DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, the spiritual guru and bestselling author, ended her campaign on Friday, weeks before voting begins, saying she did not want to make it tougher for a progressive to win.
She also said she did not believe she would be able to gain enough support in the upcoming contests to make a difference in the race to challenge President Donald Trump.
In a post on her website, Williamson said "we will not be able to garner enough votes in the election to elevate our conversation any more than it is now.” Williamson has barely registered in the polls and struggled in fundraising since launching her bid for president last January.
She laid off her entire staff from her campaign at the end of last year, but continued to appear at campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire in recent weeks. Her decision leaves 13 candidates remaining in the primary.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
