President Trump told reporters on Wednesday evening that the 832-point dip in the stock market is a self-correction and said the Federal Reserve has "gone crazy" after it raised interesest rates.
"I think the fed is making a mistake. It’s too tight. I think the Fed has gone crazy. You can say that’s a lot of safety, actually, and it is a lot of safety and it gives you a lot of margin, but I think the fed has gone crazy."
Why it matters: Trump has criticized the Fed for raising interest rates before, but also touted the rise as a signal of a strong economy. The move to raise interest rates was not unexpected and rates are still low amid Wednesday's market crash.
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has responded to President Trump's comment last week that voters "will never forgive" her for voting against Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, saying she knows her state's political terrain "better than he does," per the Associated Press.
The big picture: The Alaskan senator who is up for re-election in 2022 told reporters Wednesday that her "barometer is not necessarily what the president says but what the people of Alaska say." Murkowski was the only Republican senator who opposed Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) blasted President Trump Wednesday for writing what Sanders called "blatant lies" in a USA Today op-ed that attacked Democrats who support "Medicare for All," reports The Hill.
"Bottom line is he's trying to frighten seniors and suggest that Medicare for all would cut back the benefits they have. The truth is it would expand the benefits that they have. ... His op-ed should not surprise the American people in that it is full of lies.”
President Trump said Wednesday that he spoke with high level officials in Saudi Arabia on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist that Turkish investigators reportedly say was murdered in the Saudi consulate.
Details: Trump didn't disclose the details of his conversations with Saudi officials, but he described circumstances as a "bad situation." Khashoggi is known as a critic of the Saudi government and went missing after visiting the consulate to retrieve a document required to marry his Turkish fiancee. Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations.
A group of seven bipartisan senators plan to "demand answers" in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday over the United States' involvement with the ongoing civil war in Yemen, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The details: Last month, Pompeo certified U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen despite warnings from State Department experts. Per WSJ, the lawmakers — Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Chris Coons and Jeanne Shaheen; and Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Jerry Moran and Todd Young — are asking Pompeo to justify his decision by the end of October.
President Trump raised a bid from GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson to build a casino in Japan during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to a report from ProPublica's Justin Elliott.
Why it matters: Abe and his aides were "incredulous" that Trump "would be so brazen," according to a source briefed on the conversation. The project is a top priority for Adelson, who donated $25 million to Trump's campaign and inauguration, because Japan only recently legalized casinos and the market is considered a "holy grail" in the industry, Elliot notes. Adelson dined with Trump the night prior to the meeting.
Kellyanne Conway criticized Hillary Clinton on "Fox and Friends" Wednesday morning, calling the former secretary of state's comments on civility "graceless" and "a little bit dangerous."
The backstory: Clinton, speaking on CNN Tuesday, said, "You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about" — comments that quickly gained speed on social media. This morning, Conway pushed back on those remarks and even took a jab at what she described as Clinton's "privilege," including "her marriage to a much more popular — a man who was actually a two-term president that she’ll never be.”
Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg wrote on Instagram (followed by Facebook and Twitter) that he's now officially a Democrat.
Why it matters: Bloomberg, looking ahead to a possible 2020 presidential race as a Democrat, is heading toward spending $100 million on House Democratic races, and made a surprise contribution of $20 million to Senate Democrats.
UN Ambassador Nikki Haley doesn't seem like a natural fit for President Trump's administration: As the first female and first minority governor of South Carolina, she had nearly opposite views on trade, immigration and globalism.
The bottom line: The key is that Trump sees hiring as casting, so it's clear why Haley became such a high-profile member of his Cabinet — with him praising her yesterday, during her Oval Office departure announcement, for making it "a very glamorous position."
Senior people in the White House have the impression that Dina Powell, former top official in the Bush and Trump administrations, can have the UN ambassador job if she wants it.
The big picture: Trump has been speaking glowingly about Powell, privately and publicly, and she has strong allies in Nikki Haley, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. In fact, Powell was Haley's No. 1 recommendation to succeed her.
An abrupt spike in the number of Guatemalan families in Arizona's detention facilities has forced federal immigration authorities to release hundreds of parents and children in recent days to church shelters and charities, reports the Washington Post.
The details: A spokeswoman for ICE, Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, said the agency does not have the capacity to conduct case reviews without risking violating court-mandated limits on how long children can be held in detention facilities. The Post cites an anonymous Department of Homeland Security official saying the government has seen record numbers of family units coming across the border. September arrest totals haven't been published, but the official said the number of parents with children is expected to exceed the 12,774 family members arrested in August.
