Will the US recover from embarrassment after Trump’s antics at the G7 summit?

I know he would love to be exiled from the summit to hang out with his BF Vlad, but he can put in for PTO if he wants time off like the rest of us!

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Jun 17, 2025

Hot Dogs & Major Losers

I saw The Materialists this weekend and I highly recommend (was not paid to say that!). Anyway, without giving anything away, I’ll tell you that a big theme is the calculations we make while dating, especially when our partner is totally unpredictable. Online dating is pure hell, but I still feel like comparing it to the Trump Administration is unfair. Nonetheless, the same thing is happening on an international level – any number of organizations, from the Federal Reserve to the G7 to the courts, have to calculate their next best move when they have NO IDEA how Trump’s going to react. In today’s newsletter, we’ll cover all of that, along with the situation in Iran-Israel (I’ve been clenching both butt cheeks since Friday in the hopes of de-escalation), interest rates, SCOTUS’ attacks on reproductive freedoms, Matthew Perry’s death, J. Bieb’s anger issues, and more.

SCOTUS isn’t done with abortion

Bad news: Clarence Thomas isn’t done ruling on our uteri. We got two updates on that front this week. First, SCOTUS has agreed to hear a case regarding a NJ “faith-based” (aka anti-abortion) pregnancy center. Specifically, the First Choice Women’s Resource Center, an organization that has been accused of misleading people about whether or not its services include abortion referrals. The center wants to challenge a subpoena examining their practices on First Amendment grounds, in an attempt to conceal what they’re doing; SCOTUS will decide if they can. It’s hard to know exactly what happened at this particular pregnancy center (since they haven’t complied with the subpoena), but in general, the issue is that pro-life pregnancy centers often try to steer women away from abortions, even when doing so is against the law. You would think that people who aren’t into supporting women’s reproductive health would get out of the reproductive health business. Open a candle shop! It’s way more fun.

New York state has a law that employers’ healthcare plans have to include abortion coverage in certain situations (do eyes and teeth next!). This week, the Supreme Court has instructed a lower court to take another look at this law. Why? Because of a recent ruling of theirs that protected the tax-exempt status of Wisconsin groups affiliated with the Catholic Church. Religious organizations in New York City also want an exemption, but in this case, it’s from providing pro-choice healthcare. It’s kinda like…we knew we were a Christian Nationalist state, and this is the week that SCOTUS sent out the memo reminding us to update our policies accordingly. Read more.

Fed meets to talk interest rates

And now for a wonky interlude: the Fed is meeting to discuss interest rates. Since he took office, Trump has been pressuring (well, threatening) the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, to lower interest rates. Powell, for his part, has said he won’t be pushed. He’s rebuked Trump’s threats against him by asserting that Trump can’t fire him, which is technically true, but has that ever stopped Trump? Trump has also described Powell as a “major loser,” but Powell is a professional economist, so I assume he’s heard that one before.

Anyway, this week, the Fed is meeting for two days to discuss – among other things – interest rates. They don’t set every interest rate, but they do determine what banks can charge for “overnight lending,” which can impact other interest rates, such as those for car loans and mortgages. Whether or not the Fed lowers rates will be determined by its concern about inflation, as lower rates can spur price increases. Because the threat of inflation hasn’t passed (no shit), Powell is expected to hold rates steady; in fact, the market has already priced that in. So if you’re standing in line for a mortgage at the current interest rates, STAY IN LINE. Read more.

“After a dispute regarding Impossible Foods, Joey Chestnut is returning to the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. He was barred from the contest last year, but he could still be crowned the winner if Mike Pence has the courage to do the right thing.”

LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS

Trump dips early after admitting he misses Vlad

You ever walk into a room and realize everyone was just talking about you? You might be Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls, or you might be Trump at the G7. This week’s G7 meeting – with the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada – is particularly insane in light of the war in Ukraine, the tariffs, Trump wanting to acquire Canada, etc. Also, it’s in Canada, so I think it’s nice they invited Trump at all! Russia was formally kicked out of the G7 for the whole “annexing Crimea” thing in 2014, but they were there in spirit (as in, Trump complained about their absence).

Despite the tension, there was some progress on the first day. Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, for example, met yesterday, and Carney’s office said the two planned to reach a trade deal within the next thirty days. And Trump announced a trade deal with the UK to lower some tariffs, although this one hit a minor snafu. While holding up the papers to show everyone the deal, Trump dropped them. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer then picked them up, which just goes to show that the main job of all our allies now is to pick up Trump’s shit.

But overall, POTUS continued to piss everyone off. Case-in-point: the conflict that has me clenching my butt so hard I think it technically counts as pilates. At the summit, Trump initially declined to sign a G7 statement calling for de-escalation between Israel and Iran. Then, he backtracked, and officials said he would sign the statement. Then, after dinner last night, Trump dipped out of the whole summit to deal with the situation in the Middle East. Later, with his usual composure, Trump Truth-ed out that residents of Tehran should evacuate “immediately.” He didn’t give any details, though. I’m sorry, but this isn’t like your boss asking what you’ve been doing all afternoon – it’s really not the time to be vague. Experts believe that Trump is currently deciding whether or not to support Israel in bombing Iran. As of this morning, the official death toll is at least 224 in Iran and 24 in Israel. Read more.

ON OUR RADAR

Justin Bieber shared a super long IG post about his anger issues. Not into anger issues, but all here for men going to therapy!!
A federal judge determined that some of the Trump Administration’s National Institutes of Health cuts were illegal. In Judge Willian Young’s words, he’d “never seen government racial discrimination like this.” And Young is a Reagan appointee, so yeah, he’s seen some shit. Extreme “your MAGA uncle finally admits things have gone too far” vibes.
California Dr. Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty re: Matthew Perry’s overdose death. He was indicted on charges of distributing ketamine, conspiring to distribute ketamine, and falsifying business records, all three of which are, incidentally, the official mandate of DOGE.
Blaise Metreweli has become the first woman to run the UK’s spy service, M16. Hot name, hot job, I’m into it.
Congrats @jzux! Thank you for your service.

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