Friday morning news: February 28, 2025

Zelesnkyy at White House » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, where he’s meeting with President Trump at the White House this morning.

TRUMP: We will be signing  a historic agreement that will make the United States a major partner in developing Ukraine's minerals and rare hearts, and, uh, oil and gases.

The deal will give the United States access to rare earth minerals in Ukraine. Those minerals are important for manufacturing advanced technologies.

Trump says the deal will benefit Ukraine’s economy, but it will also allow the U.S. to recoup the billions of dollars in aid sent to Kyiv amid the war. And that seems to have shifted his disposition with regard to President Zelenskyy. Trump had been very critical of him, but he told reporters on Wednesday:

TRUMP:  I think we're going to have a very good meeting tomorrow. We're going to get along really well. We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him.

He said Ukraine has fought very bravely.

Zelenskyy is coming with a list of questions for President Trump about U.S. support for his country going forward.

More Trump-Ukraine-Russia » British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with President Trump at the White House yesterday with the security of Ukraine and Europe topping the agenda.

The prime minister said with regard to a possible deal to end the war:

STARMER: The UK is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal, working together with our allies, because that is the only way that peace will last.

The UK and other European allies are adamant that having a peacekeeping force of some kind on the ground in Ukraine must be a part of any peace deal struck with Russia.

The president also suggested the UK might escape planned US tariffs, crediting what he called “tremendously productive” trade talks.

U.S. - Canada, Mexico tariffs » But planned tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will go into effect as planned on Tuesday. He says the neighboring countries aren’t doing enough to address his concerns.

TRUMP:  The drugs continue to pour into our country, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argues that only a tiny fraction, less than 1 percent, of the fentanyl that arrives in the U.S. comes from Canada. But he says even still, his country has been working to shore up the U.S. Canada border on its side. And he adds:

TRUDEAU:  If on Tuesday there are, uh, unjustified tariffs, uh, brought in on Canada, uh, we will have an immediate and extremely strong response, as Canadians expect.

The White House is set to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. And that’s in addition to another 10 percent tax on imports from China.

Trump says tariffs will create jobs and bring more manufacturing back to the US. Critics of his approach say it will further fuel inflation in America.

SCOTUS USAID » The Supreme Court is giving the Trump administration more time to fight a case challenging its funding cuts and freezes at USAID agency. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: President John F. Kennedy created the USAID in 1961 by executive order. Its mission is not merely charity, but rather … to distribute foreign aid to advance America’s strategic interests and foreign policy abroad.

But the Trump administration says that instead, career bureaucrats at the agency are treating USAID like a piggybank, using taxpayer dollars to export LGBT and other left-wing ideologies.

The White House wants to pause the agency’s payments while conducting a thorough audit.

But a federal judge, responding to a legal challenge, ordered the administration to release $2 billion dollars in payments.

Chief Justice Roberts this week paused that district court ruling. Roberts did not address the case itself, but gave the court time to review the arguments.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Israel latest » Israel says it has positively identified the bodies of four more Israeli hostages released by the terror group Hamas .

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer:

MENCER: Ohad Yahalomi, Tsachi Idan, Shlomo Mantzur and Itzhak Elgarat of blessed memory were murdered.

He also announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized a delegation to resume negotiations in Egypt.

They’re working to strike a deal to extend a ceasefire with Hamas set to expire this weekend in hopes of bringing home more Israeli hostages.

MENCER: Because we want to bring them all home. It is our moral obligation. It is our ethical obligation. We need to bring them home right now, as soon as possible, as soon as humanly possible.

In Washington, President Trump said negotiations are ongoing, but it’s unclear if they will be successful.

Gene Hackman death » Police in New Mexico initially said there were no signs of foul play in the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa after they were found dead in separate rooms at their New Mexico home.

But Sante Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza has since clarified:

MENDOZA:  We're not ruling it out. Uh, what I, what I did state was, was there was no obvious, uh, sign or indication of you know, foul play. There was no immediate, uh, sign of foul play.

But investigators are calling the deaths suspicious.

One of their dogs was also dead. Officials said there were no signs of a gas leak or carbon monoxide poisoning.

Hackman was known for numerous iconic Hollywood roles, including this one in 1978’s Superman:

AUDIO [Superman clip]: Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time!

Hackman won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in The French Connection. Gene Hackman was 95. Betsy Arakawa was 63.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, your listener feedback for the month of February.

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