The Latest: Trump to visit Federal Reserve as feud with its chair continues
Trump has criticized Powell for months because the chair has kept the short-term interest rate the Fed controls at 4.3% this year after cutting it three times last year. Powell says the Fed wants to see how the economy responds to Trump's sweeping tariffs on imports, which Powell says could push up inflation.
Powell's caution has infuriated Trump, who's demanded the Fed cut borrowing costs to spur the economy and reduce the interest rates the federal government pays on its debt. He's threatened to fire Powell, threatening the Fed's independence, which has long been supported by most economists and Wall Street investors.
The Fed has been renovating its Washington headquarters and a neighboring building. With some of the construction occurring underground and as building materials have soared in price after inflation spiked in 2021 and 2022, the estimated cost has ballooned to about $2.5 billion from $1.9 billion.
Here's the latest:
RNC Chair Michael Whatley plans to run for an open Senate seat in North Carolina
That's according to two people familiar with his thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't permitted to speak on the record.
President Trump, according to one of the people, asked him to make the run after Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, mulled the seat.
Politico first reported news of Whatley's plans.
Democrats see North Carolina as their top pickup opportunity next year after Sen. Thom Tillis announced his surprise retirement after clashing with Trump.
While Lara Trump had been seen as having the right of first refusal, Whatley is considered by national Republicans to be a strong contender for the seat, thanks, in part, to the large fundraising network he's cultivated as RNC chair and his perceived loyalty to the president. He's a well-known name in the state, having served as GOP chair there, and has no voting record that could be used against him by Democrats.
— Jill Colvin
Trump's trip to Scotland highlights his complex relationship with his mother's homeland
President Trump's trip to Scotland this week will be a homecoming of sorts, but he's likely to get a mixed reception.
Trump has had a long and at times rocky relationship with the country where his mother grew up in a humble house on a windswept isle.
He'll be met by both political leaders and protesters during the visit, which begins Friday and takes in his two Scottish golf resorts. It comes two months before King Charles III is due to welcome him on a formal state visit to the U.K.
'I'm not proud that he (has) Scottish heritage,' said Patricia Sloan, who says she stopped visiting the Turnberry resort on Scotland's west coast after Trump bought it in 2014. 'All countries have good and bad that come out of them, and if he's going to kind of wave the flag of having Scottish heritage, that's the bad part, I think.'
Trump's schedule, according to the White House
3 p.m. ET — Trump will sign executive orders
4 p.m. — Trump will visit the Federal Reserve
Man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump returns to court and hopes to represent himself
The man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump last year at his Florida golf course will return to court Thursday to once again explain why he wants to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself.
Ryan Routh previously made the request earlier this month during a hearing in Fort Pierce before U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon. She didn't rule during the hearing but said she would issue a written order later. But now Routh, 59, is set to be back in front of Cannon, a day after his court-appointed federal public defenders asked to be taken off the case.
Routh is scheduled to stand trial in September, a year after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted his attempt to shoot Trump as he played golf. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.
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2 hours ago
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If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'They're not trying (now), but they sure could,' he said in an interview hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to increase tariffs on some Canadian exports (those products that aren't captured by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement) to the U.S. to 35 per cent from 25 per cent. Those tariffs, which kicked in earlier Friday, were necessary, according to Trump, because Canada has failed to co-operate with U.S. efforts to curb 'the ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.' Candace Laing, chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's fact sheet on the tariffs should be called a 'fact-less sheet' when it comes to using fentanyl as a justification for trade decisions about Canada. 'More fact-less tariff turbulence does not advance North American economic security,' she said. In the Manhattan Institute study, Caulkins and colleague Bishu Giri found that the vast majority of the fentanyl entering the U.S. from within North America is coming from Mexico, not Canada. They used new data from 2023–24 to show that about 40 per cent of the large seizures of fentanyl in the U.S. occurred in counties along the Mexican border, while just 1.2 per cent of the fentanyl powder and 0.5 per cent of pills along the Canadian border. To effectively combat the problem, the researchers wrote, law enforcement and legislators need to begin with accurate information. Caulkins said that fentanyl producers in Mexico and Canada are different in that the Canadian operations tend to produce opioids from imports that are nearly completely assembled with just the finishing ingredients added here, while the cartels in Mexico assemble all the ingredients to make opioids in that country to export to the U.S. In both cases, he said, the imports are believed to come mostly from China, although India may also be a source. Since Trump first raised the allegation earlier this year about fentanyl 'pouring' into the U.S. from its northern neighbour, Canada has taken a number of steps to combat the flow of illegal drugs, and to be seen to be doing so, into the U.S. The steps included: reinforcing the Canada-U.S. border with additional technology, helicopters and personnel; allocating $78.7 million to expand Health Canada's regulatory capabilities; increasing co-ordination with American law enforcement counterparts; hiring a fentanyl 'czar'; and launching consultations on improving crackdowns, as well as tabling Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act to give Ottawa more law-enforcement powers. Kevin Brosseau, the fentanyl czar, was not made available for an interview this week, but in an interim report released in June he pointed out that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data show that only 0.1 per cent of fentanyl seizures at U.S. borders are at the Canada-U.S. border, far less than the flow of illegal narcotics into Canada from the U.S. One thing that the players in the fight against illicit drugs seem to agree on is that the problem requires a multi-faceted response that addresses the border, legislative changes, money laundering and other financial angles, and enforcement that targets both precursors and fentanyl itself. The RCMP also declined an interview this week, but stated in an email that it intends to hit organized crime 'harder and faster' and that one of its priorities is to work with industry to prevent the diversion of precursors that are used to make fentanyl. Jamie Tronnes, executive director for the Center for North American Prosperity and Security, the U.S.-based office of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said Canada seems to be doing a good job of cracking down on the fentanyl trade, and ensuring that those efforts are seen by Trump and others in the White House. 'I believe that Canada is doing everything it can to demonstrate it's taking it seriously,' Tronnes said. She said Canada could focus more, however, on money laundering and other international financial crimes. Darren Gibb, head of communications at the Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), which works with police and financial institutions to target crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing, said hiding profits from illegal activities such as fentanyl production isn't easy. 'It's their Achilles' heel,' he said of the drug cartels. National Post stuck@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
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