Morning Wire - Trump-Zelensky Meeting Explodes, Pope Suffers Setback | Afternoon Update | 2.28.25

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

Trump calls Zelensky disrespectful in Oval Office and sends him packing, Pope Francis suffers a setback and Mexico hands over top drug cartel operatives.Get the facts first on Morning Wire.Beam: Head to https://shopbeam.com/WIRE and use code WIRE at checkout for up to 40% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Head to shopbeam.com slash wire and use code wire at checkout for up to 40% off. Trump calls Zelensky disrespectful in the Oval Office and sends him packing and Mexico hands over top drug cartel operatives. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Friday, February 28th, and this is, is your Morning Wire afternoon update. President Trump met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the White House today for a high-stakes meeting

that rapidly turned heated. Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olaihan has the details. Zelensky made the visit to the White House today to finalize a deal giving the U.S. rights to wear minerals, but during a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, Zelensky suggested he was not ready for a ceasefire with Russia. The meeting quickly devolved into a heated and combative exchange between Zelensky, Trump, and Vice President Vance.

Here's some of that exchange. I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You're gambling with World War III, and what you're doing is very disrespectful

to the country, this country, that's back to you. Far more than a lot of people said they should have. Have you said thank you once? In this entire meeting, if you said thank you, you went to Pennsylvania and campaign for the opposition in October, offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country. Your country is in big trouble. I know.

You're not winning. You're not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us. Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong from the very beginning of the war. We've been alone and we are thankful. I said thanks. You haven't been allowed. We gave you, the stupid president, $350 billion.

You voted for your president. We gave military equipment. You voted for your president. And you met up brave, but they had to use our military equipment. If you didn't have our military equipment, you invited me. If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks. I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on.

I think it's very important. That's why I kept this going so long. If you could get a ceasefire. right now, I tell you you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed. Of course, we want to stop the war. But you're saying you don't want to cease fire. But I want to cease fire. The problem is, I've empowered you to be a tough guy.

And I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave. But you're either going to make a deal or we're out. And if we're out, you'll fight it out. I don't think it's going to be pretty. But you'll fight it out. But you don't have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you're in a much better position.

But you're not acting at all thankful. And that's not a nice thing. I'll be honest, that's not a nice thing. All right, I think we've seen enough. What do you think? This is going to be great television. I will say that. After the meeting, a White House official told me that Trump had asked Zelensky to leave,

and Trump issued the following statement. I've determined that President Zelensky is not ready for peace if America is involved because he feels. our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage. I want peace. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he's ready for peace. Pope Francis has experienced another setback in his ongoing serious health struggles.

The Vatican announced today that the Pope suffered a respiratory crisis that has required him to be placed on non-invasive mechanical ventilation, which appears to have helped. He has been in critical but generally stable condition with pneumonia, and other ailments for several days now. Mexico has handed over nearly 30 top cartel operatives to the United States. It's part of the new bilateral cooperation against drug trafficking. One of the prisoners is notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Cantero, a founding member of the

Sinaloa cartel. He's wanted for the 1985 murder of a DEA agent. The high-profile transfer comes as Mexican officials meet with their U.S. counterparts to negotiate a new security agreement. American law enforcement is hailing the handover as a significant victory in the decades-long fight against organized crime. For the first time ever, English is now the official language of the United States. President Trump signed an executive order today declaring the fact for federal agencies, saying a common language fosters national cohesion,

helps newcomers engage in communities and traditions, and enriches our shared culture. The move rescinds a requirement from then-President Bill Clinton back in 2000. The Clinton mandate required federal agencies and entities receiving federal funding to provide language assistance for non-English speakers. But Trump says that while agencies can do so, they no longer have to. Before the order, America was one of the few countries in the world without a declared official language. A new study from the Pew Research Center suggests the decline of Christianity in the U.S. is slowing and may have stabilized. Daily Wire's senior editor, As Short, has the news.

The Pew survey of nearly 37,000 Americans over the past two years finds that 85% of adults believe in God or a universal spirit. About 62% or 6 in 10 Americans identify as Christian. That's after years of decline, but the numbers are now holding steady since 2019. In 2007, 78% of Americans identified as Christians, but by 2014, that number dropped to 71%. The study shows that 29% are religiously unaffiliated, including atheists, agnostics, and those who say they're, quote, nothing in particular. And there's a major age gap. Less than 5 and 10 young adults under 25 identify as

Christian compared to 8 and 10 of older adults age 74 and up. Non-Christian religious groups now make up 7.1% of the population up from 4.7% in 2007. Iowa lawmakers passed a bill Thursday to remove gender identity language from state law. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Jacamo has the story. The bill defines sex based on anatomy at birth. If Kim Reynolds signs the measure, Iowa would become the first state to remove what activists deem necessary protections from people who believe they are transgender. Opponents of the bill warn of discrimination, while supporters argue that it upholds traditional

gender norms. Federally, the Trump administration has vowed to cut funding for hospitals' office. offering gender transition treatments to minors, keep men out of female sports, bar men from women's prisons, and remove gender identity from passports. And country artist Shaboozy has just broken the Billboard record for most weeks at the top of the charts.

Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor and apparently a country music fan, Tim Rice, has the story. Shabuzi's crossover hit, A Bar Song, Tipsy, is making history on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The track now holds the top spot for a 35th week, breaking the record for the longest leading song by a solo act since the chart began in 1958. That record was previously held by Sam Hunt's Body Like a Back Road, which led for 34 weeks in 2017. Those are your drive home updates this afternoon.

To learn more about these stories, go to Dailywire.com. And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some big stories, including Trump's meeting with the UK Prime Minister, Newsom's recall effort, and is Hollywood dialing back on wokeness. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.