The Kennedy Center Gets Its Name Back
The slush fund hits a wall. Alito's secret, exposed. America's 250th needs a lineup. Inside Delaney Hall detention center. A record-breaking Spelling Bee. And once in a blue micromoon.
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Amid the daily carnage of American norms and traditions, it is easy to miss the moments when those institutions — battered and wheezing — actually prevail. Today is one such day.
The iconic performing arts center in Washington, D.C., will once again be known as the Kennedy Center. A federal judge rejected Trump’s attempt to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center, writing that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name and only Congress can change it.”
In January 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the John F. Kennedy Center Act, after Congress designated the center a “living memorial” to Kennedy through ongoing creativity. It opened in 1971 with a piece composed by Leonard Bernstein. At the time, Ted Kennedy said that “to really serve his memory [it] has to be available to the people and exhibit the best in American culture.”
Trump is backing down — though, naturally, not in silence. In a Truth Social post, he railed against the judge, the financial state of the Kennedy Center, and the apparent civic tragedy of rejecting his effort to turn it into a “Great and Prestigious WINNER for Washington DC.” Here’s the important part: He relented, writing, “We are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.”
Maria Shriver noted that today was JFK’s birthday and called the decision “a great birthday gift.”
In today’s newsletter: Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund hits a wall in court. Pam Bondi delegated her answers about the Epstein files. The Treasury’s living president problem. Alito has a pattern. The guest list for Trump’s UFC fight has a weight limit. America’s 250th has a lot of missing performers. What’s inside an ICE detention center, the administration doesn’t want officials to see?
And this weekend, something rare in the sky that’s not exactly what it promises to be.
Here Are Your Headlines
Breaking: A federal judge reopened Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, the one he settled with the DOJ to create his $1.8 billion slush fund. The court said it will investigate “grievous allegations” that the settlement the president reached with the IRS was “premised on deception” — and that the court was a “victim of a fraud.”
Slush Fund, Frozen: Trump’s unprecedented slush fund is facing challenges on other fronts, too. A separate judge temporarily blocked the fund while a lawsuit over it proceeds. She wrote that the unusually urgent move is necessary to prevent funds from being “irreversibly disbursed.” One of the people who brought the lawsuit is a former federal prosecutor who pursued Jan 6 cases and was dismissed by the Trump administration last year. He argues that the administration is illegally trying to “rush money out the door to perceived political allies, while treating me and people like me as disfavored enemies.” In California, Gavin Newsom announced that the state will “tax 100%” of any money residents receive from the fund. (One way to reclaim funds California pays to the federal government, but doesn’t get back in federal support.) Lawmakers in other blue states, including New York, Illinois, and New Jersey, are considering doing the same.
Wider Retribution: The Justice Department is investigating a nonprofit founded by Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman that helped fund E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump. That lawsuit resulted in a jury finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Hoffman fired back, calling the investigation “an attempt to turn solidarity and support into a crime.” Officials are reportedly also examining whether Carroll committed perjury when she testified that nobody was helping her pay her legal fees. When an appeals court upheld the verdict against Trump, it noted there was no evidence Carroll was involved with securing the funding or interacted with the funder, and that she had “plausibly represented that she had forgotten about” it. Trump asked the Supreme Court to overturn the verdict; this week it deferred its decision for the twelfth time. “Trump cannot be allowed to use the full weight and power of the US Government to come after women who speak up,” Hoffman wrote. “Trump hopes that these fraudulent investigations will silence those who stand up to him. He is wrong. I will not bend the knee.” Read Hoffman’s full statement here. As a reminder it is not illegal for donors to pay your legal fees, as Trump himself can attest. His team reportedly directed $100 million in donor funds toward legal defense for himself and allies.
The $250 Question: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the Treasury Department has prepared designs for a $250 bill featuring Trump, before Congress has approved it. Bessent said he doesn’t think there is “anything untoward” about the idea, and acknowledged it would only go forward with congressional approval. A federal law has prohibited living people from being depicted on US currency since 1866.
Why So Secretive: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s son, Philip, has been quietly working as an attorney-adviser for the Treasury Department. A former official told NOTUS “there’s no doubt he got that position because of who he is.” Philip’s appointment was kept as “a closely guarded secret” — until now. Meanwhile, Justice Alito has not recused himself from cases involving the Treasury department. That includes the high stakes tariffs case, in which Alito dissented and ruled in Trump’s favor. The Court may also be asked to determine the legality of Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund. When asked whether Alito should recuse himself from cases involving his department, Treasury Secretary Bessent insisted he is confident the Justice “follows all legal and ethical guidelines,” and said the Treasury does the same. The Supreme Court is the one bench not required to follow strict, enforceable ethics rules (Alito claimed it would be unconstitutional for Congress to impose them). Instead, Justices are encouraged to do so based on the honor system.
Course of Conduct: Justice Alito has a history of controversies, including apparent conflicts of interest. Just one example: Last year he called Trump personally to recommend a former clerk for a job in the administration. Hours later Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene in his criminal hush money case. The Court refused. Alito dissented.
Inhumane: New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill established a protected peaceful protest zone outside Delaney Hall migrant detention center after ICE agents arrested several protestors. Sherrill called on agents, who have deployed pepper spray against protestors and a lawmaker, to “act humanely.” Advocacy groups and family members say hundreds of detainees inside are on a hunger strike for basic human rights. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said detainees were given meagre portions of food that “very often” contained maggots. Multiple lawmakers who conducted an inspection this week condemned the “inhumane” conditions in the facility and called for its closure. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill was not allowed inside. Sherrill said the facility also “denied full access” to state health department officials, which she warned “raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view.” The city of Newark is suing the private contractor running the facility, GEO group, which recently confirmed staff used “chemical agents” on detainees. DHS denied the hunger strike and dismissed allegations of abuse as political attacks. “We’re giving them the calories they want,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. “This isn’t Holiday Inn. We’re giving them sanitation.” Trump dismissed the protestors as “fake” and “paid for” and said “there’s nobody that runs a facility like we do.”
Facing Justice: ICE agent Christian Castro was arrested in Texas. He’s charged with shooting a Venezuelan man during the crackdown in Minnesota and filing a false police report. More here.
Cruel: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release a pregnant woman and her young child from a “windowless room” in Washington Dulles airport, where they have been held for more than a week. Immigration officials, her lawyers allege, denied repeated requests for more food and didn’t let the family shower — until the woman agreed to drop her asylum request and be deported. She and her child will now return home to Ghana.
Sad State of Affairs: The Trump-created nonprofit Freedom 250 announced nine featured artists to perform at The Great American State Fair, a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall. At least seven of those artists dropped out within 48 hours. One called the nonprofit’s claim of nonpartisanship “misleading.” Another dismissed their supposed participation as a “rumor.” The lineup, at this point, exists mainly as a concept. One remaining headliner is the infamous Milli Vanilli — just without the original studio vocalists, who say they weren’t asked, and without Rob Pilatus, one half of the pop duo. Pilatus has been dead for more than a quarter century.
Keep reading to find out…
What Pam Bondi said (and refused to say) about the Epstein files
The cost, consequences, and effect on cocaine of the Trump administration’s strikes on small boats
Why Iran and the US are trading strikes while supposedly striking a deal
The nail-biting, record-breaking saga of this year’s National Spelling Bee
How to witness a once-in-a-blue-moon astronomical event (literally)
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