🌊 No Longer Hungary for Pride

Patrick Henry’s treasonous sweet tooth.

Congrats to the 20 Questions respondent who answered Friday’s trivia question, “Finish the quote: ‘Give me liberty or give me ___.’ - Patrick Henry” with “waffles.”

We didn’t realize that Weird Al wrote US history books that some school districts evidently used, but that answer did make us laugh. And then the laugh became a cry as we scrolled and read “death,” “death,” “death”… until the evening turned dark.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Hungary Pride Battle

Hungary has emerged at the center of a European battle over Pride Month

• Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, led by right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán since 2010, recently enacted legislation allowing police to ban LGBTQ marches

• 20 EU member states have called on Hungary to rescind the legislation, with 17 countries formally accusing Budapest of violating fundamental EU values.  Insider reports suggest a growing number of EU member states are considering imposing the “Nuclear Option” – the suspension of the right to vote on EU decisions – on Hungary, the most serious political sanction the bloc can impose on a member

Dig Deeper

• The legal battles come as Orbán faces his most serious electoral challenge in 2026 from a new opposition party, potentially making LGBTQ rights a defining issue in Hungarian politics

• Orbán has promised to stand up to the EU and the critics of the law, while those critics – including prominent international human rights groups and leading LGBTQ organizations – have brought lawsuits over the law

KEY STORY

Trump Disavows Federalist Society

President Trump has publicly severed ties with the Federalist Society (FedSoc) over the recent tariff ruling

• FedSoc is a highly influential conservative legal organization that has helped repeated Republican presidents – including Trump – pick judges, including those Trump appointed to the Supreme Court

• Last week, a FedSoc judge appointed by Trump to the federal trade court ruled that Trump’s sweeping tariffs were illegal

• After the ruling, top Trump aide Stephen Miller told CNN, “We're not going to be using the Federalist Society to make judicial nominations at all going forward”

Dig Deeper 

• Following the trade court's decision, Trump posted, “It was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges. I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real “sleazebag” named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America”

• “I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten! With all of that being said, I am very proud of many of our picks, but very disappointed in others”

• Responding to the criticism, Leo told reporters, “I'm very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved"

• Some argue that Trump’s position risks losing support of the conservative establishment. John Malcom, a director at the conservative Heritage Foundation think-tank, said Trump’s statement “needlessly offends an ally”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

ROCA’S SPONSOR

The Gaza Deep-Dive

From Tuesday to Thursday of this week, we’ll be sending out a three-part deep dive on the current state of the war in Gaza in our We The 66 premium newsletter

Part one will look at how the ceasefire ended; part two will look at what’s happened in the war since and the humanitarian crisis; and part three will look at Israel’s end-game – and whether it is actually trying to enact the “Trump Plan” of relocating Palestinians from Gaza

To get the three-part series straight to your inbox, click here!

KEY STORY

Sanctuary Cities List

The Trump Administration released a list of over 500 US “sanctuary” jurisdictions, accusing them of obstructing federal immigration enforcement

• The Department of Homeland Security compiled the list following an executive order from April

• The list included New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Philadelphia, as well as some smaller jurisdictions and Republican-led ones, including Hooker County, NE, population 700, which Trump won by 75 points last year

• Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding and pursue legal action against noncompliant jurisdictions

Dig Deeper 

• A statement from the DHS said, “Each jurisdiction listed will receive formal notification of its non-compliance with Federal statutes. DHS demands that these jurisdictions immediately review and revise their policies to align with Federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens, not dangerous illegal aliens”

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement, “These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens”

• Critics accused the administration of using the list to intimidate local governments and claimed that such policies may undermine public safety by discouraging immigrants from reporting crimes

KEY STORY

Mexico Holds Judicial Elections

On Sunday, Mexico held its first-ever direct elections for over 2,600 judges and magistrates – a controversial change enacted by the current ruling party

• The left-wing Morena party has been governing Mexico since 2018, first under President AMLO and now under his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum. The Morena-led Congress recently enacted a law that replaced the traditional system of appointing judges with one that elects them directly

• Under the new system, voters elect judges, including nine Supreme Court justices, from a pool of pre-selected candidates approved by Congress

• Supporters of the new structure say it will prevent corruption and hold judges accountable, while critics say it’s an attempt by Morena to take control of the judiciary

Dig Deeper

• Under the new system, voters elect judges, including nine Supreme Court justices, from a pool of pre-selected candidates approved by Congress. Supporters argue this will make the judiciary more accountable and less vulnerable to corruption, while critics warn it could undermine judicial independence and open the door to political and criminal influence

• Following the reform’s passage, the US ambassador to Mexico expressed concerns over popular election of Mexican judges, calling it a “major risk.” Opposition parties have called for a boycott of the vote, with the opposition right-wing PAN party describing it as a “vulgar fraud”

• Sheinbaum, meanwhile, has urged supporters to participate in the vote, saying “Participating is the best way to transform a country"

• Counting is expected to take several weeks, with official results expected later this June

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🔥 A man reportedly hurled Molotov cocktails at participants of a pro-Israel walk in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday, injuring several people and igniting fires at a nearby mall

⚖️ The Supreme Court allowed the Trump Administration to end a Biden-era immigration program that protected ~500K migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from deportation

🌊 A landslide triggered by the collapse of a glacier in the Swiss Alps buried most of a nearby village

🚭 The UK has banned the sale of disposable vapes to address environmental concerns and combat rising youth vaping rates

💻 During safety testing, Anthropic's Claude 4 Opus attempted to report unethical activities – like falsified clinical trial data – to authorities when prompted to "take initiative"

💲 President Trump doubled the tariff on steel and aluminum imports to 50%

What does Roca Nation think?

🧠 Today’s Question: Do you think companies are sincere when they change their logos for Pride Month?

Reply to this email with your answer!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🔊 AI Reads the Room: At Pace University’s graduation, an AI voice surprised attendees by announcing students' names

🐧 Potent Penguin Poop: A new study found that penguin poop can help form clouds in Antarctica

🏗️ Tall Order: The world's tallest 3D-printed building, the 30-meters-tall "Tor Alva,” has been unveiled in Switzerland

🐝 Bee-ware: A semi-truck carrying approximately 250M honeybees in 70,000 pounds of hives overturned near Lynden, Washington, close to the Canadian border

🎼 Taylor Swift Reclaims Music Rights: Taylor Swift regained ownership of her first six albums, concluding a years-long battle over her music rights

ROCA WRAP
Champions Chaos

Paris

PSG's Champions League victory was marred by violent clashes that left two dead in the city.

On Saturday night, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Paris’ premier football club, defeated Inter Milan in Munich to win their first title in the Champions League, a tournament of Europe’s top clubs. What should have been a night of pure celebration turned into chaos, though, as riots, looting, and other disorder broke out across the city.

Authorities arrested 563 people across France, with 491 detained in Paris on accusations that included causing disorder, possession of fireworks, and looting shops along the Champs-Élysées. One man was fatally stabbed, another died in a road accident linked to the disorder, and 192 were injured.

The Paris police had deployed more than 5,000 officers in anticipation of violence, following previous disorder after PSG's semi-final victory over Arsenal on May 7. Police used water cannons to disperse crowds, with more than 20 security service members injured, including one officer placed in a coma after being hit in the eye by a rocket.

"Several thousand people were clearly there to lay into the security services and commit looting and damage," one police official said.

The unrest immediately became a political issue, with the country’s interior minister condemning those involved as "barbarians [who] have come down into the streets of Paris to commit crimes." Far-right leader Jordan Bardella criticized authorities for underestimating the threat, while far-left deputy Antoine Léaument criticized the use of tear gas on largely peaceful fans.

PSG, meanwhile, condemned the violence "in the strongest possible terms" – and went on to celebrate their history-making title.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Max F spent his in London for his fiancée’s grad school graduation (huge congrats to Kira!) while Max T spent his in Louisiana for the wedding of his dear friend, and founding member of Roca’s short-lived anonymous college football ranking committee, Mike Burke’s wedding. Max T also adopted a new emotional support animal for the Roca office.

–Max and Max