NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-25-2026 11AM EST

Episode Date: February 25, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump touched on many topics at his State of the Union address last night, which was the longest in history at one hour, 45 minutes. And Pierce Jasmine Garst has more on what the speech was about. It was mostly stuff we've heard before about former President Biden opening the borders to massive amounts of criminals, which is simply untrue. He also mentioned one of his common targets, Somali immigrants in Minnesota. He accused them of breaking the law. It's worth noting here, A, that we know immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens. Beyond that, President Trump also celebrated the border crossings are at a historic low, which is true. The U.S.-Mexico border is experiencing the lowest illegal crossings in the last 50 years. NPR's Jasmine Garst reporting.

Virginia Governor Abigail Spangberger gave the Democratic response to the President's State of the Union address. She was critical of Trump's handling of the economy and, immigration enforcement. And Pierre's Claudio Grisalas says Democratic Senator Alex Padilla of California delivered the party's Spanish language response. Padilla relived when he was taken into custody after confronting Homeland Security Secretary Kristineome at a press conference last summer. He said he may have been knocked down for a moment, but it's a reminder of a lesson Latino parents pass on to their children. If you fall seven times, get up eight, Padilla said, adding. he knows he's not alone. He called for Americans to fight what he described as Trump's illegal policies.

He said that's led to the weaponization of immigration law enforcement agents, higher health care at housing costs, and efforts to interfere in November's midterm elections. Claude Riesales, NPR News. And just after the State of the Union, Secretary of State Marco Rubio flew to St. Kitts for a meeting of Caribbean nations. It's another sign of his focus on the hemisphere, as MPIR as Michelle Kellerman reports. The State Department says Rubio is at the meeting to talk about cooperation in combating drug trafficking and organized crime with the 15 nations that are part of Caracom. The group is holding its annual summit in St. Kitts as the U.S. continues to carry out deadly strikes on what it says are drug boats in the Caribbean region. Secretary Rubio is also trying to step up the pressure on Cuba following the U.S. ouster of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. several Cuban leaders are pushing back against Rubio's efforts to crack down on Cuban medical

missions, which the U.S. calls force labor. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, with the Secretary in St. Kitts. Light snow is set to fall across parts of the northeast as a fast-moving storm hits the area that's still digging out from a blizzard this week where more than two feet of snow fell in places. It's a late storm, but it's only forecast to drop a couple of inches of snow. There are still power outages in the area. You're listening to NPR News. The father of Lake and Riley filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against a board that oversees the University of Georgia.

The nursing students' murder in 2024 became a rallying cry for President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. And here's Kristen Wright has more. Lake and Riley's father, Jason Riley, argues in the complaint, the Georgia Board of Regents should have alerted the campus that someone was looking into a student's window and tried to get in the front door, then left. About an hour later, Lakin Riley, was killed not far from the dorm. The peeping Tom, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was convicted of murdering her. He's serving life in prison and seeking a new trial. The lawsuit also names the apartment complex where Ibarra lived. He was in the country illegally and had been in trouble in the U.S. before.

This week, Lakin's mother spoke at a White House event for families of people killed by undocumented immigrants. Jason Riley's asking for a jury trial. Kristen Wright, N. P.N. E.R. News. FedEx wants a refund after the Supreme Court ruled that most of President Trump's sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional. More than a thousand companies filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade trying to recoup money from the illegal tariffs, including Costco and Revlon. Most of the suits were filed before the Supreme Court's ruling last week. The Federal Reserve Board of New York says U.S. businesses and consumers are paying nearly 90 percent of the $133 billion in tariffs collected so far. but Trump has vowed to collect tariffs through other means, promising to impose a 15% across the board global tariff. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.

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