Today in one sentence: A federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles was illegal; Trump will deploy the National Guard to Chicago; after a federal appeals court ruled most of his global tariffs illegal, Trump vowed to ask the Supreme Court “tomorrow” to overturn the decision; Trump canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid using a “pocket rescission”; a federal judge blocked Trump’s effort to secretly fly more than 600 Guatemalan children out of the U.S. over Labor Day weekend; the Trump administration is weighing a plan that would give Palestinians a digital land “token” in exchange for their property so Gaza can be redeveloped into luxury resorts and “AI-powered” cities; the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released 33,295 pages of Justice Department records on Jeffrey Epstein; Trump plans to issue an unconstitutional executive order requiring voter ID for “every single vote” and banning nearly all mail-in ballots; Trump said he would award Rudy Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom; a D.C. grand jury refused to indict two people accused of threatening to kill Trump; and Trump addressed online rumors that he was dead, calling them “fake news.”

1/ A federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles was illegal, saying the administration “systematically used armed soldiers” and turned them into “a national police force with the President as its chief.” Judge Charles Breyer found the deployment violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from carrying out civilian law enforcement. “There were indeed protests in Los Angeles, and some individuals engaged in violence. Yet there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond,” Breyer wrote. He blocked the Trump administration from using troops for arrests, searches, patrols, or crowd control, but delayed enforcement of his order until Sept. 12 to allow an appeal. Gov. Gavin Newsom said: “No president is a king — not even Trump.” (CalMatters / Politico / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / NPR)

2/ Trump will deploy the National Guard to Chicago, saying “we’re going in […] We have the right to do it, because I have an obligation to protect this country.” Trump also called Chicago “a hellhole right now,” referring to shootings and murders over the Labor Day weekend as justification for his plan to deploy federal forces despite opposition from Illinois and Chicago officials. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Trump’s remarks “unhinged,” while Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson said there is no “emergency” in Chicago. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, meanwhile, said “We haven’t taken anything off the table” and confirmed plans to “add more resources” to ICE operations. (Associated Press / Politico / New York Times / ABC News / Washington Post / ABC News / NBC News)

3/ After a federal appeals court ruled most of his global tariffs illegal, Trump vowed to ask the Supreme Court “tomorrow” to overturn the decision. The 7–4 ruling said he exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and affirmed that tariffs are “a core Congressional power,” though it allowed the duties to remain in place until Oct. 14 while the case proceeds. Trump called the ruling “an emergency,” warning it “would be an economic disaster for the United States” and that “our country will be weak, pathetic and not rich […] If you take away tariffs, we could end up being a third-world country.” Trump also claimed that “We’re taking in $17 trillion,” but Treasury data shows tariff revenue this year totaled about $142 billion. (Axios / CNBC / Bloomberg / New York Times / Axios / CBS News / New York Times / CNBC / Axios / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Reuters)

4/ Trump canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid using a “pocket rescission,” notifying Congress and triggering an immediate 45-day hold that runs past the Sept. 30 fiscal year deadline. The White House targeted State Department and USAID accounts, including peacekeeping and the Democracy Fund. The Government Accountability Office, however, has already ruled pocket rescissions illegal, and Senator Susan Collins said it was “a clear violation of the law.” Democrats called it an “absurd, illegal ploy” and warned Republicans not to be “a rubber stamp for this carnage.” (Politico / CNN / The Guardian / New York Times)

5/ A federal judge blocked Trump’s effort to secretly fly more than 600 Guatemalan children out of the U.S. over Labor Day weekend. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan issued a 4 a.m. order after flights were already loaded with minors, and later told government lawyers, “I have the government attempting to remove minor children from the country in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend.” Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign claimed the flights were “repatriations” requested by parents, not deportations, but immigrant advocates disputed that and said many children still had pending legal cases. (Associated Press / Washington Post / NPR / New York Times / NBC News / CBS News / ABC News / Politico)

  • More than 1.2 million immigrant workers disappeared from the labor force this year. Trump has claimed his deportation efforts target “dangerous criminals,” but most people detained by ICE have had no criminal convictions, while farmers and contractors reported wasted crops and stalled projects. A labor economist warned the border influx “is essentially stopped,” cutting off a workforce that normally fuels half of U.S. job growth. (CBS News / Associated Press)

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized sending up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges, as immigration courts face a backlog of about 3.5 million cases and more than 100 immigration judges have been fired or resigned in recent months. The(Associated Press)

6/ The Trump administration is weighing a plan that would give Palestinians a digital land “token” in exchange for their property so Gaza can be redeveloped into luxury resorts and “AI-powered” cities. The 38-page proposal calls for the “voluntary” removal of Gaza’s 2 million residents, offering $5,000, rent and food subsidies to those who leave. The plan projects a fourfold return on $100 billion in investment funding and would place Gaza under U.S. control for at least a decade. (Washington Post)

  • The Trump family booked up to $5 billion in paper wealth after World Liberty Financial’s crypto token began trading. The family holds just under a quarter of all tokens. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / The Hill)

7/ The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released 33,295 pages of Justice Department records on Jeffrey Epstein. Democrats said the “overwhelming majority” was already public and that the new disclosure contain fewer than 1,000 pages of U.S. Customs and Border Protection flight-location records from 2000 to 2014. Republicans, however, said more disclosures were coming and subpoenaed Epstein’s estate for items including a “birthday book” and any “client list.” Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, meanwhile, filed a discharge petition to force wider releases and called the committee’s approach a “placebo,” with Massie saying people were handed “a nothingburger.” Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back, saying, “I would describe virtually everything Thomas Massie says related to this issue as meaningless.” (Washington Post / The Hill / Politico / Axios / The Hill / NPR / NBC News / Politico)

⏭️ Notably Next: Trump’s D.C. police takeover authority ends Sept. 9; Congress has 28 days to pass a funding measure to prevent a government shutdown; and the 2026 midterms are in 427 days. (Politico / NBC News)

✏️ Notables.

  1. Trump plans to issue an unconstitutional executive order requiring voter ID for “every single vote” and banning nearly all mail-in ballots. The Constitution, however, gives the president no authority over elections, which are run by states and can only be changed by Congress. And, a federal judge has already struck down most of Trump’s earlier order on voter registration for exceeding presidential power. Trump, nevertheless, posted: “Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! […] Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military.” (Reuters / The Guardian / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)

  2. Trump said he will move U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama – reversing Biden’s 2023 decision. He admitted Colorado’s mail-in voting “played a big factor” in the move, calling the system “very corrupt.” Colorado lawmakers warned the relocation “weakens our national security” and vowed to fight it. (Associated Press / Politico / Axios)

  3. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called a special session to redraw the state’s congressional map – hours after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new map giving Republicans more seats. Kehoe’s proposal targets Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s district and includes a ballot measure making citizen initiatives harder to pass. (Associated Press)

  4. A federal appeals court allowed the Trump administration to terminate $16 billion in Biden-era grants awarded to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Politico / New York Times / ABC News / Associated Press)

  5. The Transportation Department canceled $679 million in funding for 12 offshore wind projects. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed, “Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go toward revitalizing America’s maritime industry.” The administration also withdrew a $716 million loan guarantee for transmission upgrades in New Jersey and halted construction of the nearly finished $4 billion Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island and Connecticut, citing unspecified “national security concerns.” (New York Times / PBS News)

  6. Trump said he would award Rudy Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him “the greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American Patriot.” The decision came two days after Giuliani was hospitalized from a car crash despite his disbarment, criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona, and a $148 million defamation judgment he later settled. Giuliani’s spokesperson said: “There is no American more deserving of this honor.” (USA Today / CNN / New York Times / Associated Press)

  7. A D.C. grand jury refused to indict two people accused of threatening to kill Trump. It was U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s fourth failed attempt to secure an indictment, and local grand juries have repeatedly rejected her cases in recent weeks, including one over a thrown sandwich. (NBC News / Associated Press)

  8. Trump addressed online rumors that he was dead, calling them “fake news.” Following several days without public appearances and photos showing bruises on his hand, Trump said he was “very active” over the weekend and that he “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.” (Axios / NBC News)

  • ✨ Well, that’s fantastic. Jerry Nadler will step down from Congress after 34 years, citing “generational change” and conceding that a younger Democrat “can maybe do better.” Nadler, 78, said Israel was committing “war crimes and mass murder without question” in Gaza and vowed to block offensive U.S. weapons sales. On Trump, Nadler said: “This is the most severe threat we’ve had to our system of government since the Civil War.” (New York Times)
Five years ago today: Day 1322: "Why would he do this?"