NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Kiovanni. President Trump is announcing the Navy will be building new battleships with what he says will be 100 times more power than the biggest of any warship ever built in the U.S. The president made the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago resort. 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. The president says they will beat 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. More than 1.6 million immigrants have lost their legal status since President Trump took office. This is the largest effort to make migrants deportable despite using legal pathways. NPR Sergio Martinez Beltron reports.

Immigration rights advocates say this figure, 1.6 million people is likely an undercount, but it includes people who came to the U.S. via humanitarian parole, temporary protected status, and visas. Todd Schulte is the president of Forward.us, an immigration advocacy organization. These were, like, legal pathways. People, like, did the thing the government asked them to do, and this government went and is kind of preemptively trying to revoke that status.

The Trump administration has said it has done more to limit legal and illegal immigration than any other administration. It has said it will continue its aggressive effort to crack down on immigration in 2026. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Austin. The Palestinian Authority says more than 460 Palestinian structures and buildings have been demolished by Israel and the Jerusalem governor this year. NPR's Hadil al-Shalshi has details. The most recent demolition of a residential building in East Jerusalem

has left about 100 Palestinians homeless, according to the Palestinian Authority. The Authority's Ministry of Jerusalem says there's been a sharp uptown in these demolitions, calling them forced displacement. It says they are part of a policy to change Jerusalem's demographic to support Jewish settlement expansion. Israeli authorities say that the homes are, quote, illegal due to a lack of Israeli-issued permits.

Rights groups say the Israeli planning and permit system is discriminatory because they limit where and how Palestinians can build in East Jerusalem. Hediel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Ford is recalling more than 270,000 electric and high. hybrid vehicles in the U.S. because of a parking function problem that could lead to them rolling away. The recall includes some F-150 lightnings, Mustang Machese, and Mavericks. Wall Street, the Dow closed up 227. This is NPR News in Washington. Attorney General Pam Bondi is announcing a Second Amendment-based lawsuit against the Washington,

D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, arguing that it's ban on AR-15s and many other fire arms is unconstitutional. Bondi declared that living in the nation's capital should not preclude a citizen's Second Amendment right to own the assault-style weapon. The American College Theater Festival is suspending its 58-year relationship with the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The National Theater Program featuring thousands of students plans to skip the Kennedy Center next spring. Jeff London explains. In a Facebook post, the National Board of the American College Theater Festival writes, quote, Unfortunately, our affiliation with the Kennedy Center is no longer viable, due to circumstances and decisions that do not align with our organization's values.

Last week, the Center's board, appointed and led by President Trump, voted to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center, even though, according to law, it is a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The ACTF will continue presenting its eight regional festivals in 2026. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Around 11 Eastern Time tonight, another powerball drawing will offer some random yet insanely lucky person the chance to win a huge amount of money. The jackpot is up to $1.6 billion. I'm Louise Skivone, NPR News, Washington. This message comes from Wise.

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