Friday morning news: April 18, 2025

Meloni meets with Trump on EU tariffs » President Trump is taking a very active role in talking trade with world leaders.

On Thursday he welcomed a key European ally to the White House.

TRUMP:  She's a very special person and it's nice to have you with us. Thank you very much.

MELONI:  Thank you very much, much, Mr. President. Thank you for video warm. Uh, warm welcome.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni heard there after a private lunch meeting with the president. The two leaders discussed a range of topics, but trade and tariffs topped the list.

Meloni, of course, talked about U.S. trade with Italy. But she also in many ways spoke for the European Union.

MELONI: The goal for me is to make the West great again. And I think we can do it together.

Trump said he has no doubt that the U.S. will reach a new trade deal with the EU, but suggested he feels no sense of urgency to get it done.

TRUMP:   We're gonna have very little problem making a deal with Europe or anybody else because we have something that everybody wants. You know what that means, right? We have something that everybody wants.

That something, presumably being open access to the U.S. market, the biggest consumer base in the world.

IMF head on future of global economy » But Trump’s tariffs have plenty of critics. The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said Thursday that she believes U.S. tariffs will slow global economic growth. But she does not foresee a global recession.

GEORGIEVA:  We will also see markups to the inflation forecast. For some countries, we will caution that protracted high uncertainty raises the risk of financial market stress.

The White House says the U.S. has been treated very unfairly on trade and a reboot of the global trade system is necessary.

But Georgieva says that reboot is testing the resilience of the global economy.

Trump on Jerome Powell » Her remarks come one day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also said Trump’s tariffs could fuel inflation. He added that the Fed will wait to see how the tariffs affect the economy before lowering interest rates further.

The president is not happy with any of that. He accused Powell of playing politics with his remarks. That’s something Powell strongly denies.

POWELL:  We're never gonna be influenced by any political pressure. People can say whatever they want, that's fine. We, that's not a problem, but we will do what we do.

President Trump, though, says he believes Powell has been too slow to act on interest rate changes and is no longer the right man for the job.

But there is a legal question as to whether the president can legally fire the fed chairman. Powell said this week that his legal understanding is that members “are not removable except for cause.”

POWELL: We are not removable except for cause. We serve very long terms.

The president may be set to test that interpretation of the law.

 The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is now eyeing former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to replace Powell.

SCOTUS - Trump birthright citizenship » The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next month regarding President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship. WORLD’s Christina Grube has more.

CHRISTINA GRUBE:  On his first day back in the Oval Office, President Trump signed an order that he says aims to clarify the 14th Amendment.

AIDE:  This next order relates to the definition of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the United States.
TRUMP: That's a good one. Birthright.

This order asserts that children born in the U.S. are not automatically citizens unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

But a slew of lawsuits followed.

Plaintiffs said the 14th amendment is clear: that anyone born in the United States is a citizen. And several district courts blocked the order.

The White House wants it to take effect in parts of the country while the legal battle plays out.

The Supreme Court is blocking the order for now, but they've agreed to hear arguments on the issue next month.

For WORLD, I’m Chrsitina Grube.

Iran nuclear » U.S. officials are set to meet with Iranian negotiators again this weekend for another round of nuclear talks.

The president says the Iranian regime faces a clear choice:

TRUMP: I'd like to see Iran thrive. And they can do that, I think, very easily. Or, they can do it the other way, and the other way is not gonna be good for them. It's gonna be very bad for them.

His remarks follow a report from The New York Times stating that Israel recently was all set to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities with help from the U.S., but that President Trump halted that plan. The Times reports that the president wanted to give diplomacy one more chance.

Trump told reporters that he did not waive off any planned attack. But he said that he does want to try and prevent a nuclear-armed Iran peacefully.

TRUMP: And I think Iran is wanting to talk. I hope they're wanting to talk.

But the two sides are very far apart at the moment.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff says any agreement will require Iran to completely dismantle its nuclear program. But Iran insists it has a right to enrich uranium, and that’s not negotiable.

FSU shooting » At least two people are dead after a gunman opened fire on the campus of Florida State University on Thursday.

The shooter is believed to be a student at the school. The two people killed were not students. Six people were hospitalized, including the gunman, who was shot by police. Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil:

MCNEIL: The shooter is 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, and he’s the son of a Leon County Sheriff Deputy.

McNeil said the alleged shooter's mother has served with the sheriff’s office for more than 18 years.

One witness said the gunman appeared to fire a rifle in her direction, but no one was struck.

WITNESS:  And then he turned back into his car and grabbed a pistol, and that's when I watched him shoot the lady in front of him.

Authorities believe that handgun to be the former service weapon belonging to the shooter’s mother.

Investigators say the 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy opened fire on campus with his mother’s former service weapon.

No word yet on a motive.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, A Disney animated classic turns 85 years old.

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