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Good evening, US President Donald Trump is no stranger to courtroom setbacks, but his latest legal defeat could have global ripple effects. The US Court of International Trade has ruled that his emergency powers don’t give him blanket authority to slap tariffs on every country. In short, the court ruled that his retaliatory tariffs, intended to curb the trade deficit, were unlawful. Interestingly, the India-Pakistan conflict even came up during the case. The US Commerce Secretary claimed that Trump’s trade offer to both countries “averted a full-scale war”. If the President’s emergency powers are reined in, it could jeopardise efforts like that ceasefire. The Trump administration has already filed an appeal, so a final word on the matter will come from higher courts. For now, though, the ruling gives India more breathing room in its ongoing trade talks with the US. On that note, let’s dive in 👇🏽
📝 The Debrief The Elon Musk era in the Trump administration has officially ended. How did we get here? Less than six months since he joined Trump’s administration as a “Special Government Employee”, Elon Musk has exited the stage. In a post on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk said, “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” Musk called time on his government stint, a day before it was officially scheduled to end, May 30, and fired a few parting shots at his former boss’s policies on his way out. Scale back: Since becoming involved with Trumpworld, Musk has been a boisterous cheerleader for the President, having first endorsed his candidacy in July last year and then spent over $270 million in the 2024 presidential election. Earlier this month, speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk said he was “going to do a lot less in the future,” when asked about political funding. “I think I’ve done enough.” If anything, this will come as a substantial blow to Trump’s Republican Party ahead of the 2026 mid-term cycle, as it seeks to defend its majority in the House of Representatives. Back to base: Musk’s retreat comes at a pivotal time for his business ventures, most notably Tesla, which suffered globally due to his willingness to embrace far-right politics and his turbulent tenure at the Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE), an initiative he spearheaded. Boycott calls and violent anti-Tesla protests in Europe, Canada, the US, and the UK resulted in the EV giant’s sales falling to a near three-year low in the first quarter of this year. Its stock price plunged in March and April following its worst quarter, before Musk bit the bullet and reassured investors that he would devote “far more time” to Tesla.
Criticisms: Musk’s controversial tenure in government has seen him clash with several key administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, among others. However, a day before his exit announcement on X, Musk criticised Trump’s “One Beautiful Big Bill”, with a cheeky quip: “I think a bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.” Musk said he was “disappointed with the massive spending bill” as it “increases budget deficits…and undermines the work Doge is doing.” Musk also took exception to Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” and unsuccessfully lobbied behind the scenes to force a rethink. In a major escalation, Musk called Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro a “moron” on X, signalling his displeasure at Navarro’s influence on tariffs. To borrow from Politico’s Playbook Podcast, “He came in with a chainsaw; he went out with a tweet.”
✍️ From our newsroom One-man army: Many people know Mumbai’s Madh Island, dotted with bungalows, as a premium real estate destination, popular for film shoots and weekend retreats. Fewer know about the strict Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules that guide construction works in the area. In recent weeks, the BMC has issued over 100 notices and razed nearly 30 unauthorised structures on the ecologically sensitive Madh Island. Behind this sweeping clean-up is the single-handed fight of a 45-year-old driver from Maharashtra. Armed with the Right to Information Act, Vaibhav Thakur is protecting his ancestral home one request at a time.
🔎 Need to know Packing heat: The Assam Cabinet has greenlit a scheme to issue arms licences to “indigenous people” in parts of the state where their population is in the minority. Chief Minister Himanta Sarma said the decision was taken in view of the potential “attacks from the Bangladesh side”. Ka-ching: Mumbai real estate has set yet another record, with two sea-facing duplexes in Worli selling for a whopping Rs 639 crore. Leena Gandhi Tewari, chairman of a pharma company, will be the proud owner of this property. Cracks widen: A recent “leaked” letter from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, criticised the latter for not taking on the BJP in the state. Kavitha stirred the pot further this morning, taking veiled shots at her brother, K T Rama Rao, claiming that the efforts were on to merge the BRS with the BJP.
🎙️Expresso Playlist! In today’s Playlist, I recommend this 1-hour deep dive by Ezra Klein, a New York Times columnist and the host of the eponymous podcast, where he untangles the web of the Trump family’s crypto deals and the moral grey area they fall under.
✋🏽 One last thing I’ll leave you with this brutally honest, yet brilliantly written, analysis of Salman Khan-starrer Sikandar, and why it embodies everything that’s wrong with Bollywood right now. To quote my colleague, Rohan Naahar, Sikandar “mutilates the very idea of cinema with its ineptly edited, lazily written, and lethargically acted brand of storytelling”. “It’s like micro-dosing on Being Human deodorant…” Trust me, you want to keep reading this. That’s all from me today. Thank you so much for reading this edition. If you enjoy the Evening Expresso, tell your friends to subscribe to the newsletter. You can do so by signing up for the Morning Expresso. Additionally, you can reach me via email for tips, feedback, or simply to say hello! 😀 Until tomorrow, Venkat Ananth and Sonal Gupta |
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