Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, became the latest senior official to openly criticise a judge as the Trump administration ramped up its attacks on court challenges to its political agenda.
On Saturday, Hegseth mocked US district judge Ana Reyes for blocking a ban on transgender troops in the US military. The ban was enforced by an executive order signed by Donald Trump on 27 January.
Hegseth referred to the judge as “Commander Reyes” in a social media post and suggested she had no authority to make decisions about warfare – though the judge made no such decision, only about its treatment of its personnel.
Reyes was appointed by the Democratic former president Joe Biden and is the latest judge to be publicly attacked by a Trump administration official.
US defense secretary Pete Hegseth rails against judge
Hegseth’s public mockery of Reyes followed similar remarks by Trump, Elon Musk, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other officials against judges in recent weeks. Trump on Tuesday called for the impeachment of a judge presiding over a legal challenge to deportation flights and referred to him as a “radical left lunatic” and a “troublemaker and agitator”, prompting the US supreme court chief justice to issue a rare rebuke of the president.
White House cheers as major law firm attacked by Trump capitulates
The Trump administration has also been battling with one of the largest law firms in the country: Paul, Wiess. Trumps’s advisers have reveled in their ability to bully the firm after its chair criticized a former partner as he tried to appease the US president into rescinding an executive order that threatened the firm’s ability to function. The firm also agreed to provide $40m in free legal services over the next four years to causes Trump has championed, and agreed to an audit of its employment procedures to wipe away any diversity, equity and inclusion recruiting initiatives. The Trump administration has threatened new actions against lawyers and law firms that bring immigration lawsuits and other cases against the government that he deems unethical. It is facing more than 100 lawsuits.
20% of Americans support boycott of firms aligning themselves with Trump's agenda
One in five Americans plan to turn their backs for good on companies that have shifted their policies to align with Trump’s agenda, according to a new poll for the Guardian. As high-profile brands including Amazon, Target and Tesla grapple with economic boycotts, research by the Harris Poll indicated the backlash could have a lasting impact.
Trump revokes security clearances for Biden, Harris and other political enemies
Trump moved to revoke security clearances for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and a string of other top Democrats and political enemies in a presidential memo issued late on Friday. The revocations also cover the former secretary of state Antony Blinken, the former Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, the former Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump for fraud, as well as Biden’s entire family. They all will no longer have access to classified information – a courtesy typically offered to former presidents and some officials after they have left public service.
White House reportedly halts funding for legal aid for unaccompanied migrant children
The Trump administration is reported to have cut funding to a legal program that provides representation for unaccompanied immigrant children, one month after directing immigration enforcement agents to track down minors who had entered the US without guardians last month. Organizations that collectively receive more than $200m in federal grants were informed that the contract through the office of refugee resettlement had been partially terminated, according to a memo issued on Friday by the interior department and obtained by ABC News.
US team to meet Ukrainian and Russian officials for talks
Talks between US and Ukrainian officials are scheduled to begin on Sunday in Saudi Arabia. A Washington source briefed on the planning of the meetings said the US side would be led by Andrew Peek of the national security council and Michael Anton of the state department, Reuters reported. After those talks, the US team will meet Russian officials on Monday. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said earlier this week, however, that Ukrainian officials would be present at the US-Russia talks but would not be in the same room as the Russians.
US urged to ‘think bigger’ on healthcare amid Trump onslaught on sector
An academic journal may inject some optimism into US health policy – a scarce commodity amid the Trump administration’s mass layoffs, funding freezes and the ideological research reviews. A new issue of Health Affairs Scholar argues the conversation around healthcare can change – and radically – if academics think “bigger” and policymakers invest in their communities.
US tourism industry faces drop-off as immigration agenda deters travellers
A string of high-profile arrests and detentions of travellers is likely to cause a major downturn in tourism to the US, with latest figures already showing a serious drop-off, tourist experts said. Several western travellers have recently been rejected at the US border on increasingly flimsy grounds under Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, some of them shackled and held in detention centers in poor conditions for weeks. Germany updated travel guidance for travelling to the US, warning that breaking entry rules could lead not just to a rejection as before, but arrest or even detention.
