Thursday, March 13, 2025
Judge says Trump penalties on law firm send ‘chills down my spine’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/12/perkins-coie-trump-judge-restraining-order-tro/
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to at least temporarily halt the unprecedented penalties it levied on a powerful law firm that has represented clients whom President Donald Trump considers his political enemies.
The judge said Trump’s executive order appeared to violate the First Amendment rights of Perkins Coie and noted that the firm was not granted any due process. She said the Trump administration wrote the order in such a broad manner that it was hard to determine any goal beyond retaliation.
“It sends little chills down my spine,” Howell said, describing the executive order as the president punishing a company he believes is not acting in the president’s interest. “Why shouldn’t we be chilled by this?”
Mahmoud Khalil and His Green Card
Terrorist support is cause for revocation, but not unpopular speech.
It’ll be tough for Trump to dig his way out of this one
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/12/economy/recession-tariff-trump/index.html
With his chaotic trade policy, President Donald Trump is digging himself into an economic and political hole so deep, it may prove impossible to climb out.
On Wednesday morning, just after markets spent a day reeling from Trump’s on-again-off-again threat to levy extraordinary energy, steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and to destroy the country’s auto industry, Trump placed tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported from every country around the world, a policy that could drive up prices on a broad range of consumer and industrial goods for Americans. Europe immediately retaliated, adding pressure on a variety of American industries.
Wall Street has grown nervous about the damage Trump’s policies could inflict on America’s still-strong but increasingly wobbly economy. Stocks have plunged, with the Nasdaq falling into correction (a decline of 10% from its recent high) and the S&P 500 flirting with that inauspicious territory.
Canadian PM demands Israel supply electricity to Gaza, Hamas celebrates Trump's Gaza backtrack
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/2025-03-13/live-updates-845843
US President Donald Trump said that no one would be "expelled" from Gaza ahead of his meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Wednesday at the White House.
"No one is expelling anyone from Gaza," Trump said in the statement alongside Martin.
Trump also called the minority leader of the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, "a Palestinian" during his meeting with Martin.
Court orders anti-Israel Columbia activist facing deportation to remain in detention
Hundreds protest in support of Mahmoud Khalil outside New York court amid furious backlash against Trump administration crackdown
Gabbard reconsiders appointment of critic of Israel’s war in Gaza
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/405290
Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, decided against appointing a critic of Israel’s war in Gaza to a key position responsible for managing presidential briefings, after the proposed appointment caused concern within President Trump's coalition, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Daniel Davis, a senior fellow at a Washington think tank known for his skepticism about US military intervention overseas, had been under consideration for the role of deputy director for mission integration. This influential position oversees the President’s Daily Brief, a critical collection of intelligence assessments provided to the White House and top policymakers.
The news of the potential appointment led to backlash from right-wing figures. A senior administration official confirmed to The New York Times that Gabbard reconsidered her decision after the criticism, a sentiment echoed by other officials.
Before the appointment was rescinded, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned it, calling Davis' potential role “extremely dangerous.” In a social media post, the ADL accused Davis of downplaying the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and undermining American support for Israel.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
As ICE arrests Mahmoud Khalil, some Jews ask if this is the fight they signed up for
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-845680
The campus pro-Palestinian protests that erupted after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks united many Jewish students, parents and “defense” groups in a national fight against antisemitism, intimidation and the disruption of university life.
But as the Trump administration has taken up the cause with gusto — most recently arresting, detaining and threatening to deport a Columbia University graduate and green card holder who led some of the most disruptive protests — some Jews are asking: Is this the fight we signed up for?
Republicans to Trump: Maybe rethink the whole tariff thing, please?
The whole Republican Party seems to be in wait-and-see mode, its members not wanting to own the tariffs themselves but also not wanting to directly undercut the president. The idea seems to be that Trump can be prevailed upon to back off if the worst does come to pass.
How Do You Like the Trade War Now?
Trump is furious that Canada won’t take his tariffs lying down.
President Trump wanted a trade war with the world, and Americans are getting it, good and hard. Stock prices continued to decline on Tuesday amid the latest Canada-U.S. tariff tit-for-tat. By the end of the day the two sides were talking about a temporary truce, but who knows which side of the tariff bed Mr. Trump will wake up on Wednesday?
North Americans awakened Monday to the news that Ontario premier Doug Ford said he was raising the price of his province’s electricity exports to the U.S. by 25% in response to Mr. Trump’s on-and-off 25% tariffs on Canada. That’s a hit to consumers in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.
Trump’s Economic Messaging Is Spooking Some of His Own Advisers
President Trump’s stop-and-start trade policy and uneven economic messaging have rattled some of his own allies, triggering a flood of calls from business executives, concerns from Republican lawmakers and tension in the White House.
Senior officials, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, have received panicked calls from chief executives and lobbyists, who have urged the administration to calm jittery markets by outlining a more predictable tariff agenda, according to people familiar with the discussions. Many in the business community have abandoned efforts to get the president to reverse course on trade, instead pleading with the White House for clarity on his approach, the people said.