NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-03-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: June 4, 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. stuff in between, catch the pop culture happy hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR news, I'm Giles Snyder. President Trump is making good on his announcement last week to double the tariff on foreign steel.

The White House says he assigned an executive order setting the tariff rate at 50% to take effect Wednesday as Sam Pierce-Tamber Keith reports. President Trump has made no secret of his love of tariffs. He announced this latest move surrounded by steelworkers outside of Pittsburgh late last week. I said, would you rather have a 40% or a 50%? They said, we'll take 50. I said, I had a feeling you were going to say that.

Trump said he is trying to counter dumping of low-cost steel from other countries. Which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody's going to get around that. Though Trump's national security rationale for these higher tariffs could face a legal challenge. Tamara Keith, NPR News, The White House. Now, Speaker Mike Johnson pledging to put a rescission package the White House sent to Congress on Tuesday to a vote next week. He issued a statement on social media, the Trump administration seeking

to claw back more than eight billion dollars from foreign aid programs and more than a billion from public radio and television. Elon Musk blasting President Trump's mega tax and spending bill. The legislation would extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts and cut hundreds of billions in spending on programs like Medicaid. NPR's Barbara Sprunt reports on Musk's criticism as the House-backed bill works its way through the Senate. Musk calls the bill, quote, a disgusting abomination, adding he believes it will, quote, massively

increase the already gigantic budget deficit. The Tesla CEO recently ended his stint with a team known as the Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to find savings in government. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Senate Republicans will forge ahead despite Musk's grievances. We obviously respect everything that Elon did with Doge. On this particular issue, we have a difference of opinion. The bill has caused rifts among Republicans in both chambers. Thune is pushing to get

the bill to President Trump's desk by July 4th. Barbara Sprint and PR News, The Capitol. The National Weather Service says it's hiring more than 100 employees to stabilize operations at its field offices. And PR's Greg Allen reports. A National Weather Service spokesperson says the new hires will fill positions at field offices where there's quote, the greatest operational need. Following job cuts ordered by the Trump administration, some of the services, more than 100 field offices, were no longer staffed around the clock.

Some have also cut back on weather balloon launches, critical in gathering data needed for local and national forecasts. Following severe tornado outbreaks and with the beginning of hurricane season, the Trump administration granted the Weather Service an exemption to a government-wide hiring freeze. The agency says it will soon begin advertising for the mission-critical field positions. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami. And you're listening to NPR News. The wife and five children of the man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators in Boulder are in federal custody and the White House says they could be quickly deported.

Mohammed Sabri Soleiman is an Egyptian national. Authorities say he overstayed a tourist visa and an expired work permit. Soleiman faces federal hate crime and state attempted murder charges. Singer Rick Astley's 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up has surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports the British pop star owes much of the song success to the fact that it became an internet joke. Rick Astley's earwormy tune zooms to the top of the charts in the US and more than 20 other countries in 1987. Some two decades after its release, the song took on new life thanks to the Rick Rolling

trend. The online prank involves clicking on a hyperlink that takes you not to the web page you're hoping it leads to, but instead to the never-gonna-give-you-up music video. A few other 1980s songs by British artists have reached one billion streams on Spotify. Among the nearly 1,000s who have reached the benchmark are Soft Cell's Tainted Love and Every Breath You Take by The Police. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. The financial markets in Asia edging higher in Wednesday trading with South Korean stocks leading the way following the election victory of liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, following months of political turmoil triggered by the botched attempt to impose martial law

by his ousted conservative predecessor. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News. Listen to this podcast sponsor free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast of a predecessor. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News.