WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s appointee to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors said Monday that the central bank’s key interest rate should be much lower than its current 4.1% level, staking out a position far different than his colleagues.
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Stephen Miran, who is also a top economic adviser to Trump, said in remarks to the Economic Club of New York that sharp declines in immigration, rising tariff revenue, and an aging population all suggest that the Fed’s rate should be closer to 2.5% instead. According to projections released last week, that’s almost a full percentage point lower than any of his 18 colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, an unusually high divergence.
Miran’s comments underscore the different perspective he brings to the Fed’s deliberations over interest rate policy. His appointment has been controversial because he has kept his position as the head of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers while taking unpaid leave, raising concerns about the Fed’s traditional independence from day-to-day politics. His term on the Fed’s board expires in January, and Miran has suggested he would return to the White House after that, though he could remain on the board until a successor is appointed.
“It should be clear that my view of appropriate monetary policy diverges from those of other … members” of the committee, Miran said in written remarks. “I view policy as very restrictive,” he added, meaning that it is holding back the economy and “poses material risks” to the Fed’s congressional mandate of seeking maximum employment.
Miran said that fewer immigrants should free up more housing and lower rental costs, reducing inflationary pressures. And tariff revenues — which may top $300 billion a year, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates — should reduce the deficit, he added. Over time, that would mean the Fed doesn’t have to keep its benchmark interest rate as high as it is now to bring inflation down.
As the Gaza war rages on, France and Saudi Arabia are chairing a high-profile meeting at the United Nations on Monday aimed at galvanizing support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with more nations expected to recognize a Palestinian state in defiance of Israel and the United States.
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The meeting is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT), with several world leaders expected to speak. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to address the meeting by video after he and dozens of other senior Palestinian officials were denied U.S. visas to attend the conference.
The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Portugal recognized the state of Palestine on Sunday, and the Palestinians expect a total of 10 countries, including France, to do so in the coming days. Around three-fourths of the 193-member United Nations recognizes Palestine, but major Western nations had until recently declined to, saying one could only come about through negotiations with Israel.
Palestinians have welcomed the moves toward recognition, hoping they might someday lead to independence. “This is a beginning, or a glimmer of hope, for the Palestinian people,” Fawzi Nour al-Deen said Sunday as he held a bag on his head, joining thousands of people fleeing south from Gaza City. “We are a people who deserve to have a state.”
International community widely backs a Palestinian state
The creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — is widely seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict, which began more than a century before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza nearly two years ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government opposed Palestinian statehood even before the war and now says such a move would reward Hamas, the group that still controls parts of Gaza. He has hinted Israel might take unilateral steps in response, including annexing parts of the West Bank, which would put a viable Palestinian state even further out of reach.
Netanyahu is under pressure from his far-right coalition to move ahead with annexation, but the United Arab Emirates — the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords, in which the UAE and three other Arab states forged ties with Israel — has called it a “red line,” without saying how it could affect the two countries’ now close ties.
Netanyahu said he would decide on Israel’s response to the Palestinian statehood push after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House next week, their fourth meeting since Trump returned to office. The Israeli leader is set to address world leaders at the U.N. on Friday.
The Trump administration is also opposed to growing recognition of a Palestinian state and blames it for the derailment of ceasefire talks with Hamas. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, walked away from the talks in July, and earlier this month an Israeli strike targeted Hamas negotiators in Qatar, a key mediator.
The Palestinians are politically fragmented
Abbas’ internationally recognized Palestinian Authority is led by rivals of Hamas and administers parts of the West Bank. It recognizes Israel, cooperates with it on security matters, and is committed to a two-state solution. France and Saudi Arabia have advanced a phased plan in which a reformed Palestinian Authority would eventually govern the West Bank and Gaza with international assistance. It was overwhelmingly supported by the General Assembly on Sept. 12 by a vote of 142-10. Twelve members abstained.
Israel says the Palestinian Authority is not fully committed to peace and accuses it of incitement to militancy. Many Palestinians view the leadership in the West Bank as corrupt and increasingly autocratic.
Hamas, which won the last Palestinian national elections in 2006, has at times hinted it might accept a state on the 1967 lines but remains formally committed to a Palestinian state in all of the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, including Israel.
Israelis and Palestinians held U.S.-brokered peace talks beginning in the early 1990s, but those efforts repeatedly stalled because of outbreaks of violence and Israel’s expansion of settlements aimed at cementing its control over the West Bank. There have been no substantive peace talks since Netanyahu returned to office in 2009.
Advocates of the two-state solution say that without a Palestinian state, Israel will have to decide between the status quo, in which millions of Palestinians live under military occupation without equal rights, or a binational state that might not have a Jewish majority.
NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of Hollywood and Broadway stars — including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep — are urging Americans “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights” in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension.
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More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers added their names to an open letter Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that argues it is “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
The move comes less than a week after ABC suspended Kimmel’s late-night talk show following comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. After a group of ABC-affiliated stations said they wouldn’t air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The Walt Disney Co. pulled the show Wednesday just before air, prompting a firestorm of debate over free speech.
“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter says. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power — because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”
The list of signatories includes newly crowned Emmy-winner Noah Wyle, Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh, comedian David Cross, Tony-winner Kelli O’Hara and veteran actor Molly Ringwald. Pedro Pascal, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane, Kerry Washington and Kevin Bacon also signed.
“This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights,” the letter concludes.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine swapped accusations of deadly drone strikes on civilian areas of their countries Monday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy anticipated “a very intense week” of diplomacy at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where the Security Council was due to discuss the more than three-year war.
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Zelenskyy has tried to give momentum to a U.S.-led peace effort, offering a ceasefire and a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has taken issue with some of the proposals, however, and an end to the bloodshed appears no closer.
Additionally, international concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations. The incidents have included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Russian fighter aircraft entering Estonian airspace, which prompted an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Monday.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called the airspace intrusion a “dangerous escalation,” in comments to the Security Council, adding that “Russia’s dangerous behavior cannot be tolerated.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry denied any Estonian airspace violation by its planes. Russia’s deputy U.N. Ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, dismissed the outcry, telling the Security Council it was part of an effort to “blame Russia for everything.”
The Security Council was to discuss the war in a scheduled session on Tuesday.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said on social media that Russia was testing NATO’s political and military response and aiming to reduce Western support for Ukraine by compelling countries to redirect resources toward the defense of alliance countries.
Calibrating how to respond to Russia was not easy, Rinkevics said Sunday. Russia was doing just enough not to cross a red line, but things could still spiral, he added.
Zelenskyy was due to attend the annual high-level gathering at the U.N. General Assembly, where he planned to recruit support for efforts to stop Russia’s invasion.
“The schedule already includes nearly two dozen meetings with leaders from different countries, from all parts of the world,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram late Sunday.
Zelenskyy said he also planned to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, whose drive for a peace deal after taking office in January has yielded no progress.
“It is vital that this week strengthen the world’s resolve for robust action — for without strength, peace will not prevail,” Zelenskyy said.
A relative, center, mourns by a dead body after a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescuers work at a building destroyed during a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Relatives mourn by a dead body after a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha attends a Security Council meeting at the United Nations Headquarters, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
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A relative, center, mourns by a dead body after a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
He said that over the past week Russia fired more than 1,500 strike drones, 1,280 glide bombs and 50 missiles of various types at Ukraine. More than 132,000 foreign components were found in those weapons from dozens of countries, he said.
Ukraine has campaigned for tighter sanctions on Russia.
Meanwhile, at least seven Russian aircraft bombarded the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing three people and wounding two others, according to regional administration head Ivan Fedorov.
The attack started around 4:20 a.m. and lasted about 40 minutes, Fedorov said. Residential buildings, shopping malls, a parking lot and “critical infrastructure” were targeted, he said.
“None of the sites had anything to do with military infrastructure,” Fedorov said.
The Ukrainian air force said it stopped 132 out of 141 strike and decoy drones launched by Russian forces overnight.
The map above shows the state of the battlefield in Ukraine’s Donetsk region as Russia intensifies its campaign to seize the eastern region. (AP Digital Embed)
Russia made similar claims. The Moscow-appointed head of Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Crimea peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov, said three people were killed and 16 others were wounded late Sunday by Ukrainian drones that struck the popular vacation resort of Foros.
The Russian Defense Ministry said there are no military facilities there.
In Russia’s Belgorod border region, three people were killed and another 10 were wounded by Ukrainian drone attacks on Sunday, according to the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The Defense Ministry said 114 Ukrainian drones were downed early Monday over several Russian regions.
Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations contributed to this report.
