NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-13-2025 8AM EDT

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

NPR News: 05-13-2025 8AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. The NPR Politics Podcast makes politics a breeze. Every episode will break down the day's headlines into totally normal language and make sure that you walk away understanding what the day's news might mean for you. Take a deep breath and give politics another chance with the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. President Trump has arrived in Saudi Arabia starting a four-day trip to the region. He was escorted to the King's Royal Court

by guards riding Arabian horses. NPR's Franco Ordoñez reports on the lavish welcome Trump has received. President Trump has been welcomed in Saudi Arabia, including an F-15 fighter jet escort to the airport. The Saudi government gave him a second extravagant reception at the royal court where the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greeted Trump at the foot of a lavender carpet. Each of the nation's national anthems were played and the leaders reviewed divisions of the Saudi military.

Trump and the Crown Prince then walked together into the royal court for a state visit. The leaders then took a moment to say hello and shake hands with the many attendees, including Saudi notables and an extensive list of U.S. CEOs, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman of OpenAI, and Jensen Wong of Nvidia, Franco, Ordonez, and PR News, Riyadh. Stock features on Wall Street are trending lower before the market opens this morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,100 points yesterday on news that the U.S. and China will significantly lower their triple-digit tariffs. The Trump administration will also lower tariffs on cheaper goods from China and Hong Kong

to 54 percent. This could affect items bought from Chinese companies like Temu and Xi'an. NPR's Scott Horsley says the on-again, off-again nature of President Trump's tariffs have made investors very uneasy. Import taxes can go up or down or sideways, and businesses and consumers just have to try to make the best of it. That uncertainty about future tariffs also makes it hard to decide, is it worth moving a factory out of China or running the expense of building a plant in the U.S.? And BR Scott Horsley reporting. The Episcopal Church has announced it will end its decades-long

partnership with the U.S. government. This came after the church was asked to resettle a group of white South Africans who have arrived in the U.S. Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service reports the Trump administration has designated them as refugees. A Episcopal church presiding bishop, the Most Reverend Sean W. Rowe, explained in a letter that the request crossed a moral line, citing the Church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

The Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican Communion, a global religious body. Famous leaders include the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the celebrated opponent of apartheid in South Africa. Roe also voiced frustration with the U.S. government for essentially freezing the refugee program since January. Afrikaners are among the very few allowed in since Trump took office. For NPR News, I'm Jack Jenkins in Washington. This was produced through a collaboration between NPR and Religion News Service.

It's NPR. The government will release its latest report on the consumer price index this morning. Analysts expect that annual inflation remains steady in the 12 months surveyed through April of this year. The last report was 2.4%. Analysts are watching for the effect of President Trump's trade war. A new real estate analysis shows more people in the U.S.

are buying older homes. As NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports, it's a sign of how few homes have been built nationwide over the past 15 years. The typical home bought last year hit a record age 36 years. That's nearly a decade older than back in 2012, according to a new analysis by the real estate brokerage Redfin. The U.S. housing stock has been aging rapidly since construction plummeted after the 2008 financial crisis. In fact, the report finds the share of homes built in the decade after that was the lowest since World War II. Older homes can come with costly repairs. One reason, they're generally less expensive than new ones. But

Redfin also finds that price gap is shrinking, in part because more developers are building smaller, lower-cost homes like townhouses. Jennifer Levin, NPR News, Washington. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says federal officials will meet representatives from major airlines tomorrow in Washington. They're going to discuss air traffic control problems in the Northeast. Many of these stem from flights originating or leaving Newark Liberty International Airport. Duffy says the officials will talk about reducing the number of flights to the New Jersey Airport. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News from Washington.