NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Luis Giavone. In a nationally broadcast evening address, President Trump told Americans last night that flawed decisions and policies of the previous administration put the opening weeks of his new administration on the back foot. But major new Trump policies, including tariffs and immigration enforcement, have 2026 on track to be a banner year for the U.S. One year ago, our country was dead. We were absolutely dead. Our country was ready to fail. Totally failed. Now, we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. And that's said by every single leader that I've spoken to over the last five months. The president made no mention of the latest jobs report from the Labor Department that put the nation's unemployment rate

at its highest level in four years. He announced that Warrior checks would be going out to members of the military in the amount of $1776 to mark the 250th anniversary of the nation next year. The White House has announced a major arms sales package to Taiwan, valued at more than $10 billion, the sale has drawn an angry response from China. Venezuelans are carefully monitoring the rising tensions between Caracas and Washington. This, after President Trump, threatened to impose a total blockade on sanctioned oil tankers heading to and from Venezuelan ports. NPR's Kerry Kahn has details. Long lines at gas stations and water distribution centers are nothing new in the very. Venezuelan capital. Residents queued up as usual in stores in Caracas. After years of financial

hardship, many are taking the latest moves by the Trump administration in stride. Officials, however, flooded the airwaves. Defense Minister Vladimir Padino-Lopez, as Trump has made it clear, the U.S. is after Venezuela's oil and natural resources. We are not intimidated by your taunts and threats, he said. Kerry Conn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. Lawmakers assailed FCC chair, Brendan Carr on Capitol Hill yesterday. He has launched investigations of major networks that have run afoul of President Trump. NPR's David Fokenflik reports.

Carr pressured the Walt Disney Company to take action against Jimmy Kimmel's ABC show, famously saying we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar asked him about that. Do you think it is appropriate to your? is your position to threaten companies that broadcast political satire? I think any licensee that operates on the public airwaves has a responsibility to comply with the public interest standard. That standard was historically seen to ensure the stations covered local matters and represented a wide range of views. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz says no one should interfere with protected speech no matter what party.

David Fokinflik, NPR News. Dow futures are up. This is NPR. An internal report by the U.S. Forest Service says staff shortages and low morale at the agencies are leading to safety concerns on trails and a growing backlog of neglected maintenance. But NPR's Kirk Sigler reports the White House is blaming the Biden administration for overhiring. This internal memo that was first reported by the Washington Post backs up what former Forest Service officials have been saying since President Trump's Doge team cut thousands of employees. The big takeaway is that hundreds of millions of acres of public lands in the U.S. are being neglected and are under threat of environmental degradation. The report is from a survey of 290 Ranger districts nationwide.

Some trail maintenance programs lost all of their staff. It also cites a mass exodus of expertise from the agency through retirements and low morale among those who are still there. In an email, a USDA spokesperson said Secretary Brooke Rawlins is working to restore fiscal responsibility. Kirk Sigler, NPR News, Boise. Former special prosecutor Jack Smith told a closed meeting of the House Judiciary Committee yesterday that he had powerful evidence that Donald Trump had conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Defending his decision to prosecute President Trump, Smith rejected accusations that his decisions were politically

motivated. According to an opening statement to the committee obtained by NPR, Smith also insisted that Trump illegally hoarded classified documents from his first term in office, Smith's cases were dropped after the 2024 election. I'm Louise Skiyvone and PR 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.com. T's and Cs apply.