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Today's top stories
President Trump yesterday called for Americans to be "strong, courageous and patient" as his new, steep tariffs against countries around the world play out. Today, market shares in Europe and Asia saw a slight rebound after several days of sell-offs. The U.S. market could see a small boost at the beginning of today's trading. However, any minor increase in stock prices today will only restore a portion of the value that was lost in recent days.
- 🎧 Trump says he won't put a pause on tariffs while the negotiations play out, NPR's Tamara Keith tells Up First. China is not backing down from the fight and is accusing the U.S. of blackmail. The Trump administration makes the case that the tariffs are about restructuring the U.S.'s relationship with the global economy, bringing jobs and manufacturing back to the country and making the U.S. wealthy. Trump believes that the experts and economists who say prices will go up and the U.S. could be thrown into a recession are wrong. If the dire warnings about the tariffs become true, he and his party will get all the blame, Keith says. If his strategy succeeds he can claim the credit.
Iran says it will have indirect talks with the U.S. this weekend in Oman to explore a potential path to diplomacy over its nuclear program. Yesterday, Trump stated that the U.S. would have "a very big meeting" with Iran on Saturday at "almost the highest level." However, this year, Iranian leaders have rejected Trump's offers to engage in direct negotiations, citing a "breach of promises." Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says the U.S. will have to build trust with Iran.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday in favor of the Trump administration continuing to deport what it says are Venezuelan gang members. The 5-to-4 vote threw out a lower court's ruling to temporarily stop the deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The attorneys for the men deported last month say that using the act during a time of peace is illegal. They and the men's family members say many of those deported have no criminal history in the U.S. or their country of origin.
- 🎧 The Supreme Court made it clear that officials must give migrants adequate notice that they are being removed under the Act so that they have time to challenge it, NPR's Jasmine Garsd says. The Trump administration is celebrating the victory. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are concerned about whether detainees will have a chance to defend themselves because the Act is designed to move the deportation process rapidly.
The state of the First Amendment
Trump recently declared during an address to Congress that he had "stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America." This week, Morning Edition will explore who feels freer to speak under Trump's administration, who feels they're being forced into silence and the extent to which the constitutional right to free speech might be changing — for the better or worse.
Several international university students who have spoken out against the war in Gaza have been taken in recent weeks by immigration agents. Plainclothes agents arrested Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil in his university housing, even though he was a legal permanent resident. Masked agents, again in plain clothes, detained Turkish graduate student Rumeysa Öztürk as she walked to meet friends. These actions raise concerns among free speech advocates across the political spectrum, who worry that more students could be targeted for their views.
"This is what happens in a dictatorship, and these are test cases," said Eric Lee, a lawyer representing Momodou Taal, a Cornell University Ph.D. student and advocate for Palestinian rights who had his visa revoked. Lee emphasized that if the government can act in this manner, then it can target anyone in the U.S., and citizenship won't protect individuals.
Listen to Taal's lawyers discuss the potential repercussions of the crackdown on international students' viewpoints and its broader implications for society.
Life advice
There's a common misconception some parents have that teaching their children multiple languages will set them back. Studies have shown that being bilingual can improve cognitive function, help with multitasking and boost academic achievement. With consistency, exposure and practice, it's possible to teach a child two or more languages successfully, bilingual speech-language pathologist Liliana Diaz tells NPR's Life Kit. Whether you want your kids to learn your heritage language or another language you have mastered, speech pathologists have real-world advice for parents.
- 🗣️ Incorporate a language strategy. One example is "time and place," which implements a rule that, for instance, everyone speaks the minority language at dinner on Tuesdays.
- 🗣️ Create an immersive language environment at home. You can do activities you're already doing, like listening to music in the car or watching TV in the language.
- 🗣️ Experts say it's OK if your child wants to speak the dominant language at times or mix languages together. You shouldn't correct code-mixing, or using two languages in the same sentence. Instead, it can provide an opportunity to engage.
For more guidance on how to raise bilingual children, listen to this episode of NPR's Life Kit. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.
3 things to know before you go
- The University of Florida Gators defeated the University of Houston yesterday by a razor-thin margin to win its third NCAA men's basketball national championship.
- The American Library Association has released its list of the top 10 most challenged books in 2024. George M. Johnson's memoir All Boys Aren't Blue ranked number one. These are the other books on the list.
- Trump disliked a portrait of himself hanging in the Colorado State Capitol. Over the weekend, the painter, Sarah Boardman, defended her work, saying she created the rendering without any intent to distort or caricature him.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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