Donald Trump, who has continually said that people are saying they want a dictator, is now officially going to war with the First Amendment. Also, this Trump-Fed war is crazier and more consequential than most people know, and Trump just tried to fire a Federal Reserve governor, which is something no president has ever done. And if he succeeds, we could be looking at a very different world. We just got a surprising twist to the U.S. gerrymandering war. We're talking about all of that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show you daily dive into the news, starting with this. Trump's war on the Federal Reserve just hit a new crazy level and it's put in the global economy at risk. And this most recent move centers around the constitutional standoff between Donald Trump and this woman, Lisa Cook. Because Trump just said, you're fired. She said, no, I'm not and now nobody knows knows what's going to happen. And so for context, you should definitely know who Lisa Cook is, at least from here on out, and why many people say she's one of the few people keeping Trump from wrecking the American economy more than he already had. So in short, she's a very accomplished economist professor, and actually since 2022, the first black woman to serve on the board of the Federal Reserve, with Biden appointing her to a 14-year term that ends in 2038, that is unless she is removed for cause by the president. Now that appears to be exactly what Trump is attempting to do, though it's unclear whether he actually can. Or because the law that created the Federal Reserve in 1913 didn't specify what a legitimate cause for removing a board governor would be. It's illegal experts generally agree. It's some kind of malfeasance or dereliction of duty, but the question has never actually been tested in court because no president in history has ever tried to do it. But of course, we're talking about Trump and he loves bulldozing norms. So what we're seeing is that the malfeasance that he's alleging is that in 2021, Cook apparently listed two different properties as their primary residence within two weeks while applying for mortgages on bulk. Which I'll say for context, lenders generally give lower interest rates for primary residence because they're seen as less risky. So Trump's argument is that there's no legit reason she would have two primary residents at once, therefore this is fraud. However, when you had CNN reviewing the mortgage documents, they listed her properties as principal residence, not primary residences. And as experts have pointed out, it's possible to have more than one principal residence. And even if it wasn't, borrowers often don't even read these specific documents. So her intent would be hard to prove. But regardless, in the past week, Trump has called on Cook to resigned and threatened to fire her and now announce that he is actually firing her. Which notably, if his order stands, could give Trump unprecedented control over the Fed. Because he's already got two appointees on the board from his first term, and this month, another member resigned six months earlier than expected. With Trump then quickly putting one of his own in her plays, and now, if he replaces Cook as well, that would give him four allies on the seven-member board. Though I will say,, and this is a huge thing, to actually change interest rates, he would

meet a majority on the broader 12-member committee, of which the board is a part, and that includes five presidents of the regional Fed banks. But also, in February, all the bank presidents will be up for renewal, and that has to be approved by the board. So if Trump controls the board, then he could exert pressure on the committee, and the final nail in the coffin is that he gets to appoint a new Fed chair in May replacing Jerome Powell,

all of which could get him what he's been trying to get for months now, very deep interest rate cuts. Because cutting interest rates speeds up the economy and it makes it easier for the government to finance its budget deficit, which of course is something that Trump really needs to do after signing his so-called big, beautiful bill. But while lowering rates may be good in the short term,

it's arguably not so good in the long term. And that's for a number of reasons, including if the Fed's independence from political pressure is put in doubt, then so is its credibility as a guard against runaway inflation. And if investors think that there is a greater risk of inflation in the future, they might compensate for that by raising the interest on their own credit, making mortgages and other long-term loans more expensive for the average American. Plus, I mean, too much inflation is just bad in itself. All of which is why Trump's advisors have so far convinced him not to fire Jerome Powell, but Trump's getting antsy. Reportedly, he wants rate cuts as much as three whole percentage points. Which in case it does not sound like much to you, to be clear, that is enormous. Right, even when the Fed cut rates by one point last year, that was considered a lot and it's been holding out on any more cuts since then. And so in short, the stakes of firing cook, they're huge, which is why everyone's been freaking out about it. But this is also where things get dramatic because Cook, I mean, she's openly defying the president with her saying last week after Trump threatened to fire her, I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.

I do intend to take

any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am

gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts. And then this

week after Trump fired her, I guess at the least told her she was fired, Cook responded.

President Trump purported to fire me for cause when no cause exists under the law and he has

no authority to do so. And adding, I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American

economy as I have been doing since 2022. With her attorney then announcing today that they're suing

the Trump administration, saying President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve

Governor Lisa Cook. His attempt to fire her based solely on a referral letter lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action. And you've got legal experts saying that on a first glance, they've got a pretty strong case. Because not only has she not been convicted yet, she hasn't even been charged. I mean, this is all based on a criminal referral. Plus, there's the simple fact that even if the alleged fraud did happen, it took place before she answered her current role. Which, you know, just generally speaking, you could argue fraud matters. I think that is a valid thing. But whether something completely unrelated to her duties as a board governor counts is cause for firing, that's a separate question that the courts would have to answer. But with all said, on the other side, you had Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik making this argument on CNBC.

A governor of the Federal Reserve literally signs her name and commits mortgage fraud, right?

It's alleged that she's committed mortgage fraud and she says, I'm not going anywhere.

Well, the crook always says, I'm not going anywhere. And why would anybody defend that?

The real question should be, did she commit mortgage fraud? Yes or no? And if you did commit

mortgage fraud, please get out of the federal government, get out of the seat of the governor of the

Federal Reserve, and go away. But then you have critics of the move countering that anyone with two eyes and ears can see that this is nothing to do with Cook's supposed mortgage fraud. With, for example, one Fed historian telling the Washington Post, this is the escalation of a prolonged and ongoing assault on the Fed's legitimacy and the Fed's independence. It's for one purpose and one purpose alone, to bully the Fed to dramatically lower interest rates. Right, and that playing

out is you at economist Paul Krugman saying on his substack, if Powell Caves or the Supreme Court

acts supine again and validates Trump's illegal declaration, the implications will be profound

and disastrous. The United States will be well on its way to becoming Turkey, where an authoritarian

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