It’s late October 2025, and I’m sitting here at my desk, sorting through yet another thick stack of court filings, headlines, and political tweets—the most newsworthy legal battles in the country right now center on Donald Trump, and trust me, if you’ve been listening to the news these past few days, you already know it’s a lot. Let me bring you up to speed.

We start with the Supreme Court. Right now, Trump finds himself as the lead petitioner in a consolidated case on the docket as Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al., v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., et al., No. 25-250. This case, originally heard in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, was docketed by the Supreme Court on September 4, 2025. The Justices granted certiorari and set the case for oral arguments in the first week of November, with argument specifically scheduled for Wednesday, November 5, 2025. One hour is allotted for oral argument, and the docket is loaded with amicus briefs from groups like Advancing American Freedom, Washington State Amici, and We Pay the Tariffs.

But the Supreme Court case is just one thread of a much larger web. Out west, in Portland, Oregon, things have reached a fever pitch. The State of Oregon and the City of Portland sued President Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, in the United States District Court. The case, 3:25-cv-01756-IM, centers on the federal government’s deployment of National Guard troops to Portland—over the objection of Oregon Governor Tina Kotek. According to the court opinion, on September 27, 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social, directly ordering Hegseth to provide troops to protect Portland from what he called Antifa and other domestic terrorists, authorizing “full force, if necessary.” By the next day, Secretary Hegseth federalized 200 members of the Oregon National Guard.

The reaction was immediate. The plaintiffs filed for a temporary restraining order on September 28, arguing that the President’s actions violated federal law, including the Posse Comitatus Act and 10 U.S.C. § 12406, and trampled on Oregon’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment. Governor Kotek pushed back hard, insisting that Portland had not seen the kind of violent, sustained protests Trump described for months—local law enforcement had handled earlier summer disruptions, and by late September, protests outside key locations like the ICE facility were small and uneventful. Trump, however, doubled down in a Truth Social post on October 1, saying that conditions in Portland were deteriorating, “lawless mayhem” was taking hold, and that the National Guard was needed to restore order.

While this Oregon drama unfolds, there’s another story developing behind closed doors. The Lawfare Litigation Tracker notes that a coalition of states is suing the Trump administration over the suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November 2025. This case hasn’t hit the headlines as hard, but for thousands of families, it’s a life-or-death matter—another legal flashpoint in an increasingly litigious era.

Now, by the time you hear this, today is October 29, 2025, and the Supreme Court’s reply brief is due tomorrow, October 30. The nation is waiting—and not just on the legal questions. The constitutional balance between federal and state power is being tested, and the President’s use of the military at home is under a microscope. Legal scholars from Trade Scholars in Economics, Politics, and Law—alongside former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills and former WTO Deputy Director-General Alan William Wolff—have filed briefs that may influence the Justices’ thinking. And for everyday listeners, there’s a nervous feeling in the air, a sense that all it takes is one more Tweet or court order to send everything spiraling.

Let me...