NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-23-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Jail Snyder. At least for now, the U.S. Supreme Court is preventing the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops in Chicago. The justices today declined an emergency request to overturn a lower court's ruling. Today's order, not a final ruling, but it could affect other lawsuits, challenging National Guard deployments to other Democratic-led cities. U.S. military forces have destroyed another small boat, allegedly smuggling drugs, and the Pacific. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports that U.S. Southern Command says one man aboard was killed. A video posted by the U.S. military shows a small boat under fire and then in flames. The Trump administration says it is at war with drug cartels and can therefore kill suspected

traffickers even if they are unarmed. Dozens of boats have been hit since September, killing more than 100 people. Critics in Congress and experts on the laws of war say that's murder. President Trump has mentioned the strikes as a way to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom he accuses of narco-trafficking. At a press event yesterday, President Trump said it would be smart for Maduro to step down. The U.S. has strict sanctions on Venezuela, and now the U.S. Coast Guard has begun seizing massive tankers carrying Venezuelan crude oil. Trump said the U.S. may keep or sell the oil.

Quill-Larns and PR News. Wall Street closed higher today following a strong report on economic growth. The Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 4.3 percent, much faster than expected in the third quarter. And Pierceley, Alina Selyuk reports. Between July and September, the report shows the U.S. economy growing at a robust pace, accelerating from the growth scene in the previous quarter. Earlier in the year, the economy had actually shrunk as companies rushed to ship foreign goods

ahead of President Trump's global tariffs. Consumers remain the key engine, driving the growth with higher spending, especially on health care. The report calls out spending on hospital and nursing home services and on prescription drugs. People also spent more on, quote, information processing equipment. That could be computer hardware, presumably as part of the AI boom. At the same time, business and residential investment declined in the third quarter. Spending by state and local governments increased. Alina Selukh, NPR News, Washington.

Millions of Americans on the move this holiday season, NPR's Joel Rose, reports that more than 120 million people expected to travel by plane, train, and automobile. If you're heading over the river and through the woods today, you are not alone. AAA predicts more than 122 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home during the peak end-of-year travel period that started last weekend. The vast majority, more than 109 million, will drive, according to AAA, a slight increase over last year's record total. Air travel may set records as well. The TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, says it's preparing to screen more than 44 million passengers during this holiday season and could set a record for passenger volume for the year.

Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR. The Justice Department has released a new batch of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This latest release includes multiple mentions of President Trump, including an email from a prosecutor that says Trump flew on Epstein's private jet eight times in the 1990s. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing, and the Justice Department says some documents contain unfounded allegations against Trump. Authorities in Pennsylvania are responding to an explosion at a nursing home in Bucks County just outside Philadelphia. Local media say part of the building has collapsed and there are multiple reports of people trapped. The cause of the explosion is not clear.

Baking Cookbook saw a boom in 2025 with an 80% growth over the past 12 months. And Piersneta Ullaby has more on what's driving cookbook sales. No one expected baking cookbook sales to rise like a yeasted donut in 2025. The double-digit growth surprised me. Brenda Connor analyzes the U.S. book market for the research company, Sir Kana. 80% growth certainly exceeded my expectations. Hi, my name is Sarah, and I love dessert. In 2020, during the pandemic, bread cookbooks led sales.

Now the biggest selling baking cookbook of the year is called Sweet Tooth by online influencer Sarah Fennell. This right here is my favorite holiday snack. It is a salty sweet, white chocolate, hammering, orange popcorn. The baking cookbook boom is especially notable because cookbooks as a category have gone down in sales this year. Netta Ulibee, NPR News. I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR.