Wednesday morning news: October 15, 2025

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Trump meets with Argentine president » At the White House …

TRUMP:  Well, thank you very much. It's a great honor to have the leader of Argentina president and I really want to thank you very much.

President Trump welcomed Argentine President Javier Melei on Tuesday.

The two leaders talked trade.

They also highlighted a major currency swap … after the U.S. Treasury arranged a $20 billion agreement allowing Argentina temporary access to U.S. dollars in exchange for pesos — a move that helped stabilize the country’s depleted reserves. For that, Melei expressed his gratitude.

MELEI: [Speaking Spanish]

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also took part in the meeting … and highlighted President Melei’s success … reversing decades of socialist policies.

BESSENT:  The president is fighting a hundred years of bad economic history and policy.

Since the libertarian president took office nearly two years ago, Melei has sharply cut government spending. Over that time, the country’s month-over-month inflation has fallen from more than 25% … to less than 2%. And Argentina enjoyed its first budget surplus in years.

Charlie Kirk medal » Also at the White House on Tuesday, President Trump honored Charlie Kirk … on what would have been his 32nd birthday.

TRUMP:  It's my privilege to posthumously award Charles James Kirk our nation's highest civilian honor the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Thank you.

The late conservative speaker and organizer was assassinated last month on a Utah college campus. His alleged killer is awaiting trial.

Kirk’s widow, Erika, shared her daughter’s birthday message to her father.

KIRK:  Happy birthday daddy. I want to give you a stuffed animal. ……. I want you to eat a cupcake with ice cream and I want you to go have a birthday surprise.

She said they were gathered at the White House not just to celebrate Charlie’s birthday … but—her words … “to honor a truth that he gave his entire life to defend, and that’s freedom.”

Man pleads guilty in attack against PA Governor Shapiro » Meantime, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro denounced political violence … as he reacted to the sentencing … of the man who tried to kill him in April of this year.

SHAPIRO:  It's hard for me to stand before you today and utter the words attempted murder when it's your own life to know that someone tried to kill me.

Thirty-eight-year-old Cody Balmer scaled a security fence in the middle of the night and set fire to the governor’s mansion back in April. He said he planned to beat Shapiro with a sledgehammer.

Shapiro and members of his family were inside and had to be evacuated, but no one was harmed.

Balmer pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges.

He’ll spend between 20 and 50 years behind bars.

He accused the Democratic governor of taking part in harming Palestinians, but denied attacking him because he’s Jewish.

Government shutdown latest » The Senate voted again yesterday on a clean stopgap funding bill to reopen the government, but …

AUDIO:  On this vote, the yeas are 49. The nays are 45. Three fifths of the senate not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to.

And with that, the partial government shutdown is now more than two weeks old.

Democrats held a news conference Tuesday, declaring they are holding firm to demanding an extension of Obamacare tax credits as a condition for passing a funding bill.

GOP leaders still say they’re willing to negotiate on healthcare and other concerns … but only if and when Democrats agree to pass a funding bill to reopen the government.

Powell rate cut remarks » Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is seemingly signaling more Fed rate cuts this year.

Powell, in a speech on Tuesday, pointed to a slowdown in hiring.

POWELL:  Based on the data we do have, it's fair to say that the outlook for employment and inflation does not appear to have changed much since our September meeting four weeks ago.

And at the meeting, the central bank opted to cut its key interest rate for the first time since last year.

Many economists expect two more quarter-point rate cuts this year.

State of the Bible report » A new nationwide report from the American Bible Society takes a close look at how Americans view the Bible—and how much they trust social institutions. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more:

BENJAMIN EICHER: The State of the Bible 2025 survey gathered responses from more than 2,600 adults across all 50 states.

Roughly one-third said they believe the Bible is completely accurate, while about one-fifth believe it was written to control people.

Among eight major institutions included in the study, respondents expressed the most trust in the family. The media and the government ranked lowest, with religion falling in the middle.

Those over the age of 60 were the most likely to trust religion, while younger generations were less confident.

Nearly half of those surveyed said they’ve experienced trauma that still affects them. But those who said they were able to forgive others reported significantly higher levels of trust overall.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Washington Wednesday with Hunter Baker. Plus, a visit to a homeless encampment in Oregon.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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