{"id":6533,"date":"2026-09-17T01:23:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T08:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=6533"},"modified":"2026-09-17T01:24:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T08:24:43","slug":"trump-blasts-interest-rate-uptick-and-claims-hostile-federal-reserve-board-made-decision-only-for-political-reasons-as-it-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=6533","title":{"rendered":"Trump blasts interest rate uptick and claims \u2018hostile\u2019 Federal Reserve board made decision \u2018only for political reasons\u2019 \u2013 as it happened"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>23 Minute, 28 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

Trump claims he told Fed chair Kevin Warsh to vote with the rest of the board for rate hike<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters on his way to give a rally speech in North Carolina, Donald Trump<\/strong> denied that his hand-picked Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, had not defied him by voting to raise interest rates, claiming that he had advised Warsh to vote as he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if he still has confidence in Warsh, despite the rate hike Trump deplored, the president said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do. I mean, I\u2019m relying on Kevin, but he\u2019s got a very tough board. He\u2019s got a board that was put there by a lot of other people. And the interest rates are too high. They\u2019re not appropriate,\u201d Trump replied. \u201cI told Kevin, I said, \u2018You might as well vote with the board because it\u2019s just not going to matter.\u2019 The board is very hostile. They\u2019re very political. They\u2019re doing the wrong thing. They\u2019re a bunch of politicians. They are people put on by politicians.\u201d

\u201cWe should be paying the lowest interest rate anywhere in the world because we have the strongest credit,\u201d he added. \u201cIf we wanted to get rid of deficits, which we could do with the swipe of the pen with every country, we\u2019d make a trillion and a half dollars a year. We\u2019d pay off our debt. We\u2019d do all sorts of things. But we haven\u2019t chosen to do that. But at some point, we will. Interest rates are too high.\u201d

Later, asked again about Warsh, Trump said: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter because he doesn\u2019t have the votes… No matter how good a job, he\u2019s got a hostile board… They\u2019re raising that only for political reasons, and that\u2019s a raise against Trump.\u201d

Closing summary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings our live coverage of the second Trump administration to a close, but just for the day. We will be back on Thursday with more. Here are the latest developments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in North Carolina, Trump explicitly compared his effort to blame Democrat\u00a0Roy Cooper<\/strong>, the former governor and Senate candidate, for the brutal killing of a young Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, last year, by using false information, on the infamous 1988 Willie Horton ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0responded to the Federal Reserve\u2019s unanimous decision on Wednesday\u00a0to raise its benchmark interest rate<\/a>\u00a0by a quarter-percentage point, to a range of 3.75% to 4%, by demanding a massive cut in rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Congress has passed a sweeping bill allowing\u00a0<\/strong>Trump to raise tariffs on top buyers of Russian energy and issue other punishing sanctions against the Kremlin following a pitched battle between lawmakers backing Ukraine and sceptics worried the bill gives the president too much power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congresswoman\u00a0Joyce Beatty,\u00a0<\/strong>a Democrat and Kennedy Center trustee, has\u00a0filed a motion for an emergency hearing<\/a>\u00a0on the performing arts venue\u2019s apparent closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked why it is so important to him to have his name inscribed on the Kennedy Center, a memorial to another president, Trump said he deserves \u201crecognition\u201d for saving the venue. If not, Trump said, \u201cIt\u2019ll end up being ripped down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitch McConnell<\/strong>, the former Republican Senate majority leader who returned to work this week after a months\u2011long absence, had to be prompted by colleagues as to how to vote near the start of a televised meeting of the Senate agriculture committee on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House speaker,\u00a0Mike Johnson<\/strong>, cancelled votes currently scheduled for Thursday, meaning that lower chamber lawmakers will now head back to their districts for the midterm recess a day early. The change to schedule means that the House will avoid voting on Republican congressman\u00a0Thomas Massie<\/strong>\u2019s resolution to impeach the defense secretary,\u00a0Pete Hegseth<\/strong>.

Speaking in North Carolina, Trump explicitly compared his effort to blame Democrat\u00a0Roy Cooper<\/strong>, the former governor and Senate candidate, for the brutal killing of a young Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, last year, by using false information, on the infamous 1988 Willie Horton ad.

As Trump blames Zelenskyy’s hatred of Putin for driving up diesel prices, Republicans celebrate Russia sanctions and tariffs bill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in North Carolina on Wednesday, Donald Trump<\/a> repeated his false claim that it is the war in Ukraine he\u2019s failed to stop, not the one in Iran he started, that has caused a spike in diesel prices in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After repeating his false claim to have ended eight wars, Trump said, \u201cwe\u2019re working very hard to get Russia-Ukraine\u201d settled. \u201cThe one that\u2019s the toughest is Russia-Ukraine. They hate each other. The two leaders hate each other so much,\u201d he continued, falsely suggesting, as he has before, that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to blame for hating Vladimir Putin, the dictator who ordered the bloody invasion of his country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, hatred is very interesting. War is very interesting, but it\u2019s too bad,\u201d Trump went on. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what\u2019s driving actually, that\u2019s the war that\u2019s driving up the diesel prices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in Washington, Republican senators who are more clear on who is to blame for the war in Ukraine celebrated the passage of a bill that will give the president the power to impose sanctions on Russia, and tariffs on other countries that buy its oil, even though doing so would likely drive fuel prices even higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI applaud the House\u2019s passage of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act\u2014it\u2019s long past time we cut off the funding for Russia\u2019s war machine at its source,\u201d senator Tom Cotton<\/strong>, an Arkansas Republican, posted<\/a>. \u201cThis legislation will tighten the screws on Putin and impose real costs on those financing his war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are now one step closer to arming President Trump with the tools he needs to deplete Russia of the little economic power it has left and bring much-needed peace to the region,\u201d senator\u00a0Katie Britt<\/strong>, an Alabama Republican,\u00a0wrote<\/a>.

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Congressman writes to NHL commissioner over Russian hockey star Alex Ovechkin appearing in campaign ad for Putin’s party<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Joe Wilson<\/strong>, a South Carolina Republican, has written a letter to the National Hockey League\u2019s commissioner to protest the appearance of Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin<\/strong> in a campaign ad for Vladimir Putin\u2019s party, United Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the letter,\u00a0posted on social media<\/a>\u00a0by the congressman on Wednesday, Wilson expressed \u201cserious concern\u201d over Ovechkin lending his celebrity to support \u201cthe dictatorial political party of Russian war criminal Vladimir Putin, who actively works to oppress the people of Russia by outlawing freedom of speech and fair elections.\u201d

Wilson notes that, as the Guardian reported<\/a> on Monday, images from the ad campaign<\/a> published by a leading Russian newspaper showed that Ovechkin appeared alongside a series of key figures in Putin\u2019s government:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Mr. Ovechkin shamefully appeared in a campaign video alongside senior figures of the Putin regime, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin propaganda outlet RT. The advertisement comes ahead of Russia\u2019s September parliamentary \u201celections\u201d and represents an alarming instance of one of the National Hockey League\u2019s most prominent players lending his image and international celebrity to a political organization that has enabled Putin\u2019s brutal rule and his ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Even more disturbing, this United Russia campaign includes Maria Lvova-Belova, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for her role in the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territory.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn NHL superstar appearing in campaign propaganda for Putin\u2019s political party cannot simply be dismissed as an activity wholly disconnected from the League,\u201d Wilson added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI therefore respectfully request that the NHL review this matter and clarify what policies, if any, govern the participation of active players in political advertisements or propaganda on behalf of dictatorial political parties and foreign political regimes,\u201d the congressman wrote. \u201cI further request that the League and the Capitals organization clarify any endorsement of Putin\u2019s party is not a official position of the NHL or the Washington Capitals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter was also sent to Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Capitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beneath his signature, in blue marker, Wilson added an impassioned, if imprecise, handwritten note: \u201cPutin is a convicted war criminal!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putin, the Russian president, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, along with Maria Lvova-Belova, for the forceable transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, but neither has yet been tried or convicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson, a strong supporter of Ukraine, is perhaps\u00a0best known<\/a>\u00a0for disrupting then president Barack Obama\u2019s address to Congress in 2009, by shouting \u201cYou lie!\u201d in what was then considered \u201can extraordinary breach of congressional decorum\u201d.

After running through many of his familiar talking points, including a gratuitous attack on his predecessor\u00a0Joe Biden<\/strong>,\u00a0Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0wrapped up his speech in North Carolina and departed to the even more familiar strains of YMCA.

Trump tries to run Willie Horton playbook against former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his address to supporters in Gastonia, North Carolina, now in progress, Donald Trump<\/strong> tried to blame the state\u2019s former governor, Roy Cooper<\/strong>, who is now the Democratic nominee for the Senate, for the brutal killing of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian woman who was killed on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump began by describing Cooper as a \u201cmurderer protector\u201d before repeatedly making the false claim<\/a> that DeCarlos Brown Jr, the man arrested and charged with killing Zarutska, had been released from prison by Cooper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was released by Cooper,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Trump said, incorrectly, after describing in gruesome detail the video of the killing.

While Republicans have tried to blame the fact that Brown was not in jail in 2025 on a 2021 COVID-era prison settlement as he result of a lawsuit over prison conditions during Cooper\u2019s term as governor, in fact Brown had been released from prison on 20 September 2020 after completing a sentence for a previous crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite that fact, Michael Whatley<\/strong>, the Republican Senate candidate Trump is in North Carolina to campaign for, claimed in a social media post<\/a> in September, which featured video of the killing of Zarutska: \u201cCooper bears direct responsibility for this heinous act and must answer to the public about why he prioritizes criminals over public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier on Wednesday, Whatly repeated the false claim<\/a> in another post, writing: \u201cIryna Zarutska would still be alive today if Roy Cooper\u2019s soft on crime policies didn\u2019t put her killer Decarlos Brown Jr back on the streets of Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a lie,\u201d a Cooper campaign spokesperson told Fox News<\/a> in February. \u201cDecarlos Brown was not released from prison as a result of a court-ordered settlement but in fact served his full sentence and was not released early.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his speech, Trump paused to show the crowd 80 mug shots on a giant video screen. The fact that nearly all the faces of the suspects were Black revealed the lack of subtly in the president\u2019s appeal to his mainly white audience.

During his State of the Union address in February, Trump introduced Iryna Zarutska\u2019s mother in the gallery and made a different false claim<\/a> about her alleged killer, wringly claiming that the man who stabbed Zarutska was an undocumented immigrant, calling him, \u201ca hardened criminal set free to kill in America came in through open borders\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s attempt to frame Cooper, by falsely claiming that he had let the Black man who killed Zarutska free, echoed the 1988 attack ad<\/a> run against the Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, which blamed the former Massachusetts governor for crimes committed by Willie Horton, a Black prisoner released on a furlough program, who raped a white Maryland woman and bound and stabbed her boyfriend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the time we\u2019re finished,\u201d Lee Atwater, the campaign strategist for Dukakis\u2019s Republican opponent, George HW Bush, said at the time, \u201cthey\u2019re going to wonder whether Willie Horton is Dukakis\u2019s running mate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Willie Horton ad was produced and distributed by a former employee of Bush\u2019s media adviser, Roger Ailes, who went on to create Fox News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he so often does, Trump spoke the subtext out loud, telling the audience that his attack on Cooper was inspired by the Willie Horton ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYears ago in Massachusetts, there was a governor named Dukakis, Michael Dukakis, you remember, who had a very substantial lead for president,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe was going to win easily, but he allowed a man named Willie Horton out of jail. Willie Horton was a bad guy, really bad guy. Same thing as this. Same as- same exact thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump went on to exaggerate the scope of Horton\u2019s brutal crimes, falsely claiming that \u201che raped and murdered, raped and murdered again and again. And he ended up killing three women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOvernight, Dukakis took a rousing lead of 15 points and lost the election in a landslide. Because of that one advertisement,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThey put it on just like we\u2019re putting this on, because we have to make sure that Michael Whatley gets into office\u201d.

Trump says Kennedy Center will ‘end up being ripped down’ if he doesn’t get his name on it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked by a reporter in North Carolina why it is so important to him to have his name inscribed on the Kennedy Center, a memorial to another president, Donald Trump<\/strong> said he deserves \u201crecognition\u201d for saving the center no one else seemed to think was in dire condition until he took office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a mess,\u201d Trump said<\/a>. \u201cThe Kennedy Center for many years has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars … For me to go and fix it \u2013 I\u2019m quite capable of fixing it \u2013 and then have to subsidize it for years to come, because you will lose with the Kennedy Center \u2013 they were losing hundreds of millions of dollars and sometimes hundreds of billions \u2013 this is before I got involved. So, for the Trump administration, for me, to get involved and to take that on long term and to carry it or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition because, frankly, if we don\u2019t do that, it\u2019s going to close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll end up being ripped down. It\u2019s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape. You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings. You see a lot of dangers. It\u2019s been very badly maintained for 25 years,\u201d he continued.

\u201cI\u2019d like to be able to save it, but it\u2019s going to take a lot of subsidy into the future. And for us as an administration to want to do that, I think the Trump administration should be recognized.\u201d

Trump scoffs at idea of Canada joining European Union in response to his trade war<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Donald Trump<\/strong> scoffed at the idea of Canada being driven to join the European Union as a result of the trade war he launched against the North American country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s laughable,\u201d Trump said in remarks\u00a0clipped and posted on social media<\/a>\u00a0by the White House. \u201cThe whole thing with Canada, Canada\u2019s been a terrible trade partner. No, I don\u2019t see that. If they do that, if I think it\u2019s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things. So, if they do that, if Europe does that, with a bad intention \u2013 if it\u2019s a good intention, that\u2019s fine \u2013 if it\u2019s bad intention we\u2019ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility.\u201d

Trump claims he told Fed chair Kevin Warsh to vote with the rest of the board for rate hike<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters on his way to give a rally speech in North Carolina, Donald Trump<\/strong> denied that his hand-picked Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, had not defied him by voting to raise interest rates, claiming that he had advised Warsh to vote as he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if he still has confidence in Warsh, despite the rate hike Trump deplored, the president said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do. I mean, I\u2019m relying on Kevin, but he\u2019s got a very tough board. He\u2019s got a board that was put there by a lot of other people. And the interest rates are too high. They\u2019re not appropriate,\u201d Trump replied. \u201cI told Kevin, I said, \u2018You might as well vote with the board because it\u2019s just not going to matter.\u2019 The board is very hostile. They\u2019re very political. They\u2019re doing the wrong thing. They\u2019re a bunch of politicians. They are people put on by politicians.\u201d

\u201cWe should be paying the lowest interest rate anywhere in the world because we have the strongest credit,\u201d he added. \u201cIf we wanted to get rid of deficits, which we could do with the swipe of the pen with every country, we\u2019d make a trillion and a half dollars a year. We\u2019d pay off our debt. We\u2019d do all sorts of things. But we haven\u2019t chosen to do that. But at some point, we will. Interest rates are too high.\u201d

Later, asked again about Warsh, Trump said: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter because he doesn\u2019t have the votes… No matter how good a job, he\u2019s got a hostile board… They\u2019re raising that only for political reasons, and that\u2019s a raise against Trump.\u201d

Trump rally crowd in North Carolina treated to Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor’s rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As fans of Donald Trump<\/strong> wait for the start of his remarks in North Carolina, a live feed<\/a> showed they were just treated to Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor<\/strong>\u2019s rendition of Prince<\/strong>\u2019s Nothing Compares 2 U.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not clear what the Republicans in attendance made of the tune, given that the late Irish singer was for a time a hate figure for American conservatives, after she\u00a0tore up a photograph<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Pope John Paul II<\/strong>\u00a0during an appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1992, and said: \u201cFight the real enemy.\u201d

The US Congress has passed a sweeping bill allowing Donald Trump<\/a> to raise tariffs on top buyers of Russian energy and issue other punishing sanctions against the Kremlin following a pitched battle between lawmakers backing Ukraine and sceptics worried the bill gives the president too much power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia<\/a> and Iran Act of 2026 passed in a 262-159 vote on the last day before Congress goes on recess ahead of the midterm elections. Graham, who died earlier this year, co-authored and submitted the bill more than a year and a half ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long delay in the vote was widely considered to be scepticism from the Trump administration<\/a>, which had opposed additional sanctions and then recently changed its stance to support submitting the bill as efforts to negotiate with the Kremlin to end the war have yielded few results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However the bill faced last-minute hurdles in Congress as members of the Republican party\u2019s isolationist wing were joined by Democrats who warned that Trump could use the bill\u2019s new tariffs authority against allies instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill would mandate new sanctions on Russian political and military officials, and foreign networks helping to supply Russia\u2019s war machine and evade existing sanctions. It would also target Russia\u2019s so-called fleet of \u201cshadow tankers\u201d, which have allowed the country to continue to ship crude around the world despite sanctions on its energy exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also allow Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top purchasers of Russian energy, including China, as well as other countries helping the Kremlin evade sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Democrats voiced opposition to the bill during a heated floor debate. \u201cWhy in the world would this Congress give this president additional authority to visit that kind of economic harm on the American people?\u201d said Hakeem Jeffries, the leading Democrat in the House,\u00a0during a speech<\/a>\u00a0on Wednesday, adding he would vote against the bill.

Pentagon chief technology officer downplays concerns over AI safety and calls to nationalize AI firms<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Department of Defense\u2019s chief technology officer, Emil Michael<\/strong>, dismissed safety concerns raised by the leaders of artificial intelligence companies in an interview with CNBC<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael, a former Uber executive, previously led the Pentagon\u2019s efforts to press Anthropic to allow the defense department to use its Claude AI model for fully autonomous lethal weapons or domestic mass surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael repeatedly said he opposes increased government regulatory oversight of AI companies and claimed that the alarms raised by leading AI firms were part of a \u201ccoordinated campaign to scare people to make irrational decisions that benefit\u201d those firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also suggested, as he had in a Fox News interview<\/a> on Monday, that \u201cthe fear-mongering\u201d is driven by an ideology called effective altruism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe amount of dollars being spent in DC now, directly and indirectly by this effective altruist movement,\u201d Michael said, \u201cI don\u2019t think the country has ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think in the next few years, you\u2019re going to see more dollars poured into this sort of industry from a lobbying standpoint, and to specific congresspeople and senators, than we\u2019ve ever seen before,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd the promoters of some of these extinction death-cult-like philosophies are part of that effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Michael was asked if he favored the Trump administration seeking to nationalize or take partial government stakes in AI firms, he replied: \u201cI hope not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pointed out that the AI giants could become some of the biggest companies \u201cin the history of the world. In America, that\u2019s a good thing. We want others to come up alongside them. We don\u2019t want government to get in the middle. That doesn\u2019t really go well, in terms of nationalization.\u201d

Kennedy Center closes, and looks set for construction, in apparent violation of court order<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In apparent violation of a federal court order, the Kennedy Center was closed to the public on Wednesday and fencing was installed as construction looked set to begin, according to the testimony of a legal assistant working for the firm that represents the congresswoman Joyce Beatty<\/strong>, the Ohio Democrat and Kennedy Center trustee who sued to stop Donald Trump<\/strong> from closing the performing arts venue and adding his name to its facade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sworn statement<\/a> was submitted to the District of Columbia court overseeing the lawsuit by Bridget Kennedy-Bailey<\/strong> of the Washington Litigation Group, in support of Beatty\u2019s motion for an emergency hearing<\/a> on the performing arts venue\u2019s apparent closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Christopher Cooper<\/strong>, who is overseeing Beatty\u2019s suit, had ordered that the institution could not close to the public without his approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kennedy-Bailey, when she visited the venue on Wednesday morning, she found the doors locked and was told by Kennedy Center employees that the facility was closed.

She also saw crews installing black metal gates outside the center, blocking all access, and white and orange barriers that \u201clooked like those used on construction sites\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before noon, someone who works in security for the center told the legal assistant \u201cthat the gates are for \u2018public safety\u2019 because they are doing construction inside the building\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kennedy-Bailey also testified that someone who said he works in public relations for the Kennedy Center told her that the building is closed for \u201crepairs, and that staff are not allowed in without a hard hat\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked him if the construction was occurring today,\u201d Kennedy-Bailey said, \u201cand he stated that he was not sure but that it \u2018seems like it\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of her sworn statement, Kennedy-Bailey said: \u201cI saw a forklift carrying what appeared to be a more permanent form of fencing drive over to the north side of the building. I saw the forklift run into and hit the pillars on the building several times.\u201d

Trump reacts to interest rate hike by demanding massive cut instead<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump<\/strong> responded to the Federal Reserve\u2019s unanimous decision on Wednesday to raise its benchmark interest rate<\/a> by a quarter-percentage point, to a range of 3.75% to 4%, by demanding a massive cut in rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing on his social media platform, the president also offered a bizarre argument that the United States economy would benefit \u201cif we stopped Trading with every country that we have a Deficit with, which is most of them\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the president\u2019s complete statement <\/a>on the interest rate hike, taken to combat inflation driven at least in part by the rise in oil prices caused by the war on Iran he started and has not been able to end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interest Rates in the United States should be 1%, or less, because we are the Best Credit in the World \u2013 BY FAR. Our Country is BOOMING with new Investment! If we stopped Trading with every country that we have a Deficit with, which is most of them, we would make, at least, 1.5 Trillion Dollars a year. The word \u2018Deficit\u2019 is nothing more than a fancy word for LOSS. We are \u2018carrying\u2019 almost every country in the World, and that cannot go on any longer. LOWER THE INTEREST RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FAST!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The central bank\u2019s move is the first time the Fed has raised rates since July 2023 and clearly set Kevin Warsh, Trump\u2019s pick to be the new Fed chair, on a collision course with the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long,\u201d Warsh said on Wednesday. \u201cThis summer\u2019s inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.\u201d

Reprinted from The Guardian<\/p>\n

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