Trump says he’d ‘love to fire’ Jerome Powell in latest attack on Fed chair
Donald Trump launched another attack against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Monday, calling the central banker a “fool” and once again suggesting he would like to fire him.Trump launched his latest attack on Powell during a press conference with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, repeating false claims about the cost of a renovation of the central bank headquarters, and told reporters that he might file a lawsuit against Powell for “gross incompetence”.Trump boasted about what he said was the great state of the US economy, before adding that it was so, “despite the fact that we have a fool at the Federal Reserve.”“I mean, Biden reappointed him.It’s too bad.
You would have thought he wouldn’t have done that,” Trump said, without any acknowledgment that he had first appointed Powell himself, in 2018,“But he’s an absolute fool,” the president continued, “who’s building a new Federal Reserve, or he’s doing a renovation of a building,”Turning to the Netanyahu, Trump then repeated a false claim about the cost of the renovation for the central bank headquarters he has been making for months,“Bibi, he’s up to $4,1bn to do a renovation of a few small buildings,” Trump said, inflating the cost of the renovation, which, as Powell pointed out to Trump on camera this summer, is $2.
5bn.“It’s the highest price in the history of construction,” Trump went on.The president then suggested that the “magnificent, big, beautiful ballroom that the country has wanted, that the White House has wanted for 150 years”, which he is building in place of the demolished East Wing of the White House, will cost “a tiny fraction of that number”.“Gorgeous monuments are built for a much smaller price” than the Federal Reserve renovation, Trump said.“So we’re thinking about bringing a gross incompetence, what’s called a gross incompetence lawsuit, it’s gross incompetence, against Powell,” the president told reporters.
“I’d love to fire him.Maybe I still might,” said TrumpOn the ballroom, Trump said, “we’re under budget and ahead of schedule.”He then immediately contradicted himself, by acknowledging that the latest cost estimate for the ballroom, $400m, is double the $200m he said it would cost a few months earlier.The increased cost, Trump said, came “after realizing that we’re gonna do the inauguration in that building”, which required “all bullet-proof glass” and a “drone-free roof, so drones won’t touch it”.Trump will appoint Powell’s successor next year.
Pushed to say more about who he had in mind for the new Fed chair, Trump said he plans to announce his pick sometime in January,
Australian cruise ship stuck off PNG ‘detained’ amid investigation into why it ran aground
A cruise ship that ran aground off Papua New Guinea has been “detained” out of concern it’s unseaworthy “due to potential damage”, amid an investigation into how it became stuck on Saturday morning.The Coral Adventurer remained stuck on a reef off the north coast of Papua New Guinea, about 30km from PNG’s second-largest city, Lae, on Tuesday, as efforts to refloat it continue.No injuries have been reported to the ship’s 80 passengers and 43 crew. The passengers were due to travel back to Australia on a chartered flight to Cairns on Tuesday.Agencies in PNG and Australia have launched investigations into the grounding, with the ship “detained”
Trump says he’d ‘love to fire’ Jerome Powell in latest attack on Fed chair
Donald Trump launched another attack against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Monday, calling the central banker a “fool” and once again suggesting he would like to fire him.Trump launched his latest attack on Powell during a press conference with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, repeating false claims about the cost of a renovation of the central bank headquarters, and told reporters that he might file a lawsuit against Powell for “gross incompetence”.Trump boasted about what he said was the great state of the US economy, before adding that it was so, “despite the fact that we have a fool at the Federal Reserve.”“I mean, Biden reappointed him. It’s too bad
We must take control of AI now, before it’s too late | Letters
“When the AI bubble bursts, humans will finally have their chance to take back control”, says the headline on Rafael Behr’s article (23 December). I think it’s more likely that when the AI bubble bursts, the creators of the crisis, along with other wealthy economic actors, will be in the rooms with the politicians telling them how to “rescue” us all by transferring wealth in some way from average citizens to the already extremely wealthy. Just like they did during the financial crisis of 2008.We need to be ready with alternative plans. For example, world governments could coordinate to buy, for suitably low prices, majority shares in any crashing tech company that actually produces something useful, ensuring that those shares come with full voting rights
When swiping up doesn’t get you far | Letters
Speaking of odd habits as a result of using technology (Letters, 25 December), I once passed a bus shelter where a mother was waiting with her young child. The shelter had a huge poster of a new mobile phone and the toddler was leaning out of its buggy and desperately swiping the screen of the phone, presumably in the hope of getting cartoons.Ron BaileyNewcastle upon Tyne I read Joanna Rimmer’s letter on this subject and tried to “like” it.Heather BradfordWinchester Which tablet/ebook user hasn’t absentmindedly put their finger on a printed word they don’t know expecting to see the dictionary definition pop up?Tim MartineauWirral, Merseyside I don’t understand why, when reading a physical copy of the Guardian, the page doesn’t scroll when I swipe up. Can this be corrected, please?Geoff Skinner Kensal Green, London I once picked up a pencil to underline something on Wikipedia
Anthony Joshua’s camp confirm two of his close friends died in car crash
The British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has issued a statement after he was injured in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday morning which killed two of his close friends.The former world heavyweight boxing champion was taken to an undisclosed hospital after his car hit a stationary vehicle at about 11am on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Ogun state police commissioner, Lanre Ogunlowo, said. The driver of Joshua’s vehicle was also injured, he added.An official spokesman for Joshua said: “It is with the deepest and most profound sadness that we confirm, following a road traffic accident in Lagos, Nigeria earlier today, the death of Sina Ghami and Kevin ‘Lateef’ Ayodele.“Both were close friends and integral members of Anthony’s team
Luke Littler forced to battle the boos in tense win at PDC World Championship
They say you either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain. At a feverish and hostile Alexandra Palace, the same crowd that cheered Luke Littler on as a 16-year-old boy now jeers him to victory as an 18-year-old man. The character arc has come full circle; the heel turn complete. He is three matches from retaining his world title, and remains the overwhelming favourite to do so. But from this point, he’s going to have to do it on his own
UK medical regulator warns against buying weight-loss jabs from social media channels
Most Europeans think state pensions will become unaffordable, polling shows
‘I tried. I felt everything’: readers tell us how they would use their last chance to send a letter
Gambling firms spent nearly £5m to advertise on TfL since London mayor’s ban pledge
AI being used to help cut A&E waiting times in England this winter
Dagenham’s sewing machinists did not go on strike primarily for equal pay | Letters