Up First from NPR - Canada's Prime Minister Meets Trump, Abortion Lawsuit Surprise, Film Tariffs

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

President Trump will meet with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won his election on an anti-Trump platform. In a surprise move, the Justice Department asked for a lawsuit against the abortion medication mifepristone to be dismissed, and the global film industry is reeling after President Trump announced plans to hike tariffs on movies produced outside of the U.S. 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 Roberta Rampton, Diane Webber, Jane Greenhalgh, Ciera Crawford, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Kaity Kline, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Before we start the show, you may have heard that President Trump has issued an executive order seeking to block all federal funding to NPR. This is the latest in a series of threats to media organizations across the country. Millions of people, people just like you, depend on the NPR network as a vital source of news, entertainment, information, and connection. We're proud to be here for you. And now, more than ever, we need you to be here for us.

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I'm Michelle Martin, that's Amy Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. The Justice Department is moving to dismiss a case restricting access to abortion medication, which puts them on the same side of the issue as the Biden administration was and most Democrats are now. I would say the jury is still out, essentially, of how aggressive the Trump administration is going to be on medication abortion. What's the strategy here? And President Trump wants higher tariffs on a new category of foreign imports, the movies.

Our industry recently has suffered greatly, and many Americans have lost jobs to productions that have gone overseas. Stay with us, we've got all the news you need to start your day. Imagine, if you will, a show from NPR that's not like NPR, a show that focuses not on the important but the stupid, which features stories about people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies, and call it Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me because the good names were taken. Listen to NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. Yes that is what it is called wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the NPR Network. Live from NPR News, I'm Lachice. A living

breathing record of your neighborhood, the country, the world. Told by thousands of local journalists who live in the places where stories unfold. Backed by a national newsroom that puts it all in perspective. Hear the whole country's story. Hear ways of thinking that challenge your own. Hear the bigger picture with NPR. President Trump is hosting

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House today. Yes, the meeting comes as Trump has repeatedly offended the longtime ally and trading partner with tariffs that hit Canada hard and musings about somehow making Canada into the 51st state. Here's Trump in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. If Canada was a state, it wouldn't cost us, it would be great, it would be such a great, it would be a cherished state. When asked if he'll bring up the idea with Carney,

Trump said he will always bring it up, so it could be an interesting meeting. MPR White House correspondent, Deepa Shivram, joins us now with more. So Trump's choice of words and his policies have played a role in Canada's election. So what has Carney been saying about the Trump and the US? Hey, yeah, so the thing to keep in mind about Carney

is that he won this election running with an anti-Trump message. Canadians were voting as Trump was ramping up his tariff war and Canada's economy is highly dependent on exports to the US. Trump doesn't like that Canada sells more than it buys. And like you heard in that NBC interview, that clip you just played, Trump continues to say he wants to make Canada into America's 51st state. So the election there was seen as a referendum against Trump. Carney has a background in banking and has never held an elected position before. And he ran with the argument that Canada needs to forge its own path and be less reliant on the US. Yeah, so Carney hasn't been really shying away from Trump's rhetoric at all.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, here's what Carney said on election night. America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. Never. But these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. It's typical for new Canadian prime ministers to make their first foreign trip to the U.S., but Carney instead chose to go to Europe, and that sends a certain message. Sounds like it might. Given the contentious climate, then how is this meeting supposed to go? So I talked to Asa McCurtcher.

He's a professor of public policy at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. And he says Carney has to play this balancing act, right, of standing up for Canada, but also not irking Trump, which is kind of tricky. But he says Carney could have a less conflicted relationship with Trump compared to his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, who Trump often mocked. There seems to be a different tone of emphasis, I think, with Mark Carney as prime minister now. Obviously, Mr. Trump's still talking with the 51st state stuff, but he's not called him Governor Carney. He's called him a very nice man. And I think Mr. Carney certainly

looks like kind of a nerdy central bank kind of guy. And I think for Mr. Trump, who obviously likes kind of central casting figures, I think Mr. Carney looks that part. And he also says that the meeting might be a chance for Trump and Carney to kind of have a reset. Yeah, but Carney himself has said that the old relationship between the US and Canada is over. Yeah, it's a pretty unprecedented thing to say, but it speaks to how much relations have

soured since Trump's terror war. Carney told Canadian reporters a few days ago, and not to expect white smoke out of this meeting on a new trade deal. He's referencing the smoke signal that goes up when a new pope is chosen. He's already tempering expectations. But at the same time, Canada is already looking for new, more reliable trading partners. There's reports that South Korean companies are pitching sales of military equipment to Canada, which is significant because in the past, Canada's gotten most of their defense products from the U.S.

That's NPR's Diba Shiran. Thanks a lot. Thank you. The Trump administration has been fairly quiet on abortion so far. But on Monday, Trump's Justice Department asked the federal court to dismiss a case that could seriously restrict access to abortion nationally. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has been following this particular case for several years now. So tell us about this case, Selena. Well, it's challenging the Food and Drug Administration's rules about Mifepristone,

which is one of the pills used for medication abortion. It's also used to manage miscarriages. And if you're thinking, didn't the Supreme court already reject that case? You would be right. Kind of. The justices last year rejected the original challenge brought by a group of Christian doctors, but now three states, Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas have intervened. They're arguing essentially they can't ban abortion if residents can receive this medication through the mail. So they're taking up this challenge to FDA's decisions about medication abortion again.

So that's what the Trump administration's Justice Department wants to dismiss? Yeah, exactly. They took that position in a filing on Monday. And this was a bit surprising because that's the same position the Biden administration's Justice Department had made. And you might not expect a lot of continuity when it comes to abortion between these two administrations.

Does that mean, though, that the Trump administration is planning to go easy on new abortion restrictions this time around? Because the president has pointed out many times that the justices that he appointed were responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade. Yeah, I don't think that's necessarily what it means. That's in part because the federal judge in Texas who's presiding, Judge Matthew

Kaczmarek, is known to be very receptive to anti-abortion arguments, so this case might continue regardless of what the Trump administration wants to do. Also, this is not the only tool in the Trump administration's toolbox when it comes to restricting abortion. Katie Keith is the director of the Georgetown Center for Health Policy and the Law and formerly served on Biden's Gender Policy Council. I would say the jury is still out, essentially, of how aggressive the Trump administration is going to be on medication abortion.

She says if they want to restrict access, they could. For example, the Trump administration's FDA could just go ahead and add restrictions on who can get this medication and how without being required to by the court. You think the FDA would do that? You know, it's hard to predict. The new FDA Commissioner Marty McCary said publicly in April there were quote no plans for FDA to restrict Mifeprostone but plans can change. This is a medication that's been approved for almost 25 years. It's been found to be safe and effective in ending a pregnancy along with another medication called mesoprostol. And it's a medication that's used globally. The World Health Organization says it can be used safely in the first trimester of pregnancy without the direct

supervision of a healthcare provider. The FDA here in this country made the same determination and what's happened since Roe v. Wade was overturned nearly three years ago is that half of states have banned abortion but the total number of abortions nationally has gone up in part because people have been able to get this medication through the mail. There are a lot of ways that the Trump administration could try to tamp down on that outside of this court case if it wants to, and that's what remains to be seen. All right. NPR's Selena Simmons-Stuffin covers health policies. Selena, thanks.

You're welcome. The film industry started the week with a little confusion. That was after President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was imposing a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the US. On Sunday night, he posted that, quote, "'The movie industry in America is dying "'at very fast death. "'Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives

"'to draw our filmmakers and studios away "'from the United States,' unquote." NPR Entertainment correspondent, Mandelita El Barco joins us now to talk about this. So, you know, Mandelita, the basic question is probably gonna spring up more questions. So how would 100% tariff on films made outside of the US actually work?

Yeah, that's exactly what everyone in Hollywood and in film and TV industries around the world would like to know. President Trump's initial announcement was surprising. It left so many questions. Who would have to pay a tariff? The studios, film distributors? Will ticket prices go up? Would this be for international films or for American films shooting or filming on location or on sound stages around the world? What about TV and streaming shows? There have been a lot of emergency closed door meetings, group chats and social media

speculation. Studios have been quiet so far, but the head of IATSE, the union representing behind-the-scenes entertainment workers, says any plan must not harm the U.S. or Canadian film industries. The president says other countries are offering incentives to attract movie studios and filmmakers. So can you tell us about the incentives that he was referring to? I know that you have been reporting on this. Yeah, that's right. And it's true that for decades, places like Canada, the UK, Australia, and really

all over the world, they've offered productions, generous tax incentives, rebates and grants to shoot or film in their countries. Some have even built new sound stages to entice productions to wanting to cut costs. Trump says the global incentives are a threat to the national security. Okay so what are people overseas saying about this announcement from Trump? You can imagine A, studios and unions around the world are worried that this could spell the end of their own production industries. Some wonder if countries will retaliate with their own tariffs on American films. Yesterday President Trump told reporters he wants to meet the film industry

in this country to make sure they're happy with his plan to bring back showbiz jobs. Hollywood doesn't do very much of that business. They have the nice sign and everything's good, but they don't do very much. All right. So why do you think this issue came up at all for President Trump? Well, I'll give you a hint. John Voight, Trump calls the actor one of his special ambassadors, along with Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson. In a video shared with NPR, Voight calls Trump the greatest president since Abe Lincoln and his friend. Who loves the entertainment business, wants to see Hollywood thrive and make films bigger

and greater than ever before. John Voight says he presented Trump a plan to rescue the American film industry with federal tax incentives, co-production treaties with other countries, and subsidies for theater owners and film and TV production companies. Late last week, Voight also met with California Senator Ben Allen, who co-authored a state bill that would expand film and TV incentives, along with California Governor Gavin Newsom's plan to more than double the state's production tax credits. Trump blamed the governor for allowing productions to leave California, but late last night, Newsom said in a statement that he wants to team up with the Trump administration to create a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit.

All right. That's NPR's Mandelite Del Barco. Thanks a lot. Thank you, A. And that's up first for Tuesday, May 6th, Amy Martinez. And I'm Michelle Martin. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR. We here at Up First give you the three big stories of the day.

Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you. Learn about a big story of the day in less than 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Diane Weber, Jane Greenhalgh, Sierra Crawford, Jenae Williams, and Allison Wolfley. It was produced by Katie Klein, Mia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent and our technical director is Carly Strange.

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