NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-12-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

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This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what. To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington on Corva Coleman,

the Trump administration says the US and China have agreed to temporarily reduce the high tariffs they imposed on each other's products. NPR's Emily Fang reports the announcement follows weekend talks in Switzerland. Total US taxes on Chinese goods will go from at least 145% down to 30% for an initial period of 90 days, and Chinese taxes on U.S. goods will initially go down to 10% from around

125% earlier. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer helped negotiate the deal over the weekend. They did not explain what else China had offered in terms of opening up their economy and addressing trade imbalances besides lowering their own import taxes. The U.S. and China are still negotiating, however, and they say they've set up a trade consultation negotiation going forward to avoid what Bessent called, quote, unfortunate escalations in the last few weeks in tariffs on each other.

Emily Fang and Peer News. The Trump administration is in talks with the Qatari government about accepting a luxury airplane that could temporarily serve as Air Force One. But as NPR's Franco Ortonius reports, the idea is already raising ethical and legal questions. The White House has acknowledged that the Qatari government has offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense. ABC was first to report about the plane.

If it happens, the plane would be one of the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the U.S. government. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt issued a statement saying that any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. The president is traveling to the Middle East this week and will stop in Qatar, as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But administration officials say not to expect the gift to be presented or accepted this week

while the president is in Qatar. Franco Ordonez, NPR News. President Trump is leaving this morning for the four-day trip to the Middle East. He'll depart in a few hours. Pope Leo XIV met with members of the media today at the Vatican. NPR's Jason DeRose reports from Rome the pontiff thanked journalists for their service to the truth. Pope Leo began his remarks on a lighter note in English following a round of applause from

guests. They say when they clap at the beginning, it doesn't matter much. If you're still awake at the end and you still want to applaud, thank you very much. But then he turned serious and switched to Italian. Leo called on journalists to strive for communication that, quote, does not seek consensus at all costs

and never separates the search for truth from the love with which the truth is sought. And he reiterated the Catholic Church's solidarity with journalists who are imprisoned for seeking and reporting the truth, especially in war-torn regions. Jason DeRose, NPR News, Rome. On Wall Street, the Dow futures are up a thousand points. It's NPR. President Trump says he'll sign an

executive order this morning that will lower prescription drug prices. He claims he can cut drug prices by 30 to 80 percent almost immediately. Trump tried this in his first administration but was blocked by courts. Former President Joe Biden later ended the effort. Trump wanted to have Medicare pay no more for certain drugs than the lowest prices paid by other nations. A new study finds the land in many cities across the U.S. is sinking. The study says that's mostly because of groundwater extraction. NPR's Rebecca Hersha reports tens of millions of people are being affected. Researchers at Columbia University and Virginia Tech

measured the height of the land in the 28 most populous US cities. They found that about 20% of the land area sank between 2015 and 2021. More than 30 million people live in areas affected by sinking land. And Houston is the fastest sinking major city in the country, they found.

The study was published in the journal Nature Cities. Land sinks for many reasons, some of them natural, but extracting groundwater for agriculture, drinking, and manufacturing is the main driver. Sinking land can lead to more flooding in urban areas, particularly in coastal neighborhoods where sea levels are also rising because of climate change. Rebecca Herscher, NPR News. President Trump has fired the head of the U.S. copyright office, Shira Perlmutter.

She was named to the position by the former Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden. Trump fired the Librarian of Congress last week. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.