NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-31-2025 11PM EST

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. President Trump says he's dropping his push to deploy national guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon, at least for now. More from NPR's Giles Snyder. President Trump announced a move on social media, crediting the deployments with reducing crime, but warning that his decision to end his efforts to send guard troops into several largely Democratic-led cities depends on crime rates, saying that guard members could be sent back in a stronger form. Local leaders have said the deployments were not necessary, and Democrats have accused the Trump administration of overreaching.

The deployments have repeatedly faced legal roadblocks, and last week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow the administration to deploy troops to Chicago without permission from the governor of Illinois. Trial Snyder, NPR News. The Justice Department says it is still working to review files involving convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. That's after missing a December 19th deadline was set by law. NPR Stephen Fowler has this update. We don't know how many Epstein files are yet to be released, and we don't know when they will be. But Deputy Attorney General

Todd Blanche says in a social media post that DOJ lawyers are working, quote, around the clock to review them. A law passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in November directed the Justice Department to release all files related to Epstein by December 19th and with minimal redactions. Neither of those requirements has been met so far, despite about 40,000 new pages published under the law in the last two weeks. Stephen Fowler, NPR News. The first order of business for New York City in 2026 will be swearing in a new mayor. As Bruce Convisor reports, Democratic Socialists or Momdani will be sworn in at one minute. after midnight. Mamdani burst into the national spotlight this past year with the mayoral campaign

that captivated the left and piqued the interest of centrist. In the end, it wasn't close. In a three-way race, he won more than 50% of the vote, thumping one-time New York political icon Andrew Cuomo by nine points. The 34-year-old Mamdani stands out as the first South Asian and the first Muslim to lead America's largest city. He will be sworn in using a Quran. Mammani made affordability the cornerstone of his campaign. He vowed to freeze rents on rent-stabilized apartments, implement free busing, and build city-owned grocery stores. He says raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5% will add $5 billion to the city's co-offers. For NPR News, I'm Bruce Conveiser in New York. It's already 2026 in some parts of the world where celebrations are in full swing.

From Europe to Sydney, crowds are ringing in the new year with fireworks and music. In Hong Kong, this year's celebrations are a bit muted in wake of a recent. deadly apartment fire, graphic light displays on tall buildings will replace the city's fireworks. This is NPR. China's People's Liberation Army says it has successfully completed two days of military exercises and waters off Taiwan. That concludes a set of high-powered maneuvers aimed at asserting its sovereignty over the island. The actions ratcheted up tension in East Asia in the waning days of the year. U.S. military has destroyed two more suspected drug boats in the Caribbean.

U.S. Southern Command says the boats were operating along a known narco-trafficking route. Nearly 100 people have been killed in multiple U.S. strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and East Pacific since early September. Viewership for the Kennedy Center has dwindled again. NPR's Netta Ullaby reports that the ceremony got the lowest ratings in its history when it aired on CBS last week. On the official White House webpage, a slideshow of this year's Kennedy Center Honors shows a packed auditorium and President Trump triumphantly clapping. He became the first president to host the award show in 2025 and predicted his appearance would poll the highest ratings ever. Instead, the show saw a 25% drop from last year, according to numbers from Nielsen. About 3 million people tuned in.

That's 1 million less than in 2024, although it should be noted. that Nielsen has changed its data-gathering methodology over the past 12 months. During the show, the president intimated his plans to change the name of the venue to the Trump-Kennedy Center. Since then, multiple artists scheduled to perform there have canceled shows. NADA Ulipi, NPR News. This is NPR News.