[Transcript edited for flow and clarity]
Two things can be true at once. On the one hand, we can have good things happening, and on the other hand, even those good things may not be as good as they at first seem. So we know that Donald keeps losing in court—not all the time. We heard recently that a federal court, a three-judge panel, ruled that Donald was within his rights to federalize the California National Guard. Seems to me an extraordinarily wrong-headed decision, but a win for him nonetheless—a loss for us.
More often than not, however, he has been losing in court, which is a win for us. And we need to celebrate those wins. But we also need to recognize that wins in court don't necessarily mean justice. Wins in court do not erase the damage that has been done and continues to be done.
A couple of examples: Mahmoud Khalil was illegally detained and incarcerated three months ago. He will never get that time back. His family will never get that time back with him. For over three years, E. Jean Carroll has been trying to get justice for the crimes Donald Trump committed against her. She has won three times. Two juries found that he was liable for raping her and for defaming her, and they ordered him to pay her a total of something like $83 million—which, with carried interest over time, will end up being well over $100 million.
She has won in court three times. Just last week, an appeals court rejected his appeal. And he's appealing again to a higher court. So after winning three times, E. Jean Carroll has yet to see a penny of the money Donald Trump owes her. Is that justice?
And it just reminds us—and I think it's important to be reminded—that our system of justice is deeply flawed. And sometimes it does seem that it is geared to protect the perpetrator over the victim. And if it seems that way, it may well be because it was designed that way. But that's a subject for another time.
That doesn't mean, however, that I'm saying we should not celebrate the wins. We need to get energy from every single victory for us, every single loss for the Trump regime. But it's important to put it in context. This system of justice—especially with a DOJ in the pocket of Donald Trump, serving as his personal defense team—is not enough. It is not going to see us through. Our elected officials do not seem up to the task either.
So once again, it's down to us. And based on what we've seen over the last weeks, months—we are totally up to it.
Let's dive in.
Hello everybody, welcome to tonight's episode of Mary Trump Live. It is wonderful to be here with you. Huge news—this is legitimately good news for Mahmoud Khalil, the man detained by ICE for the past three months as punishment for exercising his First Amendment right to protest Israel's actions in Gaza. As punishment for being pro-Palestinian and for being involved in student protests, a federal judge, Michael E. Farbiars of Federal District Court in Newark, New Jersey, ordered the Trump regime to release Mahmoud Khalil on bail, ending a three-month detention in a Louisiana ICE facility.
This judge ordered that Khalil has to be released and finally be able to go back to New York to be with his family. This will return him to his wife and infant son, whom he has yet to meet since his birth in April because, at the time of the birth, Khalil was being illegally detained. This is a massive rebuke to the Trump regime, and the judge made it clear that he sees through them, saying:
"There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish Mr. Khalil, and of course, that would be unconstitutional."
Mr. Khalil is slowly working his way toward getting some semblance of justice. And to have a judge finally recognize his mistreatment at the hands of the Trump regime and to order his release home is an incredible win.
Legal correspondents, however, are seeing what could be in store for Khalil's continued battle against the Trump regime. The Trump administration argued that the judge in this case in New Jersey—a federal judge—did not have the jurisdiction to make this decision. That instead, it should be made by an immigration judge. The judge said, "No, that's not true. I do have this jurisdiction, and there's no reason why an immigration judge needs to weigh in at all."
But what that could mean is that the Trump administration will now move for an immigration judge—which is done through a completely different system—to then order that he be detained again. But for now, this federal judge says that he should be released from that detention center in Louisiana.
Donald has been doing this for decades. He gets sued, he countersues, he loses in court, he appeals, he appeals, he appeals—until it never seems to end. So I worry for the future of Mahmoud Khalil and other people in his position. Because remember, this costs money. The people—the civil servants—whose jobs Donald Trump destroyed, some of them he's going after—they need to hire lawyers. People are out of jobs. All of this costs money.
Now hopefully, there will be organizations lining up to defend Mahmoud Khalil through this very long process pro bono, because there is no knowing how far they will take it. What we do know is they will take it as far as they can. And it could be years before there is any resolution for Khalil or for the other people who have been so badly treated by an administration that knows nothing and cares nothing about their constitutional rights.
Before we go on with today's news, if you could please take a minute and follow us on YouTube, Substack, or wherever you listen to the podcast—because your support is what keeps this operation running. So thank you.
While the Trump regime continues its attacks on immigrants—our journalists are more important than ever. Which is why they are constantly in the crosshairs of Donald and his regime. Their attacks on free speech continue—this time with another massive round of layoffs. They sent layoff notices on Friday to over 600 employees at Voice of America, which is a federally funded news source providing independent reporting to countries with limited press freedom.
Patti Widakuswara, a former Voice of America White House bureau chief who also received a layoff notice on Friday, said:
"This spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds U.S. ideals of democracy and freedom around the world."
Voice of America was founded to combat Nazi propaganda and reported in countries that suppress independent reporting and free speech. For Donald to gut these crucial news sources is extraordinarily dangerous to our democracy and to free speech—but that's exactly what he wants. Do you think Donald Trump wants independent media? Fox isn't even being sycophantic enough for him these days.
If he thinks that Fox isn't doing a good enough job perpetuating his propaganda, do we really think he wants something like Voice of America to continue to exist? He's already going after PBS and NPR. He has been trying and wanting to suppress journalism for years—and now that is the project of the federal government. And it's in large part probably because they're so incompetent that they don't want people reporting on it.
In an attempt to refute claims of his alleged heavy drug use, Elon Musk posted the results of two drug tests on Twitter this week—and accidentally exposed the last four digits of his Social Security number in the process. Musk was trying to refute a New York Times exposé detailing his use of ketamine, ecstasy, and other substances—including reports of bladder issues linked to his drug intake.
He dared reporters who have ever reported on his drug use to take a test themselves. But the real kicker was in the comments. Under his drug test tweet, journalist Jason Smith asked Grok—the Musk-funded AI chatbot that is always disagreeing with him—to fact check something for him.
He asked:
"How long does it take for the above illegal drugs to leave one’s system during a cleanse and for a person to be found negative in a medical verification? Did Elon have enough time to do such a cleanse between the New York Times article about his drug use?"
Grok responded:
"Detection times for illegal drugs vary. Ketamine: 1 to 4 days (up to 10 for chronic use). MDMA: 1 to 3 days (up to 5 for heavy use). Psilocybin: 1 to 6 days. The 12-day gap between the New York Times article (May 30, 2025) and Elon Musk’s drug test (June 11, 2025) suggests he had enough time for these substances to clear his system."
By the way, if you are the subject of an article such as the one about Musk and his drug use in the New York Times, you need to be given an opportunity to respond before the article is published. So Musk knew about this long before the article saw the light of day—which means he had even more time than 12 days. And it also makes me wonder if maybe his sudden exit from the White House had more to do with his needing to go into detox than anything else.
But I'm just speculating. What do I know? It's very clear Musk took his time. He could have come out the next day and said, "I am so offended by these defamatory claims that I am going to get a test right now." But he didn’t.
Now, I’m not going to judge somebody on whether or not they use drugs. I don’t really care. I actually think all drugs should be legal. Not sure what he’s so ashamed of.
Anyway, I’m speculating here, but I think sometimes we just have to connect the dots, don’t we?
Donald is shutting down federal funding for the national LGBTQ+ suicide hotline.
This comes as statistics show that young people in the LGBTQ+ community are four times more likely to die by suicide. I actually wonder if it’s not even higher now, considering we’re into our fifth year of anti-LGBTQ+ policies being enacted by Donald and his executive branch — policies making life even harder than it already was.
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing spoke with Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, about the devastating implications of this move:
Jansing: This is what the Trump administration says — look, they can still call the generalized hotline. What do you say?
Black: I say no. So, for example, when a veteran calls their specialized hotline, they need to speak to someone who understands military stress, PTSD, family separation, combat trauma.
When an LGBTQ+ youth calls the line, they need someone who understands LGBTQ+ youth stress and trauma — such as family rejection, homelessness. That is exactly why we had these specified lines with tailored interventions. Because tailored interventions actually increase their survival rate.
This is not about a special line or special treatment. This is about effective treatment.
Jansing: What do you think the message is when you take the “T” out of something that’s generally accepted and understood?
Black: Removing a letter does not remove a community. What it tells our youth is: their lives do not matter. Their identities do not matter.
We cannot politicize their identities — in fact, we need to depoliticize them.
The feeling we’re hearing the most? Fear.
Jansing: Will people die, do you think?
Black: Absolutely. People are already dying.
All because Donald and his fascist enablers want to erase and oppress anyone who either fights back against them or whom they simply don’t understand.
Activists say that’s exactly why this year’s Pride Month celebrations need to be louder and prouder than ever. Stacy Lentz, co-owner of the iconic Stonewall Inn, told The Gothamist:
“Pride should be remembered this year in particular as a protest — like it was in 1969. It’s not just about celebration and finding queer joy.
It really is about showing up, being visible, and just existing — sometimes in defiance. As queer people, our existence is being politicized right now.
So let’s make sure that we are out there. Being visible.”
We are seeing some state-level wins. Here in New York, city lawmakers approved legislation restoring protections that had been rolled back at the national level by the White House — including access to gender-affirming care. Elected officials are also pushing back during budget talks to secure increased funding for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers.
Quick reminder: yes, it’s still Pride Month. There’s still about 10 days left. And I think it’s extremely important to remember:
Just like Juneteenth is not a holiday only for Black Americans — it’s a holiday for all Americans — Pride Month is for all of us.
Do we not want people in the LGBTQ+ community to have the same rights we do? Do we not know and love people in that community?
Pride Month is for everyone — including allies.
If Pride needs to be louder and prouder, it also needs more allies showing up. These are very dark and difficult times for your LGBTQ+ friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues. All because we have in power a party that does not recognize the humanity of people who are different from them.
So get yourselves to a Pride parade. Please. It means more now than it ever did.
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