Good Morning! The sun is shining. The Supreme Court is busy. Pluto is in retrograde. And we’re headed for another 70-degree day.
Let’s do the news.
Fifth Time’s the Charm: Trump signed a new travel ban yesterday, barring or restricting travel from 12 countries. Sound familiar? That’s because he tried four different iterations of the same ban during his first term, and it took him a year to find a version that wouldn’t get struck down in court. Trump had promised a crackdown after an Egyptian man in Colorado was charged with attacking a group honoring hostages being held in Gaza. “The recent terror attack in Boulder, CO, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas,” Trump said when he announced the ban. “We don’t want them.” Egypt was not on the list of banned countries. Think he noticed?
Vendetta Update: In his latest Ivy League fit, Trump said he would block international Harvard University students from entering the country, a move that the New York Times called “aggressive,” the university called “illegal,” and I call “impressively petty.”
Clone Wars: After sharing a post this weekend that claims Biden died in 2020 and was replaced by a robotic clone, Trump ordered an investigation into Biden and his staff yesterday. They’re hoping to root out proof that Biden’s staff made decisions on his behalf, without his knowledge, which would render them invalid. Trump’s team is convinced that he used an autopen system, which could reproduce Biden’s signature (something Trump admits to doing as well). Next, they’re gonna claim that his term was one long Weekend at Bernie’s remake.
Move Over Tiger King: Trump’s trip to the Middle East yielded a few things: a “palace in the sky” from Qatar, a $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia, and two rare Arabian leopards, which are expected to arrive in the National Zoo in the next few years. Think Putin and his baby tiger are jealous?
There are believed to be fewer than 200 Arabian leopards alive in the world today. Following President Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia, two of them are coming to the National Zoo in Washington. https://trib.al/cURQUiB
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) June 4, 2025 at 2:26 PM
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ICYMI: Earlier this week, City Council OK’d a plan to put 8-foot kiosks throughout Seattle’s “business districts.” Council president Sara Nelson tried to argue that these were something more than giant, lighted billboards for advertisers, claiming they will offer valuable “wayfinding” services because they have maps on them (could someone please download Google Maps on her phone for her?), and that they would encourage Seattleites to overcome the freeze and “gather” around the cold blue light of their advertising screens.
A Bad Day for Rights: The Supreme Court had a busy morning. First, they ruled that straight people could argue reverse discrimination in employment, because technically, civil rights law draws no distinction between majority and minority groups. Then they ruled that Mexico couldn’t sue the US firearms industry for fueling cartel violence at the border, because our gun laws explicitly protect manufacturers from being sued for gun deaths (even though 70 percent of the weapons used by cartels come from the US). Both of these were unanimous decisions because, rudely, judges can’t change laws.
Hellcat’s Back! The Belltown Hellcat is just trying to entertain us, he told the court this week. The Hellcat, a.k.a. Miles Hudson, is looking at two charges of reckless driving from March 2024. He claims it’s all smoke and mirrors—the videos are edited, and he had someone alter his speedometer to make it look like he’s breaking 100 mph when he roars through the city. “It’s me and my friends, you know, trying to entertain people, make a couple bucks,” he told the jury. ”I mean, it’s a persona.” The cops are calling bullshit on it. He could spend up to 364 days in jail if he’s found guilty. Take a look at the Seattle Times’ photo of him to see what he thinks of that.
Take Your Cop and Shove It: About 15 students and advocates showed up at the school board meeting last night to urge them not to place an armed officer on the Garfield High School campus next year. They would have to lift a 2020 moratorium that ended the Seattle Police Department program to place armed officers on school campuses. SPD says they’ll focus on the “engagement” aspect of the role, but that doesn’t change the fact that there would be an armed officer in the school’s halls.
It’s June, Do Gay Shit: The Stranger’s Queer Issue hit the streets yesterday! We’ve got our comprehensive list of Pride parties and events—plus our “One Gay Thing to Do Every Day” June calendar, if you like being told what to do. We’ve got guides on fisting and personal finance (because balance), and a deep dive into the Christian supremacists that took over Cal Anderson Park last month. We’ve got Stranger Staff Writer Nathalie Graham playing rugby in drag! Pick up a copy if you know what’s good for you.
Speaking of Gay Shit: If you’re looking for something to do tonight, Stranger Staff Writer Audrey Vann thinks you should check out queer, Black visual artist Anthony White’s show at the Greg Kucera Gallery. “Some of the things you can expect to see in his paintings are Silly String, Flintstones vitamins, Bratz dolls, Smucker’s Uncrustables, and credit card company logos, all in an I Spy-style arrangement,” Vann writes. “(P.S. Galleries are basically just art museums with no admission, so don’t feel like you have to be Mr. Monopoly to step inside.)”
