Opening summary
Welcome to our US politics blog. There are several major stories around this morning:
“Hundreds more” ICE agents are due to arrive in Minneapolis today after an officer shot dead a woman in her car last week. Renee Good’s killing has sparked protests across several cities. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said more officers were being deployed for their own protection.
Fed chair Jerome Powell – who has been slammed by Trump for refusing to lower interest rates – announced Sunday he’s facing criminal investigation by federal prosecutors over renovations to Federal Reserve buildings. He’s made clear the “unprecedented” probe is driven by political motives.
All eyes are on how the US might respond to Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters, and whether it might mete out further military action, in addition to its strikes last year. Trump said on Sunday he was in contact with the opposition, and US officials might meet with Iranian counterparts.
Trump is also threatening Cuba with withholding oil supplies from Venezuela, warning them to “make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE” in a Sunday post on Truth Social. “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” His threats to the traditional ally of Venezuela comea in the wake of the US kidnapping and removing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro last week, while concerns also remain over the White House’s claims on Greenland.
Key events
Fed chairman Jerome Powell being investigated
Powell announced on Sunday he is facing criminal investigation by federal prosecutors – a decision he said should be “seen in the broader context of the [Trump] administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.”
Trump has repeatedly criticised the head of the Federal Reserve for refusing to set monetary policy according to his preferences.
“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” Powell said in a video on Sunday disclosing the investigation.
“I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one, certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve is above the law, but this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.”
Powell said the US justice department had threatened a criminal indictment over testimony he gave to a Senate committee about renovations to Federal Reserve buildings.
Powell is just the latest federal official to get on the wrong side of Trump and then face criminal investigation by the justice department.
Trump denied any prior knowledge of the investigation in a NBC News interview on Sunday.
“I don’t know anything about it, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings,” he said of Powell.
Marina Dunbar
Minneapolis protesters – already outraged by last Wednesday’s fatal shooting of Renee Good by an immigration officer – braced for a new onslaught as the Department of Homeland Security sent more agents in to the area, carried out what it called its largest enforcement operation ever.
As door-to-door raids began, protesters screamed at heavily armed federal agents and honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt their operations in one Minneapolis neighborhood filled with single-family homes.
There was some pushing and several people were hit with chemical spray just before agents banged down the door of one home on Sunday. Agents later took one man away in handcuffs.
‘Hundreds more’ federal officers sent to Minnesota
The widespread outcry over Renee Good’s killing led to more protests on the weekend against ICE, in Minneapolis as well as New York, Austin, Seattle and LA.
Minneapolis police said “tens of thousands of people” attended the march which was peaceful, said Mayor Jacob Frey.
Still, Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem announced on Sunday that “hundreds more” federal officers would be sent to Minnesota, arriving “today and tomorrow”, to quell tensions and to suppress protesters.
“If they conduct violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that’s a crime, and we will hold them accountable to those consequences,” she said.
The Trump administration has sought to spin the ICE officer’s killing of Good as an act of self-defence, claiming the mother-of-three had “weaponised” her car to try and attack the officials. The videos that have emerged and continue to emerge of the incident show Good attempting to drive away from the scene.
Some Democrats have said accused the White House of a cover-up.
Mayor Frey told CNN: “Anybody can see that this victim is not a domestic terrorist”, saying her actions were of someone trying to do a three-point turn to escape the scene.
In a sobering note, he added that the city’s local law enforcement were “outnumbered by the number of ICE agents and beyond”.
Opening summary
Welcome to our US politics blog. There are several major stories around this morning:
“Hundreds more” ICE agents are due to arrive in Minneapolis today after an officer shot dead a woman in her car last week. Renee Good’s killing has sparked protests across several cities. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said more officers were being deployed for their own protection.
Fed chair Jerome Powell – who has been slammed by Trump for refusing to lower interest rates – announced Sunday he’s facing criminal investigation by federal prosecutors over renovations to Federal Reserve buildings. He’s made clear the “unprecedented” probe is driven by political motives.
All eyes are on how the US might respond to Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters, and whether it might mete out further military action, in addition to its strikes last year. Trump said on Sunday he was in contact with the opposition, and US officials might meet with Iranian counterparts.
Trump is also threatening Cuba with withholding oil supplies from Venezuela, warning them to “make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE” in a Sunday post on Truth Social. “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” His threats to the traditional ally of Venezuela comea in the wake of the US kidnapping and removing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro last week, while concerns also remain over the White House’s claims on Greenland.
