Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday that the Justice Department has served the central bank with a subpoena and threatened criminal prosecution over his testimony this summer about the Fed’s building renovations.
The move represents an unprecedented escalation in President Donald Trump’s battle with the Fed, an independent agency that has repeatedly attacked him for not cutting key interest rates as sharply as he would like. The renewed fight is likely to roil financial markets on Monday and could raise borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans over time.
The subpoenas are related to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June, the Fed chairman said, regarding a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s two office buildings, a project Trump has highly criticized.
Here’s the latest:
As Canada tries to reduce its dependence on the US, its leader will visit China and rebuild ties
Canada’s government leader is visiting China this week for the first time in nearly a decade, a bid to rebuild his country’s frayed relationship with the world’s second-largest economy — and to reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States, its neighbor and until now one of its most supportive and staunch allies.
The push by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who arrived on Wednesday, is part of a rethinking of a cooling relationship with the United States, the world’s No. 1 economy and long the largest trading partner for Canada.
Carney has set a goal of doubling Canada’s non-US exports over the next decade in the face of President Trump’s tariffs and the US leader’s view that Canada could become the “51st state”.
▶ Read more about the relationship between Canada and China
China said the US should not use other countries as an ‘excuse’ to pursue its interests in Greenland
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman’s comments came in response to a question at a regular daily briefing. President Trump has said he wants to strike a deal to prevent Russia or China from annexing Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of NATO ally Denmark.
Tensions between Washington, Denmark and Greenland have risen this month as Trump and his administration push the issue and the White House considers a range of options, including military force, to acquire the giant Arctic island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that the US occupation of Greenland will end NATO.
▶ Read more about America and Greenland
Trump ‘dangerous’ to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after CEO’s reaction to White House meeting
Trump said Sunday that he was “anxious” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive expressed doubts about oil investment efforts in the country following the fall of former President Nicolas Maduro.
“I didn’t like the reaction to the action,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re playing so cute.”
At a meeting with oil executives on Friday, Trump tried to ease the companies’ concerns, saying they would deal directly with the U.S. rather than the Venezuelan government.
However, some were not convinced.
“If we look at commercial construction and patterns in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable today,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, America’s largest oil company.
An ExxonMobil spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
▶ Read more about Trump’s comments on ExxonMobil
Trump’s motorcycle in Florida turned over for ‘suspicious object’
Trump’s motorcade took a different route to the airport as it departed for Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious item,” according to the White House.
The object, which the White House did not describe, was found by security personnel before Trump arrived at Palm Beach International Airport.
“Further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade’s route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt said in a statement Sunday.
When asked about the package by reporters, the president said, “I don’t know anything about it.”
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the secondary route was taken as a precaution and was “standard protocol.”
▶ Read more about “Suspicious Object”.
Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate as the death toll in protests has risen to at least 544
Trump said he wanted to negotiate with Washington after Iran threatened to attack the Islamic Republic in a bloody crackdown on protesters, as activists said the death toll in nationwide protests on Monday rose to at least 544.
Iran had no direct response to Trump’s comments, which came after Oman’s foreign minister — a longtime negotiator between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It’s also unclear what Iran might promise, especially as Trump makes tough demands about its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists are vital to its national defense.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, insisted the “situation is under complete control” in angry remarks that blamed Israel and the US for the violence without providing evidence.
▶ Read more about potential conversations and follow live updates
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell says the DOJ has subpoenaed the central bank, threatening criminal prosecution
Fed Chairman Powell said Sunday that the DOJ has served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened criminal prosecution over his testimony this summer about the Fed’s building renovations.
The move represents an unprecedented escalation in Trump’s battle with the Fed, an independent agency that he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting interest rates as sharply as he would have liked. The renewed fight is likely to roil financial markets on Monday and could raise borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans over time.
The subpoenas are related to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June, the Fed chairman said, about a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s two office buildings, a project highly criticized by Trump.
Powell on Sunday dropped what he has up to this point been a moderate approach to Trump’s criticism and personal insults, which he has largely ignored. Instead, Powell released a video statement in which he bluntly portrayed the threat of criminal charges as a simple “pretext” to undermine the Fed’s independence in setting interest rates.
▶ Read more about subpoenas
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