NPR News: 04-17-2026 11AM EDT
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What updates are there on the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. sanctions on Iran?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. Iran's foreign minister says Tehran is fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic. It's been closed since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. He says shipping has to be coordinated with Iranian authorities. But NPR's Quill Lawrence reports... President Trump says the U.S. is still blockading Iranian ports.
The U.S. has been and is still blocking ships from exiting or entering Iranian ports, which is to strangle Iran's economy. And that blockades are an act of war, but in this case it's a negotiating pressure tactic as well. And at yesterday's Pentagon News briefing, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the blockade is the polite way to go with this. But he mentioned the other way, which would be bombing Iran's civilian infrastructure, which could be a war crime.
And PR's Quill Lawrence reporting. The news about the strait came as dozens of world leaders held a meeting today in Paris. Britain's prime minister says the leaders want to create a defensive force to help protect shipping in the strait. Trump administration officials are pitching Congress on the largest defense budget request in U.S. history. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports the $1.5 trillion request does not include costs from the war with Iran.
The administration is also on track to ask Congress for a supplemental war funding plan that could near the $100 billion mark. Betty McCollum, top Democrat on a House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, told Army officials this week they need a full picture to conduct oversight.
That's the only way we can do our job properly to do the oversight that we are tasked with, to be clear. The size of the request for defense spending is shocking.
Trump officials are calling the $1.5 trillion defense budget request so far a paradigm-shifting investment. Many Republicans are receptive to the plan to increase U.S. military capabilities, including new ships, planes, drones, and munitions. Claudia Gonzalez, NPR News.
A federal judge says above-ground construction on the new White House ballroom project must stop. until congressional lawmakers approve it. NPR's Anastasia Tsoukas has more.
How is the U.S. defense budget being impacted by the current geopolitical climate?
The judge, Richard J. Leon, is continuing to block the Trump administration from building a 90,000-foot ballroom on the site of the White House's former East Wing until the new addition is approved by Congress. In his ruling, Judge Leon wrote, quote, "...national security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity." But the judge is allowing the White House to proceed with below-ground work on a bunker and other, quote, national security facilities on the construction site. The judge also passed his order until April 23rd, giving the White House time to file a new appeal. But he also wrote, quote, I have no desire or intention to be dragooned into the role of construction manager.
Anastasia Tsilkas, NPR News.
You're listening to NPR. There's a winner in a special election for a New Jersey congressional seat. Democrat Ana Lilia Mejia beat Republican Joe Hathaway in yesterday's vote. The seat was previously held by Democrat Mikey Sherrill, who became New Jersey's governor. Unionized workers at South Korea's largest conglomerate, Samsung Electronics, are threatening to strike. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul the Samsung workers want a bigger cut of the company's massive recent profits.
Union leaders say they expect some 40,000 workers to join a rally for higher wages next week. If that doesn't work, workers could go on strike next month, which they warn could cost Samsung up to around $20 billion in lost revenues. High demand and high prices for memory chips used in AI servers helped Samsung's profits jump by 755% to $38 billion in the first quarter of this year on revenues of about $90 billion.
What recent developments have occurred regarding the White House ballroom construction?
Unionized workers want 15% of operating profits to go into their performance-based bonuses. Samsung's management, meanwhile, sought a court injunction this week to prevent the strike. They claim they're not trying to violate workers' right to strike.
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