The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate a quarter point Wednesday, to 3.75%-4%, the first increase since July 2023. And it was unanimous. The man who signed off on it is Kevin Warsh, the chair President Donald Trump personally installed after souring on Jerome Powell. Trump wanted cuts. He got the opposite.

Warsh didn’t soften it. “Inflation is too high and has been for too long,” he said, adding that the economy appears to be strengthening. He declined to say whether policy is now restrictive, waved off the Fed's own projections—“those aren't my forecasts”—and said flatly that he's "not in the forward guidance business." Translation: stop asking what comes next.

And predictably, the markets took it badly. The Dow dropped 631 points and the S&P 500 fell 0.4% as Warsh spoke, though same-day tallies varied between intraday and closing figures. Consumers feel it faster: JPMorgan, KeyCorp and BNY all lifted prime lending rates to 7%. Trump’s stated target, posted publicly, is that rates “should be 1%, or less.”

Here’s the political problem, according to CNBC: Trump has spent months arguing that other Fed voters, not his handpicked chair, were the obstacle to cheap money. A unanimous hike kills that story. CNBC flags the available pressure points—the stalled firing of Governor Lisa Cook, a paused Justice Department inquiry into Powell and a review of the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank failure that could reach Michael Barr. What does this mean for your mortgage or credit cards? Mortgage rates probably won’t spike immediately. At least, not in response to the rate hike. Fed rate changes have a stronger influence on short-term interest rates, like those on credit cards or savings accounts. Interest rates on credit card debt may rise slightly in relation to a Fed rate cut. That could deal a blow to people who already carry a balance from one month to the next, especially with credit card debt near an all-time high.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went off script Wednesday and offered Canada a path to becoming the EU’s first “associate member”. If that doesn’t sound familiar, you’re right: It’s a status that doesn’t actually exist yet. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was sitting in the European Parliament as her guest. The line wasn’t in her prepared remarks. The chamber gave her a standing ovation anyway.

The subtext isn’t subtle: Relations with President Donald Trump's Washington are deteriorating, and Brussels is shopping for friends. But the substance is thin. Canada doesn’t want full single-market integration, the New York Times reports, and some EU governments weren’t consulted before von der Leyen floated it. Any new tier of membership would need all of them to sign off unanimously.

Carney addresses Parliament Thursday, which is when we find out whether he treats this as a serious offer or a warm gesture. Standing ovations are cheap. Unanimity in Brussels is not.

Do you remember when Snap debuted its long-awaited smart glasses, Specs, earlier this year? The reveal was not only underwhelming but also kind of a disaster. The glasses (which cost a whopping $2,200 and are vaguely reminiscent of scuba gear) inspired jeers online and calls for the company’s CEO, Evan Spiegel, to resign. The company’s stock subsequently nosedived.

This week, the company had its chance to make that argument. At an event in Los Angeles, Spiegel and other Snap executives unveiled a variety of new features and services connected to Specs. The new updates seem clearly designed to help integrate the glasses into a broader array of digital activities and, in doing so, give Specs a clearer sense of purpose.

Tech sites finally got a chance to try them out. Gizmodo called them “dorky” but “fun, with a few kinks to iron out.” The Verge was skeptical of whether they’ll be fully ready for primetime. But you can now connect with HBO Max and Spotify (a baseline of interactive fun that smart glasses have largely lacked until now). But Engadget’s reviewer enjoyed them and said “I actually think they look okay. I likely wouldn't wear them as my everyday glasses, but I don't think they look any goofier than other AR products I've tried.”