Good morning from the Financial Times.
Today is Tuesday, April 22nd, and this is your FT News Briefing.
Markets are getting jittery about Jay Powell's job security,
and the world is mourning the death of Pope Francis.
He took groups that felt
that they had no home in the church and tried to make them feel more welcome.
Plus, European carmakers are taking a page out of the book of Chinese companies.
I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.
U.S.
President Donald Trump has been picking on Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell for a while now,
but it looks like his threats finally spooked markets.
The dollar sank yesterday,
and the S&P 500 fell as much as 3% after Trump posted on social media about Powell.
The president pressured the Fed chair, once again, to cut interest rates to stimulate the economy.
The Fed is waiting to lower interest rates because of the potential inflationary effects of Trump's global trade war.
Now this is all happening while there are growing concerns over the independence of the Fed.
Trump is even threatening to remove Powell from his position.
It's unclear whether he has the authority to do that, though.
Powell, for his part, said that he will not step down or be influenced by political pressure.
His term is scheduled to end next May.