NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. President Trump is hosting the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia today at the White House. NPR's Franco Ardonez reports it's the first visit since the murder of a journalist at a Saudi consulate seven years ago. Just before Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived, President Trump announced that the U.S. would be selling F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, which is in itself a controversial move as it could change the military balance in the Middle East. The Crown Prince's visit marks a significant step towards his efforts to restore his global credibility. After the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. intelligence determined that the Prince had approved the assassination. The President and Prince are also expected to discuss security agreements and efforts to normalize relations with Israel. Franco, Ordoñez, NPR News, the White House. The U.N. Security Council has adopted a resolution on Gaza.

authorizes an international force to go there for the next two years. One goal is to disarm Hamas. Hamas opposes this. Language in the resolution calls for a potential path to Palestinian statehood. Israeli leaders say they will never agree to that. The House of Representatives is preparing to take up a measure involving late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This would force the Justice Department to publicize any files related to him. NPR's Barbara Sprunt reports this comes as President Trump did. and about face on the measure itself. Over the weekend, President Trump encouraged House Republicans to support a measure that would release all unclassified files

related to Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. That's a major reversal for the president who's been encouraging Republicans to drop the matter. The administration has already released thousands of files to the House Oversight Committee, but there remain even more that haven't been made public. Should the House pass the House,

the measure, its fate is still not clear in the Senate. If it passes both chambers, the president says he'll sign it. Barbara Sprint and Pierre News, the Capitol. Federal immigration officials are expanding their enforcement in North Carolina. Border patrol agents have been deployed in the city of Charlotte. Now, the Democratic mayor of Raleigh says she expects federal agents to launch operations in her city as soon as today. And Fierre's Giles Snyder has more. Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell says it's not clear how large the enforcement surge will be, but in a statement, she said public safety is a priority for the city, and she asked Raleigh residents to remember their values and maintain peace and respect through any upcoming challenges. The attention on Raleigh comes after federal officials said Border Patrol agents had arrested more than 130 people over the weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city. NPR's Giles Snyder prepared that report.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington. In Maryland, transit officials say it will take twice as much money to rebuild the collapsed key bridge. The new cost projection is at least $4.3 billion to more than $5 billion. The Baltimore Bridge fell apart when it was hit by a cargo ship in March last year. Six people were killed. Federal safety officials are holding a meeting about the key bridge today. The nation's third largest owner of local TV stations is making a bid to take over one of its competitors. From member station WVXU in Cincinnati, Tana Weingartner reports Sinclair Broadcasting has announced

it wants to try to acquire rival scripts based in Cincinnati. In a filing, Baltimore-based Sinclair says it's bought an 8.2% stake in Scripps and that a merger could be done within a year. Cincinnati media reporter John Key Sweater, however, notes scripts issue. a statement saying it would take steps to protect the company from the opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else. Calling it an opportunistic action doesn't sound like scripts and Sinclair are all that close to coming to a deal, even though Sinclair is saying, you know, they've been talking for months about combining forces. The FCC is already mulling a multi-billion dollar deal by the nation's

largest TV station owner Next Star to take over its competitor, Tegna. For NPR, We are news. I'm Tannel Weingartner in Cincinnati. The head of the federal emergency management agency is quitting. David Richardson had been on the job for just six months. He'd been criticized by lawmakers for being aloof during deadly flooding this summer in Texas. You're listening to NPR.