NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-04-2025 4AM 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. Wall Street traders and many world leaders are reacting negatively to President Trump's tariffs on nations and trading partners that started a minimum of 10% on imported goods into the US. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 4% of its value, declining 1,679 points Thursday. The S&P declined 4.8% losing 274 points. The NasdaQ dropped nearly 6 percent in value,

1,050 points. Stock futures on all three indexes are negative. On Air Force One to Florida, the president was asked his reaction to the market losses. I mean, it's to be expected. We're, uh, this is a patient that was very sick. We inherited, we really inherited a terrible economy, as you know, with a lot of problems. On board his flight, the president said he's open to negotiations if other countries offer what he said was something phenomenal, but an hour later a White House official said the tariffs are not a negotiation. President Trump's new tariffs are taking effect. Other nations will pay more than that. The European Union says it's prepared to retaliate.

Terry Schultz reports from Brussels. It's the second time in a month that Trump has leveled import duties on EU goods, first on steel and aluminum and now on everything else. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen slammed the move, which she says will hurt consumers all over the world. There seems to be no order in the disorder. The US and EU are each other's largest trading partners overall, but von der Leyen suggests the EU may prioritize others now.

We will continue to build bridges with all those that, like us, care about fair and rules-based trade as a basis for shared prosperity. She says with the largest single market in the world of 450 million consumers, the EU can make it through the storm. For NPR News, I'm Terri Schultz in Brussels. 19 Democratic State Attorneys General have filed suit against the Trump administration over a wide-ranging executive order that would overhaul the country's election system. From member station KJZZ in Phoenix, Wayne Schatzke reports.

The order, signed by President Trump on March 25th, seeks to make a host of changes to the way elections are run throughout the country. That includes requiring proof of citizenship, like a passport, to register to vote. Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays says the order is unconstitutional because the power to regulate elections

is reserved for the states and, in some cases, Congress. But nowhere, absolutely nowhere, does the Constitution give the president or the executive branch any independent power to modify the state's procedures for conducting federal elections. The lawsuit, filed in a Massachusetts federal court, asks a judge to declare the order unconstitutional and block its implementation. For NPR News, I'm Wayne Chetky in Phoenix. Stock futures are down in pre-market trading.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington. South Korea's Constitutional Court voted unanimously to uphold the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yul. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul the verdict was in response to a declaration of martial law last December, sparking a political crisis. [♪upbeat music playing on TV set in background. Yun's opponents celebrated in the streets

after the court's verdict was read live on television. The court ruled that Yun had violated the Constitution by declaring martial law without a legal basis and sending troops to block lawmakers from voting against the decree. Police deployed some 14,000 personnel around the courthouse and closed down parts of downtown Seoul. Yoon, who was not present for the verdict, had argued that opposition politicians had paralyzed government, leaving him no choice but to declare martial law.

South Korea will now have 60 days to hold an election and choose a new president. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Seoul. Victor Sports, the king of Prussia, Pennsylvania baseball bat manufacturing company, is seeing a big jump in production and sales after several players on the New York Yankees used the new Torpedo bats. The bat is designed so the sweet spot is closer to the label and it's wider than a conventional bat where the hitters want to make solid contact. Major League Baseball says the bats are legal. The Yankees have already hit 19 home runs.

Former Congresswoman Abigail Spamburger is the choice of Virginia Democrats to be the candidate for governor in November. Her nomination was announced Thursday with no other candidates filing to run. She's likely to face Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears in the general election. From Washington, this is NPR News. Support for any cell phones, cars, coffee. How do these goods make their way to us from overseas and what will President Trump's tariffs mean for their price tags? Join the 1A podcast as we explore supply chains and costs associated with some of your favorite

products. It's our series, How Did This Get Here, every Wednesday. Listen to the 1A Podcast from NPR and WAMU.