memeorandum: ‘Beyond My Wildest Dreams’: The Architect of Project 2025 Is Ready for His Victory Lap (Michael Hirsh/Politico)

12:55 PM ET, March 16, 2025

Top Items:

Democratic Party hits new polling low, while its voters want to fight Trump harder — Unlike in Trump's first term, Democratic voters say 2-to-1 they want party leaders to fight rather than compromise, even at the risk of not getting things done, per the NBC News poll.

Discussion: Axios, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Bloomberg, No More Mister Nice Blog and Daily Kos

Ariel Edwards-Levy / CNN:

CNN Poll: Democratic Party's favorability drops to a record low — The Democratic Party's favorability rating among Americans stands at a record low, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, fueled in part by dimming views from its own frustrated supporters.

Discussion: RedState and Daily Mail

NBC News:
Poll: Trump faces early challenges on the economy as a united GOP backs big change

Discussion: Axios and Mediaite

New York Times:

Trade War Retaliation Will Hit Trump Voters Hardest — The counties where tariffs could hit jobs, by presidential vote winner — Source: New York Times analysis of data from Lightcast and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Note: Vote results are for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Discussion: Daily Mail and Fox Business

Lauren Irwin / The Hill:

Tuberville says Trump's tariffs ‘only shot’ at ‘getting our country back’ — Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said he thinks President Trump's tariffs on other countries are the “only shot” at “getting our country back.” — Tuberville joined John Catsimatidis for his radio show “Cats Roundtable …

Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent says he's ‘not at all’ worried amid a stock market selloff

Discussion: Bloomberg, Business Insider and The Hill

BBC:

Trump moves to close down Voice of America — Donald Trump has signed an order to strip back the federally funded news organisation Voice of America, accusing it of being “anti-Trump” and “radical”. — A White House statement said the order would “ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook …

Discussion: Fox News, DNyuz, Twitchy, The Kyiv Independent and Associated Press, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:
Trump signs order to gut staff at Voice of America and other US-funded media organizations

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Al Jazeera, Reporters Without Borders, Raw Story, The Independent, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Committee to Protect …, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Rolling Stone, Reuters, USA Today, Politico, NPR, Variety and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »

Giorgio Leali / Politico:
Trump's move to silence pro-democracy media sparks outrage

Discussion: LinkedIn, WUSA, Associated Press, Reuters, Mediaite, DNyuz, Politico and Deadline

Pduskie / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: RFE/RL President: Defunding Would be “Massive Gift to America's Enemies”

Steve Herman / The Newsguy: Requiem for the voice that carried a nation's conscience

Lulu Garcia-Navarro / New York Times:

Chuck Schumer on Democrats, Antisemitism and His Shutdown Retreat — Philip Montgomery for The New York Times — It has been quite a week for Chuck Schumer. When I spoke to the Senate minority leader on Monday, we talked about a lot of things: the direction of his party …

Discussion: The Warning with Steve Schmidt

Jessica Piper / Politico:
Liberal group calls for Schumer to step down as minority leader after spending bill vote

Discussion: Fox News, DNyuz and The Hill

Indivisible:
Indivisible Calls on Schumer to Step Aside

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:

Trump administration deports hundreds of migrants, despite judge's order stopping removal — The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador despite a federal judge's order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting …

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Fox News, Washington Examiner, New York Times, WUSA, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Twitchy, DNyuz and New York Post

Associated Press:
Trump invokes 18th century law to speed deportations, judge stalls it hours later

Discussion: Reuters, Associated Press, Twitchy, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, DNyuz, New York Post, The Guardian, Washington Times, The Hill, The Independent, Metro.co.uk and Totengräber

Steve Vladeck / One First:

132. Five Questions About Trump's Alien Enemy Act Proclamation — A quick take on some of the questions raised by President Trump's ... dubious invocation of a 1798 statute as a basis for arresting, detaining, and removing non-citizens with ties to Tren de Aragua.

Discussion: DNyuz

President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, FOX 32 Chicago, The Guardian, Israpundit, Associated Press, JURIST, The Intercept, Simple Justice, Reason, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, DNyuz, Zeteo, RedState, Washington Examiner, The Post Millennial and Politico

Washington Post:
Judge blocks Trump after he invokes wartime Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Associated Press, DNyuz, Washington Examiner and The Hill

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Court blocks deportations hours after Trump says he invoked Alien Enemies Act

Discussion: The Hill, NPR, DNyuz, The Gateway Pundit and USA Today

Scott Macfarlane / CBS News:
Judge blocks Trump from using wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport immigrants

Discussion: Townhall, Associated Press, Fox News, The Post Millennial, Bloomberg, The Daily Wire, ACLU, Raw Story, JONATHAN TURLEY, MeidasTouch News, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, DNyuz and The Hill

Lauren Villagran / USA Today:

He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center. — Bradley Bartell and Camila Muñoz had a familiar small-town love story, before they collided with immigration politics. — They met through mutual friends, had a first date at the local steakhouse …

David Pozen / Balkinization:

A Title VI Demand Letter That Itself Violates Title VI (and the Constitution) — By Kate Andrias, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Jamal Greene, Olatunde Johnson, Jeremy Kessler, Gillian Metzger, and David Pozen — On Thursday, the president of Columbia University received a remarkable letter …

David French / New York Times:

Don't Fool Yourself Into Thinking It Will Stop With Columbia — Columbia University is now the epicenter of the American culture war. The Trump administration is targeting a former Columbia student — and the university itself — as a test case for its new authoritarian regime.

Discussion: The Guardian, Politico, archive.ph and Associated Press

Joe Rennison / New York Times:

Trump's Moves Are Boosting Stocks ... Overseas — For years, the S&P 500 soared above the stock indexes of other countries. But since Trump's inauguration, it has fallen 6 percent and is now trailing major markets in Europe and China. — President Trump has promised to create an age …

Tim Balk / New York Times:

LIVE March 15, 2025, 11:41 a.m. ET Trump Orders Gutting of 7 Agencies, Including Voice of America's Parent — Where Things Stand — Alien Enemies Act: A federal judge on Saturday said the Trump administration must halt use of an obscure wartime law, called the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, to deport Venezuelans.

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall, Public Domain and The Barrington Hills Observer

Javier C. Hernández / New York Times: Trump Seeks More Sway in Picking Kennedy Center Honorees

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:

‘Not getting the donations’: DC insider notes Kennedy Center decline after Trump takeover — A longtime insider who has been at the center of the Washington, D.C. social scene for decade claims Donald Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center is destroying the venerable institution as ticket sales dry up …

Discussion: The Guardian

Ben Makuch / The Guardian:

‘Maga since forever’: mercenary mogul Erik Prince pushes to privatize Trump deportation plans — Notorious Blackwater founder is lobbying allies in White House for private contractors to assist in mass deportations — Never miss global breaking news. Download our free app to keep up with key stories in real time.

Steven Greenhouse / The Guardian:

Trump says the economy ‘went to hell’ under Biden. The opposite is true — By standard measures such as job and GDP growth and the stock market, the US economy was in excellent shape — Never miss global breaking news. Download our free app to keep up with key stories in real time.

Associated Press:

Tornadoes, wildfires and blinding dust sweep across US as massive storm leaves at least 33 dead — Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that also produced dust storms and icy conditions killed at least 33 people across the central and southern U.S.