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Donald Trump responded to a jobs report by threatening to stop trading with dozens of countries unless the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates. The federal prosecutor who investigated an ICE agent for shooting a man through a closed door has been fired and is now under investigation himself. The Trump administration announced it will break ground on a 250-foot “triumphal arch” in Washington before getting approval. And the official White House website is hosting arcade games where users round up immigrants for deportation and stack bricks to build a border wall.
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A good jobs report used to be good news.
Trump posted on Truth Social Friday morning demanding that Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, his own appointee, lower interest rates. He told the board to “get smart” and “BE PATRIOTS for a change,” then warned he would stop trading with every country the United States has a deficit with if rates are not cut.
The U.S. buys more than it sells to dozens of countries, including China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and most of Europe. Trump’s threat would shut down trade with virtually every major partner the country has.
Usually, strong jobs reports reduce the chances of rate cuts. Inflation remains above the Fed’s 2 percent target, and the suspiciously strong labor market gives officials even more reasons to keep rates on hold or even raise them.
Warsh told an audience of economists at Jackson Hole just last week that the Fed still has “work to do” on inflation, which most analysts took as a warning that rates are more likely to go up than down. Then again, wait for the revised August jobs report to come out to pass judgement.
Sponsored Kalshi poll: Who will be Trump’s next Press Secretary?
The only thing this DOJ prosecutes faster than immigrants is its own attorneys.
The Department of Justice has fired the federal prosecutor who fought to bring civil rights charges against the ICE agent who shot a man through a front door. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans is now under investigation for allegedly leaking information about the case.
Christian Castro had been chasing another man after a traffic stop when he and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis ran into a home and shut the door behind them. Castro fired through the closed door despite knowing that several people were inside, including two children, and ended up striking Sosa-Celis.
Evans wanted to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law, the same civil rights charges used against the officers who killed George Floyd that would have carried serious jail time. Instead, the DOJ told him to limit the case to a false statements charge, which carries far less severe consequences.
In an email to the victims’ lawyers, Evans said he had objected to the decision in the strongest possible terms. That’s the last time a federal prosecutor in this administration puts anything honest in an email.
Most people who commission monuments to themselves at least wait until they’re dead.
The Trump administration announced Thursday that excavation work on the president’s planned “triumphal arch” in Washington will begin within two weeks. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote on X that this would be “one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture.”
The National Capital Planning Commission granted preliminary approval in July, but can’t give final approval until October 1 at the earliest. A required historic preservation review has not been completed, and the FAA is still reviewing whether a 250-foot structure two miles from Reagan National Airport would interfere with air traffic.
Three veterans and an architectural historian have also sued the administration, arguing the project requires authorization by Congress. They accuse the White House of ignoring advice on size and location, including the lead architect’s push to build the arch somewhere else.
Asked by reporters about the size of the project, Trump didn’t give details, but confirmed he wants the project to be the biggest arch in the world. That should hold up fine in the FAA review.
The White House has finally found a project that matches this administration’s maturity level.
The Trump administration launched a series of arcade-style video games on the official White House website Thursday, centered on deporting immigrants. Players earn points for building a wall and catching people at the border.
A game called “Build The Wall,” modeled on Tetris, asks users to stack bricks and “hold the line” against a “zombie border siege.” The Tetris company said in a response on Instagram that it had not been involved in the creation of the game and that it takes copyright infringement very seriously.
In “Rio Run,” which rips off the classic Snake game, players assume the role of an older white man in a blue tie who patrols the Rio Grande, rounding up “crossers.” When a person is caught by a player, they are immediately dressed in orange and follow the player character. Other games on the site allow players to fly a bald eagle over the National Mall, and fill a virtual Trump savings account by catching falling diamonds and cash.
On social media, people mostly wanted to know who authorized spending government money on a Snake clone while American soldiers are dying in Iran.
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Missouri and Maryland Supreme Courts Hand Democrats a Pair of Redistricting Wins. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a citizens’ petition with more than 300,000 signatures triggered a referendum and blocked the use of a new Republican-drawn congressional map. Missouri’s 2022 maps will remain in place for November, a big win for Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, whose reconfigured district would have been 18 points more favorable to Trump. The Maryland state supreme court ruled that a Democratic-backed constitutional amendment must go on the November ballot, overturning two lower court rulings that had blocked it. If voters approve it, that would pave the way for Maryland Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional maps before the 2028 elections.
** Pentagon Quietly Reverses Mandatory Testosterone Screening Policy.** The Pentagon on Wednesday published clinical guidelines for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s mandatory testosterone screening program for troops 30 and older. By Thursday, the document and a statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell had been removed from the website. A Pentagon official told Reuters that the guidance was temporarily rescinded to allow for updates, and that the document was only a draft. Medical experts and the Endocrine Society have questioned whether there is enough evidence to support routine screening for testosterone, and doctors have noted that testosterone therapy suppresses the body’s natural production of the hormone, and it can be difficult to stop once it is started.
** Andrew Tate and His Brother Tristan Indicted in Romania on Multiple Charges. **Romanian prosecutors on Friday charged Andrew Tate with trafficking minors, sex with a minor, money laundering and witness tampering. His brother Tristan was charged with complicity. Prosecutors said the brothers recruited a 15-year-old girl from their hometown in England in 2012, posed as being in a relationship with her to lure her to Romania, and earned over $1.2 million from her webcam activity over nearly a decade. The Tates are in a Miami jail fighting extradition to Britain where they face separate rape charges. Tate once claimed he moved to Romania because the police there were more lenient, which was just one of the many things he’s gotten wrong.
Offshore Wind Turbines Are Accidentally Creating Thriving Marine Ecosystems. Engineers have laid 54 steel monopile foundations on the Atlantic seabed southeast of Long Island for the Empire Wind 1 project, and researchers are finding the structures are turning what used to be barren sand into something that functions like a reef. In the nearby South Fork Wind project, scientists watched lobsters, black sea bass, mussels, and Jonah crabs colonize the foundations and the rock layers around them in 18 months. Hard surfaces are rare on sandy ocean floors, and marine life appears to move toward them quickly once construction noise subsides.
