ROUGH TRADE

Trump officials hope to use tariff negotiations to “squeeze” foreign countries for everything they can get — in trade, security and more, according to an email obtained by What A Day.

• Transport yourself, for just a moment, to the tiny Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, high up in the Himalayas where mountains meet clouds. Bhutan is sometimes called the “Kingdom of Happiness,” thanks to its penchant for using “Gross National Happiness” to guide economic development. It is not, as you might imagine, a top U.S. trading partner, with total exports to the U.S. in January of less than a million bucks. If Bhutan is sending over any of its spare happiness, apparently it does so free of charge.

• And yet, not even the Kingdom of Happiness is excluded from President Donald Trump’s worldwide trade war. His officials are scrambling to find ways to turn his mercurial tariff policy into wins for the U.S. And, yes, their scope is so broad, some are even raising the question of how to squeeze concessions out of the likes of Bhutan (with a population of less than 800,000; smaller than Jacksonville, Florida).

• Earlier this week, the White House National Security Council — which advises the president on foreign policy — began compiling “a wish list of sorts” for tariff negotiations with other countries.

• “The tariffs are leading to perhaps the greatest leverage we’ve had over these countries in decades — and NSC would like to help agencies squeeze every concession possible out of our partners if they want their tariff issues resolved,” wrote Christopher Ashe, who is listed as the acting director of the Office of South Asia in the International Trade Administration, in an email to dozens of staffers Monday evening.

• This correspondence specifically names countries in South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Requests could include scrapping regulations that “impede” American companies, asking senior officials to pick American companies for government contracts, or encouraging “partner nations NOT to take a planned action — even before it goes on the books,” Ashe wrote.

• “This is our opportunity to leverage a country’s newfound desire to negotiate on trade to advance broader national security and foreign policy objectives,” wrote Rajan Nathaniel, who is listed as the NSC’s director for India and regional geoeconomics, in the email.

But Trump’s logic here is totally backwards, former U.S. officials tell What A Day. 

• The Trump administration isn’t the first to try hardball economic statecraft. But starting with its “wish list” before slapping on hefty tariffs would have made much more sense, experts said. Now, the White House risks angering countries who are already frustrated: “If the plan all along was to pause most of the tariffs and engage partners in negotiations, then why weren’t the asks for each country developed a long time ago?” a former U.S. official, who worked on South Asian issues, told What A Day.

• Staffers appear to be scrambling “to catch up to the whims of Donald Trump,” said former NSC spokesperson Sean Savett, when shown a summary of the email. Starting with specific requests would make much more sense, he told What A Day. “Instead, the Trump team’s ham-handed tactics have driven many Asian countries closer to [China], caused significant economic instability, and damaged America’s credibility and reputation — all harms that could have been avoided.”

• That’s not how Trumpworld views the situation: “The administration is implementing President Trump’s vision for trade and national security policies that put the American people first. Any discussion with other nations and decisions made by the administration will reflect that commitment,” NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes told What A Day in an email.

You know, I’ve always wondered how the Maldives could strengthen U.S. national security! I think my editor should send me there to find out.

ORDER IN THE COURT

Donald Trump’s showdown with the American court system reached a new level of tension today — and the stakes are incredibly high.

A federal judge found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt over its failure to pause deportation flights to El Salvador, despite a direct order, according to a ruling released this afternoon. That opens up the possibility of criminal proceedings against anyone found to have willfully flouted the judge’s directives.

The legal broadside came from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who has brawled with Trump’s team over its decision to fly Venezuelan migrants out of the country without due process.

“The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has [sic] been satisfactory,” Boasberg wrote. “The Constitution does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders — especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it.”

Trump’s deeply politicized Department of Justice looks likely to balk at pursuing criminal charges against one of Trump’s own officials. But Boasberg said he has an unorthodox plan to deal with that. He might turn to a rarely used rule allowing him to appoint an outside lawyer to lead a prosecution, he wrote today. How would that battle end? There’s simply no saying. But the rule of law in the United States may hang in the balance.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) landed in El Salvador today to advocate for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was accidentally sent to the country. We need more Van Hollen-Boasberg energy these days.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

The Trump administration is going after New York Attorney General Letitia James, who slammed his business empire with a $464 million civil fraud suit. One of Trump’s federal agencies referred her for possible criminal prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud, in a move  widely seen as part of Donald Trump’s vendetta against his political opponents. And, frankly, it’s not a great sign that his administration is already aggressively pursuing his critics through the justice system, only three months in…

The Trump administration plans to scrap the Internal Revenue Service’s Direct File program, which has allowed people to file their taxes with the agency for free, according to the Associated Press. Nothing says efficiency like forcing people to use difficult third-party services and waste hours of their time! Instead, this move says: “Efficiency for me; wait-times and fees for thee!”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth placed two Pentagon officials on leave amid an investigation into a leak about Elon Musk attending a top-secret China briefing in the New York Times. Lol, this dude can’t do anything right. This is what happens when you hire a Fox News host to run the entire U.S. military!

Trump angrily canceled Elon’s planned China briefing when he heard about it, Axios reports. “What the fuck is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn’t go,” Trump said, according to a top official who spoke with the outlet. The official added: “POTUS still very much loves Elon, but there are some red lines … Elon has a lot of business in China and he has good relations there, and this briefing just wasn’t the right thing.”

Ed Martin, Trump’s attorney general pick for Washington, D.C., has appeared on Russian state media more than 150 times in recent years, according to a Washington Post analysis. This is the same nutjob who defended Jan. 6 rioters and boosted far-right political parties in Europe. No wonder D.C. has a bit of a Moscow vibe lately.

The U.K. Supreme Court ruled that “woman” means biological female, in a stunning ruling celebrated by anti-transgender activists. The Trump administration is also taking aim at LGBTQ rights today, suing Maine for refusing to comply with his order to ban transgender athletes from sports.

Totally normal humanoid Mark Zuckerberg offered Trump’s Federal Trade Commission $450 million to drop its antitrust case against Meta, the company that Zuckerberg happens to run as CEO. But the FTC wanted $30 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cool that this is just how the government works now! There’s definitely nothing that could go wrong.

“Home Alone 2” director Chris Columbus called Trump’s cameo in the movie a “curse” and joked that he would be deported if he cut the scene. “I’ll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I’ll have to go back to Italy or something.” Wait… Italy? So, uh, why wouldn’t he cut it, again.

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Read that again.

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