NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-07-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

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Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts, perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dwahleisa Kaotow. President Trump on Thursday signed a number of new executive orders, including one that punishes a law firm, Perkins QE, for its legal work in Democratic Party politics and particularly Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. The order suspends active security clearances held by attorneys or other representatives

of the firm. At the White House, he told reporters that it was an absolute honor to sign the order saying what they've done is just terrible. It's weaponization. You could say weaponization of a political opponent. In the Oval Office, Trump was also asked about Ukraine. I think what's going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal because I don't think they have a choice.

I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way, a different way that only I know, only I know they have no choice either. Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hopes talks with the U.S. scheduled for Saudi Arabia next week will be quote, a meaningful meeting. President Trump has for now suspended 25 percent tariffs on most imported goods coming from Canada and Mexico. And Piers Franco-Ordonez has more on the latest twist in the tariff saga. Trump agreed to suspend tariffs on goods that fall under a North American Trade Act until

April 2, which is also the date that Trump says he'll impose reciprocal tariffs on goods from a wider range of countries. A senior administration official added that Canada and Mexico can avert those tariffs if they make more progress on curbing fentanyl trafficking. Franco Ordonez and Pianoz, the White House. The Trump administration is looking to sell hundreds of federal buildings and is firing the people who run them. ZenPierce Chris Arnold reports the cutbacks are to the Federal General Services Administration, or GSA.

The Trump administration now has its cost-cutting sites on the GSA, which is basically the largest landlord in the U.S. This week, it listed hundreds of buildings that it's looking to sell. Courthouses, historic buildings, and even the headquarters of the Departments of Justice, Agriculture, and the GSA itself. It then pulled some of those buildings off its list. Sources tell NPR that the agency has also abruptly fired more than a thousand workers. That's just mind-boggling. Michelle Berkovich is an employment attorney who represents federal workers. It seems to be doing an end run around Congress, who has already dictated this agency's budget.

The GSA in a statement says it is taking action to reduce the deficit and increase efficiency. Chris Arnold, NPR News. The latest SpaceX starship, described by many as the most powerful rocket ever built, launched from a South Texas site on its eighth test flight just after 6 30 p.m. Eastern, but malfunctioned less than 10 minutes later, breaking in the sky. This is NPR News. Pope Francis recorded a message from his hospital room thanking people for their prayers This is NPR News. Pope Francis recorded a message from his hospital room thanking people for their prayers for his recovery.

It's the first time the 88-year-old has been heard since he was hospitalized almost three weeks ago. NPR's Ruth Sherlock says you can hear the toll in his illness has taken his voice. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health, Pope Francis says in his native Spanish. I accompany you from here. The message sounds heartfelt. It's also laboured. After so many weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia, even for this audio note that's barely 20 seconds long, Francis seems to struggle for breath as he speaks. The Vatican says the Pope's condition is stable, but his road to recovery may yet be a long one.

Ruth Sherlock and Pyeong News, Rome. Joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. begin next week, but the latest state-run news out of North Korea is a warning from Pyongyang suggesting the annual drills will quote, soon bring a storm of aggravating the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Forces Korea announced Thursday that their 11-day exercises, called Freedom Shield, are focused on combined readiness capabilities to deter the North's nuclear threats. This comes less than a day after South Korea accidentally dropped bombs on a civilian area

near North Korea, injuring nearly 30 people. I'm Dua-Hli Saik Psychoutel, NPR News.