NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-20-2025 3PM EDT

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

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Know that fizzy feeling you get when you read something really good, watch the movie everyone's been talking about, or catch the show that the internet can't get over? At the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, we chase that feeling four times a week. We'll serve you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, and more. From lowbrow to highbrow to the stuff in between, catch the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Lyle from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Billionaire Elon Musk says he plans to cut back his political spending. NPR's Bobby Allen reports Musk's spending in the 2024 presidential election for President Trump made him the country's top political donor.

In an interview with Bloomberg News at the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk said his days of funneling his wealth into politics may be behind him. Musk spent nearly $300 million to support Trump for president, but some Republicans are beginning to see his support as a liability. He spent millions to back a Wisconsin Supreme Court judicial candidate who lost. And polls show Musk is far less popular than Trump. Musk did keep the door open to political spending, saying if there's a reason to resume it, he will. In recent weeks, Musk prominence at the White House has faded, but he still does have the ear of Trump.

Bobby Allen of PR News. Arriving on Capitol Hill today for a meeting with House Republicans to try to persuade holdouts to back the massive tax and spending cut bill, President Trump outwardly ignored the divisions and declared his party was unified. He said as he entered the meeting, quote, this is really just a pep talk. We have a very unified house and we have a very unified Senate, end quote. The U.S. has imposed more tariffs under this administration. Collecting those tariffs is another matter. And NPR's Emily Feng reports the U.S. has historically not been so great at enforcing import taxes.

Matt Lapin is a trade compliance attorney, and he says the way the U.S. has rolled out tariffs inconsistently across countries means there will be more exporters trying to trans-ship. That's the practice of routing goods through a third country facing lower US tariffs to pay less customs duties. There is going to be more incentive for companies to attempt to skirt the law. US small businesses say they've been trying to get the US government to enforce existing tariffs and stop exporters from trans shipping. But the Department of Justice and agencies like Customs and Border Protection are historically understaffed and under-resourced

on trade fraud, meaning potential trade fraud cases worth hundreds of millions of dollars in customs levies go unresolved. Emily Fang and Pure News. Authorities have arrested an employee of the New Orleans jail where 10 inmates escaped last week. WWNO's Matt Bloom has the latest. 38-year-old Sterling Williams is a maintenance worker at the city's largest jail. According to the Louisiana Attorney General's office, he allegedly turned off the water

in the cell where inmates removed a toilet from the wall, allowing them to escape through a hole behind it. Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hudson says at least two other deputies remain suspended amid an investigation. There were procedural failures and missed notifications. There were also intentional wrongdoings. The arrest comes as authorities continue to search for the remaining inmates. For NPR News, I'm Matt Bloom in New Orleans.

This is NPR News. NPR is announcing the grand prize winner of the NPR College Podcast Challenge. It's Joe Strohgatz from the Salt Institute of Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine. NPR's Janet Ujong-Lee reports on the winning podcast. When you listen to Strohgatz's podcast, Just Friends, you hear a young 20-something pondering big life questions. Sometimes I wonder, would I be happy? Would I be fulfilled if I just had friendships

for the rest of my life? So the recent college grad set out to find someone older and wiser, who is single and truly happy. That's when she met Steve Small, the main character of her podcast. I have to say that my friendships are a hundred times more important to me. My friendships are the closest thing I have to a marriage. In Just Friends, Strogatz weaves Small's interview with original music.

In retelling his story, she says it's helped her focus on herself and her friendships. Janet Wujongli, NPR News, Portland, Maine. The buzz today is all about the bee. It's World Bee Day. Hard-working pollinators as captured by the AP in Germany and around the globe, the occasion also a sobering reminder that bees and other pollinators are widely viewed as essential to the health of the planet, but have been on the decline for years. The UN General Assembly declared May 20th World Bee Day. Sharp drop in, US stocks this hour, the Dow down nearly 300 points. It's NPR News. A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. Now down nearly 300 points, it's NPR News.