Trump says Fed's Powell will be out in 8 months, calls him a 'numbskull'
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RTHK
25 minutes ago
- RTHK
Trump moves nuclear subs after Medvedev comments
Trump moves nuclear subs after Medvedev comments US President Donald Trump has been sparring with the former Russian president on social media. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines on Friday in an extraordinary escalation of what had been an online war of words with a Russian official over Ukraine and tariffs. Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's security council, have been sparring on social media for days. Trump's post on his Truth Social platform abruptly took that spat into the very real -- and rarely publicised -- sphere of nuclear forces. "Based on the highly provocative statements," Trump said he had "ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that." "Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances," the 79-year-old Republican posted. The nuclear sabre rattling came against the backdrop of a deadline set by Trump for the end of next week for Russia to take steps to ending the conflict in Ukraine or face unspecified new sanctions. Despite the pressure from Washington, Russia's onslaught against its pro-Western neighbour continues to unfold at full-bore. An AFP analysis on Friday showed that Russian forces had fired a record number of drones at Ukraine in July. Russian attacks have killed hundreds of Ukrainian civilians since June. A combined missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early Thursday killed 31 people, including five children, said rescuers. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said Friday that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his nearly three-and-a-half year invasion were "unchanged". Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join Nato. (AFP)
RTHK
25 minutes ago
- RTHK
Trump fires labour statistics chief
Trump fires labour statistics chief There is no evidence to back Trump's claims of data manipulation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump fired the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday after data showed weaker-than-expected employment growth in July and massive downward revisions to the prior two months' job counts. Trump accused McEntarfer, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, of faking the jobs numbers. There is no evidence to back Trump's claims of data manipulation by the BLS, the statistical agency that compiles the closely watched employment report as well as consumer and producer price data. The US economy created only 73,000 jobs in July. Data for May and June were revised sharply down to show 258,000 fewer jobs created than had been previously reported. "We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The BLS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, will serve as acting commissioner. The Trump administration's recent mass layoffs of federal government workers have raised concerns about the quality of U.S. economic data, long seen as the gold standard. Economists, labor unions and Democratic Party leaders criticized the firing as an attempt by the Trump administration to manipulate data and warned of lasting damage to the economy. "The civil servants at BLS are not political actors. They are professionals committed to producing accurate, independent data, regardless of who is in power," said American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley. McEntarfer had worked in the federal government for more than two decades under multiple administrations, Kelley said. Trump-aligned Republicans were supportive of the BLS firing, calling McEntarfer a "Biden holdover." DATA CREDIBILITY NOW IN QUESTION "Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act," said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute's Roosevelt Forward. "Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America's economic data is the foundation on which we've built the strongest economy in the world. Blinding the public about the state of the economy has a long track record, and it never ends well." Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick disbanded two expert committees that worked with the government to produce economic statistics. Lutnick has also floated the idea of stripping out government spending from the gross domestic product report, claiming "governments historically have messed with GDP." The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report, citing resource constraints. The government surveys about 121,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 631,000 individual worksites for the employment report. The response rate has declined from 80.3 percent in October 2020 to about 67.1 percent in July. "In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad," Trump wrote in another Truth Social post, without offering any evidence. Economists attributed the near-stall in job growth to Trump's trade and immigration policies. They said uncertainty about where Trump's tariff level would settle had made it difficult for businesses to plan long-term. More clarity has emerged as the White House has announced trade deals, but economists said the effective tariff rate was still the highest since the 1930s. Trump slapped dozens of trading partners with steep tariffs on Thursday, including a 35 percent duty on many goods from Canada. (Reuters)
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
US treasury secretary says meetings with Chinese have ‘advanced our talks'
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that meetings with his Chinese counterparts this week 'advanced our talks', but stopped short of confirming that US President Donald Trump approved the consensus that Beijing claimed they had reached. 'This week's negotiations in Stockholm have advanced our talks with China, and I believe that we have the makings of a deal that will benefit both of our great nations,' Bessent wrote on X. 'Thanks to the powerful bond between @POTUS and President Xi, I am optimistic about the path forward,' he added, without specifying where consensus stands following talks that ended on Tuesday. Since then, the US side is seen taking its time to confirm any new agreement reached with China, its third-largest trading partner, after neighbouring Mexico and Canada. China's vice-minister of commerce, Li Chenggang, who also took part in the talks, said before leaving Stockholm on Tuesday that a pause on new tariff increases – in place since May – would be extended, but neither Trump nor Bessent has made similar announcements. The Trump administration has instead delivered mixed messages.
