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--:-- Georgia Howe: Good morning, I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley.
--:-- John Bickley: Morning Wire, Thursday, July 17th. President Trump continues his assault on Fed Chair Jerome Powell. He should have cut interest rates a long time ago. Europe has cut him 10 times in the short period of time, and we cut him none. He's a terrible Fed chair.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Will the president actually fire the Fed chair?
--:-- John Bickley: The America First agenda is no longer a slogan. It's now the law of the land because of the big, beautiful bill. We got more to do. And Trump unveils a $100 billion energy investment in Pennsylvania that he hopes will spur America's tech dominance over China.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: As the Federal Reserve continues to hold interest rates steady, President Trump is once again threatening to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has the details, along with the latest on Epstein and illegal immigration.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So, the saga goes back a few years. So for context, Jerome Powell was first appointed by President Trump in 2017. The two got along for the most part at first, but ever since 2019, he has drawn the consistent ire of the president.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump says he was too slow to cut rates during the pandemic and felt Powell intentionally kept rates high ahead of the 2020 election to try and hurt the economy and his re-election odds.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And now Trump is furious with him once again, now over his hesitation to cut rates despite low inflation and strong labor numbers. For his part, the Fed chair has expressed concerns that Trump's tariffs will spur inflation and he doesn't want to cut the rates if the economy is about to slow down.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But Donald Trump is not buying that rationale. Now, what are his threats that he's making?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, Trump has long hinted that he could fire him, something we've only seen once in American history. It was FDR who did that. And on Tuesday night, he insinuated closer to that move, showing conservative House members a letter informing Powell that he'd been fired, that he was prepared to send.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He then polled those 12 numbers gathered for their thoughts. And Eleven reportedly said that he should do it. But by yesterday morning, Trump seemed to be having second thoughts, saying he was not planning on firing him after all.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: No, we're not planning on doing anything. We're very concerned. We should be saving a trillion dollars a year on interest. You know, when he talks about costs, we should be saving. Think of it, a trillion dollars a year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Add that with the tariffs and everything else. But he just doesn't want it. He's a knucklehead.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, it's important to remember here because the Federal Reserve is meant to be independent from the White House and Congress. The president is only allowed to remove him with cause. Policy disagreements do not count as cause.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But the White House believes they could have cause in the form of a $2.5 billion renovation plan for the Federal Reserve that Powell approved. Trump says Powell has wasted taxpayer money on a, quote, palace for himself, and hinted that the project could constitute fraud.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud. I mean, it's possible there's fraud involved with the $2.5, $2.7 billion renovation. This is a renovation. How do you spend $2.7 billion? And he didn't have proper clearance, etc., etc.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So you know that's going on. So right now, it does seem unlikely that Trump will move to fire Powell. That means he'll have to wait until 2026 when his term expires, at which point Trump will get to pick his replacement.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, pivoting a little bit to some other news out of the White House, President Trump did address the Epstein situation again. What did he say?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, he continued to double down on the claim that there is nothing worth revealing in the Epstein files. He also reiterated his belief that the entire story is part of a broader Democratic effort to distract from his administration's success.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Writing on Truth Social, he said, quote, their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. And my past supporters, emphasis on past, have bought into this BS hook, line and sinker.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net. And so they try and do the Democrats' work. I call it the Epstein hoax. Takes a lot of time and effort. Instead of talking about the great achievements.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, before we go, the president got some good news on the immigration front. Tell us about that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. The CBP released their latest numbers showing that June saw just 25,000 encounters at the southern border. That is the lowest monthly total in Border Patrol history. The agency also reported its lowest single day total in history. That was June 28th, when there were just 136 encounters across the entire border.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For context, there were points during the Biden administration where we saw more than 12,000 encounters daily. So President Trump continues to follow through on his campaign promise to lock down the southern border.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it looks like it could be done. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Absolutely.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Now that President Trump has signed the big, beautiful bill, Congress is gearing up for the next legislative battle. Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice was on Capitol Hill earlier this week and he talked to lawmakers about everything from Epstein to what comes next legislatively.
--:-- Tim Rice: So, a busy few days for you. What did you hear from members of Congress? What are their priorities?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, good morning guys. So on Tuesday the Republican Study Committee hosted a new media row on the Hill. It was an opportunity for outlets like the Daily Wire to speak to their members one on one.
--:-- Tim Rice: Those members included House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who spoke to Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olihan about the concerning rise of violent political rhetoric on the left.
--:-- Steve Scalise: I'm really concerned that you still see a heightened rhetoric, you know, when the left is out there, just even to this day for agencies like ICE saying ICE is like they're Nazis or comparing them to, you know, violent things like that. It's encouraging violent behavior.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You're seeing people attacking our law enforcement, including ICE agents, and they're spurred on by a lot of the rhetoric from the left. It's got to stop.
--:-- Steve Scalise: Unfortunately, you've seen some of that rhetoric incite people into violence. Our audience will remember that Scalise himself was badly injured at a mass shooting by a left-wing activist during a practice for the 2017 congressional baseball game.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So he's particularly sensitive to this issue.
--:-- Steve Scalise: Scalise also talked about the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein saga and said he trusts the president to straighten things out.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Obviously, there were a lot of questions about the Epstein case. I haven't been privy to those documents, the classified information others have. But look, I trust Donald Trump and his judgment. And ultimately, I think he's going to get the right answers.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I spoke to New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, who's been fighting to keep drugs and criminals from pouring through our northern border.
--:-- Claudia Tenney: She said she's particularly worried about the problem in light of what's happening in New York City. The cartels are going to go where the money is, and they're going to go where they're going to find the most lax state laws where they can take advantage.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And New York State provides that access to New York City where they can hide out, where they can do whatever they want in New York City. New York City is facing a major crisis, which is going to impact not just the state, but all of us.
--:-- Claudia Tenney: Obviously, the election of a Marxist anti-Semite like Zoran Mamdami. These are the kind of people that are helping, aiding, and abetting the criminal cartels that are trafficking children, trafficking women, and all kinds of, It's just it's really disgraceful.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Florida Congresswoman Kat Kamik said her biggest priority going forward was imposing background checks for Congress, something that shockingly isn't already required.
--:-- Kat Kamik: We have seen situations where individuals who have ties to foreign nations, different organizations that have terrorist funding have made their way into different offices. And these are people that are working on behalf of the American people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So our bill is very simple. Require background checks for congressional staff, and they need to disclose any foreign ties, including dual citizenship.
--:-- Kat Kamik: I think the American people deserve to know who's working on their behalf. It's pretty simple, but you would not believe the resistance that we're getting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So those are just a few of the lawmakers we talked to, and we had some great conversations about protecting kids, women's sports, the Middle East, the Texas floods, and more.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And you can see more of those interviews on the Daily Wire. But I'll leave you guys with the most important interview of the day. I finally asked Jim Jordan why he never wears a suit jacket.
--:-- Jim Jordan: You know, it's just a habit I got into because you're in committee and you got some guy on the witness stand who you think, you know, wasn't telling the truth to your constituents and you're going to go after him in a cross-examination.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You got to get like ready to go, you know. Daily Wire always asking the tough questions.
--:-- Tim Rice: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You bet.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: President Trump is directing over $100 billion to AI infrastructure in Pennsylvania. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about what happened at that summit at Carnegie Mellon University.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So, on Tuesday Trump said that he had received pledges worth $92 billion for new AI and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania. Here's some of what he said at the summit.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Leading technology and energy companies are announcing more than $92 billion of investments in Pennsylvania. And if you want, we could probably get them up. Let's talk to them right now.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But this is a really triumphant day for the people of the Commonwealth and for the United States of America.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Trump actually did get more investment. By Wednesday, he said the level of investment had risen to over $100 billion.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That includes investment from the asset manager Blackstone, which wants to bankroll $25 billion worth of new data centers and energy infrastructure in the state.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So how was Pennsylvania selected? Well, it powered America's first industrial revolution, so why not its second?
--:-- Tim Pierce: But actually, the state is covered with old industrial sites that make ideal locations for new data centers. They generally have easy access to electricity and water, which data centers consume tons of.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Pennsylvania is also unique in that it sits on top of the Marcellus Shale Formation. That means plentiful natural gas ready to be tapped into and less money spent on pipelines to get it to power plants to fuel the data centers.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Trump actually boasted about the Homer City, Pennsylvania power plant that the president said will be resurrected to fuel AI development.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, I'm happy. Homer City. I was there and I said, I'm going to produce something. I don't know what, because they shut down this massive coal plant, one of the biggest in the country.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And it was just purchased by the gentleman that you met yesterday. Very substantial man. I don't know if he's maybe not as substantial as you. I'm not sure. But he's pretty substantial. You know who I'm talking about.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And they're going to spend billions of dollars on rebuilding it. And it's going to be the largest plant of its kind in the world, I believe. Actually in the world. And it's going to be great.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So it was a coal plant, and now it will be the largest natural gas plant in the world, according to the president.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is also being revived exclusively for data centers to be built by Microsoft.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The other asset Pennsylvania has over other states is its water resources. We hear a lot about the electricity needs of these data centers, but they also use millions of gallons of water as well to keep their servers cool.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Pennsylvania isn't as stressed about water resources as places like Arizona, for instance.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, all of this development is part of the president's larger plan to remain dominant globally in the AI space.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How is it going in that regard?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah, it feels like the AI race has just started, but getting a step ahead early can pay a lot of dividends later. The administration is focused on China as its chief rival.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's the president talking about that at the Pennsylvania summit on Tuesday.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We're here today because we believe that America's destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology. And that includes being the world's number one superpower in artificial intelligence. And we are way ahead of China. I have to say we're way ahead of China and the plants are starting up, the construction starting up.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So he says we're way ahead. But in some ways, China is outpacing the United States. Energy generation is the biggest one. China is investing heavily in new power stations to build out its already substantial lead over the U.S.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In 2023, according to the Brookings Institute, China had over twice the electricity generation that the United States has and was on track to greatly increase that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it was Pennsylvanians, too, that put Trump in the White House both times. So big thank you to them.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me on. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to like and subscribe. We'll be back this evening with more news you need to know.
