White House announces more aggressive review of Smithsonian museums By Janay Kingsberry The White House will launch a sweeping review of Smithsonian exhibitions, collections and operations ahead of America’s 250th-birthday celebrations next year — the first time the Trump administration has detailed steps to scrutinize the institution, which officials say should reflect the president’s call to restore “truth and sanity” to American history. To begin the process, officials requested that the museums provide information within 30 days concerning 250th-anniversary programming, current and future exhibition content, and other material. “Museums should begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials,” a letter from the White House read. Since returning to office in January, Trump has moved quickly to overhaul the country’s most prominent arts and cultural institutions. His focus on the Smithsonian has stoked concerns about political interference at the institution, which is not a traditional government agency and is historically considered nonpartisan. Read the full story here. Trump’s chip deal sets new pay-to-play precedent for U.S. exporters By Gerrit De Vynck and Jacob Bogage Trump’s agreement with two leading American producers of computer chips to take a cut of their revenue in exchange for permission to export products to China introduced a striking new tactic to his transactional trade policy. In one fell swoop, the president indicated that he believes companies can be expected to pay their own government a slice of overseas sales despite a constitutional prohibition on export taxes, and overrode years of bipartisan concern about China’s threat to American leadership in artificial intelligence. The deals will see Nvidia, the world’s top producer of chips for AI, and competitor Advanced Micro Devices hand the U.S. government 15 percent of their revenue from selling certain chips in China. Trade and national security experts expressed concern Trump might use similar deals to wring concessions from other American tech firms or exporters. “I imagine the C-suites of many companies and many industries around the U.S. are now evaluating the potential that this kind of approach could be used against them,” said Scott Kennedy, a longtime China expert who is a senior adviser and trustee chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. “It would represent a real significant break with the way the U.S. government and businesses interact with each other,” Kennedy said. Liza Tobin, who was appointed China director on Trump’s National Security Council in 2019 and continued in that role under President Joe Biden until 2021, called the deals “a dangerous precedent.” “These are national security restrictions on sensitive technology, and now we are basically putting them up for sale where major corporations can pay a fee and get rid of them,” she said. Trump and his allies argue that it is reasonable for American corporate success overseas to also benefit the U.S. government, and that keeping China reliant on U.S. technology will help American innovators stay ahead. Read the full story here. Trump officials can withhold billions in foreign aid, appeals court says By Justin Jouvenal A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled the Trump administration can withhold tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid, handing the president a significant — if possibly temporary — victory in his push to exercise greater authority over spending mandated by Congress. A panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted a federal judge’s preliminary injunction that ordered the Trump administration to appropriate the money for food, medicine and development. The 2-1 ruling came over the sharp objections of the only Democrat-appointed judge on the panel. The panel majority, which included judges appointed by Republicans George H.W. Bush and Donald Trump, found international aid groups that sued over Trump’s sweeping freeze on foreign assistance did not have standing to bring a lawsuit. “The district court erred in granting that relief because the grantees lack a cause of action to press their claims,” they wrote. Critics have accused Trump of usurping Congress’s constitutionally mandated power of the purse. Judge Florence Y. Pan, a Joe Biden appointee, echoed that argument in her dissent. “At bottom, the court’s acquiescence in and facilitation of the Executive’s unlawful behavior derails the ‘carefully crafted system of checked and balanced power’ that serves as the ‘greatest security against tyranny — the accumulation of excessive authority in a single branch,’” Pan wrote, partially quoting a previous ruling. Read the full story here. | 
