Good morning. Donald Trump files a $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times. Lisa Cook and Stephen Miran are set to take part in today’s Fed meeting. And Disney is teaming up with Webtooon to bring you a new comics platform. Listen to the day’s top stories.

By Marcus Wright

Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against the New York Times, accusing it of serving as a Democratic “mouthpiece” and pointing to its endorsement of Kamala Harris along with other coverage. The case adds to Trump’s running battles with the press since returning to the presidency—including his decision to sue Rupert Murdoch and two of his companies for libel over an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Jerome Powell speaks with Lisa Cook in Washington on June 25. Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Lisa Cook is set to take part in the Federal Reserve’s meeting today and tomorrow after an appeals court temporarily blocked Trump from firing her. Stephen Miran will also join the interest rates deliberations, after his appointment was confirmed last night in a 48-47 Senate vote. Meanwhile, Miran’s recent mention of the Fed’s so-called “third mandate” may have alarming implications for financial markets.

The US “decertified” Colombia as a partner in the war on drugs. The move may hit foreign investment, multilateral funding and tourism, as the country now finds itself in the same rogue category as Venezuela. Yesterday, Trump said the US struck a second vessel ferrying drugs from Venezuela, about two weeks after the US military said it killed 11 people in an attack on another boat.

Stanford held the top spot among full-time MBA programs at US schools, as it has for Bloomberg’s past six rankings. The key question is deciding whether to pursue an MBA is worth it. Find out here.

The SEC said it’s prioritizing Trump’s proposal to reduce the frequency of earnings reports after the president called for an end to quarterly disclosures. In other corporate news, Alibaba is deploying Jack Ma in its quest to ‘Make Alibaba Great Again.” And OpenAI hired former xAI CFO Mike Liberatore to manage its massive infrastructure spending, CNBC reported.

Bloomberg Green New York: Join us Sept. 25 for a solutions-focused look into a new era of climate action during Climate Week NYC. Following the 80th United Nations General Assembly, we’ll hear how top leaders in business, finance and government are approaching climate issues during times of geopolitical uncertainty. Learn more here

Deep Dive: The State of Consumer Spending

The Tiffany flagship store in New York. Photographer: David Dee Delgado/Bloomberg

Wealthy consumers account for a growing share of US spending, highlighting the lopsided strength of the economy. 

• Consumers in the top 10% income distribution accounted for 49.2% of total spending in the second quarter, up from 48.5% in the first, according to Moody’s. That’s the highest level in figures going back to 1989.
• That helps explain how the economy has remained afloat and avoided recession amid a substantial decline in hiring, rising debt delinquencies and stubborn inflation.
• Some of the most dramatic evidence of economic weakness came last week, when preliminary revisions to payroll data showed job growth in the year through March was roughly half as strong as previously reported.
• Black unemployment is rising at the fastest clip since 2020. At 7.5%, it’s once again twice the rate for White Americans, erasing the progress made in narrowing the gap over the last three years.

The Big Take

The T. Rowe Price Group headquarters in Baltimore. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

It's crunch time for traditional investment firms that once dominated Wall Street. With their mutual funds falling out of vogue, executives atop an industry managing more than $35 trillion are under mounting pressure to try more drastic measures—from bigger deals to deeper cuts.

Opinion

Shoppers in Toronto on July 3.  Photographer: Chloe Ellingson/Bloomberg

Companies like McDonald’s and Levi Strauss have long tapped into America’s soft power to drive international sales, Beth Kowitt writes. So it follows that as the Trump administration has abandoned hearts-and-minds tactics, the rest of the world has become much less interested in what America is selling—whether that’s the brands or the values they’ve come to embody.

Before You Go

Fans wait in line to meet Webtoon creators during the company's IPO in New York. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Walt Disney is bringing all of its marquee comics to a new digital platform and app in partnership with Webtoon Entertainment. More than 35,000 comics—spanning back catalogs and ongoing series—from the various Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and 20th Century franchises will be available via a single subscription.