MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

FRIDAY
JUNE 27, 2025

If there’s one family that hasn’t profited off politics, it’s the Trump family.”

 
— Eric Trump, [whose family]([link removed]) has [made truly insane amounts of money]([link removed]) since his dad became president.

INJUNCTION MALFUNCTION

The Supreme Court just handed Donald Trump a huge win by limiting judges’ power to block his craziest policies. What happens next?

- Judges around the country have long known exactly what to do with President Donald Trump’s dumbest, cruelest and most lawless initatives: Block ‘em! Immediately! Just slap that sucker down with a big old “NO!” in the form of a nationwide injunction — a legal term that more or less means, “You can go kick rocks, sir.” Today, conservatives on the highest court largely stripped judges of their ability to pull that move — [in a decision that appears]([link removed]) to hand Trump sweeping new powers. 

- More than two dozen such nationwide injunctions are currently holding back a tsunami of Trump-style crazy. [They have blocked his attempts]([link removed]) to negate the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship, to require more stringent voter ID at the polls, and to withhold some $3 trillion in federal funding to states. Now, in those cases and more, judges will have to rethink their decisions in light of this new ruling, with unpredictable results. In the future, their ability to stop Trump in his tracks will be largely limited to protecting only those individuals who actually file in court (with an exception for class-action lawsuits). 

- The decision effectively takes a remarkable amount of power away from the courts and hands it to the White House, on a silver tray with parsley around it. Consider this line in the conservative majority’s decision: “No one disputes that the Executive has a duty to follow the law,” they wrote. “But the Judiciary does not have unbridled authority to enforce this obligation — in fact, sometimes the law prohibits the Judiciary from doing so.” All right… the president has to follow the law… but if he doesn’t, judges should shrug, and let him do it?
 

- The three liberal dissenters issued an urgent warning: “The Court’s decision to permit the Executive to violate the Constitution with respect to anyone who has not yet sued is an existential threat to the rule of law,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote.

 
Conservatives cheered the decision. Legal experts and analysts expressed deep anxiety about the growing power of Trump’s imperial presidency.

- “We could become a country with a patchwork of different legal rights in different judicial districts,” Barbara McQuade, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in the Obama administration, told What A Day. “By shrinking from its duty, the court has severely damaged the power of the judiciary.” 

- The Supreme Court found a way to potentially limit birthright citizenship while also weakening checks on presidential power, tweeted Max Fisher, former co-host of Crooked’s Offline podcast. “They want a dictator and they’re going to get it.”

- Trump is twiddling his fingers [like Mr. Burns]([link removed]), describing the decision as “amazing” today. But it’s worth noting that he’s not the only president likely to benefit from this decision, which could also unleash the next Democrat who takes the Oval Office. Remember when former President Joe Biden tried to pass student loan forgiveness? A court blocked that. The same thing happened with his ban on noncompete agreements and cracking down on payday lenders.

After today’s ruling, one thing is clear: The system of checks and balances in this country is tilting toward the executive branch — into completely new territory with unknown consequences.

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WHAT ELSE?

[That was hardly the only thing the high court did today,]([link removed]) on the final day of this year’s term. The court also ruled that parents can take their kids out of classes that use books with LGBTQ characters, upheld a provision of Obamacare that allows people to receive free preventive services, sided with Texas on requiring an age limit verification for porn websites in the state, and upheld a government-run program to provide subsidized internet to rural communities. Phew! I'm tired just reading all that.
 
[Israeli troops have been ordered to fire]([link removed]) on unarmed civilians at food distribution sites in the Gaza Strip, officers and soldiers told the outlet Haaretz. “It’s a killing field,” one soldier told the outlet. “I’m not aware of a single instance of return fire. There’s no enemies, no weapons.” The Israeli government denied the report.
 
[Donald Trump said that he’s ending trade talks]([link removed]) with Canada after the country refused to cancel a digital services tax on U.S. tech firms. He also threatened to tariff them next week as payback. Say what you will about this guy, at least he is reliable! 
 
[Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is suing Fox News]([link removed]) for $787 million for defamation, alleging that host Jesse Waters lied about the governor’s phone calls with Trump amid the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.“Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.” Newsom told Politico. Okay, fine. But filing a billion-dollar lawsuit against a media outlet feels… I hate to say it… kinda Trump-y, governor? Is this the way?
 
[The New York Times slapped down Trump’s]([link removed]) threat to sue the newspaper over its coverage of a leaked intelligence report showing that the U.S. didn’t destroy Iran’s nuclear sites. “No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming,” lawyers from the Times responded, with a metaphorical mic drop. Trump also threatened to sue CNN over its reporting, while the newsroom has stood by its reporting. 
 
[The Trump administration is pressing forward with plans to resettle]([link removed]) 1,000 Afrikaners (white South Africans descended from Dutch settlers) while working to bar refugees from dozens of other countries. 
 
[The so-called Department of Government Efficiency]([link removed]) is working to curtail dozens of gun regulations, the Washington Post reports. The goal of DOGE agents is to change 47 rules… to match Trump’s title as the 47th president, according to people familiar with the plans. Just when you thought these DOGEbags couldn’t get any stupider.
 
[The University of Virginia’s president plans]([link removed]) to resign amid a battle with the Trump administration, which called on him to step down as a condition for resolving a federal investigation into the school’s diversity policies. 
 
[Culinary icon Rachel Ray urged GOP lawmakers]([link removed]) not to slash Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in their “big, beautiful bill.” Cutting those benefits “threatens the health and well-being of American families at a time when millions are already struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food,” she wrote. 
 
[The White House is fuming about a sculpture]([link removed]) that appeared on the National Mall: It’s a gold-sprayed TV that plays a looped video of Donald Trump dancing alongside late child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.  A plaque reads: “‘In the United States of America you have the freedom to display your so-called “art,” no matter how ugly it is.’ — The Trump White House, June 2025.” In response, a White House spokesperson lost her shit: “Wow, these liberal activists masquerading as ‘artists,’ are dumber than I thought!” Got ‘em!

[South Korean police detained six Americans]([link removed]) after they allegedly threw more than 1,000 plastic bottles filled with rice, mini Bibles, $1 bills and USB thumb drives into the ocean toward North Korea, police said. Authorities don’t know what’s on the thumb drives. What’s next, vacationing Americans storming North Korea with super-soakers and water balloons?

GET IN ON THE ACTION
 
The Supreme Court conservative supermajority just paved the way for red states to defund Planned Parenthood. Their decision undermines access to abortions, cancer screenings and all reproductive health care for millions and millions of poor people on Medicaid across the country. Our friends at Vote Save America have a fund to support impacted Planned Parenthoods and patients. Go to [www.VoteSaveAmerica.Com/Support]([link removed]) to make a donation right now.
 
Paid for by Vote Save America. You can learn more at [votesaveamerica.com]([link removed]). This ad has not been authorized by any candidate or candidate’s com.

 
[link removed]

[The S&P 500 surged to its highest point]([link removed]) since February, staging a remarkable comeback after Donald Trump’s slapdash economic policies sent it into free fall earlier this year. “The market sensed that these tariffs aren’t going to be nearly as onerous as what was presented on Liberation Day,” Hank Smith, head of investment strategy at Haverford Trust, told the Wall Street Journal. So… the Liberation Day policies were mostly bogus? You don’t say! But, serious question: At what point are investors taking [the TACO trade]([link removed]) too far? 

[The internet is in love with Rama Duwaji,]([link removed]) the wife of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. And why shouldn’t they be? She’s a stunning and incredibly chic animator, illustrator and ceramicist. And Mamdani met her on Hinge. During his victory speech, he kissed her hand and referred to her as “my incredible wife.” Couple goals!

[Tennis stars Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka filmed]([link removed]) a TikTok dance together on the court at Wimbledon today, weeks after the pair faced off in the French Open. “the olive branch was extended and accepted!” Gauff wrote in a caption of another video with Sabalenka. Love that energy.

[Pittsburg airport staff miraculously found]([link removed]) a woman’s diamond that popped out of her ring after a flight. She noticed it was missing half-an-hour into her drive home, and thought the diamond — which her husband gave to her when he proposed 32 years ago — was gone forever. She offered the airport staff food or gifts, but “they were like, ‘Seeing your smile is all the reward we need,’” the woman said.

Meet Yogi! 

This adorable little bulldog can’t always keep his tongue in his mouth, and that’s totally fine by us. Look at the wrinkles!

— John

 

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