Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of the Federal Reserve, accusing it of “moving like quicksand” compared to Germany’s central bank, despite insisting the US economy is “strong”, refuting analysts' fears arecession is imminent and backing away from tax cuts.
The attack follows the president’s address to the American Veterans 75th National Convention in Kentucky on Wednesday evening, where he joked about awarding himself the Medal of Honor and trailed the idea of dumping thousands of captured Isis fighters on Europe.
That speech followed a particularly wild day for Mr Trump in which he retweeted praise from an evangelical broadcaster likening the affection in which he is held by Israeli Jews to “the second coming of God”, referred to himself as “the chosen one” in discussion with reporters and labelled the prime minister of Denmark “nasty” over her refusal to consider selling Greenland to him.
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Casey Tolan of the East Bay Times noticed that a GOP fundraising group was selling shirts that feature Greenland as part of the US. It looks like they've either sold out or accepted that Greenland absolutely is not for sale, because the shirts don't appear on the group's website anymore.
A new poll has found that approximately six out of 10 Americans - or 62 per cent - actively disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance. According to the survey for AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, just 36 per cent approve of the work he's doing.
For Indy Voices, DC reporter Andrew Feinberg tells the story of his asking Trump about those inflammatory comments on American Jews.
Trump has been busy over the last two days insisting his remarks about American Jews who vote Democrat being "disloyal" were not antisemitic.
While Jewish convert Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have so far conspicuously failed to come to his defence, The Washington Post's video editor, JM Reiger, has assembled a handy compilation of similar remarks by the president on the same theme.
Here's a reminder of the response to his words from America's Jewish community.
While Sean Spicer's going on Dancing with the Stars - with the surprise backing of Queer Eye's culture man Karamo Brown - his successor as press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is joining Fox News as a contributor.
This is just the latest example of cross-pollination between the administration and the president's favourite broadcaster:
Sanders will make her debut on Fox and Friends on 6 September, where she will no doubt face a barage of softball questions about her White House tenure.
(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty)
Iceland's prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir is ducking out of a meeting with Mike Pence next month, preferring to attended a trade union conference in Sweden, but insists it is not an act of Scandinavian solidarity with Denmark against the Trump administration.
Clark Mindock reports.
How much longer has Jerome Powell got in the chair? His days are surely numbered at this rate.
Here's a list of all the women Trump has called "nasty", from Meghan Markle to Mette Frederiksen.
Even Fox pundit Geraldo Rivera has had enough.
Great front cover on The New York Daily News this morning.
They're clearly enjoying themselves at the moment.
Orange Trump-shaped ecstasy pills are doing the rounds in Florida, according to local police.
A little more on another of Trump's distrubing lines from yesterday: his contention, originally, offered as a joke, that he might serve up to 14 years as president.
Having dropped out of the 2020 race, John Hickenlooper has announced he is running for the Senate instead.
Here's his new campaign video.
After a good night's sleep, Trump is back to bashing the Fed over his coffee and toast.
Also for Voices, James Moore argues Trump has crossed the line and is now behaving like a dictator.
For Indy Voices, Jay Caruso warns Trump's spat with Denmark could have serious diplomatic repercussions.
The 538 members of the electoral college, who select the US president and vice president, are not bound to follow the popular vote of their states, according to a new ruling by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The decision comes after a group of Colorado members tried to stop Trump becoming president in 2016 by uniting behind consensus candidate John Kasich, ignoring the state's popular vote in favour of Hillary Clinton.
The ruling is likely to prompt further criticism of a controversial system often attacked as outmoded.
Zamira Rahim has this report.
Trump's big day of distraction yesterday was surely intended to try and shift the news agenda away from the economy.
The president's torrent of controversial remarks happened to coincide with the news that the federal budget deficit is expected to balloon to more than $1trn (£823bn) in the next fiscal year under the first projections taking into account the big budget deal that Trump and Congress reached this summer, the Congressional Budget Office reported.
The president's torrent of controversial remarks happened to coincide with the news that the federal budget deficit is expected to balloon to more than $1trn (£823bn) in the next fiscal year under the first projections taking into account the big budget deal that Trump and Congress reached this summer, the Congressional Budget Office reported.
The return of $1 trillion annual deficits comes despite Trump's vow when running for office that he would not just balance the budget but pay down the entire national debt.
"The nation's fiscal outlook is challenging," said Phillip Swagel, director of the nonpartisan CBO. "Federal debt, which is already high by historical standards, is on an unsustainable course."
The office on Wednesday upped this year's deficit projection by $63bn (£52bn) and the cumulative deficit projection for the next decade by $809bn (£666bn). The higher deficit projections come even as the CBO reduced its estimate for interest rates, which lowers borrowing costs, and as it raised projections for economic growth in the near term.
The number crunchers at CBO projected that the deficit for the current fiscal year will come to $960bn (790bn). In the next fiscal year, which begins 1 October, it will exceed $1 trillion.
The CBO said the budget deal signed into law earlier this month, which took away the prospect of a government shutdown in October and the threat of deep automatic spending cuts, would boost deficits by $1.7trn (£1.4trn) over the coming decade. Increased spending on disaster relief and border security would add $255bn (£210bn). Downward revisions to the forecast for interest rates will help the picture, trimming $1.4 trn (£1.15trn).
Swagel said the federal debt will rise even higher after the coming decade because of the nation's aging population and higher spending on health care. To put the country on sustainable footing, Swagel said, lawmakers will have to increase taxes, cut spending or combine the two approaches.
The CBO projects that the economy will expand more slowly, from 2.3 per cent this year to 1.8 per cent on average in the next four years. The assumption reflects slower growth in consumer spending and government purchases, as well as the effect of trade policies on business investment. It also projects the unemployment rate will remain close to its current level of 3.7 per cent through the end of 2020 and then rises to 4.6 per cent by the end of 2023.
The CBO's estimate is the first to reflect the hard-won budget and debt deal signed into law earlier this month.
"The recent budget deal was a budget buster, and now we have further proof. Both parties took an already unsustainable situation and made it much worse," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the private Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
MacGuineas said lawmakers should ensure the legislation they enact is paid for and redouble efforts to control the growth in health care costs and restore the solvency of the Social Security programme. Her organisation is focused on educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact.
Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway pivoted to the president's desire to fund the military and other programs when asked about the report.
"We're always concerned about the deficit," Conway said. "We also need to fund a lot of the projects and programmes that are important to this country."
AP
AP
Hillary Clinton is getting a lot of love - three years too late, alas - after replying to this tweet from rapper Lizzo, which replaces the national anthem at a 2016 presidential debate with her track "Truth Hurts".
Here's Lowenna Waters to explain.
The news that Trump's former press secretary Sean Spicer will appear on the upcoming season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, America's answer to Strictly Come Dancing, has provoked an angry outrcry on Twitter, of which the below is fairly indicative.
Here's Charlotte Clymer for Indy Voices on why Spicer belongs on a blacklist, not a ballroom floor.
