NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-03-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

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President Trump is back in Washington, pursuing major policy changes on his own terms. We know from the past that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against the status quo. NPR is covering it all with Trump's Terms, a podcast where we curate stories about the 47th president with a focus on how he is upending the way Washington works. Listen to Trump's Terms from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Donald Trump's agreeing to a 30 day delay on tariffs against Canada. They were set to take effect tomorrow. Emma Jacobs reports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

released a statement after a phone call today with Trump. Trudeau spoke to Trump twice over the course of the day. He wrote on Axe, formerlyly Twitter that Canada has committed more resources to border security and to fighting fentanyl trafficking, the ostensible reason for the proposed tariffs. In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump said the tariffs would be paused, quote, to see whether or not a final economic deal with Canada can be structured.

Canada had promised retaliatory tariffs with the possibility of an escalating trade war. These will also be paused for 30 days. When President Trump was asked earlier what Trudeau could do to change his mind, he responded that he'd like to see Canada become the 51st state, which Canadians overwhelmingly oppose. For NPR News, I'm Emma Jacobs in Montreal. A.M. Elon Musk has spoken with President Donald Trump about the situation involving the international aid group USAID.

Musk holds an unelected position and is an advisor to Trump overseeing DOGE, an entity created by the administration to come up with ways to reduce government spending. NPR's Shannon Bond has warned both Musk and the group he now oversees. MS. BRITTANY LONG, HOST, MSNBC, CBO, MSNBC, CBO, MSNBC, CBO, MSNBC, CBO, MSNBC, CBO, MSNBC, MSNBC, CBO, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC,

MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, MSNBC, security clearance. And we don't know about the status of others working at Joe's, like whether or not they're government employees, what clearances they may have. What we do know is that some of these folks are young engineers who have come in from Silicon Valley. The Trump administration already has placed two top security chiefs at the US Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to turn over

classified material to Musk's inspection team. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington. He's set to meet with President Trump at the White House tomorrow. MPR's Jerome Sokolovsky reports talks on extending the ceasefire in Gaza resume. Netanyahu is under pressure from some in his government to resume the war against Hamas,

especially after its displays of force during recent hostage releases. Netanyahu spoke to reporters before boarding a plane to Washington. He talked about the peace treaties with Arab countries that the last Trump administration helped broker. And he said Israel's war against Hamas and Gaza and against Iran and its other proxies have redrawn the map of the Middle East. I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further and for

the better. Netanyahu is meeting first with Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, and then will talk to the president himself on Tuesday. Jerome Sokolowski, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Stocks fell on Wall Street today, the Dow down 122 points, the NASDAQ fell more than 200 points. This is NPR. There's an ongoing outbreak of Ebola in Uganda. One person has died so far. Usually the US supports local efforts to contain the deadly virus. Because NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel reports that's not

happening this time because of the Trump administration's freeze on foreign aid. Typically, Uganda uses money from the U.S. to securely transport samples from suspected Ebola cases to their national lab for testing. Similarly, they use U.S. funds to check travelers leaving the country to make sure they aren't carrying Ebola across borders. But that support is missing. WHO will step in to provide resources for those functions. Mike Ryan is with the World Health Organization.

He says WHO is filling the funding gaps for now, but the freeze on aid is complicating multiple emergencies at once. We do need our U.S. colleagues out there working on these issues. President Trump has ordered the U.S. to withdraw from WHO and stop funding the organization. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News. With today marking the second anniversary of the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio that released toxic fumes into the air and chemicals onto the ground. Vice President JD Vance says the U.S. needs to do a better job on rail safety. Vance

formally represented the district where the fiery crash occurred. Ahead of today's anniversary, a number of lawsuits were also filed alleging people died as a result of the crash. Seven wrongful death claims filed concerned whether the cleanup was carried out correctly. Critical futures prices edged up. Modestly involved with trading, oil up 63 cents a barrel to 73.16 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. Want to know what it's like to play behind the tiny desk? If you've got the talent, NPR News in Washington.