An Astonishing Result.
Light at the end of the tunnel.
1. President Trump’s advisers have been told that he is expected to nominate Kevin Warsh, a central bank insider-turned-critic, as Federal Reserve chair, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump’s selection of Warsh would bring to an end a months-long internal deliberation among the president and his top advisers over who should lead the central bank. The Fed chair nomination is arguably the most important personnel decision Trump faces for the remainder of his term, because the central bank serves as a first responder in financial crises and sets interest rates that affect every corner of the economy and markets. (Source: wsj.com)
2. President Trump and Senate Democrats said there is a deal to avert a partial government shutdown and temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security, as negotiations continue on proposed restrictions to immigration enforcement. Under the agreement, the Senate would move quickly to pass five of the six spending bills that already have cleared the House—funding most of the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30—while passing a two-week extension for DHS. “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES,’ ” Trump posted on Truth Social, in which he endorsed the deal. (Source: wsj.com)
3. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rebounded to $56.8 billion in November, rising 95 percent from the previous month as President Trump’s tariffs continued to cause huge fluctuations in trade, according to data from the Commerce Department released on Thursday. Exports fell 3.6 percent in the month, to $292.1 billion, led by declining outbound shipments of gold, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and crude oil. Imports rose 5 percent in November, to $348.9 billion, as Americans bought foreign pharmaceuticals as well as equipment to fill new data centers. The combination pushed up the monthly trade deficit, the gap between what the United States imports and what it exports. (Source: nytimes.com)
4. President Trump has been presented in recent days with an expanded list of potential military options against Iran aimed at doing further damage to the country’s nuclear and missile facilities or weakening Iran’s supreme leader, according to multiple U.S. officials. The options go beyond the proposals that Mr. Trump was considering two weeks ago as a means of following through on his promise to stop the killing of protesters by Iranian government security forces and affiliated militias, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss potential military plans. The current set of options even includes the potential for American forces to carry out raids on sites inside Iran, and it comes in a different context, now that the protests have been brutally quashed, at least for the time being. (Source: nytimes.com)
