Up First from NPR - Trump In Asia, U.S. Military In Caribbean, Shutdown Week 4

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

President Trump’s Asia trip kicks off with peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand and a trade framework with China, before meeting with President Xi Jinping on Thursday. The massive U.S. military build up in the Caribbean waters off the coast of Venezuela is causing concern from Caracas to the U.S. Congress, Venezuelan troops conduct drills on their beaches this weekend. And federal workers face growing financial strain as the government shutdown threatens holiday travel and food benefits.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 Dana Farrington, Tara Neil, Kelsey Snell, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle .It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Christopher ThomasWe get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Correction: In a previous audio version of this episode we refer to Venezuelan Minister Diosdado Cabello as Minister of Defense instead of Minister of Interior.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Trump stops in Tokyo on his way to a meeting with the President of China. The two countries announced a framework for resolving their trade disputes. What more will it take to reach an actual deal? I'm Michelle Martin. That's Stevenski, and this is up first from NPR News. Venezuelan troops ran drills on their beaches this weekend as U.S. warships crowd the Caribbean. What is the U.S. plan there? Also, the federal workers' missing paychecks include air. air traffic controllers who are still on the job.

Here's what happens as some begin to miss work. I can't guarantee you that your flight's going to be on time. I can't guarantee you that your flight's not going to be canceled. Which is why some see Thanksgiving as a possible end point for the shutdown. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. President Trump is making the early stops of a tour of Asia. He went to Malaysia over the weekend.

While there, he celebrated a peace deal between other nations that trade with the U.S., Cambodia and Thailand. When we make deals, we see two countries that we do a lot of business with. We do a lot of business with both of them. We have to use that business to make sure they don't get into wars. The two countries had traded fire over the summer, and the president took some credit for making sure they stopped. Trump is now in Tokyo, but the climax of this visit is a summit of Asian leaders in South Korea, where he expects to meet China's president. That's a head-spinning list of countries,

but China is the big one because the two nations are trying to avoid a trade war. NPR's Mara Liason is following this. Mara, good morning. Good morning. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson said the U.S. and China had reached a framework for a trade deal with China. But, Mara, what does that mean?

Well, a framework is not a final deal. A framework is an agenda. And sometimes the final deals don't pan out either. Certainly in his first term, Trump was disappointed that China didn't agree. didn't carry out the trade deal he made with them. But what Scott Besson said yesterday on ABC is he expects the Chinese to delay for a year those export licensing restrictions on rare earth minerals. And in exchange, Donald Trump would not slap the 100% tariffs that he's

threatened. But the Chinese readout of that meeting between U.S. and Chinese trade officials did not mention these terms. So we're going to have to wait to see what happens. Now, on the plane to Asia, President Trump told reporters, he said, China will have to make concessions and we will too. So the big question is which concessions will Trump make? Will he let China buy more advanced semiconductor chips? Some national security experts say that would be dangerous. Would he soften the U.S. stance toward Taiwan and say the U.S. opposes Taiwanese independence. That's something China would like. Yesterday he was asked about that. He didn't want to discuss Taiwan. He has held up a $400 million arms package for Taiwan.

And Hawks in the Republican Party are worried that Trump is so eager for a big, splashy deal that he might compromise U.S. national security interests along the way. I'm interested in all the details you give me, Mara, especially about rare earth, saying that China would extend for a year this cutting off of, or rather delay for a year this cutting off of rare earth minerals, which means China would still have leverage as they continue further talks. How does this make things different than perhaps they've been in the past between the U.S. and China? Well, China, as Trump might say, has a lot of cards. They've been playing them. They haven't bought soybeans from U.S. farmers. As you said, they've held up these rare earth exports. And China is a big, powerful country. In many ways, it's as strong as the U.S. It's soon to be the biggest economy in the world. And this is a very different power dynamic. Trump can't just unilaterally lay down the terms of a trade deal, the way he has done with smaller, less powerful countries.

This is very interesting because it brings to mind Trump's dance, if that's the right word over time, with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That's true. In many ways, his talks with Xi have been similar to these on again, off again talks with Putin, lots of whiplash. He was going to meet with Putin. Now he's not. He threatened tariffs against China. Now he's not. He threatened to cancel this meeting with Xi, but he clearly backed off of that. I think there are a lot of theatrics to this. I think the bottom line is that both of these leaders, the two most powerful people in the world, would at the very least like to come out of their meeting and be able to say that they have dialed down the tension backed off from the trade war, at least for now. NPR's Mara Liason, people will hear you've got a cold. Everybody loves you, so go get some tea. And thanks for your insights. Thanks. The massive military buildup in the Caribbean waters of Venezuela is causing some concern from Caracas to the U.S. Congress. Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans are questioning the Trump administration's military campaign there. In the past month, military strikes on suspected drugs. boats have killed at least 43 people. Meanwhile, Venezuela's military spent the weekend preparing

for land strikes. Let's pick up the conversation right there with NPR South America correspondent Carrie Khan. Carrie, good morning. Good morning, Steve. What does that mean for Venezuela to prepare for land strikes? They held military exercises along the country's Caribbean coast, and these were on heavy repeat on state TV. To call them military exercises, it was a very minimal show of force, not a lot of hardware, mostly a few dozen troops running on the beach. A minister of defense, Diosdado Covello, said what Venezuela lacked in firepower, however, it made up in determination. He says the military is also there to protect Venezuela from drug traffickers.

He's just denying U.S. charges that it leads a narco drug organization. The U.S., as he said, isn't backing down. it has rerouted the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford to the region, and they have about 5,000 personnel on board. That's to add to the nearly 10,000 fighters and sailors that are already there in the region. Now, given that legal experts have questioned the U.S. authority for blowing up boats in the Caribbean, much less invading another country, how is the administration addressing the legality of all this? The administration says it has the authority, and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking on CBS yesterday, reiterated that position, he says Trump has the power to launch the strikes.

He has all the authority in the world. This is not murder. This is protecting America from being poisoned by narco terrorists coming from Venezuela and Colombia. Graham also says there's a real possibility. That's what he said. The military campaign will expand to land strikes soon. Drug interdiction in the Caribbean has long been done by the U.S. Coast Guard. And many in Congress and beyond are saying using missiles and destroyers to blow up speedboats is excessive, not to mention overly expensive. Graham clearly said yesterday the U.S. intention is to oust Venezuela's authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro from power.

The U.S. has also talked tough about Colombia, Venezuela's neighbor. What's going on there? Sure. Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday spoke to reporters en route to Doha, and he repeated tough rhetoric toward Colombia's president Gustavo Petro as well. The U.S. just sanctioned Petro and his family. Rubio is called Petro a lunatic and accuses him of also aiding drug trafficking. And that's all the while the U.S. has cut counter-narcotic aid there.

Got to ask about one other thing. Brazil's president has gone back and forth with the U.S. president. And then apparently they met yesterday in Asia? Yes, Trump and President Luis Sanacio Lula de Silva, did finally talk trade yesterday in Asia. Trump slapped 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods, complaining that Brazil unfairly prosecuted its former far-right leader, convicting him of attempting a coup. Lula is the leading leftist in the region, and now he's floating the idea of mediating talks between the U.S. and Venezuela. Back to our original story. Carrie, thanks so much. You're welcome.

NPR's Carrie Khan is in Rio de Janeiro. In Washington, Democrats and Republicans have made no progress toward ending the federal government shutdown. talking, even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers missed a paycheck on Friday. Over the weekend, a pop-up window on the official USDA site said food stamp benefits will run dry on November 1st. The site, which is funded by the taxpayers, repeated partisan Republican talking points blaming Democrats for the shutdown. NPR congressional reporter Sam Greenglasses covering nothing that's happening to end this shutdown, although there are various efforts. Sam, good

morning. Hey there. Okay, so would we expect that federal workers will go unpaid until the shutdown ends, given that the Senate has turned aside a couple of efforts to change that? Well, that is possible, but the Senate could try again this week, but Republicans want a measure to pay only employees working without pay like TSA agents. Democrats want to get a paycheck to all federal employees and also block the White House from doing more layoffs. That last part is going to be a non-starter for a lot of Republicans, though Republican Senator Ron Johnson did say he's open to something more inclusive. My bill is obviously targeted to the people we're forcing to work, but I'm not necessarily opposed to paying forload workers as well. That's something we can talk about, okay?

Democrats say only paying workers who are considered essential basically lets the White House decide who gets paid and who doesn't, and they're already doing that to some extent, like repurposing funds to pay active duty military. Does any of this amount to progress toward actually running the government in a normal way? So these bills allowed both parties to say the other blocked pay for federal employees. I mean, you had Republicans calling their measure the shutdown fairness act and Democrats naming there's the true shutdown fairness act. And that kind of blame game has really been a refrain throughout this shutdown without much movement. Though it was notable that three Democrats voted for the Republican bill to pay some workers, including Senator John Ossoff of Georgia,

who's the only incumbent Democrat up for re-election in a state Trump won. Interesting that some people are thinking about their re-elections, perhaps, but is anything here likely to disrupt the impasse? I've heard some Republicans predict Thanksgiving will be a turning point when Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy spoke alongside House Republicans last week. He talked a lot about air traffic controllers working without pay. We are all about safety, but again, I can't guarantee you that your flight's going to be on time. I can't guarantee you that your flight's not going to be canceled.

We've also heard many states announce they're going to run out of money next week for food assistance benefits known as SNAP. I guess we should note frequently when there's a government shutdown, the parties are reversed. It is the Democrats saying, come on, just open the government and we'll negotiate and it's Republicans making demands. This time it's Democrats making a demand and Republicans saying no to the whole thing. What makes Democrats think Republicans would change course? So just to remember, Democrats have been holding out on supporting a funding bill until Republicans agree to extend expiring health insurance subsidies. Democrats think that expiration date is going to be harder to brush aside after this week

when open enrollment begins for plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. And many Americans could see their premiums soar. Still, some Democrats say President Trump needs to get. get involved to break this stalemate, but he is in Asia this week, so that is not going to happen anytime soon. NPR congressional reporter Sam Gringlass. Thanks so much. Thanks, Steve. We have an update on the investigation into the heist at France's Louvre Museum. Authorities arrested two suspects over the weekend. Police say they tracked them down through surveillance footage and DNA left at the scene?

Apparently, leaving behind your circular saw walkie-talkie glove and reflective vest as clues for the police does not lead to the perfect crime. One suspect was arrested at the airport as he was about to catch a flight. The other was picked up in the Paris suburbs. Two other suspects are still missing

and so were the jewels. And that's up first for this Monday, October 27th. I'm Steve Inskeep. I'm Michelle Martin. The news you hear on Up First is possible because of support from listeners like you. When you give to your local NPR station, you help keep journalists on the ground here at home and around the world. You can make a donation at donate.npr.org And for more news and conversations, listen to a radio show, morning edition. You can find it on your local NPR station or at NPR.org. Today's Up First was edited by Dana Farrington,

Tara Neal, Kelsey Snell, Muhammad al-Bardisi. and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zeot Butch, Ben Abrams, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hines, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us tomorrow.