This week, Donald Trump gave a speech about the war in Iran that, Jeet Heer wrote, was “groggy, droning, and disengaged.” If there were ever a time when focus was needed, it is now, as poll numbers sag for the war in Iran and for Trump’s approval ratings overall. But focus is not the president’s strong suit, so instead, his reasons for war remain as confused as ever.
While Trump flails in the White House, the Supreme Court is making moves of its own. On Wednesday, Trump became the first president in recorded history to attend a Supreme Court hearing. It was about his efforts to overturn birthright citizenship, and the justices appeared to weigh “Trump’s deeply held anti-immigrant bigotry against the clear language of the 14th Amendment and nearly 130 years of Supreme Court precedent,” as justice correspondent Elie Mystal put it.
And earlier in the week, in an 8—1 ruling, SCOTUS overturned Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy. This ruling is not just a menace to trans youth, Mystal writes; it “will damage the quality of healthcare for all Americans.”
-Alana Pockros
Associate Editor, The Nation