Vice President J.D. Vance questioned on Monday whether former President Joe Biden was “capable of doing the job” of Commander in Chief, following the news that Biden has an aggressive form of prostate cancer. “Of course, we wish the best for the former President’s health. It sounds pretty serious, but hopefully he makes the right recovery,” Vance told reporters. “I will say, whether the right time to have this conversation is now or at some point in the future, we really do need to be honest about whether the former President was capable of doing the job.” Advertisement “I don’t think he was able to do a good job for the American people,” Vance continued. Biden’s office announced on Sunday that he had been diagnosed with cancer on Friday, after doctors found a nodule on his prostate. After additional tests, doctors determined that the cancer had spread to his bones. Biden’s Gleason score, which is used to grade the aggressiveness of prostate cancers, was 9, indicating that his cancer is among the most aggressive. His office said that the cancer “appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” and that Biden and his family “are reviewing treatment options with his physicians." Read More: What Does a Gleason Score of 9 Mean? Understanding Biden’s Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Speaking to reporters on Air Force Two on Monday, Vance said he wished the former President well, but added that he didn’t believe Biden was in “good enough health” to lead the country. Vance said he blamed Biden “less” than the people around him. “Why didn’t the American people have a better sense of his health picture? Why didn’t the American people have more accurate information about what he was actually dealing with?” Vance said. “This is the guy who carries around the nuclear football for the world’s largest nuclear arsenal. This is not child’s play, and we can pray for good health, but also recognize that if you’re not in good enough health to do the job, you shouldn’t be doing the job.” Biden’s physician declared in a medical record summary released by the White House in February 2024 that Biden was “fit to successfully executive the duties of the Presidency” after a routine physical exam. But concerns over Biden’s age and cognitive fitness loomed over his reelection campaign. Calls for him to drop out of the race intensified after the first presidential debate of the 2024 election last June, and he ultimately withdrew his candidacy in July. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris later became the Democratic nominee before losing the election to President Donald Trump in November.

President Trump wanted a quick solution to his Air Force One problem. The United States signed a $3.9 billion contract with Boeing in 2018 for two jets to be used as Air Force One, but a series of delays had slowed the work far past the 2024 delivery deadline, possibly beyond Mr. Trump’s second term. Now Mr. Trump had to fly around in the same old planes that transported President George H.W. Bush 35 years ago. It wasn’t just a vanity project. Those planes, which are no longer in production, require extensive servicing and frequent repairs, and officials from both parties, reaching back a decade or more, had been pressing for replacements. Mr. Trump, though, wanted a new plane while he was still in office. But how? “We’re the United States of America,” Mr. Trump said this month. “I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.” The story of how the Trump administration decided that it would accept a free luxury Boeing 747-8 from Qatar to serve as Air Force One involved weeks of secret coordination between Washington and Doha. The Pentagon and the White House’s military office swung into action, and Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff, played a key role. Soon after Mr. Trump took office, military officials started to discuss how the United States could buy a temporary plane for Mr. Trump to use while Boeing’s work creaked along, an investigation by The New York Times found. But by May 11, when the president announced on social media that Qatar would be providing the plane to the United States, he characterized it as “a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE.” There are lingering questions about how much financial sense the still-unsigned deal would make, given the costs of refitting the plane for presidential use and operating it over the long run — or even whether the plane could be ready for Mr. Trump to use before the end of his second term. The outlines of the arrangement that emerged have also drawn condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans in Washington, as well as ethics lawyers, who said it looked either like Mr. Trump himself was taking the gift or that the Qataris were using it to curry favor with the administration. And it remains unclear exactly how a plan that Pentagon officials and others inside the administration initially assumed would involve buying the plane from Qatar morphed into a proposed gift by the Middle Eastern nation. Editors’ Picks How Much Notice Do You Have to Give Your Landlord? Should You Fly Through Newark Airport? Here’s What You Need to Know. How a Sustainable Clothing Entrepreneur Spends Her Sundays Qatar has denied any intention of using the transaction as part of an influence campaign, and Mr. Trump has said he would not use the plane after leaving office. Some elements of the effort to acquire the plane were reported earlier by CNN. Interviews with 14 people involved in or briefed on the search for the replacement plane say it started when the White House Military Office, which oversees presidential travel, worked with Boeing and the Defense Department to compile a list of every late-model 747 on the market with a business-jet layout, which could more quickly be retrofitted into a presidential plane. There were only eight planes in the world that fit the bill, including a flashy double-decker jet that Qatar had been trying to sell for several years, with no luck. A brochure for the aircraft advertised just the kind of opulence Mr. Trump favors. There were “soft fabrics of the highest quality” in the bedroom, along with “luxurious leather and exquisite wood veneers” and a “lavishly designed” bathroom that is “almost a piece of art.” The emir of Qatar had donated the same make and model to Turkey in 2018 as a gesture of support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mr. Erdogan had stood by Doha as the country’s bitter rivals in the region cut off diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, effectively isolating it. But this second 747 was still available for sale. Mr. Witkoff, an old friend from Mr. Trump’s early days in New York real estate, knew the Qataris well. The country’s sovereign wealth fund had bailed him out in 2023 when a real estate deal on Central Park South went bad.

ike a lot of Democrats these days, Chris Murphy has been doing some soul searching. For years, the Connecticut Senator, who took office shortly after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, was one of the nation’s most outspoken advocates for tighter gun laws. Gun safety was so important, he argued, that supporting an assault-weapons ban should be mandatory for Democratic leaders. Recently, Murphy has come to believe he was wrong. Not about tougher gun laws, but about trying to force all Democrats to adopt his position. “I bear some responsibility for where we are today,” he told me in a phone interview in April. “I spent a long time trying to make the issue of guns a litmus test for the Democratic Party. I think that all of the interest groups that ended up trying to apply a litmus test for their issue ended up making our coalition a lot smaller.” Advertisement Murphy’s shift in thinking is part of the reckoning that has gripped the party since President Donald Trump’s victory in November. Democrats could dismiss Trump’s first win as a fluke. His second, they know, was the product of catastrophic failure—a nationwide rejection of Democratic policies, Democratic messaging, and the Democrats themselves. The party got skunked in every battleground state and lost the popular vote for the first time in 20 years. They lost the House and the Senate. Their support sagged with almost every demographic cohort except Black women and college-educated voters. Only 35% of Democrats are optimistic about the future of the party, according to a May 14 AP poll, down from nearly 6 in 10 last July. Democrats have no mojo, no power, and no unifying leader to look to for a fresh start.Everyone knows how bad things are. “As weak as I’ve ever seen it,” says Representative Jared Golden of Maine, who represents a district Trump won. Trump’s second term is “worse than everyone imagined,” says Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen. The Democratic National Committee has offered few answers as it prepares to release a “postelection review” sometime this summer. “I don’t like to call it an ‘autopsy’ because our party’s not dead—we’re still alive and kicking,” explains Ken Martin, the new party chair. “Maybe barely, but we are.” You already know most of the reasons for the 2024 fiasco. Joe Biden was too old to be President, and just about everybody but Joe Biden knew it. His sheer oldness undermined all efforts to sell his policies effectively. Democrats lost touch with the working class, with men, with voters of color, with the young. Voters saw Democrats as henpecked by college-campus progressives, overly focused on “woke” issues like diversity and trans rights. They tried to convince people that the economy was good when it didn’t feel good; they tried to convince people that inflation and illegal immigration were imaginary problems. In an era when voters around the globe were in an anti-incumbent mood, Democrats were stuck defending the status quo. The pandemic election of 2020 and the post-Dobbs midterms in 2022 lulled top party officials into a dangerous complacen

Political leaders from across parties in the U.S. extended their sympathies to Democratic former President Joe Biden, 82, after his office announced Sunday that he was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer. Biden, who served as Vice President from 2009 to 2017 and President from 2021 to January, and his family are reviewing treatment options, according to the announcement. His Administrations had made addressing cancer a priority, launching the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative to try to make it such that “a diagnosis isn’t a death sentence.” Biden lost his son Beau in 2015 to brain cancer. Advertisement Read More: What Does a Gleason Score of 9 Mean? Understanding Biden’s Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Here are some of the messages of support for Biden that have come in since his diagnosis was made public: Donald Trump President Donald Trump, who has constantly attacked Biden’s health and cognitive ability from the 2024 campaign trail to the present, sent well-wishes to Biden in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” Trump said, referencing the First Lady. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.” Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2024 election after Biden pulled out of the race amid concerns about his fitness, posted on X: “Doug [Emhoff] and I are saddened to learn of President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis. We are keeping him, Dr. [Jill] Biden, and their entire family in our hearts and prayers during this time. Joe is a fighter—and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership. We are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery.” Doug Emhoff, the former Second Gentleman, replied with a brief message of his own to Biden: “Sending love and strength to my friend @JoeBiden.” Barack Obama Former President Barack Obama, whom Biden served with as Vice President for two terms, also wished Biden well in a post on X: “Michelle and I are thinking of the entire Biden family. Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace. We pray for a fast and full recovery.” Bill and Hillary Clinton The Clintons also wished Biden well. Former President Bill Clinton, who was diagnosed with skin cancer at the end of his presidency in 2001, posted on X: “My friend Joe Biden’s always been a fighter. Hillary and I are rooting for him and are keeping him, Jill, and the entire family in our thoughts.” Meanwhile, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also posted a message for Biden and his family. “I’m thinking of the Bidens as they take on cancer, a disease they’ve done so much to try to spare other families from,” Clinton posted. “Wishing you a speedy, full recovery

Former President Joe Biden has publicly addressed his cancer diagnosis for the first time, following the announcement that he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. “Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote in a post on social media platform X on Monday morning. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.” It was announced on Sunday, May 18, that the 46th President was diagnosed with prostate cancer after doctors found a nodule on his prostate. Further tests confirmed that the cancer cells had metastasized to the bone. Advertisement “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.” Biden’s cancer has a Gleason score of 9. Prostate cancer is assigned a Gleason score grade based on how “abnormal” the cancer looks, according to the American Cancer Society. Higher grade levels indicate that the cancer may grow at a faster rate. Cancers with a Gleason score from 8 to 10 are considered high-grade. Biden’s office did not share what stage the former president’s stage of cancer is in. Advanced prostate cancer cannot be completely cured, according to experts. Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center told The Associated Press that patients can live up to four or five years with metastatic prostate cancer, however. “Most men in this situation would be treated with drugs and would not be advised to have either surgery or radiation therapy,” he added. Read More: What Does a Gleason Score of 9 Mean? Understanding Biden’s Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Biden’s diagnosis has ignited an outpouring of support from friends, political allies, and others. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who took over as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after Biden stepped down, said she was “saddened” to hear about the diagnosis and called Biden a “fighter.” “I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership. We are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery,” Harris said in a post on X. President Donald Trump said he and First Lady Melania Trump were saddened to hear about the news, in a message on Truth Social. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery,” Trump said.

Young people in Taiwan are used to living with uncertainty when it comes to China — a situation they generally say is for the best for the time being, particularly when recent actions by the Trump administration have some of them asking a certain question. “Can Taiwan continue to view the U.S. as an ally?” said Chan Yu-hsiang, 25, a graduate student at National Taiwan University. Chan’s question reflects growing concern in Taiwan over the reliability of the U.S. as a security partner under President Donald Trump, who has expressed support for the Beijing-claimed island in the face of Chinese military threats but also made critical remarks and upended trade relations. In a Taiwan government poll released in March, the percentage of respondents who said the U.S. military would “definitely” intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion dropped to 14% from 19% a year earlier. Almost half of respondents said the U.S. military was unlikely to intervene, the same as a poll by the Brookings Institution conducted the same month. According to the same Taiwan government poll, 36% of respondents said U.S.-Taiwan relations would get worse under Trump, a 12% increase since January. Taiwan’s rising wariness toward the U.S. comes amid growing pressure from China, which claims the self-governing democracy as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force in achieving its unification goal. Beijing sends warplanes and ships toward the island on near-daily sorties. Last month, the Chinese military conducted large-scale drills around Taiwan in what it said was a warning to “separatist” forces. The Taiwan government has warned that Beijing could hold more drills in the coming days as the island marks one year under President Lai Ching-te, whom China describes as a “separatist” and “troublemaker.” China has rebuffed multiple offers of talks from Lai, who says only Taiwan’s 23 million people can decide its future. Beijing insists the island’s future is “by no means an ‘internal affair of Taiwan,’” warning that Taiwanese authorities would “suffer an apocalypse” if they sought formal independence. Strategic ambiguity The U.S. has no formal relations with Taiwan but is its most important international backer, bound by law to provide it with defensive weapons. On Monday, Taiwan test-fired for the first time a new rocket system provided by the U.S. that Ukraine has also used against Russia. Washington has long maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to whether the U.S. military would defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack, not giving a definitive answer either way. Asia Blast targeting school bus kills four children in Pakistan’s Balochistan Trump has not given any indication of a change in that policy. But he has unnerved Taiwan with comments accusing it of stealing semiconductor business from the U.S. and calling for Taiwan to pay more for its own defense, which it has pledged to do. Last month, he also slapped Taiwan with a 32% tariff on its goods, with an exemption for the chip industry, which makes up a big part of the Taiwan economy and which the U.S. relies on heavily. Taiwan has said it will not retaliate against the U.S. and that it is ready for trade talks “at any time,” offering a package of zero tariffs on American goods and increased U.S. investment. The duties came as a surprise to Taiwan after state-backed chipmaker TSMC announced a plan in March to invest an additional $100 million in the U.S., where it is already building multiple factories. For Chan, this suggested that even Taiwan’s “silicon shield” — the semiconductor industry that makes the island so indispensable to the global economy — is not enough to guarantee U.S. support. “If you keep giving away Taiwan’s last line of defense, the U.S. will take advantage of it, but they won’t necessarily treat you well,” he said. “Why would Taiwan still believe that Trump would definitely deploy troops if it was to fall?” Maintaining the status quo Though some U.S. officials and Taiwan’s military point to 2027 — the 100th anniversary of the founding of China’s People’s Liberation Army — as a possible timeline for China to attack, polls show that most Taiwanese believe an invasion is unlikely in the next five years. A survey last year by National Chengchi University in Taipei showed that over 88% of people in Taiwan support maintaining the status quo, in which Taiwan operates as a de facto independent country without formally declaring independence, a move that would risk all-out war with China. That’s especially true for Taiwan’s youngest voters, said Lev Nachman, a political scientist and assistant professor at National Taiwan University who has studied their views. Taiwan’s Gen Zers “are by no means pro-China relative to other generations, but they don’t have the same attitude towards Taiwan independence” as millennials do, he said. “Instead, we see younger generations having a much more sort of pro-status-quo approach to politics,” Nachman said. Young people in Taiwan were too young to be radicalized in political upheavals such as the island’s Sunflower Movement in 2014 and the martial law era, he said. They don’t want to “rock any major boat” with any “radical change” in the Taiwan Strait, Nachman added, though the desire for unification with mainland China is still “incredibly low.” The Taiwan government poll found that over a third of respondents ages 18 to 29 viewed China as the island’s “primary threat” despite efforts by Beijing to win them over with preferential policies for studying and working in the mainland, as well as various activities including sponsored trips, internships and cultural events. Last year, over 4 million people from Taiwan visited mainland China for tourism, study or work, a year-over-year increase of 54.3%, according to official data released by Chinese authorities. According to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, young people were the “most active” group.

by Rebecca Schneid , Olivia-Anne Cleary and Callum Sutherland Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke for two hours on Monday in what the U.S. President described as an "excellent" conversation, announcing that Russia and Ukraine would immediately begin negotiations toward a ceasefire. The call followed Trump's recent public appeal to Putin to "stop the bloodbath" and end what he described as a violent and devastating conflict. Shortly after speaking with the Russian President, Trump said he had informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as several European leaders and Pope Leo, of the planned talks. He also noted that the Vatican had expressed interest in hosting future negotiations. Advertisement “The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent,” Mr Trump wrote on social media. “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an end to the war.” Following the call, Russian state media reported that the Russian President expressed openness to a ceasefire. "Russia is ready to work with Kyiv on a memorandum on future peace talks. A ceasefire with Ukraine is possible once agreements are reached," TASS quoted Putin as saying. Putin also described the conversation with Trump as “very informative and quite a frank discussion.” He added, “The U.S. president voiced his position on a ceasefire. For my part, I noted that Russia, too, favors a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We must determine the most effective ways of moving towards peace.” Putting the end to the war in Ukraine has been a core aspect of Trump’s presidency so far. The President signed a deal on May 1 in which Ukraine would hand over half of its future oil, gas, and minerals wealth to the U.S. in return for American investment and economic assistance. Ahead of the calls this morning, Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters: "I think the president is going to say to President Putin, look, 'Are you serious? Are you real about this?'" Vance added that the U.S. is “more than open to walking away” from ongoing peace talks. “We want to see outcomes,” he added. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump “has grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” and will be pushing for an end to the ongoing war. When asked if Trump would be meeting with Putin in the near future, Leavitt responded: “The president would certainly be open to that." Overnight on Saturday, leading into Sunday morning, Ukrainian officials reported that Russia had launched its most intense drone attack against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Aproducer behind reality shows like The Millionaire Matchmaker, Duck Dynasty, and Alpha Dogs has pitched a new reality show idea to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—one in which immigrants compete for U.S. citizenship. “I'm putting a face to immigration. This is a great celebration of America,” Rob Worsoff told CNN in an interview that aired on Friday, May 16, noting that he himself is an immigrant from Canada. Worsoff said that he also pitched this reality show during both previous Democratic Administrations. Advertisement In an emailed statement to TIME on Saturday, Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary who oversees the DHS' public outreach, said: “DHS receives hundreds of television show pitches a year, ranging from documentaries surrounding ICE and CBP border operations to white collar investigations by HSI,” adding that each of these proposals goes through a vetting process. “We need to revive patriotism and civic duty in this country, and we’re happy to review out-of-the-box pitches. This pitch has not received approval or rejection by staff,” she said. McLaughlin also denied, as she had previously via social media, that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was backing the show in any way, and said that Noem is “not even aware of the pitch.” Meanwhile, Worsoff claimed during his interview that the DHS appears to be “seriously considering” the show—which he said would include a series of elimination challenges across America. Examples he gave of such challenges included a “pizza-making challenge” in New York, a “rocket-launching challenge” in Florida, and a “gold rush challenge” in California. Per his vision, each episode would culminate in a town hall-esque style vote, one he said is akin to a “presidential election.” “The people of Tennessee, let’s say, will get to vote on which one of our future Americans they would most like to represent the state of Tennessee,” Worsoff offered as an example. Then, a winner would be granted citizenship. The show currently has the working title "The American." The pitch comes at a time when President Donald Trump and his Administration have launched a crackdown on U.S. immigration—embroiling themselves in legal battles to end birthright citizenship, upping mass deportation goals, and overhauling asylum access. On Friday, the Supreme Court barred the Trump Administration from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members to a prison in El Salvador. The Trump Administration had previously been utilizing the act to expedite deportations of Venezuelan nationals alleged to be in the Tren de Aragua gang, though the court argued that Trump only gave these migrants 24 hours to receive legal advice, and that they were “devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal.” The ruling extends the court’s April emergency order barring Trump from using the wartime law to deport migrants held in a detention facility in Texas.

This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. Washington is about to host a global festival for the LGBTQ community and its allies—all while President Donald Trump is in the White House overseeing a government that is wholly hostile to the visitors’ goals. WorldPride, which last came to the United States in 2019 and drew 5 million visitors to New York, is expected to bring as many as 3 million people to the capital region starting Saturday and going through June 8, with more general Pride Month events continuing beyond that. But the events are opening under the cloud of Trumpism that is waging a campaign against LGBTQ protections, a Congress where lawmakers are policing their own bathrooms against transgender individuals and misgendering colleagues, and a Supreme Court that recently held that the Pentagon could ban some service members based on their gender identities. Advertisement Recent WorldPrides in cities like Sydney, Copenhagen, and Madrid were awash in corporate logos. Now that it’s D.C.’s turn, multiple corporate sponsors—including Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, and Comcast—pulled out for fear of triggering the White House’s retaliation. For those outside of the U.S., attending this year’s WorldPride requires unusual considerations. Several countries—Denmark, Germany, and Ireland among them—have issued travel advisories warning trans and non-binary individuals that a U.S. jaunt might be undertaken at their own risk. Egale Canada—think the Human Rights Campaign of our neighbors to the north—are sitting out the entire affair. And the African Human Rights Coalition is boycotting. Even organizers with DC WorldPride, the umbrella group coordinating dozens of organizations like the long-standing local Capital Pride Alliance, are warning that they cannot guarantee a smooth run of show. In a first, the two-day street fair downtown will be fenced in with security checkpoints, reflecting not just the attention around this marquee event but also the troubling reality that anti-LGBTQ incidents are rising around the country. And never far from mind at these events is the memory of the 2016 Pulse shooting that left 49 dead and 53 wounded at an Orlando hub of LGBTQ nightlife. Put in the plainest terms possible, Washington, D.C. under Donald Trump is not providing the warmest of welcomes for an event that cities around the world compete to land. Attendance is expected to sag below original expectations, which may, in fact, be viewed as a win for a regime that is constantly stoking its base with culture-war rot that exploits division for political gain. Even so, organizers still expect an influx of $787 million in Pride spending. Taking part in any Pride is inherently a political act, but that's especially true in Washington, which has the largest concentration of LGBTQ individuals in the country. Lobbyists march in the parade which ends with the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol, the signage always with a whiff of campaigns. The nation’s capital is always ripe with virtue signaling—even holiday celebrations in December can’t escape that trend. But since Trump returned to power, things have been a little less surefooted. In his first hours back in office, Trump ended federal recognition of transgender or non-binary identities. The White House says it will not issue a proclamation that June is Pride Month or host any events. Its top spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, used her first on-camera meeting with her press corps to decry “transgenderism and wokeness.” The Kennedy Center, which Trump took over and appointed his loyalists to handle programming, canceled all of its contracts for Pride events. (These were in addition to a joint Gay Men’s Chorus-National Symphony Orchestra program this month that got canned at the Kennedy Center.)

The Supreme Court on Friday blocked the Trump Administration from using a wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, delivering yet another legal setback to President Donald Trump’s controversial deportation plans. The ruling extends the court’s April emergency order barring Trump from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants held in a Texas detention facility, after lawyers said the detainees were being put on buses towards an airport without a chance to challenge the decision via habeas corpus petitions. Advertisement Only two of the court’s Justices—Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas—publicly noted their dissent. Alito wrote that the Supreme Court had “no authority to issue any relief." In its unsigned order on Friday, the Justices faulted the Trump Administration for only giving detained migrants 24 hours to raise legal objections: "Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster," the ruling said. The Justices sent the case back to an appeals court to determine what due process the detainees should receive, as well as whether Trump’s deportation plan is legal, and how much notice the migrants are required to get. Soon after the Court issued its ruling, Trump expressed his disagreement on social media. "THE SUPREME COURT WON’T ALLOW US TO GET CRIMINALS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!" he wrote. The Court did not weigh in on the underlying question of whether the Trump Administration can deport people under the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used 18th century wartime law that the Administration has cited in its deportations of Venezuelans it alleges are members of the gang Tren de Aragua. The Alien Enemies Act can only be used during “invasions or predatory incursions,” but the government has argued that the gang is mounting an incursion into the U.S. and that it’s closely linked to the Venezuelan government. Legal scholars and immigration activists have admonished the Trump Administration’s efforts to deport migrants without giving them a chance to contest claims that they are gang members, including the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man the government mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The Supreme Court noted in its ruling that the Trump Administration has claimed it can not bring Abrego Garcia back even though it ruled that the government must "facilitate" his return, suggesting that “the detainees’ interests at stake are accordingly particularly weighty.” Trump has undermined that claim, saying in an ABC News interview last month that he could retrieve Garcia but was refusing to do so.