this ban on Harvard enrolling international students for as long as legal proceedings are under way.
And, as you can imagine, like so many of Donald Trump’s policies, this may go all the way to the Supreme Court, which is good news for the international students here at Harvard.
A federal court blocked Trump’s tariffs. What now?
On Wednesday night, the US Court of International Trade made a decision that struck at the heart of Trump’s economic policy: It deemed many of the tariffs he had placed on international trading partners illegal.
Trump, the court explained, had overstepped his executive authority by implementing the wide-ranging tariff policy, that touched nearly every US trading partner.
The power to impose tariffs in the US largely sits with Congress, but Trump had invoked emergency powers to wield import taxes as a tool in economic negotiations.
But the court’s decision has left lingering questions about US foreign policy and trade, including how Trump might respond.
Mona Paulsen, a professor in international economic law at the London School of Economics, said the Trump administration is likely to resort to other laws to justify its tariff-heavy approach.
“Rather than wipe out Trump’s trade plans, I think yesterday’s ruling will see the White House use more and more ambiguous trade laws,” Paulsen told Al Jazeera.
Read more in our explainer here.
Trump adviser confident court ruling won’t disrupt trade talks
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has said that a court ruling that will halt many of Trump’s massive tariffs will not stop US negotiations with foreign countries.
“If there are little hiccups here or there because of decisions that activist judges make, then it shouldn’t just concern you at all,” Hassett said on Fox Business Network.
“And it’s certainly not going to affect the negotiations, because in the end, people know President Trump is 100-percent serious. They also have seen that President Trump always wins.”
Speakers touch on dispute with Trump administration at Harvard commencement
As Harvard holds its commencement ceremony under the looming threats from the Trump administration, a number of speakers have addressed the dispute directly in their remarks.
“When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard, to revoke their academic freedom and to destroy free speech, Dr Alan Garber [the president of Harvard] rejected the illegal and immoral pressures,” basketball legend and social activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said in a speech given at “Class Day”.
“After seeing so many cowering billionaires, media moguls, law firms, politicians and other universities bend their knee to an administration that is systematically strip-mining the US Constitution, it is inspiring to me to see Harvard University take a stand for freedom,” he added.
Trump administration gives Harvard 30 days to contest international enrollment decision
The White House has eased away from plans to immediately revoke Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students, who comprise more than a quarter of its student body.
Instead, the Trump administration has said it will give Harvard 30 days to contest its plans through a longer administrative process.
The announcement comes as a court decided extend a block on the Trump administration’s decision to prevent Harvard from using the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, where universities are required to register foreign students.
That programme is run under the Department of Homeland Security. Already, questions about whether international students can remain at Harvard have forced some to look for educational alternatives.
The Trump administration, however, has argued that the drastic action against Harvard was necessary in order to ensure security and crack down on anti-Semitism on campus.
“We continue to reject Harvard’s repeated pattern of endangering its students and spreading American hate,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “It must change its ways to be eligible to receive generous benefits from the American people.”
Trump envoy raises US flag above Syria embassy
For the first time since 2012, the US flag has flown over the country’s embassy in Damascus.
On Thursday, US envoy Thomas Barrack arrived for the first time at the diplomatic complex, which has been shuttered since 2012 as the result of a nearly 14-year-long civil war in Syria.
That war came to an end in December, when a lightning offensive toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad, sending the president into exile.
The leader of that military campaign, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has since replaced him as interim president.
During a trip to the Middle East this month, US President Trump announced in a surprise move that he would lift his country’s sanctions against Syria to allow the country to recover. He also praised al-Sharaa during an in-person meeting on the trip.
Barrack echoed Trump’s message after arriving in Damascus on Thursday.
“America’s intent and the president’s vision is that we have to give this young government a chance by not interfering, not demanding, by not giving conditions, by not imposing our culture on your culture,” Barrack said.
He also expressed optimism that the tensions between Syria and its neighbour, Israel, could be addressed. Since al-Assad’s departure, Israel has bombed Syrian military sites and pushed to occupy more territory in southwest Syria.
“Syria and Israel is a solvable problem. But it starts with a dialogue,” Barrack said. “I’d say we need to start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders.”
Supreme Court strikes down environmental challenge to Utah railway
The highest court in the US has ruled against environmentalists seeking greater review of a multibillion-dollar oil railroad expansion in the northwestern state of Utah.
In an eight-to-zero ruling, the Supreme Court endorsed a limited interpretation of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews of federal projects. It ruled that such reviews should be largely limited to the direct impacts a project may have.
The case concerns the proposed Uinta Basin Railway, which would allow oil production to increase in Utah. Backers of the railway said limiting the scope of the environmental review would help speed up development.
One justice, Neil Gorsuch, recused himself from the case, after scrutiny over his connection to a Colorado businessman involved in oil extraction.
Rubio submits plan for State Department reorganisation to Congress
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that he has sent a plan to Congress outlining his proposal to build a “more agile” State Department, the executive department charged with leading foreign policy.
“Over the past quarter century, the domestic operations of the State Department have grown exponentially, resulting in more bureaucracy, higher costs, and fewer results for the American people,” he wrote in a statement.
“Since my first day as Secretary, I have said that this Department must move at the speed of relevancy and, in April announced a broad reorganization of the Department to better achieve that goal.”
The changes, which have yet to be announced, would make the State Department “better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world”, Rubio said.
Mexican president denounces student visa appointment suspensions
President Claudia Sheinbaum has told reporters in Mexico that she disapproves of a Trump administration decision to suspend student visa appointments as it considers steps to apply greater scrutiny to the social media profiles of applicants.
“Obviously, we do not agree,” Sheinbaum said in her morning news briefing.
She added that her government was going to look into the matter further. “We’re also going to look at the scope and see how many Mexican students are going to be affected.”
Amnesty International says US aid cuts are putting lives at risk
The human rights watchdog Amnesty International has released a new report detailing the impact of sweeping US cuts to overseas assistance, warning that the slashed funding is putting “millions of lives and human rights at risk across the globe”.
“This abrupt decision and chaotic implementation by the Trump administration is reckless and profoundly damaging,” said Amanda Klasing, the national director of government relations and advocacy with Amnesty International USA, in a news release.
“The decision to cut these programs so abruptly and in this untransparent manner violates international human rights law which the US is bound by and undermines decades of US leadership in global humanitarian and development efforts.”
A prize fight? Trump cheers legal battle with Pulitzer Prize Board
Late on Wednesday, Trump celebrated the fact that a Florida state court has allowed his defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board to proceed.
The board, run under the umbrella of Columbia University, issues some of the most prestigious prizes in journalism and literary arts. Every year, 23 Pulitzer Prizes are awarded.
But Trump has accused the board of libel for its decision to recognise The New York Times and the Washington Post for their coverage of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Media reports suggested that the Russian interference was designed to boost Trump’s campaign. Trump, meanwhile, has called such reports a “hoax”.
The Pulitzer Board has defended its decision to honour the two newspapers in its “national reporting” category, arguing it had commissioned independent reviews of the articles in question.
It also called on the courts to pause Trump’s lawsuit while he is in the White House.
But Trump described the court’s decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed a “major WIN” on social media.
“The Florida Appellate Court viciously rejected the Defendants’ corrupt attempt to halt the case,” he wrote, repeating his allegations that reporting on Russian interference was “fake”.
He predicted that The New York Times and Washington Post would “have to give back their ‘Award’.”
“They were awarded for false reporting, and we can’t let that happen in the United States of America. We are holding the Fake News Media responsible for their LIES to the American People.”
Canada welcomes court decision halting tariffs
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has praised the US Court of International Trade’s ruling to block most of Trump’s international tariffs.
He argued it was further validation of Canada’s position that Trump’s tariffs were illegal and unfair.
“[This decision] is consistent with Canada’s longstanding position that the … tariffs were unlawful as well as unjustified,” Carney said in remarks to the House of Commons.
What is TACO, and why did it anger Trump?
On Wednesday, a new acronym went viral after a tense White House news conference: TACO.
Attributed to The Financial Times commentator Robert Armstrong, TACO stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out” — a phrase used to describe the president’s on-again, off-again approach to tariffs.
In the first months of his second term, for instance, Trump threatened key trading partners with tariffs, only to delay or reduce them as economic markets started to show concern. That, in turn, allows the markets to recover.
But it was Wednesday’s Oval Office news conference that brought the acronym to a wider audience.
One reporter asked Trump directly about the acronym: “ Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the TACO trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats, and that’s why markets are higher. What’s your response to that?”
Trump responded that he had never heard of the acronym. Then, he went on the defensive.
“You call that chickening out? Because we have $14 trillion now invested, committed to investing, when Biden didn’t have practically anything,” he said, attacking his predecessor Joe Biden. “We have the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
He also said that shifting tactics is part of his strategy. “It’s called negotiation,” he explained, saying that he sometimes sets a “ridiculously high number” for tariffs, only to “go down a little bit”.
But he directed much of his ire at the journalist: “ Don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question. To me, that’s the nastiest question.”
What options does Trump have to fight the tariff ruling?
The Trump administration has already appealed the Court of International Trade’s ruling against his tariffs, arguing that it must be halted immediately.
But while the dispute makes its way through the legal system, existing laws still grant the US president substantial power to craft policy on tariffs and trade, albeit not to the extent that Trump would like.
One option is a provision known as Section 122 of the Trade Law, which would allow the administration to replace the existing 10 percent across-the-board tariffs with similar duties up to 15 percent. But those tariffs would lapse after 150 days, unless Congress approves their extension.
Another option might be for Trump to expand the number of economic sectors targeted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The government has used that statute to apply tariffs in areas such as cars, steel, and aluminium, and today’s ruling left those duties untouched.
The administration could now try to argue that Section 232 should be applied to other sectors of the economy as well.
Plaintiffs celebrate trade court ruling
Lawyers for a group of businesses that challenged Trump’s tariffs have celebrated the Court of International Trade’s ruling to block most of the president’s tariffs on US trading partners.
They believe the court’s decision will help the business community and rein in a president who overstepped the boundaries of executive power.
“It’s great to see that the court unanimously ruled against this massive power grab by the president,” said Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor who worked on the case with the libertarian-leaning Liberty Justice Center.
Victor Schwartz, a small wine importer, also called the ruling a “win” and said that he is ready to bring the case before the US Supreme Court as the Trump administration appeals the decision.
What is the Court of International Trade?
A three-judge panel known as the US Court of International Trade has upended the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape economic relations with the rest of the world, ruling that the administration overstepped its authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on the country’s trading partners.
But what is the court? And what powers does it have?
Based in New York, the court reviews civil actions that relate to import transactions and international trade policy. The court was established in its current form in 1980 but other judicial bodies provided a similar function as far back as 1890.
“The Court, thus, ensures expeditious procedures, avoids jurisdictional conflicts among federal courts, and provides national uniformity in the judicial decision-making affecting import transactions,” the court’s website explains.
How has the White House reacted to the tariff decision?
Members of the Trump administration were swift to denounce a federal court decision deeming much of his tariff policy illegal.
On social media, Trump adviser Stephen Miller called the ruling evidence of “a judicial tyranny”. And Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai issued a statement saying, “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.”
Desai also defended Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose the tariffs, arguing that trade deficits with other countries constituted such a crisis.
Deficits, Desai said, have “decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base – facts that the court did not dispute”.
What did the Court of International Trade say?
In April, Trump announced it was Liberation Day, as he unveiled a suite of tariffs that would affect virtually all US trading partners.
But late on Wednesday, a federal court ruled that the majority of those tariffs had been illegally set.
The US Court of International Trade declared that Trump had improperly used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to set the sweeping tariffs.
Ordinarily, Congress has the power to set tariffs. But in bypassing that power, the court ruled that Trump’s import tax policy would “exceed any authority granted” to his office.
“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the three-judge panel said in its decision.
The plaintiffs in the case had argued that the US trade deficit did not constitute a national emergency, as such trade imbalances have existed for decades.
A recap of the latest headlines
- The US Court of International Trade – a federal court that weighs customs and trade law – has found that President Donald Trump overstepped his executive authority by using emergency powers to impose a vast suite of tariffs on global trading partners.
- The White House has denounced the decision, with Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai denouncing that “unelected judges” were dictating how to “address a national emergency”.
- While the Trump administration is likely to appeal the ruling, the court’s decision led to a jump of more than 1 percent in the futures market for the S&P 500.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pledged to “aggressively” revoke visas from Chinese students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, prompting a backlash from Beijing that the policy was discriminatory.
- Harvard University is holding its commencement ceremony amid ongoing uncertainty about its funding and its ability to enrol international students.
- Trump has continued to issue pardons and commutations to his supporters, including former Congress member Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
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