NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-18-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

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You want to follow what's happening in Washington, D.C., but you don't want to be scrolling your phone all day. I'm Scott Detrow, and NPR has a podcast that can help. It's called Trump's Terms, stories about big changes the 47th president is pursuing on his own terms. They're short, they're focused episodes that tell you calmly, factually what is happening and what isn't. Listen to Trump's Term terms from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. President Trump says his team is exploring a plan to deport U.S. citizens and lock them up in prisons overseas. Legal scholars say the idea is unconstitutional, but they fear Trump may try it even if courts and judges object. More from NPR's Brian Mann.

Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of deporting Americans involved in criminal activity and jailing them outside the U.S. This week he urged El Salvador's president to build more prisons to house U.S. citizens. Constitutional experts, including David Beer at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, told NPR that would be unconstitutional, but they believe it could happen. That's the real fear that we have now is that he is going to try to evade judicial review of deportations of U.S. citizens.

In an opinion published last week, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor also voiced concern about possible deportation of U.S. citizens. Speaking on Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Trump's proposal could reduce crime. Brian Mann, NPR News. President Trump is expressing anger over the Federal Reserve's refusal to immediately lower interest rates. Chairman Jerome Powell says the Fed is leaving rates unchanged for now while monitoring inflation and other economic conditions. European Central Bank leader Christine Lagarde spoke fondly of Powell after the ECB lowered

its rate on Thursday. I have a lot of respect for my esteemed colleague and friend Jay Powell. We have a steady, solid relationship amongst central bankers. I think that that relationship is decisive in order to have a solid financial infrastructure on which to make sure that there is financial stability. Powell was initially appointed by President Trump in 2017 and reappointed in 2022 by President Biden. Trump now suggests he may fire Powell before his term expires. Police in Florida say a man has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting at a Florida State University campus in Tallahassee.

Twenty-one-year-old Phoenix Eichner is accused of killing two people and injuring six others. He is the son of a local sheriff's deputy. Douglas Sewell, with member station WUSF, spoke with a student who was on campus at the time of the shooting. First year FSU student Anna Martins was sunbathing on the campus green when she heard screams. So I dropped all my stuff. I was on the phone with my mom and I just started running.

Martins ran barefoot. She says she took shelter in a nearby church with about a dozen other students for hours. It's so sad that we're in a place where we're supposed to feel safe on campus getting an education. It's such an exciting part of our lives, college, and it's just so sad that we have to worry about things like this happening. She says she is praying for those who were injured and killed. For NPR News, I'm Douglas Soll in Tallahassee.

U.S. futures are mostly higher in after-hours trading. This is NPR. A California judge has scheduled a new re-sentencing hearing for Eric and Lyle Menendez, citing disputes between the prosecution and the defense. The hearing is to determine if the Menendez brothers have been rehabilitated and deserve a lightener sentence. The pair were convicted of the 1996 murders of their wealthy parents. Defense attorneys say their clients acted in self-defense, while prosecutors insist they killed their parents for money.

Ukraine's president, says the Trump administration envoy, appears to be adopting Russia's narrative about the war it started in Ukraine as France brought American and European partners to Paris to find a common ground. NPR's Joanna Kikissis reports from Kyiv. The U.S. delegation in Paris included Steve Witkoff, a real estate mogul who has become an envoy to Russia. In an interview with Fox News, he said ending the war seems to hinge on five Ukrainian territories, which he did not name. Speaking to reporters in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, Witkoff appears to be spreading Russian

narratives and he does not have the mandate to discuss Ukrainian territories, Zelensky said, because those belong to our people. Russia illegally annexed one Ukrainian region in 2014 and partially occupies four more. Zelensky says there can be no talks about territories without a ceasefire in place. Joanna Kekesis, NPR News, Kiev. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mostly higher, up 1% in Tokyo and Hong Kong, down a fraction in Shanghai. This is NPR News. Having news at your fingertips is great, but sometimes you need an escape. Kong down a fraction in Shanghai. This is NPR News.