Up First from NPR - Trump and Chicago, Trump Assassination Attempt Trial, Russia Ukraine Drone Attacks

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

President Trump walks back a weekend social media post warning Chicago is “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” while the city braces for possible immigration crackdowns and National Guard deployment. Jury selection begins for Ryan Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump, as he represents himself in court. And Russia launches its largest drone assault of the war, striking a government building in Kyiv and testing the limits of U.S. mediation.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 Gigi Douban, Russell Lewis, Miguel Macias, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woefle.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, 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

President Trump threatened Chicago in an online post saying it's about to find out why it's called the Department of War. Then he walked it back. We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our city. So how is Chicago responding? I'm Leila Fawd. That's A. Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News.

Jury's selection begins today in the trial for a man accused of hiding on a golf course with a rifle where President Trump was golfing. He's charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, and he's representing himself in court. And Russia says it's carried out the largest airstrikes on Ukraine yet, which doesn't seem to bode well for any prospective peace talks. Is Moscow signaling a new phase in this war? Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. This message comes from cozy earth. Sheets and blankets made from viscos from bamboo. Luxury bedding is designed.

to help you sleep cooler and more comfortable. They have a 100-night sleep trial with hassle-free returns along with a 10-year warranty. Head to cozyearth.com and use code up first for up to 40% off. Because your bed should be more than a place to sleep. It should be your happy place. Cozy Earth makes that possible. President Trump is dialing back his threats against Chicago after an explosive post on social media over the weekend that many interpreted as a plan to wage war on the same.

The president has vowed to step up immigration raids and send the National Guard to a number of American cities led by Democrats. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf is in Chicago. Kat, you've been there for the past few days. What happened over the weekend? Yeah, so on Saturday, Trump posted this pretty remarkable meme on social media you just referred to. It's an AI image of him as a character from the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. And it shows Chicago burning with helicopters flying overhead. and it says Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of War. He's referring there to his rebranding of the Department of Defense last week.

And that got a lot of attention, especially from elected officials here. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker responded by posting, quote, the president of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. But then, on Sunday, Trump was asked by a reporter if he was threatening war with Chicago. And here's how he responded. We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our city.

We're going to clean them up so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense. Data shows that violent crime is down in Chicago in recent years, but Trump maintains that the National Guard would be sent here and to other cities to fight crime. He's also threatened to step up immigration, arrests, and deportations. All right. So that's the view from D.C. How are people feeling in Chicago?

People are still going about their daily lives, but it is tense. On Saturday, there was a big protest downtown with marchers taking up whole streets for blocks. I talked to people there, and they told me that they were really worried about American democracy, especially after they've seen Trump deploy national guard troops in both L.A. and D.C. in recent months. On the immigration side of things, people are genuinely scared. I went to Pilsen. It's a neighborhood where many people with Mexican roots live on the west side. I talked to 27-year-old Andrea Sorria there. She teared up a bit telling me about several undocumented members of her family who haven't left their houses this week. For them to not be able to go out and all this week they've been relying on myself, you know, cooking groceries, go check on this.

And she said it's been really stressful. Now, Trump has said he will send the National Guard cat. He just hasn't said when or where. Wasn't there a ruling last week if I remember, right, saying that Trump's deployment of troops to Los Angeles the summer was. illegal. Yeah, you're right. That judge found that Trump's use of the National Guard violated a law that limits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. But that ruling, which the Trump administration has appealed, only applies in California. In D.C., where the National Guard has been deployed for about a month, Trump has the authority to do so because of how enmesh the federal

government is with D.C. In most cases, governors deploy their state national guards. Many experts say that what we're seeing here, with it being potentially forced on states, is uncharging. territory. Okay. So what are you going to be watching for in the coming days? Well, we still really don't know what Trump's going to do. Remember, Trump has threatened multiple cities. Yesterday evening, he left things open, saying he would make a decision about where to send federal troops and agents, quote, over the next day or two. When asked specifically if he has plans for Chicago this week, he said, no, not really. All right. That's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Chicago. Kat, thanks a lot. Thank you.

In Florida, jury selection begins today in the trial of the man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year when he was running for president. A Secret Service agent says he spotted Ryan Ruth holding a rifle and fired on the suspect while Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach Club last September. Ruth will represent himself in court. The judge hearing the case granted Ruth's request to dismiss his lawyers. There's Greg Allen. We'll be in the courtroom today. He joins us from Fort Pierce, Florida. So, Greg, why did Ruth decide he wanted to represent himself? Well, you know, we had a series of pretrial hearings over the last several months. And in the last several, Ruth told Judge Eileen Cannon, he was dissatisfied with his attorneys. Because he couldn't hire his own lawyers, he was assigned to federal public defenders. But over the course of several months, he'd said to the judge, he didn't like how they were representing him. In a letter to the judge, he said they were a million miles apart. that's a quote, and we're refusing to answer his questions. Judge Eileen Cannon, who's hearing the case, held a couple of hearings and considered an evaluation of Ruth's competency that was done by a forensic psychologist.

She agreed Ruth could represent himself but denied a request from his public defenders that they be released in the trial. Instead, she says they'll serve a standby counsel helping him with court filings and other legal assistance when needed. Okay, so remind us what is Ruth charged with and what penalties could he face. Right. Well, to recap, in September of last year, a secret service agent who was part of Trump's security detail, says he saw a gun barrel poking from the tree line, a few holes ahead of where the then-presidential candidate was golfing. He immediately fired on the person holding the gun.

A man later identified as Ruth fled the scene and was arrested a short time later driving north on Interstate 95. The main count he faces is attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate. A conviction on that charge would carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. and there were four other accounts, including some federal weapons charges, and Ruth has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. All right. Tell us about Ryan Ruth, and tell us about maybe how he'll conduct his defense. Well, you know, he spent most of his life in North Carolina before moving to Hawaii. He has a criminal record, including a conviction in 2002 for possessing an explosive device.

He's apparently held a lot of different political views in his time supporting people like Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbitt, and then Donald Trump. He's been a strong supporter of Ukraine. He traveled there and was photographed and interviewed while there. He said he supported Trump for president in 2016 and now regrets that decision. A key piece of evidence in the trial, I think, will be this 12-page letter he left with a friend that was turned over to authorities after his arrest. Prosecutors plan to show just the first page of the letter to the jury. That's where he writes, Dear World, this is an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you.

Ruth wants the jury to see the full text of the 12-page letter. he said in a motion to the judge that, quote, every line is about gentlest, peacefulness, and nonviolent caring for humanity. Judge Cannon says she'll wait until later to rule on that request. And speaking to Judge Cannon, she had another high profile case not that long ago.

That was Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges that he mishandled, classified, and top secret documents. Right. We heard a lot about Judge Eileen Cannon over the last couple years. She was appointed the federal bench by Trump in 2020. In that classified documents case, she dismissed the charges against Trump,

ruling that the appointment of a special counsel to prosecute the former president was unconstitutional. She was randomly assigned to hear this case. All right. That's NPR's Greg Allen in Fort Pierce, Florida. Greg, thanks. You're welcome. Over the weekend, Ukraine says Russia launched its largest airstrikes yet on Ukrainian cities using more than 800 attack drones. At least five people were killed and dozens were injured. and for the first time, a building in the heavily protected government sector was badly damaged. The attack comes as appeals from the Trump administration have failed to push Russia into ending its war on Ukraine.

NPR's Joanna Kikis is on the live from Kiev. Joanna, tell us about this weekend's attacks. Yeah, actually, I had just gotten back into town when these attacks began on Saturday evening. I woke up in the middle of the night after I heard a very loud and familiar buzzing sound. That's a shahed drone flying over our neighborhood and then the booms of air defense trying to shoot down the drones as well as missiles. By early Sunday morning, smoke was billowing from the government sector which is protected by layers of air defense.

The building where President Volodyemar Zelensky's cabinet meets was on fire. Yeah, and this is a heavily guarded sector of Kiev. I mean, is this the first time a building in that area has been damaged in an attack? Yes, hey, it's the first time since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Now, according to Kiev Mayor Vitale-Klichko, the fire appears to have started after burning debris from a destroyed Russian drone fell on the building. And later on Sunday, Yulias Vididenko, she's Ukraine's prime minister, she posted a video to social media of herself walking past the broken walls of the damaged building. Here's a bit of that clip.

Now, she's saying you can see the consequences of this attack. We've put out the fires. Crew crews are still working and it looks like Russia is not seeking peace and is not ready for negotiations. Svididenko went on to say that she hopes Ukraine's allies will respond. Oh, have they responded? Well, yeah, they have at least verbally. Ursula Funderline, the European Commission president said the Kremlin is mocking diplomacy, trampling on international law, and killing indiscriminately because among those killed in Ukraine was a mother and her infant son in Kiev. However, the European Union is not entirely united. and how to respond to Russian attacks.

Hungary and Slovakia, for example, rely on Russian oil and economic ties, and its populist leaders often attack NATO and even the EU leadership as elitists. But Fonderline said the EU is tightening sanctions on Russia and is helping Ukraine financially and with its military. Okay. What did President Trump have to say about this? Well, President Trump told reporters in Washington on Sunday

that he is considering new sanctions in response to Russia rebuffing a ceasefire. However, the 50% tariffs the Trump administration imposed on countries like India for buying Russian oil appear to have had no real impact. Speaking to NBC News on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the U.S. is open to partnering with the European Union to impose even more sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil. This would be an attempt to, quote, collapse the Russian economy, as he said, though, of course, that would take quite a while. So it looks like Russia is able to resist the effects. of sanctions? So is Ukraine preparing for an extended war? Yeah, well, they're preparing by arming themselves. President Zelensky said a couple of days ago that Ukraine not produces more than 60 percent of its own weapons. And in his evening address last night, Zelensky said

Ukraine is fighting what he called air raid anxiety by making air defense a top priority because according to Ukraine's military intelligence, Russia is producing nearly 3,000 shot head attack drones every month, and that's a sign that the attacks will continue. That's NPR's Joanna Kikisus in Kiev. Joanna, thanks. You're welcome. And that's up first for Monday, September 8th. And I'm Lela Faldin. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR. We hear it 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 podcast. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Gigi Dubon, Russell Lewis. Miguel Macias, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zia Butch, Nia Dumaas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Highness. Our technical director is Carly Strange.

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