NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-17-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

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In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The U.S. and Ukrainian delegations led by presidents Trump and Volodemir Zelensky are against sitting across from each other at the White House this hour. The leaders first took questions from reporters. One asked Zelensky about his goals for today's talks.

The most important thing for people in Ukraine, which are under each day's attacks, to have really strong security guarantees. NATO is the best, but weapon is very important. Allies on our side is very important. And between us, for us, bilateral security guarantees between me and President Trump is very important. President Trump says he plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary after an initial high-level meeting about ending the war. He was asked why Hungary. We like Victor Orban. He likes him. I like him. It's a country that's a safe country. They've done a very good job. He's been a very good leader. in the sense of running his country.

Trump praising Hungary's nationalist prime minister. Well, before the talks, Trump took reporters' questions and complimented Zelensky's black blazers. Zelensky typically has worn military garb. Venezuela's ambassador to the UN, Samuel Mogada, condemns a recent deadly U.S. strike on a small boat in Caribbean waters that killed several people. Recent reports of public domain have identified two humble fishermen

from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago among the victims. Their relatives indicate that those who were assassinated were engaged in fishing activities at the time. A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly has confirmed with NPR that Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of U.S. Southern Command, stepped down from his post because of reservations over U.S. military attacks, military attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea

and the widening effort against Venezuela. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of mishandling classified information. Bolton entered his plea during his initial court appearance in Maryland. Here's NPR's Ryan Lucas. Bolton is facing 18 criminal counts for allegedly transmitting and retaining national defense information. Prosecutors say Bolton kept detailed notes that included classified information during his time

as Trump's national security advisor in 2018 and 2019. Bolton allegedly sent those diary-like entries on a regular basis over his personal email and a messaging app to two family members who did not have security clearances. The indictment says federal agents recovered copies of some of those documents, including classified material, during the search of Bolton's home in August. Bolton says in a statement that he looks forward to defending what he calls his, quote, lawful conduct and exposing what he says is Trump's abuse of power. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.

It's NPR. This is the third week. of the federal government's shutdown. Farmers are among the groups feeling the pain of the closures. From member station KC.U.R. Frank Morris reports farmers have lost government subsidies and a promise bailout for them is stalled. Federal farm subsidies go through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's closed and now is a bad time for farmers to lose that lifeline. The prices farmers are getting for the corn, wheat, and soybeans they grow don't come close to covering the cost of producing them. Tariffs have a lot to do with that, and President Trump has promised farmers

a bailout to partially compensate for their trade war losses. But Pat Westoff, an economist at the University of Missouri, says that's not happening anytime soon. Now, things are going to go forward until the government's open again, it appears to me. Farmers can't expect immediate help when the government does reopen. The USDA's lost about 20,000 employees this year, and every day the shutdown drags on, more work backs up. For NPR News on Frank Morris in Kansas. Kansas City. Today, Formula One announced a five-year U.S. media rights deal with Apple, replacing ESPN starting next season. Meanwhile, Apple has worked with a series on F-1 The Movie. The original film was released internationally in June. The global streaming debut is December on Apple TV. U.S. stocks are trading higher. This hour, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 242 points of roughly half a percent at 46,100. I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News in Washington.