Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

[phkrause]

A High-Wire Act (Adrienne Bresnahan / Getty)

View in browser Maxwell Cohen knew the tariffs were coming. President Donald Trump had openly threatened a trade war on the campaign trail, and Cohen, an entrepreneur, heeded his words. His company, Peelaways, sells disposable and waterproof fitted bed sheets made in China that are popular with at-home and family caregivers. There’s only so much price elasticity for disposable goods, so he prepared to absorb what he estimated would be roughly 15 to 30 percent tariffs, setting aside money to bring in more inventory before prices skyrocketed. It would hurt, but it would be doable. He thought he had the numbers mostly worked out. But when man plans, Trump laughs. The latest figure for the administration’s tariffs on China sits at 145 percent. Prices are expected to keep climbing for some goods; last week, Trump closed the de minimis loophole for China and Hong Kong, which had exempted them from paying tariffs on shipments of goods worth $800 or less, and wide-ranging tariffs are still set to go into effect for many countries. For any business that can’t swallow an unanticipated and possibly huge price increase on imports, the first step is deciding if it will pass the cost to the consumer. If the answer is yes—as it often is—the next decision is how, or whether, to let the customers know. Tariff transparency recently made headlines on the domestic front of Trump’s trade war. After Punchbowl News reported that Amazon was considering adding a line showing the cost of tariffs for each product on its site, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt held a public shaming of the company from her briefing-room podium, calling the move “a hostile and political act.” CNN reported that a “pissed” Trump called Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder. The company’s representatives soon denied ever approving the idea, adding that it was never a consideration for Amazon’s main site but rather for its spin-off store, Haul. Although big, name-brand American companies are most likely to incur the administration’s wrath over displaying tariff surcharges, other businesses have tough choices to make on how to go about raising prices. The result is a choose-your-own-adventure exercise in managing public perception. Screenshots of the checkout page of the online clothing company Triangl went viral for the astronomical “duties” surcharge. Temu, a Chinese e-commerce giant, added import charges to certain products on its site. Luxury brands aren’t immune, either: Hermès announced price increases for American buyers to offset the tariffs, and Prada plans to raise prices by an undetermined amount later in the summer. Meanwhile, some business leaders aren’t mincing words. Jolie Skin Co, an American shower-filter brand, told The Information that a “Trump liberation tariff” line will be added to checkout pages. “Technically WE are not raising our prices,” the company’s CEO and founder, Ryan Babenzien, wrote on LinkedIn. “We think transparency is the way to go here and I am giving Trump full credit for his decision.” Transparency is a high-wire act. Tariffs is such a politically loaded word that some companies hesitate to invoke it, out of fear of alienating their customer base—or inciting the administration’s ire. But pointing a finger at tariffs can also help shift blame. Increasing prices without any clear explanation risks appearing opportunistic, Mike Michalowicz, a small-business expert, told me. All it takes is for some businesses to get caught profiteering before “the customer becomes suspect of not just them but of everybody.” The gaming industry is a prime example. Nintendo has a large manufacturing presence in China, and last month, it announced that the Switch 2 console would launch at the original price, but some of the accessories will cost more than previously expected. The company’s representatives attributed the update to “changes in market conditions.” If that phrase sounds familiar, it’s almost word for word the explanation Microsoft offered after announcing Xbox price hikes last week, which will run as high as $100 more for some models in America. The absence of the T-word is a glaring omission. Such muddy messaging may help insulate companies from the administration’s spite, but it invites backlash from customers who are quick to blame the good old-fashioned motive of corporate greed. If some companies fear appearing opportunistic, others are trying to cash in while they still can. Marketing 101 teaches you to distinguish your company from your competitors, and Business 101 says to move inventory before the economy goes kaput. What better way to do both than to slash prices when everybody else is raising them? “Pre-tariff” sales are cropping up at furniture companies, fashion retailers, and carmakers. Their underlying message: Get it before you can’t afford it. Ford’s latest campaign, “From America. For America,” is trying to strike an optimistic tone. As Audi pauses car imports to the United States, and automakers hem and haw over price changes, Ford has been running an ad since last month touting employee-priced vehicles and their company’s deep roots in American industry. It’s a strategic ploy—already, Ford has reported double-digit sales increases (although an analysis from CarEdge found that some of Ford’s more popular vehicles had better deals in March, before employee pricing went into effect). Other carmakers that manufacture models in America, including Mercedes and BMW, are promising to temporarily eat the cost of tariffs for some vehicles to keep prices from rising. But an expiration date for this generosity could be imminent: Last week, Ford’s CEO went on CNN and couldn’t say if prices would increase in the summertime. With so much left uncertain in Trump’s trade war, some small businesses are down to the wire. Many of them don’t have the cash to stockpile inventory or the storage space to keep it. The owners of the American vegan-cheese company Rebel Cheese have roughly a month to decide what to do. Much of their cheese relies on fair-trade cashews imported from Vietnam, which faces the threat of 46 percent tariffs, and their inventory is dwindling. The company already went through a round of layoffs a few weeks ago; at this point, adding at least a 10 percent price increase seems inevitable, Fred Zwar, one of the co-founders, told me. They are considering breaking down the numbers for customers when they announce the change, but the sharp fluctuations of Trump’s tariffs make the timing tricky: “We can’t do a price raise today and then say, Hey, they raised it another 90 percent. We need to do another price raise tomorrow,” Zwar said. All of this feels like déjà vu for Peelaways. Cohen dealt with Trump’s seesawing tariffs during his first term, which also coincided with COVID-19’s economic downturn. He laid off all six of his workers and restructured his business in order to stay afloat, leaving him with two C-suite executives overseas. This time around, he’s running a leaner operation and slowly raising prices $1 a week until he hits a 15 percent increase. His plan is to test different newsletters to measure his customer base’s feedback: One will include the standard fare (caregiver tips, customer reviews), and the other will acknowledge the tariffs’ effects on pricing. But even having gone through this before, Cohen can’t be sure he’ll make it out again. “We’re all just holding our breath,” he said, waiting for “whatever the next tweet brings.” Related: The tariff man is coming for America’s entrepreneurs. Trump’s hollow defense of tariffs

[phkrause]

Big Tech's Trump hangover

America's tech titans backed President Trump's promise of a new "Golden Age" with seven-figure checks, glowing public praise and front-row tickets to his inauguration, Axios' Zachary Basu and Ashley Gold write.

• So far, those favors remain unreciprocated.

Why it matters: Big Tech has been in MAGA's crosshairs for years. Even as Trump revels in the industry's dramatic realignment and personal overtures, the core tensions in the relationship are far from resolved.

• The famously transactional president knows exactly how much leverage he has over "these internet people," as he referred to them last week.
• "You know, they all hated me in my first term," Trump mused during his commencement speech at the University of Alabama. "And now they're kissing my ass. All of them."

? State of play: Most major corporations have suffered from Trump's hurricane of tariff announcements and the ensuing economic uncertainty. But for Big Tech, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

1. Meta, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote the playbook on making up with Trumpworld in the weeks after the election, is nearly a month into an FTC antitrust trial over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.

• Zuckerberg's MAGA pivot and personal lobbying have failed to convince Trump or his FTC chair to drop the case, which could force Meta to break up its social media empire.

2. Google, which donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, is facing two landmark antitrust cases from the Justice Department — one targeting its search dominance, the other its advertising business.

• A federal judge ruled last month that Google has maintained an illegal monopoly on online advertising, and DOJ attorneys feel confident that Google could be forced to sell off Chrome in the separate search case.

3. Apple, which in February announced a $500 million investment in the U.S. over the next four years, struck gold by persuading Trump to exempt phones, computers and chips from his China tariffs.

• But the relief may be short-lived: CEO Tim Cook warned the remaining tariffs still could cost Apple $900 million this quarter alone, even as the company diversifies its supply chain.

4. Amazon, which paid $40 million for a Melania Trump documentary, was accused by the White House of a "hostile and political act" last week after a report that it planned to display how tariffs were increasing product prices.

• Trump immediately called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — and then publicly praised him for "[solving] the problem very quickly" after the company issued a statement denying the report.

Between the lines: Elon Musk belongs in his own category — not just because the billionaire has become one of Trump's most powerful advisers, but because his companies have suffered enormous brand damage.

? The intrigue: Out of the major tech companies represented at the inauguration, the biggest winner may be a foreign one: TikTok.

• Trump has declined to enforce a law requiring TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a U.S. ban.

[phkrause]

? Trump's tricky numbers

President Trump's net job approval rating has dropped seven points since April 15, according to The Cook Political Report's new poll tracker. Why it matters: Trump has taken big hits from young voters, Latinos, and independents — three key groups that helped propel him to the White House. "Continuing to track the president's approval among the coalition groups that propelled him to victory in 2024 will give us a strong indication of whether those voters will show up next year to support Republicans not named Donald Trump," CPR's Carrie Dann writes. ? By the numbers: The shift was -11.8 points for 18-to-29-year-olds — the biggest drop of any group. For Latinos, Trump's net rating dropped 10.4 points. For independents, it was a net drop of 7.9. Keep reading ...

[phkrause]

? Trump's "anti-Christian bias" push

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The Trump administration is ramping up its efforts to crack down on what it calls "anti-Christian bias," telling federal workers to report any instances of such discrimination they've seen or experienced, Axios' Emily Peck and Russell Contreras write. Why it matters: The move reflects a persistent claim by President Trump's campaign as he courted evangelicals — that Christians are under attack in the U.S. — and is part of an ongoing push by conservatives to inject more religion into government. The big picture: The administration's message is drawing criticism from federal workers and some Christian faith groups. They say it's confusing and possibly problematic for people — including Christians — who don't identify with the type of evangelicals the White House is trying to support. ? Zoom in: Last week, Trump issued an executive order on religion, creating what he called a commission on religious liberty. He'd already announced a Faith Office and a plan aimed at "eradicating anti-Christian bias" that cited alleged anti-Christian activity by the Biden administration. Trump ordered up a task force on anti-Christian bias led by the Justice Department. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

Immigration

The judicial branch continued to hammer the Trump administration over its immigration actions, particularly when it comes to due process. On Wednesday, a federal judge concluded that deporting migrants to Libya or Saudi Arabia would violate his previous order, which barred sending migrants to countries other than their own without providing written notice and an opportunity to contest ahead of time. In Minnesota, a federal district court judge ordered the release of an international student who entered the US on a valid F-1 visa and was arrested in March after that visa was revoked. Mohammed Hoque, a Bangladeshi national, argued that he was targeted for his political speech and not for any immigration violations or criminal activity. A federal appeals court also upheld a lower court’s decision to transfer Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish national and PhD student at Tufts University, from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to custody in Vermont. In an opinion released Wednesday, the three-judge panel said the US had failed to prove it could suffer harm over the transfer.   Auto tariffs President Trump’s global trade war is starting to take a toll on automakers. Since April 3, imported vehicles have faced a tariff of up to 25%. In response, Ford announced on Wednesday that it was hiking the sticker prices for the three US models it imports from Mexico — the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Maverick and the Bronco Sport — by up to $2,000 each. This increase comes just days after executives said that they didn’t expect a significant increase in car prices this year. And earlier today, Toyota forecast a 21% profit decline for the current financial year due to Trump’s tariffs and the negative impact of a stronger yen. As the world’s top-selling automaker, Toyota will have to deal with both the impact of tariffs on its US-bound vehicles and the potential for a downturn in consumer sentiment when car prices rise.   Surgeon general The White House announced yesterday that it had pulled its nomination for Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be the surgeon general. The news came one day before Nesheiwat’s Senate confirmation hearing was supposed to begin. Nesheiwat — a family physician, former Fox News medical contributor and the sister-in-law of UN ambassador nominee Mike Waltz — has been replaced by Dr. Casey Means. Although Means graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine, she dropped out during her residency. An author, wellness influencer and the sister of White House health adviser Calley Means, Casey Means is now a holistic medicine doctor whose medical license has been inactive since 2024.

[phkrause]

Trump’s NIH Axed Research Grants Even After a Judge Blocked the Cuts, Internal Records Show

For more than two months, the Trump administration has been subject to a federal court order stopping it from cutting funding related to gender identity and the provision of gender-affirming care in response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-nih-cuts-transgender-research-grants?

Elon Musk Set to Win Big With Trump’s Trillion-Dollar Pentagon Budget

Trump’s proposal cuts SpaceX competitors out of the NASA budget and could add billions to the company’s defense contracts.

https://theintercept.com/2025/05/07/elon-musk-trump-pentagon-budget-spacex/?

[phkrause]

? Tariff strong-arming, sponsored by Musk. Trump tariff negotiators are pushing foreign governments to approve distribution licenses for SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, according to The Washington Post. Since negotiations began, Elon Musk has arranged favorable deals to launch his satellites in a number of countries hit by the president’s sweeping tariffs, including India, Somalia, and Vietnam. A State Department memo reveals the administration isn’t hiding the corruption: “Licensing Starlink demonstrates goodwill and intent to welcome U.S. businesses,” it reads.

• Stateside, Musk has arranged similar preferential treatment for SpaceX: Regulators are clearing the way to expand its satellite monopoly, and since the inauguration, SpaceX has signed $79 million in government contracts.

[phkrause]

Trump announces a ‘major trade deal’ with the UK Thursday

President Donald Trump made a significant trade announcement Thursday with the United Kingdom, yet another sign of some possible relief from historically high tariffs that have threatened serious damage to the US and global economies.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/07/business/trade-deal-trump?

Trump keeps 10% tariffs on UK but cuts taxes on British autos, steel and aluminum with trade deal

President Donald Trump agreed to cut tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum in a planned trade deal but played down the possibility of other nations getting similarly favorable terms on his import taxes, which are roiling the global economy. Read More.

Trump says he'll pull the nomination of Ed Martin, who defended Jan. 6 rioters, for DC US Attorney

President Donald Trump said that he will pull the nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr. to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, after a key Republican senator said he could not support him for the job due to his defense of Jan. 6 rioters. Read More.

[phkrause]

Disaster database

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said its weather and climate database “will be retired,” which will make it next to impossible for the public to track the cost of extreme events. NOAA is cutting the services it provides, with climate-related programs especially vulnerable.   Research frozen Universities across the US are scrambling to comply with President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI push. They hope to hold on to hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that fund critical medical research in areas such as cancer and maternal health.

[phkrause]

Court of Personality (Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty.)

View in browser One indicator about the health of the nation is how many lower federal judges a regular news consumer can name—and reel off biographical details about—without much hesitation. By now, many know James Boasberg, who is handling the matter of deportation flights to El Salvador. He is merely the highest-profile in a crew of newly famous judges: Paula Xinis is overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case. Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rejected the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act. J. Harvie Wilkinson scorched the White House over due process. Beryl Howell threw out Donald Trump’s executive order targeting a liberal law firm. Tanya Chutkan was set to preside over Trump’s trial on charges of 2020 election subversion, though the case was dismissed first. “At any given time in our history, the public writ large doesn’t know of a single lower-federal-court judge,” the legal scholar and retired federal judge Michael Luttig told me. (Luttig has also contributed to The Atlantic.) “Fast-forward to today: Judge Boasberg is a federal district-court judge, and Donald Trump puts him on a marquee in front of the world and trashes him.” Luttig might be exaggerating the public’s ignorance of federal judges slightly, but these jurists have suddenly become major figures in the news, many of them for nothing more than doing their job: hearing cases, trying to earnestly interpret the law, and then issuing an opinion. The desire of many media organizations to illuminate their personalities, and the desire of audiences to learn about them, is understandable, especially as Trump’s attempts to test the rule of law have made the courts into more heated battlegrounds. Also understandable is the impulse among Trump critics to lift up as heroes judges who withstand pressure. Nor should any public official be beyond scrutiny. But watching the focus shift from law, precedent, and evidence and onto the judges themselves has been unnerving. The problem is not merely the celebrification of politics that has in recent years afflicted the executive and legislative branches, and to some extent the U.S. Supreme Court as well. In the context of the judiciary, the danger is especially acute. John Adams wrote in 1776 that “the very definition of a Republic, is ‘an Empire of Laws, and not of Men.’” Focusing on the judges as personalities is a step away from a government of laws and toward one of men and women. It also serves Trump’s purposes. He would much rather focus on attacking the judges and claiming that they hate him or are anti-American than on the fairly clear findings in case after case that his administration has overstepped its power and the bounds of the Constitution. Perhaps it’s no surprise that when Time asked Trump about that Adams quote recently, he was unfamiliar. “The last thing that any federal judge wants to do, frankly with anyone, is seek out controversy,” Luttig told me. But “of course this is the way the president wants it. The last thing he wants to talk about is the law, and he wants to demonize the individual judges.” By attacking nearly every judge who rules against his policies as biased—even those that come from judges he nominated to the bench—Trump delegitimizes the court system, allowing himself to overstep further next time and possibly laying the groundwork to disregard court rulings. The attacks also risk physical harm against judges, who have faced a growing number of threats in recent weeks. Trump may merely wish to bully judges, but his vilification of public figures has in the past resulted in some of his supporters taking up violence. Judges are not, and should not be treated as, purely objective and rational beings who are above politics. Starting in the mid-20th century, conservatives began complaining about “activist judges” who they believed were driving a social agenda from the bench. More recently, liberals have embraced a similar critique. Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of Michigan, argues in her forthcoming book, Lawless, that the Supreme Court has abandoned legal interpretation for conservative grievance. “It’s healthy and important for news coverage to capture the reality that judges are people too,” she told me. “Their legal rulings are going to be influenced by their life experience and their worldview and the political parties that appointed them, and to not acknowledge that in some way feels misleading.” This means, for example, that noting who nominated a judge can be valuable—especially, as in the Rodriguez example, when a Trump-nominated jurist rules firmly against the president. It also means that when judges make repeated decisions that fly in the face of precedent—such as Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge who repeatedly ruled in his favor in the case over his hoarding of sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago—they deserve scrutiny. Another unfortunately prominent federal judge is Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump-appointed district-court judge in Texas. Conservative activists have homed in on Kacsmaryk, because he reliably rules in their favor and because, thanks to the oddities of judicial districts, they can consistently get their cases before him specifically and then persuade him to issue nationwide injunctions. In his most notable case, he attempted to block mifepristone, an abortion drug, in a long-shot challenge to its FDA approval. The substance of Kaczmaryk’s rulings deserves criticism—the Supreme Court had no patience for his mifepristone ruling—but even here, as Nicholas Bagley wrote in The Atlantic, the larger problem is the system that allows for such judge-shopping and national injunctions. (Now that judges are issuing nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration, some conservatives are starting to see the wisdom of this point.) If the newfound prominence of these judges were a sign of improved civic engagement, perhaps that would be reason for applause. But this is unlikely, given continued public ignorance about the Supreme Court. A poll last year found that a majority of the public had never heard of or knew little about any of the justices besides Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh. Americans are hearing both too much about the courts, and far too little. Related: The supreme cult of personality (From 2015) Aileen Cannon is who critics feared she was.

[phkrause]

✈️ Scoop ... Kemp's secret sortie

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is planning a White House sitdown with President Trump in the coming weeks to get on the same page for supporting the best Republican candidate in the swing state's 2026 Senate race, sources tell us.

Why it matters: Neither Trump nor Kemp wants a repeat of 2020, when their very public feud — which finally ended last year — was followed by the GOP losing both its Georgia Senate seats.

• "The president, like the governor, wants someone who can win," said a White House adviser.

The intrigue: In both the White House and the governor's mansion, there's concern with polling that shows firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene would win a Republican primary but lose to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

• ? One poll conducted by a Republican group shows MTG getting "smoked," said a person who had reviewed the numbers.
• "The president loves MTG. He doesn't love her chances in a general," the Trump adviser said.
• Greene has not ruled out a race, but those familiar with her thinking say she's aware of the perception that she could not win a general election.

Zoom in: Three names have been in circulation the most in the White House and this weekend at the governor's Sea Island retreat on the Georgia coast:

1. Rep. Brian Jack
2. SBA administrator and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler
3. Rep. Mike Collins

The early default favorite is Collins:

• ? "He lines up on the Venn diagram," said a top Georgia Republican strategist. "He's at every [Trump] rally. He's a trucker, so he has a blue-collar business background and would be the firebrand, workhorse candidate."

The bottom line: There's a keen awareness in Kemp's orbit of the need to balance conservatism with pragmatic electability, which helped Kemp win his 2022 reelection at the same time Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock was elected to a full Senate term after winning a partial one in 2021.

• "Whoever we pick has to be able to win Kemp-Warnock voters and the Buckhead wine moms," the Georgia Republican strategist said.

— Marc Caputo and Alex Isenstadt

[phkrause]

? Trump's internal millionaires' monologue

Trump has been negotiating with himself on a millionaires' tax:

• He's for it at the $2.5 million level, after being against it at $1 million.

Why it matters: Negotiating with his own party may be easier. Speaker Mike Johnson will tell Trump tomorrow that the House will deliver on the president's tax priorities, according to a congressional aide.

• Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) admitted he's "not excited about the proposal," before quickly adding that "there are a number of people in both the House and Senate who are."
• "If the president weighs in in favor of it, then that's going to be a big factor that we have to take into consideration as well," he said on Hugh Hewitt's radio show.

Driving the news: Trump told Johnson over the phone yesterday that the House should increase the top rate from 37% for individuals making $2.5 million and up ($5 million for married couples).

• "This is to pay for working- and middle-class tax cuts that were promised, and protect Medicaid," an administration official told us.
• Trump is also insisting that carried interest be treated like regular income, which would amount to a tax increase for the private equity industry.

Between the lines: Just as Trump is calling for higher taxes on the wealthy, blue state Republicans are demanding that Trump lower them by increasing the SALT cap.

• New York Republicans are now rejecting lifting that cap from $10,000 to $30,000. Some lawmakers want to go as high as $62,000.

Zoom out: Since the "Reagan Revolution," Republicans have been preternaturally predisposed to hate taxes. Or as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said when the millionaires' tax was floated in April:

• "No. 1 goal is keeping rates where they are and preventing a tax increase."

— Hans Nichols

[phkrause]

Trump's forever trade war

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

If this is the best trade deal that the British could secure with the Trump administration, the rest of our allies may be in for a tough time, Axios Macro authors Neil Irwin and Courtenay Brown write. Why it matters: The pact between the U.S. and the U.K. — announced yesterday — shows that trade war relief will only go so far, even with nations with whom we have a "special relationship." Zoom in: U.K. imports will continue to carry a 10% tariff, up from a pre-Trump average of 1.3%. The president referred to that as the "lowest end" import tax. "If the UK isn't getting down to zero, it is very unlikely that anyone is," Evercore ISI's Sarah Bianchi writes. Between the lines: The U.K. deal offers something of a template — perhaps even a best case — of what other countries might achieve in rapid-fire talks with the U.S. government. But things get harder from here, with bigger trading partners — China, Canada, and the EU — facing deeper mutual hostility, bigger trade imbalances, and more complex disputes. President Trump gets a laugh from British ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson in the Oval Office yesterday. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP ? Zoom out: With 10% import taxes looking like the new minimum — and other countries with more contentious trade relationships likely to continue seeing significantly higher tariffs — there will be serious sand in the gears of global commerce for the foreseeable future. Imported goods are still going to cost more, and other, bigger trading partners may struggle to reach similar accords.

[phkrause]

? Trump taps Fox host for D.C. attorney

Via Truth Social

President Trump named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. hours after pulling the nomination of Ed Martin, Axios' Cuneyt Dil and Marc Caputo write. Why it matters: Pirro is a longtime Trump ally who would replace Martin, a MAGA true believer whose leniency toward Jan. 6 Capitol rioters lost him key Republican support in the Senate. Martin served as Trump's attack dog during a controversial interim appointment, demoting prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases, pursuing critics of Elon Musk's DOGE, and threatening Wikipedia over what he called biased "propaganda." The U.S. attorney for D.C. is a big office that prosecutes both white-collar and national-security investigations in D.C., and street-level violent crime. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

Trump administration invokes state secrets privilege in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case The Trump administration is invoking the “state secrets privilege” in an apparent attempt to avoid answering a judge’s questions about its mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. Read more.

Why this matters: The Republican administration previously invoked the same legal authority to cut off a judge’s inquiry into whether it defied an order to turn around planes deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador. The administration has balked at telling U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis what, if anything, it has done to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.   Abrego Garcia, 29, has been imprisoned in his native El Salvador for nearly two months. His mistaken deportation has become a flash point for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and his increasing friction with the U.S. courts. Trump has said he could call El Salvador’s president and have Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, returned to the United States. Instead, Trump has doubled down on his claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Iranian student in Alabama to self-deport despite withdrawal of initial charge behind his arrest    Reports of Trump deportation plans highlight abuse of migrants in Libya   Suit challenges new rules on children in federal custody who crossed into US   Trump asks Supreme Court to allow him to end humanitarian parole for 500,000 people from 4 countries   Freed Palestinian student accuses Columbia University of inciting violence   Trump says he is naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC   FEMA’s acting administrator is replaced a day after congressional testimony   President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden   House follows Trump’s lead with a vote to change the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’   Up to 1,000 transgender troops are being moved out of the military in new Pentagon order   Justice Sonia Sotomayor says lawyers should stand up and fight amid turmoil in nation’s legal system   Joe Biden blames Kamala Harris’ loss on sexism and racism and rejects concerns about his age   The EU publishes a US product hit list and prepares for WTO action against Trump’s tariffs   A day after saying FBI needs more resources, Patel strikes different tone to Congress on budget plan   US will stop tracking the costs of extreme weather fueled by climate change   Danish leader says ‘you cannot spy against an ally’ after reports of US gathering Greenland info   Texas man convicted of threatening to lynch Nashville DA   Court rules Alabama violated Voting Rights Act in drawing congressional lines

[phkrause]

Trump firings

The White House fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday. Hayden became the country's top librarian in 2016 and had about a year and a half left on her 10-year term. She was the first woman and the first Black person to hold the position. Democrats swiftly criticized the action. “Donald Trump’s unjust decision to fire Dr. Hayden in an email sent by a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books, whitewash American history and turn back the clock,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. The acting administrator of FEMA was also fired on Thursday, mere weeks before the start of hurricane season. Cameron Hamilton, who was appointed by Trump, was reportedly escorted out of FEMA’s headquarters just one day after he defended the agency during testimony in front of the House Appropriations Committee, saying he did not support its dismantling. For months, Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have called for FEMA to be “eliminated.”   VOA Two months ago, the Trump administration stopped broadcasting news reports on the Voice of America’s networks. Kari Lake, the MAGA loyalist the president picked to run the US Agency for Global Media, placed about 1,400 employees and contractors on leave and terminated all financial support. Since then, staffers have been stuck in a form of bureaucratic limbo as their case winds through the legal system. Earlier this week, Lake announced that the agency had partnered with One America News Network, the far-right TV outlet known for promoting Trump’s 2020 election lies. The cable channel, which has also settled multiple defamation lawsuits resulting from its on-air claims, will now provide “newsfeed services” to VOA and other US-funded international broadcasters.   Great Lakes One year ago, JD Vance praised efforts to restore the Great Lakes, calling them “an invaluable asset” and supporting more funding to fight “invasive species, algal blooms, pollution and other threats to the ecosystem.” Now that Vance is vice president — and not just a senator from Ohio — things have changed. As part of the Department of Government Efficiency's effort to reduce spending, the Trump administration has gutted the staff at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and enacted severe spending limits, according to ProPublica. “It has taken over a century of bipartisan cooperation, investment and science to bring the Great Lakes back from the brink of ecological collapse,” said Nicole Rice, who was fired from her position at the lab after a promotion put her on probationary status. “But these reckless cuts could undo the progress in just a few short years, endangering the largest surface freshwater system in the world.”

[phkrause]

Trump, in a major concession, says the tariff on China should be 80% — but will leave it up to Bessent

President Donald Trump on Friday set negotiating terms for his administration’s first discussions with China, which are set to take place in Geneva this weekend.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/economy/china-tariff-trump-trade?

?? High-stakes trade talks this weekend

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

The U.S. and China are locked in the world's most expensive game of chicken ahead of trade talks this weekend, Axios' Erica Pandey reports. President Trump suggested cutting the U.S. tariff rate on China to 80% ahead of trade talks. It's a number that was unimaginable just a few months ago and is still untenable for scores of American businesses. ? Why it matters: The pain that has already reverberated from the sky-high tariff rates between the world's two largest economies won't fade quickly — even if their flexing and tough talk give way to a quick deal. Exports of U.S. soybeans and pork to China — their biggest buyer — are plunging. Loads of Chinese goods — toys, clothes and more — are sitting in Chinese factories as their American buyers figure out if they can still afford to import them, the Wall Street Journal reports. "Frankly, if these tariffs do not go away, we have no choice but to do layoffs," Isaac Larian, the CEO of America's largest privately held toymaker, told Retail Dive. ? The bottom line: Even with a swift U.S.-China deal, it's unlikely we'll go back to the pre-Trump 2.0 reality. Businesses are bruised, price hikes will be sticky, and many lost jobs are gone for good. Go deeper. You called me. No — you called ME. Before US-China meeting, nations each say the other wanted talks Before high-level U.S. and Chinese officials hold talks in Switzerland this weekend to discuss high tariffs, Washington and Beijing have been in a rhetorical duel over which side reached out first. Read More.

[phkrause]

• ? President Trump fired Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress. She was the first woman and first Black person to hold the job; her term was set to expire next year. She was fired in a two-sentence email, the Washington Post reports (gift link).
• ? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescheduled a planned trip to Israel next week to be with President Trump on Air Force One for his trip to the Middle East. Go deeper.

[phkrause]

Trump's "weak tea" on taxes

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

President Trump's half-hearted push to raise taxes on rich people isn't as big as it looks, even if it's extraordinary to see a Republican suggest anything like it at all. Why it matters: The proposed new tax rate would affect about 0.1% to 0.2% of all taxpayers and raise $300 billion in revenue over 10 years, estimates chief economist Josh Bivens of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. "This proposal is better than nothing, but it's really weak tea," Bivens told Axios. Bivens' estimate may be generous: The Tax Policy Center at Brookings estimates the new bracket would raise $8.2 billion in 2025. The big picture: Republicans have been actively working to be seen as a working-class party, not the party of the super-rich. "This is to pay for working- and middle-class tax cuts that were promised and protect Medicaid," an administration official told Axios' Hans Nichols. Those cuts include eliminating taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security payments. What they're saying: "Well, I don't want to see taxes go up on anybody," Senate GOP leader John Thune told CNBC's "Squawk Box" today. But Thune added: "I think the people around him understand what he's trying to achieve here — and that is, if you look at what he's proposing, there's particular emphasis on working Americans." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today: "The president has said he himself, personally, would not mind paying a little bit more to help the poor and the middle class and the working class in this country." How it works: Under the Trump idea, the tax rate on ordinary income past $2.5 million for an individual, or $5 million for a married couple, would rise 2.6 percentage points. With this new proposal, all income between $626,350 and $2.5 million would still be taxed at 37%, a lower rate than the top tax rate in 2017 before Trump's first tax bill passed. The tax hike would only apply to ordinary income — but the incomes of the rich disproportionately come from capital gains. — Emily Peck

[phkrause]

Trump involved in discussions over suspending habeas corpus, sources say

President Donald Trump has been personally involved in discussions inside the administration over potentially suspending habeas corpus, a legal procedure that allows people to challenge their detention in court, two people familiar with the consideration told CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/politics/miller-habeas-corpus-immigrant-judge?

Judge halts drastic cuts to agencies being done under Trump executive order

A federal judge is halting the Trump administration from carrying out, under a February executive order, mass firings or major reorganizations of multiple agencies going forward.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/politics/judge-halts-agency-cuts-trump-executive-order?

White House to take choice of Pentagon chief of staff out of Hegseth’s hands

Exasperated by the turmoil that has dogged Pete Hegseth’s office in recent weeks, the White House will block the US defense secretary’s choice of chief of staff and select a candidate of its own, according to two people familiar with the matter.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/09/white-house-pentagon-hegseth-chief-of-staff?

[phkrause]

⚖️ White House's large-scale firings paused

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A federal judge in San Francisco temporarily blocked the White House from firing hundreds of thousands of government employees in a ruling late last night, Axios' Emily Peck reports. Why it matters: It's the latest and broadest setback for President Trump's and DOGE's chainsaw efforts to radically slash and burn the federal government. The ruling pauses for two weeks firings that would block critical services for millions of Americans, including Social Security help, occupational safety and pre-school for poor children. ? State of play: In her 42-page ruling, Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, explained that the president does have the right to change the executive branch, but must do so lawfully, and with the cooperation of Congress. "Federal courts should not micromanage the vast federal workforce, but courts must sometimes act to preserve the proper checks and balances between the three branches of government." ? The ruling cites examples from the plaintiffs' sworn declarations to illustrate the stakes, like the termination of critical services that had been authorized by Congress, including: The order to fire 221 of 222 employees at The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, who research health hazards faced by mineworkers. A threat to cut 7,000 employees from the Social Security administration, which is already seeing long wait times, problems with its website and difficulty making in-person appointments. Read on.

[phkrause]

? Foundations unite to protect tax status

Photo illustration: Maura Losch/Axios. Photo: Justin Lane via Pool/Getty Images.

Powerful foundations from across the spectrum — including the Ford Foundation, the Gates Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation — are discussing ways to protect their tax-exempt status from any incursion by President Trump, The Wall Street Journal reports. Why it matters: "The Trump administration hasn't explicitly pledged to revoke foundations' tax-exempt status, though it is exploring ways to challenge the tax-exempt status of nonprofits," The Journal notes. ? Community, corporate and faith-based foundations from nearly all 50 states are part of the effort, The Journal found. Some call it a coalition. Others say it's less defined. "Many of the foundations have discussed whether to seek legal representation as a class or individually should their tax status come under fire," The Journal reports. Some of the foundations "have been covering part of the legal and communications expenses behind the effort." Gift link.

[phkrause]

? MAGA quiet on Putin

President Trump and Vice President Vance are publicly criticizing Russian leader Vladimir Putin in starker terms than in the past.

• But the MAGA base isn't piling on — and remains as skeptical of Ukraine as ever, Axios' Tal Axelrod reports.

Why it matters: Big voices in the base still say they trust the White House as it tries to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine — they just aren't shedding their longstanding skepticism of Kyiv as talks continue.

• Jack Posobiec, a top MAGA podcaster, told us: "In general, the MAGA base is not on board with extending or expanding the war, and trust Trump when he is in negotiation mode. But I don't think extra payments [to Ukraine] will go over well."

⚡ Catch up quick: Trump and Vance — who had an Oval Office altercation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — have recently been name-checking Putin more.

• After Russia shot missiles at civilian areas in Ukraine last month, Trump said of Putin: "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?'"
• Vance this week said that Russia was "asking for too much," later clarifying that Putin was seeking to control Ukrainian territory Moscow doesn't even occupy as part of a peace deal.

Still, after months of hearing about Zelensky as the chief obstacle to a ceasefire deal over his repeated requests for aid, the base has built up animosity toward the Ukrainian leader.

• Sean Spicer — Trump's first White House press secretary, who now hosts his own podcast — told Axios: "Two things can be true at once. Russia has overplayed its hand and missed President Trump's offer for a lasting peace. Ukraine is still an issue for most in MAGA world."

[phkrause]

✈️ Breaking: Trump's "flying palace"

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

The Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar's royal family, ABC's Jonathan Karl and Katherine Faulders scoop. The jet is intended for President Trump's use as Air Force One. When he leaves office, ownership is to be transferred over to the Trump presidential library foundation, Karl and Faulders note of the gift's proposed terms. ? Why it matters: It "may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government" and will raise questions. "Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump's top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be 'legally permissible' for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term," ABC reports. What's next: The gift is expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar next week. The president got a look inside the plane while it was parked at West Palm Beach International Airport in February. The interior is so lavish that it's known as a "flying palace."

[phkrause]

Trump Taps Refugee Fund To Welcome White South Africans Within Days. Amid a near-total asylum ban, government sources say Trump officials are planning to use funds for at-risk refugees to facilitate imminent Afrikaner resettlement.

ps:That should say it all!!!!!

The Corporate Crusade Of Trump’s Top Retirement Cop. Potential pension chief Daniel Aronowitz wants to give retirement fund managers a free pass for price-gouging workers and bungling their savings — and his company stands to profit from it.

They Inflated Your Gas Prices — Now Trump Wants To Let Them Off The Hook. Awash in industry donations, Trump is poised to exonerate fossil fuel executives accused of colluding to increase oil prices.

Billionaires Are Getting Their Tax Cut, With Or Without Congress. The country’s wealthiest earners stand to benefit the most as Trump slashes the IRS’ workforce and auditing power.

Big Tobacco’s Trump Whisperer. A tobacco brand and other former clients of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles are lining up to lobby the Trump administration for favors.

Trump team mulls suspending habeas corpus to speed deportations. Can it?

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says the Trump administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government. Such a move would be aimed at migrants as part of the Republican president’s broader crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border. Read more.