NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-03-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

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This message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less and all plans include high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, and nationwide coverage. See for yourself at mintmobile.com slash switch. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. Markets are reeling after President Trump's big tariff announcement, but he is not fazed by that. NPR's Maura Liason reports he's predicting the tariffs will cost trillions of dollars to flood into the United States.

On his way from the White House to Florida for a charity golf event, Trump said he wasn't surprised by the market reaction to his tariffs. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the market drop equaled a loss of $2.7 trillion, but President Trump insists that the market drop equaled a loss of $2.7 trillion. But President Trump insists that the markets ultimately are going to surge. The thing that people have to talk about, we're up almost to $7 trillion of investment coming into our country. And you'll see how it's going to turn out.

Our country is going to boom. U.S. trading partners are promising to retaliate with tariffs of their own, which are in effect an import tax paid by American consumers, who economists say may pay as much as $2,100 a year more per family. Mara Liason, NPR News. European leaders have been quick to unite in condemning the Trump tariffs, though, as NPR's Rebecca Rossman reports, there's no consensus yet how to respond. French President Emmanuel Macron called the tariffs quote brutal and unfounded and suggested suspending French investments in the US and a

potential digital service tax. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused Trump of causing an unfair crisis while announcing a 14.1 billion euro economic support plan. Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin denounced the tariffs, calling them unjustified and emphasized the need to negotiate with the U.S. to protect Ireland's economy. European stock markets fell sharply, with the stock's 600 index down 2.7 percent. Rebecca Rossman and PR News, Paris. Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Education sent state leaders a letter.

It says if the states do not get rid of their DEI programs, they could lose federal funding for low-income students. NPR's Johnnie Kmeta has more. The letter says, quote, the use of diversity, equity and inclusion programs to advantage one's race over another is impermissible. What's at stake is Title I funding, which sends money aimed at low-income students to nearly 90% of the country's school districts. State and local leaders have 10 days to sign a certification letter to prove they're abiding

by civil rights laws or they risk losing Title I. The agency hasn't clearly defined what it considers a violation, but the department's acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Craig Traynor, said the agency has seen many schools flout civil rights, quote, including by using DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics. Janaki Mehta and PR News. After a big sell-off on Wall Street, Wall Street is watching President Trump's tariffs closely. The Dow futures are down 157, the S&P off 16, the NASDAQ down 31.

You're listening to NPR News. President Trump has declared a state of emergency in Tennessee after deadly tornadoes and baseball-sized hail tore through the state last night. So far, four people have been reported dead in that state, seven people overall. Mariana Bacuna of Member Station WPLN reports the surrounding states are ready to help. Virginia, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas have committed to helping Tennessee weather the damage of these storms and prepare for flooding in the coming days.

At a storm shelter in West Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee said that the damage he surveyed has been devastating, with houses, apartments and mobile homes completely destroyed. What's most difficult about it is you know that those are lives destroyed. In some cases, true life lost, but in other cases just everything people owned up in trees. Lee says the death toll could change as FEMA learns more about the true impact of the storm and as severe flooding continues to pose a serious risk. For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacca-Yau in Nashville. The acting inspector general of the Pentagon said on Thursday the office will review Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett's use of the Signal Messaging app, which is at the center of a

controversy how government officials were on that commercial app. Details of the Pentagon's military raid against the Houthi militants in Yemen were included and a journalist in this case, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic was added to the group. The commercially available app is encrypted but it is not designed to handle classified material. From Washington, you're listening to NPR News. Support for it. This message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less and all plans include high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, and nationwide coverage. See for yourself at mintmobile.com switch.