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‘Full Time Babysitter’: Treasury Secretary Urges Caution After Trump Fed Chair Threat

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President Donald Trump’s pre-dawn post shook investors’ confidence on Thursday, as he railed against the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and called for his “termination.” Hours later, the White House insisted the President was not suggesting he would be firing Jerome Powell, whom he installed during his first term, but the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly is urging caution.

Pointing to news about the European Central Bank, Trump at 6:12 AM exploded:

“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!'” Trump exclaimed.

“Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS,” he insisted, although some consumers may disagree. “Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now.”

“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” Trump concluded.

READ MORE: ‘Stunning Admission’: GOP Senator Says Colleagues ‘Are All Afraid’ of ‘Retaliation’

The White House quickly jumped in.

“A White House official tells me today this post should not be seen as a threat to fire Powell,” reported CNBC’s Megan Cassella. “It’s more of an airing, or re-airing, of grievances and frustrations with the central bank chair. And the President is looking forward to the scheduled end of Powell’s term.”

Reuters reported that Christopher Hodge, Chief US Economist for Natixis, said: “So previously I thought the odds were very much against Trump trying to remove Powell, but my confidence has faded. Trump seems more comfortable than expected with a slowing economy and equity volatility and the tariff policies are much more onerous than anticipated, even if they have been walked back a bit. The bottom line is the parameters of potential policy outcomes has widened and while I still think Powell will be retained until his term ends, I am less certain that I was previously.”

Journalist and author Charles Fishman called Trump’s post, “a frontal attack on Jay Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, whose independence is enshrined in law—and who is one of the few forces holding the US economy together in the face of White House tariff chaos.”

“Trump can’t fire Powell. But is shouting like he might try,” Fishman writes.

Trump may try, but some say he may need help from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, barely two weeks ago, reports stated Bessent was thinking of quitting.

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may be planning to cut and run after Donald Trump’s disastrous ‘reciprocal tariff’ announcement earlier this week,” The New Republic reported. “During an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Friday, contributor Stephanie Ruhle reported that the key Cabinet member is already looking for an escape hatch.”

“My sources say that Scott Bessent is kind of the odd man out here and, in the inner circle that Trump has, he’s not even close to Scott Bessent or listening to him,” Ruhle said, TNR reported. “Some have said to me, he’s looking for an exit door to try to get himself to the Fed, because in the last few days he’s really hurting his own credibility and history in the markets.”

Last week, things apparently got more heated.

READ MORE: ‘Strategically Disastrous’: How JD Vance Is Harming America’s Foreign Relations

“Wall Street prizes stability, which is why Trump’s shambolic tariff rollout has wiped out trillions of dollars of market value,” Vanity Fair reported last week. “Executives say the on-again, off-again tariffs are evidence of a civil war engulfing Trump’s economic policy team. According to sources close to the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have been at odds over a tariff plan, with Bessent urging discipline and Lutnick encouraging Trump to go big. ‘The real war is between Howard and Scott,’ one of the sources said.”

And now, Bessent reportedly is  urging caution on firing Powell.

According to a Politico report on Thursday, Bessent “has repeatedly cautioned White House officials that any attempt to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would risk destabilizing financial markets, according to two people close to the White House granted anonymity to share details of private discussions.”

Adding some insight, Politico notes that “Bessent’s private message reinforces what President Donald Trump already knows but comes as the president’s anger with the Fed chair is growing because Powell hasn’t shown signs that he will cut interest rates soon. It also comes against the backdrop of widespread market turmoil over the administration’s far-reaching trade war.”

Not only has Powell not cut interest rates — which he historically has been very caution on doing — but CNN Business reported Thursday afternoon that mortgage rates just saw “the largest one-week jump” min over a year, and are have now climbed to the “highest level in two months as Trump’s tariffs continue to rock markets.”

Responding to Politico’s report, hedge fund founder and chief investment officer Spencer Hakimian writes, “Bessent hating his new job of being a full time babysitter. Just cleaning up Trump, Lutnick, Navarro, etc. diaper all day long.”

READ MORE: ‘Willful Disregard’: Judge Finds ‘Probable Cause’ to Hold Trump Admin in Criminal Contempt

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CRIME

Anti-Black Hate Crimes Per Capita Highest in Pacific Northwest Than Rest of U.S.

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June 16, 2026

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seattle black lives matter garden

All three states considered to be the Pacific Northwest of the United States are ranked in the top 10 when it comes to anti-Black hate crimes.

The new study produced by the Mendoza Law Firm, which specializes in immigration, ranked all 50 states based on the average number of anti-Black hate crimes per 100,000 members of the Black population. While Vermont ranked No. 1 in the study with 240.6 crimes per 100,000 people, there are only 7,316 Black residents of the state.

Of the Pacific Northwest states, Oregon ranked the highest—No. 2 overall—with 121 crimes per 100,000 people. Idaho ranked No. 4 with 91 crimes per 100,000 people, and Washington state ranked No. 9 with 44.4 crimes. However, Washington had the highest Black population out of the top 10 states with 311,435 residents. Oregon has the second-highest of the top 10 with 82,453 residents.

READ MORE: DeSantis Using Same White Nationalist Rhetoric as El Paso Mass Shooter Who Slaughtered 23 in Anti-Hispanic Hate Crime

Conversely, many southern states ranked at the bottom. Mississippi has the lowest number of anti-Black hate crimes with just 0.9 crimes per 100,000 people, followed by Arkansas and Florida with 1.6, and Georgia and Louisiana with 1.7. Though these southern states have much larger Black populations—for example, of the bottom five, all but Arkansas have well over 1 million Black residents with Georgia and Florida both having over 3 million—the number of hate crimes in those states is also lower than both Washington and Oregon.

The study looked at FBI anti-Black hate crime statistics between 2021 and 2025. The number of hate crimes over these five years was then averaged and compared versus the average Black population between 2020 and 2024.

While things may look bleak for the Pacific Northwest, it’s worth noting that in Washington, the number of hate crimes has steadily dropped over the past five years. Washington had 185 crimes in 2021, which dropped to 107 crimes in 2025. Oregon and Idaho’s numbers stayed relatively steady, however; Oregon had between 94 and 105 crimes during that five-year span. Idaho had a low of 7 crimes in 2021, but that jumped up to between 13 and 18 for the following four years.

Washington state is in the process of starting a hate crime hotline. The service will fully launch at the start of 2027, however, the pilot program launched in July 2025 will continue until the end of this year, according to Cleveland Jewish News. The hotline is designed to provide support to victims rather than receive incident reports. It’s under the purview of the state’s Attorney General’s Office, which does not have the authority to investigate crimes. However, it can provide victims assistance in reporting hate crimes to police. Police are also compelled to provide victims the hotline’s number and website for support.

Image by Seattle Department of Transportation via Flickr.

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Activist Minister Slams Regal Movie Theaters for Running War ‘Propaganda’ Before Films

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June 16, 2026

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The Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie, an activist minister with the United Church of Christ, has called on the Regal Entertainment chain of movie theaters to stop running a Department of Defense promotional video before films.

In an open letter posted to social media, Currie says that when he went to see the latest Steven Spielberg film Disclosure Day at a Portland, Oregon theater, he was “forced to watch an advertisement touting the leadership of Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and the so-called Department of War.”

“It was like we were at a movie theater in Russia or North Korea. Democracies do not do this. The audience loudly booed,” Currie wrote.

READ MORE: Trump Promotes Chilling Iran War Op-Ed Warning of What Could Be Coming Next

“We routinely see videos at Regal promoting careers in the military. This was not that,” he continued. “This was an advertisement promoting the political views of Donald Trump. It was not promoting our military. It was not promoting America’s greatest strength: our diversity. This was a MAGA campaign commercial highlighting a fake cabinet agency, the Department of War, which is actually called the Defense Department, and the MAGA America First platform.”

The video run before the film was likely this video first released to YouTube on Saturday. The video description calls it the first advertisement by the DoD since it was re-christened the Department of War. The clip touts President Donald Trump’s “Peace Through Strength” slogan. It features footage of soldiers intercut with images of Trump while audio of a speech by the president plays in the background.

The video was also shown during Sunday evening’s Freedom 250 UFC Fight at the White House.

“Regal’s decision to show this video can only be construed as an endorsement of Donald Trump, his failed war in Iran, and the white Christian nationalism advocated by Secretary Hegseth,” Currie wrote. “Again, I must demand that Regal stop showing this video immediately. Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Currie has been an outspoken progressive activist for years. In 2019, he even received death threats for his work, according to the Oregonian. Florida dentist Richard Glenn Kantwill told Currie, as well as other public figures, he would torture and kill him. Kantwill also called Currie an “immoral degenerate” and a fraud.

In 2025, Kantwill was sentenced to two years in prison for making the threats after pleading guilty in court.

Image by Staff Sgt. Michael L. Casteel via the U.S. Army.

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‘I Feel So Bad for Him’: George Conway Trolls Trump Amid White House Attack

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20 hours ago

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June 15, 2026

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Longtime Never-Trump critic turned Democratic congressional candidate George Conway is mocking President Donald Trump in a campaign video and a social media post while the White House targets him in a highly critical attack.

“Hi, Donald, it’s me, George Conway,” Conway, a conservative attorney, says in his video. “I cost you 88 f —— million dollars, and I’ve only just gotten started.”

“I know you like putting your name on everything from your plane to the Kennedy Center,” he continues. “But the only thing your name is gonna be left on when I’m done with you is the orange jumpsuit you’re going to have to wear in prison.”

“And you see that building back there?” he says over an image of Congress. “That’s where we’re gonna hold your third and final impeachment trial. The one that’s gonna put you away for good. And I’m gonna enjoy every minute of that.”

“We’ve got a lot of serious problems in this country, including, and especially, the price of gas — which is hitting $6 a gallon in some places, and that’s all because of you, Donald Trump. We can’t fix those problems until we impeach you and convict you. And that’s why I’m running for Congress.”

In a statement to Fox News, the White House blasted Conway.

“Lightweight George Conway is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person,” a spokesperson said. “His severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome has melted his brain and made him crazy in the head.”

Conway is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project and was considered for a post as Trump’s Solicitor General at the start of his first administration. Conway withdrew his name from consideration.

On social media, Conway further mocked President Trump.

“Here’s our TV ad that poor wittle Donnie (@realDonaldTrump) didn’t wike and had to compwain to Fox ‘News’ about,” Conway wrote. “Sad! I feel so bad for him.”

Conway is running for a reliably blue seat in Manhattan.

“Conway, who previously lived in Bethesda, Md., before launching his congressional campaign, faces an uphill battle in the race for the heavily Democratic seat vacated by longtime Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who is retiring,” Fox News reported.

Earlier this year, Conway warned, “The way things are going in America, it should be clear we don’t have much time.”

“We certainly don’t have three years,” he said in February. “We need to help ourselves by pushing for impeachment and removal as hard as we can and carrying it out as soon as humanly possible.”

 

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