The Brew: Ukraine Talks, Tax Cuts, Immigration Battles, and Political Ambitions

Is the law ever meant to be broken? That’s a serious question, which you should keep in mind while reading this morning’s Brew.

But first, you may want to grab a snack because trust us, there’s a lot of Turkey and table talk coming up.

Playing Hard to Get

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, now dragging into its third year, remains a global flashpoint and neither Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy nor Russian President Vladimir Putin are making it easy for anyone. According to CNN, Zelenskyy is playing hard to get in the peace talks currently underway in Turkey, resisting pressure from President Donald Trump to fast-track a deal with Russia. He’s taking a hard line for Ukraine’s sovereignty and won’t negotiate, even if it means prolonging the war.

Today we held several meetings with the team regarding the format in Turkiye. I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing.

We also hear that President Trump is… pic.twitter.com/DurxIKaMih

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / ????????? ?????????? (@ZelenskyyUa) May 14, 2025

Trump, eager to notch a foreign policy win, has pushed for a swift end to the war, touting his deal-making prowess. But Zelenskyy’s defiance complicates things. Turkey, acting as a neutral mediator, has its own stake in stabilizing the region, given its proximity to both nations and energy interests. The talks could either yield a historic breakthrough or deepen the stalemate, with ripple effects on NATO, global energy prices, and U.S. credibility abroad.

We’ll have to pray that Secretary of State Marco Rubio gets both Zelenskyy and Putin to avoid escalation, further wasteful spending, and unnecessary bloodshed.

How Trump’s Tax Cuts Could Change Your Finances in 2025

Back on our own shores, Trump is working hard with Congress to get the tax cuts he promised us while on the campaign trail passed into law. The Hill reports that House Republicans are fast-tracking Trump’s priorities, aiming to slash rates for middle-class individuals and make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent.

The bad news is that the part about “no tax on Social Security” is missing, and the proposal would raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. Yikes! The Byrd Rule prevents Congress from making any changes to Social Security in budget reconciliation maneuvers, and ending Social Security taxes would lead to a $950 billion revenue loss — potentially worsening the program’s projected financial shortfall by 2035.

Democrats are once again claiming that Trump is only seeking “tax cuts for the wealthy,” but the real concern here is both parties’ failure to address a long-term plan on Social Security. However, there is good news for small businesses — a cornerstone for Trump’s base — as well as for individuals working in the hospitality industry and those seeking to buy new cars:

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-One-Big-Beautiful-Bill-Puts-American-Workers-First.pdf

However, the deficit question looms large: Will the growth offset the cost, or are we just kicking the can down the road?

Wisconsin Judge Indicted

We have an update for you from Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan’s case. (See John Zmirak’s article about her arrest and the federal charges she is now facing for helping an illegal alien evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after they showed up in her courtroom to arrest him.) Just the News reports that Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday.

Here’s the timeline:

April 18, 2025: Dugan alerted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was there for his own pretrial hearing for a domestic abuse case, that ICE was in the courthouse. She told him how to leave the courthouse undetected.
April 29, 2025: Dugan is temporarily removed from the bench by the Wisconsin Supreme Court until her trial is over.
May 12, 2025: Dugan is indicted on charges of obstruction and faces up to seven years in prison.

This isn’t just about one judge. It’s a test case for Trump’s battle against all the lawless judges nationwide who are battling him over the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration crackdown. While the Wisconsin Supreme Court has found enough evidence of Dugan undermining national security to keep her off the bench, Democrats are still saying her arrest was politically motivated and meant to intimidate the judiciary.

According to Dugan’s lawyer, Craig Mastantuono, Dugan intends to fight the charges against her, stating, “As she said after her unnecessary arrest, Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court,”

Do you think her arrest was unnecessary? Here’s a better question: Does the victim in Ruiz’s recent domestic abuse case think either his arrest or Dugan’s was unnecessary?

Buttigieg 2028?

While Trump will dominate headlines for as long as he’s in office, the 2028 presidential election is already taking shape, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is making moves. Just the News notes that Buttigieg’s recent defense of Joe Biden’s mental acuity wasn’t just loyalty — it was a calculated step to position himself as a Democratic frontrunner the next time there’s a vote.

At 43, Buttigieg brings youthful energy, a moderate streak, and a resume that includes military service and a stint as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. In 2020 he won the Iowa caucus, proving he can compete. But while he’s an articulate communicator, who appeals to centrists and is strong on infrastructure issues, he faces stiff competition from Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom — and he thinks people who enter the country illegally deserve due process.

JUST IN: Pete Buttigieg in his early 2028 presidential campaign comes out in stark defense of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

“They’re saying, like, this guy, he’s a criminal! […] No one person gets to decide you’re a criminal! Who decides? We have a process… that’s what due process… pic.twitter.com/mkYOird3YP

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 14, 2025

You can’t help but watch this and think, “Will Buttigieg run for president?” The signs seem pretty clear: He’s building a platform and testing messages with an eye toward leading the Democrats’ future in 2028. It will be fun to watch him try to unite that fractured party, as he would need to get the old guard on board with the new progressive socialistic agenda.

Supreme Court Weighs Birthright Citizenship

On the subject of who should or shouldn’t be in the country, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today on President Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship. The issue at the heart of this case is wrapped up in the Fourteenth Amendment, which states,

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

The Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868. Trump’s order would deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. unless at least one parent is already a citizen or a legal permanent resident when the child is born — meaning no more “anchor babies” would be born here to foreign citizens.

The order swiftly met legal challenges, resulting in nationwide injunctions from federal judges in Washington, Maryland, and Massachusetts who argue it violates more than a century’s worth of established constitutional law. The Trump administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court primarily focuses on the procedural issue of nationwide injunctions, arguing that federal judges lack the authority to issue orders so broad that they halt executive actions nationwide. Instead, the administration requests that injunctions be limited to the specific plaintiffs, allowing partial implementation of the policy while litigation continues.

The case, one of the most high-profile tests of Trump’s immigration agenda, could affect hundreds of thousands of children annually, potentially rendering them stateless or subject to deportation. While today’s arguments may not directly address the constitutionality of Trump’s order, the outcome could significantly impact his administration’s broader immigration crackdown and the judiciary’s role in checking executive power.

Legal experts predict the policy is unlikely to survive long-term scrutiny due to the Fourteenth Amendment’s robust precedents, but a ruling curbing nationwide injunctions could embolden the administration to pursue other controversial policies with less judicial resistance. A decision, expected by late June or early July, will likely set a precedent affecting not only birthright citizenship but a redefined Fourteenth Amendment that could reshape America’s identity, sparking legal battles and social upheaval for years to come.

Along The Stream…

Vanquish Prophetic Warriors Founder Andrew Whalen joins Wanda Alger to discuss how “God’s Love Is Bringing Discipline and Correction” to the Body of Christ.

Come back later today to read a new piece by Auguste Meyrat, “The Humanities Will Survive AI, But Only If Teachers Let It.”

Gayle McQueary is The Stream’s social media coordinator. She has a background in production and is a scary judge of reading on an empty stomach.

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