Fed governor to sue Trump, saying he can't legally fire her

Financial markets worldwide have been rattled by President Donald Trump's announcement that he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move and sharp escalation in his effort to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

But Cook said she's not leaving, and her lawyer said Tuesday that she'll sue to keep her job. "President Trump purported to fire me 'for cause' when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so," Cook said in an emailed statement. "I will not resign."

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook effective immediately because of allegations by one of his supporters that she committed mortgage fraud. Market reaction was swiftly negative -- economists have long preferred independent central banks because they can more easily take unpopular steps to fight inflation and ensure the economic stability that is key to business confidence.

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Trump wishes Swift and Kelce 'a lot of luck'

Before asking Trump a serious question about visas for international students from China, a reporter said she just had to ask Trump about his reaction to the engagement of Swift and Kelce.

"I wish them a lot of luck. I think he's a great player, and he's a great guy, and I think she's a terrific person," Trump said.

Back in 2024 after Swift endorsed Trump's presidential rival Kamala Harris, the then presidential candidate posted online, "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!"

Lutnick loses his train of thought

Showering the president and each other with compliments is a huge part of these Cabinet, but Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick got so carried away with the effusive praise that he didn't finish explaining his point.

While talking about grants that the federal government gives colleges and universities, he turned to Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reference her department's lawsuit against Harvard and began to praise her saying, "It's so much fun to work with everyone here that we just have a blast."

"We're having fun together. This is the greatest Cabinet working for the greatest president," Lutnick said, but he never got back on track to finish his thought about university patents.

Trump says he's ready to go to court to try and carry out his ordered firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook

Cook responded to Trump saying he'd terminate her by preparing a court challenge against what she called the president's "illegal action."

Asked about that during his Cabinet meeting, Trump was dismissive, offering, "You always have legal fights."

"She seems to have had an infraction, and you can't have an infraction," he added of Cook.

He said "we have some very good people" in mind to replace Cook if she's removed.

Trump has long sought to expand capital punishment

Trump's idea to seek the death penalty for all murders in Washington is part of a long push by the Republican to expand capital punishment.

Most killings in Washington, however, are prosecuted under local law in D.C. Superior Court, where the stiffest punishment prosecutors can seek is life in prison since D.C. has outlawed the death penalty.

Prosecutors can bring murder charges in federal court in certain circumstances. And federal law spells out which crimes are eligible for the death penalty, such as the killing of a federal law enforcement official. It would be practically challenging for federal prosecutors to charge every D.C. murder and the killings might not fit under federal law in all cases.

For example, the Justice Department federally charged and are considering seeking the death penalty for the man accused of killing two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum.

Trump's administration carried out 13 federal executions during his first term, more than under any president in modern history, and the president has spoken frequently of expanding executions.

Rubio, who has many jobs, jokes that this Labor Day is the 'most meaningful' of his life

And it isn't because Marco Rubio is secretary of state and working for Trump, as he joked at the Cabinet meeting.

"This is the most meaningful Labor Day of my life as someone with four jobs," Rubio said. The room erupted in laughter.

In addition to his full-time job as America's chief diplomat, Rubio is also the interim national security adviser, acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and acting archivist of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Brazil's president slams 'insolence and insults' in an indirect swipe at Trump

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made the remarks during a cabinet meeting in capital Brasilia on Tuesday, after the U.S. leader enforced a 50% tariff hike on Brazilian imported goods that came into effect earlier this month.

"We don't accept insolence and insults, or petulance from anyone," Lula told his ministers, who, like Lula himself, were wearing "Brazil belongs to Brazilians" blue hats. "We are willing to sit at the table on equal terms. What we are not willing to do is be treated as if we were subordinates."

Trump has tied the tariff to the trial of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss.

Trump, who was indicted in 2023 for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, appears to identify with Bolsonaro.

Cabinet members joke about 'fitness challenge'

One recurring line throughout Trump's marathon Cabinet meeting is the fitness challenge to show off the physical prowess of the secretaries.

"Pete and Bobby" -- Hegseth at the Pentagon, Kennedy at HHS -- are active participants, but the leader is actually Scott Turner, the Housing and Urban Development secretary and former football player.

The challenge includes doing 100 push-ups and 50 pull-ups in less than 10 minutes.

But there are certainly other fitness tests other than those.

"I don't think Pete or Bobby could hold these sticks for two and a half hours," quipped Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, referring to the audio and camera operators in the Cabinet Room, who had been holding up their equipment for about two hours at this point.

Police investigate first homicide in DC since Aug. 13

A nearly two-week stretch without a homicide in Washington has ended.

Police in Washington are investigating after a 31-year-old D.C. man died in a shooting shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

Trump has highlighted the streak of days without a homicide amid his takeover of the city's police, at one point falsely claiming that it's "the first time in anybody's memory" that Washington went a week without a murder.

The district previously had similar periods without homicides this year, including 16 days from February to March.

The total number of reported crimes in Washington has dropped about 17% since Aug. 13 as compared to the 13 days prior to the takeover, though criminologists generally caution that data from short time frames is inconclusive.

Does Trump's Cabinet know Taylor Swift is engaged?

It's been less than 30 minutes since Taylor Swift announced her engagement to football player Travis Kelce, but Trump's Cabinet meeting has been going on for nearly an hour and a half and there's no indication anyone has clued the president and his secretaries in on the news.

It doesn't appear that anyone has their phones on the table and so they may not have seen the news.

Trump has repeatedly said this year that Swift is "no longer hot."

Trump calls for capital punishment for murder in nation's capital

Trump said, "we're going to be seeking the death penalty" in Washington, D.C., if someone kills someone in the nation's capital.

D.C. and nearly two dozen states, about half of the country, have abolished the death penalty.

Trump said capital punishment is a "very strong preventative."

The Death Penalty Information Center says studies have found no "meaningful evidence" that using the death penalty deters crime.

What causes autism? RFK Jr. promises September answer.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Trump to expect a "announcements" in September around his quest to find the cause of autism, the developmental disorder that affects the brain.

It's unclear what scientific studies will be used to support Kennedy's findings.

The health secretary had promised the president in April that he would undertake a "research effort" using "scientists from around the world" to determine the cause of the disorder, but the health department has not yet publicly launched such an effort.

Trump talked for 45 minutes

He's finally relented the floor to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his first Cabinet member to speak during the meeting.

Trump asks reporter to tell story of her mugging 2 years ago in DC

Iris Tao of Epoch Times told the president during the Cabinet meeting about being pistol-whipped while on her way to work on a Saturday morning two years ago after she refused to give her phone, wallet, laptop computer and other items to a masked assailant.

Trump and the White House are using stories like this to further the narrative that crime is rampant in the nation's capital and to justify deploying more than 2,000 National Guard troops and other federal law enforcement officers across the city.

Trump told Tao, "I bet you see a big difference in the streets right now."

She thanked Trump for the crackdown and said she feels "hopeful about DC again."

Trump cools off on bill name he coined

Trump branded his landmark tax law the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" -- but now he's not a big fan of the moniker.

"I'm not going to use the term 'great, big, beautiful," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. "That was good for getting it approved. But it's not good for explaining to people what it's all about."

Some corners of the White House are easing off the "big, beautiful" name and instead opting for "Working Families Tax Cuts."

Trump boasts about COVID-19 vaccine effort in front of vax-skeptic Health chief

As he was running down the list of accomplishments of his presidencies, Trump boasted about the success of Operation Warp Speed -- as his vaccine skeptic HHS leader sat near him.

Operation Warp Speed was an effort in Trump's first term that expedited the development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has effectively stopped development of the advancement of the mRNA vaccine, which were developed in response to the deadly 2020 pandemic.

"Operation Warp Speed, people say, is it one of the greatest achievements ever in politics, in the military?" Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. "Because it was almost a military procedure."

The president added that "everybody," including Russian President Vladimir Putin, said "Operation Warp Speed, what you did with that, nobody can believe it."

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Read more about Trump and vaccines

Trump again misleads on gas prices

President Trump again is making false claims about the price of gasoline, saying Tuesday that gas prices are down to about $2.25 per gallon. That is nearly a full dollar lower than the actual average prices as calculated by the AAA auto club.

Gas prices averages about $3.18 per gallon as of Tuesday, up 3 cents from a month ago but down from $3.35 last year at this time, AAA said.

At a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump again claimed without evidence that gas prices at some stations are as low as $2, a fact AAA and other groups dispute.

"We are not seeing any stations reported to us below $2/gal this morning,'′ said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at gasbuddy.com.

Wholesale prices also are above $2 per gallon, and "no stations sell gas at the wholesale price anyway.,'′ De Haan said on X.

Trump says Carolina furniture makers should teach their children and grandchildren because of promised tariffs

The president says tariffs are coming on furniture imports to help revitalize the domestic industry in North Carolina and South Carolina.

He said the state has the "most talented woodworkers that you've ever seen" but that the business was "stolen from us by others, not only China."

Trump didn't say when he would impose the tariffs but he encouraged woodworkers in those states to start teaching their children and grandchildren the art of furniture-making.

"Some of those incredible artists that I knew as young people, they're older people now," Trump said at the Cabinet meeting. "But they still have the talent and they have time left, but they're going to be teaching their sons and their daughters and their grandchildren and it's going to be a beautiful thing to see. It's going to happen like magic."

Trump: public jobs bad, private jobs good

Trump said the nation has added over half a million private jobs since his inauguration.

"These are the jobs that make money, create a better life," he said.

And while he says private company jobs are up, the number of public federal government jobs are decreasing. Trump bragged that he had laid off 84,000 federal workers.

Earlier in August, Trump fired the head of the agency that produces the monthly job figures after a report showed that hiring slowed in July and was weaker than previously expected.

Trump exaggerates about gas prices and domestic manufacturing production while praising his Cabinet members

The president opened his Cabinet meeting overstating the case for how U.S. manufacturing has improved during the first months of his second term.

He claimed gas prices are lower than they actually are at gas pumps. He lambasted one of his frequent environmental targets in windmills, and also talked about how domestic production for things like automobiles may soon improve because of his policies.

As Trump talked, Cabinet members silently listened. At one point, Trump acknowledged them.

"I hope this table gets the credit for what's happening, all of the credit," he said

The Cabinet meeting begins

After an over hour-long delay, the president began the meeting by referencing the upcoming Labor Day holiday, saying that "every policy of the Trump administration is designed to lift up the American worker."

He's flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

DNC withdraws resolution on Gaza

The Democratic National Committee leadership has withdrawn a measure that would have clarified the party's position on the Israel-Hamas war.

A resolution backed by DNC leadership, including Chair Ken Martin, was approved unanimously during Tuesday's meeting of the party's resolution committee. But after pushback from progressive members later in the meeting, Martin surprised those on both sides of the debate by withdrawing his resolution and calling instead for a task force to study the issue further.

"As we've seen there's divide in our party on this issue," Martin said. "I've decided today, at this moment, to listen ... so we can move forward united today and have the conversation."

The unexpected announcement came after the committee voted down a non-binding resolution from the party's progressive wing calling for an arms embargo and the suspension of military aid to Israel. Martin's version had called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and "the unconditional release of all hostages -- living and deceased -- held by Hamas."

It also called for "the secure and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance -- including food, water, medicine and shelter -- to civilians in Gaza" and reaffirmed the Democrats' support for a two-state solution.

The sponsor of the more progressive version, DNC member Allison Minnerly of Florida, said she was disappointed by Martin's decision. Martin did not outline a timeline for bringing a new resolution back to the full membership for a vote, but the group will not meet again for several months.

Deploying troops in Washington, D.C., could cost taxpayers $1 million a day

That's according to Katherine Kuzminski, director of studies at The Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan group that researches national security issues. The estimate is based on the per-troop daily cost from 2021, when National Guard troops responded to the Jan. 7 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

States normally pay their guard members and then get reimbursed by the federal government. If Trump follows through on his vow to send National Guard troops to other cities like New York, Chicago or Baltimore over the objections of their governors, he would likely put the guard under his command and have the federal government pay troops directly.

The Pentagon told The Associated Press this week that it won't know the cost until any mission concludes.

Duffy threatens funding over trucker English rules

California, Washington and New Mexico could lose millions of dollars of federal funding if they continue failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.

An investigation launched after a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver in the country illegally who made an illegal U-turn on Aug. 12 found what Duffy called significant failures in the way all three states are enforcing rules that took effect in June after one of Trump's executive orders.

"This is about keeping people safe on the road. Your families, your kids, your spouses, your loved ones, your friends. We all use the roadway, and we need to make sure that those who are driving big rigs -- semis -- can understand the road signs, that they've been well trained," Duffy said.

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Read more on the trucker English funding threat

Cook will sue the Trump administration to keep her job

Fed governor Lisa Cook's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Trump "has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook."

"His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis," Lowell added. "We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action."

Trump said late Monday that he would fire Cook after a supporter of his alleged she committed mortgage fraud in 2021, before she was appointed to the Fed.

Americans' view on the economy declines as job anxiety grows

It's the eighth straight month of growing anxiety over a weakening job market.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index ticked down by 1.3 points to 97.4 in August, down from July's 98.7. A measure of short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell by 1.2 points to 74.8, remaining significantly below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. And consumers' assessments of their current economic situation also fell modestly, to 131.2 in August from 132.8 in July.

While the unemployment and layoffs remain historically low, there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor market and mounting evidence that people are having difficulty finding jobs.

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Read more about declining American consumer confidence

Sticker shock looms for consumers of cheap imports

U.S. consumers have gotten used to shopping the world without paying customs duties on the international packages they receive from big e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu, specialty shops and businesses that sell goods through online marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy and eBay. That era is about to end.

Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the United States as Trump seeks to make the nation less dependent on foreign goods and reset global trade with tariffs. His executive order eliminates the widely used "de minimis" customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less starting Friday, nearly two years earlier than the deadline set in his tax and spending law. Such shipments could be charged up to 50% of their declared value or, for the next six months, up to $200 per parcel.

"Consumers are going to be shocked," Alison Layfield, a vice president at ePost Global.

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Here are some factors to keep in mind when shopping online to avoid a surprise customs bill.

Wisconsin next up on VP's swing-state tour to promote Trump tax and spending law

Vice President JD Vance is set to touch down in La Crosse, in the western part of the state, on Thursday to talk about the law at a steel fabrication facility.

Vance has already visited the swing states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, his home state, to discuss the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

'A user's guide on how to lie'

Two key documents from the Trump administration aimed at revoking the long-standing finding that climate change is dangerous were filled with errors, bias and distortions, according to dozens of scientists surveyed by The Associated Press.

One argues that sea ice decline in the Arctic has been small, citing data from the Antarctic. Data presented on climate-related crop losses and wildfires were misapplied or unreliable. Scientists noted basic errors, but the most common critique from the vast majority of the 64 who answered AP's questions was that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy ignored, twisted or cherry-picked information to manufacture doubt about the severity and threat of climate change.

"It is almost a user's guide on how to lie with figures," said Jennifer Marlon, director of data science at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

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Read more about the AP's survey of scientists on the Trump climate change reports

Melania Trump announces nationwide AI contest for students

The goal is to help students get comfortable with artificial intelligence tools and to work together using them to solve community issues.

The first lady announced the Presidential AI Challenge in a short video. Students in grades K-12 can sign up starting Tuesday at AI.gov.

An adult or teacher must sponsor a team. Submissions are due by the end of December. Regional competitions will be held in the spring, followed by a White House event with the national winners.

The contest was called for under an executive order Trump signed in April.

GOP congressman says redistricting is a 'viable way' to stop Trump impeachment

Missouri Rep. Mark Alford says mid-decade redistricting has "really kind of opened the avenue for this to be a viable way to gain seats."

Speaking after a town hall meeting in Bolivar, Missouri, Monday, the two-term Republican said he didn't want to comment on the Trump-backed initiative to redraw Missouri's boundaries.

But then he said: "We are looking to retain every seat we can, and grow our majority. Because if we don't, come Jan. 3, 2027, everything will be about the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump and I don't want to see that again."

Black leaders call Trump's firing of Cook 'racist, misogynistic, and unlawful'

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries noted that Lisa Cook is "the first Black woman ever to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors."

"Donald Trump is trying to remove her without a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong," Jeffries said.

The Congressional Black Caucus also condemned Trump's unprecedented actions: "In the 111-year history of the Federal Reserve, no president has ever attempted to remove a governor of the central bank until now."

"Let's be clear: this is a racist, misogynistic, and unlawful attack on the integrity and independence of the Federal Reserve," the caucus said in a statement.

Wall Street steadies, global markets sink on Trump effort to control Federal Reserve

Wall Street has recovered some overnight losses in response to Trump's announcement that he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

Futures for the Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 swung notably lower and most markets overseas declined significantly after Trump announced he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. They recovered some overnight losses after Cook responded by refusing to leave and hiring a lawyer to prevent what she called an illegal action.

"Trump's decision to remove a sitting Fed governor has shaken confidence in the institution that underpins the world's financial system," Nigel Green of the financial advisory deVere Group, said in a commentary.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook hires prominent lawyer

Trump's effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will probably go to the Supreme Court and could disrupt financial markets. Stock futures declined slightly late Monday, as did the dollar against other major currencies.

Cook has retained Abbe Lowell, a prominent Washington attorney. Lowell said Trump's "reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis or legal authority," adding, "We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action."

If Trump succeeds, it could erode the political independence considered critical to the central bank's ability to ensure economic stability. And if bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed can control inflation, they will demand higher rates, pushing up borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business loans.

World shares sink after Trump escalates central bank feud

Following Trump's Monday night announcement that he would be firing Cook, Germany's DAX lost 0.5% to 24,148.16, while the CAC 40 in Paris slumped 1.6% to 7,716.55. Britain's FTSE 100 gave up 0.6% to 9,269.40. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% lower. In Asian trading, most benchmarks declined.

Democrats demand Trump resume a major offshore wind project

A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future after the Trump administration abruptly halted construction. The states' Democratic governors, lawmakers and union workers called Monday for the president to reverse course.

Judge rules Utah's congressional map must be redrawn for the 2026 elections

The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state's congressional boundaries after a judge ruled Monday that the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren't drawn to favor any party.

What to know about cashless bail after Trump's executive order

Trump's executive order Monday threatens to withhold or revoke federal funding to local and state governments that offer cashless bail, arguing that it is a threat to public safety.

"No cash. Come back in a couple of months, we'll give you a trial. You never see the person again," he said, moments before signing the order.

The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to submit a list of jurisdictions that have "substantially eliminated cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release from custody for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety and order" within 30 days.

Opponents of cash bail describe it as a penalty on poverty. They say the wealthy can pay their way out of jail to await trial while those with fewer financial resources have to sit it out behind bars. Supporters have argued that bail is a time-honored way to ensure defendants who are released from jail show up for court proceedings. And they warn that violent criminals can commit other crimes while released pending trial.

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Read more about cashless bail and what to know about the executive order

Trump moves to ban flag burning despite Supreme Court ruling that Constitution allows it

Trump Monday signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people for burning the American flag, an activity that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is legitimate political expression protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The order the Republican president signed in the Oval Office acknowledged the court's 5-4 ruling in a case from Texas in 1989, but said there is still room to prosecute flag burning if it "is likely to incite imminent lawless action" or amounts to "fighting words."

"You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don't get 10 years, you don't get one month," Trump said. "You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately."

The order also called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue litigation to challenge the 1989 ruling, aiming to return the issue to the Supreme Court, which today is much more conservative than the makeup of the court in 1989 and includes three judges Trump appointed.

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Read more about the executive order

Why the Federal Reserve has historically been independent of the White House

The Fed wields extensive power over the U.S. economy. By cutting the short-term interest rate it controls -- which it typically does when the economy falters -- the Fed can make borrowing cheaper and encourage more spending, accelerating growth and hiring. When it raises the rate -- which it does to cool the economy and combat inflation -- it can weaken the economy and cause job losses.

Economists have long preferred independent central banks because they can more easily take unpopular steps to fight inflation, such as raise interest rates, which makes borrowing to buy a home, car, or appliance more expensive.

The importance of an independent Fed was cemented for most economists after the extended inflation spike of the 1970s and early 1980s. Former Fed Chair Arthur Burns has been widely blamed for allowing the painful inflation of that era to accelerate by succumbing to pressure from President Richard Nixon to keep rates low heading into the 1972 election. Nixon feared higher rates would cost him the election, which he won in a landslide.

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Read more about the relationship between the Fed and the White House