Is Donald Trump Breaking the Law? Seven Experts Weigh In. Plus. . .

It’s Monday, April 21. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Some breaking news early this morning: Pope Francis has died, the Vatican announced. The first Pope from the Americas was 88. We’ll bring you more on this story in the coming days.

Coming up: Concerns over special envoy Steve Witkoff’s Russia ties. Why the U.S. government isn’t going broke. Protests against Hamas escalate in Gaza. And much more.

But first: Is Trump acting lawlessly?

The first 90 days of President Trump’s second term have been marked by a series of aggressive legal maneuvers. Among them: shaking down law firms the president regards as “anti-Trump”; threatening to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status; the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, along with green-card holders on campus; and more.

Regarding the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members, the Supreme Court on Saturday ordered a hold on the administration’s plans, writing: “The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.”

Many critics argue that the administration’s actions stretch the limits of executive power. Others argue that they are outright unconstitutional.

The Trump White House and its defenders say that this is hysterical—and that the president is only using the powers of the presidency arrogated since the Obama administration. In the case of deporting illegal immigrants, to choose one example, they say he is doing nothing less than restoring the rule of law that the Biden administration flouted.

We decided to ask seven of the sharpest legal minds in the country from across the political spectrum—including a Bush White House lawyer, a progressive constitutional scholar, and a former federal judge—one simple question: Is the Trump administration acting lawlessly?

What should we make of Trump’s legal strategy—if there indeed is a clear strategy? What stands out about this moment? Is this the usual clash between the courts and the executive branch? Or are we heading into uncharted waters?

Click here to see what Michael W. McConnell, Lawrence Lessig, Aziz Huq, Ed Whelan and more said.

Trump Admin Demands to See Harvard’s Antisemitism Report

The Free Press has exclusively obtained a letter from the Trump administration demanding that Harvard University send them its long-awaited report on antisemitism on campus. It’s the latest salvo in the rapidly escalating clash between the administration and the university, and it concerns a mystery at the heart of the story of antisemitism on Harvard’s campus. The school promised a comprehensive report on antisemitism by “early fall” 2024, so where is it?

Read the full story: “Trump Admin to Harvard: Where Is Your Antisemitism Report?”

Don’t Listen to the Alarmists: America Can Balance the Books

The U.S. government has a lot of debt—more than $36 trillion of it, which is more than 120 percent of GDP and double what it was a decade ago. The interest on debt alone is expected to cost $1 trillion per year starting in 2026. With numbers like that, it may seem that America’s money troubles are insurmountable. But today in The Free Press, the financial whizzes at Doomberg offer a route out of our fiscal woes.

“By any measure, the current U.S. fiscal situation is highly distressed,” they write. But all is not lost. “Contrary to the constant alarmism about America’s irreversible slide into insolvency, the country is far from broke.”

Read their guide to how America can balance the books again: “Surprise! The U.S. Government Isn’t Going Broke.”

Gazans Clash with Hamas as Historic Protests Escalate

Last week, thousands poured into the streets of Northern Gaza, risking their lives to protest Hamas’s rule. The Free Press has obtained exclusive footage and eyewitness testimony from the protests at Beit Lahia, where demonstrators chant “Hamas, get out,” and openly defy Hamas officials in public.

Watch the video and read the accompanying report by Tanya Lukyanova here.

ICYMI, some highlights from our Easter Weekend output:

Things Worth Remembering: One Easter Night in Europe

“Yes, God is everywhere, and is no farther from us in a Walmart than He is in Vienna’s Stephansdom. But we are creatures of flesh, and require prompting to sense the divine presence.”

Read Rod Dreher on the faith-inspiring beauty of European churches.

The Patron Saint of Lost Americans

In the mid-1950s, a disillusioned young intellectual walked into an Orthodox church on Easter with his gay lover. The experience changed his life forever. Now, nearly 70 years later, he might just become America’s next saint.

Read the full story by Paul Kingsnorth.

A Banjo, a Bible, and the Road Back Home

“Whitney Houston’s body was still warm upstairs,” writes Winston Marshall, former banjo player for Mumford & Sons. It was a Grammys pregame party, and Whitney’s mentor, music mogul Clive Davis, took the mic and declared “The show must go on.” Today in The Free Press, Marshall writes about falling out of love with the music industry, and picking up his banjo again at Oliver Anthony’s Rural Revival Project.

Read the full story by Winston Marshall.

Ross Douthat: Why It’s Logical to Believe in God

The New York Times columnist has a new book, and a message: It’s not enough to simply argue that religion is good—people need to really believe.

Listen to Douthat’s discussion with Bari Weiss, or click here to watch their conversation, and follow Honestly on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russia is continuing to take military action in Ukraine despite the so-called “Easter truce.” Zelensky said there had been 387 shellings and 19 assaults by the Russian military, and that drones had been used 290 times. No casualties have been reported. Russia’s defense ministry insisted it had been following the truce, and accused Ukraine’s army of breaking it.

• Amid his negotiations to end the Ukraine war, a new report from The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak alleges that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has close business ties with Leonard Blavatnik, a businessman with “significant relationships in Kremlin circles” who has been sanctioned by the Ukrainian government.

• On Friday, President Trump criticized Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for refusing to cut interest rates. The same day, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that the administration is assessing whether or not they have the legal ability to remove the Fed chair. Powell intends to serve through the end of his term as chair in May 2026. On Sunday, Louisiana Republican senator John Kennedy, who sits on the Senate banking committee, backed Powell, telling NBC, “I think the Federal Reserve ought to be independent.”

• Author and Free Press contributor Ryan Holiday said that his lecture at the U.S. Naval Academy on the virtues of Stoicism was canceled after he refused to avoid mentioning that nearly 400 supposedly controversial books had been removed from the campus library. Academy officials were reportedly worried about reprisals if his lecture ran afoul of a Trump administration executive order targeting DEI. Read Ryan Holiday in The Free Press: “How to Save Your Family from the Algorithm.”

• President Trump released a politically charged Easter message on Truth Social yesterday, writing in part, “Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country.”