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Good morning and welcome to White House Watch. Donald Trump will be speaking today at the UN General Assembly, with all eyes on his comments about Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, Venezuela and the future of the multilateral body. Also in today’s newsletter, we’re covering:
Scott Bessent’s push for an Argentine financial rescue
Supreme Court’s looming ruling on Lisa Cook
FT’s editorial board weighs in on countries recognising Palestinian statehood
Trump will be holding talks with Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, as the US considers a massive market intervention to help boost investor confidence in a crucial Latin American ally.
Scott Bessent, who will join Trump for the meeting with Milei, spoke to reporters yesterday about Washington’s thinking on the Argentine crisis. Although the Treasury secretary would not say exactly how the US would intervene, he said any American action would be “large and forceful” — comparing it to Mario Draghi’s famous pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro when he was president of the European Central Bank.
Bessent said he had discussed the plan to help Argentina with IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva and finance ministers from other countries, but did not specify which. He insisted that exposure on Wall Street to potential losses in Argentina was not a factor in the decision to pledge financial assistance to Milei.
Bessent also stressed that there would be no new conditions to any American economic intervention to help Argentina. But he said it was vital for the US to come to the rescue of a country that had followed many of its policy prescriptions and was aligned with its values (Milei was one of a few foreign leaders to attend Trump’s second inauguration in January).
The Treasury secretary also suggested he was not especially worried about financial turmoil spreading from Argentina to other emerging markets.
“I don’t see a danger of financial contagion. What I see a danger of is another lost generation,” Bessent said.
Speaking to reporters, Bessent was not willing to concede that Milei had made any blunders in his economic management, but said the country would be facing a worse predicament with a different government.
“I don’t think there are necessarily mistakes that were made. Markets overshoot and move in and out of equilibrium,” he said. “The alternative to the Milei government is dire. With the exception of the Macri government, the previous two decades were a disaster for the Argentine economy and the Argentine people.”
Do you have any thoughts on US politics? FT journalists will take your hardest questions and answer them on the Swamp Notes podcast, our show about the intersection of money and power in Washington. Send them to our producer, Henry, at henry.larson@ft.com.
The latest headlines
Jimmy Kimmel’s television show returns to the air tonight, less than a week after the Disney-owned ABC network suspended him “indefinitely” over remarks about Charlie Kirk.
The US Food and Drug Administration has said it will add a warning to the label of painkiller paracetamol, citing unproven links to autism, as Trump urged pregnant women not to take the drug.
The Federal Reserve has scope to cut its key interest rate another three times despite above-target inflation, the OECD said in its interim economic outlook, as it predicted a slowdown in the US economy and labour market.
How does Trump’s immigration crackdown rattle a small town? Guy Chazan wrote a dispatch on an ICE raid of a construction site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which led to 17 arrests.
Oracle will have oversight and provide security for a US version of TikTok’s algorithm, as part of a deal orchestrated by Trump to force a divestiture of the American arm of the Chinese-owned viral video app.
US employers are facing a $14bn annual bill for hiring skilled foreign workers after Trump slapped a $100,000 fee on the cost of securing a visa for new employees to enter the country.
What we’re hearing
Jay Powell was able to use all of his consensus-building skills last week to shepherd the Federal Reserve to approve the first interest rate cut of Trump’s second presidency. The decision was justified on economic grounds — given the recent weakening of the US labour market — and drew only one predictable dissent from Stephen Miran, a Fed governor and chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
But the Fed’s independence remains very much in limbo. Trump is trying to fire Lisa Cook, a governor nominated to the board of the central bank by former president Joe Biden. While federal courts have so far barred him from succeeding, the case is heading for the Supreme Court where the outcome is unclear.
If the Supreme Court allows for Cook’s removal, even temporarily, it will give the president the green light to begin picking off the central bank’s most senior officials one by one, escalating his campaign against the Fed.
“In many ways, this decision is for all the marbles,” said Lev Menand, professor at Columbia Law School.
Meanwhile, Trump’s search for a new Fed chair continues. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bessent said the interview period for the initial slate of top candidates — 11 people — was set to be over by the end of next week. At that point, the shortlist is expected to be narrowed. But a final decision by Trump still seems a way off as Powell’s term does not end until May 2026.
Viewpoints
After the Kirk murder, Trump is pulverising the country’s founding principles with astonishing ease, writes Edward Luce.
The FT’s editorial board backs moves by the UK, Canada and other countries to recognise the Palestinian state, calling it a “landmark moment” even if it will not hasten an end to the catastrophic war.
Uncertainty over the US response is emboldening Russia to test Nato’s limits, including the recent air incursion in the Baltics, Gideon Rachman argues.
An Italian cheese maker is trying to neutralise Trump’s tariffs by taking its case to the New York Jets stadium, our Rome bureau chief Amy Kazmin writes.
Speaking of New York, politicians weren’t supposed to hail from the Big Apple anymore. They were expected to rise from America’s south like Bill Clinton, the heartland like Barack Obama, or the west like Mitt Romney and John McCain. Then came Donald Trump, AOC, and Zohran Mamdani, writes Richard Florida, a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University.
America’s public school system is under attack from Donald Trump, but it may survive the pressure, writes Rana Foroohar.
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