After abruptly dismissing FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to defend his decision. In Trump’s letter to Comey, the president said, “It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.” Andrew McCabe, who has been the FBI’s deputy director, is now acting director, a Justice Department official told NBC. The president’s firing of Comey now raises concerns it could create a

The iPhone 7 was the world’s best-selling smartphone during the first quarter of this year, Strategy Analytics said Wednesday. The research firm said it estimates Apple shipped 21.5 million iPhone 7 units during the quarter, giving the single device a 6 percent share of the entire smartphone market. “The iPhone 7 is by far the world’s most popular smartphone model, due to a compelling blend of user-friendly design, extensive supporting apps, and widespread retail availability for the device,” se

A former political director to President George W. Bush said Wednesday she found the news of James Comey’s firing “dumbfounding.” Also on the show, former CIA agent John Sipher said Comey’s firing likely won’t end the FBI’s investigation into possible links between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign. In a letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore “public trust and confidence” in the FBI. Some Republicans said Comey’s firing will be a fresh start, while others call

Improving your home shouldn’t demolish your finances. About half of homeowners are either starting or continuing a home remodeling project this spring, according to a new survey from design and remodeling site Houzz. The site polled 95,920 of its users (who, arguably, may be more inclined than the general population to undertake such projects). How much you can expect to spend varies by project — last year, Houzz users spent an average $11,700 to remodel or add a master bathroom, for example, an

Wal-Mart has quietly made its next move in taking on Amazon to bring fresh groceries to the masses. On Wednesday, Jet.com — which Wal-Mart acquired for $3.3 billion in 2016 — is opening a temporary grocery location in New York in partnership with Rachel Shechtman’s STORY retail concept store. Amazon also plans to boost the number of physical book stories it operates, and is testing a smart convenience store, Amazon Go, near its Seattle headquarters. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has been rapidly expanding

House Speaker Paul Ryan is taking his pitch for tax reform on the road in an effort to shore up public support for one of Republicans’ signature issues. “He is the kind of speaker who stays up at night thinking about tax reform. Republican Reps. Steve Stivers and Pat Tiberi represent surrounding districts and have expressed concern about the border adjustment tax, a critical component of Ryan’s blueprint for reform. The border adjustment tax, for example, is forecast to raise slightly more than

The senators suggest CVR timed its buying and selling of these credits based on information Mr. Icahn had about coming policy changes. For most of his six-decade career, Mr. Icahn, 81, has been known as an outsider. Mr. Trump, a longtime friend and business associate, has lauded Mr. Icahn as a “brilliant negotiator.” Since Mr. Trump won the election, CVR shares have gained nearly 75 percent, marking a major windfall for Mr. Icahn over that period. It’s not the first time that Mr. Icahn has taken

This is part of China’s push to increase global clout — building modern infrastructure can attract more investment and trade along the “One Belt, One Road” route. It could be beneficial for western China, which is less developed, as it links up with neighboring countries. It’s clear China wants to wield greater influence — Xi’s speech in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos touted the benefits of globalization, and called for international cooperation. And an article by Premier Li Keqian

And yet we all saw Reid’s successor, Senator Charles Schumer, crying bloody murder over the Comey firing Tuesday evening — specifically because the firing was supposedly hampering Comey’s pointed Russia investigation! For the record, President Nixon fired the special prosecutor and not the FBI Director during the Watergate investigation. The charge that this firing is somehow an abuse of power assumes an astounding series of facts not in evidence. But all of that was true in January when Preside

The timing of President Donald Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey is “frightening,” Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager Robby Mook told CNBC on Wednesday. “I think there were serious questions raised about how he handled this,” Mook said on “Squawk Box.” “The argument is absurd,” said Mook, who was critical of Comey on how he handled Clinton’s email probe. Rosenstein focused on Comey’s statements days before the November election about the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s

President Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of James Comey over alleged mishandling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails has sparked speculation over his likely successor as FBI director. The White House has said its search will begin immediately, though it did not release a time frame for filling the position. Deputy Director Andrew McCabe will serve as acting director. This is just the second time the head of the FBI has been fired. In 1993, FBI deputy director Floyd Clarke filled t

Jack Lew, Obama’s Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff, said Wednesday that he believes President Donald Trump made the final decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. As a former White House insider, Lew told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that decisions of this magnitude are made at the top. Lew said there have been questions since Day 1 of the Trump White House about who has the president’s ear and who’s advice he’s following. Prior to leading Treasury, Lew was former President Barack Obam

President Donald Trump has made an enormous bet that takes the entire Republican agenda hostage and could even shorten his time in office. But subsequent criticism, as the news sank in, from the Republican senator leading the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and others underscored the risks facing Trump. Mid-term election handicappers note the potential for a political “wave” mirroring the 2006 Democratic sweep and 2010 Republican landslide. The process of impeachment began in the Dem

One story expected to be front and center in markets on Wednesday is that of the recent dismissal of FBI Director James Comey. The U.S. dollar came under pressure shortly after the news, meanwhile, markets in Europe saw slight weakness during morning trade, and Asia Pacific markets ended on a mixed note. In data news, mortgage applications rose 2.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last week. Import prices rose 0.5 percent, more than expected. Elsewhere, the U.S. Treasury is set to auction

Germany’s HeidelbergCement reported operating profits for the first three months of the year had contracted 3 percent compared to 2016’s first-quarter. Elsewhere, Dutch banking firm ING Groep moved towards the top of the European benchmark, boosted by underlying pretax profits. Despite posting a fall in first-quarter profits, the Netherlands’ largest lender by assets said it had been supported by continued loan growth and good cost control. Trump fires ComeyMarkets appeared on edge Wednesday aft

Stepping aside from politics, a whole host of U.S. companies are set to report earnings on Wednesday, with Whole Foods and 21st Century Fox expected to be of key focus. On Wednesday, Snap’s first earnings report since its IPO will be under close watch, with investors looking to see if Snap has been able to re-accelerate its user base following a drop last quarter, and whether it can ramp up its ad growth. In data news, mortgage applications rose 2.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last we

For Ev Williams’ first venture capital fund, the Twitter co-founder had some fun with numbers, raising $123,456,789. Williams’ Obvious Ventures disclosed on Wednesday that it raised $191,919,191. Palindromes read the same forward as they do backward, though they’re more commonly used as words like “civic” or phrases, like “Madam, I’m Adam.” Obvious uses the hashtag #worldpositive to tout its investing style. Certain alternative energies, for example, present massive growth opportunities as price

Like other Echo devices, it can be used to control other smart gadgets such as lights and thermostats. A source told CNBC that Amazon plans to use its Alexa and Echo technology in the enterprise market, too, and that announcements on that front may come later this year. The source said Amazon will be specifically disruptive to unified voice tech from companies like Cisco. The original Amazon Echo launched in 2014, followed by the smaller Echo Dot, the portable Echo Tap and, most recently, the Am

Nevada teen Carter Wilkerson has successfully ousted Ellen DeGeneres for the world record of the most retweeted tweet of all time. The title, previously held by DeGeneres at 3.4 million retweets, comes a little over a month after Wilkerson asked the Wendy’s Twitter account how many retweets he would need for a free year’s supply of chicken nuggets, and the company responded with “18 million.” Since then, brands and celebrities have all poured their support for Wilkerson, from Apple Music, Google

You can now place and receive calls and messages from one Amazon Alexa-enabled device to another. Amazon announced Alexa calling and messaging on Tuesday, which allows you to place a call from any Alexa-enabled device — including smartphones, and Amazon Echo units — to any other. You might, for example, call the Echo Dot in your parents’ house, or the Alexa app on your wife’s iPhone. When a call is received, the ring around the top of your Echo (or in your Amazon Alexa app) will turn green, afte