NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-13-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

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These days, there's a lot of news. It can be hard to keep up with what it means for you, your family, and your community. Consider This from NPR is a podcast that helps you make sense of the news. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a story and provide the context, backstory, and analysis you need to understand our rapidly changing world. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Listen to the Consider This Podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. Qatar has offered President Trump a luxury plane that can replace Air Force One, and Trump says he is not one to turn down that kind of offer.

Trump is on his way to the Middle East and will be visiting Qatar later this week as NPR's Deepa Sivaram reports. In remarks from the White House, Trump said Air Force One jets were old and that replacements from Boeing had been delayed and that maintenance of the existing planes was very costly. I could be a stupid person and say, no, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane, but I thought it was a great gesture.

Trump says the plane would be decommissioned after his term for his presidential library, and he says he would not use the plane after leaving office. The White House says the plane would be a quote, donation to the department of defense, the legal details of which are still being worked out. Congress is also looking to weigh in on the matter. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News. Democrats say accepting the plane would be a clear violation of the

constitution's ban on gifts from foreign heads of state. President Trump is kicking off his Middle East trip in Saudi Arabia Tuesday. He's expected to hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Iran's nuclear program, the war in Gaza, and oil prices. There were cheers Monday in the Jersey hometown of Edan Alexander following his release by Hamas. People attended a watch party in Teneflay, New Jersey. Alexander was serving in the Israeli military when he was among those kidnapped during the October 7th attack. He's now been reunited with his family. He is the last living American hostage held by Hamas. Israel briefly paused military operations for his release,

but says it still plans to escalate its offensive in Gaza. President Trump has named his former personal defense attorney to be the new acting Librarian of Congress. NPR's Dada Ulubi reports that Todd Blanch will replace Carla Hayden, who the president fired last week. Todd Blanch has no experience working in libraries or archives. Now he will be in charge of the largest one in the world. Blanch will be coming over from the Justice Department, where the president had appointed him as deputy attorney general.

Blanch led the defense in a trial Trump lost when he was found guilty last year of lying about paying hush money to an adult film star. The announcement was confirmed by a Library of Congress employee who wished to remain anonymous to avoid retribution. The permanent post of Librarian of Congress must be confirmed by the Senate. Nneda Ulubi, NPR News. The Trump administration welcoming nearly 60 white South Africans saying they are refugees who face discrimination and violence in their home country. The group arrived in the US Monday on a private charter plane that landed at an airport just outside Washington, DC.

The Episcopal Church, meanwhile, says it's ending a decades-old partnership with the federal government to resettle refugees, citing a moral opposition to resettling the South Africans. This is NPR. Delays remain a problem at New Jersey's Newark Liberty Airport. Officials say the backups are due to staffing shortages. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says a new software update prevented a third radar outage over the past couple of weeks.

Over the weekend, a new telecommunications issue cropped up, leading to a 45-minute ground stop at Newark and forcing the FAA to slow the pace of takeoffs and landings. The detente in the U.S.-China trade war is making investors happy. NPR's Maria Aspin reports on Monday's rally in the major stock markets in the United States. Investors breathed a huge sigh of relief after weeks of uncertainty over the global impact of President Trump's sweeping tariffs. The U.S. and China have agreed to slash their extreme taxes on each other's goods, for the time being.

The pause will last 90 days while negotiations continue. The Dow soared more than 1,100 points, or 2.8 percent. The benchmark S&P 500 rose more than 3 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped more than 4 percent. But the global economy isn't out of the tariff woods yet. U.S. tariffs are still broadly higher across the board than they were at the start of the year. And the pause with China only lasts 90 days and could end sooner if trade talks sour. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. The financial markets in Asia following Wall Street hire,

advancing in Tuesday trading after China and the U.S. announced that 90-day truce in their trade war. Japan's benchmark Nikkei up 1.8%. I'm Jai Hill Snyder, NPR News.