First American Pope Elected to Lead Catholic Church

Summary

WSJ What’s News: First American Pope Elected to Lead Catholic Church
Release Date: May 8, 2025
Host: The Wall Street Journal
Episode Overview:
In this episode of WSJ What’s News, The Wall Street Journal delves into significant global and domestic developments, including a landmark trade agreement between the US and the UK, escalating trade tensions with the European Union, the profound impact of US-China tariffs on businesses, the historic election of the first American pope, and key updates from the Trump administration.

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1. US-UK Trade Agreement and EU Trade Tensions

Outline of the US-UK Trade Deal:

President Donald Trump announced a new trade agreement with the United Kingdom, marking the first major trade deal under his administration. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, alongside his administration, joined President Trump in outlining the deal's framework.

• Key Provisions:
  • Most UK goods remain subject to the global 10% US tariff imposed last month.
  • Exemptions for certain products, notably a reduction in auto tariffs from 25% to 10%.
  • UK commitments include increasing imports of American goods, such as Boeing planes, and reducing tariffs on US beef and ethanol.

Notable Quote:

"Today's agreement with the UK is the first in a series of agreements on trade that my administration has been negotiating over the past four weeks. With this deal, the UK joins the United States in affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade."
— GMC Representative [01:47]

EU's Counteractions and Potential Tariffs:

In response to the US-UK deal, the European Union released a list of approximately $107 billion worth of American products that could face new tariffs if negotiations falter. This includes sensitive sectors like aviation, automotive, health, agriculture, and alcoholic beverages.

WSJ Reporter Kim McRail from Brussels provides insight:

• Current Status:
  • The EU is not imminently imposing these tariffs but keeps them as a contingency.
  • A 90-day pause on higher tariffs is in place, after which the EU may consider making tariffs more permanent if fair trade terms aren’t achieved.

Notable Quotes:

"They really are not looking at doing this in the near term. This is something they want to have on hand in case they get to that point."
— Kim McRail [03:13]

"The talks are ongoing. What we're hearing from them are that the EU has come up with a few different offers or suggestions of things that it could do."
— Kim McRail [03:54]

Despite the US securing a trade deal with the UK, which is a smaller, unified economy compared to the EU’s 27-member bloc, McRail notes the complexity of applying this success to broader EU negotiations.

Notable Quote:

"Some European officials, they look at this and they say, well, maybe there is something we could learn from what worked for the UK, but not necessarily that this is a template for a European deal."
— Kim McRail [04:41]

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2. Impact of US-China Tariffs on Global Supply Chains

With President Trump’s decision to impose a 145% tariff on Chinese imports, businesses in both the US and China are grappling with significant disruptions.

Business Challenges:

Chinese manufacturers and American importers reliant on Chinese goods are experiencing chaos. This includes factory shutdowns, supply bottlenecks, and canceled or paused orders.

Notable Quotes:

"For a lot of Chinese manufacturers that mainly export to the US and for American businesses that heavily rely on Chinese imports into this country, it really has been a chaotic time."
— Natasha Khan [05:53]

Impact on Major Retailers and Manufacturers:

Large corporations like Walmart, Target, Costco, and Hasbro face uncertainty. For example, Hasbro, which sources 50% of its US toys from China, is actively seeking alternative supply chains—a move complicated by the global competition for manufacturing capacity.

Notable Quote:

"If you were alive in 2016, you remembered it when Pope Francis said that a Christian doesn't build walls, and this was a rebuke to then candidate Trump. Leo XIV said something to the effect of that Christians build bridges and that he wants to be a bridge builder."
— Drew Hinshaw [11:16]

Holiday Season Concerns:

Despite it being May, early indications show that the tariffs are already affecting the holiday supply chains. Retailers froze shipments following the tariff announcements, exemplified by the anecdote of inflatable snowmen stranded in China without buyers.

Notable Quote:

"Now in the States, we've also spoken to importers that once they learned of the 145% tariff, basically have stopped or canceled or paused orders."
— Natasha Khan [06:45]

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3. Election of the First American Pope

In a historic moment for the Catholic Church, Roberto Francesco Prevost, an American, was elected as Pope Leo XIV, marking the first time an American leads the global Catholic community.

Scene at the Vatican:

The election was met with jubilation and surprise. Vatican crowds witnessed moments of confusion turning into celebration as the first American pope was announced.

Notable Quote:

"And then a bunch of Americans are cheering and people are digesting the fact that for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, it is being led by someone from the United States."
— Drew Hinshaw [10:19]

Significance of His Nationality:

Prevost's American background is particularly noteworthy given the previous assumption that a US cardinal was unlikely to be elected due to the country's global influence dynamics.

Notable Quote:

"This is a cardinal who could stand on two grounds. He, of course, is American, but he also spent his life in Latin America, in Peru."
— Drew Hinshaw [11:00]

Choice of Papal Name:

Choosing the name Leo XIV connects him to Leo XIII, a pope known for advocating workers’ rights and opposing authoritarianism during the Industrial Revolution. This choice signals Prevost's intent to continue a legacy of social advocacy and bridge-building within the Church.

Notable Quote:

"He hasn't said what his logic is, but it's a little bit of a hint and a signal that he sees his role as continuing that legacy of Leo XIII."
— Drew Hinshaw [11:23]

Approach to Church Issues:

Pope Leo XIV has maintained a moderate stance on divisive issues like same-sex blessings and priestly celibacy, emphasizing unity and bridge-building over contentious debates.

Notable Quote:

"He was very careful not to take a strong stand either way for some of the issues that have been quite divisive within the Catholic Church."
— Drew Hinshaw [11:59]

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4. US Domestic Policy Developments

Air Traffic Control Overhaul:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a potential revamp of the US air traffic control system within the next three to four years, contingent on congressional approval for billions in funding. The plan aims to modernize outdated radar, telecommunications, surveillance systems, and control towers.

Industry Reactions:

A coalition of industry and labor groups is advocating for at least $31 billion in emergency funding over the next three years to support this initiative.

Federal Prosecutor Nomination Withdrawal:

President Trump rescinded the nomination of Ed Martin for the top federal prosecutor position in Washington, following concerns that Martin was perceived as a figure aligning with Trump’s broader campaign against adversaries. Republican senators withdrew support, prompting the administration to seek a new candidate.

FEMA Leadership Changes:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appointed David Richardson as the new FEMA director, replacing Cameron Hamilton. Hamilton had previously opposed the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate the U.S. Disaster Response Agency.

Notable Quote:

"The Transportation Department outlined a plan to replace antiquated radar, telecommunications surveillance systems and air traffic control towers and other facilities."
— Victoria Craig [12:35]

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5. Cryptocurrency Sector Developments

In a significant move within the cryptocurrency market, Coinbase announced the acquisition of Deribit, the world's largest bitcoin and ether options trading platform, in a deal valued at $2.9 billion. This acquisition is the latest in a series of high-profile crypto transactions, reflecting the sector's ongoing dynamism and consolidation.

Notable Quote:

"Coinbase has agreed to buy Deribit, the world's biggest bitcoin and ether options trading platform. The $2.9 billion deal is the latest in a flurry of crypto dealmaking."
— Victoria Craig [12:39]

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6. Market Reactions

Following the trade agreement announcement and President Trump’s optimistic outlook on US-China negotiations, Wall Street saw an extension of its upward trend. Major indices recorded gains:

• Dow Jones: +0.5%
• S&P 500: +0.5%
• Nasdaq: +1.0%

This market optimism reflects investor confidence in the potential for stabilized trade relations and economic growth.

Notable Quote:

"On Wall street today, stocks extended their rise after President Trump detailed that UK Trade deal and expressed high hopes for the talks with China."
— Victoria Craig [08:49]

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Conclusion

This episode of WSJ What’s News provided a comprehensive overview of pivotal developments shaping global trade, religious leadership, domestic policy, and financial markets. The election of the first American pope marks a historic shift for the Catholic Church, while ongoing trade negotiations and tariff implementations continue to influence international business dynamics. Domestically, significant policy shifts and leadership changes within the Trump administration highlight the evolving political landscape. Additionally, the cryptocurrency sector's rapid evolution underscores the shifting paradigms in modern finance.

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Produced by: Anthony Banci
Supervising Producer: Pierre Bienname
Host: Victoria Craig
Reporting by: Kim McRail, Natasha Khan, Drew Hinshaw

Transcript

[GMC Representative]

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[Victoria Craig]

President Trump announces his first new trade deal with the UK that's as US Negotiations with China are set to kick off this weekend. How businesses in both countries are coping with existing tariffs.

[Natasha Khan]

For a lot of Chinese manufacturers that mainly export to the US and for American businesses that heavily rely on Chinese imports into this country, it really has been a chaotic time.

[Victoria Craig]

And peace be with you all. Those were the first public remarks from the first American pope. It's Thursday, May 8th. I'm Victoria Craig for the Wall Street Journal, filling in for Alex Osola. This is the PM edition of what's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. We begin in the Oval Office today.

[GMC Representative]

You all set to go? Ready when you are. Okay, we're ready. We have the prime minister on the phone and we have a nice hookup.

[Victoria Craig]

With British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the phone and flanked by members of his own administration, President Trump announced the outlines of a new trade agreement between the two countries.

[GMC Representative]

Today's agreement with the UK Is the first in a series of agreements on trade that my administration has been negotiating over the past four weeks. With this deal, the UK Joins the United States in affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade.

[Victoria Craig]

Most UK goods will still be subject to the global 10% tariff the US imposed on all countries last month. But some products will be exempted and auto tariffs against British cars will fall from 25% to 10%. The UK also committed to importing more American goods, including Boeing planes, and cutting tariffs on U.S. beef and ethanol. Starmer called the deal a fantastic one that would boost trade, create jobs and open market access. Meanwhile, the European Union took a step toward trade conflict with the US releasing a list of about $107 billion worth of American products that could be subject to fresh tariffs if talks fail. Airplanes are on that list, which would be bad for Boeing, the US Biggest exporter. Other targets include cars, car parts, health and agriculture products, and alcoholic beverages like American whiskey. There's been no final decision about what products would be hit or the level of tariffs that could be imposed. WSJ reporter Kim McRail joins me now from Brussels. Kim, what would it take for the EU to actually impose these tariffs?

[Kim McRail]

Yeah, so they really are not looking at doing this in the near term. This is something they want to have on hand in case they get to that point. They'll probably be making an assessment closer to the end of the night. 90 day pause on the higher reciprocal tariffs. If they get to the point at the end of those three months where it seems clear there's no deal that the EU considers to be fair forthcoming, then that's a point when they would consider the US tariffs to be somewhat more permanent thing, or are we still actually making progress on negotiations?

[Victoria Craig]

Yeah, and the EU said today that they're considering the possibility that these tariffs might actually not be temporary. They may be permanent depending on how the talks go. So how are the talks going? What are the negotiations like at this point?

[Kim McRail]

The talks are ongoing. What we're hearing from them are that the EU has come up with a few different offers or suggestions of things that it could do. They've said, here are some products we could probably buy more of. And the examples they've given are liquefied natural gas and soybeans. They've also said one thing we could do is we could all lower our industrial tariffs to zero. Neither of those are things that it appears the Trump administration has really picked up in a way that it moves the negotiations forward substantially.

[Victoria Craig]

And these EU negotiations come against a backdrop where the US has agreed to a trade deal with the UK Though one economist told the Journal that the US imports almost nine times as many goods from the eu. Kim, does that deal make it any more likely that the EU will come to an agreement with the us?

[Kim McRail]

It's a bit early to say what this will mean for the eu, but the early feedback that I've heard so far is that, first of all, you have to consider that these are very differently sized economies. Second, so the fact that the UK was able to come up with a deal with us, much smaller economy compared with the EU's 27 member states, also a unified economy, and is always balancing multiple interests in a way that can be a little more complicated than a country like the uk. The other thing is some European officials, they look at this and they say, well, maybe there is something we could learn from what worked for the uk, but not necessarily that this is a template for a European deal.

[Victoria Craig]

Kim McRail, a reporter for us in Brussels thanks so much for your time.

[Kim McRail]

Thank you.

[Victoria Craig]

And we have more on the world of trade. As we mentioned on this morning's show, talks between Washington and Beijing begin this week. But for now, the effects of President Trump's 145% tariffs on China are hitting business people on both sides of the Pacific who have built their livelihoods on globalized supply chains. WSJ reporter Natasha Khan has been digging into this and she joins me now. Natasha, what are businesses in China and and the US Dealing with now because of these tariffs?

[Natasha Khan]

For a lot of Chinese manufacturers that mainly export to the US and for American businesses that heavily rely on Chinese imports into this country, it really has been a chaotic time. As we report this week, there's scenes across China of factories stopping work, of supplies stuck in factories or stuck at ports. In one example, we have one person who tried to offload shipment of clothing like by live streaming at the port just to get rid of some of the stock that now has nowhere to go. Now in the States, we've also spoken to importers that once they learned of the 145% tariff, basically have stopped or canceled or paused orders. It really has been a trying time for many people that have built their livelihoods on this US China supply chain.

[Victoria Craig]

And this isn't limited just to small and medium sized companies on either side. It's big box retailers like Walmart, Target, Costco, you mentioned in the store, and big companies like toymaker Hasbro that have also been affected. So how are those companies coping with this kind of uncertainty?

[Natasha Khan]

We dug into some of the data and China is the source of 74% of imported toys and games in the US and 87% of Christmas decorations, not including candles and natural Christmas trees. And almost all of the US Fireworks are imported from China. So Hasbro, for example, really mentioning that they're having a lot of different talks with retailers. Half of their US Toys and games are made in China. Obviously, it takes time to shift your supply chain. There's definitely been lots more efforts to try to see where they can quickly move the supply chains, either in the short term or maybe for the long term to other jurisdictions. But it isn't something that they can do overnight. If they do find an alternative, it might not be fast enough or maybe there's no capacity because everybody is competing for the same manufacturers in other countries.

[Victoria Craig]

And you mentioned the holiday season, which is a little bit hard to grapple with in May.

[Natasha Khan]

Yes.

[Victoria Craig]

But you know, you have this great anecdote at the very top of your story about a few thousand inflatable snowmen that are sitting in China with nowhere to go. How are tariffs in May affecting the holiday season already in the last few weeks?

[Natasha Khan]

Actually, it's a time in which retailers typically place their orders for the fall or for the holidays at the end of the year. And typically this manufacturer sells to an American toy maker here and that American toy maker would sell to QVC for like their holiday programming. Now, QVC froze the shipment after the tariffs were announced. That's what we're seeing not just in the snowmen sector, but in a lot of other industries that rely on Chinese made goods.

[Victoria Craig]

Business reporter Natasha Khan, thanks so much for your insight.

[Natasha Khan]

Thank you.

[Victoria Craig]

On Wall street today, stocks extended their rise after President Trump detailed that UK Trade deal and expressed high hopes for the talks with China. The Dow and S&P 500 both rose roughly half a percent. The Nasdaq gained just over 1%. Coming up, what do we know about the first American Pope? That's after the break.

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[Victoria Craig]

Celebration in Vatican City today as Pope Leo the 14th appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. American car Robert Francis Prevost became the 267th leader of the global Catholic Church and the first American to take the role in Christianity's 2000 year history. Drew Hinshaw is a senior reporter for the Wall Street Journal and he joins me now from just outside the Vatican. Drew, what was the scene like today at the Vatican?

[Drew Hinshaw]

Well, white smoke goes up and the whole crowd is waiting there for an hour with bated breath, people clapping, singing hymns. And all of a sudden the name comes out Roberto Francesco. And everyone's kind of confused and they look at each other and and I'm standing next to these two Italian elderly Italian women who go Americano, Americano. And then a bunch of Americans are cheering and people are digesting the fact that for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, it is being led by someone from the United States.

[Victoria Craig]

And that's what's so interesting about this story, isn't it? Because conventional wisdom had been that a cardinal from the US Was basically unelectable due to America's position as a global power player. So how significant is his nationality in all of this?

[Drew Hinshaw]

Well, this is a cardinal who could stand on two grounds. He, of course, is American, but he also spent his life in Latin America, in Peru. He was close to Francis and he was someone who could unify the Latin American bloc, the United States bloc, and.

[Victoria Craig]

He'S chosen the name Leo xiv. Tell us the significance of that, starting with Leo xiii.

[Drew Hinshaw]

So Leo XIII was a pope during the Industrial Revolution and he spoke up for workers rights and he spoke out against authoritarian regimes. He hasn't said what his logic is, but it's a little bit of a hint and a signal that he sees his role as continuing that legacy of Leo xiii. And that's very typical of popes to name themselves after a previous pope whose legacy they admire, or in Pope Francis case, after a saint and whose tradition he was following.

[Victoria Craig]

And what do we know, Drew, about this pope's rise through the Catholic Church, his views, and maybe even a sense of what his prior will be as pope.

[Drew Hinshaw]

He was very careful not to take a strong stand either way for some of the issues that have been quite divisive within the Catholic Church, such as blessings for same sex couples or the celibacy of the priesthood. He didn't take strong stances on those issues. At the same time, if you were alive in 2016, you remembered it when Pope Francis said that a Christian doesn't build walls, and this was a rebuke to then candidate Trump. Leo XIV said something to the effect of that Christians build bridges and that he wants to be a bridge builder.

[Victoria Craig]

Drew Hinshaw, senior reporter for the Wall Street Journal, just outside the Vatican for us. Thanks so much for your time.

[Drew Hinshaw]

Thank you, Victoria.

[Victoria Craig]

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said today that the Trump administration could revamp the US Air traffic control system in three to four years if Congress approves billions of dollars in funding. The Transportation Department outlined a plan to replace antiquated radar, telecommunications equ surveillance systems and air traffic control towers and other facilities. Duffy didn't outline how much the proposed overhaul would cost. A coalition of industry and labor groups said a minimum of $31 billion in emergency funding should be appropriated over the next three years. In other administration news, President Trump dropped his controversial nominee for the top federal prosecutor. In Washington today. Ed Martin had begun to position himself as a leader in Trump's retribution campaign against perceived enemies and adversaries. And the withdrawal of his nomination comes after several Republican senators signaled they couldn't support him. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem installed a new FEMA director after ousting Cameron Hamilton from the role. In a hearing yesterday, Hamilton told lawmakers he did not support the elimination of the U.S. disaster Response Agency, which the Trump administration has advocated. David Richardson, a senior official at dhs, will be taking over the agency. And we exclusively report that Coinbase has agreed to buy Deribit, the world's biggest bitcoin and ether options trading platform. The $2.9 billion deal is the latest in a flurry of crypto dealmaking. And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Anthony Banci. Our supervising producer was Pierre Bienname. I'm Victoria Craig for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. It.