Two federal judges question presidential authority as administration stages bizarre press conference comparing American protesters to ISIS
5️⃣ Katie Porter’s Gubernatorial Campaign Faces Turbulence
Two videos derailed California Congresswoman Katie Porter’s frontrunner status in the 2026 governor’s race this week. First, she berated a CBS reporter for asking about Trump voters. Then a 2021 clip showed her screaming at a staffer to “get out of my fucking shot” during an online discussion. Porter’s non-apology—claiming she holds herself and staff to “high standards”—fell flat as Democratic opponents piled on. Former controller Betty Yee called for her to drop out entirely. The whiteboard queen who built her brand interrogating corporate executives just revealed she can’t handle basic questions or control her temper when challenged. In a state exhausted by unhinged leadership, Porter’s character test became her character flaw.
4️⃣ Gaza Ceasefire Signed, But Details Remain Murky
Israel and Hamas signed the first phase of a ceasefire deal Thursday that halts fighting and releases all remaining hostages in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gaza detainees. Trump claimed credit and announced he’ll travel to Egypt for a signing ceremony with hostages expected Monday or Tuesday. The thornier issues—Hamas disarmament, Israeli troop withdrawal, Gaza’s future governance—got kicked down the road to “phase two.” Netanyahu reportedly called Trump to say “everybody’s liking me now,” which tells you everything about how both leaders measure success. More than 67,000 Palestinians died in this two-year war. The deal brings relief, but leaves the hardest questions unanswered.
3️⃣ Trump’s Naked Hunger for Nobel Peace Prize Reaches Climax
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announces this year’s winner Friday, and Trump’s months-long public campaign has been nothing short of desperate. Pakistan, Israel, Cambodia, and Taiwan nominated him. Pfizer’s CEO lobbied for him. He called Norway’s finance minister while the man walked down the street to “float the topic.” The 79-year-old president claims he’s “settled seven wars” and says not winning would be “a big insult to our country.” Multiple sources say his hunger for the prize accelerated the Gaza ceasefire announcement—a former Israeli negotiator noted “the Friday morning deadline is shaping the timeline.” The Peace Prize Committee typically hates public campaigns. Trump’s done nothing but campaign publicly for months. He won’t win.
2️⃣ The Three-Part Scaffold to Tyranny Takes Shape
The Trump administration built a deliberate pathway to militarizing American streets in under two weeks. First came NSPM-7, mobilizing DOJ, Homeland Security, Treasury, and the IRS against “organized political violence.” Then Wednesday’s surreal White House “Antifa roundtable” where Kristi Noem claimed she arrested the founder’s girlfriend—except Antifa started in 1922 Italy fighting actual fascists, making that girlfriend 145 years old. Kash Patel vowed to “follow the money” and crush donors. Trump bragged his administration has “taken the freedom of speech away” to prosecute flag burning with one-year prison sentences. Now senior officials confirm they’re drafting legal justifications to invoke the Insurrection Act and send active-duty troops into cities. The memo created the bureaucracy, the spectacle created the narrative, the Insurrection Act provides the muscle. It’s a playbook assembled in real-time, and it’s falling apart just as fast.
1️⃣ Federal Courts Question Where Presidential Power Stops
Two federal courtrooms held simultaneous hearings Thursday on Trump’s National Guard deployments to Chicago and Portland—a watershed moment for presidential power and military force on U.S. soil. In Chicago, Judge April Perry pressed administration lawyers to define limits, noting “I am very much struggling to figure out where this would ever stop.” In Portland, the Ninth Circuit heard whether courts can even review the president’s deployment decisions. About 500 troops are staged for Chicago operations, with 200 Texas National Guard members sleeping in vans outside a Broadview immigration facility. Oregon troops remain federalized but blocked from entering Portland by a Trump-appointed judge who called the deployment unconstitutional. Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt broke ranks, criticizing the Texas deployment as violating “states’ rights” and federalism. The legal question cuts deep: can presidents declare cities are in “rebellion” and send in troops, or do courts check those claims against reality? Oregon’s lawyers argued Trump’s assessment is “untethered from reality.” The Trump administration argues courts have no authority to review these decisions at all. These rulings will define how far a president can go.
The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Advertising inquiries email next@narativ.org. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.
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