Tuesday morning news: April 22, 2025

Trump blasts Powell again, shakes Wall Street » President Trump is stepping up his sharp critique of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, creating a fresh round of jitters in the financial world.

Last week, Trump called Powell “terrible” amid reports the White House was thinking about trying to fire the Fed Chair. Monday, Trump again laid the figurative lumber to Powell for not lowering interest rates, calling him a “major loser” and “Mr. Too Late” over social media.

While critics fear the president’s tough talk on Powell, combined with his new tariffs, are hurting the economy, Trump says:

TRUMP: There’s a little transition, and that’s going to happen. But ultimately we’re going to be the strongest that we’ve ever been as a nation.

Stocks tumbled after the president’s comments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day down 972 points, losing two-and-a-half percent of its value. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 indices were also each down more than two percent.

And the U.S. dollar index sank to its lowest level in three years.

White House defends Hegseth amid new Signal revelation » The White House is defending Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who’s under fire after a New York Times report that, for a second time, he shared secret U.S. military attack plans in a group chat on the messaging app Signal.

The Times says its reporting is based on four people with knowledge of the chat. Without refuting the content of the report, Hegseth lashed out at the news media.

HEGSETH: They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me.

The Times reports Hegseth’s wife, brother, and about a dozen other people were on the thread.

Last month, it came to light that Hegseth and other national security officials accidentally shared U.S. attack plans in Yemen with the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic over Signal.

The president says Hegseth is doing a great job and called reporting on the second Signal chat “the same old stuff.”

SCOTUS hears LGBTQ books case in Maryland » Should parents be able to pull their kids out of elementary school classes featuring LGBTQ-themed books? That’s the question before the U.S. Supreme Court today.

It’s hearing arguments in a case out of Montgomery County, Maryland, where the public school system refused to let parents withdraw their children from a language arts class whose reading curriculum includes a handful of books with LGBTQ characters and themes.

One mother in the school district, Billy Mogess, tells FOX News the reading materials are leaving students in a state of confusion.

MOGESS: And they’re going home asking their parents [why] what they’re learning at school and at home is not lining up.

The plaintiffs in this case, including Mogess, say the school system is violating their First Amendment freedom of religion. Mogess says she’s pulled her own kids out of public school.

Abortions resume at Wyoming’s only clinic » A judge has cleared the way for abortions to resume in Wyoming. WORLD's Travis Kircher has more.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: Wyoming's only abortion business is once again legally permitted to end the lives of unborn babies. That's after a state judge's ruling yesterday.

In his decision, District Judge Thomas Campbell suspended two state pro-life laws prohibiting Wellspring Health Access from performing abortions.

The Casper-based abortion business stopped providing abortions in late February in response to the new legislation.

One law required surgical abortion businesses to be licensed as outpatient surgical centers. The other required mothers to receive an ultrasound before getting a chemical abortion.

In his ruling yesterday, Judge Campbell said the pro-life laws affect a fundamental right to abortion provided by the state constitution. The Wyoming Supreme Court is weighing whether that’s accurate, but its decision is probably several weeks away. Monday’s ruling blocks the laws from taking effect until that decision comes down.

In a social media post Monday afternoon, the center said it is once again taking appointments for mothers to kill their unborn babies.

For WORLD, I'm Travis Kircher.

Ukraine to meet with Western allies » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is sending a delegation to London tomorrow to meet with Western allies. The topic of discussion: How to achieve an unconditional ceasefire with Russia.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

That’s Zelenskyy saying Ukraine pledges not to strike civilian infrastructure in Russia and Russia must respond in kind. He goes on to suggest both sides end all missile and long-range drone strikes.

In Washington, reporters asked President Trump about the likelihood of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

TRUMP: There's a chance. There's a very good chance.

But his comments come on the heels of more Russian airstrikes. According to a report by the Kyiv Independent, three Ukrainians died and seven more were hurt in attacks Moscow launched on Sunday into Monday.

Pope Francis burial plans, replacement process » As Catholics mourn the death of Pope Francis, we’re learning he’ll be buried in Rome’s Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

The Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, explains why.

DOLAN: He would always go there before he left on a journey and when he returned to thank Jesus through Mary at that basilica, so that he wants to be buried there kind of in the middle of a Roman neighborhood, kind of at a crossroads of Roman life.

Cardinal Dolan talking to FOX NewsChannel’s The Story with Martha MacCallum.

Pope Francis died Monday at 88 from a stroke and heart failure.

Cardinals younger than 80 will convene at a secret meeting in the Sistine Chapel to choose his successor. That gathering typically happens 15 to 20 days after a pope’s death.

I'm Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: considering the legacy of Pope Francis. Plus, a story about protecting Ukrainian orphans from human trafficking.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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