Supreme Court backs Trump Administration on deportations
The five male conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court have voted to allow the Trump Administration to continue using the Alien Enemies Act for deporting people but only after they are given notice of the impending deportation and are afforded due process to oppose the move in court. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the three liberal female justices in dissenting. The majority also ruled that any court action by people who face deportation under the Alien Enemies Act can only take place in the state where the people are being held, not in the state where they were taken into custody by the federal government.
Bessent’s message to Trump
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that 70 countries have expressed a desire to begin negotiations with the U.S. on tariffs. Bessent met with President Trump in Florida. There are reports that Bessent warned Trump that the stock markets would continue their meltdowns unless Trump changed what he’s doing with respect to tariffs. The reports said Bessent urged Trump to concentrate on negotiations rather than setting up permanent tariffs.
China becomes more strident
China has vowed to fight to the end against Donald Trump’s tariffs and put higher retaliatory tariffs into place. China called the imposition of new tariffs on China by Trump as groundless and typical of unilateral bullying. A Chinese spokesman said that Trump is making mistake upon mistake. Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs on products from China that would more than double the cost of goods imported from China into the U.S.
Stock markets recover a bit from losses
Asian and European stock markets showed signs of recovering some of the losses they sustained as a result of Trump’s tariffs at their Tuesday closings. The Hong Kong market rose by 1%, Japan rose 6% and South Korea stocks rose by 0.3%. Stock markets in Europe closed up from 0.9% to 1.3%. The overseas market recovery was accompanied by signs of recovery by U.S. markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Stock Average up by just over 1,000 points as of 9:45 this morning.
Report that Musk is spying on federal workers
The news agency Reuters reported today that Elon Musk and his staff in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are spying on federal workers to find the ones who are not loyal to Trump or Musk and their policies. Reuters cited sources in the Environmental Protection Agency who are familiar with what’s going on. Reuters said that artificial intelligence systems are being used in the spying. Trump wants to shut down the EPA. Reuters reported that a manager at EPA told staff members to be careful what they say and do.
Chinese taken prisoner in Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy said today Ukraine’s troops have captured two Chinese who have been fighting alongside Russian troops. Zelenskyy said many more Chinese are fighting alongside the Russians. Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s use of Chinese personnel shows that Putin is not interested in ending the war. Zelenskyy did not specify whether the Chinese who were taken prisoner were soldiers or civilians who volunteered to fight.
