Month: May 2025

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its policy restricting transgender individuals from serving in the military. The decision lifts a lower court’s injunction that had blocked the policy from taking effect, following a ruling that had described it as an unjustified and overtly discriminatory measure.

A federal judge in Washington state had previously blocked the policy in a March 27 ruling, calling the issue “not an especially close question.” When the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause that decision, the Trump administration escalated the matter to the Supreme Court.

In a brief order, the justices approved the administration’s emergency request to end the injunction while legal challenges to the policy continue in lower courts. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, signaling they would have rejected the request to implement the policy while the appeal plays out. The high court offered no detailed explanation for its order but clarified that the stay could be lifted if it eventually hears the case and rules against the policy. Meanwhile, the legal battle continues in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling marks a setback for a group of seven transgender service members, including lead plaintiff Navy Commander Emily Shilling, who had filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the ban from taking effect. Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in a joint statement: “This decision is a devastating setback for the brave transgender Americans who have served our country honorably. The organizations, which are representing the plaintiffs, added that the policy “is rooted in bias, not in legitimate military concerns.”

In a separate but related case, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., had also issued an order stopping the policy from being enforced nationwide. However, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily paused that ruling while it considers whether to uphold it. A final decision from that court is still pending.

The policy in question was introduced in February and represents a more sweeping restriction than a similar measure proposed earlier in Trump’s presidency. According to Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the regulation bars most individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria or those who have undergone treatment related to the condition from joining the armed forces. Sauer emphasized in his argument to the Supreme Court that courts traditionally defer significantly to military leadership on national defense matters. The administration has defended the policy by referencing a Pentagon study conducted during Trump’s first term, which claimed that allowing individuals with gender dysphoria to serve could compromise “military effectiveness and lethality.”

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President Trump met with newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday, just one week after Carney’s Liberal Party secured victory in that country’s election.

Carney’s visit to Washington began with a focus on rebuilding economic ties, once a hallmark of U.S.-Canada cooperation. Ahead of the meeting, Carney had signaled the agenda would include pressing trade concerns and discussions about the broader economic and security partnership between the two independent nations; and he posted on X shortly after landing in the U.S. capital that “Our countries are at their best when we collaborate. That effort starts now.”  

During their meeting in the Oval Office, Carney’s remarks included Canadian sovereignty, telling Trump that “his country is not for sale.” The statement came in response to the U.S. president’s repeated suggestions that Canada could become the 51st state of the United States.

After Carney stated that “there are places in this world that are simply not up for sale,” Trump responded in a light-hearted (yet persistent) tone: “never say never.”  Trump also emphasized that the U.S.-Canada relationship remains fundamentally strong, telling reporters that “No matter what happens, we’ll always be friends with Canada.”

Tensions between the countries escalated in March when the Trump administration imposed a 25% import tariff on Canadian goods not covered under the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). Trump claimed the move was a response to Canada’s failure to curb illegal migration and fentanyl smuggling across the border. In retaliation, Canada enacted tariffs on a wide range of American imports.

Carney’s Liberal Party campaign leaned heavily into criticism of Trump’s trade policies, with Carney—once governor of the Bank of Canada—calling the tariffs a “betrayal” and a significant deviation from the historically stable U.S.-Canada relationship.

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