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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: President Donald J. Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, calling for reduced interest rates amid claims of low inflation.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Trump and Jerome Powell.
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📍 Where & When: On Truth Social, the morning of Monday, April 21.
💬 Key Quote: Trump remarked, “Powell has always been ‘Too Late,’ except when it came to the Election period when he lowered in order to help Sleepy Joe Biden, later Kamala, get elected. How did that work out?”
⚠️ Impact: The U.S. economy has sent mixed signals that have left the Federal Reserve to adopt an overly cautious stance. However, recent indicators have suggested deflation could now be occurring, which may finally push Powell to reduce rates.
IN FULL:
President Donald J. Trump is continuing his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, urging for immediate cuts to interest rates. Trump reiterated his position on Truth Social on Monday, stating, without providing evidence, that “preemptive cuts” to rates are being advocated by many as the economy faces what he described as “virtually No Inflation.”
“‘Preemptive Cuts’ in Interest Rates are being called for by many. With Energy Costs way down, food prices (including Biden’s egg disaster!) substantially lower, and most other ‘things’ trending down, there is virtually No Inflation,” Trump wrote, continuing: “With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW. Europe has already ‘lowered’ seven times.”
“Powell has always been ‘Too Late,’ except when it came to the Election period when he lowered in order to help Sleepy Joe Biden, later Kamala, get elected. How did that work out?” the America First leader added.
President Trump has increased pressure on the Federal Reserve chairman in recent weeks. Last week, Trump suggested Powell’s removal as the head of the U.S. central bank could be imminent, writing on Truth Social that, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” However, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Powell is likely to be replaced as Fed chair later this year, with the target date being “sometime in the fall.”
The Federal Reserve has been slow to reduce interest rates, fixating on concerns that inflation could accelerate. However, a Consumer Price Index (CPI) print from early April had SuperCore CPI—a key indicator monitored by the central bank—showing possibly deflation. A deflationary cycle is far more of an economic concern than reigniting inflation, and may suggest a lack of liquidity in the market, meaning an interest rate cut may need to occur, whether Powell is ready for rate reductions or not.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Four House Democrats traveled to El Salvador concerning the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran illegal immigrant who they claim was wrongfully deported from Maryland.
👥 Who’s Involved: Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Maxine Dexter (D-OR), and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ); Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
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📍 Where & When: El Salvador, visit by Reps. began Monday, following Sen. Van Hollen’s visit the previous week.
💬 Key Quote: Far-left California Rep. Robert Garcia remarked, “While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported.”
⚠️ Impact: The case highlights ongoing Democrat Party obsessions with foreign criminals, deportation processes, and concerns about “due process” for illegals.
IN FULL:
Four Democrat members of the House of Representatives have traveled to El Salvador to attempt to represent a foreign, alleged MS-13 gang member and El Salvadoran national, Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The delegation, comprised of Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, and Yassamin Ansari of Arizona are questioning his deportation from Maryland, which they describe as wrongful.
Abrego Garcia had been living in the U.S. and faced deportation due to illegal entry. However, in 2019, an immigration judge issued a withholding of removal order, citing fears of persecution by a rival gang should he return to El Salvador. However, the country’s government has subsequently ended the rival gang’s presence.
The lawmakers’ journey follows Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen‘s recent visit to El Salvador, where Van Hollen had the opportunity to meet with Abrego Garcia.
Rep. Robert Garcia emphasized the purpose of their visit, stating, “While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported.” The Trump administration has countered claims of wrongful deportation, arguing that Abrego Garcia is involved with the notorious gang MS-13 and that the withholding of removal order is effectively vacated now that the gang is considered a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
President Donald J. Trump pointed out the tattoos on Abrego Garcia’s hand, which indicate his membership in MS-13.
“They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc,” President Trump said.
Stephen Miller, a senior White House aide, also contended that the deportation was not in error and blamed a Department of Justice attorney for suggesting otherwise.
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Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church and its 1.39 billion adherents worldwide, is dead at 88. The Italian-Argentine pontiff—born December 17, 1936—was the first cleric from outside Europe to be raised to the papacy since Gregory III, who was of Syrian origin, in the 8th century.
“At 7:35 this morning (local time), the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father,” announced Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, on Easter Monday.
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The late pontiff’s last public appearance was at the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica yesterday, where an aide read an Easter Sunday blessing on his behalf. While his exact cause of death was not officially confirmed as of the time of complication, he was recently hospitalized with a respiratory illness, initially said to be bronchitis. However, speculation that Pope Francis was actually suffering from double pneumonia was later confirmed—a serious condition for someone of his advanced age with only one whole lung.
Born in Argentina to an Italian immigrant father, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elevated to the papacy, choosing the pontifical name “Francis,” in 2013, following the nearly unprecedented resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Under the Francis papacy, the Vatican was seen by many as adopting more ‘progressive‘ and ‘modernist‘ views on Church teachings, especially regarding the liturgy and mass.
Pope Francis reversed several of Pope Benedict’s decisions, which had allowed the traditionalist movement in the Church to flourish for nearly a decade. This culminated in a de facto ban—for the most part—on the Traditional Latin Mass, a move that received significant criticism from conservative Catholics.
NOT SO PROGRESSIVE?
While often portrayed as a liberal pope, the Francis papacy—outside the liturgy and a handful of other superficial changes—saw little divergence from Church teachings on homosexuality, transgenderism, and abortion. In fact, Pope Francis was an outspoken critic of gender ideology, and a document released by the powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas Infinita, declared sex-change surgeries and surrogacy to be akin in the gravity of sin to abortion.
He personally intervened when Britain’s socialized National Health Service (NHS) decided to allow ill children such as Charlie Gard to die, against the wishes of their parents, attempting to have them brought to the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital for continued care.
Notably, Pope Francis was also embroiled in a controversy where he allegedly used an Italian slur for homosexuals while arguing against allowing gay men to train as priests. The Pope was later forced to apologize for his choice of words.
Jack Montgomery contributed to this report.
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Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church and its 1.39 billion adherents worldwide, is dead at 88. The Italian-Argentine pontiff—born December 17, 1936—was the first cleric from outside Europe to be raised to the papacy since Gregory III, who was of Syrian origin, in the 8th century. show more
The National Pulse’s Editor in Chief, Raheem Kassam, joined former Congressman and One America News host Matt Gaetz on Friday night to explain how El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele tricked Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen into posing, with margaritas, with an alleged MS-13 gang member.
Kassam also discusses his latest article in the Spectator, about the Kennedy Center, and how truth and beauty are “inextricably linked.”
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WATCH:
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The National Pulse's Editor in Chief, Raheem Kassam, joined former Congressman and One America News host Matt Gaetz on Friday night to explain how El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele tricked Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen into posing, with margaritas, with an alleged MS-13 gang member. show more
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