September 18, 2025 • 15 mins
Part 1: Antifa Designation
-
Announcement: Former President Donald Trump declared Antifa a major terrorist organization.
-
Context: The declaration followed the reported assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which Trump and allies framed as evidence of left-wing extremism.
-
Key Points:
-
Antifa is described as a loosely affiliated ideology, not a centralized group.
-
Trump emphasized “following the money” to identify who funds Antifa-related activities.
-
He suggested possible use of RICO laws to prosecute funders and agitators.
-
The administration anticipated legal challenges from groups like the ACLU and SPLC, citing constitutional concerns (free speech, assembly, due process).
-
Politically, the move was presented as a fight the White House was “happy to have,” despite opposition from Democrats.
-
Part 2: Federal Reserve Interest Rate Cuts
-
Background: Trump had been pushing the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates more aggressively, often criticizing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
-
Decision: The Fed cut rates by 0.25 percentage points, marking the first cut in Trump’s second term.
-
Significance:
-
The cut signals concern over a slowing job market and rising unemployment.
-
It also shows the Fed balancing two pressures: supporting jobs while controlling inflation.
-
Trump-aligned Fed members favored deeper cuts (0.5%).
-
The decision benefits borrowers (credit cards, home equity loans), though it’s not seen as a complete fix for the economy.
-
-
Framing in the podcast: The host portrays this as a major political and economic victory for Trump, arguing it validates his long-standing criticisms of Powell and the Fed.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Cars of the of Ice and Border Patrol by a
past administration, it became almost a culture. If somebody throws
a rocket, you do nothing. If somebody spits in your face,
do nothing. And I say, would they spit? You hit?
Do whatever you want.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Good Thursday morning.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Nice to have you with us on the forty seven
Morning Update, and we've got two big stories for you
coming out of the White House. First up, President Trump
is declared that Antifa is a major terrorist organization.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
What does this mean, Well, it's.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Going to have a big impact on those that are
funding the organization and finding out who they are. Also, finally,
Fed cuts rates by a quarter percent, signaling two more
cuts will be coming this year. And it means that
Donald Trump was right. Interest rates were far too high
(00:58):
and now the Fed's only having to admit it. All right,
I want to take a moment and I want to
talk to you real quick about what you can do
to help the people in Israel. It was nearly two
years ago that the terrorists murdered more than twelve hundred
innocent Israelis and they took two hundred and fifty hostages.
Today it seems as if the cries of the dead
(01:20):
and dying have been drowned out by the shouts of
anti Semitism and just pure hatred, not just in America
but around the world. And the most brutal attack on
Jewish people happened. It happened since the Holocaust, and now
it's like they're trying to act like it never happened.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Now.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
This is where it is important for us to stand
with the people in Israel. It's a movement of love
and support for the people of Israel, and this is
where I want you to get involved.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It is called Flags of Fellowship.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
It's being organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
On October fifth, you can stand with Israel and the
victims proudly. Just a few weeks away, millions across America
will prayerfully plant an Israeli flag in honor and solidarity
with the victims of October seventh, twenty twenty three, and
(02:15):
stand with their grieving families. You can be a part
of this movement as well. And that's what I love
about what IFCJ does. They're making sure that the world
knows there are lots of people of faith in this
country and friends and advocates for Israel.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
They're going to stand with them.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
You can get more information about how you can join
the Flags of Fellowship movement, including your church. There are
going to be countless church around the country. They're going
to plant flags as well. So all you have to
do to get involved with Flags of Fellowship movement is
go to IFCJ dot org. That's IFCJ dot org. Stand
(02:55):
with Israel on October the fifth, it's just a few
weeks away.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
And if your church you think would.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Want to be involved, you can also find out more
about how to get your church to be involved on
a special Sunday at IFCJ dot org. That's if CJ
dot org. It's the forty seven Morning Update and it
starts right now.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Story number one.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
President Donald Trump has declared that he is designating the
Antifa movement as a major terrorist organization. He also stated
he will recommend that people or organizations funding Antifa be
strongly investigated under the highest legal standards in practices now.
(03:36):
This announcement came in the wake of the assassination of
conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which Trump and his allies say
underscores the need to address what they characterize as left
wing extremism. Now Antifa, you may ask what is it,
They say, it's anti fascists. It's not a single group
or a with a hierarchy structure. In fact, it's a
(03:58):
loosely affiliated ideology where people all the time are saying
I'm a member of Antifa and then carrying out many
times criminal activities. Now, because of the decentralization of it,
there's no clear chain of command, which means you have
to actually follow the money, because without formal membership lists
(04:18):
or centralized leadership, you got to find out who is
funding Antifa and who on the left is writing the
checks for so many of the things that they actually do. Now,
there are several significant legal obstacles to make this kind
of designation meaningful and also enforceable, and that's exactly what
the President is doing right now. In fact, if you
(04:41):
want to know when this really became a reality, you
can go to the White House in the Oval Office.
Just two days ago, when the President was asked this
question about Antifa and what it would mean to designate
them a terrorist organization from a member of the press.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Take a listen, do.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You plan on designating it's family a domestic terriborganization. Well,
it's something I would do. Yeah, if I have support
from the people back here. I think would start with PAM,
I think, but I would if you give me, I
would do that one hundred percent. And others also, by
the way, but Antifa is terrible. There are other groups. Yeah,
(05:21):
there are other groups. We have some pretty radical groups
and they got away with murder. And also I've been
speaking to the Attorney General about bringing RICO against some
of the people that you've been reading about that have
been putting up millions and millions of dollars for agitation.
These aren't protests, these are crimes what they're doing where
they're throwing bricks at cars of the of Ice and
(05:43):
Border Patrol and they come in a beautiful new car.
They're so proud it's Border Patrol Ice. You know, it's
got whatever it is, and they're throwing rocks at it,
and after fifty yards it looks like an old beat
up vehicle. It was just brand new. It's just bought
for the purposes. And they don't have to take that anymore.
Be known will take responsibility. They don't have to take
(06:03):
it anymore, and they don't want to take it. I
watched it. I watched it so sick it made me
for four years. I had to sit oh and watch
people screaming at policemen and spitting in their face and
they weren't able to do anything. They just had to
grin and beard. They're standing up like a piece of steel.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
And the woman.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
In many cases women, you can see their professional agitators.
I had one the other night. I had four the
other night, all in one group, total phonies. I started
to scream when I got into a restaurant, Oh, you
know something with Palestine, And I said, well, I'm doing
a great job for peace in the Middle East.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I should get lots.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Of awards for that, with the Abraham Accords and everything else.
But a woman just stood up and start screaming, and
she got booed out of the place too. The people.
There were a lot of people in the restaurant. I
went there to show how safe.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
And it was safe.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
I mean a woman, it's just a mouthpiece, or she
washes a paid shoes, a paid agitator, and you have
a lot of them. I've asked Pam to look into
that in terms of bringing RICO cases against the criminal
RICO because they should be put in jail. What they're
doing to this country is really a subversive.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
That is where all of this really got started.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Now Here is the best part about what this means
moving forward. The consequences of this action on Antifa are huge.
This will now allow the US government to increase investigations
into individuals or entities that are believed to provide support
to Antifa aka money and logistics supplies. Trump specifically asks
(07:39):
for these types of investigations. It also allows for potential
executive orders, regulations, policy changes aimed at curbing political violence
or hate speech associated with Antifa. And then there's the
possible legal or administrative sanctions for those found to be
a material support of Antifa if state or federal law
(08:00):
can be invoked. This is where there is real consequences
for people that are involved with this radical organization, and
you need to find out who is exactly funding them.
Follow the money is everything here. Now we can also
expect legal challenges groups like the ACLU and the SPLC.
(08:20):
They're going to argue that the designation violates constitutional protection
free assembly, free speech, due process, and then the courts
are going to have to interpret what designating a terrorist
organization means in this context. I think this is clearly
a fight the White House is more than happy to have.
And then there's the political polarization of this. Democrats are already
(08:41):
coming out and saying that this is a threat.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
To free speech. So let's go back.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
To the President and what he actually had to say
after designating Antifa a terrorist organization. Here's how CNN put
it as they had to read the president's words.
Speaker 6 (08:56):
Now, i don't know if you know this, but I've
just seen that the as on a social media on
a social media's announced I'm pleased to inform our many
USA patriots that I'm designating Antifa, a sick, dangerous radical
left organization, as a major terrorist organization. I'll also be
strongly recommending that those funding Antifa be thoroughly investigated in
accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
They can't stand the fact that radical organizations that are
out there being funded by dark money from democratic donors,
that are then committing crimes and terrorizing the public are
no longer going to be able to operate the way
they were under the Biden administration. And by the way,
This is exactly why I voted for Donald Trump, and
I think so many of you did as well.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Now, story number two.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Donald Trump has repeatedly urged the FED to cut interest
rates more aggressively. For example, in June of this year,
he called for a full percentage point drop. Also, he
said the rates are at least three percentage points too high. Now,
Trump had criticized the Fed, especially the chair Jerome Powell,
for not cutting sooner or more deeply. He made it
(10:05):
very clear he believed that the cuts need to come
and it was holding the economy back. He even talked
about the idea that it was time to get rid
of Jerome Powell, that he should resign. Well, Jerome is
still there. But the good news is finally the Feds
have cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point. And
here's how the news hit on CNN.
Speaker 6 (10:25):
Tell us about this decision.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
Matt, Yeah, Brianna, the Fed just delivered an interest rate cut,
and it is the quarter point cut that was widely expected. Now,
this is a big deal because it is the first
interest rate cut of the second Trump administration, and it's
sending a clear message that Federals of officials are more
worried about the slumping job market than they are about
(10:47):
stubborn inflation.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
They're acting now.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
To try to shore up the job market before this
trouble turns into something worse, and they're signaling this concern
in their new statement that they just put out by
inserting some new language that I'll read to you now.
FED officials say that job gains have slowed and the
unemployment rate has edged up but remains low. FED officials
(11:11):
also say that they have judged that downside risks to
employment have risen now. At the same time, this statement
also says that inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated,
which just gets at this really difficult situation facing the
FED where they're really trying to fight the two front war, right,
(11:31):
they're trying to fix the job market and they're trying
to defeat inflation at the same time. It is really difficult.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Now.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
As far as the voting here, this was actually almost unanimous.
It was an eleven to one vote, with FED Chair
Jerome Powell joined by ten of his colleagues, including FED
Governor Lisa Cook, who the President has.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Tried to fire.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
The one dissenter is the Federal Reserve's newest member. That's
Stephen Myron, the Trump loyalist and White House economists. Not surprisingly,
he was in favor of a bigger cut of half
of a percentage point. Now, looking forward, the key change
with the FEDS projections is they're now penciling in a
total of three interest rate cuts this year. Today's and
(12:16):
two more quarter point cuts. Now that's a shift from
June when Fed officials had previously just penciled in two
interest rate cuts. Now, what does all this mean to
everyone at home? Well, the fact that rates have come
down that could be helpful for people who have credit
card debt and people have floating rate debt like home
equity lines of credit. But we should be clear, this
(12:36):
is not a silver bullet that's going to fix the economy.
Interest rates do remain high. The Fed spiked interest rates
three years ago to try to fight inflation. That amounts
it to slamming the brakes on the economy. Now they're
not going pedal to the metal and hitting the gas.
They're sort of gradually taking their foot off the break. Now,
(12:56):
later this hour, Fed show drum Powell, he's gonna take questions.
I'm interested to hear what he's going to say about
all of the pressure, the political pressure from the White
House on federers of officials, and how many more interest
rates he expects to have in the coming months.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Becky breeng I love how they're like, well, this could
be good for Americans. This is going to be massive,
by the way, for Americans, And this is exactly what
the President has been advocating for, saying that we need
to move this in the right direction. We also know
from what was said by Powell that you can expect
that there is a very good chance that more cuts
could be coming on the regular.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
So is this a victory for all Americans? Yes?
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Is this a big victory for the fact that Jerome
Powell said it the way that he described it. Yes,
is it something that we should all celebrate. You better
believe it. Jerome Powell in his own words.
Speaker 6 (13:48):
Under what circumstances would a larger than twenty five basis
points rate cup be warranted?
Speaker 7 (13:53):
And how seriously was that option entertained at your meeting
this week? There wasn't widespread support at all for fifty
basis point cut today. You know, I think we've done
We've done very large rate hikes and very large rate
cuts in the last five years, and you tend to
do those at a time when you feel that policy
is out of place and needs to move quickly to
(14:15):
a new place. That's not at all what I feel
certainly now. I feel like our policy has been doing
the right thing so far this year. I think we
were right to wait and see how tariffs and inflation
and the labor market evolved. I think we're now reacting to,
you know, to the much lower level of job creation
and other evidence of softening in the labor market and saying, well,
(14:35):
those risks are maybe maybe not fully balanced, but moving
in the direction of balance now, and so that that
warrants a change in policy.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
So even Jerome Powell having to admit he's probably gotten
it wrong for a while now, and he's having to
be honest that Donald Trump was right.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
and we will see you back here tomorrow.
Cars of the of Ice and Border Patrol by a
past administration, it became almost a culture. If somebody throws
a rocket, you do nothing. If somebody spits in your face,
do nothing. And I say, would they spit? You hit?
Do whatever you want.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Good Thursday morning.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Nice to have you with us on the forty seven
Morning Update, and we've got two big stories for you
coming out of the White House. First up, President Trump
is declared that Antifa is a major terrorist organization.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
What does this mean, Well, it's.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Going to have a big impact on those that are
funding the organization and finding out who they are. Also, finally,
Fed cuts rates by a quarter percent, signaling two more
cuts will be coming this year. And it means that
Donald Trump was right. Interest rates were far too high
(00:58):
and now the Fed's only having to admit it. All right,
I want to take a moment and I want to
talk to you real quick about what you can do
to help the people in Israel. It was nearly two
years ago that the terrorists murdered more than twelve hundred
innocent Israelis and they took two hundred and fifty hostages.
Today it seems as if the cries of the dead
(01:20):
and dying have been drowned out by the shouts of
anti Semitism and just pure hatred, not just in America
but around the world. And the most brutal attack on
Jewish people happened. It happened since the Holocaust, and now
it's like they're trying to act like it never happened.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Now.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
This is where it is important for us to stand
with the people in Israel. It's a movement of love
and support for the people of Israel, and this is
where I want you to get involved.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It is called Flags of Fellowship.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
It's being organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
On October fifth, you can stand with Israel and the
victims proudly. Just a few weeks away, millions across America
will prayerfully plant an Israeli flag in honor and solidarity
with the victims of October seventh, twenty twenty three, and
(02:15):
stand with their grieving families. You can be a part
of this movement as well. And that's what I love
about what IFCJ does. They're making sure that the world
knows there are lots of people of faith in this
country and friends and advocates for Israel.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
They're going to stand with them.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
You can get more information about how you can join
the Flags of Fellowship movement, including your church. There are
going to be countless church around the country. They're going
to plant flags as well. So all you have to
do to get involved with Flags of Fellowship movement is
go to IFCJ dot org. That's IFCJ dot org. Stand
(02:55):
with Israel on October the fifth, it's just a few
weeks away.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
And if your church you think would.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Want to be involved, you can also find out more
about how to get your church to be involved on
a special Sunday at IFCJ dot org. That's if CJ
dot org. It's the forty seven Morning Update and it
starts right now.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Story number one.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
President Donald Trump has declared that he is designating the
Antifa movement as a major terrorist organization. He also stated
he will recommend that people or organizations funding Antifa be
strongly investigated under the highest legal standards in practices now.
(03:36):
This announcement came in the wake of the assassination of
conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which Trump and his allies say
underscores the need to address what they characterize as left
wing extremism. Now Antifa, you may ask what is it,
They say, it's anti fascists. It's not a single group
or a with a hierarchy structure. In fact, it's a
(03:58):
loosely affiliated ideology where people all the time are saying
I'm a member of Antifa and then carrying out many
times criminal activities. Now, because of the decentralization of it,
there's no clear chain of command, which means you have
to actually follow the money, because without formal membership lists
(04:18):
or centralized leadership, you got to find out who is
funding Antifa and who on the left is writing the
checks for so many of the things that they actually do. Now,
there are several significant legal obstacles to make this kind
of designation meaningful and also enforceable, and that's exactly what
the President is doing right now. In fact, if you
(04:41):
want to know when this really became a reality, you
can go to the White House in the Oval Office.
Just two days ago, when the President was asked this
question about Antifa and what it would mean to designate
them a terrorist organization from a member of the press.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Take a listen, do.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You plan on designating it's family a domestic terriborganization. Well,
it's something I would do. Yeah, if I have support
from the people back here. I think would start with PAM,
I think, but I would if you give me, I
would do that one hundred percent. And others also, by
the way, but Antifa is terrible. There are other groups. Yeah,
(05:21):
there are other groups. We have some pretty radical groups
and they got away with murder. And also I've been
speaking to the Attorney General about bringing RICO against some
of the people that you've been reading about that have
been putting up millions and millions of dollars for agitation.
These aren't protests, these are crimes what they're doing where
they're throwing bricks at cars of the of Ice and
(05:43):
Border Patrol and they come in a beautiful new car.
They're so proud it's Border Patrol Ice. You know, it's
got whatever it is, and they're throwing rocks at it,
and after fifty yards it looks like an old beat
up vehicle. It was just brand new. It's just bought
for the purposes. And they don't have to take that anymore.
Be known will take responsibility. They don't have to take
(06:03):
it anymore, and they don't want to take it. I
watched it. I watched it so sick it made me
for four years. I had to sit oh and watch
people screaming at policemen and spitting in their face and
they weren't able to do anything. They just had to
grin and beard. They're standing up like a piece of steel.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
And the woman.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
In many cases women, you can see their professional agitators.
I had one the other night. I had four the
other night, all in one group, total phonies. I started
to scream when I got into a restaurant, Oh, you
know something with Palestine, And I said, well, I'm doing
a great job for peace in the Middle East.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I should get lots.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Of awards for that, with the Abraham Accords and everything else.
But a woman just stood up and start screaming, and
she got booed out of the place too. The people.
There were a lot of people in the restaurant. I
went there to show how safe.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
And it was safe.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
I mean a woman, it's just a mouthpiece, or she
washes a paid shoes, a paid agitator, and you have
a lot of them. I've asked Pam to look into
that in terms of bringing RICO cases against the criminal
RICO because they should be put in jail. What they're
doing to this country is really a subversive.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
That is where all of this really got started.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Now Here is the best part about what this means
moving forward. The consequences of this action on Antifa are huge.
This will now allow the US government to increase investigations
into individuals or entities that are believed to provide support
to Antifa aka money and logistics supplies. Trump specifically asks
(07:39):
for these types of investigations. It also allows for potential
executive orders, regulations, policy changes aimed at curbing political violence
or hate speech associated with Antifa. And then there's the
possible legal or administrative sanctions for those found to be
a material support of Antifa if state or federal law
(08:00):
can be invoked. This is where there is real consequences
for people that are involved with this radical organization, and
you need to find out who is exactly funding them.
Follow the money is everything here. Now we can also
expect legal challenges groups like the ACLU and the SPLC.
(08:20):
They're going to argue that the designation violates constitutional protection
free assembly, free speech, due process, and then the courts
are going to have to interpret what designating a terrorist
organization means in this context. I think this is clearly
a fight the White House is more than happy to have.
And then there's the political polarization of this. Democrats are already
(08:41):
coming out and saying that this is a threat.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
To free speech. So let's go back.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
To the President and what he actually had to say
after designating Antifa a terrorist organization. Here's how CNN put
it as they had to read the president's words.
Speaker 6 (08:56):
Now, i don't know if you know this, but I've
just seen that the as on a social media on
a social media's announced I'm pleased to inform our many
USA patriots that I'm designating Antifa, a sick, dangerous radical
left organization, as a major terrorist organization. I'll also be
strongly recommending that those funding Antifa be thoroughly investigated in
accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
They can't stand the fact that radical organizations that are
out there being funded by dark money from democratic donors,
that are then committing crimes and terrorizing the public are
no longer going to be able to operate the way
they were under the Biden administration. And by the way,
This is exactly why I voted for Donald Trump, and
I think so many of you did as well.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Now, story number two.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Donald Trump has repeatedly urged the FED to cut interest
rates more aggressively. For example, in June of this year,
he called for a full percentage point drop. Also, he
said the rates are at least three percentage points too high. Now,
Trump had criticized the Fed, especially the chair Jerome Powell,
for not cutting sooner or more deeply. He made it
(10:05):
very clear he believed that the cuts need to come
and it was holding the economy back. He even talked
about the idea that it was time to get rid
of Jerome Powell, that he should resign. Well, Jerome is
still there. But the good news is finally the Feds
have cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point. And
here's how the news hit on CNN.
Speaker 6 (10:25):
Tell us about this decision.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
Matt, Yeah, Brianna, the Fed just delivered an interest rate cut,
and it is the quarter point cut that was widely expected. Now,
this is a big deal because it is the first
interest rate cut of the second Trump administration, and it's
sending a clear message that Federals of officials are more
worried about the slumping job market than they are about
(10:47):
stubborn inflation.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
They're acting now.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
To try to shore up the job market before this
trouble turns into something worse, and they're signaling this concern
in their new statement that they just put out by
inserting some new language that I'll read to you now.
FED officials say that job gains have slowed and the
unemployment rate has edged up but remains low. FED officials
(11:11):
also say that they have judged that downside risks to
employment have risen now. At the same time, this statement
also says that inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated,
which just gets at this really difficult situation facing the
FED where they're really trying to fight the two front war, right,
(11:31):
they're trying to fix the job market and they're trying
to defeat inflation at the same time. It is really difficult.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Now.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
As far as the voting here, this was actually almost unanimous.
It was an eleven to one vote, with FED Chair
Jerome Powell joined by ten of his colleagues, including FED
Governor Lisa Cook, who the President has.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Tried to fire.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
The one dissenter is the Federal Reserve's newest member. That's
Stephen Myron, the Trump loyalist and White House economists. Not surprisingly,
he was in favor of a bigger cut of half
of a percentage point. Now, looking forward, the key change
with the FEDS projections is they're now penciling in a
total of three interest rate cuts this year. Today's and
(12:16):
two more quarter point cuts. Now that's a shift from
June when Fed officials had previously just penciled in two
interest rate cuts. Now, what does all this mean to
everyone at home? Well, the fact that rates have come
down that could be helpful for people who have credit
card debt and people have floating rate debt like home
equity lines of credit. But we should be clear, this
(12:36):
is not a silver bullet that's going to fix the economy.
Interest rates do remain high. The Fed spiked interest rates
three years ago to try to fight inflation. That amounts
it to slamming the brakes on the economy. Now they're
not going pedal to the metal and hitting the gas.
They're sort of gradually taking their foot off the break. Now,
(12:56):
later this hour, Fed show drum Powell, he's gonna take questions.
I'm interested to hear what he's going to say about
all of the pressure, the political pressure from the White
House on federers of officials, and how many more interest
rates he expects to have in the coming months.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Becky breeng I love how they're like, well, this could
be good for Americans. This is going to be massive,
by the way, for Americans, And this is exactly what
the President has been advocating for, saying that we need
to move this in the right direction. We also know
from what was said by Powell that you can expect
that there is a very good chance that more cuts
could be coming on the regular.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
So is this a victory for all Americans? Yes?
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Is this a big victory for the fact that Jerome
Powell said it the way that he described it. Yes,
is it something that we should all celebrate. You better
believe it. Jerome Powell in his own words.
Speaker 6 (13:48):
Under what circumstances would a larger than twenty five basis
points rate cup be warranted?
Speaker 7 (13:53):
And how seriously was that option entertained at your meeting
this week? There wasn't widespread support at all for fifty
basis point cut today. You know, I think we've done
We've done very large rate hikes and very large rate
cuts in the last five years, and you tend to
do those at a time when you feel that policy
is out of place and needs to move quickly to
(14:15):
a new place. That's not at all what I feel
certainly now. I feel like our policy has been doing
the right thing so far this year. I think we
were right to wait and see how tariffs and inflation
and the labor market evolved. I think we're now reacting to,
you know, to the much lower level of job creation
and other evidence of softening in the labor market and saying, well,
(14:35):
those risks are maybe maybe not fully balanced, but moving
in the direction of balance now, and so that that
warrants a change in policy.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
So even Jerome Powell having to admit he's probably gotten
it wrong for a while now, and he's having to
be honest that Donald Trump was right.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
and we will see you back here tomorrow.
Host
Ben Ferguson
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