NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-29-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, President Trump says he has largely reached a trade deal with South Korean leaders. And we made our deal, pretty much finalized a trade deal, and we discussed some other things having to do with national security, etc. The White House released a memo of understanding that talks about areas of agreement with South Korea. It's focused on science and technology, but no details of a trade agreement have been released. Trump was in Japan this week as well, but no trade agreement was announced there either. Tomorrow, the president is to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trade and tariffs are expected to be key issues. Hurricane Melissa continues to lose strength. It's still roaring over Cuba. The National Hurricane Center says Melissa now is a category two storm and has top sustained winds of 105 miles per hour. It had top winds of 185 miles per hour when it crashed into Jamaica.

Jamaica yesterday. Jamaican leaders say they're getting reports of incredible damage to infrastructure. President Trump has fired multiple members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. NPR's Elizabeth Blair says the Commission reviews designed proposals for monuments, memorials, coins, and federal buildings. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts is an independent agency that advises the President and Congress on Design and Architecture. As first reported by the Washington Post, the White House fired six commissioners. The chair position was vacant. The commissioners would have advised the president on the White House ballroom and his plans for a monument similar to the Art de Triumph in Paris. Architect Bruce Redmond Becker, one of the commissioners who was fired, tells NPR in an email,

neither project has been submitted for review yet. In 2021, President Biden fired four commissioners who'd been appointed by President Trump in his first term. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving to overrule dozens of state laws. These laws protect consumers' medical debt from being reported to credit bureaus. NPR's Yuki Noguchi tells us one consumer group says that defies the will of most voters. The CFPB says it is clarifying that federal credit reporting systems preempts states from passing their own credit reporting rules. Among other things, that would nullify the laws in at least 15 states, where medical debt cannot be included in

credit reports. Medical debt is considered different because it's usually involuntarily incurred. Separately, the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Undue Medical Debt released a survey showing 81% of voters across the political spectrum want states to restrict medical debt reporting. Yuki NPR News. On Wall Street in pre-market trading, Dow Futures. are up 100 points. This is NPR. As the federal government shutdown goes into its fifth week, hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain furloughed. NPR's Ava Pukatch reports on how one furloughed worker is using his newfound free time to pursue a passion project. Isaac Stein decided

he'd finally pursue a childhood dream of running his own hot dog stand this summer. He opened up shyster's dogs in September on weekends and after work. Then the government shut down, and he was furloughed from his job as a lawyer at the IRS. So now he slings dogs seven days a week, including what he calls a, quote, correct dog. Which is mustard and sauerkraut. If someone wants other things, that's totally fine, no judgment. But I do reserve the right to assess an additional dollar as a penalty. He's looking forward to getting back to his IRS job as soon as possible. But he also hopes to keep the hot dog business running.

on weekends. Eva Pukatch and PR News, Washington. Vice President Vance says he believes that members of the U.S. military will be paid at the end of this week, despite the federal government shutdown. He did not explain how the Trump administration will move money to accomplish this. The Federal Reserve wraps up its two-day meeting in Washington today. Policymakers are expected to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point. This would be the Fed's second rate cut in six weeks. Interest rates have been higher as the Fed tries to combat stubborn inflation, but now Fed policymakers are focusing on the slowing U.S. job market. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.