Reuters World News - Trump’s tax bill, Israel criticism, Golden Dome and South Africa

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending bill faces a critical stress test in a rare late night House Rules Committee hearing. Britain has paused free trade talks with Israel as its foreign minister condemned a "monstrous" military escalation in Gaza. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa heads to the White House amid difficult U.S. relations. And what we know about the $175-billion Golden Dome missile defense shield.  Find our recommended read, a gallery from Cannes, here. Listen to our weekend episode on Elon Musk's space vision here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Find the latest podcast episode ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠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, pressure mounts on Israel over military operations and aid for Gaza. South Africa's president heads to the White House in the hope of resetting relations. And the Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield has a design and a boss. It's Wednesday, May 21st. 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 Liverpool. The House Rules Committee has been working through the night trying to clear another key hurdle to US President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending bill.

If it clears committee, House Speaker Mike Johnson could push for a vote on the House floor as early as today. Trump's approval rating has ticked slightly lower this week. That's according to a Reuters Ipsos poll. It stands up 42%, matching the lowest level since the start of his new term. Elon Musk says he plans to significantly cut his political spending. It's the latest public signal that he's shifting his attention back to his business empire. And a testy hearing for U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his first testimony as the country's top diplomat.

The fundamental challenge we have in Ukraine is this. Russia wants what they do not currently have and are not entitled to. And Ukraine wants what they cannot regain militarily. Simon Lewis covers the State Department. He's basically saying Trump wants to end wars. That's why he's ending the war in Ukraine. And he's willing to talk to Vladimir Putin. And at the same time, he's reassuring these senators today

that there hasn't really been any serious concessions given to the Russians to get them into these talks. To London now and a dramatic change in tone for UK-Israel relations. Israeli governments, egregious actions. rhetoric have continued. Britain's foreign minister David Lamy announcing a pause in trade talks with Israel and fresh sanctions against West Bank settlers. The decision in response to this, what Lami has called Israel's monstrous military escalation in Gaza, with increased airstrikes and tanks moving in. Israel says Hamas uses civilian buildings for cover. Hamas denies this. Britain's move is part of growing

international pressure on Israel over its actions in Gaza. Rachel Armstrong is our Europe editor. Britain normally, like most other European countries, goes out of its way to be very balanced in its tone. And the action that Britain took, economically, it's not going to be devastating for Israel, but it was definitely a sign that this is meant to be more than just words coming Israel's way. Has there been criticism like this from elsewhere in Europe? I think there's an awful lot of discussions happening openly and also behind closed doors at the moment. I think France is also deeply concerned at what is happening and is wanting to take a tougher stance.

There is a UN conference, which is about the two-state solution. And there is discussions that that could be the moment when a greater number of countries, particularly European countries, come out and announce that they are. recognizing Palestinian statehood. And is this just messaging for Israel or will it have an impact? On the surface, none of this is going to have deep economic, political impact on Israel. However, the type of language we are hearing from some countries that Israel would normally consider close allies is deeply unusual, probably unprecedented. And that will cement concern among many of the country's opposition politicians that the country is entering a

new level of international isolationism. And that will increase the pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to do more in Gaza. Oil prices are surging on geopolitical risk. Common Crimmons explains. Oil is up more than 1% after CNN reported that Israel could be gearing up for a possible strike, on Iran's nuclear facilities. The report was based on new intelligence obtained by the US. It wasn't clear whether Israeli leaders have made a final decision to carry out strikes. That's according to the report, which cited multiple unnamed US officials. Israel hasn't commented on the report, but it's raised fears that a conflict could upset oil supplies from the Middle East. And if you're interested in hearing more about oil, do check out a recent episode of my podcast, Reuters Econ World.

You can catch it on the Reuters app or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Cyril Ramaphosa is set to meet with President Trump later today at the White House. The South African president will be eager to reset relations. Trump has cut funding to the country and has been critical of its land reforms. Just last week, the US president granted refugee status to a group of white South Africans, he said, were facing racial discrimination, acclaimed the South African government. a claim the South African government denies. Daphne Saladakis covers the State Department

and has the latest on where relations are at right now. The U.S. has expelled South Africa's ambassador, who's secretary of state Marco Rubio said was a race-baiting politician who hates President Donald Trump. And the South African president is aiming to mend relations with Washington that have deteriorated. So Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that this was in outreach on the United States.

the part of the South African president. He said he wanted to come to Washington, wanted to reset relations with the United States, and that was something the U.S. would explore, but would do so with eyes wide open. So how is President Ramaphosa hoping to reset relations? Our colleague Nellie Payton in Johannesburg reported that he plans to discuss business opportunities for Elon Musk's companies during his visit. South African officials have been preparing a trade proposal to present to Trump to reset the relationship. One potential proposal would be for Tesla, which is led by Musk, a close ally and advisor to Trump, to receive favorable tariffs on its imports into South Africa in exchange for building electric vehicle charging stations.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson also said that licensing for Musk's satellite company Starlink is also likely to be discussed. President Trump says he's selected a design for the proposed Golden Dome Missile Defense Shields. He's also named a Space Force General to head the ambitious program aimed at blocking threats from China and Russia. At a cost of $175 billion, the project will take years to implement and faces both political scrutiny and funding uncertainty. Mike Stone covers the defense industry. Mike, firstly, what is Golden Dome? effectively a space-based missile system, potentially laser system, a sensor system that can strike down intercontinental ballistic missiles, not just ICBMs, but also hypersonic weapons, which are

maneuvering and don't follow a ballistic arc. That's a very specifically difficult thing to shoot down. What are some of the other challenges here? There's a myriad of technological challenges they need to be addressed from sensing in space to shooting in space to lasers in space potentially. That's one of their goals. It's a multi-layered system. It's going to cover states, regions, and then half the country. What would this do to the international order? Russia has been very adamant that this would be seen as.

an aggressive move. What this does, it would in effect put every intercontinental ballistic missile out of business, right? And so either China and Russia and anyone else that wanted to compete in this would have to come up with their own missile defense shield to negate the United States' ICBMs. If you put a shield up that blocks every single ICBM, all those investments are immediately worthless. or they would have to develop new and more complicated ways of delivering nuclear warheads. For today's recommended read, a photo gallery of red carpet highlights from the Cannes Film Festival. Follow the link in the description to see how stars have navigated the new dress code, banning both nudity and voluminous outfits.

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 and we'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.