Up First from NPR - Trump's Board Of Peace, Russia's Business Offer, Zuckerberg Defends Meta

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

President Trump convenes the first meeting of his Board of Peace, touting $5 billion in reconstruction pledges for Gaza as Israel gives Hamas 60 days to disarm or face renewed war.Russia is offering the Trump administration $14 trillion in business deals if the U.S. drops sanctions, as peace talks with Ukraine drag on and Kyiv faces fresh pressure to concede territory without clear security guarantees.And Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand in the first-ever social media addiction trial, defending accusations that the company knew kids under 13 were using Instagram and built its platforms to hook young users early.Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Robbie Griffiths, Miguel Macias, Tina Kraja, Brett Neely, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.Our director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.(0:00) Introduction(01:54) Trump's Board of Peace(06:08) Russia's Business Offer(09:47) Zuckerberg Defends MetaLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Trump's Board of Peace meets for the first time today over Gaza. There are big questions about rebuilding the future of Palestinians in the territory and where the Hamas will disarm and Israel will withdraw. I'm Leila Faudil. That's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. Russia dangles $14 trillion in business deals in front of the Trump administration in exchange for sanctions relief is the money moving negotiations. and what would that mean for Ukraine? Also, how did Mark Zuckerberg defend against accusations that meta knew underage kids were using Instagram and didn't stop it? We'll tell you when he testified in court

and why this trial could reshape social media. Say with us, we'll give you news you need to start your day. President Trump is convening the first ever meeting of the Board of Peace today in Washington, D.C. Now, Trump says he created the group to oversee his ceasefire plan in Gaza, And he says $5 billion for reconstruction in Gaza has already been pledged by member states. Joining us to tell us more about today's meeting and the hurdles ahead for Gaza is NPR International correspondent Aya Bertrawe. She's in Dubai. Good morning, Aya.

Good morning, Michelle. So remind us of what this Board of Peace is about and who is expected to attend this meeting today. Sure. So the Board of Peace is chaired by Trump and the group was formally established only last month. And so this is their first meeting. Now, Trump will be addressing a room full of heads of states and top diplomats from around 4. 40 countries, including also the European Union. The meeting will have dignitaries from Argentina and Hungary to places like India and Vietnam. Meanwhile, France and the UK, which have not joined the board out of concerns that Russia could be a part of this new group, will be sending

observers to this meeting today. However, Israel and Arab states are part of this board, and they too will be at the meeting, but there are no Palestinians on the board of peace. Now, the event is being held at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington, and some fear that Trump's Board of Peace could be used to undermine the United Nations. Actually, a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza was moved a day earlier in order to accommodate diplomats being able to attend both meetings. And as you mentioned, this board was first created to oversee Trump's ceasefire plan for Gaza. So where does the ceasefire stand now? So the ceasefire that Trump pushed through last October is shaky. Palestinian health officials say more than 600 Palestinians have been killed in

Gaza in Israeli attacks in these four months of ceasefire. And the next steps of the ceasefire plan are still unclear. And that's why this meeting today is significant, Michelle. Countries are expected to be making some big tangible pledges. Trump has talked about $5 billion in pledges toward Reconstruction. We could hear which countries made those initial pledges today. But that $5 billion is a fraction of what's needed. And it would be going toward the Trump administration's vision for a new Gaza in areas still under Israeli military control. You know, Gaza right now is split in two. Israeli forces occupy more than half of this tiny territory, and some two million Palestinians are living in dire conditions in a sliver along the sea where Hamas still governs. And so reconstruction funds would not be going to those areas where Palestinians are living, and Israel still tightly controls the borders of what can come in regarding reconstruction materials and aid.

So given everything you've just told us, Aya, how might this Board of Peace actually ensure progress? All right. So a crucial part of this next phase of Trump's ceasefire plan is the deployment of thousands of international troops to Gaza. This international stabilization force would not be policing the streets of Gaza, but it would be more of a buffer between Israel and Hamas to try to keep the peace and monitor violations of the ceasefire. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, says it's ready to send troops. And we could hear similar commitments at today's meeting from other countries. But Israel does not want to give up control of Gaza. and it has objected, for example, to Turkey's offer to send troops, and that's also delayed Egypt signing up as well and saying that they would go in.

So the other key part of the plan also hinges on Hamas disarming. Now, this is a key demand by Israel as well as the United States and several Arab countries who don't want to pour money into Gaza without assurances that Hamas no longer rules and a war won't resume. Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a couple days ago said Hamas must not only give up heavy weapons like rockets and mortars, also small arms like Kalashnikov rifles. He's insisting on this even as Israel is arming rival Palestinian militias and clans that are fighting Hamas in Gaza. And this week, Israel said Hamas has just 60 days to give up all its weapons or Israel will resume full military operations, which obviously would blow up Trump's ceasefire and resume a war that has decimated Gaza and killed entire families there.

So, Michelle, there's a lot to discuss at this meeting and a lot writing on this first meeting of Trump's Board of Peace. Yeah, so much to keep track of. That is NPR's ABABertawi in Dubai. Aya, thank you. Thank you, Michelle. The Trump administration wrapped up another round of talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. But while the White House pressures Kiev to make concessions, it's also negotiating doing business with Moscow. Today, Russia's negotiator said $14 trillion in deals are on the table if the U.S. drops its sanctions. So is the money moving negotiations? We're joined now by NPR's Charles Mains in Moscow to tell us more about this. Good morning, Charles. Morning. So let's start with the negotiations. What have you learned?

Well, the Kremlin warned there wouldn't be much for the press to know about of these latest talks, and in that sense its lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky didn't disappoint. So here, Madinsky says that two days of talks in Geneva had been difficult, but business-like, and they would continue in a later date, full stop. Now, he did later return for another hour or so of direct meetings with Ukrainians, but about what? Again, all behind closed doors. Russia is also offering business deals to the U.S., it appears, to the tune of $14 trillion. What is Russia trying to accomplish with this? Well, you know, the White House's envoy, Steve Whitkoff, and, of course, his boss, President Trump, has made clear they see diplomacy through a business lens.

Russia knows this, and as a result, it's engaged in a kind of parallel track of negotiations with the U.S. in which the Kremlin is really trying to tempt the White House, saying there's huge money to be made in Russia and investments in rare earth minerals, energy, mining, and that the U.S. can get in on the action once there are no sanctions and peace is attained. But on Moscow's terms, I assume. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And Russia continues to insist victory in Ukraine is a fate of complete, despite the glacial pace of their own gains and heavy battlefield losses. And this is all designed to convince Donald Trump. It's in everyone's interest to get Ukraine to surrender. To degree, it seems also to be working on the eve of these latest talks. Trump again put the onus on Ukraine to make concessions, telling Kiev it better come to the table fast.

Going back to the actual peace negotiations, what are the other participants have to say? Well, Whitkoff said meaningful progress was made in a post to social media. Ukraine's delegation was more subdued. Its lead negotiator noted some progress without providing details. Meanwhile, Ukrainian president, Volodymy Zelensky took to social media to complain that Russia was trying to drag out negotiations, even as these talks were underway. Now, is that why delegations broke off early?

Perhaps the full delegation session only lasted two hours. Charles, before we let you go, the White House has spent a lot of time trying to negotiate a settlement here. Would you remind us what the crux of the problem is, as far as we know? Well, they've really focused on Russian ultimatums that Ukraine surrender territory, including lands Russian forces don't currently control. Kiev has refused to do that, even as it signaled, it may be open to some demilitarized status for these areas should it withdraw its forces. But it also wants ironclad security guarantees from the Western allies and from the U.S. in particular, if it's to even consider such a thing, just to make sure that Russia doesn't attack again.

And what guarantees are on offer from the U.S.? Would Russia even accept U.S. protections for Ukraine? Those are open questions because they certainly sound a lot like a NATO-esque status for Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin of Russia used to justify his invasion in the first place. That is. MPRs Charles Mainz in Moscow. Charles, thank you. Thank you. And if you want more of our coverage on Ukraine, peace talks, and other news you need to start your day,

don't forget to follow up first on your podcast app. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to explain to a jury on Wednesday why Instagram targeted children under 13 for years. Because that would violate the company's own policies. And a family suing meta says, It shows the company designed social media apps with the intention of hooking young people early. NPR's Bobby Allen was in the Los Angeles courtroom for Zuckerberg's testimony in the first ever trial over social media addiction. He said to tell us more about it. Good morning, Bobby.

Hey, Michelle. So what did Mark Zuckerberg say from the witness stand? Well, he was on the defensive. A lawyer for the family suing meta drew his attention to several internal documents obtained through discovery. and one of them showed how META knew about 30% of 10 to 12 year olds in the U.S. were using Instagram. And a strategy document showed how, quote, if we want to win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens. Zuckerberg now said, you know, his words were being taken out of context

and that some of these memos were being misrepresented. But he did admit, though, that many young people lie about their age to get on Instagram and that cracking down is just really hard. Did you get a sense of how Zuckerberg's testimony was landing with the jury? Yeah, they seemed engaged, but it's hard to say for sure if they found Zuckerberg convincing. Remember, their goal in this trial is to determine if meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube substantially contributed to the mental health issues of the plaintiff. She is a 20-year-old California woman who says she got addicted to social media apps as a child as young as six years old. She says she developed depression and body image issues.

She was also at the trial sitting in the gallery. There was a striking moment, Michelle, when her lawyer asked Zuckerberg if he had reviewed any of her Instagram posts. He said his staff had shared some of them, yes. Then five lawyers unspooled this massive poster with a collage of hundreds of selfies she posted as a child. The lawyer then asked Zuckerberg if Meda ever investigated her account for unhealthy use. And he avoids the question. Any other moments stand out to you from his testimony? Tony? Yeah, at one point, the family's lawyer brought out an internal document about how

meta's staff has pushed Zuckerberg to be more empathic and relatable and more human in public appearances and, you know, not to be fake and corporate and cheesy. These are their words. You know, during events like court appearance. And Zuckerberg responded by, you know, showing some human vulnerability. He said, quote, I think I'm actually well known to be very bad at this. Oh, well. So where does this trial go from here? Yeah, there are four more weeks of witness testimony than the jury begins deliberations. This case is tied to 1,600 other pending cases. 1600?

Yeah, it's a lot. They were filed by parents, by school districts, all of them saying that social media caused all these mental health issues. They've been consolidated into one case. And depending on how this verdict in Los Angeles comes down, you know, that could potentially shape outcomes in all these other cases, meaning there's billions of dollars in monetary damages on the line. potentially major changes to the social media landscape. That is, NPR technology correspondent Bobby Allen. Bobby, thank you.

Thanks, Michelle. And we should note Google, which owns YouTube, is a financial supporter of NPR. That's up first for Thursday, February 19th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Lela Faudil. Can't get enough of the Olympics? Check out Up First Winter Games, a new video podcast from the team that brings you up first. Find it every afternoon at YouTube.com slash NPR.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Robbie Griffith, Miguel Macias, Tina Craya, Brett Neely, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Alice Wolffley. It was produced by Zia Bucch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hines and our technical director is Carly Strange. Our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens, and we hope you'll join us again tomorrow.