As stocks dive, attention turns to the Fed chairman

Last week was the worst for markets in a decade, and President Trump has become increasingly convinced that one man is to blame: Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

After the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the fifth consecutive quarter, Mr. Trump told aides that Mr. Powell would “turn me into Hoover,” referring to the president in the early years of the Great Depression. Mr. Trump’s advisers sought over the weekend to offer reassurances that the president wasn’t planning to fire Mr. Powell.

The reaction: Wall Street added to its string of recent losses this morning.

Go deeper: At the midpoint of his term, the president has become more sure of his own judgment and more isolated from anyone else’s. “I’m doing great, but it’s a war every day,” he has told aides.

Washington shrugs at an extended shutdown

The partial government shutdown will continue until at least Thursday — and most likely into the new year — as negotiations have essentially stopped over President Trump’s demand for $5 billion for a border wall.

Democrats see little reason to compromise given that they take control of the House on Jan. 3. At that point, Representative Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to be the new speaker, could use her majority to approve a measure to fund the government for a year without additional money for a wall.

While about 800,000 federal employees are affected by the shutdown, about three-quarters of the government has been funded, considerably reducing the impact.