NEWS: The Trump Administration has one of its Worst Days in Court this Year

Here’s your evening news rundown. As I mentioned this morning, I am currently 35,000 feet in the air on a flight, but the news stops for no one, so I wanted to make sure you had an even rundown, even if it is not on video.

Quick programming update. This Sunday I am going to be doing a paid subscriber Q&A. I received a lot of feedback as to who could and could not see it, so this one will be in text form, I will answer as many of your questions as possible. Be on the look out for that email.

Now, let’s get into the news.

• The Trump administration transferred a Venezuelan man—who had been working in construction in Philadelphia—to Texas for potential deportation, even though a federal judge had already issued an order stopping his removal from Pennsylvania or the U.S., according to court documents.

• A judge in Concord, New Hampshire has temporarily stopped the White House from moving forward with its plan to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public K-12 schools.

• A U.S. judge has stopped the Trump administration from cutting off federal funding to 16 cities and counties that have declared themselves 'sanctuaries' for immigrants.

• The Trump administration is attempting to bypass a federal judge's ruling related to specific deportations to third countries. Lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security claim they followed the judge’s order due to a technicality—saying it was the Department of Defense, not DHS, that handled the recent deportations.

• Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia is reportedly seriously thinking about running for Senate in 2026.

• ​A federal judge has blocked key parts of Donald Trump's executive order that aimed to impose new requirements on federal elections, including mandating proof of citizenship for voter registration. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that such provisions overstepped presidential authority, as the Constitution assigns election regulation to Congress and the states. The judge issued a preliminary injunction halting the implementation of the citizenship requirement and related measures, citing potential irreparable harm to voter registration efforts, particularly among marginalized communities.

• Reports say the U.S. is now giving migrants just 12 hours — instead of 24 — to decide if they want to challenge being detained under the wartime Alien Enemies Act. The government had tried to keep this information secret, but a judge recently made the document public. 12 hours is not “reasonable notice” as required by the United States Supreme Court.

• Donald Trump said today that Russia made what he called a major concession in peace talks with Ukraine — agreeing not to "take the whole country." When asked by a reporter what Russia was offering, Trump replied, “Stopping the war,” and added, “Stop taking the whole country, pretty big concession,” during a meeting in the Oval Office with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

• Harvard’s president is standing firm in opposition to Trump, declaring that the university won’t back down on key issues even in the face of a threatened freeze on federal funding. He emphasized that they are protecting something vital — calling universities a cornerstone of both the U.S. economy and its way of life.

• Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum aimed at ActBlue, the Democratic Party's primary online fundraising platform. The memorandum seeks to enforce existing laws that prohibit foreign contributions to U.S. elections, citing concerns that ActBlue may be vulnerable to such donations. This action is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to scrutinize Democratic fundraising mechanisms and reflects ongoing partisan debates over electoral integrity and campaign financing.​

• ​The Pentagon has announced it will resume providing gender-affirming medical care—including surgeries, hormone therapy, and counseling—to transgender service members, following a federal court ruling that blocked the Trump administration's ban on such care. This decision marks a significant reversal of the policies implemented earlier this year under Executive Order 14183, which sought to prohibit transgender individuals from serving in the military and receiving related medical treatment.​ The reinstatement of care comes after U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes ruled in March that the administration's ban was likely unconstitutional.

• ​Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has declared that the longstanding close relationship between Canada and the United States has come to an end.

• The Trump administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to permit enforcement of its ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, while legal challenges continue.

See you in the morning.

— Aaron