'Special Kind Of Stupid': Trump Gets Brutal Real-Time Fact-Check After Epic Brain Fart
Hint: It was Trump himself.
Trump has been attacking Powell for months for not cutting interest rates, and has toyed with the idea of trying to fire him, even though that's not a power the president has.
He continued his verbal assault on Wednesday, saying Powell does a 'terrible job' and costs the nation 'a lot of money.'
'I was surprised he was appointed,' Trump said. 'Surprised frankly that Biden put him in and extended him.'
But President Joe Biden didn't 'put him in.'
Trump nominated Powell as Fed chair in 2017, at the time praising his 'steady leadership, sound judgment, and policy expertise.' Biden renominated Powell for a second term in 2021. In both cases, Powell was confirmed by the Senate with widespread bipartisan support.
Critics offered the president a trip down memory lane on X:
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CNBC
a few seconds ago
- CNBC
Investing in Space: You're in or you're out
There's an air of 'been there, done that' about the Moon these days. Increasingly, the great minds of the space industry seem to be thinking bigger — and, since the start of the year, redder. If you had doubts the Moon's being eclipsed of late, they might be dismissed by the recent announcement that aerospace group Thales Alenia Space and the Italian Space Agency will develop the first human lunar habitat, in a key update for the NASA-led Artemis program. "Artemis' purpose is to ensure a sustainable human presence on the Moon as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars," the press release says. "Stepping stone" inevitably stands out. China and India have only landed spacecrafts on lunar soil since the late 2010s, with commercial companies achieving the feat since the start of last year. Yet Moon ventures have gradually come to be seen as a pitstop, rather than a standalone final destination — with attention pivoting to the bigger, juicier endgame of setting boots on Mars. Just check out U.S. President Donald Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk's effusive enthusiasm for colonizing the red planet: the rhetoric's shifted, even though lunar activity is set to dominate NASA's social calendar through the Artemis initiative over the next few years. After debuting with an uncrewed test assignment back in 2022, the next three missions under the Artemis program's umbrella target a manned flight around April next year, a South Pole human expedition in mid-2027 and delivering astronauts to live and work in the Gateway station — a NASA-led multi-agency venture — at some point in 2028. At the same time, the American space agency is still pressing ahead with its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS, colloquially called 'Clips'), capitalizing on the lower costs of the private sector to deliver science and tech payloads to the Moon. NASA previously said it's earmarked a combined maximum of $2.6 billion for contracts between the program's premiere in 2024 through 2028. Just two missions took place last year, with four due in 2025, and a handful more scheduled over the next few years. The original space race kicked off in the 1950s as a largely two-nation exhibit of national pride, tech prowess and military firepower. It was the spiritual successor of the nuclear race between Russia and the U.S. during the Cold War — and began to wind down after Neil Armstrong's first step on the Moon in 1969. The chase to reach Mars first is drawing a slightly bigger crowd. China's put down establishing a research base on Mars on its wish list by 2038 and has previously said it plans to send a manned mission to the red planet five years prior. The European Space Agency is setting sights on robotic exploration and sample returns off Mars in the short term and two years ago said it plans to send Europeans to the planet by 2040. Russia, meanwhile, has been more guarded about disclosing its Mars plans. It has signaled intentions to work toward such missions alone after the 2022 suspension of the joint 1 billion euro ExoMars mission with the European Space Agency, in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The appeal of Mars is inevitable, once you shrug off any Hollywood heebie-jeebies about the hostility of the possible alien life. It's got more "Earth-like" environmental conditions than the Moon and decent potential for sustained hospitality (though some have made the case for one of Saturn's moons, Titan). But it'll be interesting to see whether national space agencies shift gears toward Mars — leaving Moon projects to increasingly become the province of private space companies that have been flocking to fill the gap. One of them has been making this past week's headlines: building on the successful, upright landing of its Blue Ghost rover back in March, Northrop Grumman-backed Firefly Aerospace has now set sights on financial light-off and seeks a $5.5 billion valuation for its upcoming initial public offering. It boasts a backlog of roughly $1.1 billion and a sixfold jump in revenue to $55.9 million at the end of March. But it competes in a landscape of increasingly more advanced and cheaply-made satellites, orbital congestion and high developmental costs — with titan rivals ranging from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to SpaceX and national governments. Fitting to our theme, it's just been awarded its fifth CLPS contract worth $176.7 million to deliver five NASA-sponsored payloads to the Moon's South Pole in 2029. NASA and Roscosmos chiefs to hold talks — Sean Duffy, the interim head of NASA, and Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov will hold discussions this week, when the SpaceX Crew-11 departs for the International Space Station. It will be the first meeting at the agencies' bosses level since 2018. — Reuters The U.S. Space Command's prep work for satellite combat — The Economist investigates the U.S. Space Command's operations to make ready for satellite-to-satellite engagements. — The Economist China launches new cluster of Guowang satellites — Beijing has launched the sixth group of satellites for the Guowang megaconstellation, which it began to build in December 2024. — Space News How figuring out food for space can improve delivering it on Earth — Nature looks at food sourcing and storage problems rampant both in space and on Earth, including optimizing nutrition and figuring out alternative protein supplies. — Nature UK must protect its space interests, space commander says — Britain must 'control space' and position itself more assertively in the industry amid competition from other nations, Major General Paul Tedman said. — Orbital Today Russia seeks to develop reusable rocket within two years — Moscow is looking to develop a reusable rocket for more cost-effective launches within 18-24 months, after technical specifications were approved in June, according to national space agency Roscosmos. — The Moscow Times U.S. Space Force to launch 8th X-37B mission — The U.S. Space Force and the Air Force Raid Capabilities Office will carry out the eighth X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission in late August aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. These demos typically feature next-gen tech such as laser communications and quantum inertial sensors. — U.S. Space Force NASA says 20% of workforce to leave — Around 3,870 employees — or roughly 20% of the existing staff — are set to depart NASA, an agency spokesperson said, leaving a remaining workforce of around 14,000 people.— Reuters First Australia-made rocket crashes after take-off — The privately developed Australia-made Eris rocket failed to reach orbit amid engine failures during its test flight from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Queensland. — Ars Technica Firefly Aerospace seeks $5.5 billion valuation for upcoming IPO — Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has set a range of $35 to $39 per share for its upcoming listing, in which it plans to sell roughly 16.2 million stock. — CNBC U.S. selects five firms for anti-jam satellite comms — The U.S. Space Force picked Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Intelsat, Viasat and Astranis a combined $37 million to develop communication satellites that defend against enemy jamming. — Defense News Thales Alenia Space and ASI to develop first lunar outpost — Thales Alenia Space and the Italian Space Agency inked a contract to develop the first human habitat on the Moon, in a key step for NASA's Artemis program. — Thales Alenia Space Aug. 3 — Amazon's Blue Origin to take off on a crewed suborbital flight out of Texas Aug. 4 — SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches with Starlink satellites out of Florida Aug. 4 — China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Long March 12 to depart with SatNet communication satellites out of Wenchang Aug. 7 — SpaceX's Falcon 9 to launch with Starlink satellites out of Florida
News24
a few seconds ago
- News24
Rand slumps to weakest level in months after Trump hits world with new tariffs
The rand hit R18.23/$ on Friday morning as the US currency continued to gain ground. The dollar headed for its best week in almost three years against its major peers, maintaining momentum on Friday after US President Donald Trump imposed new tariff rates on dozens of trade partners, including 30% duties on SA products. The US dollar index - which measures the currency against a basket of six major peers including the euro, yen, Swiss franc and Canada's dollar - is on course to rise 2.5% this week, its best weekly performance since a 3.1% rally in September of 2022. On Friday, it rose 0.1% to 100.14, the highest since May 29. The rand was also trading at its weakest level since May against the dollar. It lost more than 3% of its value this week. Apart from the trade turmoil, the currency also came under pressure after a local rate cut. US rates were kept unchanged this week. Lower interest rates make rand assets less appealing to traders seeking short-term returns. Some countries fared much worse than others in tariff rates, hitting their currencies. Canada received a 35% levy instead of an earlier threatened 25%, pushing the loonie down 0.12% to C$1.3872, its lowest since May 22 versus its U.S. peer. The Swiss franc eased as much as 0.26% to 0.8120 per dollar after Trump set a 39% duty on Swiss imports, up from the 31% he previously mooted. Among Asian currencies, the Philippine peso slumped to its weakest level in six months, while Taiwan's dollar hit its lowest since early June. South Korea, which got its trade deal late Wednesday, also saw the won swept up in the declines, with the currency falling to levels last seen in mid-May. The euro remained pinned near an almost two-month low around $1.1412, as it continues to be weighed down by what markets see as a lopsided trade agreement with Washington. That wasn't far from Wednesday's low of $1.1401, a level not seen since June 10. "In the short-term, you can make the case for more dollar strength," said Mike Houlahan, director at Electus Financial in Auckland. "The lion's share of the tariff news has washed through." "The big move of the week has really been the euro getting rerated downwards," he said. "The net result would be the EU-U.S. trade deal is a further headwind for the euro." The EU's framework trade agreement with the US, struck on Sunday, was quickly criticized by French leaders and the German head of the European Parliament's trade committee as being unfair for Europe. The US dollar stayed strong even though Trump continued his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell overnight, calling him a "terrible" Fed Chair and calling his own decision to appoint Powell to the position a "mistake". Trump's repeated threats to fire Powell and calls for the Fed to drastically cut rates have put the central bank's independence in question, hurting the dollar in recent months. The Fed shrugged off that pressure on Wednesday by holding policy steady, citing "somewhat elevated" inflation and a "solid" labour market. A crucial economic test comes in the form of monthly payrolls data later in the day, with economists forecasting that employment growth slowed to 110,000 new jobs in July. Some analysts see that as a Goldilocks result, which would allow the Fed to resume rate cuts without sounding alarm bells. "Data-wise, the US looks resilient," said Shoki Omori, chief desk strategist at Mizuho Securities. "If the US economy is already operating above potential, that bump can translate into a slightly higher neutral rate of interest, which is supportive for front-end bond yields and therefore the US dollar," he said.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stanford hires former Nike CEO John Donahoe as athletic director, AP source says
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Former Nike CEO John Donahoe has been hired as athletic director at Stanford. A person familiar with the decision said Donahoe will become the school's eighth athletic director and replace Bernard Muir, who stepped down this year. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the hiring hadn't been announced. ESPN first reported the move. Donahoe graduated from Stanford Business School and has worked at companies like Nike, Bain & Company and eBay in his career. He was CEO at Nike from 2020-24. He takes over one of the countries most successful athletic programs with Stanford having won at least one NCAA title in 49 straight years starting in 1976-77 and a record 137 NCAA team titles overall. But the Cardinal struggled in the high-profile sports of football and men's basketball under Muir's tenure, leading to the decision to hire former Stanford and NFL star Andrew Luck to oversee the football program as its general manager. The Cardinal are looking to rebound in football after going to three Rose Bowls under former coach David Shaw in Muir's first four years as AD. Shaw resigned in 2022 following a second straight 3-9 season and Muir's hire, Troy Taylor, has posted back-to-back 3-9 seasons. The men's basketball program hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since Muir's second season in 2013-14 under former coach Johnny Dawkins. Dawkins was fired in 2016 and replaced by Jerod Haase, who failed to make the tournament once in eight years. Muir hired Kyle Smith last March to take over and the Cardinal went 21-14 for their most wins in 10 years. Muir also hired Kate Paye as women's basketball coach last year after Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer retired. The Cardinal went 16-15 this past season and in missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1987. Muir also oversaw the Cardinal's transition to the ACC this past year after the school's long-term home, the Pac-12, broke apart. ___ AP college sports:
