*By Jim Roberts*
The anger and finger-pointing hasn’t let up in New York City over Amazon’s decision to abandon plans to local a new headquarters there, but Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey sees a clear next step: bring HQ2 to Newark.
Booker, who was once Mayor of Newark and is now running for president, said that ever since Amazon announced its retreat from New York, officials in New Jersey’s largest city have reached out to the retail and technology colossus.
“We want HQ2,” Booker declared emphatically in an interview with Cheddar’s J.D. Durkin. “We’ve sent that message out already. And everybody from the Governor to the Mayor to local leaders have been reaching out to Amazon.”
Newark was among the 20 finalists in the intense competition to be home to Amazon’s second headquarters and up to 50,000 jobs, but wound up losing to Crystal City in Virginia and Long Island City in Queens, New York.
New York’s success in luring the Seattle company immediately came under fire by a handful of local politicians in Queens who worried about the impact the company would place on the infrastructure of western Queens and raised concerns about Amazon’s labor practices. On Thursday, the company shocked New York by saying it was backing out.
In Senator Booker’s mind, Newark can overcome any of the concerns that undermined New York’s bid. “In Newark, we have local grassroots efforts to try to bring Amazon there, he said. “We are a city that’s built for a significantly larger population, has indigenous infrastructure, has incredible assets, has the best transportation infrastructure in the Northeast, incredible colleges and universities."
Booker spoke with Cheddar during a campaign stop in Rochester, N.H. He suggested that Newark leaders were more unified in wanting Amazon…and the jobs it could bring…than officials in New York. “Our local community leaders have decided that we would like to see Amazon come.”
He also suggested that Amazon would be compatible with Newark and that the city could avoid the divisions that erupted in New York over organized labor, infrastructure and gentrification. “We are growing and booming as a city,” Booker said. “But we are making sure that we have a pathway for all of Newarkers to prevent the ills that are often evident in gentrification and make sure that things work on our terms.”
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
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.
A new report finds the Department of Government Efficiency’s remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress.
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue are bouncing back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism. Trump told pregnant women not to use the painkiller around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday. The drugmaker tumbled 7.5%. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
