NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-15-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: November 16, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiavone. There's been a significant falling out between two high-profile Republicans in Washington, President Trump, and MAGA Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Green. Green suspects it's because she wants the full release of FBI files related to convicted sex offender, the late Jeffrey Epstein. NPR's Ron Elving has more. Marjorie Taylor Green, the familiar firebrand from Georgia. She is a Republican. Republican representative in Congress and a fierce defender of the president. In multiple interviews, she has called Trump misguided in fighting the release of the Epstein Files. And that, of course, has drawn Trump's ire. In a long post on true social last night, the president called Marjorie Taylor Green, quote, wacky, unquote, and said he was withdrawing his support of her. NPR's Ron Elving in Washington, the House of Representatives plans to vote Tuesday on the Epstein Files question.

President Trump continues to tinker with his tariffs policies, saying Friday that his administration had done a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee. And PR's Giles Snyder tells us the president is saying, don't expect much more. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, as he was on his way to spend the weekend at Mara Lago, President Trump seemed to downplay his executive order, exempting tariffs on items such as coffee, bananas, and beef, saying he does not anticipate. future rollbacks. I don't think it'll be necessary. We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee, as an example, where the prices of coffee were a little bit high. Now they'll be on the low side in a very short period of time. The exemptions, however, represent a reversal by the Trump administration after voters in this month's off-year election cited economic concerns as their top issue. Democrats scored big wins in Virginia, New Jersey, and another key

races around the country. Trial Snyder, NPR News. The Trump administration did not send a delegation to this year's United Nations Climate Summit in Belm, Brazil. President Trump has called climate change a hoax, but delegates from the state of California and other states are at COP 30 anyway. Laura Clivens of member station KQED reports. California Governor Gavin Newsom says there's a need for state leaders to be in Brazil. I'm here because I don't want the United States of America to be a footnote at this conference. Newsom has been signing packs with countries and states and cities abroad on issues ranging from biodiversity to battery storage. In a statement, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers wrote the president won't jeopardize economic and national security to, quote,

pursue vague climate goals. Governors from New Mexico and Wisconsin have also been at the events in Brazil. One of their goals is to show U.S. progress on climate despite the federal headwinds. For NPR news, I'm Laura Clivens. This is NPR. Disability rights activist Alice Wong has died. The MacArthur Genius Grant winner died yesterday of an infection in San Francisco, according to her friend and fellow activist Sandy Ho. Wong was 51 years old, NPR's Chloe Veltman has this remembrance.

Alice Wong was best known as the founder of the Disability Visibility Project. The group highlighted disabled people and disability culture, through storytelling projects, social media and other channels. Wong also received a claim for her 2022 memoir, Year of the Tiger and Activist's Life, edited several works on disability, and wrote a column for Teen Vogue. Disability Justice organizer Yomi Sachiko Young spoke about Wong in an interview earlier this year with NPR member station KQED. Alice is my comrade in political struggle.

She is my friend. She's a foodie. She's an artist. She's a bit boozy, which I love. Alice Wong was born in Indiana in 1974 to immigrant parents from Hong Kong. She was diagnosed at birth with muscular dystrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. Senator John Federman is home from the hospital two days after a fall related to a ventricular fibrillation flare-up.

He'd been on an early morning walk, felt lightheaded and fell, and was hospitalized in Pittsburgh. Today, in a social media post, the Pennsylvania Democrat thanked well-wishers. He posted a smiling photo of himself with an iced coffee, saying, after 20 stitches, he had fully recovered and is home with his family. I'm Louise Skiyvone, NPR News, Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.

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