NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Luis Skiyvone. President Trump is announcing the Navy will be building new battleships with what he says will be 100 times more power than that of the biggest of any warship ever built in the U.S. The president made the announcement at his resort in Mar-a-Lago. These cutting-edge vessels will be some of the most lethal surface warfare ships. The program, he says, will begin with construction of two battleships and expand to roughly two dozen. President says they will be Trump-class ships. The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me because I'm a very

aesthetic person alongside our partners in American industry. And we're going to have Pete Hankseth and Marco and a lot of very talented people involved. It's part of a strategy the president says to create a, quote, golden fleet. The Trump administration is recalling dozens of career ambassadors. Officials say the president wants diplomats who will advance his agenda and That's what Foreign Service officers sign up to do. And PR's Michelle Kellerman reports. The State Department wouldn't comment publicly on the list that have been floating around

of the ambassadors being pulled back to Washington, but one official who asked not to be named described this as a, quote, standard process in any administration. The written statement says an ambassador is a personal representative of the president, and it is the president's right to ensure that he has individuals who advance the America-first agenda. Normally, about two-thirds of America's embassies overseas are led by career diplomats. The Trump administration has nominated few career diplomats and is now pulling them back from nearly 30 embassies, many in Africa. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. 21 states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration over funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

As NPR's Rafael NOM reports, the lawsuit secret. to address an unusual stance that the CFPB has been adopted. The latest legal fight is about the CFPB's refusal to accept funding for the agency. Under the law that established the CFPB, the agency is supposed to be funded by the combined earnings at the Federal Reserve. But under acting director Russell vote, the CFPB is defining that to mean profits and arguing that since the Fed is losing money, the agency cannot request the funding. The states, however, say that's an unlawful definition. And combined earnings really means the wider money coming

into the Fed. Therefore, the states say the CFPV has to accept the funding because otherwise it's on course to run out of money in January. Rafael NPR News. Wall Street, the Dow closed up 227 at 48,362. The NASDAQ gained 121 points. SMP 500 closed up 43. This is NPR News in Washington. Pope Leo says he plans to follow the agenda of his predecessor, Pope Francis, to make the Catholic Church more inclusive. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports the pontiff delivered his first Christmas address to Cardinals at the Vatican. Pope Leo remembered in his address his predecessor, Pope Francis. His prophetic voice, his pastoral style and his rich teachings have defined the path of the church in these years, Leo said,

encouraging us to place God's mercy at the centre. He said the church should be welcoming to all and caring for the poor. Francis, who led the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church for 12 years, had been known to use these annual Christmas addresses to scathingly critique the work of his cardinals. Leo, who is more diplomatic, was much gentler. He warned officials only not to allow rigidity or ideology to slow progress for the church.

Sherlock, NPR News. Denmark and Greenland are bristling at the latest moves by the Trump administration vowing to reject any foreign efforts to take over Greenland. President Trump announced that he was appointing the current governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, to what's been described as a voluntary position. In a statement on social media, Landry declared he was honored to join the effort to, quote, make Greenland part of the United States. Denmark and Greenland say this is unacceptable and Greenland's borders are rooted

in international law. Today, the White House reiterated that it sees Greenland as strategically important. I'm Louise Skiyvone, NPR News, Washington.