Trump's Failed War Keeps Failing, His Tariffs Are Struck Down (Again), VA Supreme Court Overturns An Election

Pissed? Let's elect Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin to the Georgia Supreme Court on May 19th

Greeting everyone. Got a few things for you today:

The Terrible Tariffs Were Struck Down, Again - The rollicking shambolic shitshow of a regime had their ridiculous tariffs struck down again yesterday:

Trump will appeal of course but this is an enormous blow coming just days before his Summit with China’s Xi next week.

A reminder - given how central tariffs and restrictive trade policies were to our own Revolution, unilateral tariff authority is something our Founders would have never, ever given to the Executive Branch. That Trump continues to assert this reckless power is not just illegal and unconstitutional, it is a very dramatic betrayal both of a foundational origin story that helped birth the country, and of the global Four Freedoms/Pax Americana system we built after WWII that made us the most powerful nation in history.

The Jobs Report Today Was Middling - 115,000 jobs were created in April, more than was anticipated, a sign of the remarkable resilience of the American economy in the face of the ongoing Trump shocks - tariffs, the war, mass deportations. Here’s pre and post tariff job creation chart:

Here’s the Trump record compared to other Presidencies from FDR on:

Breaking News - The New Virginia Maps Are Struck Down - The new VA maps were struck down this morning by the Virginia Supreme Court. Three quick points 1) I do not believe everything that has happened in the past week threatens our ability to flip the House this year. Here’s Amy Walter this morning, the editor of the Cook Report:

2) Our Winning The House campaign includes two Virginia candidates - Shannon Taylor and Elaine Luria who still have a very good chance of winning under the existing maps. Pissed about this ongoing gaming of our politics? Give now to our winning the House campaign and help us flip these two winnable VA seats. 3) As we discussed yesterday with GA Dem Chair Charlie Bailey and I discussed in my weekly strategy talk and post in a post-Callais world Democrats are going to have to get far more serious about flipping state legislative chambers and taking control of state Supreme Courts. Which is what we are attempting to do by backing Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin in Georgia for their May 19th election - join our vital to flip these two Supreme Court seats today!

Here is Leader Jeffries’ statement:

LEADER JEFFRIES STATEMENT ON SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA DECISION

Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement:

“Over three million Virginia citizens cast their votes in a free and fair election, yet the State Supreme Court has chosen to invalidate their voice, disenfranchise them and violate their due process rights. The decision to overturn an entire election is an unprecedented and undemocratic action that cannot stand.

MAGA Republicans have adopted voter suppression as a strategy, as also evidenced by far-right extremists on the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act to open the door to a Jim Crow-like attack on Black representation across the American South.

We are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision. No matter what it takes, House Democrats will win in November so we can help rescue this nation from the extremism being unleashed by Donald Trump and Republicans.

Our fight is not over. We are just getting started.”

Trump’s Failed War Is Still Failing - Pulling this text from a series of Tweets by defense analyst Rosemary Kalenic:

Huge story from WaPo (gift link) on Iran’s resilience to US blockade:

- 3-4 months before “severe” pain hits

- Iran could hold out much longer

- “radical” nature of new regime means higher pain tolerance vs. old regime

- Iran likely to ship oil overland in smaller amounts

U.S. official: “you see similar regimes lasting years under sustained embargoes and airpower-only wars.” Trump absolutely cannot run his blockade experiment another 3-4 months while Hormuz remains closed. It would throw the global economy into a deep recession and still might fail. There are no nuclear or ballistic missile concessions from Iran that are worth tanking the global economy and the U.S. economy along with it.

Not only is Iran months-to-years away from economic collapse, it also retains 75% of its prewar mobile missile launchers and 70% of its missile stockpiles, per US intelligence.!!!

So what lasting effect has the Iran War accomplished — besides bringing an even more highly-resolved regime to power and closing the Strait of Hormuz?

Here is gas today in the US:

For more on the significance of Trump and Putin failing to win their wars watch my new discussions with Professor Phillips O’Brien and Lincoln Square’s Stuart Stevens.

Now, my friends……

Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Rallying For Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just a week we’ve already raised $29,100 towards our $50,000 goal!

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $645,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.

James Talarico For Texas - $66,700 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue.

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $89,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue.

Winning Ohio - $135,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde.

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $554,000 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds.

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $109,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue.

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $173,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working, evolving Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

Please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon