Author: News Room

Sitting beneath a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, more than two dozen of the most powerful figures in the U.S. cryptocurrency industry, together worth many billions of dollars, gathered in the White House on Friday for an audience with President Trump.When Mr. Trump entered the ornate State Dining Room after a short wait, the executives rose to applaud him.“Many of you have been fighting for years for this,” Mr. Trump said as the room quieted. “It’s an honor to be with you at the White House.”Mr. Trump was holding a first-of-its-kind “crypto summit,” meeting face to face with the leaders of…

Consulting with a lawyer who has ties to President Trump. Reaching out to Washington lobbyists. And sitting for a jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson.Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul who was once a top Democratic donor, has embarked on a long-shot campaign to secure a pardon from the Trump administration, six people with knowledge of the matter said.The effort has been driven by a small group of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s supporters, including his parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, who are trying to help their son escape the 25-year prison sentence he received after he was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and…

A month ago, President Trump announced that he would impose sweeping tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico before reaching a last-minute deal to delay them for 30 days.This week, after markets revolted when the tariffs were put in place, Mr. Trump watered them down with a monthlong reprieve for automakers.And then on Thursday, he opened up even broader exemptions for many other products that are imported from America’s neighbors to the north and south after intense lobbying from business groups that warned of rising prices.Mr. Trump has spent last month or so bouncing between imposing sweeping tariffs on imports…

A day after landing on the moon, the robotic Athena spacecraft built by Intuitive Machines of Houston is dead.In an update on its website on Friday, the company confirmed that Athena had tipped onto its side — the same fate that befell its first lunar lander, Odysseus, last year. With its solar panels unable to face the sun, the spacecraft’s batteries could not recharge.The company said it did not expect the spacecraft to revive.Before the spacecraft fell silent, “mission controllers were able to accelerate several program and payload milestones,” Intuitive Machines said. It did not provide details about what had…

Jerome H. Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, said the central bank is focused on the “net effect” of President Trump’s sweeping economic agenda amid high uncertainty about which policies will actually be enacted, as he reiterated that officials are still not in a “hurry” to adjust interest rates.“As we parse the incoming information, we are focused on separating the signal from the noise as the outlook evolves,” Mr. Powell said at an event on Friday. “We do not need to be in a hurry, and are well positioned to wait for greater clarity.”If inflation stays sticky but the economy…

Damon Hininger, the chief executive of CoreCivic, which operates private prisons and immigrant detention centers, opened an investor call last month on a buoyant note.“I’ve worked at CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is truly one of the most exciting periods in my career,” he said, adding that the company was anticipating in the next several years “perhaps the most significant growth in our company’s history.”CoreCivic, GEO Group and some smaller private prison companies are becoming a key cog in the Trump administration’s plan to hold and then deport vast numbers of undocumented immigrants. Already in the past week, CoreCivic…

In the packed Paris courtroom, the corporate magnate portrayed himself as a successful business leader who had labored to turn LVMH into the world’s top luxury conglomerate, with 75 brands, including Louis Vuitton and Dior, and 200,000 employees worldwide. When Mr. Arnault first took over the company in the 1980s, it had just 10,000 employees.He denied ever knowing of any illegal surveillance.Mr. Squarcini was tried alongside nine other defendants — mostly civil servants, police officers and consultants. Two of them were found not guilty.As the main defendant in the case, Mr. Squarcini was convicted of myriad offenses, including mishandling classified…

For about a year now, the labor market has existed in a state of eerie calm: Not many people were losing their jobs or quitting, but not many of those seeking work were getting job offers.The mass layoffs now underway across the federal government, along with its employees who are voluntarily heading for the exits, could disrupt that uneasy equilibrium.While unemployment is relatively low at 4 percent, those losing their positions could face a difficult time finding work, depending on how well their skills translate to a private sector that does not seem eager to hire.“Federal workers all across the…

House prices are stubbornly high, and mortgage rates remain substantially above their prepandemic level. Now, with the spring home buying season looming, shoppers have a new worry: A major federal consumer watchdog has been hobbled.Without the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency responsible for overseeing most aspects of the home buying process, consumer advocates say home buyers need to be their own watchdogs.“Now, when you buy a house, you are much more vulnerable to being misled,” said Sharon Cornelissen, housing director with the Consumer Federation of America. “It’s important to be on guard, because guardrails are being taken away.”Buying a…

The U.S. stock market is headed for one of its worst weeks in many months, after a series of dizzying policy shifts on tariffs from the White House. A fresh jobs report on Friday will provide a crucial reading on the strength of the economy, which has become a growing worry for investors.Futures on the S&P 500 pointed to a subdued start to trading when markets open. The benchmark index has already dropped 3.6 percent so far this week, its worst week since September. It is on course for its third consecutive week of losses, a sharp mood shift since…