Reuters World News - El Salvador ruling, townhall anger, Fed and UK women

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Trump administration officials could face criminal contempt charges for violating a U.S. federal judge's order halting El Salvador deportations. Congressional Republicans hear from angry voters at townhalls. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says they'll wait for more data on the economy's direction before changing interest rates. And the UK’s top court rules that the term ‘woman’ refers only to biological women under equality laws. *This episode has been corrected. The ruling that finds administration officials could be in contempt of court over deportations to El Salvador is a separate case from the Abrego Garcia deportation matter. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, a U.S. judge says the Trump administration could be in contempt of court. The Fed chair says they're still in wait and sea mode, and a landmark ruling on the definition of women in the UK. It's Thursday, April 17th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool.

The Trump administration says Harvard will lose its ability to enroll international students unless it meets demands to share information on some visa holders. Is the government's latest escalation against the university? CNN has reported that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard and that a final decision was expected soon. A U.S. federal judge has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration, in criminal contempt of court. U.S. District Judge James Bosberg says the administration demonstrated, quote,

willful disregard for his order last month, halting deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. Many of the migrant's lawyers and family members say those deported are not gang members and were never given a chance to contest the government's accusations. White House Communications Director Stephen Chung said, on X, the administration would seek immediate appellate relief. I just want to meet with Mr. Abrago Garcia. The ruling came down on the same day that Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen was in El Salvador

to secure the release of Kilmore Abrago Garcia, a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported. Van Hollen says authorities there denied him access to Abrago Garcia. I'm asking President Buckeli under his authority as President of El Salvador, to do the right thing and allow Mr. Arbrego-Garcia to walk out of a prison, a man who's charged with no crime, convicted of no crime, and who was illegally abducted from the United States. El Salvador was top of mind for some angry voters recently at a town hall in Fort Madison, Iowa, for Republican Senator Chuck Grassley. These people have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a foreign country with no due crime.

Grassley's one of a few congressional Republicans still willing to hold in-person town hall meetings in their home states who are facing heated criticism over Trump's policies. Our reporter David Morgan is looking into what else is causing blowback at these town halls. The constituents who are talking to the lawmakers at these town hall meetings are concerned about the impact of spending cuts that are being considered as part of the Trump agenda. that would affect people who have low incomes, some of whom are disabled or elderly people in long-term care facilities, and also working-class families who are able to obtain health coverage through Medicaid under Obamacare. Do these confrontations actually move the needle when it comes to something like budget negotiations? Well, it can affect budget negotiations because members of Congress realize that it's the voters who put them in office. So if what they encounter is a lot of concern and a lot of anger over the possibility of programs getting cut or over actions taken by the Trump administration that voters think are beyond the pale, that can affect what bills get introduced in Congress and also how far Republicans.

in Congress are willing to go to scale back spending that benefits lower income people in order to pay for tax cuts that oftentimes benefit higher income people and businesses. The administration is, as I mentioned in my remarks, is implementing significant policy changes. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaking here in Chicago yesterday. And the effects of that are likely to move us away from our goals. So unemployment is likely to go up as the economy slows in all likelihood, and inflation is likely to go up as tariffs find their way. After Powell's speech, I was able to catch up with our Fed reporter, Howard Schneider, at the event.

I think there were three things that really stood out about this speech. One, this was the first time that he was asked explicitly about the stock sell off and the jumps around in bond market prices recently. And he said, well, you know what? We've had a big shock. These tariffs are larger than anybody expected. There's a new global trade order potentially emerging here. And markets are doing what markets do, which is reprice.

And he said from his perspective, there was really no reason to contemplate a Fed put here. The second thing was that he said he expects economy, perhaps for the rest of this year, to be moving further away from the Fed's two goals of maximum employment and 2% inflation. Because of tariffs, they're thought to be both going in the wrong direction for the Fed, and that could keep happening for a while. so that's not an easy position for them to be in. The third thing really was on debt and deficits. He started talking, if you listen to it closely,

about the whole process underway in Washington right now. He said that the politicians focus almost exclusively on discretionary spending has nothing to do with the U.S.'s debt sustainability problem. He says it's irrelevant, it's a small and declining share of federal spending, and that until you get a bipartisan agreement on what to do about entitlements over the long term, there's no fix. President Trump made a surprise appearance in one of his first face-to-face negotiations since his barrage of tariffs,

with Japan. Opposite him was a relatively junior Japanese economic revitalization minister. Trump posted on social media a great honor to have just met with the Japanese delegation on trade. Big progress. without further details about the discussions. Top Ukrainian officials have flown into Paris to join European leaders in pleading Kiev's case to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Whitkoff.

The meeting comes as Kiev says that Ukraine and the U.S. have made significant progress on a minerals deal. A second round of Iran-U.S. nuclear talks will be held in Rome on Saturday with mediation from Oman. That's according to Iran's state media. Trump has threatened military action if a deal can't be reached. And scientists have found the strongest evidence yet of possible life beyond our solar system. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, they've detected chemical fingerprints of gases

in the atmosphere of an alien planet, which on Earth are only produced by biological processes. The judges have said what we always believe to be the case, that women are protected. by their biological sex. Activist Joe Phoenix, after Britain's highest court, ruled that only biological and not trans women, meet the definition of a woman under equality laws. It's a landmark decision, welcomed by the government, as bringing clarity but greeted with concern by trans campaigners.

Helen Belcher is a counsellor for the Liberal Democrat Party. And it's getting harder and harder and harder to exist as an openly trans person in this country. I think that's what people fear. They look across the Atlantic and they see what's happening in the States and they see the UK going the same way. Michael Holden has been reporting the story in London for us. So Michael, what has the court actually ruled here? So to try and make it as simple as possible, this is a ruling on whether the definition of a woman or a man in relation to the Equality Act 2010, which defines equality laws for Britain, whether that was related to biological sex or whether that also included trans people and the Supreme Court rules that

it only related to biological sex. And for today's recommended read, The Garzams, living among unexploded bombs. The UN Mine Action Services estimates that between one in 10 and 1 in 20 bombs fired intergoverned since the October 7th Hamas attack did not go off. There's a link to our incredible graphic and story 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're off tomorrow, so there'll be no pod. But if you want to hear more about the spiraling U.S. trade war and how China is responding, check out our weekend episode. It's out on Saturday. and we'll be back on Monday with our daily headline show.