Why the president must not be lexicographer-in-chief
ON MAY 28TH a specialist American court for international trade struck down many of Donald Trump's tariffs. It did so on several legal grounds, including linguistic ones. As in so many cases, the two sides in the case presented different views on what several words mean. The next day another court temporarily stayed the decision. The tariffs remain in effect but the legal question remains.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Germany's new chancellor, Merz, to meet Trump in Washington on Thursday
BERLIN/WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will travel to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, German and U.S. officials said on Saturday. This will be Merz's first visit to the United States since taking office on May 6, and comes amid high tensions between the trans-Atlantic partners over trade and the Russian war in Ukraine. The visit was confirmed by a German government spokesman and a White House official.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
The fallout from Trump's war on Harvard will outlast his term
Donald Trump has had a busy seven days. On Monday, he threatened to redirect $3bn in Harvard research funding to vocational schools. On Tuesday, the White House sent a letter to federal agencies, instructing them to review the approximately $100m in contracts the government has awarded Harvard and "find alternative vendors" where possible. On Wednesday, he had more to say on the matter still."Harvard's got to behave themselves," he told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. "Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper and deeper."When combined with other administration attempts – freezing more than $3bn in research grants and suspending foreign students from enrolling in Harvard – Trump's directives represent a frontal attack on one of America's most prestigious, and wealthy, institutions of higher education. Even if court challenges overrule some of these actions – some have already been put on hold – the impact is being felt across the landscape of American higher education."They're doing multiple things every single day, some of those things are sneaking through," says Greg Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors. "But more importantly, they're changing the culture. They're changing people." At Harvard's commencement ceremonies on Thursday, students said there was a "palpable concern" on campus."People sort of knew Trump was trying some of these moves but [they were] shocked when it happens," admits one graduate, a British national who requested anonymity because he was concerned public comments could threaten his US work visa. "It feels like the nuclear option.""If this can happen to Harvard it can happen to any university in the country," he the repercussions of this apparent Harvard-Trump fight run far deeper than the management of a single Ivy League university. Could the measures Trump is taking mark, as some suggest, the latest, albeit most ambitious, step by conservatives to erode some of the traditional pillars of support for the Democratic Party?If that is the case, the campus has become a pivotal battle in shaping America's cultural and political landscape. Accusations of antisemitism and bias Trump and his administration have offered various explanations for their actions, including a perceived lack of conservatives among the ranks of Harvard's professors, along with suggestions of admitting too many foreign students and financial links to according to the White House, the most immediate cause has been the university's apparent failure to address antisemitism on campus, in the wake of anti-Israel protests at universities across the US since the start of the Gaza December 2023, three prominent university presidents - including the then-president of Harvard, Claudine Gay - struggled to answer whether calling for the "genocide of Jews" violated their student conduct codes on bullying and harassment, sparking a firestorm of Gay, who was asked the question at a congressional hearing about antisemitism on US college campuses, answered that it depended on the context. She later apologised, telling the student newspaper: "When words amplify distress and pain, I don't know how you could feel anything but regret." On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised to cut off federal funding and government accreditation for colleges that he said were engaging in "antisemitic propaganda". Once Trump returned to the White House in January, he began following through on universities - including Columbia, which saw some of the most high profile protests - agreed to sweeping changes in campus security rules and closer supervision of its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies April, Harvard released the results of a university task force review (commissioned before Trump's election) of antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice on its own campus. It found that many Jewish and Muslim students faced bias, exclusion and alienation from the university curriculum and its the administration's demands go well beyond calls to address antisemitism. In a letter to the university, its "Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism" laid out a laundry list of changes that Harvard must make, including terminating diversity programmes, reforming admissions and hiring, screening foreign students for views hostile to "American values", and expanding and protecting "viewpoint diversity" among students and faculty. Trump's shock-and-awe strategy of rapid and aggressive pressure has stunned many in higher education, who never imagined the scope of the demands or the force behind them."It's not about higher education," argues Mr Wolfson. "Higher education is one of the levers they see as critical to transforming our society."But the potential for a long-term transformation could largely depend on whether the majority of American universities choose to accommodate the administration's demands - or whether it stands and fights, as Harvard is trying to do. An across-the-board war While Harvard has been the most prominent target of the administration's ire, and the most visible in its resistance, it is just one of many high-profile American universities that has received funding cuts or been subject of and the University of Pennsylvania have reported that the administration has suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in their research grants. The Department of Education has launched investigations of 10 universities for alleged antisemitism - and warned dozens of others that they could face similar inquiries. It is also investigating 52 universities for illegal race-based some, this all amounts to an across-the-board war on elite higher education by the Trump administration in an effort to reshape universities in a more conservative-friendly image. To others, this is no bad thing."Universities are not about the pursuit of knowledge, they're about the forceful pushing of a left-wing world view," Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, said in a Fox News interview last month. "We're here to shake it up." Many on the right have long viewed American college campuses as hotbeds of liberal indoctrination, whether it has taken the form of left-wing anti-war radicalism in the 1960s, "political correctness" of the 1990s, Occupy Wall Street anti-capitalism of the 2000s or the Black Lives Matter movement and anti-Israel demonstrations in recent has illustrated a certain divide in beliefs between those who have and haven't attended college. In a recent survey by the polling company Civiqs, non-college graduates were split on the job Trump is doing in office, with 49% disapproving and 47% approving. College graduates, on the other hand, had a significantly different view, as 58% disapproved of Trump's performance in office versus only 38% who approved."I think a lot of this blowback is from the sense that they have become the universities of blue [Democratic] America, and that this is the consequence," says Rick Hess, senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Universities 'brought this on themselves' In recent years, according to Mr Hess, American higher education has become more closely tied to the government and more reliant on government funding. He says that the new Trump team has simply adopted levers of control over higher education employed by recent Democratic administrations – including civil rights investigations, federal anti-discrimination laws and control over funding."In classic Trump form," he added, "it's absolutely the case that these levers have been turned up to 11." And there are fewer procedural and legal safeguards than there were under the Joe Biden and Barack Obama presidencies."It's both an evolution and a revolution," says Mr it is one, he argues, that universities have brought on themselves by being overtly political during Trump's first term and making elite school the face of American higher education."The price for collecting billions a year in tax dollars is that institutions should both honour the promises they make, such as enforcing civil rights law, and hew to a mission in which they explicitly serve the whole nation," says Mr Hess. Withholding federal funding from universities may be a new challenge for higher education, but to some this is just the latest in a long effort by conservatives to undercut key traditional pillars of liberal a combination of legislation and court rules, the influence of labour unions – which had provided the Democratic Party with volunteer personnel and funds – had diminished long before Trump succeeded in winning over white working-class voters in his three presidential lawsuit reforms have also curtailed the vast sums that trial lawyers could contribute to Democratic coffers. And ongoing efforts to shrink the government workforce – which reached a peak with Elon Musk's Doge reductions – have eroded another traditionally Democratic Mr Wolfson fears that something greater could be lost if some of the Trump administration's measures are enforced."The fact that we have multiracial, multicultural, multinational universities is a boon to our universities," he says. "It creates really diverse communities, really diverse intellectual thought." How the Ivy Leagues fought back Harvard - perhaps best known for its renowned law school - has turned the courts into its principle tool to resist Trump's Thursday, a federal judge indefinitely suspended the administration's attempts to prohibit foreign students from receiving visas to attend the university has also sued to prevent the Trump administration from terminating more than $2.2bn in federal grants, although that case is pending."The trade-off put to Harvard and other universities is clear," Harvard wrote in its complaint filed with a Massachusetts federal court. "Allow the government to micromanage your academic institution or jeopardise the institution's ability to pursue medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and innovative solutions." Harvard's president, Alan Garber, has also defended his university, saying that Harvard would be "firm" in its commitments to education and truth, during an interview with NPR."Harvard is a very old institution, much older than the country," he continued. "As long as there has been a United States of America, Harvard has thought that its role is to serve the nation."Trump, meanwhile, has shared strong words of his own. "Harvard wants to fight," he said on Wednesday. "They want to show how smart they are, and they're getting their ass kicked." Breaching the walls of the ivory tower Opinion polls show that Trump's political base supports his efforts, and the underlying message. Yet those same polls suggest a majority of the general population support American universities and don't approve of his proposed funding opinion aside, the practicality of achieving such a fundamental reordering of America's system of higher education, even with all the tools at the federal government's disposal, is a daunting to Mr Wolfson, however, repairing what he says is the damage being done to academic independence will be equally challenging. A growing number of members of the American Association of University Professors fear the consequences of expressing political views or conducting disfavoured research."The destruction is real," argues Mr Wolfson. "Even if the courts step in, there will still be a massive undermining of the higher education project in this country due to Trump's reckless, reckless moves."Mr Hess, who has pushed for conservative education reform for years, is less concerned. He believes that Trump's chaotic, scattershot approach - including last week's comments - could end up less effective than a more methodical restructuring of American universities."This is all an ambitious experiment," Mr Hess said. "Whether it's a strategy that's going to work is very much an open question."One thing seems clear, however. Even if American universities resist - or outlast - Trump's efforts, they are no longer insulated from the scorched-earth warfare of American politics. The walls of the ivory tower have been breached, regardless of whether one believes it is the barbarians - or liberators - at the image credit: Getty Images BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Riley Gaines' blistering takedown of California trans teen athlete's 'evil' mom
The mother of a trans track athlete competing in girls' sports has been branded 'evil' by conservative women's advocate Riley Gaines, in an explosive interview with Daily Mail. AB Hernandez, 16, who was born male but identifies as female, is crushing rival girl athletes in a two-day state competition this weekend amid howls of shock and protest. The controversial high school junior has also been the target of intense ire from President Donald Trump who is threatening to cut federal education funding from ' woke ' California over the issue. The U.S. Justice Department has also announced it is also investigating the Golden State for allowing trans people to participate in girls' sports. Meanwhile, Trump ally Gaines pulled no punches when she slammed 'progressives' including Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom - who she dubbed a 'slimy car salesman' and 'spineless coward' - for enabling biologically born boys to participate in sports alongside girls. She also called out 'crazy unhinged trans activists' for creating chaos. Hernandez, who lives in Jurupa Valley, 60 miles east of Los Angeles, trounced her rivals during in sweltering heat on the first day of the California Interscholastic Federation games at Buchanan High School in Clovis, 13 miles north of Fresno. She competed in the long, triple and high jump events on Friday, May 30, at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track & Field Championships and led all three events going into Saturday's schedule. Protestors were gathered outside the school stadium with some wearing 'Save Girls' Sports' T-shirts. A light aircraft buzzed overhead pulling a banner that read: 'No Boys in Girls' Sports!' CIF representatives at previous track meets have told girls to remove t-shirts with messages protesting the organization and have banned signs to quash protests. Gaines hit headlines in 2022 as a competitive swimmer for University of Kentucky in the 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship against University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male who lives as a woman. The 25-year-old quickly became an outspoken critic against transgender athletes competing in women's sport and has hailed Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sport' executive order which he signed February. The Gaines for Girls podcast host gave a searing indictment of Hernandez's mother, Nereyda Hernandez, 43. 'His mom is a pretty evil person,' Gaines declared. 'I believe she is using her son to live out some fantasy or dream that maybe she had. 'She has lied to AB in affirming his identity - the total façade - and in the process has harmed real women. 'I have empathy for AB. He's a victim as well. But that doesn't give him the right to trample on women in the process to fulfill his happiness. 'AB Hernandez is of course not the first boy to compete in the state of California - whether it's track and field, whatever sport it may be,' commented Gaines. 'He is following the rules. So I don't have any animosity or hatred or wish any sort of ill will on the boy. Ultimately, it's the rules that are the problem. 'Harm [is] being done because of his acceptance into women's sports and women's spaces. 'That's what has been relayed to me by many of the girls who have competed against AB.' Hernandez's mother recently posted to social media: 'My child is not a threat; SHE IS LIGHT!!! As AB's mother, I will continue to stand by her, proudly fiercely, and unconditionally.' has reached out to her for further comment. But Gaines proclaimed: 'Sports are not about inclusion at the level he's competing. It's not about your feelings. It's about winning, to put it as bluntly as possible. 'Women aren't just a tool used to fulfill men's happiness. That's not what we are. Unfortunately, that's what women are being used for again. But we say enough. 'I'm not trying to rid anyone of opportunities. I believe every single person should play sports. But play in the categories that are safe and fair to everyone. 'We cannot prioritize inclusion over safety and fairness. That undermines the foundation of what sports were created to do. 'That's what we've seen a lot with this movement - women are just expected to roll over. Women are expected to be what they call inclusive and kind and allow these men into our spaces. 'You have men who are described as AGP - autogynephiliacs - who are just men who are sexually aroused dressing as a woman, and we're being forced to participate in that fetish. 'And we are reprimanded if we even dare to question it. Women have had enough. We say no. 'It's not just women like me. I've talked to many women who are lesbians who say 'We're being used here.' 'This seems like something that we see relatively often with this trans community, especially with minors who have transitioned. 'You have one parent, or both parents, who look like they are using their child as a prop.' She noted that so-called progressive states, most notably California, are in reality 'regressive because they are destructive and harmful to women and girls'. Donald Trump blasted high school athlete AB Hernandez in a blistering Truth Social post on May 27, calling the participation of transexuals in women's sports 'totally demeaning to women and girls' Gaines noted that girls feel threatened and parents fear they could lose their 'scared' they could lose their job if they speak out to much. She has spoken with some of the girls who have been competing against Hernandez and were pushed into second place. They 'would be the rightful champion had AB not been competing'. She added: 'It breaks my heart. Hearing from them and what they have to say is the reason why I keep pushing forward [and] keep fighting this fight.' One of the girls, who placed second behind Hernandez, told Gaines she felt 'betrayed' and 'belittled'. The distressed girl, she added, said the messaging from CIF and Newsom for not tackling the issue was 'very loud and clear' that she 'wasn't worthy of calling herself a champion.' 'How could any person with a fifth grade understanding of biology hear that and their heart not break?' asked Gaines. 'It's about the next generation. It's about protecting those girls. The girls are picking up on the discrimination that they are facing simply for being girls and participating in girls sports.' Gaines believes, though, that voters showed their disharmony with trans issues by voting Trump into office for a second time last November. 'People have had enough with the identity politics and with policies that harm women, with the harming of children, with the ridding of parental rights - California has been the nation's leader on all of those things,' declared Gaines. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2013 allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity. A Republican-led effort to block that law failed recently in the Democratic-dominated state legislature. Another proposal that also failed would have required the federation to ban students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team. A Trump-appointed federal prosecutor for the Central District of California, announced an investigation Wednesday into CIF and the Jurupa Unified School District, which includes Hernandez's high school, to determine whether federal sex discrimination law was violated by allowing trans girls to compete in girls' sports. Feeling the intense pressure from Trump, last Tuesday the CIF announced a temporary rule change to allow an extra girl to be in the medals in the three track events that include Hernandez. Riley slammed the CIF for 'indicating that they would [still] allow the boy to still compete with the girls'. 'It is common sense that boys and girls are different, that there are two sexes, that each sex is deserving of equal opportunities of privacy and of safety. 'But now we have sitting Supreme Court justices who can't even answer the question of what's in a woman because they claim to not be a biologist. She added: 'Fear is a large part of it.' She pointed to the 'crazy unhinged trans activists that I have found myself up against in many different scenarios. I've been attacked. I've had my life threatened by them.' A proud Christian, she recalled five students recently being arrested in Portland, Oregon, 'for wanting to end my life.' Critic's and trans proponents in Seattle threw human feces at her, she said.' She described her anti-trans collaborator Trump as 'the exact man you think he is. 'That's why people are drawn to him, especially young people. There's a sense of authenticity that you can feel, that you see on TV when you're watching him, or when you're reading his tweets. 'I can attest to the fact that that is real. There is no face that he puts on. There is no wall that he puts up. What you see is very much what you get. 'He has made it very clear his intention of protecting children, of protecting parental rights, of protecting the rights of women.' She pointed to the TAKE IT DOWN Act, proposed by Trump and First Lady Melania in May to protect women and children online exploitation. Although Gov. Newsom recently called transgender athletes competing against girls' 'deeply unfair' - a tougher tone than earlier comments - Gaines insisted he hasn't done anything so resolved the issue. 'Put your money where your mouth is,' she said of the governor. 'If you say it's deeply unfair, do something about it. If not, then you continue to be the spineless coward that we knew you to be. 'He's continued to sit on the fence, wink at both sides, like he's done on every topic over the past few years, including Covid. That's what he does best. He's like a slimy car salesman. 'This will be made very clear to the rest of the public - which matters if he plans to run in 2028 for president, which I believe he has angled himself to do.' Trump, however, is going to put Gavin Newsom in a position 'where he can no longer sit on the fence, which I think is really beneficial for the American people to see', she concluded.
