NATO Friction, Florida Detention Center, Public Corruption
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A new take on an old problem. The issue in question is public corruption, and the response from the second Trump administration is worth a look.
I'm Ayesha Roscoe. And I'm Alyssa Nadworny, and this is Up First from NPR News.
NPR has new reporting on how President Trump and his DOJ approached misdeeds by public officials. And we've got justice correspondent Ryan Lucas for you today on the podcast. Also, a controversial Florida detention center may be shutting its doors. And how NATO's member states are feeling about and reacting to the current moment. So stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.
This message comes from 48 Hours. 48 Hours Case by Case delivers updates on the biggest criminal stories unfolding now. From high-profile trials to breaks in cold cases, listen to 48 Hours Case by Case wherever you get your podcasts.
First up today, a rocky moment for a key alliance. In the 10 weeks since the start of the war in Iran, the geopolitical costs are growing, along with the enormous economic fallout as the conflict inflames a fight between President Trump and NATO allies.
Bringing relations to what many experts say is a low point in NATO's 77-year history. NPR's Scott Newman joins us now with the latest and how we got here. Good morning, Scott.
Good morning, Alyssa.
Okay, so remind us how this dispute between President Trump and NATO started.
To start with, NATO criticized the White House for not consulting them before planning strikes on Iran. Then Trump himself rebuked NATO for not backing the U.S. war effort. Now, Spain has refused to let the U.S. use bases on its soil, while the U.K. and Germany say they won't join the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz went even further, suggesting that Iran had humiliated Washington in peace talks.
And how has Trump responded?
Well, he wasn't happy. Soon after all of this, the Pentagon said it was withdrawing 5,000 American troops from Germany and a plan to supply the country with US-made Tomahawk missiles might be shelved. Despite all that, the UK and Germany have continued to share intelligence and allow the US to use bases on their territory for operations over the Persian Gulf.
OK, Scott, let's step back a bit. This isn't the first run in between President Trump and the rest of NATO. Catch us up.
Yeah, not at all. In Trump's first term, he repeatedly criticized NATO members for not pulling their own weight when it comes to defense spending. And he suggested that future U.S. help to allies could depend on them, quote, paying their bills. He also floated the idea of buying Greenland. Now, fast forward. By his second term, the Greenland talk had turned into threats of seizing it by force, despite Greenland belonging to NATO member Denmark. He also spoke openly about annexing another ally, Canada. Here's former NATO Ambassador Ivo Daldr.
All capitals in Europe and in Canada realize that something fundamental has broken.
Now, Trump is again threatening to withdraw from NATO while tensions grow over U.S. policy in the Strait of Hormuz.
OK, so something fundamental has broken. What does all this mean for the future of the alliance?
Well, no one I talk to thinks Trump will follow through on his threats to exit NATO altogether. In any case, that would require approval by Congress. But allies increasingly view the U.S. as an unreliable partner. And NATO is actively planning for a future where the U.S. takes a backseat and countries like Germany step up to take the lead.
Is that just all talk or is there actually more to it?
Well, Germany has in fact committed to a significant increase in its own troop levels with a view to taking a larger role in NATO. But a bigger problem is that Europe and Canada don't have the same capacity as the US to conduct long range precision strikes. We're talking about big transport planes, bombers and cruise missiles. And their navies don't come close to the U.S. either. Balkan Devlin is a senior fellow at Canada's McDonnell Laurier Institute. He says it could take as long as 10 years for the rest of the alliance to acquire those capabilities.
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