NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-26-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: May 26, 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, I'm Dan Ronan. President Trump says the US will delay for six weeks

until July 9th the new 50% tariff on goods from the European Union. He said to allow for more time for negotiations. Trump's announcement followed a Sunday phone call with the European Union Commission President Ursula von Doleon. The president spelled out specifics of the call with reporters in New Jersey before returning to Washington Sunday night. We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe June 9th would be, July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. Could we move it from June 1st to July 9th? And

I agreed to do that. And that she said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out. Just last week, the president indicated the tariffs would take effect June 1st and that the U.S. would impose the tariffs against the 27-member bloc. A group of senators has begun to meet to talk about a budget bill that President Trump helped push through the House last week. NPR's Amy Held reports now it's the Senate's turn to reckon with competing concerns from moderates and conservatives. The bill includes $3.8 trillion in tax cuts that skew to the wealthy and will add trillions to the deficit. That's a problem for fiscal hawks.

We have to reduce the deficit. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican from Wisconsin, spoke to CNN. We need to focus on spending, spending, spending. The bill calls for about 1.5 trillion dollars in spending cuts, largely on social safety net programs. House Speaker Mike Johnson tells CNN now is not the time for the Senate to meddle much with the bill. Because remembering that we've got to pass it one more time to ratify their changes in the House, and I have a very delicate balance here. Senate Majority Leader John Thune says they will put their stamp on the legislation. Amy Held, NPR News.

The commercial company SpaceX is preparing another test launch of its massive Starship rocket scheduled for Tuesday. NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports. The rocket is called Starship and SpaceX founder Elon Musk hopes it will one day take people to Mars. First though, it's got to get into space. Its last two test flights exploded minutes after launching from Texas. The debris rained down over the Caribbean. This time, SpaceX says it solved the problem, which it traced to one of the spacecraft's engines. The FAA recently cleared SpaceX to launch Starship as many as 25 times a year from Texas. It also expanded the hazard zone in the event

another spacecraft explodes during launch. And the regulator told SpaceX to time launches so that there will be fewer civilian aircraft crossing beneath the path of the rocket. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. At the Indianapolis 500, Alex Pellew held off two drivers in the closing laps to win the race. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he is the first driver from Spain to win the coveted race. From Washington, this is NPR News. coveted race. From Washington, this is NPR News. While millions of Americans will be remembering our fallen military heroes on Memorial Day, a large number of the country's retail businesses will remain open Monday in what's becoming

an important day for promotions and spring and summer sales. Memorial Day weekend is becoming, as I said, one of the most important days of the year for also the travel weekends. However, government buildings, post offices and schools along with blanks and Wall Street will be closed. Authorities in Kenya have begun moving critically endangered black rhinos to a new sanctuary, this in a bid to try and ensure their safety. Michael Koloki has more from Nairobi. The Kenyan government, in conjunction with the Zakes Foundation, a conservation agency,

have begun the process of relocating 21 black rhinos from various wildlife sanctuaries in the country to a newly established rhino sanctuary in northern Kenya. Rebecca Miyano, Kenya's wildlife minister, says the goal is to secure the future for the species in Kenya, which is home to just over 1,000 black rhinos. Priced for their horns, rhino poaching is still a significant threat across Africa. Black rhinos, recognized as a critically endangered species, have also faced the threat of an increased loss of habitat. For NPR News, I'm Michael Kaloki in Nairobi. The FBI and other officials said an all-Nipon airways flight from Tokyo to Houston was diverted

Saturday to Seattle when a passenger tried to open up one of the plane's exit doors in flight. No injuries are reported. The FBI says no charges have been filed. From NPR, this is Dan Ronan. World news is important, but it can feel far away. Not on the State of the World podcast. FBI says no charges have been filed. From NPR, this is Dan Ronan.