White House adviser confident tariff ruling will be overturned and says three trade deals nearly done
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has said there are three trade deals nearly done and he expects more despite a court ruling blocking Donald Trump from imposing his sweeping tariff regime.
“There are many, many deals coming. And there were three that basically look like they’re done,” Hassett said in an interview with Fox Business Network.
Hassett dismissed a US court of international trade ruling yesterday that blocked most tariffs and found Trump had overstepped his authority as the work of “activist judges”. He said he was confident the administration would win on appeal.
The administration’s view is that numerous countries will open up their markets to American products in the next month or two, Hassett said.
“If there are little hiccups here or there because of decisions that activist judges make, then it shouldn’t just concern you at all, and it’s certainly not going to affect the negotiations,” Hassett said.
There were three deals ready for Trump’s review at the end of last week, Hassett said.
Key events
Alice Speri
A US federal judge will issue an injunction blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students.
The university was in court seeking to extend a temporary order blocking the Trump administration from revoking the school’s right to host international students.
The judge, Allison Burroughs, had issued an emergency block last week after the administration abruptly announced it would cancel Harvard’s ability to host international students – the latest and most severe escalation in the administration’s battle against higher education institutions.
As graduation ceremonies were under way on campus, lawyers for the university argued in federal court in Boston that the revocation announced by the government last week violates the US constitution’s free speech and due process rights as well as procedural law regulating government actions.
In a packed court room with several international students in attendance, Burroughs said she wanted to “maintain the status quo” while the case makes its way through the courts.
Beijing has continued to respond angrily to the Trump administration’s decision to “aggressively” revoke visas of Chinese students in the US.
“The US decision to revoke Chinese student visas is fully unjustified,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on X.
The move seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
He said China “firmly opposes” the decision and that it has protested to the US, adding:
This politically motivated and discriminatory move exposes the hypocrisy behind the US’s claims of freedom and openness. It will further damage the image and reputation of the US itself.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said the state department has notified Congress of a “broad organization” plan to create a “more agile Department, better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world.”
A statement from Rubio on Thursday reads:
Since my first day as Secretary, I have said that this Department must move at the speed of relevancy and, in April announced a broad reorganization of the Department to better achieve that goal. Today, we took the next step in that process by notifying Congress of how we plan to do that.
Harvard University’s commencement ceremony is under way as a federal judge said she will order an injunction blocking the Trump administration from immediately revoking the university’s ability to enrol foreign students.
Harvard president Alan Garber did not directly addressing the Trump administration’s threats during his address to graduates, but received a rousing applause when he referenced the university’s global reach, noting that it is “just as it should be”, Associated Press reports.
Lauren Aratani
Republicans and close allies of Donald Trump are railing against a federal judicial panel who blocked a wide swath of the US president’s tariffs Wednesday night, including those against China.
Some attempted to frame the decision as part of a broader fight between the Trump administration and US justice system.
Trump has frequently complained about legal decisions that don’t go his way, attacking judges on social media in ways that have alarmed civic society experts.
“The judicial coup is out of control,” Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X. Conservative influencer Laura Loomer also called it a “judicial coup” on social media.
In a statement to Fox News, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said: “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency,” adding:
The administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness.
Judge to issue ‘broad’ injunction to preserve status quo in Harvard case
Reuters is reporting that Burroughs said she wants to issue a “broad” injunction to preserve the status quo while the new administrative process in the Harvard case plays out.
Earlier we reported that the Trump administration had signaled that it might back off plans to immediately revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students and would instead employ a lengthier administrative process.
According to a court filing, Reuters reported, the Department of Homeland Security sent Harvard a notice of intent yesterday to withdraw the university’s certification under the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program. Harvard has 30 days to respond.
US district judge Allison Burroughs said she plans to issue an injunction blocking the Trump administration from immediately revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, Reuters is reporting.
In a hearing that began at 10am ET, the judge was due to decide whether to extend the temporary restraining order she slapped on Trump’s attempt to revoke Harvard’s ability to accept international students last Friday. She had issued that order mere hours after the Department for Homeland Security announced the revocation.
Hamas say they have latest US proposal for ceasefire
Hamas says it has received US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza from mediators.
The statement from the militant group says the proposal is now being studied.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid earlier urged prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire.
“Israel must publicly and immediately accept the outline published this morning by American mediator Steve Witkoff,” Lapid posted on X.
“I remind Netanyahu: He has a full safety net from me to accept the outline, even if [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich try to torpedo it.”
You can follow all the latest developments on our Middle East live blog:
US backs Syria-Israel non-aggression agreement, US envoy to Syria says
Daniel Lavelle
US envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, has said that the United States believes peace between Syria and Israel is achievable, suggesting it should commence with a non-aggression agreement and a definition of borders and boundaries.
Syria and Israel have been at war for the better part of a century. Since former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December 2024, tensions reignited, and Israel has perpetrated hundreds of military attacks against its long-time enemy.
Despite the ongoing fighting, Barrack said in remarks to Saudi channel Al Arabiya on Thursday that the conflict between the two countries was a “solvable problem”. He thinks that Syria and Israel could “start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders” to create a new relationship.
While touring the Gulf earlier in May, Donald Trump eased sanctions on Syria, saying he hoped the country would normalise relations with Israel.
Barrack also said that Trump would declare that Syria is not a state sponsor of terrorism.
Supreme court sides with Utah railway challenged by environmentalists
The supreme court has bolstered a Utah railway project intended to transport crude oil, ruling against environmental groups and a Colorado county that had challenged its federal approval, Reuters reports.
The 8-0 ruling overturned a lower court’s decision that had halted the project and had faulted an environmental impact statement issued by a federal agency called the Surface Transportation Board in approving the railway as too limited in scope.
A coalition of seven Utah counties and an infrastructure investment group are seeking to construct an 88-mile (142-km) railway line in northeastern Utah to connect the sparsely populated Uinta Basin region to an existing freight rail network that would be used primarily to transport waxy crude oil.
The case tested the scope of environmental impact studies that federal agencies must conduct under a US law called the National Environmental Policy Act, enacted in 1970 to prevent environmental harms that might result from major projects. The law mandates that agencies examine the “reasonably foreseeable” effects of a project.
The supreme court heard arguments on 10 December in the case, which has been closely watched by companies and environmental groups for how the ruling might affect a wider range of infrastructure and energy projects.
Environmental reviews that are too broad in scope can add years to the regulatory timeline, risking a project’s viability and future infrastructure development, according to companies and business trade groups.
The Surface Transportation Board, which has regulatory authority over new railroad lines, issued an environmental impact statement and approved the railway proposal in 2021.
The Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups sued over approval, as did Colorado’s Eagle County, which noted that the project would increase train traffic in its region and double traffic on an existing rail line along the Colorado River.
The US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit ruled in favor of the challengers in 2023, concluding that the environmental review inadequately analyzed the effects of increased oil production in the basin as well as downstream, where the oil would be refined.
The Biden administration had backed the railway coalition in the case, as did the state of Utah.
Fifteen other states supported the challengers. Colorado said its economy relies on outdoor recreation, and that the project raises the risk of leaks, spills or rail car accidents near the Colorado River’s headwaters.
Conservative justice Neil Gorsuch recused himself from the case after some Democratic lawmakers urged his withdrawal because businessman Philip Anschutz, his former legal client, has a financial interest in its outcome.
Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said that he exchanged views on tariff issues with Donald Trump by phone today.
Ishiba said the talks were “meaningful” as the two leaders further deepened their understanding of each other’s views.
This was their second call this month, following one on 23 May, as a fourth round of tariff negotiations between the two nations is set to take place.
