NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-31-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: May 31, 2025

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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 percent. 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 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. Friday was billionaire Elon Musk's last day as a special government employee. President Trump, though, says his advisor and Doge Architect isn't really leaving. The comments came as both men met with a select group of reporters in the Oval Office.

NPR's Stephen Fowler has more. This marks the end of a 130-day tenure that also saw Musk face rising unfavorability numbers, financial stress on his business empire, and talk of a rift between the world's richest man and its most powerful political leader. Trump, appearing to largely read notes from a binder, offered praise for Musk's work as quote, one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced. He stepped forward to put his very great talents into the service of our nation and we appreciate it.

Musk and Trump both say the money Doge will save the government will continue to grow, though many of those claims have been inaccurate and overstated so far. Stephen Fowler, NPR News. Stocks gained ground this week as tariff uncertainty continues. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, all the major stock indexes finished the week in positive territory. Investors seemed well rested this week after the long Memorial Day weekend. They got some encouraging news on inflation as the Fed's preferred cost of living gauge showed prices in April rose just 2.1 percent from a year ago.

Core inflation was 2.5 percent for the 12 months ending in April. That's the smallest annual increase in more than four years. Forecasters have been warning that tariffs could put more upward pressure on prices, but a pair of court rulings this week found the President does not have the authority to order sweeping worldwide tariffs the administration has promised to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. For the week that Al rose 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 index climbed 1.9 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 2 percent. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. The United Nations is ordering more than 60 offices, agencies and operations to submit

proposals by mid-June to cut 20 percent of their staff. The order comes as the international organization faces a major funding crisis. A UN spokesperson says the cuts will include staff in political and humanitarian offices, along with its agencies that help refugees and focus on the environment. Some 17,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the Canadian province of Manitoba as wildfires continue to burn there this weekend. The latest evacuations took place in the city of Flinflon, which has 5,000 residents, and fire officials say as the fires grow, more evacuations are expected.

You're listening to NPR News. France will ban smoking on beaches and public gardens and near schools starting in July. The move is aimed at limiting the influence of smokers and Piers Eleanor Beardsley reports that it's part of a bigger plan to discourage tobacco use. Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said the freedom to smoke ends where children's rights to breathe clean air begins. Middle and high schools will also be affected by the ban, which will prevent students from smoking in front of their schools. While an American visiting France

may be struck by the prevalence of smokers, especially young people puffing away on cafe terraces, smoking is actually at its lowest level since the 1990s. Tobacco sales fell more than 11% last year and only 16 percent of 17 year olds reported smoking compared to 25 percent six years ago. Failure to comply with the ban could result in a fine of a hundred and forty dollars. E cigarettes which are on the rise will not be included. Eleanor Beardsley in

Pierre News Paris. The nation's public television service filed suit Friday against President Trump's executive order that says it will be stripped of federal funding. The suit says Trump overstepped his authority in attacking a system that was designed to be insulated from politics. The lawsuit was filed three days after NPR filed a similar suit. Actor Loretta Switt has died. She played the demanding head nurse at a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean War in the TV series MASH She was 87 years old her publicist says she died at her home in New York City on Friday Swift was one of the show's two longest-serving cast members. I'm Dale Willman NPR News This message comes from wise the app for doing things and other currencies. With WISE, you can send, spend, or receive money across borders, all at a fair exchange rate.

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