Times Opinion is using today's newsletter to stay on top of President Trump's moves, putting a spotlight on areas that Americans can't afford to turn away from. Tariff whiplash: Trump made another U-turn on tariffs, putting a 90-day pause on all of his "Liberation Day" levies except for those on China, which he raised to 145 percent. (China returned the favor.) My colleague Matthew Rose convened a group of economists to discuss the prospects and consequences of Trump's erratic tariff strategy. Rebecca Patterson, one of those economists, argues that even if the United States avoids the worst, long-term damage has still been done. The Opinion columnist Tom Friedman writes that Trump has damaged America's alliances and boosted China's standing. On "The Opinions," my colleague Binyamin Appelbaum tells my colleague Patrick Healy that Trump's trade war with China is destroying the very same American industries we should be nurturing. In a guest essay, Oren Cass argues that Trump can still achieve his trade goals if he corrects course. On my colleague Ross Douthat's new podcast, "Interesting Times," Cass explains why he thinks the tariffs may be worth all the pain that they've caused. (The essay and the podcast are from before the 90-day pause but are still valuable.)
Trump's deportation machine meets resistance: Two federal courts have placed due process restrictions on the government's ability to use the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law that the administration claims gives it the authority to deport migrants who have not been convicted of a crime. While the Supreme Court has not yet decided that core question, it did rule on Thursday that the government must "facilitate and effectuate the return" of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a migrant the government wrongly deported to El Salvador. As my colleague David French argues, due process is vital and fundamental, and we must defend it on moral and ethical grounds, not just out of fear that our own rights may be in danger. In a guest essay, Jason P. Houser, a chief of staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Biden administration, argues that Trump's immigration enforcement regime amounts to "dangerous political theater" that compounds the errors of his predecessors.
A link for levity: I edited this fun and thought-provoking examination of selfies and self-portraits by Marisa Mazria Katz and Nato Thompson. An opportunity for the Democrats: David Wallace-Wells explains that while elite liberal opinion has been defeatist and overly conciliatory in the aftermath of last year's elections, the Democratic rank and file has kept the flame of resistance alive. In the wake of "Liberation Day" and the Hands Off protests, the anti-Trump alliance may become a much-needed check on the administration's agenda. In a guest essay Josh Barro argues that Trump's botched tariff strategy hands the Democratic Party an easy and powerful message: It should be "the party that wants to make Americans rich and free," rather than try to be a protectionist party with smarter tariffs. Slight return: Matthew Schmitz argues that conservatives soured on foreign aid because liberals turned it into a new front in the domestic culture war. Margaret Renkl tells us what the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities will cost Americans; Mark Bauerlein argues that instead of making indiscriminate cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, Trump should be reforming and refocusing them. Adam Harris says that Trump has won an unalloyed victory in his "gutting of K-12 education." What else I'm reading to understand the world today: "Did Nonvoters Really Flip Republican in 2024? The Evidence Says No" at Data and Democracy, "Religion in 2024: The Plateau Is Real" by Ryan Burge, "The Apathetic Court" by Duncan Hosie for The New York Review of Books. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Games Here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle and Spelling Bee. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here. Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. If you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other issues, visit our Help Page or contact The Times.
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