Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
12:40 PM ET, April 15, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
Trump is halfway to making America a police state  —  The president's refusal to accept a Supreme Court ruling on illegal deportation is a turning point  —  At around noon on April 14 2025, America ceased to have a law-abiding government.  Some would argue that had already happened on January 20, when Donald Trump was inaugurated.
RELATED:
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Trump's immigration agenda is not popular  —  To start this post, I am going to ask you a key question about immigration policy.  But first, I need to establish a few facts based on recent news:  —  On Monday, April 14, 2025, Donald Trump met with the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, in the Oval Office.
Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Trump told us the horrifying reason why Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not back in the U.S.  —  We are approaching one month since the United States illegally sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the CECOT “terrorism” prison in El Salvador on the third March 15 flight that took people to the prison.
Jeffrey Blehar / National Review:
Trump Tests the True Limits of Presidential Power  —  Greetings and welcome to this week's midair performance of the Carnival of Fools!  Like a prestige subscription-service drama, our story resumes from a potent cliff-hanger: Last week, Donald Trump had invoked the laws of cartoon physics …
Discussion: To the Contrary, Truthout and Mediaite
Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:
Trump says he wants to imprison US citizens in El Salvador. That's likely illegal
Jenna McLaughlin / NPR:
A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data  —  In the first days of March, a team of advisers from President Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the Southeast Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board.
Roger Parloff / Default:
Abrego Garcia and MS-13: What Do We Know?  —  The allegation seems to stem from double hearsay in a document authored by a later suspended police detective.  —  Meet The Authors … In multiple filings, the government has conceded that it wrongfully removed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia …
RELATED:
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
The Constitutional Crisis Is Here  —  Between the path of outright defiance of the Supreme Court …
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
This Tax Day, an IRS in Crisis  —  Every year during tax season, please spare a thought for the IRS.  It is our least loved agency, but one of our most important.  Last year, I noted how an IRS modernization effort was making real progress in terms of improved service quality.
RELATED:
Amanda Friedman / Politico:
Trump threatens to remove Harvard's tax-exempt status
Sohrab Ahmari / UnHerd:
JD Vance: My message to Europe America doesn't want a vassal continent  —  “It's not good for Europe to be the permanent security vassal of the United States.”  So says JD Vance during a phone conversation with UnHerd on Monday, his first major interview with a European outlet since taking office as Vice President.
George Porteous / The Stanford Daily:
Levin and Martinez express support for Harvard amid funding fight with Trump administration  —  University president Jonathan Levin '94 and Provost Jenny Martinez expressed support for Harvard after its president Alan Garber M.D. '83 — a Stanford Medicine professor emeritus …
Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times
RELATED:
New York Post:   Harvard may be free to target Jews — but not on the taxpayers' dime
Reuters:
Harvard rejects Trump demands, gets hit by $2.3 billion funding freeze
U.S. Department of Education:
Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism Statement Regarding Harvard University  —  Today, the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism released the following statement:  —  “Harvard's statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's …
RELATED:
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Two Dictators Walk Into a Bar...
Discussion: Washington Post and NPR
Jack Blanchard / Politico:   The Great Fightback?  —  With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine  —  Good Tuesday morning.
NBC News:
Democratic lawmakers say they'll travel to El Salvador to push for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release  —  Sen. Chris Van Hollen said if the Maryland man whom the administration acknowledged mistakenly deporting was not back in the U.S. by ‘midweek,’ the senator would travel to El Salvador.
RELATED:
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Bring. Him. Home.
Discussion: New York Times
Caroline Foreback / CBS News:
Maryland senator requests meeting with Salvadoran president to discuss deported Maryland man
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Vibe Shifts Against the Right  —  Alex Kaschuta's podcast, “Subversive,” used to be a node in the network between weird right-wing internet subcultures and mainstream conservatism.  She hosted men's rights activists and purveyors of “scientific” racism, neo-reactionary online personalities …
Discussion: Raw Story and Alternet.org
Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
State Terror  —  Yesterday the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man who was mistakenly sent to a gulag in another country, celebrated the suffering of this innocent person, and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps.  —  This is the beginning …
Discussion: Mediaite
Coral Davenport / New York Times:
Inside Trump's Plan to Halt Hundreds of Regulations … At the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump administration officials want to reverse a regulation that has required nursing homes to have more medical staff on duty.  —  At the Mine Safety and Health Administration …
Discussion: Alternet.org
Punchbowl News:
Why President Trump isn't signing many laws … Trump and Republican congressional leaders often claim his new administration has been the most productive in recent memory.  —  Except when it comes to passing laws.  —  Trump has signed fewer bills into law at this point in his presidency …
Aimee Picchi / CBS News:
China orders its airlines to stop accepting deliveries of Boeing jets, report says  —  The Chinese government has told the country's domestic airlines to stop accepting deliveries of Boeing jets as a trade war between the world's two largest economies escalates, Bloomberg News reports.
RELATED:
Augusta Saraiva / Bloomberg:
US Economy to Lose Billions as Foreign Tourists Stay Away … The US economy is set to lose billions of dollars in revenue in 2025 from a pullback in foreign tourism and boycotts of American products, adding to a growing list of headwinds keeping recession risk elevated.
Discussion: Raw Story and The Guardian
Bloomberg:
US Derails G-7 Condemnation of Russian Missile Strike on Ukraine  —  The US has told Group of Seven allies it won't endorse a statement condemning Russia's deadliest attack on Ukraine this year because it wants to keep negotiations with Moscow on track.  —  Russia fired two short-range …
Melanie Mason / Politico:
Kamala Harris for governor?  Poll shows how California voters feel about the idea.  —  California's Democratic voters cheer the potential of Harris for governor, but warning signs are lurking.  —  Political influencers in California are greeting Kamala Harris' potential bid for governor with a shrug …
New York Times:
Columbia Activist Arrested by ICE at His Appointment for Citizenship  —  Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident, has lived in the United States for 10 years and was arrested in Vermont.  He has not been charged with a crime.  —  Mohsen Mahdawi, an organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations …
Robert Maguire / CREW:
As Trump pursues mass deportation, his businesses again seek foreign workers  —  While President Donald Trump and his administration reiterate the need to “hire American” and crack down on both documented and undocumented immigrants alike, his company is again seeking seasonal foreign workers …
Discussion: Raw Story
Popular Information:
North Carolina Supreme Court throws out hundreds of ballots based on flawed data  —  This is a special collaboration between Popular Information and Anderson Alerts, a newsletter about North Carolina politics.  —  Josiah Young was born and raised in North Carolina.
Tara Suter / The Hill:
Jeffries backs stock trading ban after Greene buys market dip  —  House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday backed a stock trading ban for sitting members of Congress, after ripping Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for reportedly profiting off market fluctuations during President Trump's tariff roller-coaster.
Miami Herald:
House lawmaker to subpoena state attorney general over Hope Florida's millions  —  A key lawmaker said he will issue a subpoena for text messages and call logs from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier about the Hope Florida Foundation, a dramatic escalation in House Republicans' investigation …
Politico:
Trump to skip White House Correspondents' Association dinner amid battle with press  —  The president snubbed the event throughout his first administration.  —  President Donald Trump will not attend the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner later this month …
Discussion: Axios
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
The Supreme Court threatens to bring “Don't Say Gay” to every classroom in America  —  Remember Florida's “Don't Say Gay” law?  —  The unconstitutionally vague law imposed such unclear restrictions on teachers who speak about sexual orientation or gender identity that many feared …
Politico:
Tariff carve-outs underscore weak US position in China trade war: ‘This is going to get really ugly’  —  With its electronics exceptions, the United States has demonstrated that it is more willing to bend than the Chinese.  —  The White House says it has the upper hand in its trade war with China.
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 12:40 PM ET, April 15, 2025.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Who's Hiring in Media? 
 
 See Also: 
memeorandum: site main
memeorandum River: reverse chronological memeorandum
memeorandum Mobile: for phones
memeorandum Leaderboard: memeorandum's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
memeorandum RSS feed
memeorandum on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
David Nir / The Downballot:
Morning Digest: Michigan Republican who fell just short in '24 will run for Senate again
Bloomberg:
EU Expects US Tariffs to Stay as Talks Make Little Progress
Discussion: The Contrarian and KRDO
Tom Perkins / The Guardian:
Trump donors eye potential bonanza if US succeeds with Greenland land-grab
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
Words & Phrases We Can Do Without
Nicole Brockbank / CBC News:
She was chatting with friends in a Lyft. Then someone texted her what they said
Discussion: Boing Boing
 Earlier Items: 
Yuki Noguchi / NPR:
DOGE cut a CDC team as it was about to start a project to help N.C. flood victims
Discussion: Carolina Journal
Sadie Gurman / Wall Street Journal:
This Lawyer Defended Republicans and Democrats. His Candor Cost Him His Job.
Discussion: CBS News and American Greatness
Stephen Robinson / Public Notice:
RFK Jr. and the great discrediting of HHS
Discussion: KDFX-TV and New Jersey Online
Heather Hunter / Washington Examiner:
Taylor Lorenz claims she did not call Luigi Mangione ‘morally good’
New York Times:
White House to Ask Congress to Claw Back Funding From NPR and PBS
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Carmen Arroyo / Bloomberg:
Docs: X's data licensing and subscriptions revenue grew 32% YoY to $91M in February, ad revenue grew 4% YoY to $146M; Twitter had $4.5B in ad revenue in 2021

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Ziff Davis sues OpenAI, alleging it used Ziff Davis' content to train AI models; sources say Ziff Davis is seeking at least hundreds of millions of dollars

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
British insurance tycoon and Prospect magazine owner Clive Cowdery takes a minority stake in Tortoise; the Scott Trust has a 9% stake after committing £5M

 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page