"We're having a very hard time with judges because they don't want people to be moved out of the country. When you have millions of people that you're moving out, that are really bad people, very dangerous people, and you have a judge who wants every single one of them to have a trial... that's not what our country is about."

— President Trump, complaining to reporters aboard Air Force One on April 25, 2025

Trump administration wishes to add 90 miles to "national defense area" along US-Mexico border. The administration announced plans last week to expand the "new national defense area" established by presidential memorandum along the southern border by an additional 90 miles. The move is part of the administration's broader border security push, which has been accompanied by hardline rhetoric against migrants. Read more >

If this memo is enforced, people who cross the U.S. border unlawfully in California, Arizona, and New Mexico can be charged for trespassing federal grounds, plus the standard misdemeanor charge already applied for illegal entry outside designated ports of entry.

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President Trump signs order to "strengthen and unleash" law enforcement. A new executive order signed this week aims to empower police – and target officials who try to keep them in check. The order directs the attorney general to provide resources for the legal defense of police officers who "unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties." Perhaps most troubling, it includes a directive to "[hold] state and local officials accountable" for "willfully and unlawfully [directing] the obstruction of criminal law." Read more >

• Follow The Marshall Project for more direct reporting on police accountability during the Trump administration.

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Trump administration launches investigations into Harvard University and Harvard Law Review. On Monday, the administration announced it's launching investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review, claiming authorities have received reports of race-based discrimination "permeating the operations" of the journal. This comes just a week after Harvard sued the administration over frozen funding.

It’s giving payback, a very bad look for the administration and its pattern of overtly exerting its power. Harvard has emerged as a symbol of resistance against Trump, who has framed the conflict as a fight against antisemitism rather than admitting it's about wielding control over educational institutions.

• Learn how Harvard’s alumni and faculty are rallying for academic freedom

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President Trump attacks judges for providing due process to deportees. During comments to reporters aboard Air Force One last Thursday, Trump complained that judges are hindering his deportation efforts by insisting on trials for those facing removal from the country. "There's never been a time when this has ever become an issue, when they talk about due process," Trump stated, adding that it's impossible to provide "millions of trials" for all the people his administration wants to deport. Watch the Video >

Trump's growing increasingly frustrated with constitutional constraints on his agendas. This suggests he’ll keep taking extreme measures to bypass judicial oversight.

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Mexico has received nearly 39,000 deportees from U.S. since Trump took office. According to Reuters reports on Tuesday, Mexico has accepted tens of thousands of deportees in just the first 100 days of the Trump administration. This massive deportation operation has been facilitated by agreements with several Latin American nations to accept deportation flights, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, Colombia, and others. Read more >

Despite the large numbers, the Trump administration is actually deporting fewer people monthly than Biden did in his final year. Data shows Trump's administration deported about 37,660 people in his first month—significantly below the 57,000 monthly average during Biden's last full year. The lower numbers are attributed partly to reduced border crossings resulting from Trump's stricter policies.

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Nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Trump's tariff policies. A recent poll found that approximately 65% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of tariffs and the economic mess that came with. Read more >

The economic fallout from Trump's tariff policies continues to mount. UPS announced 20,000 job cuts and GM delayed an investor call amid the corporate chaos created by the trade restrictions. The U.S. goods trade deficit has also hit a record high due to pre-tariff stockpiling, further undermining the administration's economic narrative.

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White House lashes out at Amazon over potential tariff transparency. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized Amazon on Tuesday over reports that the company plans to show customers how much Trump's tariffs are adding to product costs. Leavitt called the potential move "hostile" and "political," despite the fact that consumers have a right to know why prices are increasing and maybe if they’re so concerned they should fix this mess altogether. Read more >

Amazon was reportedly considering listing tariff costs as part of its Haul service, which competes with Chinese e-commerce platforms like Temu and Shein to provide customers with low-cost goods. They’ve since confirmed they have no plans to implement this feature.

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DOJ civil rights division transformed to advance Trump's social agenda. The new head of the Justice Department's civil rights division is dramatically reshaping the office to implement President Trump's social priorities, prompting the departure of about half of the division's lawyers in recent weeks. The exodus comes amid concerns about the politicization of what should be an independent enforcement agency. Read more >

The gutting of the division raises serious questions about the future of civil rights enforcement under the Trump administration, particularly for marginalized communities that have historically relied on the DOJ to protect their constitutional rights.

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Lawsuit challenges Trump administration's federal workforce reorganization. A lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California arguing that the administration's "reduction in force" plans and reorganization of the federal government violate the Constitution's separation of powers. The legal challenge comes as thousands of federal employees have already departed under pressure or accepted buyout offers.

The suit is one of several legal challenges to Trump's sweeping efforts to reshape the federal bureaucracy through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. Critics argue these changes are designed to replace career civil servants with political loyalists rather than improve government functioning.

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New White House flagpoles: Trump plans to personally fund two 100-foot American flags on White House grounds, because nothing says "stable leadership" like compensating for something with enormously tall poles. 🗑️🗑️

Trump's trip to Rome: Trump attended the Pope's funeral, undoubtedly to scout for wall-building techniques from Vatican City, and was chastised for wearing a blue suit. 🗑️🗑️