Donald Trump expected to nominate Kevin Warsh as US Federal Reserve chair
Donald Trump is expected to nominate the former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh as its next chair amid an extraordinary attempt by the president to tighten his grip on the US central bank and flout its longstanding independence.Trump told reporters on Thursday that he planned to announce his choice for chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday morning, hinting that “a lot of people think that this is somebody that could have been there a few years ago”.That fuelled speculation that he had chosen Warsh, who was considered for the Fed chair in 2017.There was a surge of bets on Warsh to be nominated on the Polymarket predictions site, where his chances rose to 94% on Friday.The Financial Times reported on Friday that Trump was preparing to nominate Warsh, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Being the chair of the Fed is one of the most powerful roles in the US government, with enormous influence over the world’s largest economy,If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh would replace Jerome Powell, who was first appointed by Trump in 2018, before infuriating the president by defying his repeated calls for lower interest rates,Warsh, a New Yorker who was special assistant for economic policy from 2002 to 2006, served as Fed governor between 2006 and 2011, a period that included the response to the global financial crisis, and was its representative to the G20 group of countries,He is now a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and has roles at the courier UPS, the Korean e-commerce company Coupang and the Duquesne Family Office, the investment firm of the billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller,Warsh is married to Jane Lauder, the granddaughter of the cosmetics magnate Estée Lauder and daughter of Ronald Lauder, the billionaire businessman who has interests in Greenland and encouraged Trump to attempt to acquire the territory.
Warsh has been a long-time critic of the ultra-loose monetary policy pursued by the Fed since the financial crisis, including the central bank’s expanded balance sheet,He had previously been seen as a monetary policy hawk, but appears to have aligned himself with the White House’s push for lower borrowing costs,In December, Trump said of Warsh: “He thinks you have to lower interest rates,”The dollar strengthened after reports of the expected nomination,The US dollar index, which measures its strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.
4%.Gold fell 4% to $5,168 an ounce.Warsh would be “a relatively safe choice”, according to Stephen Brown, the deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.He said Warsh “would arguably be one of the better outcomes for investors compared with the other contenders that had been in the running.Warsh’s long-running hawkish views should help to counteract concerns that he might morph into a full-blown Trump stooge.
“That said, his firm conviction that both AI and the Trump administration’s regulatory push will help to hold down inflation, as well as his long-standing view that the Fed should operate with a much smaller balance sheet, present the risk of some upward pressure on long-term bond yields.”The long-awaited announcement comes at a fraught time for the Fed.Notably, Warsh is part of a shortlist of candidates who are universally aligned on Trump’s belief that rates should be much lower than where they stand.Lower rates can spur investment and economic activity, at the risk of causing inflation.Fed officials such as Powell have taken a cautious approach to setting borrowing costs, but Trump has claimed that not lowering rates has cost the US dearly.
With Powell at its helm, the Fed has been defiant of Trump – refusing to set rates according to his whims and, as a result, becoming a target of the president’s fury.But the Fed has forced Trump to grapple with the boundaries of his executive power at a time when it seems to be limitless.Economists say that an independent central bank is essential in keeping an economy stable, enabling it to disregard short-term political factors and focus on the long term.Powell’s term as Fed chair is due to end in May.While Trump has considered firing him and tried to dismiss another Fed official last year, the central bank seems primed to get special protection from the supreme court because of its role in the US economy.
Wall Street is also protective of the Fed’s independence: when rumours circulated last year that Trump was trying to fire Powell, stocks dropped significantly.But this protection has only further incensed the president.Earlier in January, Trump’s Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Powell over renovations at the Fed’s headquarters.Trump has claimed that Powell’s handling of the renovations, which have gone over budget, amounts to fraud.Powell, who has denied any wrongdoing, argued the justice department’s pursuit was “a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president”.
The president’s attacks have so far failed to persuade the Fed to dramatically lower rates.However, the attacks have also damaged the trust business leaders, and even some Republican lawmakers, have in Trump to protect the Fed’s independence, and thus protect the US economy.It is unclear how much support Trump will have in getting Warsh’s nomination through the Senate because of this distrust.Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate banking committee and one of the handful of Republican lawmakers who have spoken out, said he would block Trump’s Fed nominations because of the investigation.Though Powell’s term as chair is ending, his 14-year tenure on the Fed board that sets interest rates will end in 2028.
Powell has yet to announce whether he will stay on the board after his term as chair ends,
UK-based pair behind messaging app accused of giving data to Iranian regime
The creators of a messaging app accused of handing user data to the Iranian regime live on a windswept hill in a British coastal town, the Guardian can reveal.Hadi and Mahdi Anjidani are the cofounders of TS Information Technology, established in 2010 and now registered at the address of a tax accountancy in Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. It is the UK branch of an Iranian software corporation, Towse’e Saman Information Technology (TSIT).The company makes popular computer games, a payment platform capable of helping Iranians skirt sanctions, and Gap Messenger, a sleek purple messaging app billed as an Iranian alternative to Telegram.But while Gap’s public profile says the app is encrypted and does not share its data with third parties, Iranian digital rights experts say their investigations contradict those claims
Universal basic income could be used to soften hit from AI job losses in UK, minister says
The UK could introduce a universal basic income (UBI) to protect workers in industries that are being disrupted by AI, the investment minister Jason Stockwood has said.“Bumpy” changes to society caused by the introduction of the technology would mean there would have to be “some sort of concessionary arrangement with jobs that go immediately”, Lord Stockwood said.The Labour peer told the Financial Times: “Undoubtedly we’re going to have to think really carefully about how we soft-land those industries that go away, so some sort of [universal basic income], some sort of lifelong mechanism as well so people can retrain.”A universal basic income is not part of official government policy, but when asked whether people in government were considering the need for UBI, Stockwood told the FT: “People are definitely talking about it.”The technology entrepreneur, who took up his ministerial post in September, said part of his motivation for joining the government was to help ensure the workforce was prepared for rapid change
Meta wows Wall Street despite spending billions on AI and facing social media addiction trial
As Meta spends billions on artificial intelligence datacenters and its CEO prepares to testify in a landmark social media trial, the company is earning a pretty penny.Meta reported strong financial results on Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations of $58.59bn with $59.89bn in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025. It reported earnings per share (EPS) of $8
Tesla discontinues Model X and S vehicles as Elon Musk pivots to robotics
In the clearest sign yet that Tesla is pivoting away from its electric car business, its CEO, Elon Musk, announced on Wednesday’s investor call that the company would discontinue production of its Model X SUV and Model S full-size sedan.“It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” Musk said. “We expect to wind down S and X production next quarter.”The model S and X factory in Fremont, California, would be converted to produce Tesla’s upcoming Optimus robot, Musk said.Tesla’s most recent quarterly earnings report showed slumping vehicle sales and declining revenue as Musk pins the company’s futures on AI and robotics
Microsoft shrugs off AI bubble fears again with strong financial results
Investor interest in Microsoft shares may have weakened in recent months, but the company posted strong financial results on Wednesday which yet again demonstrated that the AI boom is roaring on.Microsoft reported earnings for the second quarter of the fiscal year that are likely to keep the party going for Wall Street, despite slowing growth in its key cloud computing business.Microsoft reported revenues of $81.27bn against expectations of $80.32bn, and improved from the 12
Artificial intelligence will cost jobs, admits Liz Kendall
Increasing deployment of artificial intelligence will cause job losses, the UK technology secretary has warned, saying: “I want to level with the public. Some jobs will go.”In a speech on government plans to handle the impact of AI on the British economy, Liz Kendall declined to say how many redundancies the technology might cause but said: “We know people are worried about graduate entry jobs in places like law and finance.”She said: “Others will be created in their place”.While some forecasts have suggested the fast-developing technology could create a net increase in employment, Kendall said: “I’m not complacent about that
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