Trump to expand push to whitewash ‘woke’ museum exhibits on slavery

President Donald Trump reportedly plans to expand his push to whitewash “woke” museum exhibits on slavery and American history beyond the Smithsonian.

After Trump tweeted that the Smithsonian is too focused on “how bad slavery was,” the White House said it would eventually seek to use its power over funding to force other museums to toe the line on Trump’s views about history.

Trump will hold the Smithsonian “accountable” and “then go from there,” an unnamed official told NBC News. The president this week renewed the attack on the Smithsonian that he unleashed this month when he ordered a sweeping review of its exhibits, policies and staffing.

He suggested the revered cultural institution, which is an independent organization but receives significant funding from the federal government, is too focused on the evils of slavery.

—New York Daily News

Trump appointee overseeing suit against Maryland judges urges ‘judicial independence’

The U.S. district court judge hearing the Trump administration’s rare challenge to the authority of federal judges in Maryland has long emphasized judicial independence, calling it “fundamental to our rule of law.”

Judge Thomas Cullen — who is overseeing the administration’s pending lawsuit against all 15 Maryland federal judges — told senators before his 2020 confirmation: “Judicial independence is incredibly important, and this has been long and continuously recognized.”

Cullen, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020, also said the founding fathers pointedly “insulated the judiciary from outside pressures,” according to his answers to a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire.

Cullen’s answers are noteworthy because he will rule soon in the Trump administration’s suit that the judges’ lawyer says would compromise judicial independence and the separation of powers. He has two issues before him in the Maryland case: whether to dismiss the suit or temporarily block the order the Trump administration is challenging.

—Baltimore Sun

Federal court hears arguments in lawsuit over Minnesota high school transgender athlete policy

MINNEAPOLIS — Attorneys representing three Twin Cities metro-area high school softball players on Wednesday requested a federal court to temporarily block transgender athletes from competing in girls sports.

In a federal courtroom in St. Paul, counsel representing Female Athletes United on Wednesday requested for an injunction that would block transgender athletes from competing pending the outcome of their civil lawsuit filed in May against Attorney General Keith Ellison and other state leaders, which focuses on an unnamed metro-area player who they allege was born male. U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud, who listened to arguments on the merits of the suit, took the matter under advisement.

The federal lawsuit filed in May came amid a flurry of debate on the national stage about participation of transgender athletes in high school sports. The suit was quickly followed by an investigation into Minnesota’s policy by the The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights to investigate whether the MSHSL and Minnesota Department of Education allowed “male athletes to compete on sports teams reserved for females.”

Minnesota sued the Justice Department in April in response to multiple threats by the Trump administration to withhold federal funding if the state did not comply with executive orders attempting to ban transgender athletes from school sports and defines two sexes.

—The Minnesota Star Tribune

Netanyahu attacks Australia for recognizing Palestinian state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese of betrayal for planning to recognize a Palestinian state, in a rare public attack on a historically friendly nation.

Ties began taking a turn for the worse last week when Australia announced it would join France, the U.K. and Canada in recognizing a Palestinian state at next month’s United Nations summit. Tensions escalated this week after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke canceled the visa of Simcha Rothman, a member of Israel’s far-right Religious Zionism party who had been scheduled to speak in Australia.

Israel in turn revoked visas for Australian diplomats in the Palestinian territories, with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar saying the decision was in response to Australia’s plan to recognize Palestine and the barring of Rothman’s visit. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called that action “unjustified” and said the Netanyahu government is isolating Israel.

A post then appeared on the X account of the Israeli prime minister late Tuesday saying, “History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”

—Bloomberg News