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--:-- John Bickley: National security officials are grilled on Capitol Hill amid dueling accusations of a military strike text chain. There was no classified material that was shared in that. So then if there was no classified material, share it with the committee.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, March 26th, and this is Morning Wire. Big food companies are fighting to keep soda and snacks on the menu. Are they okay with us using their tax dollars to feed really bad food and sugary drinks to children? And EPA Chief Lee Zeldin is taking swift action to dismantle cumbersome environmental regulations. There are people who are congressional Democrats who are not going to be happy with our actions.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Head to balanceofnature.com and use promo code WIRE for 35% off your first order as a preferred customer, plus get a free bottle of fiber and spice. That's balanceofnature.com, promo code WIRE.
--:-- John Bickley: Top national security officials were on Capitol Hill yesterday, where lawmakers grilled them on how a journalist was added to a group chat about military operations. Here with a look at what they said and how President Trump has reacted is Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice. Say, Tim. So we're now on day three of this Atlantic saga. What more have we learned now?
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, good morning, John. So just to refresh everyone's memory, around two weeks ago, a user named Michael Waltz added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat where Trump national security officials discussed upcoming strikes on Houthi terrorists. Goldberg reported this on Monday, and there's obviously been a lot of fallout.
--:-- Tim Rice: On top of all that, a bunch of the people in the group chat were already scheduled to testify before Congress this week to report on the global threat assessment. Needless to say, yesterday's hearing quickly became all about the signal chat, with Democrats accusing Trump officials of exposing classified information and the officials defending their actions.
--:-- Tim Rice: This exchange between Georgia Senator John Ossoff and CIA Director John Ratcliffe is pretty emblematic of how the hearing went. Director Ratcliffe, this was a huge mistake, correct?
--:-- John Ratcliffe: No. A national political...
--:-- [Senator Ossoff interrupts]
--:-- John Ossoff: No, no, you hold on. No, no, Director Radcliffe, I asked you a yes or no question, and now you'll hold on. A national political reporter was made privy to sensitive information about imminent military operations against a foreign terrorist organization. And that wasn't a huge mistake? That wasn't a huge mistake?
--:-- John Ratcliffe: They characterized it as embarrassment.
--:-- John Ossoff: This is utterly unprofessional. And by the way, we will get the full transcript of this chain and your testimony will be measured carefully against its content.
--:-- John Ratcliffe: Radcliffe insisted that there was nothing inherently wrong with national security officials discussing military plans on Signal and noted it was approved under the Biden administration.
--:-- John Ratcliffe: One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA, as it is for most CIA officers. One of the things that I was briefed on very early, Senator, was by the CIA records management folks about the use of Signal as a permissible work use. It is.
--:-- Tim Rice: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, also a member of the chat, told Virginia Senator Mark Warner that, quote, there was no classified material that was shared in that signal chat. This came after Warner unloaded on Gabbard and Ratcliffe and strongly implied that the members of the signal chat should be fired.
--:-- Tim Rice: If this was the case of a military officer or an intelligence officer and they had this kind of behavior, they would be fired. So a lot of fiery words, but also many strong denials that any classified information was actually discussed in this signal chat.
--:-- Tim Rice: What about the White House? How is the White House reacting to all of this?
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, yesterday morning, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt wrote on X that Goldberg is well known for his sensationalist spin and denied that war plans or other classified material were discussed in the signal thread. Her language there mirrors Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's comments to reporters on Monday, comments that Goldberg says were lies.
--:-- Tim Rice: He was texting war plans. He was texting attack plans. When targets were going to be targeted, how they were going to be targeted, who was at the targets, when the next sequence of attacks were happening. I didn't publish this.
--:-- Tim Rice: My final question, there was some speculation that Waltz may take the fall for this whole incident. Will he have to resign?
--:-- Tim Rice: Well, Trump hasn't said much about the saga yet, but so far it seems like he's standing by Waltz and the entire team. The president told NBC yesterday that Waltz has learned a lesson and is a good man.
--:-- Tim Rice: Trump added that he's not very concerned about the story, saying it is the only glitch in two months and it turned out not to be a serious one.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm sure this is not the last we'll hear of all of this. Tim, thanks so much for reporting.
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--:-- John Bickley: Food lobbyists are fighting tooth and nail to stop the Trump administration from limiting taxpayer subsidies for junk food. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo. So Amanda, we've been covering Make America Healthy Again as a movement. What kind of changes could we see to SNAP?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Hey, Georgia. Yeah, so there's a strong push to restrict soda, candy, and other unhealthy options from purchases being made with SNAP, which are commonly known as food stamps. Now, federally, these changes have been discussed openly by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: She'll play a key role in administering those benefits. There are also a number of bills in the House looking to federally restrict junk food and soda from SNAP. Movement has also picked up steam on the state level. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has asked the feds to allow her state to restrict SNAP and lawmakers have made similar moves in Idaho, Kansas, Arizona, Indiana, Texas, Wyoming, and other states.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Also something to watch for, West Virginia has just passed a bill that bans a number of food dyes often found in junk food and sugary drinks. That will affect the soda industry too and they ran a very strong opposition campaign to that bill. Republican Governor Patrick Morrissey signed that bill on Monday. It will go into effect in 2028 though it will affect school food programs this summer.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So about the opposition, what are we seeing in terms of the lobbying effort from the big food companies and soda companies?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, the food industry is working across numerous fronts to try to protect these profits. About one in eight Americans receive SNAP benefits currently with soda as the most frequently purchased item. About 10% of all Snap spending goes towards soda and sugary drinks and another 10% toward junk food.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: American taxpayers reportedly subsidized roughly $4 billion worth of soda products through Snap. Now, losing that subsidy would be a big blow to these companies. So unsurprisingly, there's been a full court press to try to keep them in Snap, including from even influencers.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Right. So there's been a lot of buzz about that online. What are these influencers saying or being paid to say?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, we're seeing influencers online who mainly lean right wing, posting very similar messages on X about how restricting soda from snap is government overreach, a violation of personal choice, and politically unpopular.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And almost all of them mention Trump's love for Diet Coke. There are unconfirmed reports that these influencers were paid to post those messages by groups tied to Big Soda, and women's rights advocate Riley Gaines said that she was approached to do the same, but she turned them down.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: RFK actually publicly thanked Gaines for her integrity, and he added, quote, It's troubling that some companies now think they have a right to demand taxpayer money to poison our children.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, there's also been a campaign to cozy up to Trump. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Keurig Dr. Pepper have all directly engaged with Trump administration officials. They're talking up their commitment to zero sugar options and clear product labeling.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Coca-Cola also met with Trump in January, and they gifted him that personalized bottle of Diet Coke. The American Beverage Association, or the ABA, which reps all these big soda companies, they gave money to Trump's inauguration, as they have with past presidents.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: They also made a public political pitch. They said working families voted for Trump to lift them up and not leave them behind, but snap restrictions would, quote, betray those voters and that promise.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: In a press conference on Tuesday, ABA Vice President of Public Affairs Meredith Potter argued that that West Virginia law that bans numerous food dyes would hurt West Virginia consumers and the economy in the state over ingredients that she said have been proven safe.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: She said that the ban was rushed and that beverage companies would need at least five years to phase out some of these dyes or update their recipes. I was also able to ask her if the ABA paid influencers to create those posts against snap restrictions on soda.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And she clearly and emphatically told me, no, the ABA was not behind that campaign and is unaware of who is.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, we also have Walmart, one of the largest retailers where snap benefits are spent. They've engaged in lobbying efforts to stop these restrictions. And believe it or not, there was a lobbyist from the American Heart Association who advocated against these types of restrictions.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: That was first reported by The Daily Wire's Luke Rosiak. And the AHA has since claimed that the lobbyist who traveled to Washington miscommunicated.
--:-- John Bickley: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You're welcome.
--:-- John Bickley: The second Trump administration could oversee one of the largest shifts in environmental policy in over a decade. EPA Chief Lee Zeldin is leading the transition with an aggressive effort to cut extensive climate regulations. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pearce is here to detail the environmental transformation taking place at the EPA. Hey Tim, so Zeldin has been one of the most active cabinet secretaries when it comes to government reform. What can you tell us about his policies so far?
--:-- Tim Pearce: Sure, the Trump administration and Zeldin in particular are aggressively attacking democratic climate policies and green programs. It all part of President Trump stated goal of energy dominance. It also a big step away from Democrats Green New Deal.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Here's Zeldin earlier this month declaring democratic environmental priorities dead. The death of the Green New scam is upon us. The people across this country who have seen a Green new deal that if fully implemented would cost tens of trillions of dollars and people who cannot afford to be able to heat their home, to purchase a car, small businesses that are struggling to operate, people have been put out of work and it's going to end.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Zeldin wants to reform and repeal dozens of the most burdensome climate rules. That includes, for example, Biden's electric vehicle mandate that aims to force a radical change to the automobile market with half of new cars sold being all-electric by 2032.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Even bigger than that, Zeldin's EPA has also set its sights on Obama's 2009 endangerment finding. That rule essentially set the basis for the EPA to police greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and spawned a massive amount of environmental regulation.
--:-- Tim Pearce: So that's on the regulatory side of it, but Zeldin has also cut and reclaimed funds from climate programs as well. How much taxpayer money was that?
--:-- Tim Pearce: Zeldin spoke about that during Monday's cabinet meeting. Here is. The EPA has now canceled over $22 billion worth of contracts, $2 billion going to this NGO that Stacey Abrams was tied to. They received only $100 in 2023. And then the Biden administration gave them $2 billion.
--:-- Tim Pearce: The director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund saw his former employer get $5 billion. So $20 billion went to just eight NGOs and they're all pass-throughs. What you have is all these extra middlemen, they're taking their cuts and the taxpayers are getting screwed.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Zeldin has been very aggressive in getting that money back. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was the largest single investment in green energy projects ever and the largest pot of cash the EPA has ever been responsible for doling out.
--:-- Tim Pearce: A lot of that money went to groups that had never before received grants so large. Remember, we're talking about billions of dollars in some cases. A lot of money.
--:-- Tim Pearce: How are these changes affecting the energy sector?
--:-- Tim Pearce: Yeah, we're currently seeing a big shift to redirect resources. Trump's Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, has worked alongside the EPA to greenlight a lot of oil and gas projects. And Wright has also been cutting regulations on energy producers, so much so that oil and gas executives are actually reneging on green investment pledges and pausing the transition to green energy that Democrats have wanted.
--:-- Tim Pearce: There was also a major court case punishing Greenpeace USA for their extreme protest strategies. Last week, they were found liable in a nearly $700 million judgment for helping violent protesters destroy and vandalize property in their attempts to sabotage the Dakota Access Pipeline.
--:-- Tim Pearce: The trial revealed that Greenpeace USA organizers had trained protesters and even purchased supplies the protesters used to commit illegal acts. So that will hopefully deter other activist groups from engaging in intentionally destructive protests.
--:-- Tim Pearce: It's definitely a significant court precedent there.
--:-- John Bickley: Tim, thanks so much for joining us.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. And if you enjoyed what you heard this morning, share this episode with a friend. If you're waking up exhausted, that's no way to start your day. You need Beam's Dream Powder, a science-backed, healthy, hot cocoa for sleep.
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