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Today's top stories
President Trump said yesterday that he would pause big tariff hikes for most countries, except for China, for 90 days. Most countries now have 10% tariffs on their exports to the United States. China, which retaliated against Trump's moves, faces 125% tariffs. Stock prices soared after the announcement.
- 🎧 Trump's team is painting this big change as part of their strategy after they insisted he would hold the line with the tariffs, NPR's Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. The baseline 10% tariff on imports that will remain in effect during the pause is nothing like what he threatened, Ordoñez says. The Trump administration is now in the middle of discussions on what it is describing as tailor-made negotiations with each country.
- 🎧 Americans have been unhappy about the cost of groceries, and a 10% tariff won't help with that, NPR's Scott Horsley says. Philip Marfuggi, who runs Ambriola, a big cheese importer, tells Horsley some companies may shift to smaller packages to mask the cost of import tax. For now, investors have found relief with the pause on at least some of the president's tariffs. Horsley says it has been a rocky seven days for investors, and the roadmap could shift again with another strike of Trump's Sharpie pen.
Trump yesterday signed two executive orders revoking security clearances for two officials from his first administration who criticized him: former top cybersecurity official Chris Krebs and former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor. Krebs refuted Trump's lie in 2020 about the election being stolen, and Taylor wrote a high-profile anonymous op-ed in 2018 criticizing Trump. He later wrote a book, lifting his anonymity. The president's orders also mandate investigations into their conduct while they were federal employees.
- 🎧 Trump has focused on political retribution in the first few months of his administration, NPR's Ashley Lopez says. The executive orders show that he remembers who had his back during the first term and who didn't. Lopez says this is an example of the Department of Justice being weaponized against people who criticized Trump in the past.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it will begin screening immigrants' social media for evidence of antisemitic activity. This new policy, which could lead to the denial of immigration benefit requests, is effective immediately. The screening will impact individuals applying for permanent residence status and foreigners associated with educational institutions.
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 this 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.
Sarah Inama, a 6th-grade teacher in Idaho, was told she must take down the "Everyone is Welcome Here" poster in her classroom. Her school district said in a statement that it determined that the multicolored letters and the varying skin tones of the hands seen on the poster potentially expressed "viewpoints regarding specific identity groups."
Inama took down the poster, but not for long. She says she felt gross and complacent about that decision, so she put it back up. She's not the only teacher who feels watched over because of school policies aimed at rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion — a high school teacher in Oregon shares the sentiment. Meanwhile, the Florida-based group Moms For Liberty, labeled a far-right group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, believes it has won back certain parental rights and has space it says was previously unavailable to it to express concerns. The two teachers and a representative from the group joined Morning Edition to examine how free speech is changing at public schools.
Life advice
If you are like me, you might not know what many of the words on the ingredient labels of your lotions, creams and hair gels mean. But, research shows that some personal care products' ingredients may harm our health. Researchers and experts tell NPR's Life Kit how to make your skincare and beauty regimen leaner and cleaner.
- 🧴 Try to cut down on products with "fragrance" listed as an ingredient. Phthalates, which have been linked to poor reproductive health, are often used in fragrances.
- 🧴 Decrease the number of products you use daily. Consider skipping steps in your skin or hair regimen or use one product instead of two.
- 🧴 Look for alternatives to your must-have items. Try to find products that are "phthalate-free" and "paraben-free." Not all synthetic chemicals are bad, and the Environment Protection Agency keeps a list of those verified to be of low concern.
For more guidance on how to avoid harmful chemicals in skin and beauty products, 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 Whitney Museum of American Art in New York opened this week the first major survey of Amy Sherald's work. The retrospective is titled American Sublime. Sherald's breakthrough came in 2018 when she painted the portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama.
- The Whiting Foundation announced yesterday the 10 emerging writers who won their 2025 Whiting Awards. The winners each receive $50K to help them hone their craft.
- Thinking about what your garden will look like this summer? Last year, the USDA updated its plant hardiness map for the first time in more than 11 years. See what grows best in your ZIP code with NPR's updated interactive map.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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