NPR News: 09-18-2026 9PM EDT
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What new sanctions did President Trump sign against Russia and Iran?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. President Trump signed a sweeping sanctions bill against Russia into law today. NPR's Emily Fang reports the bill had been championed by the late South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
The law expands sanctions on Russia and extends sanctions on Iran's weapons and energy industries. The new sanctions target Russia's energy sector in particular by letting the president impose tariffs of up to one hundred percent. on the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas. That includes China, which buys most of Iran's oil exports. Some democratic lawmakers oppose the bill because it expands the President's tariff authority. And China would likely block any tariffs imposed. Beijing has created an extensive suite of laws designed to punish any companies or individuals who help implement sanctions against its interests. Emily Fang and Peer News, the White House.
President Trump says all fifty states have applied for a pilot program to lower Medicaid drug prices.
How are states participating in the Medicaid drug‑price pilot program?
It's part of the administration's most favored nation deals with drug companies, meant to bring prices down to levels paid in other wealthy countries. And Pierre Sidney Lupkin has more.
State Medicaid programs had to apply by september tenth to view details about the pilots' drug discounts. President Trump announced today from the Oval Office that all of them did, but those applications aren't binding. States have until the end of the month to sign formal participation agreements. So far, forty states in Puerto Rico have done that, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Rising drug costs have strained state Medicaid budgets. It is not yet clear which drugs will be discounted or how much more money Medicaid will be able to save beyond the discounts it already gets. Sydney Lupkin, NPR News.
A federal judge has struck down a move by the Trump administration last year that cuts hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to train school teachers. NPR's Corey
Turner reports.
Why did a federal judge block the Trump administration’s teacher‑training grant cuts?
Early in the Trump administration, the Education Department slashed roughly $600 million meant to help states train teachers. The department argued the money was really being used for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. After several Democratic led states sued, the Supreme Court weighed in briefly, letting the cuts go through while the lawsuit worked its way through the courts. And that is what's happening now. With a U.S. District Court Court judge ruling that the cuts were arbitrary and capricious, and that the department didn't weigh just how important the money was to states. The ruling does not restore the funding. To do that, the judge said would require still more legal wrangling in the Court of Federal Claims.
Corey Turner, NPR News.
The Trump administration has started building the border wall in the Big Bend region of West Texas. Landowners, environmental groups, and ranchers there oppose the construction, arguing the area isn't a high traffic zone for illegal immigration.
What is the controversy surrounding the new border‑wall construction in West Texas?
Customs and border protection has doubled the pace of construction along the U.S. Mexico border. The agency is building an average of twelve miles of barriers a week. It's the first major construction in an area where the plans have faced Heavy opposition. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Texas Department of Transportation has paused issuing permits for flock cameras and other automated license plate readers along state roads. The decision from Republican Governor Greg Abbott doesn't affect cameras already installed. The cameras scanned vehicles to compile license plate data, raising privacy concerns. A battery energy storage plant in California reignited today more than eighteen months after most of its lithium ion batteries burned in a major fire, from member station KAZU Amy Mayer has more.
Texas based Vistra Corporation has been working to clean up the site and dispose of destroyed batteries. Monterey County supervisor Glenn Church says he began hearing from concerned residents shortly after the flare-up began around six in the morning.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What new sanctions did President Trump sign against Russia and Iran?
0:00–0:57
2
How are states participating in the Medicaid drug‑price pilot program?
0:57–1:50
3
Why did a federal judge block the Trump administration’s teacher‑training grant cuts?
1:50–2:43
4
What is the controversy surrounding the new border‑wall construction in West Texas?
2:43–3:51
5
Why has Texas paused permits for automated license‑plate readers on state roads?
3:51–4:50
6
What caused the lithium‑ion battery fire at the California energy storage plant and how is it being handled?
4:50–5:03