Ollie North 2.0

The Trump Administration suffered three significant setbacks Thursday on entirely different fronts, marking a new phase in the ongoing struggles that have defined its first 100 days so far — the time a President is supposed to be the most popular and effective. In the ongoing legal battle over Trump’s controversial immigration ban, the ninth circuit court of appeals ruled unanimously and across ideological lines against the President, upholding previous decisions by other courts that halted the implementation of the ban.

It didn’t take long for Trump to fire off an all caps tweet which read “SEE YOU IN COURT” — it is likely the case will eventually make its way to the Supreme Court, but less clear whether Trump’s nominee will be confirmed by then. Speaking of Trump’s nominee, while responding to questions regarding the President’s disparaging comments about the judiciary, Neil Gorsuch said the remarks were “demoralizing” and “disheartening”. The President seemed to be in denial about Gorsuch’s comments, claiming that Gorsuch was speaking in general terms although it seems clear from the context that he wasn’t.

In a dramatic new development in the story of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s pre-inauguration phone call with the Kremlin shortly after then-President Obama announced new sanctions, the Washington Post reported today that Flynn did in fact discuss the sanctions with Russia despite denying doing so. Multiple sources confirmed the report and both Flynn and Vice President Pence’s offices backed off previous statements they had made denying the allegations.

Additionally, House oversight committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), normally a noted partisan warrior, broke ranks to criticize Trump’s Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway for using her position to promote Ivanka Trump’s clothing line. The comments are the latest in a long series of missteps for Conway, who was already infamous for coining the term “alternative facts” and criticizing the media for not covering a terrorist attack in Bowling Green, Kentucky that didn’t happen.

Trump’s whirlwind day dominated headlines despite a devastating tornado wreaking havoc in New Orleans, the deaths of six red cross workers in Afghanistan, and forecasts of blizzards throughout the northeast. His childish outburst on Twitter against Nordstrom for dropping his daughter’s clothing line that wasn’t selling almost made George Bush’s Katrina flyover look like a genuinely compassionate act in relative terms. Meanwhile, Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX) reiterated his previous assertion on CNN that Trump risks being impeached over his immigration order — advocating for a Congressional censure to send a warning to the out-of-control President.