A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Major Breakthrough Or More Endless Stonewalling?
In what could be a major breakthrough, the Trump administration told a federal court Wednesday that it has taken affirmative steps to retrieve an unlawfully deported Guatemalan man and return him to the United States so that he can receive the due process he was initially denied.
It was the first concession of its kind that the Trump administration has made in the handful of cases where courts have ordered it to facilitate the return of wrongfully deported foreign nationals and which have become the focal point of a constitutional clash between President Trump and the judiciary.
The concession comes in the case of O.C.G., a gay man who had succeeded in U.S. immigration court at not being deported to his home country but whom the Trump administration them immediately deported to Mexico., which in turn sent him to Guatemala. In his immigration court hearing, the man claimed to have been previously kidnapped and raped in Mexico, but the immigration judge (probably correctly, under current law) said the case at hand was limited to Guatemala.
O.C.G.’s situation emerged in a larger case in federal court in Massachusetts challenging third country deportations without notice and hearing. It’s the same case where the Trump administration tried to get around a court order with last week’s deportation flight to South Sudan.
The government alerted the court of its efforts to return O.C.G. in a filing that said certain paperwork had already been completed and that the administration “is currently working with ICE Air to bring O.C.G. back to the United States on an Air Charter Operations (ACO) flight return leg.”
A few words of caution about what this means for O.C.G. and the other “facilitate” cases:
- O.C.G. is not back yet. Throughout his business and political life President Trump has dragged his feet at every step of litigation, including later stages after concessions have been made or a settlement reached. While this is a significant step compared to the previous defiance, it’s not a done deal yet.
- Unlike Kilmar Abrego Garcia and “Cristian,” the other two major “facilitate” cases, O.C.G. was not incarcerated after his deportation. He has remained in hiding in Guatemala, not in prison. That distinction is one that the administration may use to justify not similarly returning other wrongfully deported migrants.
- Unlike Cristian and the dozens of others incarcerated at CECOT in El Salvador, O.C.G. wasn’t deported under the Alien Enemies Act, which the Trump administration has sought to use as an entirely separate legal basis for removals and will likely use to distinguish O.C.G.’s case.
All of which is to say that while the administration’s signal that it will abide by the court order to facilitate O.C.G.’s return is a potential breakthrough that undermines its legal position in other cases, I’d caution against leaping to the conclusion that it is the beginning of a wholesale walk-back of the administration’s outrageous conduct in these key anti-immigration cases.
Judge Rules In Favor Of Khalil … Sorta
In one of the most obtuse judicial opinions you’ll ever encounter, U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz of New Jersey ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist, was likely unconstitutional, but stopped short of ordering Khalil’s release until both parties can file further briefs.
Shouting The Quiet Part
Education Secretary Linda McMahon provided valuable evidence on national TV that the Trump administration is targeting universities for illegitimate political reasons:
Linda McMahon: “Universities should continue to be able to do research as long as they’re abiding by the laws and in sync, I think, with the administration and what the administration is trying to accomplish.”
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 28, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Trump Wants Loyalist On Appeals Court
President Trump announced his plan to nominate his former criminal defense attorney, now serving as the No. 3 at the Justice Department to a coveted seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit (which covers PA, NJ, DE, and the USVI).
Bove has been a leading figure in rapidly bringing the Justice Department firmly under Trump White House control, erasing its storied independence and eroding its professional reputation.
Trump’s social media post announcing Bove’s nomination to the lifetime seat on the appeals court described the job in startling political terms: “He will end the Weaponization of Justice, restore the Rule of Law, and do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
Pardonpalooza
- Following on remarks from U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin, President Trump confirmed he is considering pardoning the violent extremists convicted in the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), falsely claiming that they “got railroaded.”
- President Trump pardoned former Rep. Michael Grimm, the Staten Island Republican who resigned from Congress in 2015 and did prison time for tax fraud. Grimm was paralyzed last year in a horseback riding accident. Trump has now pardoned a total of nine members of Congress convicted of corruption and/or tax crimes.
- Grimm wasn’t the only corrupt politician among the more than two dozen people Trump pardoned yesterday, a list that included political allies of his.
The kicker to Trump’s pardonpalooza: Trump is exacting retribution against more than three dozen former death row inmates whose sentences President Biden commuted by sending them to the nation’s only “supermax” prison. A judge has cleared the way for those transfers, saying the inmates had not yet exhausted their administrative remedies with the Bureau of Prisons, a necessary predicate to filing their federal lawsuits.
For The Record
Nancy Marks, one-time campaign manager to ousted Rep. George Santos (R-NY), avoided jail time for her role in his campaign finance schemes. The ousted fabulist congressman was sentenced last month to seven years in prison. Her possible cooperation with investigators against Santos has never been confirmed. “I’m going to leave that an enigma,” her lawyer said.
The Corruption Is Obvious Even To Them
CBS News parent Paramount has offered $15 million to settle Donald Trump’s bogus lawsuit against it for how it edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign. Trump is holding out for $25 million and an apology, but Paramount executive are leery of paying more than the going rate for these corrupt settlements of spurious Trump lawsuits because it might expose them to legal liability, the WSJ reports:
During the Trump-suit negotiations, one sticking point for Paramount executives has been whether a settlement could expose directors and officers to liability in potential future shareholder litigation or criminal charges for bribing a public official, according to people familiar with the conversations. By settling within the range of what other companies have paid to end litigation with Trump, some Paramount executives hope to minimize such liability, some of the people said.
Paramount is eager to settle for its own corrupt purpose: winning government approval for a planned merger.
Huge Blow To Trump’s Illegal Tariff War
The Court of International Trade blocked major elements of President Trump’s regimen of massive tariffs, ruling that he had exceeded his statutory authority and usurped Congress’ role.
RFK Jr. Watch
- HHS has undermined the county’s capacity to fight future influenza pandemics by cancelling a $600 million contract with Moderna to develop flu vaccines.
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blindsided CDC officials with his surprise announcement on social media that he was unilaterally changing the government’s guidance on who should get COVID vaccines and when.
The Toils Of Climate Change
A massive chunk of Switzerland’s Birch Glacier – destabilized by climate change – came loose, unleashing a debris flow that almost completely wiped out an already-evacuated Alpine village. The BBC has video of the shock wave advancing across the valley floor.
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
