Trump’s Ukraine message, DOGE, Milei crypto scandal and NY’s Adams
12:22 Share

Today, a victory for Trump and Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. New York Mayor Adams fights for his political life. And the crypto scandal threatening Argentina's president. It's Wednesday, February 19th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oaks in London. And I'm Jonah Green in New York.

I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto-friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger. So I can get in more squats anywhere I can. One, two, three. Will that be cash or credit? Credit. Galaxy S25 Ultra, the AI companion that does the heavy lifting so you can do you. Get yours at Samsung.com. Compatible with select apps requires Google Gemini account results may vary based on input check responses for accuracy.

U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed Ukraine's concern about being left out of U.S.-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia. And I think I have the power to end this war. And I think it's going very well. But today I heard, oh, well, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. Trump says he would probably meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this month. But the Kremlin has said it might take a little longer to prepare the face-to-face encounter.

Sources tell Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia in order not to give legitimacy to Tuesday's meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh. Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been charged with leading a plot to overthrow the government. The charges follow a two-year police investigation into the election-denying movement after his 2022 election loss.

Pope Francis has the onset of double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, complicating treatment for the 88-year-old and indicating further deterioration in his fragile health. The moment rapper A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of firing a gun at a former friend. As a verdict was announced, he leapt into the arms of his family and partner Rihanna, having been cleared of two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic weapon.

The UN Human Rights Office says three children were executed by the M23 rebels in Congo. Rwanda rejects allegations from Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports the group with arms and troops. Markets now earn some new tariff news. Trump says he intends to impose tariffs in the neighborhood of 25% on autos, semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports.

On Friday, Trump said levies on automobiles would come as soon as April 2nd. But he hasn't provided a date for the other sectors, saying he wants to provide time for drug and chip makers to set up U.S. factories so that they can avoid tariffs. A victory for Trump and his chief government cost-cutter, Elon Musk.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has denied a challenge by attorneys general from several Democratic states to prevent Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing federal agencies' computer systems or directing firings of government workers while the litigation plays out. The ruling gives Doge access to internal systems that contain sensitive information at the IRS and the Social Security Administration, among others.

Reporter Tim Reed has been tracking Doge. I don't think that's the end of the lawsuit, but in terms of an initial victory for Musk and Trump, this was a major ruling. This wrecking ball that's been taken to the government has been happening at warp speed, and there are well over a dozen lawsuits now challenging a lot of these moves.

But no one knows how many, if any, will be successful. So everyone is now looking to see who's next inside these government agencies and whether they'll start then going after career civil servants and managers that are deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump's agenda.

We're seeing top officials of agencies resigning, first at the Treasury Department and now at the Social Security Administration. What's happening there? So the acting head of the Social Security Administration stepped down. She's been at the agency over 30 years because representatives of Musk's were wanting to access this massive database of

inside the Social Security Administration that basically has the personal details of just about every single American and their children and their spouses and every job they've ever had and their home addresses. The fear among Musk's critics and a lot of Democrats on Capitol Hill

is that if he can get inside the Social Security Administration computers, then they can start possibly stopping Social Security checks going out or reducing the amount. And obviously they're also trying to access the database at the Internal Revenue Service, which again has everyone's tax returns going back years and years. And so there are lawsuits now challenging

challenging Musk and Dozier's ability to actually get inside these computers. But if they do get access to them, then everyone's most personal data will be open for Musk's team to view and do what with we don't know yet.

As we reported in Monday's POT, Argentine President Javier Millay is in the midst of a domestic scandal for recommending a cryptocurrency that quickly crashed. Now, an Argentine judge has been assigned to investigate allegations of fraud. And opposition lawmakers say Millay could even face an impeachment trial. Millay denies any wrongdoing.

And in a television interview, says he requested an investigation into the matter himself. Lucinda Elliott has been following the scandal.

If the investigation shows that this was planned in some way, and Millais did it intentionally with the aim of boosting the valuation, then it could take him down, given that his position, while strengthened by his success on the economy, remains pretty precarious due to his lack of congressional support and the reliance on delicate alliance within Congress.

the kind of good conservative groups in Argentina. The presidential spokespersons came out on Tuesday and absolutely denied that any bribes were involved. Milley has admitted that he made a miscalculation, but I think there are some key questions over what responsibility does a political leader have if he or she posts about some sort of business in a positive light. And I think

part of the reason why this has particularly hurt Millais is because it also involves finance, but it also hurts his sort of man-of-the-people image. He's been very clear about being anti-corruption, having a very transparent image. So even just the fact that these words are circulating around bribery, around fraud, is having an impact on his image.

A federal judge today will hear from U.S. prosecutors as to why they are seeking to dismiss criminal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The hearing comes after a Trump-appointed DOJ official ordered prosecutors to seek dismissal. At least a half-dozen federal prosecutors resigned rather than obey the order, though others did eventually comply. No matter what comes of today's hearing,

Adam's political future is seriously in question. Luke Collin is our New York Courts reporter. So Luke, what is it that the judge is weighing here?

It's unusual for a judge to hold a hearing rather than automatically dismiss charges. In this case, the Justice Department has asked the judge to dismiss the charges without prejudice. That means they want to be able to potentially bring those charges again after the November New York mayoral election.

A lot of critics, including the former U.S. attorney who resigned over this, have said that kind of looks like a threat from the Justice Department to...

bring charges against Adams again if he doesn't cooperate with Trump's immigration policy. What is Adams saying? Adams is saying he will work with the Trump administration, that he supports law and order. He has long kind of been a dissenter among the Democratic Party on immigration policy. So, you know, he's saying he is doing what's best to preserve public safety in New York and that it's independent from

from his criminal case. And Governor Kathy Hochul has also been meeting with top officials on whether she should remove Adams from office.

If she takes that extraordinary step, or if he resigns, then what? The city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would become the acting mayor. He would then have to announce the date for a special election to be held in the coming months. That would come very close to the June primary for the Democratic nomination for mayor, which is all but set to determine who will be mayor, given that New York is heavily Democratic.

You know what's smart? Enjoying a fresh gourmet meal at home that you didn't have to cook. Meet Factor, your loophole in the laws of mealtime. Chef-crafted meals delivered with a tap, ready in just two minutes. You know what's even smarter? Treating yourself without cheating your goals. Factor is dietician-approved, chef-prepared, and you-plated. Pretty smart, huh? Refresh your routine and eat smart with Factor. Learn more at factormeals.com.

For our recommended read today, we're taking you 26,000 light years away to the center of the Milky Way, looking at how NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is providing the best look yet at the chaotic events unfolding around a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A-star. There's a link in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app.

Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.