NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-04-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Jail Snyder. The government shutdown is closing in on the record for the longest in U.S. history. And as NPR's Tamara Keith reports, President Trump has spent nearly half of that time outside of Washington, D.C. Since the shutdown began October 1st, President Trump has been out of town for 15 days. That includes two foreign trips and two trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. There, this past Friday, he hosted an extravagant. Great Gatsby-themed costume party. On Air Force One, Trump said he doesn't need to negotiate and it's up to Democrats to end the shutdown by backing down. All they have to do is vote to open the country and we only need five Democrats. Past presidents, including Trump himself, have canceled international

trips during shutdowns to stay in Washington to negotiate or at least look like they're trying to end it. Tamara Keith, NPR News. And Sunday's interview on CBS is 60 Minutes. President Trump said he will not be extorted by Democrats, but Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday that he is optimistic. A vote to reopen the government could happen by the end of the week if lawmakers make progress over the next couple of days. Officials in Michigan say they thwarted a potential ISIS-inspired attack on Halloween. Two men are facing terrorism charges, as NPR's Ryan Lucas reports. The two defendants, Mohamed Ali and Majin Mahmoud, are charged by criminal complaint with receiving and transferring firearms to be used for a crime of terrorism.

Court papers say the defendants had ISIS-related materials in their social media communications. The two men also allegedly purchased guns and practiced shooting with their purported co-conspirators at local shooting ranges. Investigators say they uncovered communications in which the defendants allegedly discussed an attack to take place on quote-unquote pumpkin, which officials believe was a reference to Halloween. Agent seized firearms, tactical vests, and ammunition during court-authorized searches

of the men's homes, as well as a storage unit. A detention hearing is scheduled for next week. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. A Chinese semiconductor maker says it's running out of inventory after one of its biggest plans in the Netherlands was shut down

over national security concerns. Here's NPR's Emily Fang. The Dutch takeover of Nixperia this October rocked the semiconductor world, a world that's grown increasingly divided by competition between the U.S. and China. The Netherlands said it was worried about technology transfers from the Dutch plant to China, and they took control of the factory from its Chinese owners. Beijing is now blocking Newspirious product from leaving China. The case is a

dramatic escalation in global tensions over which companies and which countries will control the future of semiconductor chip design and manufacturing, with the U.S. pushing the Netherlands to impose stricter controls on which technology it sends to China. Emily Fang, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News. The Trump administration says it will partially fund the food aid program known as SNAP after two federal judges ordered the White House to keep the program running amid the government shutdown. The administration said Monday that it will use money from a contingency fund for SNAP payments, but that payouts will only be half the amount recipients normally get. It's not clear how long it will take to get those payments.

restarted. Flight attendants for Delta Airlines picketed outside Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport Monday in support of unionizing. The world's busiest airport already seeing delays and cancellations because of the government shut down as Marlon Hyde of member station WABE reports. As some passengers wait, over a dozen flight attendants are waving signs and chanting outside for union representation. Improved health care is one of the benefits that Delta's flight attendants are seeking. The airline says it prefers a direct relationship with employees. Organizing Cara Wargo is one of Delta's about 29,000 flight attendants.

With our flight attendants and our pilots and our air traffic controllers and our rampers, we are what keeps planes in the air, and these planes don't leave without our work. Wargo says the next steps are to rally flight attendants nationwide, as the campaign expects to file for an election next year to join the Association of Flight Attendants. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hod in Atlanta. Actor Diane Ladd has died. Her daughter, Laura Dern, confirmed Ladd's death in a statement saying she passed away at her home in Ohio, California. She was 89 years old. Dern says her mother was an amazing hero and a profound gift. This is NPR News.