Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Reuters

We just wrapped up the portion of the cabinet meeting open to the media - which clocked in at a whopping 3 hours and 17 minutes, including a lengthy Q+A.

The length makes today's cabinet meeting unprecedented in recent memory, something that Trump rightly acknowledged "has never happened".

"It's an open government, that's what we are," he said.

Trump covered a wide range of topics, from crime in Washington DC to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

We did not get a tremendous amount of details on Trump's efforts to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve over what he termed "an infraction", but it's clear that he and the administration are gearing up for a legal battle that they hope they will ultimately win.

"You always have legal fights," he said.

Trump also made clear that his battle with the Fed over interest rates will continue - a topic we're likely to hear much more about from him and members of his administration in the coming days.

Thank you for following along.

You can read more about Trump's row with the Fed here: Cook to sue Trump over order to fire her from Federal Reserve

Democrats are hitting back against Trump's threats to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has accused the president of trying to "take over the Federal Reserve".

"Hugo Chavez would be proud," Jeffries said. "Why aren’t Republicans and so-called defenders of the free market complaining? Complete phonies."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described Trump's threat to fire Cook as "the latest in Donald Trump's DC partisan games to rig the economy for his billionaire donors at the expense of hardworking Americans".

"This attempted firing shreds the independence of the Fed and puts every American’s savings and mortgage at risk," Schumer said. "Donald Trump is playing a dangerous game of Jenga with a key pillar of our economy. This brazen power grab must be stopped by the courts before Trump does permanent damage to national, state, and local economies."

After nearly three-and-a-half hours, the public portion of Trump's cabinet meeting has finished.

Stick with us, we'll continue to bring you any updates.

Trump says people are paying too high interest rates and it's "hurting the housing industry."

He says most of the US economy is doing great but housing is "less than it could be" and he blames Fed chair Powell for that.

The Federal Reserve's key lending rate is between 4.25% and 4.5%.

Trump has just been asked about the Federal Reserve statement we just told you about, which says Lisa Cook has said she plans to challenge her removal in court.

He says that he will "abide by the court", but when reporters try to ask him follow up questions says "that's enough" and moves on to other questions.

As Trump has been speaking, the Federal Reserve has released a statement on Trump's attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

The statement reasserts the central bank's independence but it doesn't clarify if Cook is still in her post.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Nearly three hours into this cabinet meeting here at the White House, the second question from reporters in the room was about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's engagement, which was announced on Instagram as this meeting was ongoing.

"I wish them a lot of luck," Trump says. "I think he's a great player. A great guy. And I think she's a terrific person."

Trump said he is "not a Taylor Swift fan" last year after the pop star endorsed his presidential opponent Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

You can follow our coverage of the megastar couple's engagement here.

A reporter has just asked Trump if he has anyone in mind to replace Lisa Cook, who he is trying to remove from her current role.

"I maybe have somebody in my mind who I like," Trump says but doesn't specify who.

He also adds that he hasn't made a decision about Jerome Powell, the chair of the Fed, who Trump has threatened to fire from his role repeatedly.

Trump says Powell is not a "bad person" but hasn't done what the president has wanted with regards to interest rates.

Trump is now taking questions from reporters. The first journalist asks whether Trump is prepared for a legal fight in response to his firing of Cook.

"You always have legal fights," Trump says. "We need people who are 100 percent above board, and it doesn't seem like she was."

Trump claims Cook had an "infraction", and has accused her of mortgage fraud, though there is no legal case against her.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

The public portion of cabinet meeting is still ongoing - and we've not yet even arrived at the question-and-answer part that reporters are expecting.

But by my calculations, I believe it is already the longest one we've seen yet in this administration.

According to members of today's press pool, reporters were ushered into the room at 12:11 local time.

As I write this, it's 14:30 - longer than the last cabinet meeting which clocked in at under two hours.

As has been the case in the past, much of this meeting has so far been taken up by cabinet members discussing perceived successes in their departments and areas of responsibility.

As a reminder, this is merely the part of the meeting that is open to the media. The actual meeting is much longer.

Image source, Reuters

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent briefly talks about the Federal Reserve, but he doesn't specifically mention Trump's attempt to remove one of the Fed's seven governors.

Critics say the move jeopardises the US central bank's long-held independence.

"The Federal Reserve's independence comes from a political arrangement between itself and the American public," Bessent says. "Having the public's trust is what gives it credibility and you, sir, are restoring trust in government," he tells Trump.

Trump's cabinet meeting has been ongoing for two hours now, but so far we haven't heard from the president on his firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook.

So far, he instead touches on a range of other issues, including crime. He responds to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker calling Trump a "wannabe dictator" for saying he plans to send National Guard troops to Chicago after deploying them in Washington DC.

"The line is that I'm a dictator, but I stop crime, so a lot of people say, you know, if that's the case, I'd rather have a dictator," he says. "But I'm not a dictator, I just got to stop crime... (Pritzker) should be calling me and saying, 'Can you send the troops? It's out of control.'"

Trump also expands on previous comments about potentially introducing the death penalty as a potential sentence in Washington DC, where the president is trying to crack down on crime and homelessnes.

"Anybody murdered... in the capital? Capital punishment. Capital. Capital punishment," Trump says.

"If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, DC, we're going to be seeking the death penalty."

Capital punishment was abolished in the District of Columbia in 1981, though it is still available for certain federal crimes. According to the DC-based Death Penalty Information Center, the last execution in Washington DC took place in 1957.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Trump has been pressuring the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, a move which the US central bank has so far been cautious to do. But that could soon change.

Speaking to central bankers gathered at Jackson Hole in Wyoming last week, Fed chair Jerome Powell gave a boost to expectations that there will be an interest rate cut in September.

Economists and investors were already expecting borrowing rates to come down from their current 4.25 to 4.5% range. Recent weakness in the US jobs market raised those expectations further, but the impact on prices of Trump's sweeping tariffs had raised doubts.

Powell said the effects of tariffs on consumer prices were now "clearly visible" but said that there was a "reasonable" case to be made that inflation would be "relatively short lived - a one-time shift in the price level".

Central banks typically cut rates to boost growth if there are signs of slowing economy and falling employment, as it makes it cheaper for consumers and businesses to borrow.

But boosting growth has to be balanced with keeping a check on rising prices. Higher interest rates can help control inflation, which is often seen as a central bank's main priority.

Read more of our coverage here.

An investment expert tells the BBC that Trump saying he will fire Federal Board Governor Lisa Cook will likely end up in the court system.

Alonso Munoz, the Chief Investment Officer at Hamilton Capital Partners, says: "we've never seen this before".

The situation is causing anxiety for the investment community, Munoz adds.

Trump is continuing his opening remarks at the cabinet meeting, he says new job numbers are going to be "through the roof".

Trump made headlines last month when he fired Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer, after he claimed she had "RIGGED" jobs figures "to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad".

It sparked backlash from financial experts who fear the numbers - which are known for being politically independent - could be politicised.

• Trump fires lead official on economic data as tariffs cause market drop

During his Cabinet meeting, Trumps says "there is no inflation" in the US and oil prices are down.

"Groceries are down, energy is way down" he says.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in July rose 2.7% on an annual basis. CPI tracks the changes in prices of everyday items like food goods and apparel.

Low inflation is one of the arguments he is trying to use to get the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, but some contend lowering rates could hurt the economy.

"In the near term, risks to inflation are tilted to the upside, and risks to employment to the downside - a challenging situation," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at an event last week.

Central banks typically cut rates to boost growth if there are signs of slowing economy and falling employment, as it makes it cheaper for consumers and businesses to borrow.

Read more of our coverage on the Fed's interest rate policy here.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Reuters

There's been lots of redecorating here at the White House since Trump returned to office.

The Rose Garden has, for example, been paved over and equipped with yellow-and-white umbrellas and garden tables.

The Oval Office is now glittering and gold, with substantially more flags and art on the walls than was previously the case.

We see the Cabinet room much less often - and today we'll be seeing the changes that Trump has recently made to it for the first time.

According to one of today's "pool" reporters - from CBS, the BBC's US partner - the room now has gold-leaf trim around the doors and around the ceiling, as well as gold flourishes on the walls and gold plates on the fireplace mantel.

Trump often comments on his various projects at the White House - and it's highly possible that he will make sure to point out these changes to cabinet members and reporters alike.

Notably, in the last Cabinet meeting in July, Trump asked aloud if he would "gold leaf" the corners of the room.

It appears he has.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

After a delay, Trump's Cabinet meeting in the White House has just begun.

The US president is joined by Vice-President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other members of his adminsitration.

We'll be listening across and will bring you the latest developments as we get them. Stay with us.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Washington DC

Trump says he has "sufficient cause" to remove Cook from her position in the Federal Reserve Board of Governors following his accusations of mortgage fraud.

Robert Hockett, a law professor at Cornell Law School, thinks otherwise. He says the Fed was designed to prevent against this kind of political meddling, "Fed Governors can be removed only 'for cause,'" he notes.

“We have prioritised competence and stability over fleeting and ill-informed 'passions of the moment' in this all-important area," Hockett says.

"Now, Trump has found yet another pretext on which to attempt to remove a Fed Governor from office and, having failed in trying that strategy with Chair Powell, apparently thinks he has found a 'softer' target in Governor Cook, the first African American woman to serve on the Fed Board."

Hockett also thinks Cook's mortgage allegations are explainable. "As anyone with as chequered a history in real estate as Trump will know, someone's having two primary residences between which to commute is no closer to that than is a family's having two cars," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've just reported, Cook's lawyer says the governor will be filing a lawsuit against the US president and challenging the "illegal action".

Cook has been accused by the US president of making false statements on mortgage agreements. This not the first time the Trump administration has used mortgages to go after the president's opponents.

Trump previously accused two Democrats - California Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James - of committing mortgage fraud.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, has faced accusations but with three homes, not two. But he has not been targeted by the Trump administration.

As a reminder on the latest allegations against Cook, Trump says she "falsified bank documents and property records" in an attempt to get more favourable loan terms and lower interest rates.

The allegations were first made in a public letter from housing finance regulator, Bill Pulte, a Trump ally, to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The letter says Cook obtained a mortgage on a Michigan home and certified she would use it as her "principal residence" within 60 days and for a full year.

The letter then says that two weeks later Cook purchased a condo in Atlanta and said that property would be used as her primary residence.

Cook firmly rejects Trump's accusations.