A Very Bad Day For the Trump Administration
It may be the most dangerous group chat fail in history. Plus a judge says Nazis got better treatment than migrants, the resistance has a pulse, and a win for press freedom.
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Trump has had an unmitigated disaster of a day. It started with news of an f-up involving the most senior members of Trump’s administration leaking classified info to a reporter on a group chat on Signal. And ended with a judge schooling the administration on due process and the Nazis.
Today I’d hoped to take a step back and assess how some of the major Trump moves to date are interconnected. But there is simply too much big news to take a step back. (When will that change?)
Instead, I’ll discuss the big picture and answer your questions on a subscriber Zoom this Wednesday. To register, go to the end of this newsletter. You’ll find a link after the paywall.
To those attending — please share questions you’d like me to answer.
Here Are Your Headlines:
Pocket Dial: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accidentally texted detailed plans about military action against the Houthis to one of the most prominent journalists in Washington, DC — Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic. It happened after White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz reportedly — accidentally — added Goldberg to a group chat on the messaging app Signal. The group also included Vice President JD Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and more. Read about it, including some of the actual texts, here. The White House confirmed the authenticity of the messages. Washington is now on fire over this. The nation’s most senior national security officials discussed active military plans on a non-approved messaging app in breach of a litany of security protocols. Critics charge that, had this leaked to the wrong sources, lives could have been in danger. In one of the exchanges, VP Vance questioned whether President Trump was “aware how inconsistent [the attack on the Houthis] is with his message on Europe right now.” Vance’s comms team has since insisted the VP is on the same page as the president. Democrats are howling hypocrisy since Trump demanded Clinton be imprisoned for sharing far less sensitive material on unprotected email servers. Clinton herself posted the Atlantic article on X with the message, “👀 You’ve got to be kidding me.” Asked about the report, President Trump said he wasn’t aware of the leak. Democrats slammed the “outrageous security breach,” with Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) saying “heads should roll.” Even Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) acknowledged it was “unconscionable” to send classified info “over non-secure networks” likely monitored by foreign enemies. Though he did claim “we all have” sent texts to the wrong person. Yeah, yeah. Any one of us could have done this.
Allowed to Prove Innocence: Today another stunning day in court for the Trump administration when an appeals court judge declared that “Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act” than the Venezuelan men sent by the US to an El Salvador prison. Judge Patricia Millett of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit said Nazis at least got a hearing before they were removed from the country (see an example here), but the Venezuelan migrants “weren't given notice, they weren't told where they were going” and they “had no opportunity … to challenge their removal.” The Court of Appeals was hearing a challenge brought by the Trump administration after lower court Judge James Boasberg ruled that the administration must allow the Venezuelans it sent to an infamous El Salvador mega prison to challenge their removal from the US. (I’m not calling it a deportation because no legal process was followed.) The government attorneys argued that the court is trying to intrude on the president's wartime powers and foreign policy decisions. The judge countered that no one is challenging his war powers; they’re instead insisting the government afford people a hearing, as mandated by law. The court will have a decision likely this week.
Catch Up: As a reminder, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to remove 137 Venezuelans to El Savador, where Judge Boasberg noted they face “torture, beatings, and even death.” They were taken without being charged, processed, or given a lawyer or chance of defense. They couldn’t even notify their families. The government admitted in court that some of the men lack any criminal history, and lawyers for at least five of the men allege that they were falsely accused of gang ties simply because of their tattoos. At least one of the men was legally in the US after fleeing torture by the authoritarian government of Venezuela, according to his lawyer. The US provided no information on the names of those removed, but CBS News obtained and published an internal list of those rounded up and taken, which you can view here. This morning Fox News hosts suggested affording these men due process is “not practical” because of how many immigrants the administration wants to deport.
No Process: Border czar Tom Homan insisted yesterday that he’s “confident” all the removed migrants were, in fact, gang members. But he refused to provide any evidence and argued the migrants don’t deserve due process. In a positive turn, he said that the administration will obey court orders on deportations.
Implied Threats: Trump reposted a far-right article yesterday arguing that judges who rule against the administration can and should be prosecuted for treason and sedition.
It Wasn’t Me! Trump is famous for making others take the fall for his policies when public opinion goes south. So it’s telling that when asked by a reporter about his executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act Trump said “I didn’t sign it,” and “other people handled it.” He suggested those other people are Secretary of State and frequent fall guy Marco Rubio. Is Trump starting to think this is a doomed strategy? Communications Director Steven Cheung claimed “Trump was obviously referring to the original Aliens Enemies Act that was signed back in 1798” when telling reporters he “didn’t sign it.” Right.
Into the Fire: Over the weekend Venezuela said it’d start accepting flights of Venezuelan nationals deported from the US. A representative said the country “will not rest until we achieve the return of all those in need and rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador.” A plane from the US with 199 migrants touched down yesterday. The country previously refused to accept flights, in part because the Trump administration revoked a Biden policy allowing Venezuela to export more oil, which its fragile economy heavily relies on.
Hypocrisy, Much: Today Trump announced new tariffs for Venezuela, as well as 25% tariffs for any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela. China bought over two-thirds of Venezuela’s exported oil in 2023. But the US imported 8.6 million barrels of oil from Venezuela in January alone.
Changing Their Tune: The Justice Department has added new charges “at the 11th hour” against detained pro-Gaza Columbia protestor Mahmoud Khalil. The DOJ now says the US is detaining him because he failed to disclose vital information on his application to become a permanent US resident. Specifically, they say he left off his green card application his work at the Syria office of the British Embassy in Beirut and his connections to the UNRWA. (The US froze its support of UNWRA in 2024.) US officials initially moved to deport Khalil using an obscure 1952 law, on the alleged basis that he is a Hamas sympathizer and spread Hamas propaganda. Trump’s sister, a judge, ruled in 1996 that this law is unconstitutional. (That ruling was later overturned.) Khalil’s lawyer condemned the DOJ’s latest charges as an attempt to circumvent the First Amendment claims that are at the heart of the case.
Domestic Terrorism? A Florida man drove his car at a crowd of people who were protesting outside a Tesla dealership on Saturday. No one was hurt. Meantime, the FBI and ATF have formed a joint task force to investigate crimes against Musk’s electric vehicles. At the same time the FBI has reportedly scaled back tracking of domestic terrorism. Read more about how cuts are undermining anti-terrorism efforts, including against anti-semitism, here.
Education Shakeup: As part of his effort to dismantle the Department of Education Trump announced that the Small Business Administration will take over the management of student loans. One small hurdle: the SBA is cutting staff by 43%. Special needs and nutrition, on the other hand, will be the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services — headed by RFK Jr. Can’t wait to see what he does with school lunch.
Pretty Please: Today the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to stop a ruling forcing it to rehire 16,000 probationary workers fired in mass layoffs.
Dark Money: Trump really really wants you to invest in his eponymous meme coin, $TRUMP. On Sunday he posted that it’s “SO COOL!!!” and “The Greatest of them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (Yes, with 16 exclamation points.) It’s little wonder he’s so excited. He’s set to make billions from the coin, which anyone — including foreign governments — can buy anonymously. When the coin was first introduced in January, traders made tens of millions in what experts think were planned trades based on insider information. But hundreds of thousands of less lucky investors — presumably many of Trump’s MAGA fans — collectively lost over $2 billion when the coin’s value plummeted shortly after launch. So now he wants them to put in more money. Read more about how this all works here.
Bend the Knee: Columbia University caved to a set of demands from the Trump administration in an attempt to have $400 million in federal funding restored. Those demands include banning face masks on campus, allowing security to arrest people, and ceding control of the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies department. (As the New York Times recently noted, $400 million also happens to be how much Trump wanted from Columbia for a real estate deal a quarter century ago, which the university declined, much to his anger.)
The Mouse Stands Firm: Not every institution is bending the knee to Trump and his call to end diversity programs. A whopping 99% of Disney shareholders voted against a proposal for the company to withdraw from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. This is the latest overwhelming defeat for the National Legal and Policy Center, a right-wing think tank that has filed similarly unsuccessful anti-DEI motions at various companies, including John Deere and Costco.
Voting With Their Dollars: Costco is seeing increases in customer traffic. This after Rev. Al Sharpton led a buy-cott, urging shoppers to spend their money with the pro-DEI retailer. Meantime, retailers capitulating to anti-DEI demands — such as Target — are losing business thanks to painful boycotts.
Major Turnout: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” drew a record crowd in Colorado this weekend. Some 34,000 people gathered in Denver, the largest in the city since Obama visited in 2008. Democrats of all ages attending the tour spoke of their anger at a Democratic Party they believe isn’t fighting hard enough to defend the country from Trump’s anti-democratic onslaught. “We need a Democratic party that fights harder for us,” AOC said at an Arizona rally to sustained applause. Trump and Musk are “lying to and screwing over working people so they can steal from our health care, Social Security, and veterans care,” AOC said at a Las Vegas rally, “to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest and bailouts for their crypto billionaire friends. There’s a word for this: corruption.”
Turn That Red Blue: Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) ventured into deep-red Kern County on Sunday to hold a town hall. Hundreds of people turned up, and the atmosphere was positive — a far cry from the hostile anger facing those Republican lawmakers still willing to ignore their party leaders’ advice to avoid facing their constituents altogether.
Press Freedom Lives Another Day: Today the Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging the landmark 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan ruling. It established a standard that plaitiffs must show ”actual malice” to prove that the press defamed them. A casino mogul and Trump megadonor asked the court to consider overturning the the precedent to sue the AP. In declining to take the case, the Court protects news outlets from spurious libel lawsuits, at least for now.
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