The Court did not formally explain its decision. It overruled two lower courts which had imposed a temporary restraining order after concluding that ICE had likely violated the Fourth Amendment by targeting suspects based primarily on race or ethnicity and language.
In a concurring statement agreeing with the decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh explained that he believed the government had a “fair prospect of success on the merits” in the litigation and should not be hindered in using the strategy for now.
“Apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion,” Kavanaugh wrote. “Under this Court’s case law regarding immigration stops, however, it can be a relevant factor.”
He also questioned whether the advocacy groups and individual plaintiffs challenging the government policy had sufficient standing to bring the legal challenge to begin with.
The Court’s three liberal justices dissented.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the decision a “grave misuse” of the Court’s emergency docket, rather than let the case continue to play out in lower courts.
“We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent,” she wrote.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said on X the ruling is a “win for the safety of Californians and the rule of law.”
“DHS law enforcement will not be slowed down and will continue to arrest and remove the murderers, rapists, gang members and other criminal illegal aliens that Karen Bass continues to give safe harbor,” she posted.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday continued to take aim at Chicago as the city braces for potential federal intervention.
“We’d love to go into Chicago and straighten it out,” Trump said as he delivered remarks at the Museum of the Bible.
Earlier Monday, Trump wrote on his social media platform that the people of Illinois should “band together and DEMAND PROTECTION” from what he has said is a crime problem in Chicago, despite police data showing murders and shootings down this year compared to last.
“I want to help the people of Chicago, not hurt them. Only the Criminals will be hurt! We can move fast and stop this madness,” Trump wrote in the post.
The comments come after a war of words over the weekend between Trump and Illinois leaders following a controversial post from the president referencing the newly rebranded Department of War.
“Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” Trump wrote in a post on Saturday that included a manipulated image and a caption reading, “I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” a nod to the often-quoted line “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” from the war film “Apocalypse Now.”
Trump later downplayed the threat, telling reporters on Sunday: “We’re not going to war. We’re going to clean up our cities.”
Democratic leaders in Illinois slammed Trump’s rhetoric, and protests unfolded throughout Chicago on Saturday against the president’s threat to increase immigration enforcement and dispatch National Guard troops.
“‘I want to help people, not hurt them,’ says the guy who just threatened an American city with the Department of War,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on X on Monday.
While Trump on Monday said that he wanted to “fix” Chicago, he also signaled his administration may not send in troops without a request from state and local officials, saying his administration is “waiting for a call from Chicago.”
“I don’t know why Chicago isn’t calling us, saying, please give us help when you have over just a short period of time, 50 murders and hundreds of people shot. And then you have a governor that stands up and says how crime is just fine. It’s, it’s really crazy, but we’re bringing back law and order to our country,” Trump said.
Pritzker has made clear he will not be making such a request, telling reporters last week: “When did we become a country where it’s okay for the U.S. president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything, especially something we don’t want?”
Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday launched an expanded operation dubbed “Midway Blitz,” that will “target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X.
Trump, touting his administration’s federal takeover of Washington, suggested on Monday the same be done in other American cities.
“We could do the same thing in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles,” Trump said in his remarks at the Museum of the Bible.
“We saved Los Angeles, we saved Los Angeles,” he said.
The Trump administration deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June, over the protests of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. A federal judge recently ruled the use of federal troops in the California city was illegal.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch earlier Monday said she is “revolted” by the presence of the National Guard on big city streets.
“As a lifelong New Yorker, I am revolted by the idea of the militarization of our streets,” Tisch said during a breakfast at the Citizens Budget Commission. “I will be very clear with anybody, all of you, the attorney general, anyone who wants to talk to me about this that the NYPD, we’ve got this. We don’t need or want the federal government’s help here in that way.”
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — When financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was in the news for his arrest for sex trafficking and eventual death in 2019, Democrats distanced themselves from the onetime donor, disavowing his campaign contributions and condemning conservative conspiracy theories about his death.
Six years later, many Democrats and party leaders are leaning into the GOP infighting and far-right anger over the Trump administration’s handling of the case, raising the issue in press conferences, social media posts and on the floor of the House.
“The American people deserve to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as it relates to this whole sordid Jeffrey Epstein matter,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Monday. “Democrats didn’t put the Jeffrey Epstein thing into the public domain. This was a conspiracy that Donald Trump, Pam Bondi and these MAGA extremists have been fanning the flames of for the last several years and now the chickens are coming home to roost.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced an amendment to a cryptocurrency bill set for a House vote this week that would compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to “retain, preserve and compile” Epstein-related records and release them within 30 days.
Khanna’s measure failed on a 5-7 vote in the House Rules Committee, though Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina voted with Democrats.
On the House floor Tuesday, Democrats raised the issue again, in an unsuccessful effort to force consideration of Khanna’s amendment to get all Republicans on the record.
Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, also introduced a resolution this week calling for the release of “all” unclassified records on Epstein.
Both Democrats told ABC News that the issue underscores the “us versus the elites” dynamic they believe has emerged in politics across America.
“It goes to the central question of our times: Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the American people who feel that rich and powerful interests have their thumb on the scale and haven’t given them a fair shake? Or are you on the side of protecting the rich and powerful?” Khanna said.
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., for weeks has led efforts demanding an explanation from the Justice Department about withholding the files.
“A lot of the people who believe all these conspiracy theories did so because they were told that they were accurate by the current FBI director [Kash Patel] and [FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino],” he said.
Before Trump’s election victory, both Patel and Bongino raised questions on conservative podcasts about the withholding of records. Since they have been in office, they have defended the administration’s handling of the situation.
“There could be two reasons for that. One is that it’s all made up for clicks and to make money, and that there’s no basis in fact or evidence, or there is some truth to it, and they’re trying to hide it,”Goldman added.
“People don’t like being misled and don’t like being promised things that are not delivered. And that’s true as it relates to the Epstein files and it’s true as it relates to all of Donald Trump’s campaign promises,” he said.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin has also raised the issue, telling The Bulwark that Democrats are “going to call [Trump] out” for not sharing more records.
The committee also created an X account, called “TrumpEpsteinBot,” to tweet about whether the administration has released the files.
Some Democrats believe the party should be focusing their messaging on the real-world impacts of Trump and Republicans’ policy and legislative agenda.
“This all causes divisions in the MAGA base, which serves Democrats well,” one Democratic operative told ABC News. “But beyond that, most voters are still going to vote based on their pocketbooks.”
A White House spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on Democrats’ attacks against the administration over the Epstein case.
ABC News’ John Parkinson, Lauren Peller and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump is hosting President Zelensky at the White House for a bilateral meeting and later an expanded meeting with European leaders to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded positive as they met at the White House on Monday as Trump pushes for an end to Russia’s war on Kyiv.
Zelenskyy was joined in Washington by a remarkable delegation of European leaders who rushed to the U.S. in support of the Ukrainian leader in the wake of Friday’s talks between Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The last time Zelenskyy was in the Oval Office was February, when he received a verbal lashing from President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who accused him of not being grateful enough for U.S. military assistance.
Monday’s meeting was a much more cordial affair, with Trump and Zelenskyy sharing smiles and Zelenskyy thanking the president for his personal efforts to bring this conflict to a close.
Afterward, they sat down with European leaders, who before news cameras pressed Trump publicly on the need for security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any deal — after Trump made a new commitment on that point. Some also said a ceasefire would be necessary before further negotiations or any trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin.
Here are some key takeaways from the high-stakes meetings.
Trump says US will give Ukraine ‘very good protection’
President Trump on Monday said the United States will be involved in security assistance for Ukraine but did not elaborate on what exactly that would look like or give any specifics.
“We’re going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security,” Trump said.
The president later confirmed that Putin said Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine.
Trump didn’t go quite as far as special envoy Steve Witkoff, who told CNN that Russia agreed to “Article 5-like” protections. Article 5 is the agreement of collective defense among NATO nations stating an attack against one member is considered an attack against them all.
Trump said Europe would need to shoulder much of the burden when it comes to security guarantees, but that the U.S. will play a role.
“They are first line of defense because they’re there,” Trump said before adding, “But we’re going to help them. And also we’ll be involved.”
Trump walks back ceasefire demand
After previously pushing for a ceasefire and threatening severe consequences for Russia if Putin did not stop the war, President Trump appeared to back off that demand.
“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” he said in the Oval Office. “I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically, like, well, you know, one country or the other wouldn’t want it.”
He continued that he likes “the concept of a ceasefire for one reason, because you’d stop killing people immediately.”
Trump pushes for a trilateral meeting, Zelenskyy says Ukraine ‘ready’
Trump continued to push for a trilateral meeting between himself, Zelenskyy and Putin — something he had hoped to set up immediately following his summit with Putin on Friday but was unsuccessful.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready” for a trilateral discussion.
“I think it’s going to be when,” Trump said, “not if.”
Later Monday, Trump posted on social media that he began planning for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, after which he said a trilateral meeting could take place.
“I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump wrote in the post. “After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.”
European leaders back up Zelenskyy on security guarantees, ceasefire
Trump and Zelenskyy sat down with a host of European leaders in the East Room following their bilateral talks in the Oval Office.
At the table were NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finland President Alexander Stubb.
Nearly all the leaders stressed the need for security guarantees for Ukraine, with several saying it should look similar to Article 5 obligations. Ukraine is not a part of NATO but the nation has pushed for membership, something Russia is strongly opposed to.
“The fact that you have said that I’m willing to participate in the security guarantees is a it’s a big step. It’s really a breakthrough,” NATO’s Rutte told Trump. “And, it makes all the difference. So also, thank you for that.”
France’s Macron and Germany’s Merz challenged Trump on a ceasefire, insisting it’s a necessity for moving forward.
“The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones now … To be honest, we all would like to see a ceasefire,” Germany’s Merz said. Merz said he cannot imagine a trilateral meeting would be able to occur without a ceasefire in place.
Trump spoke with with Putin after meetings
Trump said he would call Putin after his meetings Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House.
“He’s expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting,” Trump said while he sat with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
During a “Fox & Friends” interview on Tuesday morning, Trump said he stepped away from his meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders to speak with Putin. Trump said it was 1 a.m. in Russia when he and Putin spoke.
“I told them that we’re going to set up a meeting with President Zelenskyy, and you and he will meet, and then after that meeting, if everything works out okay, I’ll meet and we’ll wrap it up,” he said.
“If I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons,” Trump said on the potential ending of the war.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
