James Schwab, a former spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's San Francisco division, defended the department's agents Saturday against growing calls from the Left to abolish ICE completely.
"It just doesn't make sense to me. Immigration enforcement is important, both sides agree on that. If you get rid of it, then what? You need something there ... These are parents themselves. I know people aren't sympathetic to deportation officers, but they have a rough time with this too and I think more so under this administration."
About 21,000 companies in the United States have filed for tariff exclusions claiming Trump’s trade war has caused layoffs and makes them at risk of folding completely, per CNN Money.
Why it matters: The initial purpose for Trump’s tariffs was to level the trade playing field with other countries, but American companies are also sharing the brunt of the measures and several are worried they won't be able to survive them.
President Donald Trump was quick to praise Justice Anthony Kennedy for his service while simultaneously bashing other members of the Supreme Court, the N.Y. Times' Adam Liptak and Maggie Haberman write in "Inside the White House’s Quiet Campaign to Create a Supreme Court Opening."
The big picture: Despite Trump's niceties, people in the White House said “time was of the essence,” to replace Kennedy, Liptak and Haberman write. The president recognized that he needed to fill his vacancy before November, because if the Democrats gain control of the Senate in November, Trump's choice for Kennedy’s successor may not get through.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo Friday that it's an "exaggeration" to say President Trump wants to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization, as Axios reported this morning. Mnuchin said that Trump “has concerns" about the WTO, and thinks there are aspects of it that aren’t fair.
Axios' Jonathan Swan responds: "In his bid to calm the markets, Mnuchin is not being truthful here. Trump has explicitly said this many, many times."
President Trump has repeatedly told top White House officials he wants to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization, a move that would throw global trade into wild disarray, people involved in the talks tell Axios.
What we're hearing: “He’s [threatened to withdraw] 100 times. It would totally [screw] us as a country,” said a source who’s discussed the subject with Trump. The source added that Trump has frequently told advisers, "We always get fucked by them [the WTO]. I don’t know why we’re in it. The WTO is designed by the rest of the world to screw the United States."
This loss of journalists inside U.S. borders is being mourned by political figures who often have divisive relationships with the news media.
By the numbers: The mass shooting at the Capital Gazette's newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, that killed five people and injured two others makes the U.S. the second-most deadly country for journalists in the world this year — after only Afghanistan, which experienced its own tragic bombing event that killed dozens in April.
