NPR News: 05-20-2026 12PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
What were the outcomes of the recent Republican primaries?
Several candidates backed by President Trump scored victories in yesterday's Republican primaries, reinforcing the president's influence within the GOP ahead of the November midterms. NPR's Domenico Montanaro reports one of the most closely watched races was in Kentucky. where Congressman Tom Massey lost to a Trump-endorsed challenger.
Trump is on something of a revenge tour. The latest casualty, Congressman Thomas Massey of Kentucky. He lost to a Trump-backed challenger by about 10 points Tuesday night, and he saw tens of millions of dollars spent against him. In fact, it was the most expensive House primary in history with $33 million spent on TV ads.
How is President Trump's influence shaping the GOP ahead of the midterms?
Massey was a thorn in Trump's side helping force the release of millions of pages of the Epstein files, for example. Now he joins a list of perceived political enemies that Trump has gone after, often successfully, in GOP primaries. But while Trump has proven his strength with the Republican base, general elections are a different story, and that'll likely put Republican candidates in swing districts in tough positions this fall. Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington.
President Trump says he's in no hurry to make a deal with Iran. NPR's Franco Ordonez says a state of limbo surrounds any negotiations.
The threat the U.S. could strike this weekend speaks to the uncertainty some former officials, like Mona Yakoubian, who is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, say is turning into a, quote, frozen conflict that could extend for months.
What challenges are Republican candidates facing in the upcoming general elections?
The bigger fear is also just that there is no resolution. Or there's a resolution that leads to Iran's retaining de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz and Iran being able to continue to be disruptive.
She called that a kind of half solution where Trump's constant threats and the potential retaliation impair any real movement toward economic repair or economic growth. Franco Ordonez, NPR News.
Target stores are enjoying a sales bump. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the discount chain is one of several big retailers reporting earnings this week.
Target reported a jump in sales during the most recent quarter and raised its outlook for the rest of the year. The discount retailer says it saw increased demand in all categories, including groceries, beauty products, and general merchandise. Bond yields have pulled back a bit after hitting multi-year highs on Tuesday. Crude oil prices have also softened, but retail gasoline prices continue to climb. AAA says the average price of regular gas rose a little more than two cents a gallon overnight. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank has died at the age of 86. Frank was one of the first openly gay members of Congress. He helped shape the landmark Dodd-Frank financial reform law after the 2008 financial crisis. This is NPR News. Samsung workers in South Korea are threatening a large-scale strike over pay and working conditions. The union represents tens of thousands of employees at Samsung Electronics, the company's largest division. Union leaders say negotiations with management have stalled after months of talks. The strike could disrupt production of semiconductors and consumer electronics at a critical time for the global tech industry. A new book about truth in the age of AI contains fake quotes that were generated by artificial intelligence.
NPR's Jeff Brumfield has more.
The book is called The Future of Truth. According to its website, it explores how artificial intelligence is poised to replace human complexity with, quote, catastrophic robotic certainty. Robotic certainty appears to have been catastrophic for the book's author, Steven Rosenbaum. He used AI to help write the book, only to have it make up false quotes by prominent journalists and academics. That's according to the New York Times, which broke the story. In a statement to NPR, Rosenbaum said the misattributions were unintentional. If this serves as a warning about the risks of AI-assisted research and verification, he said in his statement, that is why I wrote the book.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:05
2
What were the outcomes of the recent Republican primaries?
0:05–0:44
3
How is President Trump's influence shaping the GOP ahead of the midterms?
0:44–1:33
4
What challenges are Republican candidates facing in the upcoming general elections?
1:33–5:02