WASHINGTON, D.C., August 30, 2025 - A U.S. federal appeals court ruled today that President Donald Trump exceeded his statutory authority when he imposed sweeping global tariffs under emergency powers, delivering a major legal blow to his signature trade policy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court’s finding that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the broad, 50 percent reciprocal levies Trump imposed in April, as well as baseline tariffs on almost all trading partners. Although the duties remain in place until mid-October pending appeal, Trump denounced the decision on his social media platform, vowing to take the case to the Supreme Court and warning that “if allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America”.

Administration Blocks Palestinian Leaders from U.N. Gathering

NEW YORK, August 30, 2025 - In a move that has drawn criticism from U.N. officials, the Trump administration today barred members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s government from attending a high-level United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. The decision, enacted under provisions of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, reverses longstanding practice under the 1947 U.N. Headquarters Agreement requiring the U.S. to admit foreign diplomats for U.N. sessions. White House spokespeople defended the block as consistent with Trump’s hard-line Middle East policy, though the U.N. has formally protested the action as a violation of its host-country obligations.

U.S. Tightens Export Controls on South Korean Chipmakers

SEOUL, August 30, 2025 - The White House announced new restrictions this morning preventing South Korean semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix from exporting advanced manufacturing equipment to their Chinese facilities without a special U.S. license. Citing national security concerns, the administration’s measures aim to curb China’s ability to produce high-end logic and memory chips. The policy, long sought by Trump advisers focused on competition with Beijing, marks a significant escalation in technology export controls and could have wide-ranging effects on global semiconductor supply chains.