Morning Brief: Trump Stands By Hegseth, RFK Jr. Targets Food Dyes & Stocks Surge

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to take fire, but the commander-in-chief is standing by him. The Trump administration is taking steps to phase out eight synthetic food dyes and issuing warnings about a popular ingredient. And, Trump de-escalates – backing off tariffs and his attacks on the Fed – sending stocks surging. It’s Thursday, April 24, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:

Trump Stands By Embattled Defense Secretary As Recruitment Soars

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Topline: President Donald Trump is standing by embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as new data shows soaring military recruitment after years of decline.

There’s no doubt Hegseth’s tenure at DOD has been tumultuous so far. First, there was what Democrats refer to as SignalGate, in which Hegseth and other cabinet members discussed war plans in an unsecured group chat that accidentally included a reporter. Then, last week, several senior advisors at the Pentagon were fired after an investigation found that they had been leaking sensitive information to the press. 

This week, the negative media coverage continued after the New York Times reported Hegseth had shared details of airstrikes on Yemen in a separate Signal chat that included his wife and brother. Hegseth’s team says his wife is a trusted confidant and that his brother works at the Pentagon, but the story gave yet more fodder to those who want him relieved of his position. 

“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax…This is what the media does,” Hegseth said. “They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.”

President Trump also continues to back Hegseth, routinely praising him in statements to the press. “Pete’s doing a great job. Everybody’s happy with him. We have the highest recruitment numbers they’ve had in 28 years…It’s just fake news, they bring up stories. It’s disgruntled employees. He was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people and that’s what he’s doing. You don’t always have friends when you do that.”

Military recruitment numbers have spiked since Trump was elected and Hegseth was appointed. Six months into fiscal year 2025, every single branch is on pace to surpass its recruiting goals. The Navy is on track for its best year in two decades, the Air Force has seen a 20% increase compared to last year, and the Army’s biggest challenge is finding enough space for all its recruits. Last year, it had 55,000 enlistments — with six months to go, they’re already at 52,000! After years of falling short, it could double its target in 2025. According to Army Vice Chief of Staff James Mingus, “we’ve seen momentum unlike anything in a decade.”

RFK Jr. Moves To Phase Out Food Dyes

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Topline: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to phase out numerous artificial food dyes and colorings by the end of 2026.

The Department of Health and Human Services is banning petroleum-based synthetic dyes: Red 3 and Red 40, Blue 1 and  2, Yellow 5 and 6, and Green 3. Those are very common in cereals, candy, baked goods, soft drinks, and other junk foods commonly consumed by children.

HHS is implementing several steps to make this happen. First, it will work with food companies to establish a national standard and timeline for moving away from petrochemical-based dyes. HHS wants these phased out, at the latest, by the end of next year. The department will also revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings – Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B – that will happen even sooner – in the coming months. Red dye No. 3 was banned by the FDA at the end of the Biden administration, but the timeline for its phaseout is years away. Kennedy said he’s looking to speed up that ban. 

HHS will also partner with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct comprehensive research on how these dyes affect children’s health and development. Lastly, the department will authorize four new natural color additives within a matter of weeks, while speeding up the review and approval of other natural color additives. 

“For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said at a press conference with Kennedy on Tuesday. “The scientific community has conducted a number of studies raising concerns about the correlation between petroleum-based synthetic dyes and several health conditions, such as ADHD, obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, cancer, GI issues – as I’ve seen in the hospital – and allergic reactions.” 

Secretary Kennedy said that there are “shockingly few” studies on food additives and food dyes, specifically, and suggested that this is because of “conflicts of interest” suppressing the science. RFK also warned the public about the dangers of sugar. He said he’s not able to ban it, but wants parents to understand how harmful and addictive it is. He said it’s as “addictive as crack” and called it “poison.”

Economic Update: Trump De-escalates

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Topline: Stocks soared Wednesday after reports that President Trump said he has no intention of removing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. 

In recent days, we’ve seen what appears to be a de-escalation from the Trump administration on many key planks of its economic policy – including reassurances that the trade war with China will be resolved soon and that Powell will not be fired. There’s been a lot of public negotiating going on from Trump and his team, including some mixed messaging over the last few weeks.

“It was frankly, chaos to start,” EJ Antoni, an economist from the Heritage Foundation, told Morning Wire. “A lot of that is getting resolved – not all of it, but a lot of it… In terms of the de-escalation, I think what we’re looking for there is essentially agreements one by one just getting hammered out and eventually signed. It looks like trade deals, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers…as those deals get done, as the details get ironed out, we can look for more free trade, not less. We can look for fairer trade – in other words, not only are American consumer markets still open to foreign producers, but finally foreign consumer markets will be open to our domestic producers.”

Antoni also told us that while the Fed has used its influence over the economy for political advantage, sometimes against President Trump’s interests, removing him before the end of his term would have caused more unease about the future direction of the economy. “The market doesn’t really like Jerome Powell, but the idea of removing him creates a tremendous amount of uncertainty, and that’s the last thing markets need right now.”