NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-31-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: May 31, 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 Giles Snyder. President Trump says his plan to double to 50% the tariff

on foreign steel and a planned partnership with Japan's Nippon Steel will put those who work in the industry in a better position. Steel workers are very happy. We did the tariffs. It's going to make them even more competitive. And it's turning out to be a great deal. I. 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. President Trump speaking to reporters after returning to the nation's capital last night from Pittsburgh.

He said the new tariff would go into effect next week. And on social media, he said the increase would also apply to aluminum imports. Trump traveled to Pittsburgh to promote the agreement with Nippon that he said would ensure the future of U.S. steel, but some details of the arrangement remain unclear and Trump says he has yet to approve it. Nippon has been seeking to buy U.S. steel since 2023. American companies that have been paying higher tariffs are now wondering if they may start getting their money back. Two federal court rulings this week found the White House overstepped its legal authority on sweeping worldwide tariffs. But those rulings aren't whole pending appeals bringing more uncertainty, as MPR's Alina

Seljuk reports. Alina Seljuk, MPR, News 8. Many American small business owners have been on a roller coaster of tariff related feelings, worry, confusion, anxiety. Now there are new emotions. Sarah Wells, MPR, News 8. I feel a lot of relief and hope. Sarah Wells from Virginia sells breast pump backpacks and other maternity accessories. We still have some work going on in the court system in terms of the appeal. So I'm very cautiously optimistic at this point.

She had a shipment from China that was already in route when the tariffs started escalating, costing her an unexpected $15,000 at customs. She has now canceled all her orders from China and set up some operations in Cambodia. Alina Seluk, NPR News. The death toll from catastrophic flooding in north central Nigeria is rising. Local officials say at least 151 people have been killed. The floods submerged a town in Niger State, displacing thousands.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. is reorienting its military posture to focus on China. NPR's Anthony Hewn reports from Singapore, where Hegseth spoke at an annual defense forum. Hegseth said that the U.S. does not seek to strangle, dominate, or humiliate China. But he warned that China is intimidating its neighbors and threatening Taiwan. It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. Hegseth called on allies to ramp up defense spending.

He also devoted much of his speech to praising President Trump's skills as a dealmaker and for increasing the security of U.S. borders. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke ahead of Hegsef. He warned that abandoning Ukraine would undermine the credibility of the U.S.'s commitment to defend Taiwan. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Singapore. And you're listening to NPR News. Federal officials are warning of worsening air quality

in parts of the U.S. as dozens of wildfires burn in Canada. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, air quality is very unhealthy in Bismarck, North Dakota. And the National Weather Service says Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Arkansas could be affected over the next day or so. The flames in Canada have forced thousands to evacuate the city of Flintland in the prairie province of Manitoba as a virtual ghost town this weekend. Later today, the European Space Agency will broadcast Johann Strauss' blue Danube waltz

into space to mark the composer's 200th birthday this year. The BBC's Sascha Schlichter reports the Waltz has become synonymous with space travel. Thanks to Stanley Kubrick's film 2001, A Space Odyssey, this music is now firmly associated with space. Tonight's performance by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra will be transmitted to the 35-meter satellite dish at the European Space Agency's Thebreros ground station in Spain. From there, the signal will travel at the speed of light to reach, 23 hours later, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, the most distant man-made object in the universe. The BBC's Sasha Schlichter reporting and from Washington, you're listening to NPR News. I'm Grial Snyder. Support for... Before talking to computational social scientist Sandra Matz, I asked her to spy on me.

I did some snooping around your online life yesterday night, which was extremely fun to do. Our lack of digital privacy, especially in the age of AI, and what we can do about it. I'm Manusha Zomorodi. That's on the TED Radio Hour Podcast from NPR.