NEW YORK (AP) — In an unprecedented move, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — marking a sharp escalation in his efforts to exert greater control on one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world.
Trump took to social media Monday night to announce that he would be removing Cook, effective immediately, over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud before she joined the board. In response, Cook said that she would not step down — and maintained that the president has no authority to fire her.
“I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022," she said in an emailed statement. An attorney for Cook later said that she would be suing to challenge Trump's action.
Cook made headlines three years ago when she became the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s board of governors, which votes on the central bank’s key interest rate decisions. Prior to her appointment to the board, she was a longtime economics professor and also held roles in the Clinton, G.W. Bush and Obama administrations.
Here's what to know about Lisa Cook.
Cook was appointed to the Fed’s board by President Joe Biden in 2022. Her nomination was opposed by most Senate Republicans, and she was approved on a 50-50 vote with the tie broken by then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
When she took office, Cook became the first Black woman to serve as a Fed Governor in the institution's over century-long history. She initially filled an unexpired term and was reappointed the following year. Her appointment runs through January 2038.
Cook has taught economics and international relations at Michigan State University, and was previously also on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
She has received degrees from Oxford University, Spelman College and the University of California, Berkeley. Some of her most well-known research has focused on the impact of racial violence on African-American innovation, and consequently wider economic growth.
Also prior to her appointment to the Fed, Cook served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama from 2011 and 2012 — as well as a senior adviser on finance and development in the Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs from 2000 to 2001, under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Fed governors vote on the central bank’s interest rate decisions — as well as other issues of financial regulation.
Board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. But unlike cabinet secretaries — who serve at the pleasure of the president, for example — Fed governors take on 14-year terms that are staggered in an effort to insulate the Fed from political influence.
The political independence of the Fed is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables the central bank to take unpopular steps, like raising interest rates. If bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed will be able to control inflation, they will demand higher rates to own bonds — pushing up borrowing costs for the U.S. government as well as consumers' mortgages, car loans and business loans.
The Trump administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee who heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, made the accusations last week — alleging that Cook had claimed two primary residences, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta, in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often higher on second homes or those purchased to rent.
In a letter addressed to Cook that Trump shared on Truth Social Monday night, the president said that the “American people must have the full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve” — and that he did not have confidence in Cook's integrity in light of her “deceitful and potentially criminal conduct.”
The law allows a president to fire a Fed governor “for cause,” which typically means for some kind of wrongdoing or dereliction of duty. But establishing a for-cause removal usually requires some type of proceeding that would allow Cook to answer the charges and present evidence, which hasn’t happened in this case.
Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said on Tuesday that she would be filing a lawsuit to challenge Trump's action — maintaining that his attempt to fire Cook “lacks any factual or legal basis.”
While presidents have clashed with Fed chairs before, no president has ever sought to fire a Fed governor before. And critics say these accusations are being used as a tool by Trump to gain control of the central bank. Forcing Cook off the Fed’s governing board would provide Trump an opportunity to appoint a loyalist.
Yes. Pulte, whose agency regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has targeted several government officials with mortgage fraud claims in recent weeks.
“If you commit mortgage fraud in America, we will come after you, no matter who you are,” Pulte wrote on social media platform X following Trump's action against Cook.
Still, this isn't the first time Pulte has raised allegations against individuals who have clashed with Trump. He and Trump have simiarly targeted Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Schiff led Trump’s first impeachment, while James sued Trump’s company over alleged fraud for falsifying records.
Meanwhile, Trump's administration has faced criticism for not targeting others accused of mortgage fraud — including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch Trump ally. An AP review of public records earlier this year found that mortgages for three houses signed by Paxton and wife, Angela, contained inaccurate statements declaring that each home was their primary residence — enabling the now-estranged couple to improperly lock in low interest rates. But Pulte and the Trump administration have yet to publicly share any plans to investigate.
FILE - Lisa Cook, nominee to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, speaks during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Feb. 3, 2022, in Washington. (Ken Cedeno/Pool via AP, file)
FILE - Lisa Cook, right, takes the oath of office to become a member of the Federal Reserve Board, May 23, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, file)
ADAMUZ, Spain (AP) — Spanish police said Monday that at least 39 people are confirmed dead in a high-speed rail collision the previous night in the south of the country when the tail end of a train jumped the track, causing another train speeding past in the opposite direction to derail.
The impact tossed the second train's lead carriages off the track, sending them plummeting down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters (feet) from the crash site, Andalusia regional president Juanma Moreno said, describing the wreckage a “mass of twisted metal" with bodies likely still to be found inside.
Efforts to recover the bodies continued Monday, and the death toll could rise. Authorities are also focusing on attending hundreds of distraught family members and have asked for them to provide DNA samples to help in the identification of the victims.
The crash occurred Sunday at 7:45 p.m. when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the rails. It slammed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.
The head of the second train, which was carrying nearly 200 passengers, took the brunt of the impact, Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said. That collision knocked its first two carriages off the track. Puente said that it appeared the largest number of the deaths occurred in those carriages.
Authorities said all the survivors had been rescued in the early morning.
The accident shook a nation which leads Europe in high-speed train mileage and takes pride in a network that is considered at the cutting edge of rail transport.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the crash.
“Today is a day of pain for all of Spain,” Sánchez said on a visit to Adamuz, a village near the accident site, where many locals helped emergency services handle the influx of distraught and hurt passengers overnight.
Moreno, the regional leader, said Monday morning that emergency services were still searching for bodies.
“Here at ground zero, when you look at this mass of twisted iron, you see the violence of the impact,” Moreno said. “The impact was so incredibly violent that we have found bodies hundreds of meters away.”
He added that authorities are still searching the area near the accident for possible bodies.
Video released by the Civil Guard showed the worst-hit carriages shredded open, train seats cast on the gravel packing under the tracks. One carriage lay on its side, bent around a large concrete pillar, with debris scattered around the area.
Passengers reported climbing out of smashed windows, with some using emergency hammers to break the glass.
Andalusia’s regional emergency services said 43 people remained hospitalized, 12 of whom were in intensive care units. Another 79 passengers were discharged by Monday afternoon, authorities said.
Train services Monday between Madrid and cities in Andalusia were canceled.
Transport Minister Puente early Monday said the cause of the crash was unknown.
He called it “a truly strange” incident because it happened on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated in May. He also said the train that jumped the track was less than 4 years old. That train belonged to the Italian-owned company Iryo, while the second train was part of Spain’s public train company, Renfe.
According to Puente, the back part of the first train derailed and crashed into the head of the other train. An investigation into the cause could take a month, he said.
Álvaro Fernández, the president of Renfe, told Spanish public radio RNE that both trains were well under the speed limit of 250 kph (155 mph); one was going 205 kph (127 mph), the other 210 kph (130 mph). He also said that “human error could be ruled out.”
The incident “must be related to the moving equipment of Iryo or the infrastructure,” he said.
Iryo issued a statement on Monday saying that its train was manufactured in 2022 and passed its latest safety check on Jan. 15. It reiterated its condolences for the victims and said it would completely cooperate with the official investigation.
Various Spaniards who had loved ones on the trains posted messages on social media saying they were unaccounted for and pleading for any information.
The Civil Guard opened an office in Cordoba, the nearest city to the crash, as well as Madrid, Malaga, Huelva and Seville for family members of the missing to seek help and leave DNA samples.
“There were moments when we had to remove the dead to get to the living,” Francisco Carmona, firefighter chief of Cordoba, told Onda Cero radio.
A sports center in Adamuz, a town in the province of Cordoba, about 370 kilometers (about 230 miles) south of Madrid, was turned into a makeshift hospital. The Spanish Red Cross set up a help center offering assistance to emergency services and people seeking information. Members of the Civil Guard and civil defense worked on site throughout the night.
“The scene was horrific. It was terrible,” Adamuz mayor Rafael Moreno told The Associated Press and other reporters. “People asking and begging for help. Those leaving the wreckage. Images that will always stay in my mind.”
One passenger had been treated in a local hospital along with her sister before she returned to Adamuz with hopes of finding her lost dog. She was limping and had a small bandage on her cheek, as seen by an AP reporter.
The Vatican issued a statement saying that Pope Leo XIV expressed his condolences for the dead and hope for the quick recovery of the injured.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said she was following the “terrible news.”
Spanish King Felipe VI expressed his condolences Monday, adding that the royal house was looking into a visit to Adamuz in the coming days.
“I understand the desperation of the families and the number of injured people who have suffered this accident, and we are all really worried,” the king said, speaking from Athens.
The Spanish flag was flown at half-staff in front of Parliament in Madrid for the victims on Monday.
Spain has spent decades investing heavily in high-speed trains and currently has the largest rail network in Europe for trains moving over 250 kph (155 mph), with more than 3,100 kilometers (1,900 miles) of track, according to the European Union.
The network is a popular, competitively priced and safe mode of transport. Renfe said more than 25 million passengers took one of its high-speed trains in 2024.
Iryo became the first private competitor in high-speed to Renfe in Spain in 2022.
Sunday's accident was the first with deaths on a high-speed train since Spain's high-speed rail network opened its first line in 1992.
Spain’s worst train accident this century occurred in 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in the country’s northwest. An investigation concluded the train was traveling 179 kph (111 mph) on a stretch with an 80 kph (50 mph) speed limit when it left the tracks. That stretch of track was not high speed.
Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain, and Naishadham from Madrid. Video-journalist Alicia León in Adamuz and AP journalist Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed.
Emergency crews work at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
In this aerial view grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, a view of the Alvia train with rescue workers at the scene after a high-speed train collision, near Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)
Emergency crews work alongside one of the trains involved in a train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)
In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)
In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision,in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)
Police cars near the site of a high-speed train collision in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
An injured person is transported to the makeshift hospital in the sports center in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, after a high-speed train derailed and collided with another train. (Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via AP)
An injured person is transported to the makeshift hospital in the sports center in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, after a high-speed train derailed and collided with another train. (Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via AP)
An injured person is transported by ambulance in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, after a high-speed train derailed and collided with another train. (Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via AP)
