Trump is threatening to stop trade because the Fed refuses to give him his rate cut. In Saxony-Anhalt, migrants are wondering whether they can stay after the AfD victory. Canada is moving closer to Europe after Trump wanted to make the country the 51st state. Robert F. Kennedy's own top nominees are publicly contradicting him on vaccines as measles cases rise. And in Washington, Trump's 76.2-meter-high triumphal arch is set to damage historic sites even according to his own administration - and they want to build it anyway.
Then there's a case showing just how far the pressure can now go: David Streever criticized ICE by email. Months later, federal agents showed up at his home, then tracked him down at a hotel where he was staying with his 7-year-old daughter and tried to serve him with a warning notice. Federal Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has now temporarily barred the Department of Homeland Security from using that notice against Streever's protected political speech. The government itself did not claim in court that his email contained an actual threat.
Trump threatens to stop trade because the Fed refuses to give him his rate cut
Donald Trump has once again gone after the Federal Reserve head-on after its rate hike. The central bank unanimously raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, the first increase in 3 years. Trump spoke with the new Fed chair, Kevin M. Warsh, before the vote and told him he could vote with the board because his vote would not change anything anyway. The rest of the leadership was "very hostile" and political, Trump claimed. He still praised Warsh himself. At the same time, Trump renewed his threat to stop trading with countries the United States runs a trade deficit with if the Fed refuses his demand for lower interest rates. With the stroke of a pen, he claimed, he could wipe out those deficits, and the United States would make $1.5 trillion a year as a result. That money could be used to pay down debt. Interest rates were too high.
Trump is demanding an interest rate of 1 percent or lower. A cut that steep could push inflationary pressure even higher. A sweeping trade shutdown could also hit American families and businesses hard. Later in North Carolina, Trump said the United States could simply tell other countries it was no longer trading with them because it did not need anything they had. He went after Canada. Mexico came next, followed later by the European Union. The pressure on the politically independent central bank is therefore continuing despite Warsh's appointment. Warsh himself declined to comment on Trump's threats at his press conference. Before the meeting, the White House had still tried to play down the conflict. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said Warsh's decision would be respected and that the administration understood he would act with the relevant committee according to his own judgment. Hassett also stressed that in a democracy, people had to be allowed to talk about economic policy.
Trump had already issued his strongest threat in early September. He demanded "the lowest interest rate of any country in the world" and announced that he would stop trading with deficit countries if the Fed did not cut rates. The threat did nothing to change the unanimous decision. Trump then again declared that the American economy was booming and treated trade deficits as losses. Hassett had said a few days earlier that he did not expect trade to fall to zero. Trump, however, held a very strong view that interest rates could be significantly lower. They would have to wait and see what the Federal Reserve decided. The decision came. Trump did not get what he wanted, and then he went straight back to threatening people.
After the AfD victory, fear is growing in Saxony-Anhalt about what everyday life will look like next
When the first numbers appeared on screens on election night, a gathering of migrant supporters in Magdeburg went quiet. Some left early, others cried. Amidou Traore, 57, a social worker originally from Ivory Coast, described how hostility toward foreigners had already increased before the election. After the result, nobody felt like eating anymore. The AfD could form a government in the coming weeks with support from a smaller populist party. That could put a far-right party in power in a German state for the first time since 1945. During the campaign, the AfD had promised mass deportations of refugees and called for foreign workers to be replaced by Germans. Schools were supposed to focus more heavily on German national identity and ethnic pride. State funding for organizations that support migrants was to be cut. Lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund even said after the election that he was prepared to use military equipment for deportations.
Refugees and foreign workers are therefore considering moving to other German states or abroad. International students are hoping their universities will protect them from possible consequences of an AfD government. In Magdeburg, 16 migrants with very different immigration statuses reported growing hostility and discrimination during the campaign. Afsaneh Mehrpouyan, 33, an Iranian immunologist, came to northern Germany in 2022 for medical research and moved to a university in Magdeburg 1 year ago. Her family is now considering moving again. People like her work legally and fill shortages in areas such as health care, she said. Even so, she wonders whether they will continue to be treated equally or be turned into second-class citizens. Around 192,000 foreign nationals lived in Saxony-Anhalt in 2025, compared with 47,000 in 2014. Almost all have a legal right to remain under federal law, and around 1 third are refugees, mainly from Syria and Ukraine. The state has around 2.1 million residents and for a long time experienced significantly less immigration than other parts of Germany. In 2015, at the height of Europe's refugee crisis, Germany took in around 890,000 refugees.
The debate has grown harsher even though crime in Saxony-Anhalt has declined overall since 2014. In a state with particularly high unemployment, some residents fear immigrants could take their jobs, even though experts point to a shortage of workers. After the 2024 attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market, in which a Saudi doctor drove an SUV into the crowd and killed 6 people, opposition to immigration intensified further. Rahimi Qabilshaha, 35, came to Germany from Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban seized power. He said he wanted to wait and see what policies the AfD would actually implement because some of its campaign promises would be difficult to carry out at the state level. For people without secure legal status, Krzysztof Blau described the situation as panic.
Blau runs One World House, which was founded after right-wing attacks on foreigners in 1994 and houses counseling organizations. Nearly 30 percent of its annual budget of about $2.6 million comes from the state of Saxony-Anhalt. If an AfD-led government cuts that funding, the house would have to close in January, according to Blau. Traore was handing out flyers for a Catholic initiative 2 days before the election when teenagers on bicycles rode past. One pointed at him and shouted, "Deportation!" A Syrian barber said fewer customers had been coming in since he closed his shop for half a day as part of a business protest against exclusion and racism. After 10 years in Magdeburg, he is considering leaving. Whitney Chitemamwise, who came from Zimbabwe 4 years ago to study, is worried about her 2-year-old son. The AfD wants children of asylum seekers to be taught in separate schools. Chitemamwise also said a man had told her in a supermarket to go back to her country. In the past, other people had spoken up. This time, nobody said a word.
Trump wanted Canada as the 51st state - now Ottawa is tying itself more closely to Europe
At the beginning of his 2nd term, Donald Trump wanted Canada tied so closely to the United States that he openly talked about making it the 51st state. Months of attacks on Canadian politicians and a relentless trade war have since pushed the relationship in a very different direction. The European Union has invited Canada to become an associate member. Ursula von der Leyen wants to deepen the relationship, and Mark Carney welcomed the move. Trump's demand for absorption has therefore helped create a stronger movement across the Atlantic. James Batchik of the Atlantic Council's Europe Center described the development as a direct consequence of Trump's actions and rhetoric. The demand to make Canada the 51st state and the threats against Greenland had not been forgotten in Brussels. Canada and Europe now saw Washington as less of a reliable ally. Trust rarely disappears all at once. Most of the time, it slowly goes somewhere else.
Trump responded on Wednesday with another threat. Canada was a terrible trading partner, he said. If he believed Europe's invitation was meant in a hostile way, he would hit Europe with heavy tariffs or stop parts of trade. If the intention was good, he said, that would be fine with him. He is responding to a closer relationship between Ottawa and Europe with economic pressure. His trade war is hitting key Canadian industries. The auto industry and steel are affected. Aluminum and lumber are also under pressure. In the United States, the dispute has hurt Republicans in swing states and put their Senate majority at risk. In Canada, Trump's attacks strengthened the Liberals. Mark Carney positioned himself openly against the American president and won the election.
Carney has argued in Davos for an international order that can function without American leadership. Middle powers had to work together because otherwise they would end up on the menu, he said. The audience rose for a rare standing ovation. Canada and the European Union plan to meet at a summit at the end of October to spell out more concretely what associate membership could mean. Liana Fix of the Council on Foreign Relations pointed out that it remained unclear how far that status would go beyond existing trade and defense agreements. Von der Leyen has called for closer cooperation in the Arctic and in the defense industry. Critical minerals are also expected to be part of it.
Canada is part of Trump's broader policy toward the Western Hemisphere. After the U.S. operation that toppled Venezuela's leadership, Washington increased economic pressure on Cuba and floated a "friendly takeover." Trump threatened to take over the Panama Canal. He also wanted to take Greenland away from Denmark. His addition to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 stated that the American people should determine what happens in the hemisphere and that foreign powers should stay out. Trump himself also calls this approach the "Donroe Doctrine." Secretary of State Marco Rubio is driving the hard line toward Cuba and Venezuela. Publicly, he has shown much less enthusiasm for Trump's territorial claims. With Canada, Trump's fixation is mainly about trade and economics. Justin Trudeau was publicly belittled as Trump questioned agreements that had shaped relations between the 2 countries for more than 1 century.
Batchik warned that this could create a generational distancing from the United States. In his view, Trump's treatment of Russia and China often appeared softer than his treatment of former allies. Relationships can last for decades. Sometimes they can be damaged in a matter of months.
Kennedy's own top nominees contradict him on vaccines - while measles cases rise
Two nominees for key positions in America's public health system are openly distancing themselves from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines. Dr. Nicole Saphier, nominated to become the nation's surgeon general, said during her Senate confirmation hearing that she did not believe the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was deadly. She had also seen no reputable evidence that vaccines caused autism. The MMR vaccine was the most effective tool against measles, she said. Saphier, a radiologist and former television commentator, directly contradicted claims Kennedy has used for years to fuel doubts about vaccines. Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator and former doctor, sounded visibly relieved. Saphier went further: in her view, childhood vaccines do not cause autism.
Chris Klomp, currently an adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services and a nominee for deputy secretary, also strongly backed the measles vaccine during his hearing. Speaking to Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, he said the MMR vaccine was unquestionably the most effective public health tool against measles. Klomp described fighting the current outbreak as the country's most important public health priority. That means 2 future senior officials serving under Kennedy are now set to represent a vaccine policy that clashes with his well-known positions. His Make America Healthy Again agenda is already facing pushback from inside his own department before either of them even takes office.
The numbers leave little room for political fantasy. So far this year, 4 people in the United States have died from measles, the highest number since 1992. More than 3,200 people have been infected. That is already hundreds more cases than during all of last year. At the same time, the vaccination rate among American kindergartners fell from 95.2 percent in the 2019/20 school year to 92.4 percent in the 2025/26 school year. That puts the country below the roughly 95 percent level considered important for broad community protection against measles. Political pressure on Kennedy is growing. Democratic politicians are demanding his removal and pointing to letters that they say connect his 2019 anti-vaccine trip to Samoa with the deadly measles outbreak there at the time. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said Kennedy could not be trusted to run the health department for even 1 more day. Hawaii Governor Josh Green, who personally experienced the outbreak in Samoa, called for Kennedy to resign immediately to protect the public. Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks directly blamed Kennedy's leadership for the current measles crisis. As the disease spreads again, his own nominees are now the ones having to say out loud that vaccines work.
Trump's triumphal arch is set to tower over history - and the administration knows what it will damage
Donald Trump wants to build a 76.2-meter-high triumphal arch at Memorial Circle in Washington. His own administration now acknowledges that the project will harm historic sites. The National Park Service says the negative effects cannot be fully avoided. The planned structure would tower over the nearby Arlington National Cemetery and also affect the Lincoln Memorial. Even so, according to the administration, there is no other suitable location because Memorial Circle is central to the project. A political desire is therefore becoming a structure whose damage is known in advance and still treated as acceptable. On May 26, protest art was already standing near Arlington Memorial Bridge criticizing the project. The model essentially read "Money for Nothing." Next to it was a note saying Trump's arch would be 32 times larger.
The National Park Service describes Memorial Circle as a particularly sensitive historic commemorative landscape. According to the agency, the location of the arch would affect historic properties whose significance depends on their surroundings and design. Perception and historical association would also be affected. Spatial organization and circulation would be disrupted, along with important views. The administration wants to soften those consequences with relatively modest measures. New signs are supposed to explain the project, and websites are also planned. Construction is supposed to be managed so that burials at Arlington National Cemetery are not disturbed. The surrounding landscape is to be documented before construction begins. The damage is therefore not being denied. It is being described and then built over.
The National Park Service has asked historic preservation organizations and other parties to review and sign the agreement by noon Monday. That could clear legal hurdles and prepare the project for final approval. The White House reportedly wants to submit the project to the National Capital Planning Commission for final approval as early as November. The agreement is part of the federal requirements that must be satisfied before such a project can move forward. Administration officials want to use it to complete the remaining approval steps. The choice of location is being explicitly defended even though the consequences for the surrounding area have already been formally documented. According to those responsible, another location is not an option because Memorial Circle is central to the project. The place is supposed to be made to fit despite the conflicts already on paper.
A lawsuit over the triumphal arch is already underway. 3 veterans and an architectural historian have sued to stop construction. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the administration last week to give at least 48 hours' notice before breaking ground. The Trump administration is fighting that order. The dispute could keep the project tied up in court for some time, especially because the administration itself has now formally acknowledged the very damage at issue in the case. The White House is therefore facing a simple contradiction written into its own documents: the harm to historic sites is known, and construction is supposed to go forward anyway. A triumphal arch is meant to display greatness. Here, that greatness begins with an official document spelling out what may be damaged to make room for it.
Bundesrichter Contreras Federal Judge Contreras blocks DHS warning against ICE critic - after agents tracked him all the way to his hotel
David Streever had sent an angry email in January to then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. Months later, federal agents showed up at his home in Rochester and handed his wife a warning notice. When Streever was not there, they tracked him down at a hotel in New York City where he was staying with his 7-year-old daughter. They contacted the front desk and left repeated messages. They also demanded his signature on the notice. Federal Judge Rudolph Contreras has now temporarily barred the Department of Homeland Security from continuing to use that warning against Streever. His lawsuit alleging a violation of the 1st Amendment has a strong chance of succeeding, according to the judge. The main case is still ongoing. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. - Streever v. Mullin, No. 26-cv-2356)
Streever's message to Lyons was harsh. The government, however, did not argue in court that the email contained an actual threat. Contreras reportedly found the remarks to be protected political criticism. The warning notice confronted Streever with the possibility of prosecution if he continued expressing himself that way. He later said the experience had made him more cautious. The pressure had already reached his family. After the agents found him at the hotel, Streever prepared his daughter for the possibility that federal agents might confront them again on the trip home. The 7-year-old reportedly cried and said she did not want the agents to kill her father.
The Department of Homeland Security defended its conduct by saying it had to investigate credible threats against ICE employees and other federal officers. The department pointed to an increase in threats and attacks against immigration enforcement personnel. Contreras did not broadly prohibit such investigations. His order prevents DHS from using the warning notice against Streever's protected political speech. The central question before the court is therefore whether a federal agency may threaten a citizen with prosecution when his political criticism does not amount to an actual threat.
Streever is not the only person to receive such a notice. Paigelynne Gonyea of New York was approached by ICE agents at work after she called for Jonathan Ross to be prosecuted following the killing of Renee Good. She was given the same form. She disputes the allegation that she unlawfully published an ICE agent's address. Her case is separate and does not automatically fall under Contreras' order. DHS has not disclosed how many people received such warnings or what standards were used to issue them. It is also unclear who approved the practice and what records were created about recipients. Streever said after the ruling that he was relieved his right to criticize government officials had been affirmed. For his family, that protection came only after federal agents had already shown up at the front door and at the hotel.
