Trump’s Joe Rogan Problem is Getting Worse... & Today's News
PDS Published 04/22/2025
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The fight over Trump’s immigration actions are intensifying, with the Supreme Court and the administration barrelling towards what might become a full blown constitutional crisis.
And to start, we have to go back to Saturday when the Supreme Court issued an emergency order at like 1 am to block the administration from deporting even more Venezuelans accused of being part of Tren de Ah-ra-gwa. []
Right, the Trump administration is using the controversial 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport people it claims are part of the gang.
Now notably, this act has only been used like three other times ever to go after people and each time, it’s been a black stain on America’s history -- but I’m sure this time it’ll be different. []
And normally a gang wouldn’t be targeted under this act since it’s meant to remove people working with “enemy” governments,
And so to justify that, the Trump administration has accused them of being an operation by Venezuelan Dictator Nicholas Maduro.
With that, earlier this month, the administration began flying alleged gang members to El Salvador.
Obviously, there was going to be a ton of litigation around this, and the Supreme Court stepped in early in April to essentially say:
“Hey, you need to give people that you want to deport enough time to challenge their deportations before removing them from the US.” []
However, there were growing signs that the Trump administration was going to violate that ruling -- or at least the spirit of it.
Right, because this past Thursday, immigration officials started issuing notices to Venezuelans being held in a Texas detention center that read:
“I am a law enforcement officer authorized to apprehend, restrain and remove alien enemies.”
“Accordingly, under the Alien Enemies Act, you have been determined to be an alien enemy subject to apprehension, restraint and removal from the United States.”
Critics then accused the administration of violating the Supreme Court’s order because:
a) the letter was only in English and many of the recipients don’t speak English.
And b) it was given out late Thursday night, meaning they would have just a few hours to get a hold of a lawyer and fight the case by Friday morning or risk getting deported over the weekend.
So the ACLU sprung into action and challenged the government’s action.
Reporting is a bit hazy here, but it seems they initially tried to go to the District court before turning to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and then the Supreme Court for help.
And at around 1 am on Saturday, the Supreme Court stepped in with an extremely short order that essentially blocked the government from deporting these Venezuelans.
…Notably, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals actually denied the ACLU’s request, claiming that they needed to wait for the district court to make a decision before intervening… outside of crazy circumstances.
And they didn’t feel this was a crazy circumstance, claiming “...the district court’s order today indicates that Petitioners gave the court only 42 minutes to act—and did not give Respondents an opportunity to respond.”
And this reasoning was echoed later in the evening after Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas released their dissent.
Pretty much their argument is that this was an “unprecedented” move by the Supreme Court and was “hastily and prematurely granted.”
And “In sum, literally in the middle of the night, the Court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule, without hearing from the opposing party, within eight hours of receiving the application, with dubious factual support for its order, and without providing any explanation for its order.”
Like we talked about earlier, the Court told the Trump Administration it needed to give people ample time to challenge their deportations.
And many feel that Alito’s dissent ignores the reality that the government’s actions arguably skirted that order, as well as the fact that the government is willing to move very quickly to deport people.
Not to mention that allegedly there were Venezuelans already on buses -- presumably to be sent to airports -- when the ACLU made its motions.
It’s not like Alito was completely wrong though in calling this “unprecedented.”
For example, this administrative stay was made by the entire court.
But normally, they’re done by a single Justice who oversees that district court -- in this case the Fifth is Alito’s territory.
And considering he dissented, it’s very likely that no stay would have been issued if it was his choice.
It’s also extremely unusual for the Supreme Court to issue its ruling before a dissent has been written.
Right, normally they’re released at the same time.
But considering there were fears people were going to get deported within hours, the court might have felt it had to move super fast. We just don’t know as of right now.
But with all that, notably, there’s a growing narrative online among Trump supporters that the court is overstepping its boundaries and should be ignored,
With some saying things like:
“So if the Supreme Court can overrule the executive branch, does that mean the executive branch can overrule Supreme Court decisions since they are both “co-equal branches“?” []
And conservative radio host Jesse Kelly arguing:
“Ignore the Supreme Court. Arrest anyone who tries to enforce this. Dissolve the Supreme Court entirely if they push.
You can deport foreigners or you don’t have a country anymore. There are no good choices now.” []
And this is just one of the potential constitutional crises going on.
Another is a fight over due process, which underpins almost all of this.
Tldr: people in America are afforded due process, which gives them a chance to fight their charges.
And without these hearings, the government doesn’t have to “prove” anything about the people they’re rounding up.
They just wave a magic wand and claim someone is a Salvadoran MS-13 gang member and therefore needs to be deported… such as in Kilmar Abrego-Garica’s case.
(TANGENT but even the administration has admitted multiple times in court that Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported… but then also publicly going back on that and tweeting things like this. [if it walks like a duck tweet].)
And many MAGA-supporters increasingly don’t think allegedly undocumented people should get due process.
For example, last week, Vice President JD Vance tweeted out a defense of the administration's actions and wrote:
“ask the people weeping over the lack of due process what precisely they propose for dealing with Biden's millions and millions of illegals. And with reasonable resources and administrative judge constraints, does their solution allow us to deport at least a few million people per year?” []
Though critics have pushed back, saying his argument is essentially “there’s too many people to process fairly, so let’s just skip the Constitution.” []
Takes like this have even set off alarm bells in people who otherwise support Trump, like Joe Rogan who said in this now viral clip:
“‘What about due process?’ ‘No, fuck that.’ Well here’s the problem with ‘fuck that.’ What if you are an enemy of -- lets not say any current president let’s pretend we got a new president. Totally new guy in 2028 and this is a common practice now of rounding up gang members now with no due process and shipping them to El Salvador. ‘You’re a gang member!’ ‘No I’m not.’ ‘Prove it.’ What, I got to go to court. ‘Nope, no due process.’” @:28-:51
Right, and with all that, we can’t forget to cover the guy who’s at the center of all this: Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The latest update on his situation is that his surroundings are slightly better -- according to court filings the government made.
Right, they’re required to update the court every few days about Kilmar’s situation.
He’s now allegedly being held at a lower security prison where he gets his own bed and furniture,
Although he was reportedly held in solitary confinement for weeks, which could mean NO furnishings at all.
That swap was apparently done BEFORE Senator Chris Van Hollen visited him last week. []
And speaking of visits, four Democratic lawmakers just landed yesterday in El Salvador to try and get Abrego Garcia out, with Representative Robert Garcia saying:
“While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported.”
“That is why we’re here — to remind the American people that kidnapping immigrants and deporting them without due process is not how we do things in America.”
And while the State Department said yesterday that Abrego-Garcia is in “good conditions and in an excellent state of health,” these Democrats are demanding “daily proof of life.”[]
Though the Salvadoran government rejected their attempts to see him, arguing that they’re not in the country "in an official capacity." []
But finally, we started this story talking about Venezuelans being held in El Salvador and it looks like there might be an update on that,
In a post on X directed to the Venezuelan president, Bukele offered an exchange:
252 Venezuelans who were deported from the US and are being held in El Salvador for the same number of, quote, “political prisoners” being held in Venezuela. []
With Bukele listing off the names of journalists, activists, and the family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela.
As well as accusing the government in Venezuela of detaining nearly 50 citizens of other nationalities - including Americans. []
And adding, “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud.” []
To this, the prosecutor’s office in Venezuela responded by calling Bukele a “neofascist” and saying his comments were, quote, “cynical.” []
As well as demanding information about the people the Salvadorian government has detained - including their legal status and medical reports. []
With their statement coming in hot - saying,
“The treatment received by Venezuelans in the United States and El Salvador, constitutes a serious violation of international human rights law and constitutes a crime against humanity.” []
Now, there’s still a lot of uncertainty around the specifics of Bukele’s proposed swap - with a big question being are the “political prisoners” going to be free upon getting to El Salvador?
So this is definitely something we’re going to have to keep our eyes on.
In the meantime, who’s excited to read about the constitutional crises of 2025 in their grandkids’ history books?
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“Something needs to be done about SkinnyTok.”
Right, that’s what people all over the world are saying right now,
And if you’re unfamiliar with that term, well, it is pretty much what it sounds like, right.
It’s a hashtag that’s existed on TikTok for a while but has really taken off in the last couple months, with a trend of people posting strict rules and advice for weight loss.
When you search for SkinnyTok on the app, it does give you a message saying that “you are more than your weight” and that help is out there if you have questions or concerns about body image. []
But once you scroll to the videos under the tag, you're met with mantras like this:
“What you eat in private will always show in public.” (0:28-0:30)
“Eat only what you want to stay in your body past the taste on your lips.” (0:56-1:00)
“If you want to be small, you eat small. If you want to be big, you eat big.” (0:26-0:30)
“Why do you eat like a linebacker and expect to look like a ballerina.” (0:20-0:24)
You’ll also see people posting body checks, what I eat in a day videos, content like that.
The hashtag has 56,000 posts, but not all SkinnyTok creators even use the hashtag, so there are many, many more related videos. []
But, as you might be able to imagine, a lot of people find SkinnyTok to be concerning, arguing it promotes disordered eating and a generally unhealthy obsession with thinness.
And this is something that has caught the attention of France’s minister for digital media, who just reported this hashtag to the French regulator Arcom and to the European Union.
With her saying in a statement that:
“These videos promoting extreme thinness are revolting and absolutely unacceptable. Digital tools are marvellous in terms of progress and freedom, but badly used they can shatter lives … the social networks cannot escape their responsibility.”
According to Politico, Arcom is now working with the European Commission to investigate “given the public health risk” the trend may pose. []
With this coming as the commission has already opened a probe into how TikTok’s algorithm affects minors.
And TikTok said it has deleted posts and has rules against body shaming, dangerous behavior linked to weight loss, and age restrictions for content idealling certain body types, []
But many think the platform has not done enough.
With a nurse in France starting a petition calling on TikTok to remove SkinnyTok content, with that effort getting over 25,000 signatures.
And the effects of SkinnyTok are not just being felt in France or in Europe.
Rolling Stone just did a piece noting that overall, weight-loss content online has gotten “mean again.”
Right, people are shifting away from body positivity, prompting more people to come across shaming tactics on their FYPs instead.
Pointing to one creator with 900,000 followers who has said things like:
“You’re hungry at night? Chew on your pillow. What about running? Run to the kitchen and eat less food.”
With the outlet adding that:
“Actively seeking out people who will be direct and mean can seem counterintuitive. But part of the draw for #SkinnyTok is that creators often publicly say out loud the thoughts people usually think to themselves.”
And there, you had Dr. Erin Parks, the chief clinical officer of the virtual treatment center Equip explaining:
“This is harmful for everyone, whether you have an eating disorder or not. It is taking the depressive, self-critical thoughts that exist in all of our heads and it is amplifying them. I’m worried about the long term harm to our brains as we’re laying down these pathways — ’How I look is my worth’ and ‘What I eat makes me good or bad’ — and reinforcing them again and again.”
And while a lot of these creators believe their content to be just motivational and honest, not toxic and dangerous, you had one author telling Rolling Stone that SkinnyTok is really just a mask-off approach towards diet culture that removes the “wellness” coded language disordered eating creators often hide behind.
With some comparing it to the eras of pro-anorexia Tumblr or ED Twitter. []
And so I would love to know your thoughts on this trend, on leaders in France taking action against it, and if you have noticed these weight loss narratives changing on your own FYP as well.
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Harvard is suing the Trump administration over its threats to withhold funding from the university.
Right, as we talked about last week, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funds to the university after it refused to comply with a list of demands outlined in a letter sent on April 11th from a new panel called the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.
And, among other things, the demands outlined in the letter included instructing the school to shutter all DEI programs, change its admissions, hiring, and governance practices —
As well as take a number of steps to crack down on pro-Palestine viewpoints as part of what they claim are efforts to combat antisemitism.
And, since then, the administration has also threatened the university’s tax-exempt status and ability to enroll foreign students.
With it also now being reported that officials are planning to cut another $1 billion specifically for health research.
But now the school is fighting back in court, setting up a massive clash between the nation’s most prestigious university and the Trump administration.
And in the lawsuit — which is filed against numerous departments and their leaders — Harvard specifically accuses the administration of violating its First Amendment rights, federal administrative procedures, and other regulations for actions of this nature.
Alleging that the government has been trying “to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decisionmaking at Harvard.”
With the complaint going on to claim that the administration’s actions “threaten Harvard’s academic independence” and “are part of a broader effort by the Government to punish Harvard for protecting its constitutional rights.”
And, VERY notably here, the suit also argues that the Trump administration has failed to establish any connection between the funding freeze and fighting antisemitism.
Noting that Harvard has been making structural reforms to combat it on campus, but instead of engaging the school on those efforts, the administration is trying to freeze funding “that has nothinvg at all to do with antisemitism,” adding:
“The Government has not—and cannot—identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen”
And that is something that was also echoed by Harvard President Alan Garber in a statement announcing the lawsuit yesterday, writing:
“As a Jew and as an American, I know very well that there are valid concerns about rising antisemitism.”
And going on to reiterate that the school has been taking tangible action on that front, and then adding:
“Before taking punitive action, the law requires that the federal government engage with us about the ways we are fighting and will continue to fight antisemitism.”
But claiming that instead, the government’s demands “seek to control whom we hire and what we teach.”
With Garber also accusing the administration of trying to impose “unprecedented and improper control” over Harvard, and arguing that “the consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting.”
With him specifically outlining research that will be jeopardized by the freezes, including efforts to help children survive cancer, understand how cancer spreads, predict the spread of outbreaks, and reduce the risk of disease, adding:
“The victims will be future patients and their loved ones who will suffer the heartbreak of illnesses that might have been prevented or treated more effectively.”
And further claiming that the funding freeze “undermines the nation’s ability to save American lives, foster American success, and maintain America’s position as a global leader in innovation.”
Now, as far as what happens next, Harvard is asking a judge to declare that the administration’s freeze is unconstitutional and order it to reverse any frozen or terminated funding.
And legal experts say they have a solid case — especially regarding allegations that the Trump administration violated laws governing administrative procedure and regulations.
But, as far as how the administration has responded, it has made it clear that it won’t go down without a fight.
With a White House spokesperson issuing a statement saying:
“The gravy train of federal assistance to institutions like Harvard, which enrich their grossly overpaid bureaucrats with tax dollars from struggling American families is coming to an end. Taxpayer funds are a privilege, and Harvard fails to meet the basic conditions required to access that privilege.”
But for now, we’ll have to wait and see how all this plays out.
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We gotta talk about why the stock market is all over the place, the dollar is down, and gold is at an all-time high.
And more than that, what two men have to do with it all: American President Donald Trump and Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell.
Right, long story short, Trump’s tariffs triggered a Wall Street sell-off and stoked fears of an economic recession.
To help offset impacts on the stock market, Trump wants Powell to lower interest rates.
But the Fed is supposed to be insulated from politics, and for good reason, so Trump’s escalating attacks on Powell have just actually just added to the market turmoil. .
But now, for the slightly longer version, I’ll start by pointing out that Trump himself actually nominated Powell back in 2017.
He then talked about firing the man at least once every subsequent year of his presidency – except for those 20 days in January before Joe Biden took over in 2021.
And with that, Biden appointed Powell to another four-year term in 2022, and then, you know, didn’t constantly threaten to fire him.
But of course, as soon as Trump returned, he reportedly got right back to it.
With the Wall Street Journal reporting last week that he had been privately discussing getting rid of Powell for months.
After announcing his Liberation Day Tariffs, you had him calling out Powell publicly, saying it “would be a PERFECT time…to cut Interest Rates.” []
But the thing is, the Fed doesn’t care about Trump’s economic agenda, at least not directly.
Right, its job, simply put, is to keep inflation in check while maximising employment.
Over the last few years, it’s actually been able to help bring down inflation while keeping the unemployment rate relatively low.
Right, inflation peaked at around 9% in 2022, but last month, it was down to 2.4%.
Which is pretty close to the agency’s 2 percent target.
All while unemployment levels have remained pretty low as well, although, I will say, Trump’s tariffs have also sparked fears about that.
But in any case, last week, Powell noted that Trump’s tariffs were “highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation” – which, for the most part, means cutting rates is exactly what you would not do.
With Powell himself suggesting there’s no rush to act and that the Fed can “wait for greater clarity” before making any decisions.
This, however, seemed to set Trump off, with publicly calling for Powell to be fired the next day, writing on social media:
"Powell's termination cannot come fast enough." []
With one of Trump’s top economic advisers soon confirming that officials would continue to study the question of whether they can legally fire Powell.
Right, because Powell? He has seemingly made it clear he won’t step down if Trump asks him to resign, speaking at an event last week, for example, and saying:
“Our independence is a matter of law.”
“We’re not removable except for cause.”
And that’s likely true, but since it’s never happened, it is ultimately somewhat unclear whether Trump actually has the authority to remove Powell.
Though, notably, the Supreme Court is currently hearing a case that could give the president more power to fire some federal officials before their terms are up.[]
So we’ll have to see what they decide there and whether it applies to the Fed, but either way, there’s no doubt that firing Powell would be unprecedented.
And whatever Trump may think, it would very likely do even further damage to the American economy.
Right, economic research, for example, has suggested that an independent central bank is more likely to keep inflation in check because it is more willing to do unpopular things, like raise interest rates, to fight rising prices []
And with that, you have experts including an economics professor at UC Davis claiming that “central bank independence is the key to financial stability and low inflation.”[]
WIth one analyst suggesting to CNBC that any attempt by Trump to fire Powell would trigger a, quote, “severe reaction in markets with yields higher, dollars lower and equities selling off.” []
And in fact, we’re already seeing how that may be true.
Right, early yesterday morning, Trump again took to social media urging Powell to cut interest rates "pre-emptively"
Claiming that energy costs are down, that food prices are substantially lower, and that there is “virtually No Inflation.”
And going on to say: "There can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.” []
And over the course of the day yesterday, stocks slid.
Today, of course, they’ve mostly bounced back.
But the whole episode shows what kind of impact Trump has.
And also, notably, stocks aren’t the only sign of investors losing confidence in the U.S.
Right, when stocks slump, investors often seek out so-called "safe haven" assets – normally including the American dollar and U.S. government bonds.
Yesterday, however, the dollar index fell to its lowest level since 2022, and bonds are being sold off as well.
And instead, people are buying up good old-fashioned gold, the most tried and true “safe haven” asset.
The price of which just hit an all-time record high yesterday of more than $3,500 per ounce.
And with all that, the IMF today just released a growth forecast for this year that gave the U.S. the biggest downgrade among advanced economies, thanks in large part to tariffs.
And of course, other countries are projected to be hit hard as well.
But ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see how this all ends up.
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This viral video introduced the world to a pair of Australian treasures!
Right, if you’ve existed on the internet in recent days, you may have seen this video in some capacity.
“And one guy, he was up there with our mum. And he, he went up there and he was coming back down towards us and he goes, ‘Run, he’s got a gun!’ and, oh, our hearts started to pound and I said, ‘Mum. Where’s mum?’ And poor Mum was stuck up there. But apparently our brave mum she goes, ‘Are you alright?’ because he had blood all over his face. And he goes, ‘I’ll shoot you.’ And she goes, ‘Hey, I’m here to help.’” 0:20-0:53
That is Paula and Bridgette Powers talking in unison about a carjacking their mother experienced.
And no, I absolutely cannot tell you which is Paula and which is Bridgette.
But as this video gained traction online and people were talking about these women and their in-stereo speech, many Australians weren’t too surprised.
Because the Powers “Twinnies” are well-known Down Under - both for their connection with each other and their bird sanctuary.
Right, after working with Steve Irwin briefly, Bridgette and Paula branched out on their own and have been running the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue for over 20 years.
And over that time, they’ve saved thousands of injured, orphaned, and sick native birds.
According to one veterinarian and TV host, quote,
“One of the true strengths the twins possess is this incredible ability to read a bird and just watch it for 30 seconds and almost know medically what's going on with it. You can go to university for years and years and not be able to do that." []
“If there's a bird in distress or even a turtle the Twinnies respond. Every single waking minute will be spent tending to that animal and they don't really rest until the patient's needs are taken care of." []
Back in 2020, for example, they found a pelican egg on the edge of a dam - it had rolled away from its nest site and the Twinnies brought it inside, incubated it, and raised the bird for months before releasing it into the wild.
They take injured birds, sick ones, lost ones - any kind that you can imagine.
With Steve Irwin’s father Bob saying that he thinks 90 percent of the birds that have come into the Twinnies’ care would have died without intervention - adding,
"I hate to think of how many hundreds and maybe thousands of birds would be dead now if not for the Twinnies.” []
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Bridgette and Paula.
Besides the public ridicule they’ve faced for their unique speech patterns and identical style choices, they’ve also been battling health issues their entire life.
Including osteoporosis, stomach issues, and heart problems. []
Sometimes, it’s hard to get out of bed - with the Twinnies saying in an interview,
“But we know we've got to look after our feathered friends over in our centre and they need our help.” []
Even the center itself has had issues - a couple years ago, money got really tight for the Twinnies.
They were scraping by on public donations, their father's Vietnam War pension, and the occasional government grant. []
But eventually, that wasn’t enough and the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue faced the very real threat of eviction.
That is, until a philanthropist based in Brisbane stepped in and purchased the site from the Twinnies’ landlord of 12 years. []
Promising to work with them and make the site exactly what they need.
With their mother saying at the time,
And because of that generosity, the Twinnies have been able to continue their work.
Which is gravely needed - the urban development of the Sunshine Coast has led to countless seabirds being caught up in fishing lines, struck by propellers, or even injured by humans. []
Not to mention the storms - with Tropical Cyclone Alfred wreaking havoc on the native birds of Australia earlier this year and dozens of birds being transferred to the Twinnies’ rehab center.
So for their work, I’d like to give Paula and Bridgette the DeFranco stamp of BAMFs of the Day.
Thank you both for doing what you’re doing.
Go to Henson Shaving and enter DEFRANCO at checkout for 100 blades with purchase.
