
Trump says may allow lawsuit against Fed chair over renovations - Economy
"The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable," Trump wrote of Fed Chair Jerome Powell on his Truth Social platform.
He added that he is thinking of allowing a lawsuit taking aim at Powell's oversight on the renovations in Washington, but did not offer more details.
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Powell this year over the Fed's decisions to keep interest rates steady since its last cut in December.
Policymakers have been cautiously monitoring the effects of Trump's wide-ranging tariffs on the world's biggest economy, as they mulled the right time to lower rates further.
This is because it takes time for levies to filter through to consumer prices.
The jury is still out on whether Trump's latest tariffs will have a one-off or longer-term impact on inflation, but the president has regularly pointed to benign data to urge for rate reductions to boost the economy.
Shortly after government data was released Tuesday, showing that consumer inflation stayed unchanged at 2.7 percent in July, Trump wrote on social media that Powell "must now lower the rate."
He also called the Fed's leadership "complacent."
Trump has openly floated the idea of ousting Powell over cost overruns for the renovation.
While the US leader says the price of the makeover was $3.1 billion, reiterating this figure in his social media post on Tuesday, Powell has been quick to correct Trump in the past.
The cost has been put at $2.5 billion, but Trump's higher number includes work on another building that Powell maintains was completed previously.
On Tuesday, Trump said Powell was doing a "horrible" job in managing the Fed's revamp.
Follow us on:
Short link:

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


See - Sada Elbalad
3 hours ago
- See - Sada Elbalad
Slight Decline in Local Gold Prices as Markets Await U.S. Data and
Waleed Farouk Gold prices in the local market recorded a slight drop during Thursday's trading, pressured by a modest decline in global spot prices as the U.S. dollar saw a mild rebound. The market is on edge ahead of the U.S.-Russia summit scheduled for tomorrow in Alaska. Local gold prices fell by about EGP 5 compared to Wednesday's close, with 21-karat gold now trading at EGP 4,570 per gram. Globally, spot gold slipped $4 to $3,355 an ounce. In other categories, 24-karat gold stood at EGP 5,223, 18-karat at EGP 3,917, and 14-karat at EGP 3,047, while the gold pound coin was priced at EGP 36,560. On Wednesday, prices remained relatively steady, with 21-karat gold opening and closing at EGP 4,575 per gram, while spot gold rose $11 from $3,348 to $3,359. Market Drivers Gold is currently trading in a tight range near $3,355 per ounce, as a stable U.S. dollar limits its upside. Market sentiment remains fragile ahead of the U.S.-Russia summit, following U.S. President Donald Trump's warning of 'very severe consequences' if Russia does not end the war in Ukraine, according to CNN. Analysts are divided: some see the talks as a chance to ease tensions, while others fear a failure could escalate geopolitical risks, spurring safe-haven flows into gold. Focus on U.S. Economic Data Investors are awaiting U.S. weekly jobless claims and July's Producer Price Index (PPI) data for clues on the Federal Reserve's policy direction. U.S. Treasury yields fell for the second consecutive day, with the 10-year yield dropping to 4.213% and the 30-year yield to 4.803%, amid rising expectations of rate cuts. According to CME's FedWatch tool, markets are now fully pricing in a 25-basis-point cut in September, compared to about 60% odds a few weeks ago, with additional cuts likely in October and December. Federal Reserve Commentary U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Fed should cut rates by 150–175 basis points, calling for an immediate 50-basis-point reduction in September. In contrast, Fed member Austan Goolsbee stressed that rate cuts require several months of favorable inflation data, while Raphael Bostic said the central bank has the 'luxury of waiting' and expects only one cut in 2025. Data Expectations Initial jobless claims are forecast to rise to 228,000 from 226,000 the previous week, with continuing claims steady at 1.96 million. PPI is expected to increase by 0.2% month-on-month and 2.5% year-on-year, while the core PPI is seen up 0.2% monthly and 2.9% annually. read more CBE: Deposits in Local Currency Hit EGP 5.25 Trillion Morocco Plans to Spend $1 Billion to Mitigate Drought Effect Gov't Approves Final Version of State Ownership Policy Document Egypt's Economy Expected to Grow 5% by the end of 2022/23- Minister Qatar Agrees to Supply Germany with LNG for 15 Years Business Oil Prices Descend amid Anticipation of Additional US Strategic Petroleum Reserves Business Suez Canal Records $704 Million, Historically Highest Monthly Revenue Business Egypt's Stock Exchange Earns EGP 4.9 Billion on Tuesday Business Wheat delivery season commences on April 15 Videos & Features Story behind Trending Jessica Radcliffe Death Video News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt News The Jessica Radcliffe Orca Attack? 100% Fake and AI-Generated


Egypt Independent
6 hours ago
- Egypt Independent
Here's what Putin really wants from Trump – and it's not peace in Ukraine
Anchorage, Alaska — Alaska is unlikely to have been on many peoples' bingo cards as the venue for a key summit between the leaders of the United States and Russia. Yet America's biggest, remotest state is where Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are now set to meet for one of the most potentially consequential encounters of their presidencies. That's certainly the view from Moscow, where pro-Kremlin propagandists are already flushed with anticipation at the benefits this much-anticipated face-to-face meeting will deliver. Or, more specifically, will deliver for Putin. Firstly, the fact a summit with the US president is being held at all is a massive win for the Kremlin. 'No one is talking about Russia's international isolation anymore, or about our strategic defeat,' wrote Alexander Kots, a prominent pro-Kremlin military blogger on his popular social media channel. He added that the Alaska meeting had 'every chance to become historic.' He may be right. A presidential summit allows Putin to be seen back at the top table of international diplomacy, while thumbing his nose at critics and nations who want him shunned if not arrested on charges of war crimes in Ukraine. And a summit in the US state of Alaska, of all places, is red meat to resurgent Russian nationalists who still bluster about the territory being rightfully theirs. Just across the Bering Strait from the Chukotka region in the Russian Far East, Alaska was once a remote possession of the Russian Empire before being sold to the United States in 1867 for what was, even then, a paltry sum of $7.2 million, about 2 cents an acre. The idea that Moscow got a raw deal still lingers and a visit to 'our Alaska,' as one prominent Russian state TV host dubbed it, bolsters Putin's nationalist credentials. Video clips of Trump misspeaking at a White House news conference ahead of the summit, saying he was going to 'Russia' to meet Putin, have also been trending on Russian social media with captions saying the US president had finally 'admitted it is ours.' For the rest of the world, though, the sole focus of this presidential summit is the war in Ukraine and whether Russia is prepared to make any concessions to end it. The White House has said Trump expects to focus squarely on ending the war in Ukraine, leaving other issues Moscow has said could be up for discussion for another time. A US Air Force plane takes off on July 22 from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, the venue for a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Friday. Airman 1st Class Eli A. Rose/Alamy On Wednesday, Trump promised 'very severe consequences' if Putin doesn't agree to end his war, following a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders. But so far there's been little sign of real compromise from the Kremlin, which regards itself as having the upper hand on the grinding Ukrainian battlefield. As recently as last month, on a phone call with Trump, Putin reportedly reiterated that Russia would 'continue to pursue its goals to address the root causes' of the conflict in Ukraine – these 'root causes' having previously included long-held Russian grievances that include Ukraine's existence as a sovereign state, and NATO's eastward expansion since the end of the Cold War. On Wednesday, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman said the country's position on Ukraine was 'unchanged,' state media reported. More likely, Putin is up to something else. Details have emerged of a Russian peace offer reportedly made to US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, before the Alaska summit was hastily arranged. In essence, the proposals involve Kyiv surrendering territory in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, in exchange for a ceasefire, an idea the Ukrainian leadership has firmly ruled out. 'I am not going to surrender my country because I have no right to do so,' said Zelensky ahead of the summit, which he was not invited to. 'If we leave Donbas today, our fortifications, our terrain, the heights we control, we will clearly open a bridgehead for the preparation of a Russian offensive.' But Trump, who is expected to discuss the idea with Putin in Alaska, appears to like the sound of a land-for-peace deal, even one so unpalatable to Ukraine and its European partners. That clear difference of opinion represents an opportunity for Putin to portray the Ukrainians and the Europeans – not Russia – as the real obstacle to peace, potentially undermining Trump's already shaky support for the Ukrainian war effort. Trump has lost patience with Zelensky before, the Kremlin will have noted, and may do so again. If he were to cut off the remaining US military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, Ukraine would struggle to continue its fight even with bolstered European support. Ahead of the summit, the White House appeared to downplay expectations of a peace deal, characterizing the high-stakes meeting as a 'listening exercise.' That may suit Putin just fine. Top Kremlin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, pictured ahead of a meeting with a US delegation in Saudi Arabia in February, is one of those traveling to Alaska for the summit. Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters It was, after all, the Kremlin who solicited the summit, according to the White House – possibly as a way of heading off a threat of US tariffs and secondary sanctions that Trump said would kick in last week. Keeping Trump talking may be an effective way of pushing back that deadline indefinitely. More broadly, Putin sees a unique opportunity with Trump to fundamentally reset relations with Washington, and separate Russian ties with the US from the fate of Ukraine, a scenario that would also divide the Western allies. For months, Kremlin officials have been talking up possibilities for economic, technological and space cooperation with the US, as well as lucrative deals on infrastructure and energy in the Arctic and elsewhere. The fact the Kremlin's top economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev – a key interlocutor with the Trump administration – is part of the Russian delegation to Alaska suggests that more talk of US-Russian deal-making will be on the agenda. And, if Putin gets his way in this summit, the 'Ukraine question' may find itself relegated to just one of many talking points between the powerful leaders of two great powers – and not even the most pressing one.


Al-Ahram Weekly
9 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Trump warns of make-or-break chance with Putin as pressure mounts - War in Ukraine
Pressure mounted ahead of a landmark summit in Alaska between the United States and Russia, as Donald Trump warned that Vladimir Putin had only one chance but Moscow pressed ahead with major battlefield gains in Ukraine. Putin and Trump will meet Friday at an air base in the far-northern US state, the first time the Russian leader has been permitted on Western soil since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine which has killed tens of thousands of people. With such high stakes, all sides were pushing hard in the hours before the meeting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has refused to surrender territory to Russia, spoke by telephone Wednesday with Trump, as did European leaders who voiced confidence afterward that the US leader would seek a ceasefire rather than concessions by Kyiv. Trump himself sent mixed messages, saying that he could quickly organize a three-way summit afterward with both Zelensky and Putin but also warning of his impatience with Putin. "There may be no second meeting because, if I feel that it's not appropriate to have it because I didn't get the answers that we have to have, then we are not going to have a second meeting," Trump told reporters. Russia, Trump said, would face "severe consequences" if it does not halt its offensive. But Trump said: "If the first one goes okay, we'll have a quick second one," involving both Putin and Zelensky. Putin pitched the meeting after Trump threatened sanctions on Russia. Trump has already ramped up tariffs on India, which has become a key buyer of Russian energy. Zelensky, after being berated by Trump at a February meeting in the White House, has publicly supported US diplomacy but made clear his deep skepticism. "I have told my colleagues -- the US president and our European friends -- that Putin definitely does not want peace," Zelensky said. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who welcomed Zelensky in Berlin, said Ukraine is ready to negotiate "on territorial issues" but stressed that legal recognition of Russian occupations "would not be up for debate." NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte declared: "The ball is now in Putin's court." Talks at Cold War base Trump will meet Putin on Friday at Elmendorf Air Force Base, a major US military hub in Alaska's most populous city of Anchorage that played a key role in monitoring the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Off the base, on the rainy streets of Anchorage, there were few signs that the world's eyes would soon be on the city, other than an influx of media who have booked up virtually all rooms. The US Treasury Department announced that it would temporarily ease sanctions on the visiting senior Russian officials, who normally would struggle to carry out simple transactions, such as withdrawing cash in Western countries. The most visible sign of the impending summit was in Ukraine itself. According to an AFP analysis of battlefield data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces made their biggest 24-hour advance into Ukraine in more than a year on Tuesday. The Russian army took or claimed 110 square kilometers (42.5 square miles) on August 12 compared with the previous day. Ukrainian soldiers in Kramatorsk, an eastern city about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the front, said they had low expectations for Trump's meeting with Putin. Artem, a 30-year-old serviceman, said the war would likely continue for "a long time." "Putin is massing an army, his army is growing, he is stockpiling weapons, he is pulling the wool over our eyes." Trump has long voiced admiration for Putin and had vowed to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of returning to the White House. But he has since voiced frustration as Putin ignores his pleas for a ceasefire and presses ahead with attacks on Ukraine. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link: