NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-26-2025 1PM EDT

Episode Date: September 26, 2025

NPR News: 09-26-2025 1PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump says he hopes more of his political enemies will be indicted. NPR's Tamara Keith reports this comes after Trump's brand-new handpicked interim U.S. attorney in Virginia, returned an indictment against one of Trump's more outspoken critics, former FBI director James Comey. Comey was indicted on two counts related to allegedly lying to Congress in testimony five years ago, after Trump demanded that the Justice Department prosecute him. Trump says he expects more of the people who made his life miserable over the last eight years to be prosecuted.

It's about justice, really. It's not revenge. It's about it. It's also about the fact that you can't let this go on. They are sick, radical left people, and they can't get away with it. And Comey was one of the people. He wasn't the biggest, but he's a dirty cop. Comey says he is innocent and he looks forward to proving it at trial.

Tamara Keith, NPR News, the White House. Mixed reception for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly this morning before his speech dozens of diplomats walked out. Netanyahu rejected international condemnations of the Israeli military's ongoing offensive in Gaza, and he had a message for hostages still being held by Hamas. Our brave heroes, this is Prime Minister Netanyahu. speaking to you live from the United Nations. We have not forgotten you, not even for a second.

The people of Israel are with you. We will not falter and we will not rest until we bring all of you home. Netanyahu is due to meet President Trump Monday. Yesterday, Trump sided with Arab leaders in vowing not to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank. Also, in a departure from Israel and the U.S., several Western allies, allies recently formally recognized a Palestinian state. President Trump says he will impose a 100% tariff on brand named pharmaceutical import starting October 1st. That is, unless companies are in the process of building factories to make the medicines in the U.S.

Here's NPR, Sidney Lepkin. The president has been talking about imposing tariffs on drug companies for months, mentioning different percentages and dates. He took to Truth Social Thursday to post that the tariffs will begin next month. It's unclear how broadly the tariff will affect consumers. They won't apply to generics, about 90% of prescriptions filled in the U.S., only brand-name drugs. And he's making an exception for companies that are expanding manufacturing in the U.S. Many brand-name drug makers have announced new U.S. factories in recent months, which could exempt them from the tariff. Sydney Lubkin and PR News.

U.S. stocks are trading higher this hour. The Dow is now up 340 points or roughly 3 quarters of a percent. This is NPR News. Tennessee residents are learning that the plan to deploy National Guard troops to Memphis will be very different from President Trump's deployment of the service members to Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles in recent months. Today, the state's Republican Governor Bill Lee said the Guard members will be from Tennessee. They'll be deputized by the U.S. Marshal Service and help fight crime. Lee says they will not be armed unless asked by local law enforcement and will not make arrests.

President Trump has framed the deployment as anti-crime, but critics argue Trump is unlawfully targeting Democratic-led cities. The Union for Canada's Postal Service has declared an immediate nationwide strike. Dan Carpenchuk reports it comes just hours after the federal government announced sweeping changes, including the closing of some post offices, and the event. eventual end of door-to-door delivery in their country. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says all of its members are walking off the job in response to Ottawa's attack on the Postal Service and its workers. Canada Post has been losing money and Federal Procurement Minister Joel Lightbound says big changes are needed. He says the

corporation is facing an existential crisis. Mail and parcel delivery have slowed. It is losing about $10 million a day and repeated government bailouts are not the solution. Lightbound says 75% of Canadian households don't have door-to-door delivery now, and he adds that the moratorium on expanding the use of community mailboxes will soon end. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpinchuk in Toronto. The Dow has gained more than 300 points. The SMP is up 33 points on the NASDAQ is now climbed 58. It's NPR.