Morning Wire

EU, Canada Impose Tariffs & Russia Strikes Ukraine | Afternoon Update | 3.12.25

March 12, 2025 7m
The EU and Canada move to counter Trump’s tariffs, Russia strikes Zelensky’s hometown hours after Ukraine agrees to a ceasefire, and Greenland elects new leadership. Developing stories you need to know just in time for your drive home. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Old Glory Bank: Go to https://oldglorybank.com/wire today to open your account and put your money in the hands of people you can ACTUALLY trust.

Listen and Follow Along

Full Transcript

This episode is brought to you by Old Glory Bank.

It's time to put your money where your mouth is when you say America is back. Old Glory Bank supports hardworking Americans, small businesses, and your constitutional rights.
No cancel culture, no woke nonsense. Head to oldglorybank.com slash wire and be part of something bigger.
Again, that's oldglorybank.com slash wire. The EU and Canada move to counter Trump's tariffs.

Russia strikes Zelensky's hometown hours after Ukraine agrees to a ceasefire. And Greenland elects new leadership.
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, March 12th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
Both Canada and the EU will impose their own counter tariffs in response to Trump's recent 25% steel and aluminum tariffs. Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice has more.
Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says their 25% counter tariffs, which take effect tomorrow, will hit nearly $30 billion in U.S. goods, including computers, sports equipment, and cast iron products.
Earlier in the day, the European Union also imposed counter tariffs on the United States, targeting things like textiles, home appliances, agricultural products, and iconic American products like bourbon, peanut butter, and jeans. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the U.S.
tariffs disruptive and warned of rising prices and job losses. We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geoeconomic and political uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with such tariffs.
We're ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue. I have entrusted Trade Commissioner Maros Sefkovic to resume his talks, to explore better solutions with the United States.
As of right now, the EU tariffs are set to take effect April 1st, with additional duties set to hit the US on April 13th. Meanwhile, Britain is holding off on its own tariffs, but says it will continue to press for a deal.
A stopgap funding bill now heads to the Senate after narrowly passing the House. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo has the latest.
The vote landed at 217 to 213, with nearly all Republicans backing the measure. The bill extends government funding through September 30th, and while most Democrats opposed it, Congressman Jared Golden of Maine voted in the affirmation.
Meanwhile, Republican Congressman Thomas Massey voted against the measure, setting off a heated feud with President Trump. Trump criticized Massey and vowed to lead a primary challenge against him.
Massey, who has survived Trump-backed challenges before, said that the threats wouldn't change his vote. Democrats claim the bill threatens health care and veterans benefits, but Speaker Mike Johnson says it contains no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.
Democrats could still filibuster the bill, potentially triggering a shutdown this weekend. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall is reintroducing a bill to ban federal funding for gender transition procedures.
The End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act aligns with Trump's executive order and prohibits federal health care providers from offering such treatment. Critics argue that the bill targets transgender individuals while supporters say it protects children from permanent life-altering procedures.
Morning Wire spoke to Senator Marshall. Here's what he said about the bill.
Stopping taxpayer funding of gender experimentation puts into law what President Trump has done in executive order. So we stop all federal funding of transition surgeries, as well as transitional hormones.
Stopping the VA from doing it, stopping the forces from doing it as well, the Department of Defense, let alone the Medicaid folks as well. Marshall points to polling data that shows that Americans oppose taxpayer dollars funding gender transitions.
The bill has several Republican co-sponsors and support from conservative organizations like Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom. Russia launched a deadly missile strike on Ukraine, hitting President Zelensky's hometown just hours after Ukraine agreed to the U.S.
proposed ceasefire. The attack killed a 47-year-old woman and injured at least nine others, damaging apartment buildings, infrastructure and businesses.
Other areas saw overnight strikes as well, wounding many. The Trump-backed ceasefire proposal calls for a 30-day halt in fighting, but Moscow has yet to respond.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that the ball now lies in Russia's court. The president's objective here is, number one, above everything else, he wants the war to end.
And I think today Ukraine has taken a concrete step in that regard. We hope the Russians will reciprocate.
A state farm executive has been fired after being secretly recorded discussing a rate hike for California homeowners recovering from wildfires. Here's a bit from the video.
We've got like maybe $5 billion that we're short if something happens. We'll go to the Department of Insurance and say, we're overexposed here, you have to let us catch up our rating.
And they'll say, because the Department of Insurance and the insurance commissioner is in an elected position. He'll say, nah.
And we'll say, okay, then we are going to cancel these policies. In the video published by James O'Keefe Media Group, the State Farm employee also criticized homeowners in fire-prone areas, calling some neighborhoods a desert built for ego.
State Farm confirmed his termination, calling his remarks inaccurate and not reflective of company policy. Now, California's insurance commissioner is demanding answers about the rate hike.
In a surprise political shakeup, Greenland's center-right Democratic Party has won parliamentary elections, unseating the pro-independence party. Leader Jens Frederick Nielsen says the Democratic Party wants economic growth before full independence from Denmark, a stance that comes as President Trump renews U.S.
interest in Greenland. The new leaders have pushed back against Trump, saying the election results send a clear message.
Greenland is not for sale. Trump recently told Congress we need Greenland pledging economic prosperity for the island if it aligns with the U.S.
I think we're going to get it one way or the other, we're going to get it. We will keep you safe.
We will make you rich and together. We will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.
And border czar Tom Homan confronted New York Democrats in Albany today over their pro-illegal immigration policies. Homan joined Republican lawmakers at the Capitol to challenge the state's green light law and sanctuary city policies.
Here's a bit from Homan's remarks to New York Republicans. Someone in the country that committed a crime against U.S.
and sent in jail, why not give access to that person so when you're done with them, we can have them and do our job? Because releasing a public safety threat back in the public is just stupid. Victims and witnesses of crime don't want the bad guy out back out there either.
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 Wall Street's tariff uncertainty, Ukraine's ceasefire agreement,

and New York's mass firing of striking prison guards. Thanks for tuning in.

We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.