NPR News: 02-24-2026 12PM EST
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What key issues will President Trump address in the upcoming State of the Union speech?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. In about nine hours, President Trump is scheduled to deliver a constitutionally mandated annual speech to a joint session of Congress, the State of the Union. It is an opportunity for the President of the United States to set the national agenda or perhaps reset it. A new NPR-PBS News-Marist poll suggests a majority of Americans believe the country is doing worse under Trump's watch. The president sees it differently, and he's expected to try to make that point on matters of the economy, military action overseas, and military deployments at home, among other actions. NPR's Frank Ordonez spoke with a pollster about all of it.
But I did speak with Ashley Koning, a pollster from Rutgers University, who told me that the administration faces an uphill battle.
There is so much on the table right now with the president going into the speech between whether we're talking about the partial shutdown, the economy, immigration or Iran.
How are tariffs affecting farmers in the Northwest?
And then clearly him seeing his worst poll numbers right now during his second term.
NPR's Frank Ordonez reporting. U.S. customs agents are now collecting new global tariffs of 10 percent, not the 15 percent tariffs the president had announced plans for over the weekend.
What actions is the U.S. taking against Mexican drug cartels?
Farmers in the Northwest are scrambling to make sense of the tariffs just ahead of planting and harvesting some of spring's first crops. Northwest Public Broadcasting's Anna King has more.
In this field north of Pasco, Washington are recently mown down asparagus ferns. The ground will be tilled up soon, readied for spring. Tariffs could really shift the domestic asparagus market.
It has the potential to help the domestic industry in the short term, but it is disruptive to the marketplace.
What safety measures are being proposed in the new aviation safety bill?
That's Alan Schreiber, who heads up the Washington Asparagus Commission. He says farmers might not have to ship crops far away if they're not competing with Peru and Mexico. But it's still not yet clear if the tariffs will stick. For NPR News, I'm Anna King.
A new U.S. military task force is working to dismantle Mexican drug cartels. More from NPR's Quill Lawrence.
The Mexican military carried out the raid that killed the Mesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, who led the violent Jalisco New Generation cartel. But a new U.S. multi-agency group shared key intelligence from satellites and intercepted conversations to make the raid possible, according to a U.S. official who is not authorized to speak publicly. Scores of people died across Mexico in the violence that followed the raid. Mexican officials fear a bloody power struggle to replace El Mencho and take over lucrative networks that smuggle drugs across the U.S. border. But again, the U.S. task force is gathering intelligence and sharing it with Mexican forces as cartel operatives discuss succession.
Quill Lawrence, NPR News.
It's NPR.
How is the weather impacting the Northeast after recent blizzard conditions?
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote later today on an aviation safety bill spurred by the deadly midair collision near Washington, D.C. NPR's Joel Rose reports the bipartisan legislation has sparked internal disagreement among Republican lawmakers.
The Rotor Act, as it's known, would require wider use of a safety system known as ADS-B, which transmits an aircraft's location. Federal safety investigators say that could have prevented the mid-air collision of a U.S. Army helicopter and a passenger jet that killed 67 people last year. The Senate approved the bill unanimously, and it has support from families of the crash victims. But it faces headwinds in the House, where some powerful Republican committee leaders have proposed their own bipartisan bill. The Pentagon also has concerns. After supporting the Rotar Act last year, the Pentagon now says it could create, quote, unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.
More snow could be on the way to parts of the Northeast, recovering from blizzard conditions. The National Weather Service is following a storm out of Canada that could hit the upper Great Lakes today and produce up to two inches of snow before it pushes into Buffalo, New York.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What key issues will President Trump address in the upcoming State of the Union speech?
0:01–1:00
2
How are tariffs affecting farmers in the Northwest?
1:00–1:19
3
What actions is the U.S. taking against Mexican drug cartels?
1:19–1:53
4
What safety measures are being proposed in the new aviation safety bill?
1:53–3:01
5
How is the weather impacting the Northeast after recent blizzard conditions?
3:01–4:25
6
What investigation is Prince Andrew currently facing?
4:25–4:38