Thursday morning news: February 27, 2025

Trump cabinet meeting » Senior Trump administration leaders gathered at the White House on Wednesday.

TRUMP: Okay, thank you very much. We have put together a great cabinet…

The president heard there kicking off the first cabinet meeting of his second term.

And the secretaries and agency heads got a little face time with the man Trump has tasked with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse … in the agencies they oversee.

Elon Musk, who heads DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, said eliminating overspending in Washington is not an option.

MUSK:  Just the interest on the national debt now exceeds the Defense Department's spending. We spend a lot on the Defense Department, but we're spending like over a trillion dollars on interest.

He said if that continues, America will effectively go bankrupt.

President Trump signed an executive order compelling agencies to end unnecessary contracts and justify what remains.

Federal workforce cuts » And the Office of Management and Budget sent out a memo that directs department and agency heads to prepare for a large-scale reduction of the federal workforce. The memo also instructs them to develop reorganization plans by March 13th.

President Trump said the cuts are needed to deliver an efficient government for American taxpayers, and to address a growing federal debt crisis.

TRUMP: We're cutting down government. We're cutting down the size of government. We have to. We're bloated. We're sloppy.

The president says the head of the E-P-A believes nearly two thirds of the agency’s employees could be let go.

Starmer WH visit today, Zelenskyy tomorrow + mineral deal » The president also confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be at the White House tomorrow.

The two leaders will sign a big new economic deal between the two countries that will include U.S. access to rare earth minerals in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy says he also plans to discuss his country’s “position” with Trump and has a list of questions:

ZELENSKYY:  Can we buy weapons directly from the United States? Can we work with frozen assets for buying weapons, for example …

Zelenskyy referring to Russian assets frozen under sanctions.

Trump said he’s not keen on providing security guarantees to Ukraine in the deal. He said Europe should be doing that.

And British Prime Keir Starmer says Europe is willing to do that, and he’ll discuss that with Trump in a meeting today at the White House.

Agriculture secretary on egg shortages, prices » American consumers are facing egg shortages nationwide, as bird flu continues to take a heavy toll.

But Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says her department’s working on a plan to increase supply and lower costs.

ROLLINS:  We're looking at bringing in some eggs, importing some eggs in the short term. We're talking to several countries around the world that can get us eggs right away. This would not be a long term fix, but to immediately begin to bring those prices down.

The average price of a dozen eggs reached almost $5 dollars in January, surpassing the previous record from two years ago.

Kentucky flood recovery » In Kentucky, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined Gov. Andy Beshear to tour parts of the state shredded by floodwaters earlier this month.

As the long road to recovery begins, Noem said she wants to make sure everyone is on the same page.

NOEM:  A lot of what we can do is put out a blueprint for how we communicate, um, between the local, the state responders with the federal responders.

She said FEMA is drafting a new blueprint for response communication.

President Trump issued a major disaster declaration, paving the way for federal aid. Authorities said the storm was to blame for nearly two-dozen deaths.

Israel latest » The terror group Hamas handed over the bodies of four more dead Israeli hostages last night.

SOUND: Singing

That came as Israel mourned the deaths of three hostages whose bodies were returned last week. Funeral services were held for Shiri Bibas and her two children...four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir. All three were killed while being held hostage by Hamas.

One mourner said their murders evoked cultural memories of the Holocaust.

MOURNER: I feel ashamed, I feel ashamed and sorry that we got to this point. I know that my parents and their friends came from Europe with the hope that it will never happen again.

She said she feels as though Israel’s military and its government failed its people.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the NCAA looks like it’s changing its mind about men in women’s sports.

Plus, pro-life groups expand their focus.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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