BONUS POD: Trump Defends Hegseth, the Future of the Catholic Church plus Retail Giants Meet Trump
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Easter is special and it's one of our favorite days. It's one of our favorite periods of time. We're honoring Jesus Christ and we're going to honor Jesus Christ very powerfully throughout our lives, all throughout our lives. We're bringing religion back in America. We're bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America.

You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Good Tuesday morning. It is the 47 Morning Update from Washington, D.C. at the White House. And it's nice to have you with us. We have three major stories for you, including a big lie from the media claiming that Donald Trump's looking to replace Pete Hedgeseth.

at the Department of Defense? Well, we've got the answer on that from the president himself. And I'm going to give you a hint. It's a big lie. Also, Pope Francis has passed away. And now there are conservatives that are among the top candidates to be the next pope. We'll break down what this could mean for the Catholic faith.

And finally, the president spent some quality time at the Easter egg roll at the White House with family and friends and made it very clear what the meaning of Easter is and why it's important to this country. But he was also doing work for the American people by meeting with retail CEOs.

talking about the tariffs, and I'll give you the latest from those conversations. It's the 47 Morning Update, and it starts right now. Story number one. So apparently there's no better place to start a lie than at the Easter egg roll with all the kids having a grand time at the White House. Full disclosure, I was there for it, but the media was doing their thing, including starting the nasty rumor that Donald Trump had lost all

all confidence and is looking to replace the man in charge at the Pentagon, Pete Hedgeseth. Now, the U.S. Secretary of Defense and former Fox News host is, quote, facing mounting pressure amid reports that he's shared since the military information and private signal chats. You saw this get spun up a few weeks ago by the media. Now, in this new story at the Easter Egg Roll that apparently his wife and brother and a personal attorney were also on set.

some of the chats. This now is leading, quote, a bipartisan attack, criticism and speculation about his, quote, unquote, potential dismissal. Now, let's go back to the core of this controversy. It'd be

when it was revealed that Hed Seth had shared details of a U.S. military operation in Yemen in a private signal chat. One of those chats included apparently a reporter. We know that that Atlantic journalist was very excited to tell all the details to anyone that would sit down and interview him. They were hoping that would undermine the present and make the American people lose faith in Donald Trump and Pete Sessions.

at the Pentagon. Well, it didn't work. In fact, the American people were impressed they were killing terrorists and they weren't too worried about, well, the Mean Girls Club. So fast forward to the Easter egg roll and now there's a new controversy that his brother and his personal attorney, his wife, may have been on one of those signal chats as well. And apparently this is a huge rift between the president and Pete. And now there's a potential dismissal.

Well, guess what? It's all a lie. How do we know? The President of the United States of America was asked about the man he put in charge of the Pentagon at the Easter Egg Roll. Yes, you're going to hear families being normal, having fun, kids laughing. You're going to hear music in the background and tubas. And then you're going to hear the President roll his eyes and laugh at the media. Here's what it sounded like in real time. Hi.

I love how the president says at the very end, it's just the same old stuff from the media.

That's an old one. Try something new. He's absolutely right. The media trying to regurgitate a story that failed a few weeks ago to try to gin it back up again and act like there's a new controversy. And if you go to the beginning of what the reporter said, he said, quote, do you remain confident in Pete Hedgeseth? What did Donald Trump say? Oh, totally. Why do you even ask a question like that?

So, if you want to know what the fact-checkers need to do, they need to rate this news story as nothing but false. But don't worry, they won't, because let's be honest, it's the liberal media doing everything they can to undermine Donald Trump and, yet again, failing at that job. Next, story number two. In the wake of Pope Francis' passing on Easter Monday, the Catholic Church will begin the process of selecting the next Bishop of Rome, thereby setting the future course of the Church in its 1.3 million.

billion followers. Now, how does this work? Within 15 to 20 days of the death of the Pope, a conclave of the College of Cardinals will be convened within the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where they will hold a secret ballot vote to elect

the next leader of the Catholic faith. Now, during his 12 years at the helm of the church, Pope Francis played a heavy focus on social justice issues such as tolerance towards the LGBTQ plus community as well as advocacy

activating and advocating for climate change in the church as well as advocating for mass migration and what some regarded as a split from the church doctrine. Well now this could be a big change as there are several conservatives there apparently in the running to take over in the new role. Now President Donald Trump has publicly expressed his condolences following the death of Pope Francis and confirmed that he and the first lady Melania Trump will at

attend the funeral in Rome. In a true social post, Trump said, rest in peace, Pope Francis. May God bless him and all who loved him. Later that day, he added, Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome. We look forward to being there. At the White House Easter egg roll, Trump described Pope Francis as a very good man who loved, loved, loved the world. And he especially loved people that were having a hard time.

He also ordered that all U.S. federal and military flags be flown at half-staff until sunset on the day of the Pope's internment. Now, Pope Francis, as I mentioned, passed away at the age of 88 due to complications from a stroke and heart failure.

His funeral is expected to take place at St. Peter's Square within the next week, following then a nine-day mourning period. Despite past ideological differences, particularly over the issue of immigration policies, Trump's tributes have emphasized respect for Pope Francis' compassion and global influence.

What we also know is this could be a new day for the Catholic Church, as now many in the church say it's time to bring someone who is back to the more traditional values. And there are several individuals on that list that are currently apparently in the running. Currently, one of the favorites is a 67-year-old Tangle, would perhaps best represent a continuity issue.

papacy having been described as the Asian Pope Francis. If elected the Filipino Cardinal would become the first Pope chosen from Asia after Francis became the first Pope from South America. Now the question is what will the church do when it comes to listening to the people? There are many out there that are saying it's time for the people in the faith to be listened to much more than they have in the

And so now, with social media and so many other ways for people to make their voices heard, the question becomes, will the Vatican listen to what the people around the world in the Catholic faith say they want from their next pope? And finally, story number three. Monday was a very big day at the White House, not just because it was the Easter Egg Roll, but Donald Trump also met with major U.S. retailers to discuss tariffs. This time, the president sat down.

With major retailers including Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, and Target to discuss the broad-based tariffs likely to raise the cost of everyday goods that they import. Now big U.S. chains like Walmart and Target, they rely heavily on imported goods and tariffs including the 145 percent levies on China are expected they claim to add strain on Americans'

already burdened by prolonged inflation. That is obviously their talking point, as they want everything to go back to cheap Chinese goods, regardless of what it means for American workers. Now, this meeting was important, and it adds to what we have seen over the last several weeks, as prominent CEOs have expressed support

for President Donald Trump's economic policies, highlighting potential benefits for their industries as well in the long term. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase has acknowledged the strategic use of tariffs as economic tools, stating that if they are slightly inflammatory but beneficial for national security, then it's acceptable.

The CEO of Goldman Sachs noted that the business community understands the administration's engagement and appreciates the efforts to involve them in policy discussions, which is exactly why the president decided to bring in companies like Lowe's and Walmart and Home Depot and Target. The CEO of Bank of America also highlighted that favorable regulatory changes under Trump's administration could provide companies with the certainty to be more aggressive as interest rates decrease.

Additionally, as you know, tech leaders like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos have showed interest in engaging with Trump's administration, drawing to his pro-growth agenda and favorable economic policies such as tax cuts and major issues of deregulation. Now, these developments indicate a trend among corporate leaders to align with President Trump's economic policies.

policies focusing on potential benefits such as tax reductions, deregulation, and increased capital investment. Now, as for these new companies that have come to the table, like Walmart and Home Depot, one of the things the president has made clear, things are going to change. It may not be what's best for your company in the short term, but it's what's best for Americans in the long term, including American workers. He's also making it clear to these companies that

that Liberation Day included allowing American workers to get back into manufacturing. And that's exactly what the message needed to be to so many of these companies that were relying on cheap goods and cheap labor in China.

Trump's tariff policies have obviously sent ripples across numerous industries around the world, and the president said that was all part of the strategy. Now, U.S. stocks are going up and down as many are expecting, with benchmark 10-year Treasury notes and the U.S. dollar also coming under some pressure.

The president made it clear this is short term for a massive shift in how this country works when it comes to importing goods from countries, especially that are adversaries to the United States of America. And having these important conversations at the White House clearly means that the conversation is moving forward and getting closer to resolution. Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast, and we will see you back here tomorrow.