NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-23-2025 1PM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Doa Lisei Kautel. The Justice Department has released another batch of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. These contain hundreds of references to President Trump. The DOJ said the nearly 30,000 documents contained, quote, untrue or sensationalist claims about Trump. In a 2020 email on unidentified federal prosecutor said flight logs show Trump had flown on Epstein, President's private chat, quote, many more times than previously reported between 1993 and 1996. Another file shows a 2021 subpoena to Mara Lago for employment records during the investigation into Galane Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator and a convicted sex offender. Other documents

include a 2019 letter supposedly sent by Epstein to convicted sex offender, Larry Nasser, the U.S. gymnastics team doctor. The letter mentions, quote, our president, though it's unclear whether the DOJ verified, whether this was in fact written by Epstein. These documents continue a piecemeal release by the DOJ, despite Congress requiring them to make all the files public last Friday. Luke Garrett and PR News, Washington. Meanwhile, President Trump is commenting on the photos and documents being released related to Epstein. He's in many of them. After announcing a new golden fleet of Trump's ships yesterday at Mar-a-Lago, he told reporters it was, quote, terrible to see photos of another

former president. Bill Lenton's a big boy. He can handle it. But you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago, and they're highly respected bankers and lawyers and others. The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the Justice Department to release all documents by last Friday, and so it isn't clear how much the DOJ still has or when everything will be made public. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first version of a popular new class of weight loss drugs that can be taken as a pill. And Piers Rob Stein has that story. The FDA approved a new form of the weight loss drug Wagovi that people can take as a daily pill. Until now,

the so-called GLP1 drugs for obesity could only be taken as weekly injections. The Wagovi pill seems to work about as well as the Wagovi shot. The pill will become available early next month. The starting dose will cost about $149 a month for patients paying out of pocket, which is less than the shots. GLP1 drugs mimic a natural hormone that makes people feel full and have revolutionized the treatment of obesity. A competing GLP1 pill is expected to be approved soon. Rob Stein and PR News. Ukraine have been left completely without power after another record drone and missile attack by Russia. You're listening to NPR News from New York.

The U.S. military has conducted another operation in the eastern Pacific Ocean late last night, killing at least one person aboard the boat. U.S. Southern Command did not offer any evidence of drug smuggling, but did release a 26-second video showing flashes of bright lights and what appears to be a vessel being fired on and then eventually in flames. In a statement, joint task for Southern Spear says intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes. Taiwan's two biggest opposition parties are beginning proceedings to impeach the island's president, and Piers-Emily Feng reports Taiwan has been mired in political gridlock,

styming their efforts to boost their defenses against neighboring China. Taiwan's KMT and TPP Party say President Lai Tsingda did not implement a legal amendment, which would have been overturned by the executive branch anyways. But they're now moving forward with impeachment hearings because of that amendment for next week. A final impeachment vote would come only in late May. President Lai's party has also tried to oust opposition politicians. It mounted a failed recall vote against KMT lawmakers earlier this year. And President Lai has been in the political crosshairs after announcing a record.

setting defense budget of more than $30 billion for next year and a goal to raise that to $40 billion by 2030. Opposition lawmakers have so far delayed discussion on that budget, effectively blocking it. Emily Fang and P.R News. And I'm Dua Lee-Ca-Lekhoutel and PR News in New York City.