This Week in the World Affairs Brief
TRADE COURT TRIES TO BLOCK SOME TRUMP’S TARIFFS
A three-judge panel at the little-known New York-based Court of International Trade ruled this week that President Trump had wrongfully invoked a national emergency law passed by Congress in 1977 to justify overly broad tariff rate changes, which has caused economic havoc in various sectors. The Court said that “The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. As usual, it all comes down to what really constitutes a “national emergency” —a term used regularly to justify almost anything. Trump’s claim that a lopsided trade deficit with other nations is a “clear and present danger” to US security is stretching that term. Trump is also using his increased tariffs to raise revenue. But both the power to determine tariffs and raise revenue are granted by the Constitution to Congress. For the sake of free trade, at least with friendly nations, and the constitutional order, I hoped this ruling would be sustained on appeal. But it wasn’t. Yesterday, the Federal Court of Appeals granted a stay on the lower courts injunction, allowing Trump’s tariffs to remain in place pending a full trial on the matter. The matter is thus postponed for now. This week, I’ll still cover the issues which will ultimately have to be decided by the courts.
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Also:
- Trump-Putin Standoff Gets Worse
- Trump’s Budget Bill Scrutinized in the Senate
Further, per Bloomberg, "The Russian delegation handed over peace proposals that include Kyiv surrendering control of territory it still holds in four partially occupied regions, a Ukrainian official said." The Russian side has made clear that the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the annexed territories is central to establishing a lasting ceasefire.
Russia's RT has said it has gotten hold of Russia's newest and full outline for permanent settlement. The state-funded outlet has summarized in the following points:
Crimea, Donbass, Kherson, Zaporozhye internationally recognized as Russian
Ukraine doesn’t join NATO or any military bloc
Ukraine holds ELECTIONS
Withdraws troops from new Russian regions
BANS Nazi propaganda
More than 40 aircraft, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3, are reported to be damaged in the operation, with losses assessed to be around $2 billion, according to the person who asked not to be identified. Ukraine’s Security Service Chief Vasyl Malyuk led the operation.
Fox Business News writes that the scheme, which began in 2019, allegedly involved Kehoe supplying 160 unauthorized electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to stores across the New York area, enabling over $30 million in fraudulent transactions. Prosecutors say Davis sold confidential information to criminals, undermining a program that “vulnerable New Yorkers depend on for basic nutrition,” U.S. Attorney Perry Carbone said.
A lot happened in the Russia-Ukraine war on Sunday, and as the dust settles from Ukraine's major drone attacks which struck airbases and destroyed strategic bombers deep inside Russian territory, details of other parallel, devastating alleged 'sabotage attacks' are emerging.
Two bridges have collapsed in Russia’s western regions bordering Ukraine on Sunday morning, which derailed trains and left at least seven people dead, and dozens more injured.
The Chinese regime’s ongoing cover-up is endangering the world as it’s not possible to track virus spreading routes, one expert said.
‘We’re probably going to stop publishing in The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and ... other journals because they’re all corrupt,’ Kennedy said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced sweeping leadership changes Thursday as part of an effort to dramatically ramp up arrests of illegal migrants. New goals for deportations start at 3000 arrests per day at 'bare minimum' according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and this will grow as the agency receives increased funding.
Descendants of rewilded wolves are taking a heavy toll on cattle in Northern California and Oregon, killing calves and full-grown animals and putting stress on cow-calf operations and ranchers’ pocketbooks.
"The attack hit the town of Izmail, Ukraine's biggest port on the Danube river, which is important for critical imports and which lies across the river from Romania," the report underscores.
Nuclear advocates welcomed proposed regulatory reforms while cautioning that NRC and DOE staff cuts could “undermine” progress. One skeptic said NRC changes would compromise safety.
Greer said the Chinese regime was the only government to counter U.S. tariffs when Trump first announced them, restricting exports of rare earth magnets and blacklisting U.S. companies, and after the Geneva agreement May 12, they have been slow to remove these countermeasures.
A lower court judge blocked the administration’s ability to remove illegal immigrants to South Sudan and other third countries.
“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said in a video, flanked by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya.
The White House on Thursday downplayed the implications of a court ruling that blocked some of President Trump's tariff measures, and suggested they will win on appeal.
“It’s not right,” the whistleblower stated, adding “It was discriminatory. Unethical. And the people who pushed it are still in charge of the agency … (those) at the national office. Trump hasn’t gotten rid of them.”
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas allowed four employees with DOGE, which is associated with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to access the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is used by the federal government to distribute trillions of dollars in payments. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Democratic-led states.
The visa revocations will include students with connections to the Chinese Communist Party and those studying in critical fields, Rubio said.
Nine people in total were pardoned by President Donald Trump, while two were granted commutations.
"The challenged Tariff Orders will be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined," the court said, and also ordered that the tariffs which the Trump administration has already collected must be “vacated” meaning that tens of billions in tariffs and excise taxes, and which have already been spent to fund Congressional grift and corruption, now have to - somehow - be refunded! You can't make this up, but a some liberal judges in some court nobody has ever heard of, just did.
ress pool reporters were left frustrated Tuesday afternoon when during a State Department briefing the Trump admin spokesperson refused to comment on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's announcement that the United States and European allies had lifted "absolutely" all restrictions on the range of arms sent to Ukraine.
The United States will have a “golden share” in Japan-owned Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, giving it veto power over some key decisions, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) said on May 27.
‘It’s fairly reasonable to assume that the vast majority of attacks are never publicized,’ one cryptocurrency expert said.
Cases the FBI could look at are the Washington pipe bomb incident, a White House cocaine discovery, and the leaking of a 2022 Supreme Court decision, he said.
A retired US Navy admiral recently revealed that the US has 500 troops in Taiwan, a major challenge to Beijing’s red lines related to the island.
Ret. Adm. Mark Montgomery made the disclosure at a House hearing on May 15, where he was arguing that the US should send more military personnel to Taiwan.
The order says that no outlets have a constitutional right to public money and that neither outlet “presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.” That’s despite the law establishing the corporation saying the entity cannot “contribute to or otherwise support any political party,” Trump wrote.
Confirming previous rumors, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr confirmed via a post on X that the CDC will no longer recommend COVID vaccines for children or pregnant women
The purpose of the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth program is to help students with disabilities and low-income students obtain a college education. However, the Biden administration allowed universities in California and Oregon to divert the funds to illegal immigrants, according to a department news release. Under the previous administration, TRIO programs could extend benefits to “illegal aliens.”
At first more of the pressure seemed to be on Zelensky and the Ukrainian side, but recent weeks have seem Trump's rhetoric shift to more pressure on Putin and the Kremlin.
"I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday night.
Despite media claims, illegal immigrants commit crimes at disproportionately high rates—yet nearly 42% of voters now believe the opposite.
A key reason for this celebration is the inclusion of the Constitutional Hearing Protection Act (CHPA), which would eliminate the federal registration requirement and the $200 tax stamp on suppressors.
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