Up First from NPR - Trump Threatens Chicago, DOJ Latest, US-South Korea Summit

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

President Trump threatens to send the National Guard to Chicago. The Justice Department has released transcripts of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime accomplice of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And, President Trump will meet with the president of South Korea in Washington for a summit on trade and security. 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, Ryland Barton, Lisa Thomson and HJ Mai. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, and Mansee Khurana.We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Good morning. How are you? I'm okay. I was off for a couple weeks. Yeah. Oh, you noticed? Did you go? That's a plus.

I don't want to say I deeply missed you, Steve, because then it would sound weird. But we know you're thinking it, so that's... I'm touched. Thank you. President Trump talks of sending the National Guard to another American city. When we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C. So how are Chicago officials? officials responding. I'm Steve Inskeep with A. Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News.

The Justice Department released its interview with Yelan Maxwell, an associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump's former personal lawyer asked about the president who has the power to set her free. And as far as I'm concerned, President Trump is always very cordial and very kind to me. What is she receiving after that interview? And the President of South Korea is in Washington today for a summit on trade and security. What's the U.S. demand of a longtime ally. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

Keeping up with the news can feel like a 24-hour job. Luckily, it is our job. Every hour on the NPR News Now podcast, we take the latest, most important stories happening, and we package them into five-minute episodes, so you, can easily squeeze them in between meetings and on your way to that thing. Listen to the NPR News Now podcast. Now. These days, there's so much news. It can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community. The Consider this podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and

analysis that helps you make sense of the news. We get behind the headlines. We get to the truth. Listen to the Consider This Podcast from NPR. The mayor of Chicago is rejecting the idea of federal troops patrolling a city. Brandon Johnson says the idea would be illegal, uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound. He said that after President Trump talked of sending National Guard troops to Chicago, just as he has in Washington, D.C. Chicago's a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent. And we'll straighten that one out probably next. That'll be our next one after this. And it won't even be tough.

We're joined now by NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Key. So, Tam, do we know what President Trump has in mind here? The short answer is no. Trump has been talking about crime in Chicago for as long as he's been a politician. But his remarks in the Oval Office on Friday appeared to move Chicago to the top of his list. But I should say this was not a big announcement or rollout. It was an off-the-cuff comment during an unrelated event about soccer. It has been clear for some time that what Trump is doing in Washington, D.C. is a trial run for other cities.

He has said as much. The Washington Post has an exclusive report that the Pentagon has been drawing up plans for the National Guard to be deployed to Chicago. But when I asked the White House about that, they referred me to these remarks from Trump on Friday in response to a reporter's question. Have there been concrete steps that the administration is taking to do that? Or what are other cities as well? I haven't spoken to him. He's grossly incompetent. I haven't spoken to the mayor. No, when we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C.

Over the weekend, Trump also got into a war of words with the Maryland governor, Wes Moore, and said he might send troops there as well. Yeah, now that trial run has been in place in D.C. for, what, two weeks now? How's it going? There are now more than 2,000 troops assigned to D.C., and as of yesterday, they began carrying their service weapons. In addition to assisting local and federal law enforcement, some are now beginning community improvement work under the umbrella of task force beautification. The White House has announced hundreds of arrests. A significant share of them are immigration enforcement, in addition to gun possession, outstanding warrants, and then more petty crimes. Trump is now claiming there is no crime and no murder in D.C. Crime was already falling in D.C. when Trump declared an emergency,

but what is less clear is what will happen with crime if and when the guard goes home. Now, Chicago's mayor says all of this would be illegal and uncalled for. What does Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker think? Oh, Governor Pritzker said in no uncertain terms over the weekend that he doesn't want the National Guard sent to Chicago. And normally, the governor has to call up the guard. Here's part of what he said, quote, Donald Trump's threat to bring the National Guard to Chicago isn't about safety. it's a test of the limits of his power and a trial run for a police state. Illinois has long worked with federal law enforcement to tackle crime, but we won't let a dictator impose his will, unquote.

All right. So it doesn't sound like Pritzker will be calling up the guard anytime soon, but will that matter? Will his wishes matter? Yeah, it didn't stop Trump from sending thousands of guard troops and hundreds of active duty Marines into Los Angeles amid protests against immigration raids. And that was over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom of California. And the question of whether Trump can legally do this is still being litigated. One of the key lessons of the second Trump term is that he is going to assert immense constitutional authority and isn't afraid of being sued because the judicial process takes a long time. And sometimes the courts hand him a win further cementing powers that other presidents never even tried to assert. That's NPR's Tamara Keith. Thanks a lot. You're welcome. The Trump administration is using law enforcement to investigate one of the president's critics.

The FBI searched the home and office of John Bolton. He's Trump's former national security advisor, now a guest on numerous programs, including this one, where he's given an independent view. The FBI move against Bolton seized attention on. on the same day as another Justice Department action in a case where the president has a stake. Officials released their interview with Gieland Maxwell. She's the longtime accomplice of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and is now speaking up for Trump. NPR Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas is here. So, Ryan, let's start with a Maxwell interview.

Why did the department want to talk to her? So first off, the department released what it says is the full transcript and audio of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interviewed last month in Florida with Maxwell, where she's serving her prison sentence. Blanche, who, it's important to note, previously served as President Trump's personal attorney. He took this unusual step because the Justice Department and the administration more broadly

has been under a lot of fire for how it's handled the Epstein matter. It promised transparency only to then say that no more documents would be made public. That caused a public backlash, including from some MAGA faithful. So the administration has been scrambling to contain that fallout.

So what did she have to say? Well, she was asked about many of the rich and powerful people who have been associated over the years with Epstein. That includes, of course, President Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years before they had a falling out. Maxwell was very complimentary of Trump. She told Blanche that she liked him, that he was always a gentleman.

She also said that she never saw any man do anything inappropriate with a woman of any age while with Epstein. Yeah, she was also convicted of helping Epstein sexually exploit underage girls. So how credible is she? Right. She is currently serving a 20. year prison sentence, in fact, for helping Epstein recruit, groom, and sexually exploit girls as young as 14. So a jury heard evidence at trial of her role in that and found her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Federal prosecutors also charged her at one point with perjury for

allegedly lying in a deposition about her actions with Epstein. So the Justice Department itself has previously said that she's not credible. Now, Maxwell's attorney, David Marcus, said in a statement after this interview was released that Maxwell's innocent, that she told the truth, but it's important to point out again that Maxwell is serving a long prison sentence. She would like some sort of clemency, whether a reduction in sentence or a pardon. And of course, President Trump is the only man with the power to deliver that. I'll also note that shortly after Maxwell's interview with Blanche, she was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum security prison camp in Texas.

All right. Now, let's turn now to John Bolton, the search of John Bolt's home in office. Is this part of Trump's campaign, maybe, of vengeance against perceived political enemies? Well, look, Trump said on Friday that he didn't know anything about it. His vice president, J.D. Vance, told NBC News that Bolton was not targeted because he's a critic of the president. We know that this investigation relates to classified documents, but we don't know much more at this point. But look, there is certainly a growing list of people whom the president considers political enemies who are facing justice. Department investigations. California, Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General, Letitia James,

are two of them. The Department also has reportedly taken steps to investigate actions around the Obama-era intelligence that led to the Russia investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign, which, of course, is a main grievance of Trump's. The Department's also fired prosecutors who worked on the investigations into Trump himself or January 6 Capitol Riot cases. All of these actions certainly fit into the vision that Trump spelled out during the campaign of seeking vengeance on his perceived enemies. That's NPR's Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thank you. Thank you. President Trump will meet with the president of South Korea for a summit in Washington today. The two countries' longtime alliance is on the table. They're expected to work out the

final details of a trade deal and discuss the role of U.S. forces stationed in South Korea. NPR correspondent Anthony Kuhn joins us now for a preview of this meeting. So Anthony, South Korean president took office in June. Tell us about him. Well, his name is E.J. Myeong. He's a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer who later served as mayor and provincial governor. Three years ago, he narrowly lost the presidential election to his predecessor, Yun Song-Yal. Then last December, Yun declared martial law over South Korea, and E. led the charge to defeat the martial law and then get Yun impeached, and then E.1 snap elections. And in order to become president, he's sort of. moved his liberal politics more towards the center. He still emphasizes diplomatic engagement

with North Korea and China over military deterrence of them. Okay. So I remember last month, a verbal trade deal was reached between the U.S. and South Korea. So what still needs to be worked out? A lot. It's a pretty spare framework. One of the key points is that South Korea has pledged to invest $350 billion in the U.S., basically as a payment to get tariffs lowered from 25% to 15%. Now, the U.S. has said that President Trump is going to get to pick those investments and 90% of the profits from the investments will go to the U.S. South Korea says they don't agree with that. They're not making any investments that don't benefit them. And they point out that most of the $350 billion will actually be loans to South Korean companies to make

stuff in the U.S. What's clear about this is that the U.S. is counting on South Korea to help but rebuild industrial manufacturing, such as shipbuilding. He is going to visit a Korean-invested shipyard in Philadelphia, for example, and they also rely on South Korea to compete with China in high-tech sectors, such as semiconductors. All right, so that's the business end. And what about when it comes to a military alliance? Yeah, the U.S. wants to modernize its 71-year-old alliance with South Korea to focus less on countering North Korea and more on deterring China.

Now, on his flight to Washington, President E told reporters that this is, quote, not an issue that we can easily agree with. So they've got a major difference in priorities and threat perceptions. South Korea has previously sent troops to Vietnam and Iraq away from the Korean Peninsula. It does not want to be dragged into a conflict with China over, say, for example, Taiwan. China is just too close to South Korea geographically and economically. Remember that South Korea's economy is about the size of Canada's, its landmass. is about the size of Indiana, and it's right next to China. Why didn't E visit the United States first?

Normally, that's what happens with South Korean presidents. It's come to the U.S. first. That's right. E instead chose to visit Japan, and he spent much of his time there speaking with Japan's prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, about how to deal with U.S. tariffs. In past, Japan and South Korea used to feud over history. They used to compete with each other for the U.S.'s favor.

Now they find they have a lot in common. and especially managing the risks of their alliances with the U.S. That's NPR's Anthony Kuhn, joining us from Seoul. Anthony, thank you. You're welcoming. And that's up first for Monday, August 25th. I'm E. Martinez. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR News.

Up First, gives you three big stories of the day. Consider this drills down on one. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Chris. of Calamore, Rylan Barton, Lisa Thompson, and H.J. Miles was produced by Zia Bucch, Mia Dumas, and Monsi Corrana. We got engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow. sponsor breaks, Amazon Prime members can listen to Upfirst sponsor-free through Amazon music.

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