Live updates: Trump tours the Fed with Jerome Powell in tow

In a Truth Social post as he was departing the Federal Reserve, Trump walked back his criticisms of the billion-dollar renovations at the central bank’s headquarters in Washington.

“It’s got a long way to go, would have been much better if it were never started, but it is what it is and, hopefully, it will be finished ASAP,” Trump said in the social media post.

“The cost overruns are substantial but, on the positive side, our Country is doing very well and can afford just about anything — Even the cost of this building! I’ll be watching and, hopefully, adding some expertise.”

The U.S. will skip the upcoming United Nations (UN) conference aimed at bolstering efforts to reach a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians slated for next week, according to the State Department. 

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said during his Thursday briefing to reporters that he had “nothing further” to add about the summit, scheduled to take place in New York City from July 28-29, “beyond saying that we will not be in attendance of that conference.” 

The conference is co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France. The summit hopes to outline a framework for a Palestinian state. 

The gathering was previously postponed in June after Israel launched strikes against Iran. Israel and Iran’s war lasted for 12 days and the two sides came to a ceasefire, which was brokered by the Trump administration, on June 24. The U.S. struck three nuclear sites in Iran on June 21.

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Trump on Thursday signed legislation to claw back roughly $9 billion in previously approved congressional spending, with much of it affecting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Trump signed into law a rescissions package that passed the House and Senate last week, making the spending cuts official.

The $9 billion package targets money for global aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and PBS, organizations Trump and his allies have accused of liberal bias.

The White House agreed to an amendment to remove from the package $400 million in cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief global anti-AIDS initiative in the face of GOP pushback.

White House budget chief Russell Vought told reporters last week that the administration is likely to send another rescissions package to Congress, though he did not provide details on timing or what would be in the next request.

French President Emanuel Macron said Thursday that France will recognize the State of Palestine, a largely symbolic move but one that puts a leading, global nation at odds with Israel’s push for countries to hold off recognizing Palestinian statehood until a resolution of the decades-old conflict. 

Macron, in a statement to the social media site X, said the move is part of a commitment to “a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” and said that he will make the “solemn announcement” ahead of United Nations General Assembly in September.

A reported 146 countries have recognized the state of Palestine, but France’s announcement makes it the first of the world’s leading economies, as a member of the Group of 7 nations, and a member of the United Nations Security Council. 

The announcement comes amid a breakdown in talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, the U.S.-designated terror group controlling the Gaza Strip. President Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, put the blame on Hamas as failing to show good faith.

Macron urged an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the return of all the hostages held by Hamas and massive humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people there, where death from starvation appears to be increasing. 

Trump backed off of the idea of firing Powell during the visit to the Fed, saying that the renovation project does not give him grounds to nix him.

“Look, I would love to see it completed, I don’t want to put that in this category,” he said when asked if the construction project is a fire-able offense. “It’s a very complex thing that could have been made simple.”

The president was asked about his concerns that interest rates are hurting families and why he would let Powell stay in his role through May if thats the case.

“Because to do that is a big move and I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Trump said. “I believe that he’s going to do the right thing, I believe that the chairman is going to do the right thing. It may be a little too late, as the expression goes.”

When asked if he would fire Powell if he doesn’t cut interest rates, he replied, “I don’t think we’re going to do that.”

Trump told reporters there was “no pressure” for Jerome Powell to resign of chairman of the Federal Reserve and reiterated that he does not plan to fire him.

“No, there’s no pressure. We want to have — you know his term comes up soon. I think he’s going to do the right thing. Everybody knows what the right thing is,” Trump said, referring to lowering interest rates.

Trump said he had two or three people in mind to replace Powell when his term expires next May. He quipped that he would nominate Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who was standing alongside Trump, but that the senator would not leave his post in Congress.

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said President Trump should task someone with going over “every single angle” of controversy around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

“I think in the end, the president will have to appoint somebody to go through every single angle,” Gingrich, a Trump ally, said during his Wednesday appearance on “Cats & Cosby” radio show on WABC 770 AM.

The former Speaker said the administration should make an effort to talk to longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted on sex trafficking charges and is serving a 20-year sentence. 

“And frankly, I think they’re going to have to get Ghislaine Maxwell to talk, and if that means cutting some kind of a deal, whatever it takes, they’re going to have to find out from her, because she was there for over 20 years,” the former House speaker told hosts John Catsimatidis & Rita Cosby. “She knows, and she has information.” 

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell in prison in Tallahassee on Thursday.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Thursday against New York City, as well as Mayor Eric Adams (D) and other city leaders, to challenge laws that protect undocumented migrants in the city.

“New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “If New York City won’t stand up for the safety of its citizens, we will.”

The DOJ accused city leaders of “efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement.”

“New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country’s

immigration laws,” the DOJ wrote in its lawsuit. “Its history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since.”

Read the full story here.

Trump downplayed any tensions with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell during his visit to the central bank’s headquarters, describing it as a “good meeting.”

“There was no tension. I think he had more tension with my great senator to the right,” Trump said, motioning to Sen. Tim Scott (R) of South Carolina.

“The bottom line is we had an honest, candid conversation,” Scott said.

Trump, alongside Powell, was asked what he would do if a project manager was above budget and he replied that he would fire him.

“Generally speaking, what would I do? I’d fire him,” Trump said.

But, he punted when pressed on if the issues he thinks there are with the Fed renovations give him cause to do that.

Trump said he’s being given a tour and that he “would like to see it get finished.”

“In many ways, it’s too bad it started but it did start,” he said.

Trump and Powell shared a laugh in the Federal Reserve building about the president consistently urging him to lower interest rates.

Trump was asked by a reporter if there is anything Powell could say to him to make him back off his criticism.

“Well, I’d love for him to lower interest rates. Other than that, what can I tell you?” he laughed and both he and Powell laughed.

Trump added that he briefed Powell on the trade deal with Japan.

“We would be helped if interest rates come down… I’d love to see them come down a lot,” he added.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will join Trump on his visit to his headquarters, the president said in a Truth Social message just before leaving the White House.

Trump then arrived at the Fed just before 4 p.m.

He said on Truth Social that the Fed construction program is “now, $3.1 Billion Dollar (PLUS!).”

Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought, and Bill Pulte, who oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are also set to join the visit.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) on Thursday objected to a Democratic resolution demanding the Department of Justice release all files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego (D) went to the Senate floor Thursday at lunchtime to demand for the second time in eight days that Attorney General Pam Bondi release all files related to Epstein, something that MAGA-aligned activists have demanded for months and has divided the Republican Party.

But Mullin, who had blocked the resolution the first time, stepped in to object again, dismissing Gallego’s call as “political theater.”

Read more here.

The Supreme Court on Thursday halted an appeals ruling that prevents private groups from challenging election maps under the Voting Rights Act in seven states. 

Neither the majority nor the three public dissenters — conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — explained their reasoning. 

The case arose from a lawsuit brought by two Native American tribes, who argue that North Dakota’s state legislative map denied them an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice. 

The case entered the national spotlight after an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 that the tribes and other private parties have no legal right to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. It mimicked an earlier 8th Circuit ruling concerning a redistricting case in Arkansas. 

The Supreme Court’s emergency ruling lifts the 8th Circuit’s ruling until any appeals are resolved. It does not reflect the court’s final decision on the matter. 

President Trump is set to sign an executive order on Thursday aiming to provide resources that would push cities and states to remove homeless people from sleeping on streets and to crack down on drug use.

The order will direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to reverse precedents that limit state and local governments’ ability to commit individuals on streets who are at risk to themselves or others, according to a White House fact sheet obtained by The Hill.

It also requires interagency work on grants for states to enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping, loitering and squatting, and to track sex offenders. And, it requires redirecting funds to ensure people sleeping on streets and causing public disorder, and suffering from serious mental illness or addiction, are moved to facilities like treatment centers.

Additionally, the order ensures that discretionary grants for substance use prevention, treatment and recovery do not go to funding “drug injection sites or illicit drug use” and it aims to stop sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance from being housed with children, and allows programs to house women and children exclusively.

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The Senate on Thursday advanced the controversial nomination of Emil Bove, teeing up a final vote on his lifetime appointment to an appeals court.

Bove, who is currently serving in the No. 3 role at the Justice Department, has been nominated by President Trump for a judgeship on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Senate voted 50-48 to limit debate on his nomination. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) were the only GOP members to vote against advancing Bove.

Bove has been embroiled in controversy since the start of the Trump administration. He was behind moves to fire prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases and moved to dismiss the bribery charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), prompting a flood of resignations from career attorneys.

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The Trump administration said Thursday it was leaving Gaza ceasefire talks, blaming Hamas for failing to engage in good faith. 

Steve Witkoff, now named President Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, said the administration is considering alternative plans to secure the freedom of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the future governance of the territory.

“We have decided to bring our team home from Doha for consultations after the latest response from Hamas, which clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza,” Witkoff wrote in a post on the social media site X. 

Read more here.

The Federal Reserve invited a group of journalists to tour its renovations on Thursday ahead of President Trump’s visit to the central bank’s headquarters.

Journalists from The Associated Press and Bloomberg were among those who got to see the upgrades to the Fed up close.

Trump and a few other administration officials are scheduled to visit the Fed later Thursday to tour renovations that have gone over budget. The cost overruns, as well as decisions not to lower interest rates, have been the basis for attacks from Trump and his allies against Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain answered questions in an interview with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in its investigation into former President Biden’s mental acuity and use of an autopen.

His approach contrasts with some other former Biden aides who refused to answer questions, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said that Klain was “fairly responsive” to the panel’s questions as the interview broke for a lunch break, expecting to continue questioning into late afternoon.

“I found Mr. Klain to be very credible. He answered every single question. He was fully cooperative,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a member of the committee, said of Klain’s interview.

Khanna added that Klain was “forthcoming” about private conversations he had with Biden and did not avoid questions.

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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced Thursday he won’t seek another term in office, teeing up a competitive election in one of the state’s closest battlegrounds.

Evers said in a video posted on the social media platform X that serving as governor has been “the honor of my life” and he expects that he would win reelection to a third term as governor if he ran. But he said he loves being a husband, father and grandfather even more than being governor, and his family has made sacrifices for five decades to allow him to partake in public service.

He said he owes it to his family to send time on doing what they love to do together.

“That’s why, Wisconsin, I’m announcing I will not be running for a third term,” Evers said.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has started his meeting with Ghislaine Mawell, the imprisoned Jeffrey Epstein confidant.

A source told NewsNation’s Libby Dean the meeting is now underway in Tallahassee.

A Trump-appointed federal judge tossed a suit brought by the administration in a preemptive move to strip collective bargaining rights from federal employees.

The Trump administration brought the suit in the one-judge district in Texas shortly after signing an order seeking to end union rights at 18 different federal agencies.

The suit sought a declaratory judgment from a Waco court that the White House has “the power to rescind or repudiate” collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) across numerous agencies.

But U.S. District Court Judge Alan Albright declined to do so, siding with unions in determining that the plaintiff agencies did not have standing to bring the suit and dismissing the suit.

“Plaintiffs ask this Court to do something it should not and cannot do: issue a declaratory judgment pre-approving the acts of executive agencies absent a legally cognizable injury-in-fact,” Albright wrote in the Wednesday ruling.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday condemned Columbia University’s settlement with the Trump administration as “outrageous and embarrassing” and accused the school of giving in to the government’s pressure campaign against higher education.

“I am deeply disappointed by reports of Columbia University’s outrageous and embarrassing $200 million capitulation to the Trump Administration’s repugnant extortion campaign,” Nadler, a Columbia alumnus whose district borders the school, said in a statement on the social platform X.

“[M]y alma mater has allowed a once highly-respected institution to succumb to the Trump Administration’s coercive and exploitative tactics,” Nadler added. “Columbia has effectively waived the white flag of surrender in its battle at the heart of the Trump Administration’s war on higher education and academic freedom.”

The Trump administration and Columbia University on Monday announced a settlement, whereby the Ivy League institution agreed to pay $221 million to restore the more than $400 million in federal funding that was cut off by the administration.

A Senate panel punted its consideration of Paul Ingrassia amid concerns about the controversial nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel.

Ingrassia was slated for a confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC), but his name was quietly removed from the agenda.

Ingrassia, a former podcast host, has made a series of controversial remarks praising right-wing figures and the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

“I’m relieved to see that Paul Ingrassia, the nominee to run the Office of Special Counsel, has been pulled from today’s hearing. The Office of Special Counsel is an independent, nonpartisan agency that investigates allegations of prohibited personnel practices involving federal employees, including whistleblower retaliation,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the committee, said during his opening remarks.

“Mr. Ingrassia is unqualified for the position, both in terms of legal experience and given his long record of bigoted statements. And I urge the administration to formally withdraw his nomination.” 

A White House official said they do not plan to do so.

Read more here.

A pair of top Senate Republicans on Thursday called for a special counsel to be appointed to probe whether former President Obama aided an effort to undermine President Trump’s 2016 White House bid.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) pressed for the appointment, saying they want answers about how Obama and his administration “manipulated” matters in the hopes of a Hillary Clinton victory in 2016

“For the good of the country, Senator @JohnCornyn and I urge Attorney General Bondi to appoint a special counsel to investigate the extent to which former President Obama, his staff and administration officials manipulated the U.S. national security apparatus for a political outcome,” Graham posted on his X feed.

The call came a day after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a new document casting doubts on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire to aid Trump in the contest, though it backed up the argument that Russia wanted to interfere in the election writ large. 

Read more here.

The Department of Transportation on Thursday withdrew a proposed rule to mandate speed limiters on heavy vehicles.

The Obama administration in 2016 initially proposed the requirement that trucks be equipped with a speed-limiting device. The rule was set to impact vehicles with a gross weight of over 26,000 pounds and would limit them to a traveling speed of 65 mph.

The proposal was reaffirmed in 2022 by the Biden administration.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a June press release that the device is not only an “inconvenience” but a hazard for drivers when they are forced to go slower than the flow of traffic. 

The U.S. fertility rate dropped to an all-time low to 1.6 children per woman in 2024, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The country’s fertility rate has been declining for decades, in part, because of people waiting to get married and have children until later in life.

While the fertility rate had dipped, the overall number of births in the U.S. went up last year compared to the year, increasing by 1 percent or 3,628,934 births.  

Fertility rates declined for women and girls ages 15 to 34 between 2023 and 2024 and remained unchanged for women ages 35 to 39 and rose for women ages 40 to 44, the data show.  

Cesarean births increased slightly during that time, rising from 22.8 percent in 2023 to 22.9 percent the following year.  

A lawyer for more than 200 of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims called on Congress to subpoena the late financier’s estate for the so-called “birthday book” that allegedly includes provocative letters from high-profile individuals.

The Wall Street Journal last week reported on a letter it said President Trump had sent to Epstein. Trump has sued the Journal and denied writing the letter.

Attorney Bradley Edwards said in a Wednesday interview on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” that the Epstein estate possesses the 2003 “birthday book.”

He said he has “numerous” clients who can confirm the book’s authenticity and said he suspects the executors of Epstein’s estate would be willing to turn over the book if they were asked to do so.

“If they didn’t just voluntarily turn over the book, out of fear of reprisal, Congress could issue a subpoena to their attorneys,” Edwards said.

Read the full story here.

Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper blasted President Trump on Wednesday over his latest claims that the Obama administration had committed “treason” and misled the public about Russia’s attempted interference in the 2016 election.

“I take seriously when the president of the United States accuses me of being a participant in a treasonous conspiracy, which is ridiculous,” Clapper, who was Obama’s intelligence chief from 2011 to 2017, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in an interview on her show “The Source.” “It’s ridiculous; it’s just — it is untrue.”

Clapper said he has attorneys on call in case the Department of Justice (DOJ) attempts to pursue legal action against him.

“We’ve had sort of perpetual attorneys, since I left the government in 2017,” he told Collins.

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley is planning to run for Senate in North Carolina to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R), a source familiar confirmed to The Hill. 

The source said Whatley will run with President Trump’s blessing for the seat, confirming Politico, who first reportedthe news. The development comes after former RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, was openly considering a bid for the seat. Politico reported that she has decided against a run.

Whatley’s candidacy tees up one of the marquee Senate races of the midterms, as former Gov. Roy Cooper (D) reportedly plans to jump in next week. The Cook Political Report currently rates the seat as a “toss up.”

Read more here on this developing story.