Week 8: Trump May Not Be a Virgin, but He Can't Drive

Ty would be half-pleased. Analysis of the news this week, with colorful commentary.

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one of the greats

The Big Picture

✍️ Trump made some huge fcking moves this week, as did Congress. As the Trump administration heats up, they are taking bolder, arguably questionable moves, despite the avalanche of lawsuits coming their way. Congress too took some big actions, some of which threaten to semi-permanently fracture the Democratic Party.

Below, Smartt Takes breaks down every political action, of course with some colorful commentary. Here’s some of what I’m covering this week:

• Trump’s New Immigration Policy: And everyone is on alert, even Tesla protesters

• Are We Heading Into a Recession?: Some people think so, we break it down for paid subscribers

• Tariffs War: The EU plays their own Trump card

• Government Shutdown Averted: At the expense of the Democratic Party?

• 2028 Announcements: Apparently people still want to be part of this sh*tshow

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📢 Quick Housekeeping Note: Given the constant influx of news, I’m considering publishing Smartt Takes on Fridays instead of Sundays. But I’d love your input on whether this is the right move. Please take an extra second and answer the poll below, it helps me so much and would mean a lot. Thank you! :)

Alright, now let’s get into it.

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✍️ The Administration’s Big Moves:

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Intensifies

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✍️ Trump Detains Two Columbia University Alumni; Another Self-Deports: On Friday, the Trump administration detained a second Columbia University alumnus.

• Who? A Palestinian woman named Leqaa Kordia. According to the administration, Kordia had overstayed her student visa and was arrested in the April 2024 protests.

• Another woman, Columbia PhD student and Fulbright Scholar, Ranjani Srinivasani, had her visa revoked on March 5 and self-deported.

• The moves follow the administration detaining of Mahmoud Khalil last week, a Columbia University graduate who was involved with pro-Palestinian protests at the university.

What to know:

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the administration will arrest pro-Hamas supporters.

• Unlike Khalil, however, Kordia was reportedly neither part of the protests nor an activist. ICE flagged her because of her social media activity, which included “liking” or “sharing” posts that underscored the violence/human rights violations in Gaza, and signing open letters calling for Palestinian Liberation.

• While it’s clear that Khalil was part of the protests, his exact role remains unclear. Indeed, some newspapers reported that he was a negotiator; while others have decried him as a violent, foreign agent.

• Regardless, Khalil is being held as a Hamas-supporter, and the administration is working to revoke his green card and deport him.

The Fallout

• Columbia University has been silent on the action, instead suspending and expelling students who were part of last April’s slew of pro-Palestinian protests.

• Meanwhile, the students’ lawyers are challenging the move as a violation of free-speech and constitutional rights.

• Peaceful protests have erupted around the country outraged at the administration’s move.

Bottom line: People are concerned about the implications, which we break down below.

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✍️Trump Invokes the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798. Only the fourth time it’s been used in history…and the first time since World War II.

The law allows the president to deport non-citizens without giving them the opportunity to go before immigration or federal court judge.

• While Trump invoked the AEA to deport five Venezuelan men identified as being part of a gang; he also is using it to justify deporting all Venezuelan citizens ages 14+ that are not lawful citizens or permanent U.S. residents. However…

• A federal judge immediately blocked the order, requiring the return of any planes deporting individuals under the 1798 law; and pausing such deportations for at least 14 days. The judge also scheduled a hearing this Friday to hear further arguments.

• In response, AG Bondi accused the judge of supporting Venezuelan “terrorists over the safety of Americans.”

Bottom line: This is sure to be a heated, legal battle…which is turning out to be a key theme of this administration.

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✍️ A New Travel Ban: Trump is planning for Travel Ban 2.0. Trump plans to ban travelers from 41 countries and will issue:

• Full visa restrictions for some countries (e.g., Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, etc.);

• Partial suspensions for certain tourist/student/immigrant visas from specific countries (Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, South Sudan, etc.); and

• Further partial suspensions for countries (e.g., Belarus, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, etc.) if their governments “do not address deficiencies within 60 days.”

Like Trump’s 2017 ban, Trump’s second travel ban is also likely to be challenged.

• In 2018, the Supreme Court upheld a narrow version of the ban, which Joe Biden overturned in 2021 upon taking office.

• While campaigning, Trump then promised to reinstate the ban. And, well, here we are.

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✍️ Quick Bullet EO

• The Trump administration signed an EO that defunded several entities including:

  • U.S. Global Media—the parent agency of Voice of America

  • The Woodrow Wilson Center, a prominent think-tank in Washington DC, among others.

• In response to the move, the U.S. Global Media laid off every journalist at Voice of America.

• As we reported last week, certain VOA journalists had been under investigation for certain social media activity criticizing the Trump administration. Now, it appears that the entire entity has folded.

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🗣️Key Events: What’s Happening

🗣️ 🔒Is the U.S. Heading into a Recession? Markets have cratered because of Trump’s erratic tariffs policy. Investors and Economists alike are spooked, but what are they actually saying? Let’s break it down. Even the WSJ has weighed in (gifted article link inside). By the numbers: 🔒