NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-31-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: May 31, 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. Live from NPR news. I'm Dale Willman. President Trump was in Pennsylvania on Friday to announce an investment in U S steel by Japan's Nippon steel. While there, he also said he was doubling the tariffs on imported steel to 50%. That increase is expected to take place on Wednesday.

Trump later spoke with reporters. Steel workers are very happy. We did the tariffs. It's going to put them even, make them even more competitive. And it's turning out to be a great deal. I think it's going to be a fantastic deal. Trump also said Friday that he'll double tariffs on imported aluminum. An appeals court has refused to freeze a lower court order that stops the Trump administration from firing federal workers. Judge Susan Ilston had said Trump needs support from Congress to implement the layoffs. The administration had sought an emergency stay of the order. Tens of thousands of workers have already been fired, laid off, or have left on their

own because of Trump's actions. Elon Musk stepped down from the federal government on Friday, and many people are not sad to see him go. That includes some members of President Trump's Republican Party. NPR's Maria Aspin spoke with GOP Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota. — Musk is leaving the Department of Government Efficiency, which is spearheading President Trump's efforts to shrink the federal bureaucracy. But many of Doge's indiscriminate cuts have likely made the government less efficient. Senator Rounds tells NPR that if Musk and Doge really

wanted to be effective, they needed to be more careful with their cuts and spend more time digging into what he calls the finer details. I think the president wanted him to come in with a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer. And in some cases, Doge came in with a sledgehammer. Trump, meanwhile, wrote on his Truth Social Network that Musk, quote, will always be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific.

Maria Aspin, NPR News, Semivalley, California. Israel has banned aid to Gaza from Jordan and Egypt. That's according to the United Nations. That move leaves hundreds of millions of dollars of food and medicine intended for Gaza stuck in warehouses and on trucks. MPR's Jane Araf has more from Amman, Jordan. This UN warehouse on the edge of Amman is piled high with boxes of food, hygiene kits,

and medical supplies. $24 million worth. It's been here for months and now... We're looking at boxes of food here which have been sitting here, you know, in some cases since January and unfortunately our expiry dates are starting to approach. That's Jonathan Fowler with the UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency. Among the food is 200,000 tons of flour at risk of being thrown out. Israel has started a new mechanism to get food into Gaza, but it can only come from Israel,

says the UN in Gaza. The Israeli military declined to comment on the change. Jane Araf, NPR News, Amman. And you're listening to NPR News. I'm on. And you're listening to NPR News. PBS and a public television station in Bemidji, Minnesota have sued President Trump over his executive order aimed at barring federal funds from going to PBS and NPR. As NPR's David Fulkenflick reports, NPR and three public radio stations previously filed a similar suit. The lawsuit contends Trump's order would upend public television and pose an existential

threat to Lakeland PBS, which serves central and northern Minnesota. Trump alleges PBS and NPR fail to provide, quote, fair, accurate, unbiased and nonpartisan news. The two networks deny that. In their lawsuit Friday, the public television outlets argue, quote, our Constitution and laws forbid the president from serving as the arbiter of content. A White House spokesperson says Trump is, quote, exercising his lawful authority to bar the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and local public media stations from sending

federal funds to the two networks. CBB is privately incorporated and is ignoring Trump's demand. It's separately suing the president in a fight over control of its board. David Folkenflick, NPR News. The number of confirmed measles cases in the U.S. has now reached 1,088 as Colorado reports a new outbreak. Two elementary school-aged children and one adult have died from measles-related illnesses so far this year. Measles is caused by an airborne virus, but it's preventable through the use of vaccines. Loretta Switt has died. She was 87 years old. Switt played head nurse major Margaret Houlihan on the TV series MASH.

The show involved a surgical unit during the Korean War. Along with Alan Aldep, Switt was the show's longest serving cast member. Her publicist says she died Friday at her home in New York City. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. York City. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.