NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shays Stevens. President Trump is defending his economic policies amid polls showing that many Americans are suffering. Trump insists the nation is strong and that inflation is easing. He blamed Democrats for the impending increases in health insurance premiums when pandemic-erit subsidies expire in 13 days. And you see that now in the steep increase in premiums being demanded by the Democrats, and they are demanding those increases, and it's their fault. It is not the Republicans' fault.

It's the Democrats' fault. It's the unaffordable care act, and everybody knew it. Four Republicans in the U.S. House are joining Democrats to force a vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. NPRS.M. Greenglass has details. The four Republicans signed onto a petition that would allow 218 members to circumvent House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson is pushing his own health bill that would not extend the subsidies. The four represent competitive districts and said this was a last resort after the speaker refused to allow a vote on the subsidies.

Even though there's now enough support to force a vote on a three-year extension, that vote is not expected until January. And a three-year extension failed in the Senate last week. So the long-term fate of the subsidies is still unclear, even though they are all but certain to lapse, spiking premium. for millions of Americans come January 1st. Sam Greenglass, NPR News, Washington. President Trump steered clear of foreign policy issues in his late-night speech,

although the State Department announced more than $10 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. The package includes military software, tactical missiles, dozens of rocket systems and drones, similar to the U.S. aid provided to Ukraine during the Biden administration. The move comes amid China's increasing aggression towards Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade part of the mainland. At least two Democratic senators have put a hold on the nominee for commander of the Coast Guard because of a new policy on hate symbols. NPR's Quillarence explains. Senators Jackie Rosen of Nevada and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois

both said they had spoken with acting commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Kevin Lunday, after reports in the Washington Post that a Coast Guard manual would describe symbols like swastikas and nooses as just potentially divisive and not as symbols of hate. Lunday released a statement in November that Coast Guard policy prohibits such hate symbols. But this week, the manual came out with the ambiguous language. The Coast Guard sent a response from the Department of Homeland Security to NPR that the new language actually strengthens the ability to report, investigate, and prosecute those who violate longstanding policy.

Quill Lawrence NPR News. Newest futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. Nick Reiner appeared in court Wednesday for the first time since he was accused of killing his parents. Actor-director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, were found in their home in Los Angeles on Sunday. In a statement, Nick Reiner's siblings say they are feeling unimaginable pain over the loss of their parents, who they called their best friends. A Tennessee man who aspired and jailed for posting memes about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk

is suing for damages. NPR's Ho-G-None has the story. Larry Bushhart, a retired police officer in Perry County, Tennessee, posted a meme to a Facebook group that was organizing a vigil. The meme quoted President Trump saying, We have to get over it. It remarked the president made after a school shooting in Iowa that killed two people.

Officers showed up at Bushhart's home with a warrant near midnight and arrested him for, quote, threatening mass violence. Unable to afford the $2 million bond, Bushhart sat in jail for 37 days until prosecutors dropped the case. Now Bushhart is suing the government and officers for violation of his first and fourth amendment rights. He says he was arrested for, quote, nothing more than refusing to be bullied into censorship. Horteningnan, NPR News. Britain is giving Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich a last. chance to turn over roughly $3 billion he promised for Ukrainian war victims. Prime Minister

Kirstormer says his government is prepared to take the matter to court. Abramovich was forced to sell his London-based soccer club under sanctions over his ties to Vladimir Putin. This is NPR News. 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.com. T's and C's apply.