NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-18-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. President Trump delivered a primetime address last night. He sought to talk about his efforts to support the economy. But he spoke as new polling fines. Trump's approval rating has fallen below 40% with voters. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports. Trump opened his speech with a succinct message the White House has been trying to hammer home amid discontent over the economy.

Good evening, America. 11 months ago, I inherited a mess, and I'm fixing it. However, he broke little new ground during his roughly 18-minute address. Trump took a defensive tone at times, blaming former President Joe Biden for current economic problems and casting his own current term as a massive success. Trump's economic approval rating hit a new low in the latest NPR PBS News Marist poll, and the White House has been attempting to refocus on the topic as Democrats push their own affordability message. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News.

The Senate has passed the $900 billion defense policy bill and state. sent it to President Trump. It also requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth to release unedited video of a deadly September boat strike or lose his travel budget. This comes as the Pentagon announced a fresh strike on an alleged drug boat yesterday. It says four men aboard were killed. The White House is vowing to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, known as N-Car. From Colorado Public Radio Sam Brash reports, Encar is a federally funded research hub, ordered in Boulder. Encar was founded in 1960 to improve weather predictions and better understand Earth's atmosphere. It now employs more than 800 people. But in a post on X this week,

White House Budget Director Russ Foe promised to break it up, saying the center is now a major source of, quote, climate alarmism. Dan Powers leads co-lapse, a group supporting federal research in Colorado. He says the news has left scientists frustrated and disillusioned. Science and research can sometimes be alarming, but closing labs like NKAR doesn't make decades of facts any less true. Colorado's Democratic congressional leaders blasted the move and promised to use every tool available to save the research center. For NPR News, I'm Sam Brash in Denver. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled new plans, he says, will combat anti-Semitism and hate speech. This follows last weekend's deadly match.

shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney. Albanese says this includes limiting some visas. The Minister for Home Affairs will also have new powers to cancel or reject visas for those who spread hate and division in this country or would do so if they were allowed to come here. mourners held a funeral today for one shooting victim, a 10-year-old girl named Matilda. So many mourners came to pay respects that a large screen was set up outside the hall for people to view the service. You're listening to NPR.

The acting head of the Center's for Disease Control and Prevention has accepted controversial recommendations from his vaccine advisory committee. It's for the hepatitis B vaccine. As NPR's Ping Huang reports, this is now official government policy. The CDC's acting director, Jim O'Neill, has changed the agency's guidance to say that pregnant women who test negative for hepatitis B should talk with their providers first and consider delaying the initial dose of the vaccine. This guidance is not supported by any new evidence of safety concerns. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy had urged the CDC's leadership to reject the recommendations. Cassidy is a doctor who's treated patients with liver disease from hepatitis B. He says ending the previous recommendation for all healthy newborns to get the vaccine makes it more

likely for cases to increase. The shift comes over strong objections from professional medical groups. They're suing the health secretary, alleging that his changes to vaccine policy have not followed proper procedure and violate federal law. Ping Huang, NPR News. The House of Representatives has narrowly passed a package of health care provisions backed by Speaker Mike Johnson. It's intended to lower health insurance costs for some people, such as those who work for small businesses.

Separately, four centrist Republicans joined the Democrats in the House to push a plan that would extend subsidies for people on Affordable Care Act plans. None of these House measures will probably move four. forward in Congress until next year, but people who receive the federal subsidies will lose them after January 1st, and costs are expected to soar for many. This is NPR. 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.