WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Federal Reserve should consider cutting interest rates at its next meeting given recent tame inflation data and the fact that any price shock from import tariffs will be short-lived, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday. Waller’s dovish outlook for monetary policy comes as President Donald Trump is approaching the selection of a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends next year. Trump has been aggressively pushing the Fed to cut rates amid a flurry of insults directed at Powell. Waller is widely considered to be in the mix for a potential Powell successor, and his current monetary policy inclinations favoring lower rates might boost his prospects to become the next Fed chair. “Any tariff inflation … I don’t think is going to be that big and we should just look through it in terms of setting policy,” Waller said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The data the last few months has been showing that trend inflation is looking pretty good … We could do this as early as July.” Waller’s remarks on monetary policy were the first public comments by a central banker in the wake of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting, which left the central bank’s interest rate target range set between 4.25% and 4.5%. In forecasts released at the meeting officials stuck with expectations they’ll be able to cut rates twice this year. Trump blasted Powell before the Fed meeting, saying, “We have a stupid person, frankly, at the Fed. I guess he’s a political guy, I don’t know. He’s a political guy who’s not a smart person.” As for when those cuts might take place, the Fed offered little guidance. Speaking after the FOMC meeting, Powell cautioned there’s considerable uncertainty around the outlook amid the big changes in trade policy being pushed through by the Trump administration. He also warned that the tariff policy pursued by the president is almost certain to push up inflation, but it’s unclear by how much and for how long, and because of that, it’s hard to say what monetary policy needs to do right now. “For the time being we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,” Powell told reporters. The challenging nature of the economic outlook got a fresh update on Friday with data from the Philadelphia Fed, which showed factories in the bank’s district saw contracting activity for a third straight month amid a particularly weak turn for hiring within the sector. Waller’s openness to cutting interest rates starting at the July 29-30 FOMC meeting leaves him well apart from most of his colleagues based on their public comments. Waller has argued for some time that textbook understandings of tariff impacts all point to a one-time hit the Fed can look through, and he doubts the president’s import tax surge will create more persistent price gains. Waller, in making the case for cuts, noted that the inflation trends have already been cooling and monetary policy is well above the level deemed to be neutral in its impact on the economy. What’s more, he said he’s seeing signs of incipient weakness in the labor market, citing challenges by new college graduates to find work. Waller noted that cutting rates sooner rather than later might be good for hiring. “I’m all in favor of saying maybe we should start thinking about cutting the policy rate at the next meeting, because we don’t want to wait till the job market tanks before we start cutting the policy rate,” Waller said. (Reporting by Howard Schneider and Michael S. Derby; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Andrea Ricci)

Last week, as part of Operation Narnia, Israel simultaneously killed nine of the despotic Iranian regime’s top ten nuclear scientists, prompting questions as to how such an action was accomplished. According to Israel’s Channel 12, all nine were killed while sleeping in a simultaneous action so there would be no time for anyone to tip off any of the scientists; a tenth scientist was killed shortly afterward. The actions were carried out using a special weapon, but Israel has not revealed exactly what kind of weapon was used. In the past, when Iranian nuclear scientists were targeted, the killings occurred when they were on the way to their cars after work; thus, one Israeli official speculated that the scientists felt safe in their homes, the Times of Israel reported. Israel decided last November to hunt down the ten scientists, Channel 12 reported. “Israeli intelligence officials felt that the killing of the nuclear scientists was the most important part of Operation Narnia because the military leadership and equipment killed would be more easily replaceable, while the knowledge held by the nuclear scientists would take much longer to ascertain, the network said, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official,” the Times of Israel stated. “Throughout the operation, Israeli intelligence officials categorized Iran’s nuclear scientists into four levels for elimination, ranking them from highest to lowest priority,” The Jerusalem Post reported. “The scientists with the most military expertise and the greatest difficulty in replacing them were ranked highest. Israel then compiled a hit list, ready for execution at command, with the most dangerous scientists at the top.” On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote to Iranians on the IDF Farsi account on X: Dear citizens of Iran, We understand your difficult situation in light of the difficult circumstances the regime has created for you. In recent days, we have received many messages from loved ones who are worried about the current uncertain future. Even those who identify themselves as members of the regime’s security institutions express their fear, despair, and anger at what is happening in Iran and ask us to contact Israeli authorities – so that Iran does not suffer the same fate as Lebanon and Gaza. It is important to clarify here that we are not the appropriate authority for such requests. The IDF then provided a link to the Mossad. شهروندان عزیز ایران,ما وضعیت سخت شما را در سایه شرایط دشواری که رژیم برایتان ایجاد کرده، درک می‌کنیم. در روزهای اخیر پیام‌های زیادی از سوی عزیزانی دریافت میداریم که از آینده نامعلوم کنونی نگران اند. حتی کسانی که خود را از اعضای نهادهای امنیتی رژیم معرفی می‌کنند، احساس ترس،… pic.twitter.com/XQMitfk46v — ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi) June 18, 2025   According to The Jerusalem Post, the Mossad responded, “Iran claims to have attacked a Mossad building with missile strikes. Fortunately, no one was there… everyone is in Iran.”

Hollywood warned us. If Americans choose Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris it’ll be the end of democracy. Never mind that Trump previously served as president and the nation didn’t collapse under his “dictatorial” regime. Nor that Harris’s ascension came without a single primary vote. Now, the stars are cosplaying their worst nightmares since reality refuses to cooperate. George Clooney joined this ignominious group while promoting “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the Broadway adaptation of his 2005 film. First, he guided Broadway superstar Patti LuPone away from the ledge during their Variety conversation. George Clooney: “We’re going to get through [the Trump era].”  Patti LuPone: “Do you think so?”  Clooney: “I’m an optimist.”  LuPone: “See, I’m a glass half empty girl.” Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images The “ER” alum still fears that President Trump might target him for saying such things, but he refuses to stand down. “Sure. Everybody worries about it … But, you know, if you spend your life worrying about things, then you won’t do things. You know, we have, like everybody, a family, and we have a life, and we try to, you know, live and do things as the best example for our kids. And I want to be able to look at my kids in the eye and say where we stood and what we did at certain times in history. And I have no problem with that.” Just like Clooney did when he saw a cognitively diminished President Joe Biden last June and waited weeks to share the news (after the leader’s poll numbers drooped). Film and Broadway star Nathan Lane ginned up controversy for his new Hulu series “Mid-Century Modern” by claiming it could be canceled by the president at a moment’s notice. The sitcom follows three older gay men living their best lives. Amy Sussman/Getty Images The show has garnered modestly positive reviews but little cultural attention. Lane accidentally acknowledged that by suggesting the series could end tomorrow if a certain Hitler 2.0 learns about it. “Is it going to change any minds? I don’t know about that. Trump, if he knew we were on the air, would probably try to shut it down, come after Hulu. But, I think it’s a great thing to have right now, in the midst of books being banned and, ‘Don’t say this and don’t say gay and don’t do that.’ I think it’s a perfect time for a show like this.” Lane expertly wove Fear Mongering 101 with Fake News in that short paragraph. Impressive. Can someone tell him that Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, is a gay man? So is longtime Trump ally Richard Grenell, now tasked with leading The Kennedy Center. Rising comic star Nikki Glaser also weighed in with her own version of Orange Man Bad. The stand-up fears that her anti-Trump comments could cost her a return trip to the U.S. She recently performed in Canada and tweaked her apolitical routine to include Trump barbs. That left her shaken, she told Time Magazine. “Oh my God. What if what I said gets recorded and sent out? Maybe I could not be let back into the country.” As the first comic to ever poke fun at Trump, those fears are very justified. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME Musicians are weighing in with similar fears. Take hypocritical rocker Neil Young. He shared a similar worry about his international touring schedule. The ‘60s legend warned that he might not be allowed back in the U.S. for attacking Trump. “When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminum blanket,” Young wrote. “That is happening all the time now. Countries have new advice for those returning to America.” The irony of him worried about free speech after trying to silence Spotify superstar Joe Rogan for his pandemic views remains lost on him. One singer had a microscopic point about re-entering the U.S. Canadian country singer Robert Adam claims to be non-binary and scrapped plans to tour America due to Trump’s passport decree. Transgender people must declare their biological sex in the documents, something Adam refused to do. Actor Billy Porter played the Hitler Card in a new interview tied to Trump. Porter described his current project, the 2015 play “This Bitter Earth” as both an extension of the classic show “Cabaret” and a response to Nazi Germany. Sadly, he said we’re living in America’s version of the Third Reich under Trump. “[Cabaret] was written as a response to Nazi Germany, and it lived in that space for 60 years as a history piece, looking back on something that we have had moved through … and now we’re doing it and America is Nazi Germany. It’s not going to be Nazi Germany. It’s not becoming Nazi Germany. It’s not in fear of becoming [Nazi Germany]. It is Nazi Germany right now, and the Jews are Black people.” We know that all of the above is a toxic stew of virtue signaling and fear mongering. President Trump’s critics are legion, especially within the Hollywood ranks. Stephen Colbert alone has spent nearly a decade savaging him in his “Late Show” monologues, much of it with Fake News gags tied to the Russian collusion hoax. There’s no ICE-style army waiting outside his New York theater waiting to bring him in. The same holds true across the pop culture landscape. Sure, Trump might send out a scorching Truth Social post mocking Kimmel, Colbert or even “Saturday Night Live.” It’s beneath the dignity of his office, but it always ends there. Always. The aforementioned stars didn’t say a peep about the Biden administration silencing dissent on pandemic restrictions, the Deep State suppressing Hunter Biden laptop saga or other First Amendment concerns. They didn’t decry “sensitivity readers” erasing words from books by Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie or Roald Dahl. It’s why their fears of Dictator Trump should be treated with the same reverence as a made-for-streaming movie that the platform drops with zero fanfare. * * * Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at HollywoodInToto.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

'uniquely positioned to play an important role'

'It's a big win for President Trump'

Legally required to undergo disease screenings

'Evade the resulting lawsuits'

'Because he would’ve been a Barack Obama'

The teen told ABC 7 NY he is 'pretty lucky' to be alive