Up First from NPR - Birthright Citizenship Arguments, Trump's Mideast Trip, Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court seemed divided as justices heard arguments debating how lower courts should handle President Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship. Trump heads back to Washington after four days of pomp in the Middle East. The first week of the federal criminal trial of Sean Combs featured testimony alleging a pattern of control and violence.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Krishnadev Calamur, Jacob Ganz, Roberta Rampton, Ally Schweitzer and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ana Perez, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States. President Trump tried to overturn that right and asked the Supreme Court to limit the power of judges to stop him. What are the arguments? I'm E. Martinez, that is Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. President Trump basked in the luxury offered by foreign governments. He also used U.S. troops as the audience for a campaign rally-style speech. What did his Mideast trip accomplish for the United States?

Franco Ordonez traveled with him and has an assessment. Also Sean Combs, former girlfriend, testified about their 11-year relationship. Cassie Ventura described a pattern of violence and control. What's the evidence that the record executive abused his power? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. Judging by their questions in oral arguments, the Supreme Court seemed divided yesterday.

Yeah, they went back and forth with lawyers for more than two hours about birthright citizenship. Lower courts have found it was unconstitutional for President Trump to try and erase that constitutional right by executive order. NPR Legal Affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg, says the government advanced a different argument. Hi there, Nina.

Hi there, Steve. So Nina, what was the president trying to do, or his lawyers anyway? The Supreme Court ruled unanimously 127 years ago that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was enacted after the Civil War, says unambiguously that all babies born in the United States are automatically U.S. citizens. President Trump, however, has always had his own interpretation. So on his first day in office this year, he issued an executive order declaring that the children of parents who entered the US illegally or on a temporary visa are not entitled to automatic

US citizenship. Three different district court judges ruled that the executive order violated the Constitution. In addition, they issued temporary nationwide orders called universal injunctions that temporarily barred the enforcement of the Trump order anywhere in the country while the case is litigated in the appeals courts. The Trump administration, claiming that the judges had exceeded their authority, then went to the Supreme Court asking it to block those nationwide injunctions. Yeah, I guess the argument is that the ruling in a lower court should only apply to the case that's in front of them.

And in fairness, some justices do not seem to have liked nationwide injunctions in the past. Correct. But yesterday, they didn't seem so certain, especially after Trump's Solicitor General, John Sauer, reiterated the president's view that the 14th Amendment only applies to former slaves and their children. Justice Sotomayor asked whether if a new president ordered the military to confiscate all guns in the country,

would the course have to sit back and wait until every person whose gun is taken files a lawsuit? Justice Kagan then followed up asking Sauer about Trump's birthright executive order known as an EO. Let's just assume you're dead wrong. How do we get to single rule of citizenship that is not the rule that we've historically applied rather than the rule that the EO would have us do?

Later, when Solicitor General Sauer hedged on whether the administration is committed to abiding by any court ruling, Justice Barrett leaned forward in her chair asking him whether the administration would abide by appeals court orders. Sauer responded this way. There are circumstances when it is not a categorical practice. Interesting that he is questioned there by a Trump appointee. He says, maybe we would follow appeals court orders, maybe not. How did the justices respond to that?

I don't think that answer went down very well. Here's Justice Kavanaugh, for instance, asking a series of practical questions. What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with a newborn? The federal officials will have to figure that out. Replied Sauer, we just don't know. Justice Jackson then interjected. Your argument seems to turn our justice system into a catch me if you can kind of regime where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people's rights. When Sauer suggested that litigants could bring class actions instead of individual lawsuits, lawyer Jeremy Feigenbaum, representing the state,

said that would produce, quote, unprecedented chaos on the ground. Nina, sometimes you can listen to the justices' questions and predict how they're going to rule. Are you able to predict this time? Nope. We'll just have to keep listening then. NPR's Nina Totenberg, thanks so much.

Thank you. What did the United States gain from President Trump's first state trip overseas in a second term? He's returning from a tour through the Persian Gulf region. He struck business deals and enjoyed royal treatment from the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. I've been doing this for four days. I leave now and get onto a 42-year-old Boeing.

But new ones are coming. New ones are coming. President Trump has talked about accepting a luxury Boeing aircraft from the Qatari royal family to use until a new fleet of planes is ready for Air Force One, raising concerns about ethics and security back home. He's also coming back without much to show on the biggest diplomatic challenge in the region, the war in Gaza. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez has been traveling with the president.

Such a whirlwind trip, Franco, that when I asked you a moment ago, where are you, it took you a couple seconds to recall, which is perfectly understandable. But we're glad you're with us from where? I am in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE. Got it. And what struck you from this trip? Well, I mean, what struck me from this trip is just how dramatically the leaders pulled out all the stops for Trump.

I mean, you had the fighter jets escorting Air Force One as it landed in Riyadh and later in Doha. You had the military receptions, the Arabian forces, you had the camels. And the president really signed to love it all. But I was also struck by how little discussion there was about the crisis in Gaza where Israel really keeps escalating its strikes and it is promising an even greater offensive once Trump leaves. Well what did the president focus on? Well he focused on business. I mean in his first big speech on the trip he said he was not there to lecture the region on how it should handle its affairs but Trump

ultimately could not entirely avoid the Gaza crisis, which he just noted is the biggest issue affecting the region right now. And yesterday, he again suggested that the US take over Gaza and develop the land. He was actually at a business roundtable in Doha, and he told reporters that there was nothing left to save in Gaza.

I think I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone, let some good things happen, put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with. Now, Steve, it's an idea that Arab nations, including his hosts this week, have strongly opposed, and I'll just add that he did offer an olive branch to Syria, a diplomatic one, agreeing to lift sanctions at the request of the Saudi's crown prince.

Okay, so there's Gaza, there's Syria, a separate issue, and then there's the matter of the war in Ukraine, because the president said he might go to Turkey, where some of his officials are trying to negotiate an end to the war. Is he going to stop there? Well, I mean, it doesn't look like it. Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't show up. And Trump said he doesn't think anything will happen until he meets with Putin directly.

Trump did say this morning that they will meet as soon as a time can be set up. He mentioned actually that he may have gone today to Turkey, but he needs to get back and meet the newest member of the Trump family. His daughter Tiffany just had a baby. Okay. Any other lasting takeaways for you? I mean, one thing I'm really still processing is this speech that Trump gave yesterday to service members at an Air Force base outside Doha.

You know, usually presidents don't get too political when they're talking to troops, but Trump gave what amounted to a campaign speech. I mean, he called the Biden administration evil. He said the troops were making America great again, you know, using his slogan. He walked onto the stage to his campaign music. He walked off his stage to the campaign music. So it was just very unusual for a president. Franco, thanks so much for the insights and safe travels home.

Thanks always, Steve. And Piers Franco-Ordonez in Abu Dhabi. In this country, the sex trafficking trial of Sean Combs began this week. So far, three witnesses have taken the stand. One of them, Combs' ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, testified that their relationship was marked by violence and blackmail. And Piers Isabel Gomez-Sarmiento has been in the courthouse and joins us. We will be getting into allegations of physical and sexual assault in the next three and a

half minutes. Isabella, good morning. Good morning, Steve. What does the prosecution case amount to? So basically, prosecutors are alleging that Combs forced two of his ex-girlfriends into these highly orchestrated sexual performances that were fueled by drug use. They're saying he ran a criminal enterprise that not only enabled but concealed those sex crimes along with other illegal activities.

Well, A mentioned Cassie Ventura. What have you heard from her? She has shared a lot. She really painted a picture of pervasive control and violence over the 11 year relationship that she shared with Combs. So first she testified that Combs demanded that she participate in sexual encounters

with male escorts that Combs would choreograph, watch and film. Ventura said that he would allegedly blackmail her with these videos. And then she also testified about how Combs was physically abusive towards her for years. The government showed photos of bruising and other injuries that

Ventura said resulted from his beatings. So she said she loved Combs, but that he could also be scary. And she just didn't feel like she could safely leave that relationship. I would imagine that is a key part of any prosecution case, not just what you did, but how you did it. Did someone feel coerced or overcome by someone's power? How does this testimony relate to the formal charges, which are sex trafficking, racketeering, conspiracy, and transportation for prostitution?

Yeah. I mean, so like you were saying, Ventura testified that Combs wielded a lot of power over her. That power was professional, it was financial, emotional, physical, and that he used that to coerce her into this sex that she didn't want to participate in. She also spoke a lot about how Combs requested that she hire male escorts and arrange travel for them so that connects to those prostitution charges. And she details how his employees were allegedly at his beck and call to help commit and cover up these crimes. What happened when Combs defense lawyers had an opportunity to cross-examine her?

So, I mean, off the bat earlier this week, the defense admitted that Combs has been violent, but they say he didn't coerce or traffic anyone. So when they began cross-examining Ventura, they relied heavily on text message evidence. They had her read out loud these loving, caring texts she exchanged with Combs over the years. The defense is really trying to establish grounds for consent.

So they also had her read texts in which she was agreeing to, or at least planning logistics for those sexual performances. Basically, they're trying to suggest she was doing all of this willingly, and if she wanted to, she could have walked away. Can I just ask, this trial obviously is a focus of lots of attention. It's a huge media event, and you're covering it day by day.

What's it like to be there? Yeah, I mean, there have been these huge crowds outside the building in lower Manhattan. And that includes everyone from journalists to influencers, podcasters, even just curious members of the public who want to see what this is all about. Some people are camping out overnight to hold

their spot in line or paying someone else to hold their spot in line for them. And whenever court adjourns, there tends to be a frenzy of people running outside, making TikToks, even chasing down family members as they leave. So it's been a really, really busy scene this first week. Isabella, thanks for the update. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Steve. That's NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento. And that's Up First for this Friday, Friday, May 16th. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm Amay Martinez.

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