President Trump and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy feud, Trump’s Labor Department nominee cruises through her confirmation hearing, and RFK’s influence is already affecting the food industry. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.Babbel: Start learning a language today! Get up to 60% off subscriptions at https://Babbel.com/WIREVanta: Get $1,000 off Vanta at https://vanta.com/morningwire.Shopify: Go to https://Shopify.com/morningwire to sign up for your $1 per month trial period and upgrade your selling today.
Chapter 1: What is the Trump-Zelensky feud about?
Tensions escalate as President Trump and Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky feud over peace negotiations.
I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land and no people would have been killed, but they chose not to do it that way.
What's driving the wedge between the two leaders and how will Trump's new economic deal play into the talks?
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, February 20th, and this is Morning Wire. Trump's Labor Department pick sails through her confirmation hearing, despite Republican concerns over her past.
In every role, my priority has been clear, to fight for the American worker and the business that drive our economy.
And RFK and the Make America Healthy Again Commission are already heavily influencing the food industry.
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Chapter 2: What is the current status of Trump's Labor Department nominee?
Now, all of this comes as President Trump has floated a new economic deal for Ukraine. What would that look like?
Right. So last year, Zelensky laid out a so-called victory plan aimed at convincing Western allies to continue supporting the war effort. As part of that plan, he floated allowing the U.S. to develop Ukrainian natural resources after the war, including vast reserves of rare earth minerals.
And now Trump is proposing his own version of that idea, saying he wants access to Ukrainian ports, oil and gas reserves and minerals after the war. According to The Telegraph, Trump sent a memo to Ukraine calling for 50 percent of recurring revenues on those resources, as well as 50 percent of the value from, quote, all new licenses issued to third parties.
Zelensky has publicly bristled at that plan, though, saying, quote, I cannot sell our country. But it's very clear Trump is expecting some form of payback for all the U.S. tax dollars that have gone to Ukraine.
Well, and amazing if half of it really is unaccounted for. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
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Trump's choice to lead the Labor Department testified before the Senate yesterday, and the hearing went surprisingly well.
Here to explain why we didn't get the fireworks many were expecting is Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice. Hey, Tim, so not quite what we thought we were going to see yesterday. Tell us about this hearing.
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Chapter 3: How is RFK influencing the food industry?
Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo. So Amanda, the Maha Commission aims to address the spike in chronic disease rates, specifically for children, and they're focusing on processed food. So what do we know about the changes coming down the pike?
Yeah, so the commission has 180 days from the day the order was signed to submit a strategy to make our children healthy again. But changes from the private sector already seem to be in motion.
According to Robert Mosko, who's a food industry analyst for investment bank TD Cowen, food and beverage brands will proactively start to remove artificial flavors and preservatives that they believe won't pass new standards. Some big-name restaurants have already publicized their health swaps.
Fast food chain Steak and Shake famously announced last month that they'll start cooking their fries in beef tallow. RFK has promoted beef tallow over vegetable and seed oils. Sweetgreen and Blue Collar Restaurant Group have also replaced seed oils.
We'll also see changes at Mondelez International, which is one of the largest companies in the world and owns brands like Oreo, Ritz, Chips Ahoy, Clif Bar, Cadbury, and others. Mondelez CEO Dirk van der Putt said on Tuesday that the company will swap out ingredients and food dyes it currently uses by basically switching over to its European recipes. Europe has stricter standards for their food.
Van der Putt did say, though, that consumers will see price hikes. On that note, it is generally expected that we will see a strong push from the food industry to keep seed oils in foods since they are so inexpensive. Moscow said constituents of the agribusiness industry will likely present studies at upcoming hearings to make that case.
So we can expect a fight over seed oils, it sounds like. Now, what about school lunches and SNAP? Have they signaled any changes coming there?
Yeah, so with SNAP, government-funded food benefits, Trump's agriculture secretary, Brooke Rawlings, said last week that she will work with RFK to reform those benefits. Here she is talking to the press on Friday.
When a taxpayer is putting money into SNAP, are they okay with us using their tax dollars to feed really bad food and sugary drinks to children who perhaps need something more nutritious?
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