This Week in Democracy – Week 19: TACO Week, Plus Elon Gets a Black Eye
Zeteo's project to document the ongoing, week-by-week growth of authoritarianism in the Trump second term.
It's been 19 weeks of Donald Trump's assault on democracy, and despite it being a holiday week, the attacks by Trump and his allies did not let up. Tuesday was a particularly busy day (see below)!
From escalating its onslaught on Harvard University to intensifying its crackdown on pro-Palestine international students to revoking the humanitarian parole of a 4-year-old Mexican girl who relies on life-saving care in California, here's what the Trump administration did this week that undermines the US Constitution and American values, harm academic freedom, and hurt free societies worldwide:
Saturday, May 24
On Twitter, Vice President JD Vance whined about educators not supporting the Republican Party, writing that “the voting patterns of university professors are so one-sided that they look like the election results of North Korea.” He added that “many universities explicitly engage in racial discrimination (mostly against whites and Asians) that violates the civil rights laws of this country.”
Sunday, May 25
The New York Times reported that the recently-announced $1.5 billion Trump family golf complex in Vietnam was approved after the country’s government fast-tracked the development by ignoring its own laws and granting more generous concessions than what its own citizens typically receive. Vietnamese officials, in a letter obtained by the newspaper, said that the development, which comes as the country continues to negotiate a trade deal to avoid tariffs, was prioritized by high-ranking members of government because it was “receiving special attention” from Trump and his administration.
Speaking to reporters, Trump railed against Harvard University over the number of international students it admits, which he said is “too much.” He also said his administration wants a list of Harvard’s foreign students, which the Department of Homeland Security would already have access to since those with student visas are in DHS’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) database. Earlier this month, DHS terminated Harvard’s SEVP certification.
Trump walked back his plan to implement a 50% tariff on all EU imports beginning June 1, restoring the original July 9 deadline.
On Truth Social, Trump ranted about the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, saying Vladimir Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” and Volodymyr Zelensky is “doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does.”
Monday, May 26
A federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s request to delay or rescind his ruling requiring several men who were deported to South Sudan without due process to remain in US custody while they complete “reasonable fear” interviews. The judge noted that the Trump administration not only “mischaracterized” his order, but also “manufactur[ed] the very chaos they decry,” and expressed his desire that “reason can get the better of rhetoric” in the case.
Trump wished a happy Memorial Day to “THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS,” as well as the “USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY.”
Also, on Truth Social, Trump floated the idea of reallocating $3 billion in grants from “a very antisemitic” Harvard University to trade schools.
Trump announced that he would pardon former sheriff Scott Jenkins, who he called “a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice … who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters’ and ‘left for dead.’ Jenkins, who was set to begin his 10-year sentence on Tuesday, was convicted of fraud and bribery after accepting more than $75,000 to make businessmen auxiliary deputies without any training so they could avoid traffic tickets and carry concealed firearms without a permit.
Chalkbeat reported that a Bronx, New York, high school student who entered the US legally through a Biden-era entry program in 2024, was arrested by ICE agents after a court hearing where the student, who didn’t have a lawyer, “unwittingly relinquished his legal protections.”
Tuesday, May 27
AP reviewed donations made to Trump over the past five years, finding 1,600 contributions from donors who live outside of the US, have close ties to foreign interests, or didn’t disclose enough information to identify them and verify their donations were legal. Federal law prohibits candidates from accepting donations from foreign nationals. The reporting comes one month after Trump issued a memo ordering an investigation into ActBlue, the online fundraising platform used by the Democratic Party, for foreign and fraudulent contributions.
On Truth Social, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding to California because a trans athlete was set to participate in an upcoming sporting event, which he claims violates his February executive order banning trans athletes from girls’ and women's sports.
Also, on Truth Social, Trump blatantly admitted he has been helping Putin, saying what the Russian president “doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD.” Trump went on to threaten Putin, saying, “He’s playing with fire!”
Trump warned Canada that it would cost $61 billion to be part of his proposed “Golden Dome System,” but offered to let the country join for free if it became part of the US.
The Times also reported that Trump’s April pardon of Paul Walczak, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison after failing to pay more than $10 million in taxes, came less than three weeks after Walczak’s mother paid $1 million to attend a fundraising dinner that included face-to-face access to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, previously earned consulting fees worth over $5,000 from a division of the private prison and immigration detention firm GEO Group during the two years before he joined the administration.
The Guardian reported that advisers of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were told that he illegally wiretapped department officials as part of a leak investigation to justify firing three of Hegseth’s top aides last month.
NPR and three other member stations sued the Trump administration, arguing his executive order directing the freezing of federal funding for public broadcasters represents “textbook retaliation” in violation of the First Amendment, and that they are being targeted.
On a podcast, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned that unless three major medical journals — the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Lancet — “change dramatically,” his department will prohibit government scientists from publishing their work with them, and instead create their own journals to publish their findings. RFK baselessly called the reputable journals “corrupt.”
In a video on Twitter, RFK Jr. announced that his agency would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and healthy pregnant women. The Washington Post called it an “unprecedented move that bypasses the traditional system of vaccine recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” It could also result in insurance companies refusing to cover the vaccine for the affected groups, leaving them to pay out of pocket.
In response to RFK’s announcement, the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said the organization is “extremely disappointed” by the move, adding that, “it is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability.”
Meanwhile, on Fox, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary baselessly asserted that the number of COVID-19 vaccine injuries in the US was in the “hundreds of thousands.”
HuffPost reported that Josh Divine, whom Trump nominated to be a federal judge, wrote in a university student newspaper that people shouldn’t be allowed to vote in elections without passing literacy tests, which were banned as part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because they were regularly used to prevent Black people from voting.
Politico reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a pause on scheduling new interviews for student visa applicants while the administration considers implementing social media vetting for all international students applying to study in the US.
Politico also reported that former interim US Attorney for DC Ed Martin had personally reviewed a pardon application for Stewart Rhodes, the founder of far-right extremist organization Oath Keepers. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in relation to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Vance headlined a political fundraiser in Las Vegas that cost $1 million per person to attend, with funds going to MAGA Inc., the main super PAC supporting Trump.
The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court asking it to lift due process orders issued by federal judges to make it easier to deport immigrants to countries other than their own.
Trump pardoned reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted in 2022 of fraud and conspiracy to commit tax evasion and sentenced to 12 years and seven years in prison, respectively. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, requested the pardons when she met with Trump family members ahead of the president’s inauguration in January. Savannah Chrisley previously endorsed Trump during a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
A federal judge blocked Trump’s executive order targeting law firm WilmerHale, declaring the move unconstitutional, writing, “to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!”
Data from the US Marshals Service showed that 162 judges have received threats over a six-week period beginning March 1, coinciding with Trump’s growing attacks on the federal judicial system.
A federal judge ruled that Elon Musk will have to face a lawsuit filed by Democratic state attorneys general claiming he is illegally wielding power through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in violation of the Appointments Clause, but dismissed Trump from the suit, finding the president was acting within his official duties when he created DOGE and gave Musk the power to conduct mass firings and terminate federal grants.
A federal judge paved the way for DOGE employees to access sensitive systems at the Treasury Department.
The Trump administration sued the North Carolina election board, accusing it of violating federal law by failing to ensure voting records included “identifying numbers,” including a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The move comes after the GOP tried to use similar legal claims to toss tens of thousands of votes in a contested state Supreme Court election that saw the Democratic incumbent win by less than 1,000 votes.
A federal appeals court rejected a request from former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon to vacate his contempt of Congress conviction for defying a subpoena issued by the Jan. 6 select committee.
Wednesday, May 28
Axios reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller ordered Immigration agents to ramp up arrests to 3,000 people per day, triple the number of daily arrests made early in Trump’s term.
On Twitter, Rubio announced a vague new visa restriction policy against those “who are complicit in censoring Americans.” In another post, he wrote that the State Department will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, “including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
Politico reported that the remaining full-time staff at Voice of America are expected to receive termination notices this week, which would likely result in the shuttering of the network created over 80 years ago.
The Justice Department announced it is opening an investigation into California to determine whether a state law allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports violates Title IX.
A federal judge ordered that Harvard University scientist Kseniia Petrova be granted bail after spending three months in custody following her arrest for failing to declare frog embryos when entering the US. Petrova, who is Russian and has criticized the country’s war against Ukraine, had her visa revoked in relation to the customs issue – a move the judge questioned whether immigration officers have the authority to do.
Trump issued a flurry of pardons, which included former New York Rep. Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2014 and once threatened to throw a reporter over a balcony, and former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who pleaded guilty to depriving the public of honest service in 2004 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2015 for his illegal involvement in two congressional campaigns. He also pardoned Larry Hoover, the co-founder of the Chicago street gang, the Gangster Disciples, who was sentenced to six life sentences in the 1990s for charges that included conspiracy and extortion, and former US army officer Mark Bashaw, who was discharged after a military judge convicted him of violating COVID-19 orders.
NBC News reported that immigration courts have dismissed the asylum claims of at least 14 individuals who were deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, potentially leaving them with no legal ability to return to the US.
Bloomberg reported that the Education Department told its employee union that “required changes” to workforce protections for pregnant or LGBTQ+ staff must be reevaluated, including the removal of references to sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy from the agency’s anti-harassment policy. The move comes as the department seeks to follow Trump’s executive order on “defending women from gender ideology extremism."
New York publication THE CITY reported that plainclothes masked immigration officers arrested several immigrants and observers, including a priest, at a Manhattan immigration court.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk used his position in the White House to try to block an OpenAI deal with Abu Dhabi if his company wasn’t included in the deal.
The White House confirmed that Musk would immediately leave his government role as a top adviser to Trump, the day after he criticized the “big, beautiful bill” pushed by the president. Musk’s tenure at the White House was marred by controversy, particularly around his efforts to cut federal spending through DOGE.
The Court of International Trade ruled that the majority of Trump’s tariffs are illegal and ordered the administration to issue new orders in response to the permanent injunction within 10 days. Within minutes, the administration appealed the decision, questioning the authority of the court. On Twitter, Stephen Miller slammed the ruling, writing, “The judicial coup is out of control.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount offered Trump $15 million to settle his lawsuit against CBS News, but his team is seeking more than $25 million and an apology from the news organization. Trump’s team has also threatened to file another lawsuit against CBS for alleged bias in its coverage of his presidency.
A federal judge declined to issue a preliminary injunction in the case of Mahmoud Khalil, but ruled that his detention is likely unconstitutional.
A federal judge allowed Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Board to proceed. He sued the board in 2022 in relation to Pulitzers that were awarded for stories that covered potential Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. On Truth Social, Trump called the move “a major WIN” against the “Failing New York Times and the Washington Compost,” calling efforts to dismiss the case “corrupt.”
HuffPost reported that two of Trump’s nominees to serve as federal judges, Josh Divine and Maria Lanahan, represented Missouri’s challenge against the FDA’s regulations for the abortion pill mifepristone, baselessly claiming that it “starves the baby to death in the womb.”
Qatar has reportedly demanded a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Doha to specify that the transfer of a jumbo jet to be used as an Air Force One was initiated by the Trump administration and that the country is not responsible for future transfers of the ownership of the plane.
Officials confirmed the State Department is also reviewing all visa holders who are affiliated with Harvard University, not just students.
Trump suggested Harvard should have a cap on the number of international students it admits.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he would “take a look at” pardoning the individuals who were convicted of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, claiming they were “railroaded.” Whitmer said she was “very disappointed” by the move and added, “We have to condemn political violence, no matter where it comes from.”
Trump lashed out at a Financial Times commentator who asked him about the “TACO trade” nickname growing among Wall Street analysts. TACO, which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out,” refers to stocks plummeting when Trump announces tariffs and then rebounding when he walks them back. Trump responded that it was a “nasty question” and warned the reporter, “don’t ever say what you said.”
The Washington Post reported that Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin opened a probe into the private “pay-to-play” dinner Trump hosted for top investors in his memecoin, demanding the president provide the names of the guests who attended the dinner and disclose how he verified the source of funds spent on the memecoin to determine whether some may have come from foreign governments in an effort to influence the president and his administration.
The Trump administration revoked the humanitarian parole of a 4-year-old Mexican girl suffering from short bowel syndrome. The child, who has been receiving life-saving care from a California hospital, could “die within days” without the care, her lawyer warned.
The National Association of the Deaf sued the Trump administration over their abrupt removal of sign language interpreters at briefings and press conferences, which they say violates federal law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
Thursday, May 29
NOTUS reported that RFK Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” Commission report was “rife with errors,” including broken links, misstated conclusions, and most consequentially, cited sources that don’t even exist. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt chalked it all up to “formatting issues” with the report that don’t “negate the substance” of it. Leavitt, who said the report will be updated, was unable to answer a question about whether AI was used to produce it.
In a lengthy rant on Truth Social, Trump decried the tariff ruling by the Court of International Trade and attacked Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the right-wing Federalist Society’s board of directors, calling him a “real ‘sleazebag.’” He whined about the Federalist Society’s “bad advice” on judicial nominations, saying, “This is something that cannot be forgotten!”
A federal appeals court granted “an immediate administrative stay” of the Court of International Trade ruling, temporarily reinstating Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs.
The Trump administration temporarily reversed its plan to immediately prevent Harvard University from admitting international students, giving the university 30 days to prove why the institution shouldn’t lose its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification. The same day, a federal judge extended a block on a ban on foreign students at Harvard.
CNN reported that Floyd Brown, a far-right political activist who has called homosexuality “a punishment” for the country, condemned the legality of gay sex, and pushed birtherism conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, was fired after serving one month as a vice president at the Kennedy Center hours after the outlet reached out for comment about his past statements. On Twitter, Brown said he was fired “for my Christian beliefs on marriage,” claiming that Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell, who is gay, asked him to “recant” his comments about gay marriage.
The Trump administration canceled a nearly $600-million contract for Moderna to develop a bird flu vaccine, a decision that also forfeits the federal government’s right to buy doses ahead of a pandemic.
Zeteo’s Prem Thakker reported that Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records from several government agencies “that would document and expose the reported collaboration between federal officials and private, anti-Palestinian organizations who have identified, doxxed, and reported him and others for purposes of securing the deportation of student activists advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights.”
The Intercept reported that PBS station WNET removed at least three educational TV episodes that focus on trans identity and drag expression from its archives, as the public broadcaster faces attacks from the Trump administration and the threat of losing their federal funding.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell of “obstruction or the harboring of criminal illegal aliens,” and claimed his office “doxxed” ICE enforcement officers by publishing the names of officials involved in interactions between ICE and emergency departments in Nashville, a move the mayor’s office acknowledged was “not the normal practice” and said would be removed. McLaughlin warned “there will be repercussions” for the move.
Politico reported that Rubio is planning to conduct massive cuts to the State Department’s human rights bureau.
Trump nominated Paul Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel. Ingrassia, who currently serves as the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, is a former far-right podcast host who previously worked on the legal team representing Andrew Tate, who is facing rape and human trafficking charges abroad. On Twitter, Ingrassia’s podcast’s account called for Trump to declare martial law in December 2020 to “secure his re-election” following his loss to Biden.
Wired reported that the Customs and Border Protection has collected DNA samples from more than 133,000 immigrant children and teenagers, including at least one 4-year-old, and placed their data into a national criminal database.
CNN reported that a man Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused of threatening to kill Trump in a letter was the victim of a setup, with investigators believing he never wrote the letter.
Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter notifying the American Bar Association that it will no longer be granted access to vet judicial nominees, writing the ABA “no longer functions as a fair arbiter of nominees’ qualifications.”
Rubio directed US consulates and embassies to immediately begin vetting social media accounts of Harvard University’s student visa applicants for antisemitism, as part of a pilot program that may become required for all post-secondary institutions across the country. Rubio did not define what would constitute antisemitism, but the administration has already considered most pro-Palestine speech as antisemitic. Politico reported that social media vetting will also be required for international faculty, researchers, staff, and guest speakers at the university.
The Trump administration issued new guidelines that prohibit federal agencies from considering race or gender in their hiring processes as part of a so-called “Merit Hiring Plan.” The guidelines also discourage hiring employees who aren’t willing to “faithfully serve the Executive Branch.” It also includes a four-question quiz, with one of the questions asking applicants to list their favorite Trump policy.
The CDC contradicted Kennedy Jr. when it kept COVID-19 vaccines on the federal immunization schedule for children, but added updated advice on “shared clinical decision-making,” meaning children can receive the vaccine if their parents and doctors agree.
Friday, May 30
The Supreme Court granted a Trump administration request for emergency relief, clearing the way for the termination of a program that allowed over 500,000 Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Venezuelans to temporarily live and work in the US while a legal challenge to end the protections continues.
Axios reported that the State Department is planning to launch an “Office of Remigration,” which would see the agency transition from helping refugees to removing immigrants. The term “remigration” has been closely linked with the far-right in Europe related to race-based mass deportations.
ProPublica reported that the Trump administration knew that only 32 of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it labeled terrorists and sent to El Salvador’s mega-prison in March had been convicted of crimes in the US, with the majority being nonviolent offenses like retail theft and traffic violations.
Politico reported that the White House convened a meeting with nearly a dozen agencies to brainstorm other punitive measures against Harvard University, with more actions expected to come from the State, Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Justice Departments.
On Truth Social, Trump announced the firing of Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, calling her a “highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position.”
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told CNN that the Trump administration will no longer be using the very right-wing Federalist Society, which played an influential role in Trump’s Supreme Court picks during his first term, to recommend judicial nominations moving forward, saying it has “created a broken system for judicial vetting.”
Speaking to reporters alongside Musk in the Oval Office, Trump claimed that Musk is “not really leaving” and that he’s “going to be back and forth.”
Trump did not rule out pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is facing criminal charges that include sex trafficking, saying, “I will certainly look at the facts if I think somebody was mistreated.”
He also referred to Biden as a “vicious person,” and said, “I really don’t feel sorry for him” about Biden’s recent prostate cancer diagnosis.
Sporting an apparent black eye, Musk slammed the New York Times for their reporting about his “well beyond occasional” drug use during the 2024 presidential campaign. The Times reported that Musk “told people he was taking so much ketamine … that it was affecting his bladder.” Additionally, Musk was reportedly taking Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, while also traveling with a “daily medication box” that held about 20 pills, including Adderall.
PBS sued the Trump administration to block the president’s executive order targeting federal funding for the public broadcaster.
The online publication NOTUS reported that the Trump administration revised the “Make America Healthy Again” Commission report that was originally filled with errors and non-existent study citations, but found that some of the new citations “continue to misinterpret scientific studies.”
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release over $12 million in previously allocated funding to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Yes, quite a long list. Anti-democratic forces appeared to be hard at work.
Did you miss previous weeks? Catch up here.
Subscribe to Zeteo to make sure you get ‘This Week in Democracy’ in your inbox every week.
If you are already a Zeteo subscriber but would like to increase your support for our accountability journalism in this era of Trump and authoritarianism, please do consider a donation, too.
thanks for the roundups like this--its overwhelming but I appreciate you all tracking everything into one place so it is easier to take in.
All I can say is I just threw up my Saturday breakfast! The current administration is corrupt, vile, vicious! Meanwhile the spineless Democrats appear to be clueless on how to tackle this mess!