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Good morning from Washington and welcome to White House Watch. Let’s dive into:
Trump’s Supreme Court ire
The sell-off in US Treasuries
Threats to US bombers in the UK
The US Supreme Court was back on the bench yesterday, kicking off the high court’s new term as Donald Trump seethes over the conservative justices he elevated.
He’s angry at Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom he appointed to the court during his first presidency. They have committed the cardinal sin against the president: disloyalty.
Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett have cast deciding votes in rulings that have frustrated Trump’s efforts to push the boundaries of his presidential power. With their help this year, the court has blocked the president’s attempts to limit mail-in voting, birthright citizenship and the independence of the Federal Reserve.
Gorsuch and Barrett were also in the majority when the court struck down Trump’s sweeping tariff regime in February.
With the court now back in session — where it’s expected to rule on more of his policies, including immigration — Trump’s ire could grow.
“These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” he posted on his Truth Social platform last month, adding that the court’s legacy was tarnished by “some of the most destructive, hurtful and damaging decisions in our Country’s history”.
Trump is fuming despite the success his administration has had before this court, including with votes from Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett. Last term, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh each sided with the government in six of seven argued cases directly involving the administration. Barrett did so in five of seven.
Trump’s nominees have also sided with his administration in the overwhelming majority of cases on the court’s emergency docket, where it handles time-sensitive requests without full briefing or oral arguments.
Legal scholars told the FT’s justice correspondent Ella Lee that the president’s expectations of his appointees were unrealistic.
“Trump fundamentally misunderstood what a Supreme Court justice is,” said Harvard law professor Noah Feldman. They did not conceive of the job as “doing the bidding of a president”, he added. “And thank goodness because that’s not the job.”
Justin Burnworth, an assistant law professor at the University of Florida, said the three justices had remained “consistent conservatives”. But he added: “The expectation for the Trump administration [is] just this rubber stamp — and they didn’t get that. So it feels like a failure.”
The latest headlines
A sharp sell-off in US government bonds is starting to reverberate across corporate America, forcing companies to overhaul their borrowing plans.
With rightwing Flávio Bolsonaro in pole position to win a run-off vote for Brazil’s presidency, another Trump-backed candidate could soon walk on to the world stage.
After an outcry, Trump said on social media that he will stop using taxpayer dollars for Department of Homeland security adverts and use funds from his political action committee Maga Inc.
The president has eased limits on the use of tax-exempt red diesel as midterm elections approach and his administration tries to contain a fuel-price crisis triggered by his Iran war.
What we’re hearing
Warnings about a possible Iranian drone attack on the UK-US air base at RAF Fairford led the US to withdraw 12 B-1 bombers from the facility over the weekend, officials said on Tuesday.
Washington believed the suspected plot could have involved short-range weaponised drones launched at a distance from the air base to strike aircraft and personnel inside, the officials added.
Trump said yesterday that “some threats” were made to the UK air base and prompted the Pentagon to pull its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford over the weekend, without naming any state involved in the plot.
“They didn’t fly out by accident,” Trump said as he was departing the White House for Nebraska on Monday. “There were some threats.”
“Rather than tempting the enemy, we’ll capture the enemy and beat the enemy. But why should we leave [the bombers] there? So we moved them around a little bit,” he added.
But vice-president JD Vance went further, suggesting on Monday that the threats to the base were from Iran: “We do feel with some confidence that the Iranians are trying to do what the Iranian state has done for 49 years, which is engage in acts of terrorism against the United States.”
The Pentagon was “trying to protect our guys” by moving the bombers, Vance said.
Washington’s decision to withdraw the planes has come amid concern that, seven months after the US launched the Iran war, Tehran may target American assets and allies beyond the Middle East.
The return of the bombers to the US came more than a week after five British men were arrested near the base on suspicion of terrorism. A sixth, a UK-Iranian national, was subsequently arrested last Thursday.
Washington and London have signalled that Tehran could have been involved in the September 27 incident. Iran has denied any role.
RAF Fairford has the long runway needed for US B-1 and B-52 bombers to launch. It has played a vital role in the American bombardment of Iran, allowing a much shorter flight time to the country than from bases in the US.
Viewpoints
Whether or not California’s voters pass a billionaire wealth tax, the US will be “deeply affected by either result”, writes Edward Luce.
Patti Waldmeir breaks down how Latino US voters could be particularly influential in next month’s midterm elections.
US economic growth should be stemming Republicans’ losses in the midterms, but anxieties about AI and affordability have left them haemorrhaging support, writes Ruchir Sharma.
Rana Foroohar gives us three reasons why the US’s economic habits are looking more like Italy’s.