Hi, all. I am feeling under the weather, so I am taking the weekend off. I am sending a short note on Friday evening and will skip my regular Saturday livestream. I plan to be back on my regular publication schedule Sunday evening with Monday’s edition of the newsletter.
A few comments on the significant stories of Friday.
Immigration.
As I noted yesterday, the US district courts continue to find that Trump’s actions are unlawful and unconstitutional. Late Friday, US District Court Judge Maame E. Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting ICE from making indiscriminate stops of persons based on skin color, accent, or employment. See AP, Judge orders Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops, arrests in California.
Per AP,
The filing in U.S. District Court asked a judge to block the administration from using what they call unconstitutional tactics in immigration raids. Immigrant advocates accuse immigration officials of detaining someone based on their race, carrying out warrantless arrests, and denying detainees access to legal counsel at a holding facility in downtown LA.
Judge Maame E. Frimpong also issued a separate order barring the federal government from restricting attorney access at a Los Angeles immigration detention facility.
The case will proceed to a hearing that will consider detailed evidence of ICE’s tactics in the Southern California area. Whatever the outcome, the hearing will be followed nationally and will highlight the illegal tactics by ICE.
The brutish tactics used by Trump’s masked agents against law-abiding immigrants is reversing the public’s hostility toward immigration that helped Trump win in 2024. See Politico, Americans growing more positive on immigration as Trump forges ahead with mass deportations.
Protests against ICE’s tactics and the denial of due process by the DOJ are bending the arc! Keep up the good work!
Tariffs.
Trump continues to impose unconstitutional and unlawful tariffs on our closest allies and trading partners. See HuffPo, Trump Announces 35% Tariff On Canada, Says Higher Blanket Tariffs Are Coming.
The markets showed little concern, presumably because the August 1 deadline leaves ample time for Trump to change his mind many times over.
And did I mention that Trump has no authority to impose worldwide tariffs?
MAGA meltdown over Epstein files.
MAGA conspiracy theorists are becoming increasingly agitated by the Trump administration reversal on the “Epstein files.” Many are calling for the resignation of Attorney General Pam Bondi for claiming that the Epstein “client list” was on her desk, only to issue a memo a week later that said there was no “client list.”
Lucian K. Truscott IV covers the significance of the Epstein controversy in his usual excellent fashion his Substack post, The Epstein story is a big, BIG deal. I highly recommend Truscott’s post.
Concluding Thoughts.
I continue to receive daily emails from readers about the 2026 elections being canceled by Trump. If that happens (it won’t), there will be no House of Representatives (the terms of all representatives expire on January 3, 2027) and Democrats would assume control of the Senate with 34 Democrats and 31 Republicans. (The terms of 22 Republicans and 13 Democratic terms expiring on January 3, 2027.)
We should be concerned about voter suppression and gerrymandering—and do our utmost to resist those tactics in court and at the ballot box. But we must not normalize or concede the notion that Trump will “cancel” the 2026 elections. He doesn’t have the power. And if he attempted to do, the House and Senate could impeach, convict, and remove Trump during the period between the cancelation of the elections and the expiration of the current terms on January 3, 2027.
That’s all I can muster tonight!
Talk to you tomorrow!
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