Trump calls it ‘highly unlikely' he'll fire Fed chair Powell after reportedly telling House GOP he ‘likely will soon'
Speaking in the Oval Office during a media availability alongside the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain, Trump was asked whether he was considering attempting to remove Powell from his position, a move that would potentially trigger months of litigation and spook financial markets.
He replied with a derisive stemwinding set of remarks in which he assailed Powell for not pushing the central bank's board to cut interest rates, citing the European Central Bank's multiple rate cuts in recent months, and accusing Powell of only having assented to cuts during last year's election to benefit the Democratic candidate, former vice president Kamala Harris.
'The only time he cut him was just before the election to try and help Kamala or Biden, whoever the hell it was, because nobody really knew ... I think he does a terrible job. He's costing us a lot of money,' Trump said.
But the president added later that he isn't planning to fire Powell.
'No, we're not planning on doing anything,' he said. 'So he's doing a lousy job. But no, I'm not talking about that. We get, fortunately, we get to make a change in the next, what, eight months or so, and we'll pick somebody that's good.'
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The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump rages over newly surfaced Epstein wedding photos and Victoria's Secret fashion show footage: Live
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The report comes as the president attempted to brush off 'nonsense' claims surrounding the convicted sex offender's case and peddled a conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama manufactured the Russia investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign. Trump rages over newly surfaced Epstein wedding photos Donald Trump has lashed out at CNN after they unearthed photos and footage of the president with Jeffrey Epstein in the 1990s. 'You've got to be kidding me,' Trump said in a phone call with the outlet, before branding it a 'fake news' organization and hanging up. At least two black and White photos confirm, for the first time, that Epstein attended the president's December 1993 wedding to Marla Maples at the Plaza Hotel in New York. A third photograph taken two months earlier shows the pair together during the opening of the Harley-Davidson Cafe in New York. 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Oliver O'Connell23 July 2025 01:30 Trump labels Epstein files probe 'witch hunt' as he spirals over 'Barack Hussein Obama' in Oval Office rant John Bowden reports from Washington, D.C.: Donald Trump hastily changed the subject to his years-long bid to seek revenge against Barack Obama as he was questioned about the Jeffrey Epstein files during a meeting Monday with the president of the Philippines at the White House. The U.S. president accused his predecessor of 'sedacious [sic]' behavior and ranted about an imaginary 'coup' after Ed O'Keefe of CBS News asked him about the Justice Department reaching out to attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell to request a new interview about Epstein and the sex trafficking ring for which her involvement earned the socialite a 20-year prison sentence in 2022. Continue reading... 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The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘Revolutionary' direct LA to NYC train could launch in time for Fifa World Cup 2026 (and it's ‘Trump proof')
A new direct train service between Los Angeles and New York has been proposed — and it's claimed that it would 'revolutionize' rail travel for leisure passengers and truckers. Moreover, the scheme circumvents the need for taxpayer dollars and congressional legislation, which would be sticking points for President Trump. The Transcontinental Chief is the brainchild of private sector company AmeriStarRail, which aims to launch the coast-to-coast service in partnership with Amtrak on National Train Day, Sunday, May 10, 2026, in time to serve tourists for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. As well as taking passengers from match to match, AmeriStarRail says that the train would simply 'be a great way to see America during our nation's 250th birthday'. The intermodal train would also serve as a 'rolling rest stop for truckers' and 'provide a safe alternative to the nationwide parking shortage'. Currently, there are 11 truckers for every space needed, AmeriStarRail claims. It explains: 'At railports along the route, truckers will be able to drive their entire tractor-trailer trucks onto railroad flatcars and then rest and relax onboard Amtrak coach, sleeper, and dining cars as they travel 200—500 miles during their federally mandated 10-hour rest period.' The firm adds: 'Passengers will also be offered a transcontinental Auto Train service for cars, vans, motorcycles, RVs and charter motorcoaches serving New York, Chicago, the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles.' Currently, traveling by train from Los Angeles to New York involves at least one change, in Chicago, and takes between 68 and 70 hours. The diesel-powered Transcontinental Chief would travel via Chicago at speeds of up to 90 mph along the same existing tracks, as well as on freight lines, and take approximately the same length of time. AmeriStarRail says it will be 'faster, safer and more comfortable' than driving coast to coast. President Trump recently cut $4bn in federal funding for California's high-speed rail project, calling plans to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles a 'train to nowhere'. But AmeriStarRail is confident Trump will support its proposal not just because neither legislation nor taxpayer funding is needed, but because it 'will turn money-losing Ambrak trains into profit-making trains'. AmeriStarRail proposes that the Transcontinental Chief would replace two Amtrak trains: The Southwest Chief (LA-Chicago) and The Pennsylvanian (Pittsburgh-NY). The proposal would utilize the cars and locomotives from these services, along with refurbished passenger cars that Amtrak currently has in its shops and yards. In a letter to Amtrak President Roger Harris, AmeriStarRail Chief Operating Officer Scott Spencer said: 'The Transcontinental Chief will be a great opportunity for Amtrak to team up with the private sector to confront the challenges of its money-losing long-distance trains and create opportunities to usher in a profitable Golden Age of rail travel for passengers and truckers, with the ingenuity of free enterprise, as we celebrate our great nation's 250th birthday next year.' Spencer told The Independent: "We have spent over 20 years researching and developing the details necessary to operate Amtrak's long-distance trains profitably and reliably. "We selected the LA-NY route for The Transcontinental Chief because it can be operated profitably and reliably starting next year using existing railroad locomotives, cars and tracks. "AmeriStarRail's Mentor and Senior Advisor, the former President of Amtrak, Paul Reistrup, has had a key role in developing and evaluating the feasibility of operating this route. We have also conducted courtesy calls with the freight railroads, BNSF and Norfolk Southern, to review the operating feasibility and requirements along the coast-to-coast route." It comes as Amtrak prepares to launch 160 mph Acela trains along the Northeast Corridor, from Washington, D.C., to Boston via New York.
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Two former traders have rate rigging convictions quashed at Supreme Court
Two financial market traders who were jailed for manipulating benchmark interest rates have had their convictions quashed at the Supreme Court. Former Citigroup and UBS trader Tom Hayes was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud over manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2006 and 2010. Carlo Palombo, ex-vice president of euro rates at Barclays bank, was found guilty of conspiring with others to submit false or misleading Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) submissions between 2005 and 2009. The Court of Appeal dismissed appeals from both men in March last year. They then took their cases to the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the panel of five justices found there was 'ample evidence' for a jury to convict the two men had it been properly directed, but they had not. In an 82-page judgment, with which Supreme Court president Lord Reed, Lords Hodge and Lloyd-Jones and Lady Simler agreed, Lord Leggatt said: 'That misdirection undermined the fairness of the trial.' The jury direction errors made both convictions unsafe, Lord Leggatt said. He added: 'Mr Hayes was entitled to have his defence to the allegation that he agreed to procure false submissions as well as his denial that he had acted dishonestly left fairly to the jury. 'He was deprived of that opportunity by directions which were legally inaccurate and unfair. 'It is not possible to say that, if the jury had been properly directed, they would have been bound to return verdicts of guilty. 'The convictions are therefore unsafe and cannot stand.' Mr Hayes was jailed for 14 years after his conviction in 2015, which was later lowered to 11 years after an appeal, while Mr Palombo was jailed for four years in 2019. Lord Leggatt continued: 'When the flaws in the directions given at Mr Palombo's trial are considered in combination, it cannot safely be assumed that, without them, the jury would still have been bound to convict Mr Palombo. 'Thus, his conviction also cannot stand.' He added: 'Accordingly, both appeals should be allowed.' The Libor rate was previously used as a reference point around the world for setting millions of pounds worth of financial deals, including car loans and mortgages. It was an interest rate average calculated from figures submitted by a panel of leading banks in London, with each one reporting what it would be charged were it to borrow from other institutions. Euribor was created along with the euro currency in 1999 as a benchmark rate of interest for transactions in euros. In 2012, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) began criminal investigations into traders it suspected of manipulating Libor and Euribor. Mr Hayes was the first person to be prosecuted by the SFO, who opposed his and Mr Palombo's appeals at the Supreme Court. The SFO brought prosecutions against 20 individuals between 2013 and 2019, seven of whom were convicted at trial, two pleaded guilty and 11 were acquitted. Mr Hayes had also been facing criminal charges in the United States but these were dismissed after two other men involved in a similar case had their convictions reversed in 2022.
