Washington Post: ‘I own the store’: Trump seeks a direct role in the economy

From prices to tariffs to dealmaking, Trump’s involvement in economic issues prompts both frustration and applause.

With all due modesty:

And in his just-concluded Middle East trip, Trump pitched business leaders on doing business in America for one big reason: his personal involvement in the U.S. economy. “There’s no better place to make a future or make a fortune — to do anything, frankly — than what we have in the United States of America under a certain president, Donald J. Trump,” he said. “I have the right attitude.”

So says our royal buffoon, King Donald.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/18/trump-economy-tariffs-taxes-trade

Raleigh News & Observer: Trump Suffers Blow as Judge Rebukes ‘Invasion’ Claim

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. recently ruled that President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to detain and deport Venezuelan immigrants is unlawful. Rodriguez determined that the government’s actions exceed the statute’s scope and contradict its plain meaning. The ruling is the first to state that the AEA cannot apply to alleged gang members.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-suffers-blow-as-judge-rebukes-invasion-claim/ss-AA1F0BmB

Raw Story: ‘Traitor’: FBI’s Patel and Bongino infuriate MAGA fans with Fox interview

A Fox Morning Futures interview with Donald Trump’s two top appointees to the FBI created new problems for the administration after they both stated unequivocally that accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial.

“You said Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide. People don’t believe it,” host Maria Bartiromo pressed FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

If Jeffrey Epstein’s demise is causing discord among the MAGA fanbois, he’s probably more useful dead than alive.

https://www.rawstory.com/epstein-fbi-patel

Daily Beast: Pope Leo Snubs JD Vance After Inaugural Mass

The pope gave the vice president short shrift after the ceremony.

Pope Leo XIV spurned JD Vance on Sunday, offering him a quick greeting after his inaugural mass while holding extensive private meetings with other world leaders.

The first American pope shook Vance’s hand during a brief, 17-second exchange during the procession line after the mass.

Leo met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra on Sunday after celebrating his inaugural Mass, which included world leaders from Canada, Italy, Germany, and other European Union officials in the audience.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pope-leo-xiv-snubs-jd-vance-as-he-meets-with-world-leaders

Salon: “I feel like I’ve lost my country”: Americans who oppose Trump are now looking for the exits

As President Donald Trump ushers in his so-called “Golden Age” for the nation, some Americans are jumping ship. Yale University history professor Marci Shore is relieved to be one of them. 

She and her husband, historian Timothy Snyder, had long been on the fence about leaving the United States, Shore told Salon, with professorships at the University of Toronto available to them for at least two years should they have wished to take them. Trump’s reelection in November and the proverbial smoke before the fire in the immediate aftermath made it clear to her that now was the time to pull the trigger. 

“I felt like this country had everything right in front of them, and people chose this — a lot of people chose this, and that was heartbreaking,” she said. “And I also felt like, ‘I don’t want to come back to this.’ I don’t want to, and maybe I’m not devoted enough. Maybe I’m not enough of a patriot. But I felt like, ‘I don’t want this. I don’t want this for my kids. I don’t want this environment.'”

Shore is a part of a small but burgeoning group of Americans who have lost faith in their country since Trump’s reclaimed the presidency — who have lost hope that a good future is still possible there …

https://www.salon.com/2025/05/18/i-feel-like-ive-lost-my-country-americans-oppose-are-now-looking-for-the-exits


Also here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/i-feel-like-i-ve-lost-my-country-americans-who-oppose-trump-are-now-looking-for-the-exits/ar-AA1EZvhK

Raw Story: Clause buried in GOP bill would handcuff courts as Trump’s legal battles grow

A review of the stalled Republican Party-authored House Budget Committee bill that is currently being stalled by GOP hardliners revealed a non-budgetary provision that would hand Donald Trump a powerful tool to do as he pleases.

According to a report from the Associated Press, with the Trump administration finding its hands tied by temporary restraining orders halting mass deportations without probable cause and purging of government employees put on hold, the courts would be handcuffed from enforcing their rulings.

Add to that, administration officials would be immune from being held in contempt if they ignore judges’ warnings.

Sieg, heil! Herr Trump ist der Sieg!

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-restraining-order

‘Looney tunes’: Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3] ordered DOJ to ban paper straws, ex-DOJ lawyer says’

Click on the link to watch:

https://www.msnbc.com/the-weekend/watch/-looney-tunes-pam-bondi-ordered-doj-to-ban-paper-straws-ex-doj-lawyer-says-239838277881

Knews: ‘Repudiated’: WSJ Delivers Blow to Trump

The WSJ editorial board argued that the tariff policy has weakened U.S. credibility by targeting allies and obstructed coalition efforts against Beijing’s trade practices. The editorial board wrote, “Rarely has an economic policy been repudiated as soundly, and as quickly, as President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs—and by Mr. Trump’s own hand.”

The editorial board added, “A ‘tragedy’ of Trump’s ‘shoot-America-in-the-foot-first approach,’ is that he’s hurt his chances of rallying a united front of countries against Beijing’s mercantilism.” It added, “By targeting allies with tariffs, Mr. Trump has eroded trust in America’s economic and political reliability.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/repudiated-wsj-delivers-blow-to-trump/ss-AA1F0uoz

USA Today: Thousands of federal employees are on a roller coaster of being fired, rehired

‘Inefficency in the name of efficiency,’ according to one federal employee who was fired, rehired and may be fired again.

In recent months, tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, rehired and threatened with firing again.

For now, they have a two-week reprieve, after a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration not to carry out any additional firings for two weeks, but the administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

But employees describe weeks of uncertainty, worry and doubt as their jobs are off, then on, then off again.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/05/18/federal-employees-fired-rehired-await-court-decision/83600693007

Washington Examiner: Judge allows Trump to fire top CIA doctor who appeared on ‘Deep State Target List’

A federal judge cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire a top CIA doctor involved in the firing of agents who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

At a Friday hearing, U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff declined to prevent Dr. Terry Adirim from being fired from her position as head of the CIA Centers for Global Health Services. Adirim claimed that her firing was due to her being targeted by “a political extremist,” but the Department of Justice argued the evidence was only circumstantial.

Her firing came shortly after right-wing activist Laura Loomer met with Trump at the White House, leading some to suspect that her firing was the direct result of an appeal from Loomer. She has “exposed” several Trump administration staffers for alleged disloyalty and ties to foreign adversaries, coinciding with several firings.