All posts tagged: elections

Trump slams Jerome Powell after Fed holds rates steady

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[ad_1] U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference following the issuance of the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement on interest rate policy in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 18, 2025. Kevin Mohatt | Reuters President Donald Trump ripped into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, calling him “destructive,” after the central bank kept interest rates steady on Wednesday. Trump said “Too Late” Powell is costing the United States “hundreds of billions of dollars” by not cutting rates, leveling a familiar criticism against the Fed chair who has repeatedly ignored Trump’s pressure campaign to cut rates. “We should be 2.5 Points lower, and save $BILLIONS on all of Biden’s Short Term Debt,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. Trump also criticized Powell late Wednesday, calling him a “real dummy” in a near-midnight Truth Social post. Powell, whose term ends in May of 2026, said Wednesday that, “for the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policies.” Read more CNBC politics coverage …

PBS, NPR funding at risk as House votes on $9.4 billion in DOGE cuts

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[ad_1] U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson react during an Invest America Roundtable in the State Dining room, at the White House, in Washington, U.S., June 9, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters The House on Wednesday moved a step closer to approving President Donald Trump’s $9.4 billion spending cut package, which would codify some cuts originally proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency. The package would grant permission to the White House not to spend billions of dollars that had already been approved by Congress. The money would be clawed back from specific agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes federally appropriated grants to National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Although the Wednesday procedural vote passed largely along party lines, a final vote expected Thursday could see some resistance from House Republicans who are uneasy about the popular programs that are being targeted, like PBS and National Public Radio. Given House Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow Republican majority, he …

‘Trump accounts’ for newborns promoted by president, CEOs

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[ad_1] Dell Technologies pledged Monday to provide $1,000 for so-called Trump accounts for new children of its employees, matching what the government would contribute if the savings program for newborns delivered in the United States becomes law. CEO Michael Dell vowed to match the government’s seed money “dollar for dollar” for his employees’ kids during a roundtable event at the White House with President Donald Trump. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon also expressed support for the savings account plan, which is part of the massive Republican-backed budget bill moving through Congress. Once the bill is signed into law, “Goldman Sachs would be excited to further support” the initiative, said Solomon, without providing details. No other executives at the roundtable echoed Dell’s specific pledge. But they have all committed to contribute to the accounts of their employees’ kids at “a level appropriate to their company,” said Brad Gerstner, the CEO of Altimeter Capital and founder of Invest America, in a phone call with CNBC later Monday. More than half a dozen corporate leaders …

Trump touts anti-DEI changes in West Point address

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[ad_1] US President Donald Trump prepares to sign executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2025. Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images President Donald Trump touted his administration’s changes to the military during a commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that at times resembled a campaign-style speech. “You are the first West Point graduates of the golden age of America,” Trump, wearing his trademark red, ‘Make America Great Again’ hat, said to the graduating class. “This is the golden age, and you are going to lead the army to summits of greatness that has never reached before,” he added. During remarks that spanned almost an hour, Trump promoted an “America First” worldview and he touted the strength of the U.S. military, which he claimed credit for bolstering. He told the graduates they are becoming “officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known.” “And I know, because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the …

Trump praises election of Robert Prevost as pope

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[ad_1] President Donald Trump congratulated Robert Francis Prevost after he was elected Thursday as the first American-born pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, of Chicago, will be known as Pope Leo XIV. “It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country,” the president wrote. “I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!” Leo has not always had positive words for the U.S. president and his administration, however. A verified X account linked to the new pope shared an article in February criticizing Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, over his interpretation of Jesus’ teachings. “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” said the headline of the National Catholic Reporter article shared by Prevost’s account. Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards Source: Robert Prevost on X Vance in an X post Thursday afternoon congratulated …

Voters Approve Incorporation of SpaceX Hub as Starbase, Texas

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[ad_1] Members of a South Texas community that has served as the hub of Elon Musk’s rocket launch company, SpaceX, voted on Saturday to formally establish a new city called Starbase, fulfilling one of Mr. Musk’s long-held dreams. All but six of the 218 people who voted supported incorporating the city of Starbase, according to Cameron County, which administered the vote. There were 283 eligible voters, said Remi Garza, the elections administrator for the county. The community, known to locals as Boca Chica, covers about 1.5 square miles on a spit of land that brushes up against the Mexican border. SpaceX broke ground in the area in 2014, and it has since become the company’s central hub and launch site, as well as home to hundreds of its employees. On his social media platform, X, Mr. Musk has referred to the area as Starbase more than a dozen times in the past four years. “My primary home is literally a ~$50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,” Mr. Musk wrote …

Britain’s Tories brace for another electoral disaster – POLITICO

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[ad_1] And while this puts Badenoch in touching distance of Labour, some in her party believe this is a disappointing effort considering the near-disastrous first six months in government for Starmer. “She’s really struggling to find the right issues to attack the government on or to lead the political conversation,” said a Tory figure. “Contrast this to Farage, who is able to get ahead of big political moments and set the running — like on steel nationalization.” Badenoch has also attracted criticism for being unable to truly land blows on the government’s economic performance, particularly as the U.K.’s growth forecasts began to crater after November’s tax-raising budget. A recent Ipsos poll also put her personal approval rating as -26, which was well below both Starmer and Farage. Despite her early struggles, it is these local elections that may be the nadir of Badenoch’s young leadership. The worst is yet to come The Tories hold the vast majority of the 1,641 seats up for grabs next week, after the party’s strong performance in 2021, when they were …

Why policy professionals must adapt – POLITICO

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[ad_1] The need for new approaches to leadership education has never been more urgent. Policy professionals in the public sector and international institutions, as well as in business and civil society, must be equipped to lead responsibly, with foresight, agility and collaboration. Leaders who can take a holistic approach to problem-solving and innovate across sectors will be best equipped to tackle today’s complex, interconnected challenges. The need for new approaches to leadership education has never been more urgent. Policy professionals in the public sector and international institutions, as well as in business and civil society, must be equipped to lead responsibly, with foresight, agility and collaboration. Recognizing these pressing challenges, the EUI launched the Global Executive Master (GEM) — an executive program designed to transform policy professionals into the adaptive, agile and responsible leaders that today’s world demands. Welcoming its first cohort in September 2024, the GEM was conceived as a direct response to the rapidly changing policy landscape, offering an education model that blends academic excellence with real-world application. The blended structure combines flexible …

Congress has power, but question of will

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[ad_1] President Donald J Trump addresses a joint session of Congress as Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) listen in the Capitol building’s House chamber on Tuesday, March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images President Donald Trump is on a tariff spree — and it’s unclear if Congress will try to stop him even as it has the potential power to do so. Trump unveiled a nearly global tariff regime on Wednesday, slapping a blanket 10% duty on almost every country on the planet and saddling dozens of them with significantly higher tariff rates. The sweeping policy pronouncement promptly torpedoed stocks in the U.S. and around the world, ratcheting up recession fears and triggering aggressive retaliation by China. The new U.S. import duties follow other protectionist policies that Trump, who champions tariffs as an economic cure-all, has rolled out since taking office in January. Trump’s tariff powers Trump’s executive order implementing his so-called reciprocal tariffs says that he derives his authority …

For Some Autocrats, Even Rigged Elections Can Be Too Much of a Threat

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[ad_1] Over the last two decades, countries like Turkey, Hungary, Venezuela and India gave the world a lesson on how democracy can erode into “competitive authoritarianism” — a system in which elections are still meaningful, but leaders manipulate the rules to their own benefit, while systematically violating civil liberties. Now, we are starting to find out what happens when even partial democracy becomes a significant threat to the authoritarians. The latest example comes from Turkey, where protests are raging across the country after the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and the country’s most prominent opposition politician. The government accused him of accepting bribes, rigging bids and misusing citizens’ personal data; he has denied the charges. (Istanbul University also rescinded his diploma; holding a university degree is a requirement for Turkish presidential candidates.) Mr. Imamoglu’s growing popularity had made him a significant contender in Turkey’s next presidential election, and he was jailed pending his trial on the day of his party’s presidential primary. His arrest, experts say, sent a clear message that President …