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A federal three-judge panel on Wednesday ruled against several of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on international trading partners, ruling that he had exceeded his authority.

The Trump administration quickly moved to appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In their judgment Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade panel said that Trump’s tariffs lacked “any identifiable limits,” and found that the decades-old International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a federal law that Trump cited in many of his executive orders, did not “delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the President.”

“We instead read IEEPA’s provisions to impose meaningful limits on any such authority it confers,” they wrote.

The ruling blocks most of the tariffs Trump has rolled out so far in his second term, including the 10% rate applied to most trading partners and those on China. It also includes fentanyl-related levies on Canada and Mexico.

The panel’s judgment on Wednesday pertained to two lawsuits over Trump’s tariffs — in one a group of states led by Arizona and Oregon had sued over the tariffs, and in another, several small businesses had sued, both arguing that Trump had exceeded his authority.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said in a statement that the tariffs “were poised to devastate our state’s economy.”

“I will continue to fight for affordability for Arizonans and against President Trump’s illegal abuses of power,” she added.

Democratic Attorney General Dan Rayfield of Oregon lauded the ruling as a victory for working families and small businesses.

“President Trump’s sweeping tariffs were unlawful, reckless, and economically devastating. They triggered retaliatory measures, inflated prices on essential goods, and placed an unfair burden on American families, small businesses and manufacturers,” Rayfield said.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement that trade deficits “have created a national emergency that has decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base — facts that the court did not dispute.”

“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency,” Desai added.

In early evening trading, Nasdaq futures jumped nearly 2% while S&P 500 futures rose about 1.7%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rallied 520 points, or nearly 1.2%. In the weeks since the president rolled out his massive tariff plan on April 2, markets have lost and regained tens of trillions of dollars of wealth — and that’s just counting the U.S. market.

At one point, some of Wall Street’s top banks dialed up their recession predictions to as high as 60%. Since April 2, the 30-stock Dow remains slightly negative, but the broad S&P 500 is up 3.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has risen 8.5% throughout the wild ride. The Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, is up 1% since April 2.

Jayden Reed met with the media for the first time since his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, talked to the Packers to discuss the wide receiver’s role. Reed said he knew about the meeting beforehand, but he he wasn’t worried about his standing with the team after the draft.

The Packers selected Matthew Golden in the first round and Savion Williams in the third.

“A lot of people misinterpreted that,” Reed said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “I hired a new agent [Rosenhaus], and we talked about it before even the draft, really, that he said he was going to talk to the front office and everybody here to just catch up and make sure everybody’s on the same page. As a new client, he told me that’s the way he was going to do it, and he did it.

“Now, I don’t know how it got out, because it was supposed to be confidential. But that’s how it goes sometimes. People get a different perception; they make their own perception, which is OK. That’s how it goes sometimes.”

Reed led the team in receptions and receiving yards in each of his first two seasons, but he has yet to have a 1,000-yard season. Davante Adams, who had 1,553 yards receiving in 2021, was the last Packers wide receiver with 1,000 yards.

As Packers running back Josh Jacobs said this offseason, the Packers need a No. 1 wide receiver to go with Reed, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks, among others.

“As long as, at the end of the day, we end out on top and we win, that’s all that matters,” Reed said. “I’m not the type to care about targets. I really don’t care about it. I could have two targets. If we win, I don’t care, you know what I’m saying? That’s just how I look at things.

“I’m a very unselfish person. Whenever anybody fall, I try to be the first person around to pick ‘em up. I try to pick players up when they got they head down, so yeah, that’s just what kind of player I am.”

The All-American Rejects are bringing back the house party. The rock band, who topped the charts in the early 2000s such with hits as “Move Along” and “Gives You Hell,” is popping up, playing surprise shows in small venues across the country.

So far, the concert spots have included a backyard near the University of Missouri in Columbia, a barn in Ames, Iowa, and a Minneapolis bowling alley.

The band’s frontman, Tyson Ritter, said the musicians “wanted to get back to the spirit of what started this band.”

Shortly before each surprise show, the location is sent to fans in the area who have signed up for the band’s text messages.

With concert ticket prices skyrocketing, it’s a novel approach to making live music accessible to fans. The band’s drummer, Chris Gaylor, said he hopes the shows make fans “excited to go to a show again and see it’s possible to see something without having to pay exorbitant money.”

Videos of the shows have been flooding social media.

Some, taking to TikTok,offering up their back yards for potential future shows.

The non-traditional tour has been widely well-received, though police appeared to shut down one event in Missouri.

“This thing got bigger than our band,” Ritter said. “This thing became something, I guess, in the last week that spoke to people, and hit a nerve.”

He said the band plans to keep the house party tours going throughout the summer.

LOS ANGELES — Motown legend Smokey Robinson on Wednesday filed a lawsuit alleging defamation by four former housekeepers who earlier this month in a lawsuit accused him of sexual assault and abuse.

Lawyers for Robinson also filed a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking to have the complaint against him dismissed, arguing that it was filed under false names.

Robinson, 85, was sued in early May by four women identified in court documents as Jane Does 1-4. They alleged Robinson assaulted them while they worked as low-wage housekeepers at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth.

Robinson has denied the allegations.

In addition to the civil lawsuit, which seeks no less than $50 million, a law enforcement source told NBC News two weeks ago that Robinson is under criminal investigation. No charges have been filed.

The lawsuit filed by Robinson against the four women who have accused say the housekeepers were treated in a “collegial, even familial, manner” and never alleged any abuse in while employed.

They first demanded $100 million before filing a lawsuit, attorneys for Robinson wrote in the cross-complaint.

“When the Robinsons resisted the extortionate demands, Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit,” the lawsuit says, alleging that subsequent public statements made against the Robinsons were false.

“Plaintiffs did not have the right to create a media circus of a press conference, and use that platform to slander the Robinsons,” the suit reads.

The women, three of whom appeared at a May 6 press conference wearing masks to protect their identity, said they didn’t speak out earlier because they were afraid of losing their paychecks and were embarrassed, one of their lawyers, John Harris, said then.

The women’s lawsuit is against Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson. Their attorneys said that Frances Robinson was aware of the alleged abuse.

The suit claims that Smokey Robinson assaulted one woman at least 23 times from May 2014 to February 2020, often in places in his home without security cameras.

The suit alleges that he assaulted another former employee at least 20 times during the 12 years she worked for him, beginning in 2012. According to the suit, Robinson would force her into his bedroom and perform a “ritual” of leaving his bathroom naked or nearly naked.

According to the suit, Robinson would then place a towel on his bed so the linens would not be soiled “for what was about to occur.”

The suit says he subjected two other plaintiffs to the same behavior. One of the former housekeepers worked for Robinson for 13 months, during which, she alleges, he assaulted her at least seven times.

Robinson’s defamation lawsuit named the four Jane Does, and Harris and his law firm, among others.

It singles out Harris’ use of the phrase “serial and sick rapist” and “serial assaulter” referring to Robinson at the May 6 press conference.

At the news conference, Harris said that “We believe that Mr. Robinson is a serial and sick rapist that must be stopped.”

At another point Harris said, “We have reason to believe that this behavior has existed for many years, and I think given the allegations we’re fairly confident that he’s a serial assaulter.”

Harris and his law firm partner, Herbert Hayden of Harris & Hayden of Los Angeles, called Robinson’s defamation lawsuit “nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson’s sexual battery and assault.”

“It is a baseless and vindictive legal maneuver designed to re-victimize, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward,” Harris and Hayden said in a statement Wednesday in response to the suit.

They said they will file a motion to strike Robinson’s complaint, citing a California law about “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPP.

Robinson, a recording, producing and songwriting legend, is known for, among other hits, “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Ooo Baby Baby” and “The Tracks of My Tears.”

Robinson’s law suit seeks damages of not less than $500 million. It alleges defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy, among other claims.

This is a free article for Diddy on Trial newsletter subscribers. Sign up to get exclusive reporting and analysis throughout Sean Combs’ federal trial.

U.S. government prosecutors spent much of today attempting to back up testimony from key witnesses like Kid Cudi, the hip-hop artist who dated Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and accused the defendant of breaking into his house and setting his car on fire. The prosecution team also tried to bolster its racketeering conspiracy charge with more evidence of Diddy’s alleged crimes. Meanwhile, the defense team made a failed bid for a mistrial.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Christoper Ignacio, a Los Angeles police officer, testified about responding to a break-in at Kid Cudi’s home in 2011. The Cadillac Escalade that cops saw leaving the scene was registered to Bad Boy Productions, one of Diddy’s companies, Ignacio said. The break-in wasn’t reported as a burglary, he confirmed during cross-examination.
• Lance Jimenez, a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator, told jurors he found a Molotov cocktail inside Kid Cudi’s burned Porsche in early 2012. Jimenez characterized the car fire as a “targeted crime.” In the government’s indictment against Diddy, arson is one of the crimes listed under the racketeering conspiracy charge.
• Deonte Nash, a celebrity stylist, testified he once jumped on Diddy’s back to keep him from beating up Cassie. Nash said that he was thrown off and the rapper continued striking Cassie until she hit her head on a bed frame and started bleeding. Nash also testified that Diddy threatened to send sex tapes of Cassie to her parents’ workplaces to get them fired.

ALSO: Cassie gave birth yesterday, roughly two weeks after she testified, a source familiar with the matter confirmed. It’s her third child with her husband, Alex Fine. NBC News’ Rebecca Cohen and Chloe Melas have details.

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🔎 The view from inside

By Adam Reiss, Chloe Melas and Jing Feng

The trial came to an abrupt halt around 10:30 a.m. when Jimenez, the arson investigator, said some of the fingerprints lifted during the Kid Cudi break-in investigation were destroyed. Diddy’s lawyers argued that testimony about the lost prints should be struck from the record because jurors might infer that their client was somehow involved.

“What the government has done is outrageous,” Marc Agnifilo, Diddy’s lead attorney, told Judge Arun Subramanian. Subramanian seemed to agree. He struck mentions of the lost prints from the record. But the judge swiftly turned down the defense’s motion for a mistrial.

In other news: Nash, the stylist, was a spirited and sometimes amusing witness who made it clear to the jury that he would rather not testify against Diddy. He said he had kept in touch with the rapper and doesn’t harbor any ill will toward him, despite the violence he said he witnessed.

“I don’t hate him,” Nash said. “It’s just not me.”

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👨‍⚖️ Analysis: No mistrial, but not a setback for Diddy’s team

By Danny Cevallos

In denying the defense’s motion for a mistrial, Subramanian said there “was absolutely no testimony from [Jimenez] that was prejudicial in any way, shape or form.” It seems to have been the right call. The questions might have been objectionable, but it doesn’t seem that they were designed to suggest Combs tampered with evidence. It seems equally likely that the questions were designed to establish only that this witness wasn’t responsible for destroying the fingerprint cards.

But was this a setback for the defense? I’d argue it wasn’t. First, even the defense likely didn’t expect the mistrial to be granted. This was probably an example of making a “highball” demand, to get to the middle — where you want to be. The judge acknowledged that there was an issue with the testimony and excluded some of the evidence. That’s not what the defense asked for, but it’s a win.

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🗓️ What’s next

Tomorrow: Nash will return to the stand. We’re also expecting testimony from an accuser identified in the government’s indictment as “Victim 4.”

PSA: Every night during Diddy’s trial, NBC’s “Dateline” will drop special episodes of the “True Crime Weekly” podcast to get you up to speed. “Dateline” correspondent Andrea Canning chats with NBC News’ Chloe Melas and special guests — right in front of the courthouse. Listen here. 🎧

Baylor defensive lineman Alex Foster died early Wednesday in Greenville, Mississippi, the school announced.

He was 18.

No details were revealed on the cause of death for the player who redshirted last season and took part in spring practices.

“We are heartbroken by the unexpected loss of Alex Foster, a beloved member of our football family,” coach Dave Aranda and athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a joint statement. “Our immediate focus is on supporting Alex’s family and his teammates through this devastating loss. Alex’s memory will forever be part of our hearts and this program.”

Aranda posted a separate message in referring to Foster making a “long-lasting impact on all of us,” and adding, “Our hearts are broken, and our prayers are with his family, friends and all those who loved him so deeply.”

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 292 pounds, Foster was rated by 247Sports as being among Mississippi’s top-20 prospects and 69th defensive lineman in the nation coming out of St. Joseph High School in Madison.

Vice President JD Vance and two of President Donald Trump’s sons were in Las Vegas on Wednesday to talk about cryptocurrencies and how the financial instrument can help ordinary people.

Vance told attendees at the Bitcoin 2025 conference that “we have a once in a generation opportunity to unleash innovation and use it to improve the lives of countless American citizens.” According to the numbers, there’s a long way to go.

Data shows about 1 in 6 U.S. adults — 17% — have ever invested or used cryptocurrency, while half that — 8% — have used it in the past year.

Survey data from Pew Research shows crypto use is highest among men 18 to 29 years old and lowest among women 50 and older.

And new survey data from the U.S. Federal Reserve found that 7% of U.S. adults have used crypto in the past 12 months as of 2024, down from 12% in 2021.

Numbers from industry groups paint a rosier picture: According to a 2024 survey, 14% of U.S. adults currently own Bitcoin, the most popular of the various cryptocurrencies. With approximately 260 million adults in the U.S., that works out to 36 million adults with Bitcoin.

Comparatively, 26% of U.S. households own stocks or mutual funds, and 60% have retirement accounts, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.

The Trump administration has increasingly courted the crypto audience. Last week Trump held a dinner for buyers of the president’s personal meme coin. On Wednesday the Labor Department withdrew guidance advising employers to be cautious about making cryptocurrency investments available to their employees 401ks.

Vance told the crowd Wednesday “we want our fellow Americans to know that crypto and digital assets, and particularly Bitcoin, are part of the mainstream economy and are here to stay.”

He touted Bitcoin’s ability to help Americans without a banking account (in 2023, 4.2% of U.S. households are unbanked, according to the FDIC). “Crypto has transformed how Americans transact with one another,” he said. “It’s expanded access to banking for many who may not otherwise have had it.”

“We choose faith, and we choose hope,” Esther Kwong told Dateline. “He will come home.”

Esther’s brother, Jared Oswald, vanished on May 19. The 50-year-old was last spotted in Rochester, New York. “He would never do this,” Esther said.

Jared, affectionately known as “Bear” by his family, grew up in Palmyra, New York, the youngest of seven siblings. “He was just a big little boy, and that’s what stuck,” Esther said of her brother’s nickname.

Esther says the siblings had a very religious upbringing. “Very good Christian household,” she said. “We had good parents with really honest, clean values.”

The tight-knit family was raised in a big white house with trails, woods, and snakes. “We were country kids,” she said. “We were just doing all sorts of things outside, which was wonderful. We were inseparable.”

That sibling bond extended into adulthood. Esther says she lives just five minutes away from her baby brother, his wife, and their young son. “He’s not shy, but he’s more quiet,” Esther said. “If you’re in a conversation, he’s very smart and educated, but he’s not going to be the loud voice at the gathering.”

Esther says she and Jared bonded over fitness—something he takes very seriously. “He started bodybuilding when he was like 12 or 13,” she said. “We’re very active people.”

She says she last spoke to her brother on Friday, May 16. “I probably spoke with him about 40 minutes on the phone — just shooting the breeze,” Esther recalled.

Then, on the morning of May 19, Esther says she received multiple calls from Jared. “He had called me around 7:11 a.m., and because I was reading my Bible, I had my phone on Do not Disturb,” she explained. “He called me again around 7:14 a.m. I didn’t see them.” Esther says she checked her phone around 7:30 a.m. and called her brother back, but he didn’t answer. “He did not return my call.”

Esther assumed Jared was on his way to work at the time and would call her back later — until she got a concerning message in their family group chat. “One of my older brothers, who owns the business that my little brother works for, he texted our family,” she said. “He said, ‘Has anyone talked to Bear today? He didn’t show up for work.’”

Esther says her brother would never miss a day of work. “We decided as a family right around 11 a.m. to call 911 immediately because for Bear not to go to work — that’s so out of character for him,” she said.

The Rochester Police Department is investigating Jared’s disappearance. Dateline spoke with Captain Greg Bello, who says Jared was last seen on May 19 when he left his house on Harding Road in Charlotte, a neighborhood in Rochester. Security footage last captured him that morning at Turning Point Park, not far from his home.

Esther says it’s a park Jared went to often. “So, for him to go to the park frequently

was normal, but not when he had to go to work. That would never happen,” she said.

Captain Bello says the search has been focused on that park. “We’ve conducted multiple searches throughout the park using different technology,” he said. “We were down there yesterday with some of our rope teams that were down there checking along an embankment. We’ve checked a few different places along the park, pretty exhaustively, and unfortunately, we haven’t located him.”

When asked if foul play is suspected in Jared’s disappearance, Bello said it’s too early to say. “It’s under investigation by detectives from our criminal investigation unit,” he said. “We don’t believe any criminality at this point.”

Esther says the family and Jared’s friends have been conducting their own searches. “He has hundreds of friends that he would consider good friends,” she said. “They were taking off work. They were at my house. We had 420 people show up for his search.”

But they have found no sign of him, something that has left them all confused. “We’re all baffled because my brother would never just not contact us in any situation in his life,” she said. “He’s the baby, and he absolutely has contact with his family daily.”

Esther believes her brother is still out there and has a message for her baby Bear: “I want him to know that his family loves him unconditionally. There’s nothing that could separate our love from him.”

Jared is 5’8” and weighs 175 lbs. He has dirty blond hair and blue eyes. “He has beautiful sparkling blue eyes,” Esther said. He was last seen wearing a grey hoodie, a green shirt, and blue jeans.

Anyone with information about Jared’s disappearance is asked to call the Rochester Police Department at 585-428-6720 or email [email protected].

Cassie Ventura gave birth on Tuesday, roughly two weeks after she took the stand as a witness in Sean Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.

The baby is her third with her husband, Alex Fine. Ventura announced the pregnancy in an Instagram post featuring black and white photos of their family, including the couple’s two young daughters.

The singer and model just spent nearly a week testifying in Combs’ trial, recounting instances of rape and abuse she alleges she experienced at his hands.

Her civil lawsuit against the entertainment mogul in 2023 set off a firestorm of abuse allegations and lawsuits from others who alleged that they’d had similar experiences, leading to a federal investigation and charges against Combs that included sex trafficking.

Ventura and Combs settled her lawsuit the day after it was filed for $20 million, she revealed in court. He denied any wrongdoing.

Ventura was more than eight months pregnant when she took the stand on May 13. On her third day on the stand, lead prosecutor Maurene Comey called for a speedy cross-examination, predicting Ventura could have her baby over the weekend.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian agreed with the prosecutor that Ventura’s presence in court should not be needed past May 16, sternly reminding the defense team that they had agreed to only a day and a half of cross-examining Ventura.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ attorney, said that he might want Ventura to come back the following week if needed.

“In what universe did you not understand this is what was going to happen?” Subramanian asked Agnifilo in court. “You’re not telling me this wasn’t everyone’s understanding that this witness was going to be done this week?”

President Donald Trump said he would look at pardoning the men convicted in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and swiped at the legitimacy of the case.

“I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention,” Trump said while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. “I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job.”

The president said he thought the men convicted in the case, which occurred on the eve of the 2020 election, “were drinking” and “said stupid things.”

Fourteen men were charged in the plan to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, and nine were convicted. The ringleader of the group, Barry Croft Jr., was given the longest sentence at more than 19 years.

Whitmer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2020, Whitmer placed some of the blame for the kidnapping plot on Trump’s rhetoric.

“Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups,” she said, referring to Trump’s comments at the presidential debate against Joe Biden.

“Hate groups heard the president’s words not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry,” she added. “As a call to action. When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight. When our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimize their actions and they are complicit.”