Friday morning news: March 14, 2025

Schumer to advance funding bill » At the Capitol, senators up against a midnight deadline to pass a government funding bill to avert a government shutdown.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday he's ready to start the process today of considering a Republican-led stopgap spending bill.

Democrats had been holding out … demanding language to limit the power of DOGE, led by Elon Musk, to audit government spending.

PUTIN: [Speaking Russian]

Ukraine: Russia response » Russia’s Vladimir Putin says he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

PUTIN: [Speaking Russian]

But he said certain provisions still need to be ironed out … and more discussions are needed, including with President Trump.

At the White House, Trump welcomed Putin’s response, expressing guarded optimism …

TRUMP:   He put out a very promising statement, but it wasn't complete. And yeah, I'd love to meet with him or talk to him. But we have to get it over with fast.

Ukraine has already accepted the proposal from the U.S.

Putin said he wants to ensure that Ukraine does not use a ceasefire as a chance to rearm … and he added that there must be a mechanism in place to control any breaches of the truce.

NATO chief at White House » President Trump spoke as he hosted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House.

Rutte praised President Trump for motivating other members of the alliance to step up defense spending. He said what we’ve seen in recent weeks is—quote—“staggering.”

RUTTE:  The Europeans committing to a package of 800 billion defense spending. The Germans now potentially up to half a trillion extra in defense spending. And then, of course, you had Keir Starmer here, the British Prime Minister and others, all committing to much higher defense spending.

Trump on Greenland » During the meeting, President Trump again expressed his desire to make Greenland a U.S. territory.

TRUMP:  We really need Greenland for national security. It's very important. You know, we have a couple of bases on Greenland already. And we have quite a few soldiers. And maybe you'll see more and more soldiers go there. I don't know.

The president questioned whether the autonomous territory is rightly a part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Trade war » Trump also said Thursday that the U.S. is—quote—“not going to bend” on new trade tariffs. He argued that America has been ripped off by friend and foe alike in lopsided trade arrangements.

And he threatened a 200% tariff on imports of European wine and spirits … in response to the EU’s proposed 50% tax on U.S. whiskey.

That rattled Wall Street, sparking a selloff. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says … this is about the big picture.

BESSENT:  I'm less concerned about the short term. I think we've had a big unwind and the tariffs, we've got strategic industries we've got to have. We want to protect the American worker that a lot of these trade deals haven't been fair.

Trump officials say the economy is heading in the right direction.

The White House is distributing a fact sheet highlighting the fact that inflation cooled in February for the first time in five months. And the average price of things like eggs and gas are dropping.

EPA Regulation Rollback » EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says his agency is about to drop the ax on dozens of Biden-era rules.

ZELDEN:  Today, I'm pleased to make the largest deregulatory announcement in U. S. history.

Zeldin says his team plans to roll back 31 regulations that restrict power plants, oil and gas production, manufacturing, and more …

ZELDEN:  EPA will be reconsidering many suffocating rules that restrict nearly every sector of our economy and cost Americans trillions of dollars.

Democrats call the rollbacks reckless and insist that they’ll cost Americans and the world far more in the long run.

SOUND: [Airstrike aftermath]

Israeli airstrike » Syrians inspected the damage on Thursday … after an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building on the outskirts of Damascus. Three people were reportedly injured.

SYRIAN RESIDENT: [Speaking Arabic]

One member of the terror group Islamic Jihad in Syria … says the strike hit the home of one of his group's members. He called the action blatant Israeli aggression…

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the home was actually the Damascus headquarters of Islamic Jihad.

Netanyahu said of the reason for the strike … that Israel has a clear policy—quote—“whoever attacks us or plans to attack us, we strike them.”

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig have to save the world in a new movie from Looney Tunes. Collin Garbarino has a review.

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