The NPR Politics Podcast - Roundup: A Trade War With Canada, Inflation Ticks Up, And The Shutdown Persists

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

This week in Washington, President Trump halted trade talks with Canada, announced a private donation to help pay the military and authorized new sanctions on Russian oil. We discuss these developments, as well as how Trump uses his carefully cultivated image.This episode: political correspondent Ashley Lopez, senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, and this is Michael Summers. a 75-year-old retired 41 years in the classroom teacher out of the Halim, Oregon. When COVID started in 2020, my dog Squishy and I started taking daily heights. And we're out now about to cross our 4,000th mile.

Whoa. This show was recorded at... 1237 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, October 24th, 2025. Things may certainly have changed since you... hear this, but Squishy and I will still be walking the stunningly beautiful hills of the Northwest.

Enjoy the show. Squishy and I will. I love that. I aspire. 4,000 miles in my 70s. That's amazing. Also, Squishy, possibly the best dog name ever. I love it. Someone with a silly dog name as well, Buckets. I love that. Buckets.

Aw! Love a dumb dog name. Also, Squishy. The gravel beneath his feet because I was very impressed by the NAT sound or, as the kids call it, ASMR. Yeah, there we go. Hey there. It's an NPR Politics podcast. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.

I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent. And today on the show, we're going to try to make sense of another busy week in Washington. Let's start with the government shutdown, which is now on day 24. today marks the first full-miss paycheck for more than a million federal workers. Demetico, let's start with you. I mean, are there any signs that the shutdown could be nearing a resolution?

There are no signs. This is likely headed for the longest government shutdown in history. I mean, there's no signs that there's any negotiations, that there are any talks whatsoever. Democrats are still holding out wanting to make sure that those tax subsidies for Affordable Care Act premiums can be extended beyond this year. Republicans say open the government. And I feel like we've said that many times on this podcast. President Trump is leaving tonight for a trip to Asia. The House has not been in session the entire month of October. The Senate has gone home for the weekend. There is no sense of urgency at all. I mean, has the White House at least changed its messaging on this at all? Because we're now almost a month in. The Trump administration has been doing some things to try to sort of lessen the impact.

And that includes moving some money around so that for the last pay period, members of the active duty military would actually get paid. The head of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vote, called it something like a budget twister. Though it is legally dubious that they can just move money around that has been appropriated by Congress for one thing and then put it to another. And then yesterday, President Trump announced something that raises a lot of both legal and ethical questions. A friend of mine, a man, that's great. I'm not going to use his name unless he lets me do it. Susie can tell you about this. But he was, he called us the other day and he said, I'd like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrat shutdown. I'd like to contribute, personally contribute, any shortfall you have with the military because I love the military and I love the country, and any shortfall, if there's a shortfall, I'll contribute it. And today, he sent us a check

for $130 million. We don't have any idea whether this is legal or how it would work or if it is even going to happen. Our team reached out to the Office of Management and Budget and the White House, and they don't have answers to these questions. $130 million? I don't think it's going to go very far for very long. My thought exactly. you know, to be able to fund this, even though it sounds like a big number and certainly is to any individual. But this is no way to run a government. Yeah. Well, I do want to shift gears a little bit. Because of the shutdown, the Labor Department has delayed its release of September

inflation data, which everyone was looking at for. But it was released this morning. Domenico, can you tell us what we learned? Consumer prices rose 3% in September from a year ago. You know, that was slightly below forecasters' expectations. This was on a delayed report for what prices were in September. It's still not terrible. It's not as bad as people thought it could get to. Of course, the Federal Reserve has to balance the idea of, you know, inflation going up versus lowering interest rates. And we know that the Fed cut interest rates by a little bit. And we've seen mortgage rates to some of their year lows. recently, but we're also seeing a lot of food prices that are pretty volatile also spike. So this is one of the issues, though, when you have a government shutdown is a lot of this federal data that the country relies on to tell what the economic health of the country is, is either going to be delayed or potentially non-existent if you don't have the Bureau of Labor Statistics potentially putting numbers out. And, you know, we're supposed to get job numbers the first, you know, week of November. And, you know,

So we'll see what, if anything, we get out of that. Well, I do want to stick with economic news, Tam. So President Trump has said he's ending all trade negotiations with Canada now. Can you tell us what prompted this? Yes, it was an ad, an ad run by the province of Ontario using selectively edited clips, audio and video of Ronald Reagan in a 1987 radio address talking about the problem with tariffs and why tariffs are a bad idea. and that they can hurt American consumers and hurt American jobs. When someone says, let's impose tariffs on foreign imports, it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs.

And sometimes for a short while it works, but only for a short time. But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer. President Trump objects to that ad. He says it is fake. And he says because of the way Canada is behaving, all negotiations are off. The president said that he was concerned that this ad was trying to influence the U.S. Supreme Court, which early next month will be hearing a case related to tariffs. And, you know, tariffs are central to both President Trump's economic policy and his foreign policy. They are just a key part of his second term agenda.

and it is something that he just does not want any counterfactuals on the amazing success that he sees coming from tariffs. Prime Minister Carney did respond saying that Canada will be ready to resume negotiations whenever the U.S. is ready. This is like one of these soap operas that has been going on the entire term. This whole year, President Trump has been having an on-again, off-again trade war with Canada, was wanting it. to be the 51st state on again, off again, on again, off again. Part of me just wants to unsubscribe from this until we get to the answer. Well, Tam, where does this leave relations between the United States and Canada? Like, where do things go from here? You know, these things have blown over before they are likely to blow over again. Canada is an incredibly important

trading partner for the United States. And so I think the likelihood is that in the end, this will get itself resolved. All right. And speaking of international relations, there was a shift this week in Trump's approach to the war in Ukraine. Tam, can you give us an update? President Trump had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coming out of that call, he announced that they would be having a summit. But within a few days, the summit was off. And President Trump said, you know, it basically wouldn't be worth his time. That once again, he had had a great call with Vladimir Putin. And then Russia did the exact opposite of what Trump thought. they were going to do. So that led to sort of the whiplash of going from, we're going to have a summit to the White House and other European nations announcing sanctions against two Russian oil

companies. And it is important to note that Russia has been funding the war in a big way by selling natural resources. And so these sanctions are a big step. That said, Russia is downplaying the significance. I mean, Trump has done more flip-flopping on Ukraine and Russia than John Kerry on wind surfing. That is a throwback to 2004, my friend. A 20-year throwback, but go look it up, kids. The fact is this is one of the two major conflicts that President Trump had said coming into office that he was going to solve essentially on day one. And it has really alluded him. And he's come around to the idea that maybe Vladimir Putin might be leading him on. And then he gets a call from Putin and he thinks that he's going to work with him. And then he doesn't. And then he throws sanctions on. No one's sure where we're going to wind up with this. One thing is true is that the Europeans have continued to push for ways to be able to support Ukraine, whether it's by having the U.S. sell arms to,

Europe and then Europe funnels them to Ukraine or whatever. But you saw that this week with the NATO Secretary General at the White House, really sort of trying to walk this very fine line about trying to maintain Trump's support to be able to help Ukraine in any way. But Trump is really the wildcard here. All right. We're going to take a quick break. More in a moment. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise. You'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and C's apply. Support for this podcast comes from Dignity Memorial. For many families, remembering loved ones means honoring the details that made them unique.

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now in spooky season. And on this week's episode of Books We've Loved, we discuss all things interview with the vampire with NPR's Barry Hardiman. So turn on the lights, grab some garlic, and listen to books we've loved in NPR's Book of the Day podcast feed on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And for those who heard yesterday's podcast, we talked about the ballroom Trump is building at the White House. He has made his physical mark on the White House in other ways, of course, from changes to the Rose Garden to new gold touches in the Oval Office. Tim, I do want to zoom out. Like, do all these physical changes go beyond just like a basic interest and aesthetics here?

Trump's brand is winning. Trump's brand is wealth. He describes this time as a golden age for America. Golden because he is in office and he's putting gold everywhere. So it's aesthetic, but it's all. also part of his brand, part of what he has been selling to the American people ever since he came down that escalator in Trump Tower. So what he is selling is winning. And it gets beyond that. It goes to power. He is wielding power by wielding an image of himself as a very powerful

man. Yeah. And I mean, that's what Trump has always been, right? He's a brander. He's somebody who's licensed his name to be on the sides of buildings that he didn't own. And a lot of this is reflective of how he's governed. So much of what he's doing here and in his life and business, it's been about image, you know, that power of positive thinking. You say it's true and it is. You dress for success and you're a success. You know, it's someone who took four companies into bankruptcy. And yet with the help of the apprentice, you know, in his name on the sides of all those buildings he didn't own, that he was able to convince a lot of people that he was wildly successful. He represented luxury when that just wasn't what his reputation was in New York.

But half the country now has really bought into that or a little bit less perhaps than that. But they've really bought into this lifestyle brand of Trump. And it's turned off another half of the country who believes that the presidency should be one where you have somebody in who's more humble and at least pays lip service to the idea that they will govern for everyone. Right. Like MAGA isn't just a political slogan. it is now a social identity, like being a diehard fan of a football team. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's not surprising that someone who was like a television producer and real estate developer, like, is putting his name and his touch on every part of the White House.

But to what extent does this matter, though? If you're like a voter and you're trying to figure out, like, what I should make of all this, like, how much does this actually matter? Here's just one example of how it matters. Because his image has always been that he's a winner when he lost the election in 2020, that was a real low point. And to this day, he has refused to acknowledge it. January 6th happened in part because people were trying to stop the certification of the election. He won in 2024, fair and square, definitely won. But he still inflates the size of his win. He overstates his mandate.

And he's governing in a way that reflects the self-image that he's. is projecting, that of dominance, of inevitability, of invincibility, that, according to a political scientist I spoke to, has the effect at times of demoralizing his opposition. When Trump lost, it went against his brand and what he views as what's important, which is projecting an image of being a winner. He had to figure out an off-ramp to not look like a loser, but to be a winner. And he decided to blame it on cheating, which there was not only no other of but was proved in court repeatedly that there wasn't any. And that led to January 6th and the siege at the Capitol and winds up getting back into the White House here. And this is what's really

putting the stamp on his legacy. He can sort of take a victory lap and feel like I was right. 2020 was an aberration. People really do love me. And that's who I really am. And that's the power that I'm projecting, this massive ballroom, these ornate finishes, the all-powerful presidency. And that's really what Trump wants to govern as unilaterally, without approval, without a lot of input from Congress or from the public at large. Yeah. I mean, I do think that, like, Trump isn't obviously the first politician that is trying to control messaging here. I mean, although for him it's more like also brand management, as you guys are saying. But, I mean, is there a way that Trump is doing this, like any specific examples where it feels different than the way other politicians have tried to control their message or their sort of brand as a politician? It's different beyond almost any politician and what they've ever done. I mean, politicians are very

careful about curating their image, no doubt about it. But Trump takes it to new levels, right? I mean, he's done this his entire life. I mean, you can't really think of other politicians who've put their name on so many things to represent them. I mean, even during COVID, you know, Trump was sending out checks and wanting to make sure that his signature was on it, right? I mean, to the point where the Biden administration was like, how do we take credit for the infrastructure? structure bill, you know, in ways that that showed that Biden was to be given credit for it. You know, it just goes way beyond anything to different scale and size that anyone's ever done. I mean, there was never really like a Biden store or an Obama store where you had the same level

of things that were branded in the way that Trump does. But, you know, the remarkable thing is that it is both on this grand scale. Like, he has signed an executive order to mandate that federal buildings have classical and neoclassical and traditional architecture, all the way down to absolute minutia, which includes things like, we're going to make sure we replace the tile in the tunnels in Washington, D.C., because those tiles look bad and they should be beautiful white tiles. He is very involved in the minutia of the aesthetics, but somewhat less involved in, like, the long-term underlying policy.

So, like, you bring in the National Guard, and they're putting mold. mulch down in parks. But you aren't dealing with the underlying problem of homelessness. You aren't dealing with the underlying problems of crime. What happens when the National Guard leaves? Well, by then, President Trump will have declared victory. And then he won't be paying attention and won't be talking about the crime data anymore. Because he has always wanted to be treated with deference. And at this point, with very little resistance from Congress, with adoring supporters, he is being treated with deference. And when he isn't, like this past weekend with the No King's protests where millions of people showed up in thousands of cities and towns to say that they

didn't support him and they thought that he was overreaching, you know, that conflicted with his curated image of ultimate power and adulation. And so when he was asked about it on Air Force One, of course he downplayed it. And he dismissed the people, right? And call them names and said that they were whacked out. I mean, you know, to dismiss them and say, you know, these aren't real Americans, essentially. He's trying to make, you know, an idea of what America is, this make America great again, MAGA idea. People have always sort of been like, what does that mean, you know, what is the sort of moving image of this? I think we have a much clearer picture of what Donald Trump thinks make America great again is 10 years after he's come onto the scene. And, you know,

he's not someone who is in search of the many to create one. It's really one's idea to create the type of country and vision that he wants. Yeah. I wonder what you guys think are the real world consequences, though, of him being able to effectively discredit or wave off like a big part of the country that is not happy with how he's doing. So the reality is that Trump is not a popular president. He is governing like he has an incredible. mandate. And in reality, he's not that popular. He is putting pressure on legislatures in Republican

states, getting them to redraw their congressional district lines to improve the numbers for Republicans to avoid losing control of Congress because he is openly saying his whole agenda will be destroyed if Republicans lose control of Congress. You know, like rather than campaigning or trying to win over people, they are trying to change the rules of the road. You know, there's old idiom about really buying into something where you say, you know, I got the hat, I bought the t-shirt. Literally, people on Trump's side have bought the hat, wear the t-shirt. What it's done in political terms is to raise his floor.

He has a real locked-in base of people, you know, who he's really never going to go much lower than kind of where he is and but never going to go much. much higher than where he is either. And this is this new era of hyper-polarization and partisanship that Trump has really kind of not ushered in, but certainly hardened. Yeah. All right. Well, we're going to take a quick break. And when we get back, it's time for Can't Let It Go. There's a lot going on right now. Mounting economic inequality threats to democracy, environmental disaster, the sour stench of chaos in the air. I'm Brooke Gladstone, host of W.

NYC's on the media, want to understand the reasons and the meanings of the narratives that led us hear and maybe how to head them off at the pass? That's on the media's specialty. Take a listen wherever you get your podcasts. Instead of letting an algorithm throw mediocre podcast recommendations at you, sign up for NPR's Pod Club newsletter. We comb through hours of audio to find the gems, the episodes that will make you gasp, cry, or crack up in a podcast. public place. Then every week we send those picks to your inbox and tell you why they're worth your time. Subscribe now at npr.org slash podclub. Believe in a free press, us too. Now's the moment to show it. The NPR shop is back with the logo tea that started it all and new gear that turns

support into a statement. Every purchase this October helps NPR support local journalism across the country. Be a part of the movement at shopnpr.org. Support for NPR and the following message come from the Lemelson Foundation, dedicated to improving lives through invention, innovation, and climate action. And we're back, and it's time to end the show like we do every week with Can't Let It Go. This is the part of the show where we talk about the things from the week that we just can't stop thinking about, politics or otherwise. I want to start with you, Domenico. What can't you let go over this week?

Well, you know, everyone knows in Washington, D.C. throughout much of the year, it's very humid. And that has meant a lot of mosquitoes. And one thing that I saw this week is that we're going to have a frost advisory for the first time in a while this year. And that means no mosquitoes. They get to be killed off. So by mosquitoes. I love that. However, I was listening to a story on NPR in which they said that for the first time ever, Iceland has gotten its first mosquitoes.

Oh, no. Sorry, Iceland. Which I was really surprised by, number one, that they've never seen mosquitoes before, but also number two. I mean, what that means, obviously, with the climate warming. But now they're going to get the joy, we could say, of mosquitoes. I grew up in Florida and I got to say, my biggest op, as the kids would say, are mosquitoes. Opposition, my nemeses are. Those little blood-sucking jerks.

Yeah, they love me. I don't know what it is. It might be something I'm eating, but, yeah. And Ashley, what can't you let go of? Oh, okay. So what I can't let go of this week happened over this past weekend. I'm sure you've seen a little bit about it. I have not been able to something about the Louvre heist. Yes. It's so crazy. For those who don't know, by the way, there are some thieves who stole over $100 million worth of jewels from the Louvre in Paris. And there has been a hunt going on to find these folks and these obviously very precious jewels. This is like pieces of history that were stolen. But there's like little bit of trickles of information coming out of who these thieves. were and how they pulled this off and some of them were dressed as construction workers and this is how they were able to get in and apparently put a truck with a with a ladder up to like one of the top floors of the Louvre that's how they got in and how they were able to sneak in an angle grinder

like like actual like tools to come in and like break open walls and stuff anyways very crazy but it does remind me of this like prank I saw once where some guys were carrying around a ladder and found out that they were able to basically walk into anywhere without being asked questions because they were holding a ladder. So if you just look like you're useful in some way, you can pretty much do anything, include walk into the Louvre and steal stuff. Yeah, really. One of the things I thought was really interesting about this story that was sort of a side story. Have you seen the photo of the guy who's supposedly a detective who's looking into it was like dressed very dapper, French detective with a fedora? and I think I saw someone saying that he didn't have a cigarette, but he looked like he was smoking,

even though he didn't even have one. Classic French detective. Love it. All right. Tam, what can't you let go of this week? Mine is also from literally a week ago, and I'm still thinking about it, because Shohei Otani, a pitcher for the Dodgers, had the single best personal, well, yeah, single best personal performance in baseball. history possibly. I don't know. Maybe I'm using some hyperbole, but maybe not. He pitched. He got 10

strikeouts. He also was the first batter up and hit a home run. Then he hit another home run out of the park. Like, I don't know that they've ever found the ball. And then he hit a third home run. All in one game. It's kind of amazing. And considering Otani had gone like three for 29 in the playoffs before that. And the Dodgers, by the way, were still being kind of a remarkable machine. So, you know, I know that he never really takes batting practice, which I thought was interesting. And he started to do that in the championship series because he was trying to break that slump. You know, he is the first one really since Babe Ruth to be able to do what he's doing. It's very remarkable. And I don't think, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think that

Babe Ruth was an amazing hitter at the same time that he was an amazing pitcher. Oh, interesting. I don't know. I don't know. I know he was both. So you're saying Shohei Otani is better than Babe Ruth. That's what I'm saying. Dodgers fans are becoming almost as insufferable as Yankees fans. All right. That's a wrap for today. Our executive producers, Mithonio Maturie. Our editor is Rachel Bay. Our producers are Casey Morel and Brea Suggs.

Thanks to Kelsey Snell and Crescianid of Calamer. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast. Thank you. Thank you.