Morning Wire - Trump-Putin Phone Call & DOGE Hearing | 2.13.25

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

Trump and Putin agree to begin negotiating the end of the Ukraine war, the two parties duke it out over DOGE, and Marc Fogel comes home after being held prisoner in Russia for three years. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Good Ranchers: Subscribe now using code WIRE to get $25 off AND your choice of free ground beef, chicken, or salmon in every order for an entire year at https://goodranchers.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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enlarge our clientele to world entire. Trouvee de petitions like another. Onesaw. Trump and Putin agreed to begin negotiations to end the nearly

three-year war in Ukraine. We want to end that war. That war is a disaster. Could this be a turning point in the conflict and how is Ukraine's president reacting? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley.

It's Thursday, February 13th, and this is Morning Wire. The two parties duel over Doge in its first hearing on the Hill, with Republicans decrying waste and Democrats railing against Musk. We will fight the war on waste, shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Doge team. If an unelected, unbeated, individual private citizens, citizen is hacking our government systems, breaking the law. We are going to fight you in the courts. And the years-long nightmare of a Pennsylvania teacher wrongfully held prisoner in Russia finally comes to an end with a White House welcome home.

Knowing I had the support of my fellow Pennsylvanians, my family, my friends, it brought me to my knees and it brought me to tears. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Hey guys, producer Brandon here. Tired of mystery meat at the grocery store. This new year, it's time for new meat from good ranchers.com. They deliver 100% American beef, chicken, and wild-caught seafood straight to your door.

No antibiotics, no hormones, just pure quality like it used to be. Subscribe now using Code Wire to get $25 off free express shipping and your choice of free ground beef, chicken, or salmon in every order for an entire year. Start 2025 off with better choices, better meals, and better moments at home. Good ranchers. American meat delivered. Just hours after welcoming freed Russian prisoner Mark Fogel to the White House, President Donald Trump made some major announcements about Ukraine and Russia. Here to unpack what Trump said and what it means for the war is Daily Wire Deputy

Managing editor Tim Rice. So Tim, a lot of news coming out about Russia just the past few days. First, tell us about Trump's announcement yesterday afternoon. Yeah, Georgia. Trump shared that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since returning to the White House. According to Trump, their call was lengthy and highly productive. And at a truth social post, Trump said that he and Putin discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, energy, and artificial intelligence, as well as the history of American-Russian relations. Trump said Putin agreed with him that the war with Ukraine needed to end, and that the U.S.

and Russia will immediately begin negotiations to end the war. Hours later, it was announced that the two planned to meet at a later date, possibly in Saudi Arabia, and Trump made clear that he would begin negotiations by speaking with Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky. The conversation actually happened shortly after Trump's initial statement, as White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt noted during Wednesday's briefing. They were very good calls. They were very positive. And the administration is wholeheartedly committed to a peace deal to end once and for all the Russia-Ukraine war. Leavitt also rebuffed the idea that Trump and Putin were negotiating his allies, saying that, quote, this nation views Putin and Russia as a great competitor in the region at times an adversary. Still, the thawen relations between the U.S. and Russia has sparked concerns that Kiev and Zelensky will be frozen out of future peace negotiations.

That said, Trump promised to work closely with both Putin and Zelensky to bring a swift end to the war. And he said his approach to this issue, like any other issue, would be governed by the twin polls of common sense and America first. Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon and addressed his negotiation efforts, including requiring Ukraine to secure the U.S. aid loans. We're getting security on our money. We're going to have it secured by rare earth and they have oil and gas and they have a lot of other things. And we're asking for security in our money. Ukraine has agreed to it. Now, has Zelensky responded to this? He has. And he actually seemed to take it pretty well. He said that his conversation with Trump was meaningful and that they

discussed opportunities to achieve peace and ways that Ukraine and the United States could work together in mutually beneficial ways. And separately from all this, it seems like Zelensky is coming around to the notion that the war with Russia will end in negotiation, not total victory. Earlier this week, he proposed a land swap deal between Ukraine and Russia as a first step to ending the war. It's unclear exactly what that will look like, because Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine, while Ukraine occupies around 500 square kilometers of Russia.

But still, it's a sign that Zelensky is willing to come to the negotiating table, something he may soon have to do thanks to Trump. Well, this is potentially a huge development. Tim, thanks for reporting. Anytime. On Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, or Doge, held its first hearing in Washington. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips is here with the highlights from the fiery hearing. Hey, Cabot.

So some remarkable moments yesterday on the Hill. Get us up to speed. Yeah, shortly after President Trump's victory, House Republicans announced the formation of a new committee that would partner with the Department of Government Efficiency to, quote, identify and investigate the waste, corruption, and useless parts of our federal government. Think of the committee as the congressional arm of Musk's Doge Department, which isn't technically a government agency. On Wednesday, the Doge Committee held their inaugural hearing, which Chair Marjorie Taylor Green said marked the launch of their war on waste. In her opening statement, Green made

the case for Doge, highlighting America's $36 trillion debt crisis. I believe enslaving our nation in debt is one of the biggest betrayals against the American people by its own elected government. The American people's anger over this betrayal is what gave birth to the concept of Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency. Throughout the afternoon, Republicans called witnesses to give details on the scope of government fraud and abuse. For example, here's Haywood Talcove, the CEO of Lexis Nexas, talking about how much money could be saved by implementing new identity verification technology. You can save $1 trillion. a year by simply putting in front-end identity verification, eliminating self-certification,

and monitoring the back end of the programs that are providing the benefits. Now, the hearing was originally intended to focus on ways for both parties to work together and cut government waste, but it quickly devolved into a debate over Elon Musk. Democrat after Democrat used their time to slam Musk, saying he was an unelected bureaucrat who was just using his newfound power to enrich him. himself and other billionaires. For example, here's Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. I'm upset about the guy that runs Twitter, who for sure is doing nefarious things, because

I don't understand if you are trying to conduct audits and figure out where the waste, fraud, and abuse is. I don't know why you would go to some tech guy. And then there was Democratic rep Robert Garcia who said he would display a D pick. I'll let you fill in what D stands for. He then held up a large poster board of. Elon Musk's face. Yes, you heard that right. In the last Congress, Chairwoman Green literally showed a dick in our oversight congressional hearing. So I thought I'd bring one as well.

Now, this, of course, we know is President Elon Musk. He's also the world's richest man. So for context there, Garcia is referring to the Hunter Biden investigation when Marjorie Taylor Green displayed graphic photos of the president's son engaging in drug use and other legal activity with prostitutes. For their part, Republicans pushed back on criticism of Musk, saying Democrats had no problem with, quote, unelected bureaucrats having power when that power was being used for other purposes. Where were they whenever their God, Anthony Fauci was forcing vaccine and mask mandates on the American people for four years? Where were they whenever unelected Alejandro Mayorkas was facilitating the invasion of our country by illegal aliens?

So this hearing comes as President Trump has given Doge new powers. Tell us about that. Yeah, when Doge was first announced, there were some who thought it would be more of a symbolic gesture. But it's abundantly clear now that President Trump is serious about empowering Musk to treat the federal government like a business and root out waste. For that point, the two met in the Oval Office this week where Trump signed a new executive order that will force federal agencies to comply with Doge's efforts to cut their existing workforces and limit the number of future hires. Specifically, the order says that federal agencies may only hire one new employee for every four who are going out the door. In addition, the order will install a new Doge team lead within each federal agency. That person will be given oversight over hiring and firing decisions. According to the text, agency heads are ordered to, quote, promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force consistent with applicable law.

All right, so clearly going scorched earth here. Now, before you go, one more story from Washington, the confirmation of Trump's cabinet. What's the latest there? Well, on Wednesday, Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was officially confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote. The lone dissenter among Republicans was former majority leader Mitch McConnell. This, again, is a huge win for Trump as Gabbard was initially viewed as the nominee with the lowest odds of confirmation, and it just further underscores how united this GOP is around the president.

Up next will be Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who will be voted on today. He's expected to win confirmation as well. Yeah, another big one, and the prospects are looking good for him. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. Since President Trump took office 23 days ago, his administration has been fighting to bring home wrongfully detained Americans. Late Tuesday night, Trump welcomed Mark Fogel to the White House. Fogel is an American teacher who had been wrongly detained in a Russian prison for over three years. Daily Wire reporter Cassie Akiva is here now with the story. Hey Cassie. So you've been closely tracking this for months now and have been in touch with the Fogel family, particularly Mark's mother, Malfin.

Before we get to his release, this has really taken a toll on the Fogel family. What has this been like for them? Sure. So this has been a three and a half year nightmare for the family that started in August of 2021. For those of you who have not been tracking this, Mark is a 63-year-old teacher who is living in Moscow teaching diplomats' children at the Anglo-American school when he was arrested for possession of marijuana. He had 17 grams of marijuana on him, which had been prescribed by an American doctor for chronic pain. He was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 14 years in the Rubinsk penal colony. His family has been desperate to get him out. So very similar to the Brittany Griner situation.

Yeah, extremely similar. But Fogel did not receive the same attention. Even though he was actually arrested about six months before her, Instead, the family was repeatedly met with stonewalling from the previous administration. As we reported at the time, when Mark was passed over in Biden's prisoner exchanged last August, he sunk into a depression. Here's heartbreaking audio we obtained of his phone call with Vicki Iceman, a spokesperson for Freemark Fogle. It's hard that you need to have faith in us, and I think we knew this administration is just not going to be there for you.

I don't know why. Right now, Trump famously reached. out to the family last year. What can you tell us about their meeting? Yes, he did. Trump met with Mark's mother, Malfeen at his Butler-Pensylvania rally, where moments later, he was shot by a would-be assassin. His mom was actually set to take to the stage before the shooting. He wanted to know all about Mark. He asked me a couple times how long he had been there and why, and I gave him all the details. and he said, if I get in, I will get him out. And he pointed his sum up towards the sky.

He seemed very sincere. And I told him he had to remember Mark's name. Trump quickly worked to keep his promise to bring Mark home. Fogel exited the plane with an American flag draped around his shoulders and literally kissed the ground after setting foot on U.S. soil. This all culminated with him being welcomed home at the White House Tuesday night by President Trump. himself. I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. President Trump is a hero. These men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes. The senators and representatives

of past legislation in my honor to get me home are the heroes. He's got a great mother and went to show the mother at a rally. She said, if you win, we'll be. If you win, we You get my son out, and I promise she's 95 years old. And we'll get him out, and we got him out pretty quickly. Just an incredible emotional moment. You can feel his overwhelming relief, and wonderful to hear his mother being shouted out for her endurance in all this. What a week for the Fogel family.

I can't imagine. Cassie, thank you so much for tracking this story and reporting for us. Thank you. Another story we're tracking this week. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday that she's suing New York State and several of its key officials for thwarting federal immigration enforcement. Included on her list are Governor Kathy Hokel, State AG Letitia James, and DMV chief Mark Schroeder. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.