Reuters World News - Trump and Putin, migrant fines, Britain’s EU reset and Moody’s

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump gets no concessions from Russia after a two-hour phone call with President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. Migrants who fail to leave the U.S. after a final deportation order are being hit with hefty fines. The UK and the European Union agree a deal to reset ties after Brexit. Plus, the financial impact from Moody’s U.S. downgrade.   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, Trump says Russia and Ukraine will begin ceasefire talks, but he doesn't get any concessions from Putin. Why the White House is fining low-income migrants, nearly $1,000 a day. Britain's reset with the European Union. Plus, what will be the financial impact from the credit downgrade in the U.S.? It's Tuesday, May 20th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Jonah Green in New York.

And I'm Carmel Crimmons in Dublin. Russian President Vladimir Putin, thanking U.S. President Donald Trump for supporting the resumption of direct talks between Moscow and Kiev. Big egos involved, but I think something's going to happen. And if it doesn't, I'd just back away and they're going to have to keep going.

Their comments coming after a rare phone call between the two leaders, and both offering slightly differing versions on next steps. Trump, saying ceasefire negotiations will begin immediately, while the Kremlin is offering no time frame. Our Russia bureau chief, Guy Falkenbridge, joins us with more. So I think the big takeaway is essentially the United States has moved under Trump towards the Russian position quite significantly. undercut the European position and the Ukrainian position. And I think it's shaping up to be a sort of choice between two things.

Either Ukraine accepts quite a punitive peace or the war continues and Russia tries to take more. Trump's indicated he's not prepared to pile fresh sanctions on Moscow at the moment. And he's also threatened to walk away. Before the call between Trump and Putin, the White House said that Trump was weary, with the negotiations, and Vance, the vice president, also said that there's a possibility that the United States could walk away. If the United States walks away, we've got to be clear. The United States isn't walking away from Russia. The United States is walking away from Ukraine. And if the United States walks away from Ukraine, Ukraine would be significantly weakened.

The U.S. Supreme Court says the Trump administration can remove the temporary protected status of roughly 350,000 Venezuelans living in the US. Those protections were granted under the Biden administration. This comes as the Republican president is moving to ramp up deportations. Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 50 Palestinians in Gaza. That's according to local health authorities. The attacks come despite mounting international pressure to stop military operations and allow aid into Gaza unimpeded.

The head of CBS News is stepping down. Wendy McMahon told staffers she's leaving because she and the company have differing views on the path forward. Her departure comes after the longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes, who said last month he was stepping down over concerns about editorial independence. CBS parent company Paramount is preparing for an $8.4 billion merger with Skyde, dance media, which requires federal approval. It's also attempting to settle a lawsuit by President Trump. Nippon Steel is planning a $14 billion investment in U.S. Steel, including building a new $4 billion steel mill. That is, if the Trump administration green lights its bid to buy U.S. steel.

President Biden blocked the deal on national security concerns. Moody's downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating has sharpened focus on Trump's tax bill that Republicans are trying to pass through the House this week. On yesterday's show, we talked about the politics of the bill and how this downgrade could impact negotiations, but we wanted to know more about the financial impact of this call. Our investments reporter Davide Barbusha is in New York. So Moody's has talked about several administrations not having sufficient efforts to contain the fiscal deficits. US debt levels are already at 36 trillion, which is very high, with the tax cuts, depending on the spending of sets that are being debated, but we're looking at an additional 3 to 5 trillion, according to several analysts. So that's essentially worrying for Moody's and also worrying for investors, because additional debt means more need from the government to issue debt.

to finance its spending. So what does this mean in practical terms for everyday Americans? For everyday Americans, it's important because the level of treasury yields impacts everything from mortgage rates to credit card rates to bank loans. So essentially, if we are headed in a direction where treasury yields will keep going higher or will remain elevated, that translates into higher borrowing costs for everyday consumers. migrants who fail to leave the U.S. after a final deportation order are now being hit with hefty fines. One senior Trump official said notices have been sent to 4,500 migrants with penalties

totaling $500 million. Our immigration reporter Ted Heson has been speaking with some of those who are receiving these notices. The fines are being applied retroactively, up to five years. So if people had been here for five years and had not left after a deportation order, they could be fined around $1.8 million, which of course would be a large sum of money for anyone in the U.S., but I think in particular the people were hearing from, the migrants who are receiving these, include low-income workers or appear to be people with low incomes. I interviewed a woman in Pennsylvania. Her name is Wendy Ortiz. And she had a final order of removal. She's from El Salvador, and she'd been in the U.S. for about 10 years and just received this notice, and it kind of caught her by surprise that she was being fined at all, but much less $1.8 million. She makes $13 an hour working at a meatpacking plant in Pennsylvania,

and that just about covers her rent. and what she needs to do to provide for her son, who has autism and is six years old. What is the ultimate goal of this program? The Trump administration has said that they want migrants who are in the U.S. illegally to, quote, self-deport and go back to their home countries. And this is really an extension of that effort. This is the first UK-EU summit. It marks a new era in our relationship. and this deal is a win-win.

Britain's Prime Minister, Kier Starrmer, hailing a reset of ties with the European Union. He's a agreed at deal on defence and trade that marks the most significant thaw in relations with Brussels since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016. Kate Holtan is our London Bureau Chief. Kate, why is Kier Starrmer doing this now? Well, the UK economy has not grown particularly strongly

in recent years. The government was elected in July, promising to try and kickstart economic growth. And he sees in this very volatile world that building economic trade deals is also a way of deepening alliances, partnerships, and then that has use that goes beyond trade. It's risky for a British politician to do a deal with Europe, right? It's very risky. The UK left the European Union 2016. It spent the last nine years arguing over the best way to leave EU and doing a deal with Europe reignites some of the tensions around areas such as fish, food goods, accepting EU oversight. So yes, it's risky. What he is hoping is that people, that despite all the headlines and the noise, polls shows that a majority of people want to move on from Brexit

and stop talking about it. And he will be hoping that people will focus on what he has achieved for the economy rather than re-fighting old issues. And for today's recommended read, the race to save the Orinoco crocodile. Fewer than 100 of these crocs live in the wild, and specialists in Venezuela are fighting to protect the critically endangered reptiles, which are hunted for their leather, their meat and their eggs.

We'll drop a link to the story and the incredible photos in the pod description. If we're more on any of the stories from today, 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 headlines show.