NPR News: 10-21-2025 9PM EDT
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. President Trump is asking the Department of Justice to pay him roughly $230 million for past federal investigations into him. That's according to reporting from The New York Times. As NPR's Elena Moore reports, Trump has not explicitly confirmed the complaints.
NPR has not independently confirmed the report, but when asked about it by reporters, Trump stopped short of affirming it. But he did say the Justice Department, quote, probably owes me a lot of money and that he'd give any potential payment to charity or use it to keep restoring the White House. He also acknowledged the unusual nature of any potential payment from the DOJ.
That decision would have to go across my desk. And it's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself. In other words, did you ever have one of those cases where... You have to decide how much you're paying yourself in damages. But I was damaged very greatly.
The report comes as critics of the White House have voiced concerns that Trump is using the agency for his own political and personal agenda. Elena Moore, NPR News.
Vice President J.D. Vance says the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been going better than anticipated, but the truce is already proving shaky after deadly violence erupted over the weekend, and Gaza still doesn't have a government.
What is President Trump's request to the Department of Justice about?
As NPR's Greg Myrie explains, peace is rarely easy in the Middle East.
The ceasefire is certainly significant, and most everyone here is giving Trump credit. But you can see parallels to President George W. Bush and the Iraq War back in 2003. Just six weeks into that war, with the U.S. in control of Iraq, Bush went aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier and essentially declared the war over in front of this huge banner that read, Mission Accomplished. Then an insurgency erupted and the U.S. fought for many years and was still fighting in Iraq during Trump's first term. That should be a cautionary tale for the Middle East. Yet at the ceasefire signing ceremony last week in Egypt, Trump stood in front of a huge banner that read, Peace in the Middle East.
NPR's Greg Myrie reporting. The Department of Interior plans to fire more than 2,000 employees. That includes more than 300 workers at the U.S. Geological Survey. From member station KBIA, Harshon Ratanpal reports the cuts would upend environmental research.
Almost all of the employees at the Columbia Environmental Research Center would be cut if the government's plan goes through. Scientists at the center help to repopulate endangered species and study how chemicals and invasive species impact ecosystems. Their research is used by decision makers in other parts of the government and the private sector. Don Tillett is a scientist who worked there for 30 years. He's been in contact with current employees.
Most people that I know are numb because of the constant barrage of abusive type of behavior from this administration.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Department of Interior from enacting its plan. For NPR News, I'm Harshon Ratanpal in Columbia, Missouri. This is NPR News.
A man pardoned by President Trump for storming the U.S. Capitol has been arrested on a charge he threatened to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Police say Christopher Moynihan sent text messages, including death threats, against Jeffries. He's been charged with felony count of making a terroristic threat. Jeffries says investigators apprehended a, quote, dangerous individual. The remnants of Typhoon Halong have displaced more than 1,000 people in southwest Alaska and and caused severe erosion in many communities. As Evan Erickson reports from member station KYUK, one coastal village lost as much as 60 feet of its shoreline, including what remained of a Yupik archaeological site.
Warren Jones of Quinhagak says he has never seen a storm like what hit his coastal community on October 12th.
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