Up First from NPR - Trump's Speech On Iran, Reactions To Trump's Remarks, SCOTUS Birthright Case

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

President Trump says the war in Iran will end shortly, promising to hit Iran extremely hard over the next two to three weeks but offering few specifics on how the Strait of Hormuz will reopen. The UK is hosting talks today on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran keeps a stranglehold on the waterway and threatens U.S. tech companies in the Gulf.And Trump became the first sitting president to attend a Supreme Court hearing, watching as his lawyers faced tough questions from even conservative justices over his challenge to birthright citizenship.Please help us out by completing a short survey telling us what you like and how we could improve our podcast. You can find it right now at www.npr.org/springsurveyWant more 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 Rebekah Metzler, Gerry Holmes, Domenico Montanaro, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch.Our director is Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.And our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.(0:00) Introduction(02:12) Trump's Speech On Iran(06:04) Reactions To Trump's Remarks(09:42) SCOTUS Birthright CaseTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey, everyone, we would love to hear about what you like and don't like about it first. Now, you can help us out by answering a few questions online. Go to npr.org slash spring survey. Again, that's npr.org slash spring survey. And thanks. President Trump addressed the nation and talked of ending the war against Iran eventually. We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. He called on other countries to grab the service.

Strait of Hormuz. I'm Steve Inskeep with A. Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. Representatives of 35 countries meet today to discuss measures to reopen the straight. Iran has threatened to strike U.S. tech headquarters in the Middle East after Trump repeated his threat to strike Iran's power grid. And President Trump watched as Supreme Court justices questioned his lawyers about his challenge to birthright citizenship on Wednesday. We're in a new world now where 8 billion people are one plane right away from having a child as a U.S. citizen. Well, it's a new world. It's the same constitution. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. President Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night, making the case for war with Iran more than a month after he ordered a tax against Iran.

He contended the war as a success and that it will end after another round. We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong. NPR White House correspondent, Dipa Shivaram joins us now. What was the president's message? Yeah, well, the president wasn't very specific in his remarks, but he said the war was ending shortly and provided a two to three week timeline on that, which is something he said before. He said Iran was completely decimated, militarily and economically. And for most of his remarks, he explained why Iran was a threat.

He said it would be intolerable if Iran had a nuclear weapon. And he said U.S. involvement in Iran, was an investment in the future. This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren's future. The whole world is watching, and they can't leave the power, strength, and brilliance. They just can't believe what they're seeing. I think it's important to point out that this was Trump's first formal address to the nation about this war.

And five weeks in his message on what the U.S. was doing in Iran, what the plan was, how long it would take. It's all been kind of muddled. polling shows that this war is unpopular with Americans. And the war has also led to a sharp increase in gas prices, which has been politically difficult for Trump and Republicans heading into the midterm elections in six months. Yeah, when it comes to his goals, though, for the war, he said he wanted to remove Iran's nuclear capabilities.

He also wants the straight of Hormuz open. If indeed the war is winding down, does the administration see those goals getting accomplished at the same time? Yeah, I mean, this point is a little unclear. and it's part of the reason we've been talking about it all week because Trump has been saying so many different things and thousands of U.S. troops are still in the region, whether those troops will be used in any significant ground operations

in the time that the U.S. is allegedly winding down the war is not something that the president talked about at all. But he did seem to indicate that the U.S. could take future action in Iran if the country moves to try and make a nuclear weapon. If we see them make a move, even a move for it, will hit them with missiles very hard again. We have all the cards. And on the street of Hormuz, which is a really critical route for oil that Iran clamped down on

as a result of these strikes that the U.S. started, Trump is now calling on other countries to do the work of reopening the street. He didn't name any countries specifically, but he has been really critical of NATO allies in particular for not helping with U.S. operations in Iran. He said other countries should take care of the past. and cherish it. Yeah, and it's interesting that he said other countries should take it because for a while, the U.S. talked about taking it.

And in his same speech, Trump said it would open his word naturally. Yeah, this is just another example of Trump saying a lot of different things but then not providing any specifics. Trump said in his speech last night that the U.S. didn't need the oil coming through the strait. And he's basically tasked other countries with reopening this passage that Iran closed during the war. But because the straight is how more than 20 percent of the war,

world's oil gets transported, it's still affecting oil prices here in the U.S. Trump claims, though, that once the straight is opened, the price of gas in the U.S. will lower again. But in the meantime, he wants other countries to deal with this. And that likely includes NATO allies. He's been really unhappy with them and has recently been bringing up again, leaving NATO, though that's up to Congress to decide. A White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized

to speak on the record, said that NATO Secretary General, Mark Ruda is meeting with Trump at the White House next week. All right, that's NPR's Deepa Chivaram. Thanks a lot. Thank you. In his address, President Trump repeated this threat to Iran if a deal's not reached soon. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously. Now, the president had previously threatened to hit power plants if Iran failed to open

the Strait of Hormuz. Now, the Trump has abandoned that goal and said it was other countries' problem. It is unclear what deal he wants from Iran. We're joined now by NPR international correspondent Ayyaphtrawi in Dubai. So let's start with the threat that we just heard from the president. What's Iran's response to that? Right. So Iran has already made clear that if its power plants are hit, it will target power plants in Israel and across the Gulf. And we already saw this week Iran can do that. It hit a power in water desalination plants in Kuwait after electricity outages into Iran. And Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps listed American tech companies that they would

target in the region if there are any more assassinations happening. Many, like Oracle and Google, actually have their headquarters right here in Dubai, where I am. But Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson did say, after Trump's speech, that Iran is not interested in just a ceasefire with another war being launched on them again. And in response to Trump calling Iran a state sponsor of terror, Iran's foreign ministry said it's actually Israel with the backing of the U.S. that's being prosecuted now in international courts for war crimes in Gaza. Israel denies charges of genocide. But, you know, Iran says it is forced to continue confronting this war until it ends, and we've seen that they still have the capability to do that. Now, in the case of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran basically is choosing

which ships can pass through. What has the response been from Gulf Arab countries who can't get their oil? Right. This war was launched by Israel, the U.S., mostly without consulting with Gulf Arab partners who do host thousands of U.S. troops that have been targeted. We know from our sources in the region that some Gulf Arab states had short advance notice of the war in order to sort of just prepare their air defenses, but others did not. And right now, there is not one to find Gulf stance on this war or how it should end. And despite continued Iranian attacks, the Gulf countries have not hit back. analysts tell me that's in part because they don't know what Trump will do next, and they don't want to end up having to fight Iran alone. But the United Arab Emirates has been more

hawkish. And it says it's willing to join an international coalition to open the straight. Yet no international coalition exists. And the price of oil climbed again after the Trump speech yesterday. Right. Exactly. There is no coalition. to speak of yet, despite that pressure from Trump, countries like the UK and France have actually tried to distance themselves from Trump's decision to go to war with Iran. And in his speech last night, here's what Trump said other countries should be doing. Go to the straight and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy. It should be easy, he says. Now, the UK is hosting a virtual meeting today of around

35 countries to discuss diplomatic and political measures to try to reopen the strait of her moves, which again, a lot of that Gulf oil needs to go through and can't. Canada and European nations, Japan, and two Gulf Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, are among those taking part. And we've reported that military planners will also meet to discuss naval options. But again, they're signaling any naval escort would be after the war. And it's important to remember, A, that some 3600 ground troops, among them marine infantry, were just sent to the region or are on their way, but it's still unclear what their mission will be. That's NPR International Correspondent.

Ayabathrawi in Dubai. Thank you very much. Thanks, A. The Supreme Court has questioned the lawyers in a case on birthright citizenship. The court heard a challenge to the long-settled meaning of the Constitution's 14th Amendment. Yeah, it says, quote, all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States. The Trump administration asks the justices to discover an exception to those words, and the president himself came to watch the arguments.

NPR Legal Affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg, also went to watch the arguments. Nina, good morning. Good morning. How important was it that the president himself came to watch? I'm not really sure that it was important. Trump came into the Supreme Court chamber about 10 minutes before the argument began. As far as my spotters could see, because I'm too short, he glowered the whole time, never once smiled, and left after his solicitor.

Senator General had finished the main part of his argument. The justices for their part seemed to have organized themselves more than usual and were quite determined not to let the argument go on at infinitum, even mentioning a desire not to exceed time limits. I even had the impression that they must have met up for a few minutes at least and said how they wanted to treat Trump, respectfully, but not be his lapdogs either. And they're putting questions to John Sauer, the Solicitor General of the United States who's arguing for the government, arguing for Trump. What was the policy he was trying to defend?

President Trump has long wanted to get rid of birthright citizenship. On day one of his second term, he signed an executive order, barring citizenship for children born in this country to parents who are illegally here, or who are here legally, but on temporary, even long-term visas. And here's Sauer, trying rather unsuccessfully, I think, to persuade Chief Justice Roberts. We're in a new world now where 8 billion people are one plane right away from having a child as a U.S. citizen.

Well, it's a new world. It's the same constitution. Several of the conservative justices, however, indicated major questions about how the Trump administration plan would work out in practice if there were no automatic citizenship for newborns in the United States. If we were to do that, ask Justice Gorsuch, how would you know who the father is or the mother? What if they are unmarried? Whose house do they live in? Justice Barrett also questioned the practicality of the Trump plan. You're not going to know at the time of birth for some people whether they have the intent to stay or not, including U.S. citizens, by the way. Okay, so sharp questions for the government. What about when the other side had its turn? Well, the ACLU, Cecilia Wong, had a lot easier time. After all, every judge to have examined the Trump policy has found it to be unconstitutional.

But she was really on her game yesterday, as she told the court. We can't take the current administrations, policy considerations into account, to try to re-engineer and radically reinterpret the original meaning of the 14th Amendment. So we've heard the lawyers. What do you think is on the justices' minds? Well, it looked at me as though justices Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito were leaning towards the Trump administration position, no guarantees. But as for the other four conservatives and three liberals, they sort of seem to me to be leaning the other way. Hmm.

A majority would be against the government then. Nina, thanks so much. Thank you. That's NPR's Nina Totenberg, who has reported for decades on the Supreme Court. Now, here's a matter where you can be the judge. You can decide. You can give your ruling. You can help us out today by telling us what you like and how we could improve this podcast. All you have to do is complete a short survey.

You can find it right now at NPR.org slash spring survey. That's NPR.org slash spring survey. Thanks. And that's up first for Thursday, April 2nd. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Today's up first was edited by Rebecca Metzler, Jerry Holmes, Domenico Montanaro, Mohammed al-Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zad Butch and Ava Poucatch.

Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Highness, who is always supportive, and our technical director, who was always direct, is Carly Strange. Our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens. Join us tomorrow.