The Political Markup for May 9, 2026
Politics
Ron DeSantis will probably run for president again in 2028.
A conservative nonprofit is helping the Trump Administration fill diplomatic positions at the State Department.
The Trump Administration may be quietly slowing down its deportations so they’re less of a political liability in advance of the midterm elections.
A federal appeals court ruled that members of Congress can continue to do unannounced visits of immigration detention facilities.
ABC is defending its First Amendment rights after the Trump Administration formally challenged its political programming.
The Trump Administration is placing banners around D.C. renovation projects that credit and thank Trump for getting them done.
Economy
A Michigan economics professor estimates the complete cost of the Trump and Israel’s war with Iran will be in the hundreds of billions if not trillions.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump’s latest attempt at global tariffs are illegal.
China essentially controls the U.S. car manufacturing industry, with Chinese companies having ownership in around 10,000 American auto parts businesses.
Asian farmers are halting crop production due to input supply issues from the Iran war.
An increasing amount of American men are not in the workforce.
International
Saudi Arabia stopped Trump’s plan to manage ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The CIA assesses that Iran could sustain a continued U.S. closure of the Strait of Hormuz for another three or four months, and that Iran still has a majority of its missile and defense resources.
Recent U.S. weapons sales to Mideast countries are actually valued at $25.7 billion, significantly greater than the $8.6 billion the Trump Administration publicly claimed.
China believes the U.S. is weakened militarily and unable to defend Taiwan due to the ongoing Iran War. Though Taiwan just approved $25 billion in military purchases from the U.S.
North Korea has a new nuclear-capable warship as part of a five-year plan to expand its nuclear weapons beyond land.
The Trump Administration destroyed another boat in the Pacific accused of trafficking drugs, though no evidence has ever been provided by the administration on any of these attacks.
Polling indicates that voters across Europe are frustrated with their political leaders.
Minnesota
The ICE agent who killed Renee Good in Minneapolis is still working for the government in another state, while the Trump Administration is working to prosecute Minnesotans who protested ICE earlier this year.
The man who attacked Ilhan Omar with a syringe has plead guilty.
Around 19,000 Minnesotans registered to vote in 2024 by others vouching for them.