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Week of May 23-29, 2025
Welcome to TRACKING THE CRISIS, a weekly round-up from The Democracy Collaborative tracking the administrative, legislative, and other actions of the new Trump Administration as well as the many forms of legal and movement response from across a broad range of social, political, and economic actors. TDC is providing this service for collective informational purposes, as a tool for understanding the times during a period of disorientingly rapid flux and change in the U.S. political economy. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
Tariff chaos continues with abrupt reversals from Trump and the courts, earning Trump a new nickname on Wall Street. Trump continued to confuse the global economy this week, threatening a new set of 50% tariffs on the EU and iPhones over the weekend ahead of EU trade talks, then announcing a delay on tariffs until July 9 as EU officials promised to fast-track negotiations while Brussels surveyed European companies’ planned investments in the United States. On Wednesday, May 28, the U.S. Court of International Trade blocked Trump from imposing most of his tariffs on China and other trading partners, ruling that his use of emergency powers to enact certain tariffs was illegal. Then late Thursday, May 29, the block was temporarily paused by the U.S. Court of Appeals after the Trump Administration filed an emergency appeal invoking the Supreme Court, allowing the Administration to continue enforcing existing tariffs as the case proceeds. While the chaotic moves and abrupt reversals in the trade war have driven much uncertainty in the markets, with potentially dramatic consequences for consumers, some investors on Wall Street are attempting to cash in on the market swings through what is being called the ‘TACO’ trade, an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” As the new nickname went viral, Trump lashed out at the nomenclature, insisting that the on-again, off-again tariff threats were simply part of his master negotiating strategy. Impacts of the tariff war are already being felt as recurring jobless claims spike, automakers such as Nissan are seeking to downsize their workforces, volatility hits the housing market, and retailers scramble to ‘go private’ as their share prices feel the turbulence, although consumer confidence briefly rallied in May with the tariff delays. Trump met with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Thursday to express his frustration at the Fed’s continuing refusal to cut rates, as Powell maintains a ‘wait and see’ posture on intervention.The International Labor Organization estimates that 7 million jobs may evaporate worldwide this year if the tariff chaos continues. The Economist’s cover feature this week outlines elements of what it sees as a new, emerging financial order coming out of the trade war.
Trump delivers politicized remarks at West Point, Arlington Cemetery touting ‘new era’ for military as changes disturb traditionalists, worry critics. This Memorial Day weekend, Trump was blasted by critics for launching ‘bizarre’ rants during his West Point commencement speech on Saturday, May 24 as well as his remarks at Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day. Trump’s Memorial Day address in Arlington was preceded by an all-caps rant on Truth Social blasting his political opponents, which was later taken down. During the nearly hour-long, rally-style speech at West Point, Trump not only rambled about ‘trophy wives’ and veered off on myriad tangents, but also claimed to have ‘rebuilt’ the military and lauded the graduates as being the first in a new ‘Golden Age’ for the armed forces. Under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Trump Administration has attempted to enact many changes to the military apparatus and mission, some of which are related to the Trump Administration’s wider purge of DEI – such as banning hundreds of books from military libraries, banning transgender servicemembers, and removing historical references to minorities on military websites. Other shakeups that have drawn criticism have included Hegseth’s summary firings of top generals, as well as a new policy this week banning press access to the Pentagon without escort by Trump Administration personnel. The Washington Post reported this week on the chaos inside Hegseth’s Pentagon, characterizing competing factions as locked into a ‘cold war’ over access to the Trump Administration’s inner circle. Trump’s attempts to reshape a traditionally non-partisan military culture and appoint loyalists to leadership roles have caused concern among analysts and observers. Never-Trump conservative Will Saletan writes in the Bulwark this week on how Trump’s push to control the military in his second term by encouraging loyalty to the president above the Constitution can make a critical difference in his ability to push past judicial checks and balances. As Trump prepares for his much-touted military parade on June 14, displacing a traditional memorial ceremony for Vietnam veterans in the process, the Intercept warns that the parade may cost much more than the $45 million originally budgeted.
Rubio announces plan to ‘aggressively’ revoke Chinese student visas as all incoming applications for international students paused. On Wednesday, May 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump Administration will ‘aggressively’ revoke visas of Chinese students, especially those with ‘ties to the Communist Party’ and studying in ‘critical fields’. He also announced that the State Department will enhance scrutiny of all student visa applications from China and Hong Kong going forward. On Thursday, China condemned the move, calling it “unreasonable” as well as “politically motivated and discriminatory.” The Trump Administration also directed U.S. embassies around the world to pause all new student visa interviews, as the State Department weighs plans to add enhanced social media vetting of international students. Around 275,000 Chinese students are currently studying in the United States, out of over 1 million international students in total, contributing to the solvency of many public universities as well as acting as a pipeline of scientific talent for U.S. industry; a Washington Post analysis shows that international students contributed approximately $44 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2023-24 school year. The uncertainty has left many Chinese students ‘in despair’ as they try to figure out next steps, as many international students ‘regret’ applying to U.S. institutions in the new political climate.
Trump escalates confrontation with Harvard by moving to cut all federal ties; University of California next in crosshairs as McMahon issues warning to higher education. Harvard University held its commencement this week under a ‘cloud of fear and uncertainty’ following new attacks from the Trump Administration. After last week’s legal setback in the Administration’s attempt to purge Harvard of international students, Trump stepped up his confrontation with the Ivy League university this week by directing federal agencies to cancel all contracts with the institution, totaling around $100 million. The State Department also announced this week that it will be reviewing all Harvard-affiliated visa holders, not just students but also visiting scholars, faculty, and all foreign nationals working at the institution. In a court filing this week, Harvard’s counsel warned that some international students were afraid of attending commencement due to deportation threats. On Monday, May 26, Trump announced on Truth Social that he is considering taking $3 billion of grant money awarded to Harvard for scientific and engineering research and redirecting it to trade schools. During an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, May 28, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated that “Universities should continue to be able to do research as long as they’re abiding by the laws and are in sync, I think, with the administration and what the administration is trying to accomplish.” This week, the Department of Justice announced that it would extend its ‘antisemitism probe’ beyond the Ivy League, targeting the 10-campus University of California system; task force leader Leo Terrell warned that the UC system should expect “massive lawsuits” and that other universities “on the East Coast, the West Coast, and the Midwest” could be similarly targeted. Jason Stanley, a fascism scholar who left Yale for Canada in March over Trump policies, said in a new interview with MSNBC this week that Trump’s attacks on the ‘crown jewel’ of U.S. higher education will ‘go from bad to worse’ and that ‘all dictators smash universities’. The Atlantic considers the attack on universities in the context of Trump Administration’s other cuts in public health, science, libraries and arts as an ‘attack on knowledge itself’ threatening to plunge the U.S. into a ‘new dark age’.
Elon Musk steps down from government role amid criticism of Trump budget bill. On Wednesday, May 28, Elon Musk announced he would be leaving his government position to focus more on his companies. Musk, nearing the end of his 130-day term limit as a ‘special government employee’ heading DOGE, is leaving on a mixed note, a few days after leveling criticism at the proposed budget bill for adding to the federal deficit. Musk also expressed frustration at the Trump Administration’s multi-billion-dollar deal with the UAE for a massive new AI data center in Abu Dhabi involving OpenAI, a company headed by rival Sam Altman. In his announcement on X, Musk said that the work he started with DOGE will continue as it ‘becomes a way of life for government’. Bloomberg reports that by the numbers, DOGE failed to achieve any net savings for the government, as federal spending was up compared to the same time in previous years. Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen spoke of the ‘legacy of carnage and corruption’ Musk is leaving behind as he took his proverbial chainsaw to the federal workforce, cutting an estimated 200,000-plus federal workers through layoffs, firings or government buyouts since Trump took office. Although a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against further layoffs last Friday, May 23, several agencies are still cutting or plan to cut workers. This week, it was reported that nearly 2,100 General Services Administration workers have taken deferred resignation offers; more than 100 National Security Council staffers have been placed on administrative leave; the Pentagon’s IT agency plans to slash its workforce by 10 percent; the State Department is planning to reduce its staff by approximately 3,400 employees; and the VA plans to cut up to 83,000 employees. The Washington Post ran a feature story on how federal employees have been left traumatized by the massive cuts, understaffing and job uncertainty that has resulted from DOGE.
Immigration updates: Trump Administration sets quota of 3,000 ICE arrests per day, announces new ‘Office of Remigration’, expands surveillance state. In a meeting held by Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem this week, the Trump Administration directed immigration officials to ramp up the pace of immigration enforcement arrests to 3,000 per day, with a goal of 1 million per year - which would more than triple the current rate of arrests. CNN reports on how the demand for increased deportation numbers from the White House have left law enforcement agencies strained for resources, as the Administration has drawn personnel from the FBI, Customs, and the military to bolster their efforts. ICE is also employing new tactics to secure arrests, such as lying in wait at courthouses to arrest migrants after hearings, using ‘wellness checks’ to gain access to migrant children at home or school, and working with state and local police to glean information from license plate lookups. Wired reports this week that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been collecting DNA from migrant children and entering their genetic information into the country’s CODIS criminal database in order to flag them in the case of potential crimes committed in the future. A high school student was taken from a routine court hearing by ICE this week in New York City, the first reported instance of a public school student being arrested in the city since Trump began his second term; and CNN reports on how Washington DC’s sanctuary city policies have been eroded by the Trump Administration. The New Republic discusses the legal dimensions of ICE’s shifting tactics, particularly in the “covering of faces and escalation of the use of force” as well as mass arrests using administrative warrants. The State Department informed Congress this week of the Trump Administration’s intention to create an “Office of Remigration” to serve as a ‘hub for immigration issues and repatriation.’ Journalist Marisa Kabas outlines the historical and ideological roots of the concept of “remigration” in far-right extremist and neo-Nazi movements in Europe. On Tuesday, May 27, the Trump Administration appealed to the Supreme Court to make it easier for the government to deport migrants to third-party countries such as South Sudan, in a case where a judge blocked a flight of migrants to the war-torn region last week. Rolling Stone outlines the misleading claims made in the Trump Administration’s brief, which sought to lift a block requiring the government to give migrants due process to contest their deportation before being removed from the United States. ProPublica discusses the long history of the far-right’s fringe legal theory underpinning the Trump Administration’s arguments for suspending habeas corpus for immigrants. Also this week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that wealthy foreigners will soon be able to register and pay $5 million for a ‘gold card’ visa allowing them to live and work in the United States.
MOVEMENT TRACKER
Republican lawmakers roasted again at townhalls as they face new wave of constituent anger over budget bill. After the Trump-backed budget bill passed in the GOP-dominated House and is now being taken up by the Senate, House Republicans returned this week to a scathing ‘buzzsaw of criticism’ from constituents at local town halls as they struggled to defend the bill’s cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood was met with a flood of boos and shouting from hundreds of people who attended a townhall in his home district this week, and was forced to admit he did not read the full bill when grilled by constituents about its provisions attacking the courts. In Iowa, Rep. Ashley Hinson was repeatedly interrupted with boos and shouts of “Liar!” and “Fraud!” as she attempted to defend Trump to constituents. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst faced an angry crowd as she attempted to defend the bill, shrugging off constituents’ concerns that people may die as a result of Medicaid cuts by retorting that “we’re all going to die.” At the Colorado State Capitol, Reps. Lauren Boebert and Gabe Evans were shouted down by protestors as they attempted to defend the bill over a ‘steady drone of cat calling and chanting’ from the crowd that continued ‘without pause’ throughout their hour-long event.
Boycotts and community defense continue to gather resistance momentum. As Elon Musk leaves government to re-focus on his companies, Tesla’s numbers continue to decline dramatically thanks to a worldwide movement to protest the brand. New numbers from Europe this week show that Tesla’s sales have dropped by nearly half year-on-year, even as overall electric car sales have gone up. Many local #TeslaTakedown protests have become regular weekly occurrences, as protestors keep up sustained pressure on the company and in the community. Following the success of the nationwide Target boycott, leaders in the Black interfaith community are now calling for a boycott of Dollar General over the company’s withdrawal of its DEI policies. As fewer international tourists plan trips to the United States for fear of being detained by ICE, European airlines have dramatically reduced flights to the United States in favor of servicing travel demand to other countries with “fewer political complications.” The New York Times reports this week on how emerging community networks in Nashville have provided early warning of ICE presence in neighborhoods, acting as ‘unofficial chroniclers’ of ICE activity and setting up hotlines where community members can report sightings. Nashville’s mayor has drawn ire from Republican lawmakers for holding firm on refusing to cooperate with ICE, as well as from DHS for allegedly leaking information on ICE officers to alert the community. New York City activists turned out in force to protest the ICE arrest of a high school student as he left a routine immigration hearing this week, resulting in several arrests outside the immigration court where he was detained. Students from dozens of NYC high schools walked out on Tuesday, May 27 to protest the Trump Administration and its immigration policy. Researcher and journalist Teddy Wilson has published a map of potential far-right counterprotests targeting LGBTQIA+ events during Pride Month in order to alert targeted communities of possible confrontation and risk.
Worldwide protests, international pressure to end the Israeli war on Gaza joined by protests within Israel. This week, international condemnation of Israel’s ethnic cleansing operations in Gaza turned into what Axios called a ‘diplomatic tsunami’ as European countries that have ‘traditionally held back’ from criticism of Israel stepped up efforts to pressure Netanyahu to end the war on Gaza. Over the weekend, Spain hosted a meeting of European and Arab nations in Madrid urging the international community to consider sanctions on Israel, as pro-Palestine demonstrations took to the streets in major cities worldwide. In Paris, protestors poured blood-red dye into the city’s ‘Fountain of Innocents’ to denounce the Israeli blockade and ‘stop the bloodbath’ in Gaza. Students in the United States demonstrated in support of Palestine at several university commencements this week in defiance of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on student protests, including at Hunter College, Princeton, and Columbia. MIT banned 2025 class president Megha Vemuri from its graduation ceremony after she delivered a speech in support of Palestine at a commencement event on Thursday. At Harvard, a coalition of students and community members held a 24-hour vigil during which they read aloud the names of 12,000 Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces. Veterans for Peace and several allied organizations launched a 40-day ‘Fast for Gaza’ hunger strike to call international attention to the critical starvation conditions in Gaza after eleven weeks of the Israeli aid blockade. The Guardian reports on an open letter signed by 380 prominent writers, producers and organizations calling for media and the international community to call the Israeli assault a ‘genocide’, and over 1,200 Israeli academics issued an open letter calling on universities to ‘speak out’ and act to stop the war on Gaza. Netanyahu also faces escalating pressure within Israel after walking back a statement saying he was seeking a deal to free the remaining Israeli hostages, infuriating the hostages’ families. On Wednesday May 28, the 600th day of the Israeli war on Gaza, protests were staged by hostages’ families throughout the country calling for Netanyahu to end the hostilities and bring the hostages home, while in Tel Aviv, protestors stormed the Likud party’s headquarters, setting fires in the street to demand a ceasefire and safe return of the hostages.
Upcoming Protests and Events.
Friday, May 30: Stand up for Science is calling on expecting and new mothers to join in a mothers’ protest outside the CDC in Atlanta to demand access to COVID-19 vaccines for children and pregnant women. More information can be found at this link.
Saturday, May 31: Protests against Avelo Airlines, a contractor for ICE deportation flights, are being held in 26 cities and regional airports across the country. More information and a list of local protests can be found at StopAvelo.org .
Friday, June 6: Veterans are calling for a Hands Off Veterans march in Washington DC and state capitols across the country to defend the constitution on the anniversary of D-Day. More information and a map of local events can be found at Unite4Veterans.org .
Saturday, June 14: A nationwide No Kings Day of Action is being held at over 1000 locations across the country. More information and a map of local protests can be found at NoKings.org. Indivisible Chicago is also hosting a ‘Chalk the Walk’ event before the march to encourage children and families to participate.
Saturday, June 14: Human Rights Campaign and other organizations are staging an action to demand freedom for Andry, a 31-year-old gay Venezuelan artist currently held in El Salvador, which will take place in Washington, DC near the World Pride event. More details can be found at this link.
