Politics

Trump Grows Increasingly Combative in Showdowns With the Courts

Published

7 months ago

April 15, 2025

Trump Grows Increasingly Combative in Showdowns With the Courts

The Trump administration’s compliance with court orders started with foot-dragging, moved to semantic gymnastics and has now arrived at the cusp of outright defiance.

Large swaths of President Trump’s agenda have been tied up in court, challenged in scores of lawsuits. The administration has frozen money that the courts have ordered it to spend. It has blocked The Associated Press from the White House press pool despite a court order saying that the news organization be allowed to participate. And it ignored a judge’s instruction to return planes carrying Venezuelan immigrants bound for a notorious prison in El Salvador.

But Exhibit A in what legal scholars say is a deeply worrisome and escalating trend is the administration’s combative response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last week in the case of a Salvadoran immigrant. The administration deported the immigrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to El Salvador despite a 2019 ruling from an immigration judge specifically and directly prohibiting that very thing.

Until recently, none of this was in dispute. “The United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal,” the Supreme Court said on Thursday in an unsigned and to all appearances unanimous order.

The justices upheld a part of an order from Judge Paula Xinis of the Federal District Court in Maryland that had required the government to “facilitate” Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return. He had by then been held for almost a month in one of the most squalid and dangerous prisons on earth.

The administration’s response has been to quibble, stall and ignore requests for information from Judge Xinis. In an Oval Office meeting on Monday between Mr. Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, both men made plain that they had no intention of returning Mr. Abrego Garcia to the United States.

In remarks in the Oval Office and on television, Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s top domestic policy adviser, said the administration’s earlier concessions, made by several officials and in a Supreme Court filing, were themselves mistaken, the work of a rogue lawyer. He added that the Supreme Court had unanimously endorsed the administration’s position that judges may not meddle in foreign policy.

Ed Whelan, a conservative legal commentator, said that was a misreading of the ruling.

“The administration is clearly acting in bad faith,” he said. “The Supreme Court and the district court have properly given it the freedom to select the means by which it will undertake to ensure Abrego Garcia’s return. The administration is abusing that freedom by doing basically nothing.”

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The administration has also responded to court orders blocking its programs in other ways, speaking to audiences outside the courtroom. Mr. Trump and his allies have waged relentless rhetorical attacks on several judges who have ruled against the president, at times calling for their impeachment and at others suggesting that Mr. Trump is not bound by the law.

Assessing whether, when and how much the administration is defying the courts is complicated by a new phenomenon, legal scholars said, pointing to what they called a collapse in the credibility of representations by the Justice Department. These days, its lawyers are sometimes sent to court with no information, sometimes instructed to make arguments that are factually or legally baseless and sometimes punished for being honest.

Defiance, then, may not be a straightforward declaration that the government will not comply with a ruling. It may be an appearance by a hapless lawyer who has or claims to have no information. Or it may be a legal argument so outlandish as to amount to insolence.

Sanford Levinson, a law professor at the University of Texas, said the Trump administration had exposed dual fault lines, in the constitutional structure and in the limits of permissible advocacy.

“I would like to think that at least some of the Trump administration’s arguments have crossed that line,” Professor Levinson said, “but, frankly, I don’t really know where the line is.”

Courts generally give government lawyers the benefit of the doubt, presuming that they are acting in good faith even when they make ambitious arguments for a broad conception of executive power.

“We are beyond that point,” said Marin Levy, a law professor at Duke. “It is alarming that we are even having to ask whether the government is failing to comply with court orders.”

Just hours after the Supreme Court ruled in Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case, Judge Xinis asked the government three questions on Thursday night: Where was Mr. Abrego Garcia being held? What steps had the government taken to get him home? And what additional steps did it plan to take?

At first, the administration’s lawyers refused to respond, saying in a court filing on Friday that they needed more time and at a hearing that day that they had no answers to the judge’s questions.

Judge Xinis wrote that they had “failed to comply with this court’s order,” and she called for daily updates, at 5 p.m., a deadline the administration has treated as a suggestion.

On Saturday, an administration official grudgingly acknowledged that “Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador.” The official said nothing about what the government was doing to facilitate the prisoner’s return.

Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have urged Judge Xinis to consider holding the government in contempt, a question she may consider at a hearing on Tuesday.

Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University, said the administration was “certainly close to defiance in the Abrego Garcia case.”

“At the very least,” he said, “they are taking maximal advantage of possible ambiguity in the meaning of ‘facilitate.’ It is not plausible to interpret that term as meaning they need make no real effort.”

In a brief filed on Sunday, the administration argued that the Supreme Court’s requirement that it “facilitate” Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return meant only that it must “remove any domestic obstacles that would otherwise impede the alien’s ability to return here.”

That argument, Michael Dorf, a law professor at Cornell, wrote in a blog post, “does not pass the laugh test.”

Still, last week’s Supreme Court decision gave the administration some room to maneuver, notably in instructing Judge Xinis to clarify her initial ruling “with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.” The decision added: “For its part, the government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”

The dispute seems certain to return to the justices if the administration sticks to its hard-line approach. Should lower courts order Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return or hold officials in contempt, the administration will surely again ask the Supreme Court to intervene. And if Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers cannot secure his return, they too will seek further help from the justices.

Other disputes have also raised questions about whether the administration is defying the courts. A district court judge in Washington, for instance, ordered the White House to back off from its stated policy of barring The Associated Press from its press pool. But the administration showed no signs of budging.

Last week, Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the White House had discriminated against the wire service by using access to the president as leverage to compel its journalists to adopt the term “Gulf of America” in their coverage. When the outlet refused, the White House began to turn its reporters away from the pool of journalists who cover the president daily.

Until February, The A.P. and its competitors, such as Reuters and Bloomberg, reliably sent reporters to travel with the president on Air Force One and to cover exclusive events in the Oval Office and the East Room every day a president had scheduled public events.

Recognizing that the administration would most likely challenge his ruling, Judge McFadden put his decision on hold until Sunday, and the government promptly filed its appeal on Thursday. But the stay expired on Monday, and the appeals court did not intervene to keep it in place.

Even so, the administration did not allow either a print journalist or a photographer from The A.P. to be included in the pool to cover Monday’s events, including the meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Bukele. The White House’s only acknowledgment of the deadline appeared to be in a filing on Monday asking the appeals court to restore the temporary stay.

The Trump administration has seemingly capitalized on confusion in other cases.

Long after judges ordered the administration to unfreeze funding from contracts and grants disbursed by U.S.A.I.D. and FEMA, contractors and states led by Democrats repeatedly reported that payments were still being held up. Twice in February, judges granted motions to enforce their orders, finding that the administration was dragging its feet.

The gap between lawyerly obstinacy and flat-out defiance seems to shrink by the day, at least in the lower courts. For now, neither the president nor the justices seem eager for the ultimate constitutional confrontation.

“If the Supreme Court said, ‘Bring somebody back,’ I would do that,” Mr. Trump said on Friday. “I respect the Supreme Court.”

Zach Montague contributed reporting

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Politics

GOP Senate hopeful reveals how Dems are making America ‘weaker’ in viral video ahead of Thanksgiving

Published

6 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

GOP Senate hopeful reveals how Dems are making America ‘weaker’ in viral video ahead of Thanksgiving

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A Kentucky businessman attempting to replace former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is ripping the left’s woke trend of offering up “land acknowledgments,” arguing the narrative behind it is misleading and “anti-American.”

Nate Morris, a multimillionaire and former CEO of one of the largest software companies in Kentucky, argued in a video posted to X that America was “negotiated for” and “fought over,” not stolen as the left often claims. Meanwhile, Morris referred to the trend as “one more left-wing attempt to weaken America from within.”

“We bought Alaska from Russia and the Lousiana Purchase was purchased from France,” Morris pointed out. “We negotiated, traded and signed treaties covering millions of acres. Compare that to how Europe, Asia, or the Middle East shifted borders for thousands of years … the left wants to judge America by standards no other nation in history could meet.”

DNC OPENS SUMMER MEETING WITH LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT, CLAIMS THAT US SUPPRESSES INDIGENOUS HISTORY

Lindy Sowmick, Treasurer for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota, claimed during her “land acknowledgment” that the U.S. perpetuates a system of suppression against Indigenous peoples. (DNC/Pool)

Meanwhile, Morris blasted those on the left engaging in these land acknowledgments for not even knowing the history of the American-Indians they claim to want to defend.

“The Apache and the Sioux – they weren’t into Disney movies – they were warrior nations. Heck, even the Comanche were cave dwellers in Wyoming until they got horses and conquered half of the United States,” Morris pointed out, adding that it is peculiar how “all the people trying to acknowledge this land” aren’t leaving it.

Morris continued that anyone who tells you America was “stolen,” not “conquered,” is either trying to “rewrite history” or “make America weaker.”

“It was fought over, and it was settled by ancestors who believed in private industry and law and order – manifest destiny,” the Senate candidate argued.

‘AMERICA FIRST’ ATTORNEY GENERAL DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM MCCONNELL — HIS FORMER BOSS — AS KENTUCKY RACE DEFINES GOP FUTURE

As a Republican, Morris likely has many supporters that agree with his take on the left’s “land acknowledgments,” but even some Democrats have called out the trend.

Nate Morris is the former CEO of software giant Rubicon. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images for Concordia)

Several months after Republicans ushered in a red wave during the 2024 elections, veteran Democratic Party strategist James Carville blasted his own party when the Democratic National Committee (DNC) opened a high-profile meeting in Minneapolis with a “land acknowledgment,” calling it the kind of gesture that has cost Democrats elections.

“Please stop this, in the name of a just, merciful God,” Carville pleaded. “Don’t you see what’s happening? Don’t you see where this has brought us to? For God’s sake, lady. And what is [DNC chairman] Ken Martin doing, doing that? You don’t have but one job, kid! It’s to win!”

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville says Vance’s recent political moves have been gifts to the Democratic Party. ( Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SCAD)

Meanwhile, liberal talk show host Bill Maher also weighed in on the fad ahead of this year’s elections in November, which ultimately saw more Democrat victories than Republican, but not long after the Republicans achived their red wave during the 2024 elections. He agreed with Carville that the gesture could be hurting Democrats electorally.

“Democrats, if you ever want to win an election again, the absolute most important first step is to stop doing this,” Maher said during a monologue in March on his show “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

“Either give the land back or shut the f—k up,” Maher continued. “Look, I understand the desire to right the wrongs of the past, especially when you get to take the moral high ground and then build an 8,000 square foot mansion on it.”

Fox News’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

Politics

An L.A. man was detained in an immigration raid. No one knows where he is

Published

7 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

An L.A. man was detained in an immigration raid. No one knows where he is

WASHINGTON — No one seems to know what happened to Vicente Ventura Aguilar.

A witness told his brother and attorneys that the 44-year-old Mexican immigrant, who doesn’t have lawful immigration status, was taken into custody by immigration authorities on Oct. 7 in SouthLos Angeles and suffered a medical emergency.

But it’s been more than six weeks since then, and Ventura Aguilar’s family still hasn’t heard from him.

The Department of Homeland Security said 73 people from Mexico were arrested in the Los Angeles area between Oct. 7 and 8.

“None of them were Ventura Aguilar,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant Homeland Security public affairs secretary.

“For the record, illegal aliens in detention have access to phones to contact family members and attorneys,” she added.

McLaughlin did not answer questions about what the agency did to determine whether Ventura Aguilar had ever been in its custody, such as checking for anyone with the same date of birth, variations of his name, or identifying detainees who received medical attention near the California border around Oct. 8.

Lindsay Toczylowski, co-founder of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center who is representing Ventura Aguilar’s family, said DHS never responded to her inquiries about him.

The family of Vicente Ventura Aguilar, 44, says he has been missing since Oct. 7 when a friend saw him arrested by federal immigration agents in Los Angeles. Homeland Security officials say he was never in their custody.

(Family of Vicente Ventura Aguilar)

“There’s only one agency that has answers,” she said. “Their refusal to provide this family with answers, their refusal to provide his attorneys with answers, says something about the lack of care and the cruelty of the moment right now for DHS.”

His family and lawyers checked with local hospitals and the Mexican consulate without success. They enlisted help from the office of Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles), whose staff called the Los Angeles and San Diego county medical examiner’s offices. Neither had someone matching his name or description.

The Los Angeles Police Department also told Kamlager-Dove’s office that he isn’t in their system. His brother, Felipe Aguilar, said the family filed a missing person’s report with LAPD on Nov. 7.

“We’re sad and worried,” Felipe Aguilar said. “He’s my brother and we miss him here at home. He’s a very good person. We only hope to God that he’s alive.”

Felipe Aguilar said his brother, who has lived in the U.S. for around 17 years, left home around 8:15 a.m. on Oct. 7 to catch the bus for an interview for a sanitation job when he ran into friends on the corner near a local liquor store. He had his phone but had left his wallet at home.

One of those friends told Felipe Aguilar and his lawyers that he and Ventura Aguilar were detained by immigration agents and then held at B-18, a temporary holding facility at the federal building in downtown Los Angeles.

The friend was deported the next day to Tijuana. He spoke to the family in a phone call from Mexico.

Detainees at B-18 have limited access to phones and lawyers. Immigrants don’t usually turn up in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement online locator system until they’ve arrived at a long-term detention facility.

According to Felipe Aguilar and Toczylowski, the friend said Ventura Aguilar began to shake, went unconscious and fell to the ground while shackled on Oct. 8 at a facility near the border. The impact caused his face to bleed.

The friend said that facility staff called for an ambulance and moved the other detainees to a different room. Toczylowski said that was the last time anyone saw Ventura Aguilar.

She said the rapid timeline between when Ventura Aguilar was arrested to when he disappeared is emblematic of what she views as a broad lack of due process for people in government custody under the Trump administration and shows that “we don’t know who’s being deported from the United States.”

Felipe Aguilar said he called his brother’s cell phone after hearing about the arrests but it went straight to voicemail.

Felipe Aguilar said that while his brother is generally healthy, he saw a cardiologist a couple years ago about chest pain. He was on prescribed medication and his condition had improved.

His family and lawyers said Ventura Aguilar might have given immigration agents a fake name when he was arrested. Some detained people offer up a wrong name or alias, and that would explain why he never showed up in Homeland Security records. Toczylowski said federal agents sometimes misspell the name of the person they are booking into custody.

The family of Vicente Ventura Aguilar, 44

But she said the agency should make a significant attempt to search for him, such as by using biometric data or his photo.

“To me, that’s another symptom of the chaos of the immigration enforcement system as it’s happening right now,” she said of the issues with accurately identifying detainees. “And it’s what happens when you are indiscriminately, racially profiling people and picking them up off the street and holding them in conditions that are substandard, and then deporting people without due process. Mistakes get made. Right now, what we want to know is what mistakes were made here, and where is Vicente now?”

Surveillance footage from a nearby business reviewed by MS NOW shows Ventura Aguilar on the sidewalk five minutes before masked agents begin making arrests in South Los Angeles. The footage doesn’t show him being arrested, but two witnesses told the outlet that they saw agents handcuff Ventura Aguilar and place him in a van.

In a letter sent to DHS leaders Friday, Kamlager-Dove asked what steps DHS has taken to determine whether anyone matching Ventura Aguilar’s identifiers was detained last month and whether the agency has documented any medical events or hospital transports involving people taken into custody around Oct. 7-8.

“Given the length of time since Mr. Ventura Aguilar’s disappearance and the credible concern that he may have been misidentified, injured, or otherwise unaccounted for during the enforcement action, I urgently request that DHS and ICE conduct an immediate and comprehensive review” by Nov. 29, Kamlager-Dove wrote in her letter.

Kamlager-Dove said her most common immigration requests from constituents are for help with visas and passports.

“Never in all the years did I expect to get a call about someone who has completely disappeared off the face of the earth, and also never did I think that I would find myself not just calling ICE and Border Patrol but checking hospitals, checking with LAPD and checking morgues to find a constituent,” she said. “It’s horrifying and it’s completely dystopian.”

She said families across Los Angeles deserve answers and need to know whether something similar could happen to them.

“Who else is missing?” she said.

Politics

Video: Lawmaker Says Trump’s Call With Saudi Leader Was ‘Shocking’

Published

23 hours ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Video: Lawmaker Says Trump’s Call With Saudi Leader Was ‘Shocking’

new video loaded: Lawmaker Says Trump’s Call With Saudi Leader Was ‘Shocking’

transcript

Lawmaker Says Trump’s Call With Saudi Leader Was ‘Shocking’

Representative Eugene Vindman, Democrat of Virginia, called for the declassification of a 2019 conversation between Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia which took place shortly after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

: “Given President Trump’s disturbing and counterfactual defense of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, this week, I felt compelled to speak up on behalf of the Khashoggi family and the country that I serve. This is why I took to the House floor to bring to light a call I reviewed during my tenure on Trump’s White House national security staff. The call between Mr. Trump and Mohammed bin Salman after the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist and a Virginia resident, Jamal Khashoggi. If the past is any indication, the receipts will raise serious questions, and they will be shocking.” “As far as this gentleman is concerned, he’s done a phenomenal job. You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that.” “Our intelligence agencies concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Mrs. Khashoggi’s husband. When a president sidelines his own intelligence community to shield a foreign leader, America’s credibility is at stake. The Khashoggi family and the public deserve to hear the truth.”
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Representative Eugene Vindman, Democrat of Virginia, called for the declassification of a 2019 conversation between Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia which took place shortly after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

By Meg Felling

November 21, 2025