Good morning. In this edition:

• ⚖️ The legality of reciprocal tariffs
• 🥽 Military AR/VR headsets
• 📝 Weekly news quiz

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.98-minute read (1,058 words).

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“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

–T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Yesterday afternoon, a federal appeals court temporarily paused a ruling, handed down by the Court of International Trade one day earlier, that had declared most of President Trump’s tariff plans to be illegal.

• The appeals court’s decision prevents Wednesday’s tariff ruling from taking effect until judges can hear further legal arguments.
• The group of companies and states challenging Trump’s tariffs is required to file a written brief by June 5, while the Trump admin has until June 9 to respond.

How we got here

On Wednesday evening, a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade—made up of Reagan, Obama, and Trump appointees—unanimously ruled that Trump lacks the authority to impose sweeping tariffs under the 1970s-era emergency legislation he invoked for many executive orders, since America’s trade deficit doesn’t fit the law’s definition of an “unusual and extraordinary threat.”

• The ruling effectively blocked Trump’s reciprocal tariffs of at least 10% on virtually all US trade partners, along with the White House’s 20% tariff on Canada, Mexico, and China for their alleged role in the US fentanyl crisis.

Not all tariffs were affected. Duties imposed by the Trump admin under a different legal authority called Section 232—including 25% tariffs on automotive, steel, and aluminum imports—weren’t covered under Wednesday’s ruling. US tariffs on China imposed during Trump’s first term and expanded by the Biden admin were also unaffected.

Bottom line: Legal and policy experts say the global trade war is far from over. Even if the Court of International Trade’s ruling is upheld on appeal, the Trump admin is still widely expected to pursue other legal avenues for imposing tariffs—though they don’t confer the broad power to place levies on all goods, like most current policies.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): What are your thoughts on the current situation regarding the Trump administration’s tariff plans? The most thoughtful answers will be featured in Monday’s newsletter.

• Click here to leave a response.

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Halo helmets are coming to the US military. Yesterday, Meta and defense-tech startup Anduril announced they’ve formed a partnership to create virtual and augmented reality devices for American soldiers.

• It marks a boomerang moment for Anduril founder Palmer Lackey, who sold his VR startup Oculus to Meta for $2 billion in 2014, and, after being fired by the tech giant in 2017, started the defense company.

The mission: Develop and build EagleEye, a line of VR/AR helmets, glasses, and other wearables that enhance hearing and vision, allowing soldiers to do things like detect drones flying miles away, as well as operate and interact with AI-powered weapon systems.

The AR/VR platform that shares a name with a 2008 Shia LaBeouf film where an all-powerful AI system goes rogue will be underpinned by Meta’s AI models and Anduril’s software, an artificial intelligence-powered command and control system that provides real-time battlefield intel for decision making.

Trading one big “M” for another: The companies are jointly bidding on an up to $100 million Army contract—which, if awarded, would mark Meta’s largest-ever tie-up with the Pentagon. The contract is intended to vet headset prototypes tied to a larger $22 billion wearables project that Anduril took over from Microsoft in February.

Defense dollars are proving alluring for tech: Google earlier this year joined Meta in changing its policies to allow its AI models to be used by US military contractors, while OpenAI and Anthropic are actively working on AI-related defense contracts.

Hold on to your lacy lingerie britches: Victoria’s Secret has taken down its website and paused all online orders in response to an ongoing cyberattack that began on Wednesday. 

And, while the retailer has provided few concrete details, the hack could be tied to an arachnid-inspired group with a bit of practice in this realm.

Spidey senses are tingling

Two weeks ago, Google warned that a cybercriminal group called Scattered Spider—mostly comprised of young US and UK residents—is starting to target major American retail brands after carrying out a series of hacks targeting UK retailers.

• Retail giant Marks & Spencer, one of the best known names in British business, has been unable to take online orders since April 25.
• The Co-op Group, a major UK food retailer, experienced a customer data breach, also in late April.
• Luxury department store Harrod’s saw a brief disruption in late April/early May that saw some locations taken offline as a security measure.

Following each attack, Scattered Spider appears to have handed its findings over to Russian cybercriminal group DragonForce, which makes money by extorting victims with sensitive data.

Looking ahead…Victoria’s Secret has yet to provide an estimate for when its systems will come back online, though all ~1,350 brick-and-mortar stores remain open for business.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📝 Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting earlier this month indicate stagflation concerns.
• 🏛️ Elon Musk is leaving his government role; his offboarding process began this week.
• 🍺 Non-alcoholic beer is projected to overtake ale as the second-largest beer category worldwide this year. | Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of nonalcoholic rum: The virgin spirits market is also on the rise.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Your Everyday Heroes

• 🎭 Lionsgate President Nathan Kahane will step down by the end of this year. | Hamilton’s original Broadway cast will reunite for a 10-year anniversary performance at this year’s Tony Awards.
• 🐝 Texas seventh grader Faizan Zaki spelled "éclaircissement" correctly to win 97th Scripps National Spelling Bee after finishing runner-up last year.
• 🏀 NCAA president Charlie Baker said discussions are underway to expand the men’s March Madness tournament to 72 or 76 teams starting in 2026. | ⚾️ The 2025 NCAA baseball tournament begins later today; the Women’s College World Series kicked off yesterday in Oklahoma City.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🎓 Harvard revoked the tenure of business professor Francesca Gino—whose research focused on why people lie and cheat—after an investigation found repeated research misconduct; she’s the first Harvard professor to have tenure revoked since at least the 1940s.
• 📰 Amazon signed a deal with The New York Times allowing the media outlet’s content to be shown within Amazon products and services—like Alexa—and also be used for AI training data.
• 🪲 Bed bugs are likely the first urban pest for humans, with their population booming ~12,000 years ago when the first humans built cities like Mesopotamia, per a new study.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with SUPA Power

• 🎓 A federal judge said Harvard can keep enrolling international students while its legal battle over a Trump admin order seeking to ban all international enrollment at the school plays out.
• 📊 US Republicans' support for same-sex marriage is at 41%, down from 55% in 2022 and its lowest level in nearly a decade, per new Gallup polling.
• 🏥 Oregon lawmakers approved a bill analysts say would represent America’s strictest ban on corporate influence in medicine; it now heads to Gov. Tina Kotek (D), who has a week to sign or veto.

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☝️The 8th annual Milky Way Photographer of the Year awards are currently being held by Capture The Atlas; see this year’s finalists.

🤔 Did You Know? Doritos made a flavor called “Mountain Dew” in 2008 as part of a promotional stunt with the popular soda brand—though it didn’t receive great reviews (for obvious reasons). Other odd-flavor experiments over the years include Lays’ “Cappuccino” chips, Heinz EZ Squirt “Mystery Color” Ketchup, and Hubba Bubba Soda.

📰 Worth a Read: The people who think AI might become conscious

🖱️ Clickbait: What did dinosaurs sound like?

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

• ⛰️ Kami Rita Sherpa, a 55-year-old Nepali guide, scaled Mount Everest for the 31st time on Tuesday, breaking his own world record for most ascents.
• 💉 ~4% of American adults were taking GLP-1 drugs in 2024.
• ✈️ ~8% of the 31.1 million reviews submitted to Tripadvisor in 2024 were fake, per the company’s Transparency Report 2025.
• 🤖 Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei this week said AI could wipe out ~50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs—and spike overall unemployment to 10%–20%—in the next one to five years.
• 🏀 This NBA postseason has seen more 20-point comebacks (6) than the last four postseasons combined (5).

💬 Effective communication = key: Some good tips on workplace Slack etiquette.

🦸 Interesting: The story behind arguably the most recognizable superhero logo of all time.

Old school 🤝 new school: Like flipping through TV channels, but with YouTube.

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*A message from our partners

How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Cherries
• Sugar
• Cornstarch
• Lemon juice
• Salt
• Flour
• Cornmeal
• Light brown sugar
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Nutmeg
• Egg yolk
• Butter
• Vanilla extract

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Serrano chile pepper
• Lime juice
• Salt & pepper
• Water
• Sugar
• Shrimp
• Red onion
• Cucumber
• Jalapeno

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Frozen mango chunks
• Rum
• Lime juice
• Agave syrup

🥐 Famed wax museum Madame Tussauds in London revealed its latest creation: a sausage roll from beloved British bakery chain, Greggs.

🏠 Meet the couple who have dedicated themselves to uncovering the charm of "cheap old houses."

🐿️ A sneaky squirrel ran out onto the field at the Detroit Tigers game this week, causing mayhem and excitement for TV announcers Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks.

☝️ Recipe #1: Cherry cornmeal crumb bars

✌️ Recipe #2: Garlic shrimp aguachile

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Mango daiquiri