Trump's Party Problems, Trump & Netanyahu Tension, Russia Economic Forum
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Republicans joined Democrats in the House to pass a resolution to limit the president's war powers.
What are President Trump's latest party problems?
More Republicans are pushing back on President Trump over the war in Iran and his anti-weaponization fund. Is Congress reasserting its power?
I'm Steve Inskeep with Leila Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News. The president says he cursed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called him crazy in a call that may have helped to stop more planned strikes on Beirut.
What tensions exist between Trump and Netanyahu?
At some point, they said, baby, we got to stop this. We got to stop it. Israel's war in Lebanon is complicating talks with Iran. Now there's a new ceasefire.
How did Trump's comments affect Israeli-Lebanese relations?
Will it actually stop the attacks?
What happened at the Russia Economic Forum?
And Ukrainian drones struck St. Petersburg as Russia was kicking off President Putin's economic forum.
How are Ukrainian drones impacting the economic forum?
What does the gathering reveal about how Russia sees the world and its war?
What is the significance of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon?
Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.
What role does Iran play in the Israel-Lebanon conflict?
The surreal horror film Back Rooms is a smash. The director is a 20-year-old YouTuber and it's based on his popular web series. Why is this online phenomenon taking off at the box office? We get into it on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Listen via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
President Trump says he's going to nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanch to take on the role permanently.
Blanch is Trump's former personal lawyer. He's been at the Justice Department since early in the administration, so he's been on hand for the president's efforts to undermine court rulings and turned the department into a weapon for his retribution campaign. Blanche also oversaw the Justice Department's creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claimed to have been wrongfully targeted by the government, a fund that dismayed even many Republicans.
Joining us now is NPR congressional reporter Sam Greenglass. Good morning, Sam.
Hey, Leila.
So Blanche testified before Congress this week that the fund is dead. Is that enough for some senators?
Well, Senate Majority Leader John Thune spent the last 24 hours telling his Republican colleagues that it should be enough and that they should feel confident moving forward today with a vote on billions of dollars for immigration enforcement, which had been stalled by pushback over this fund. But that did not satisfy some of these Republican senators like John Cornyn of Texas. He said the only way to ensure the fund is dead is is for Congress to put a stake through it. And, you know, not long after the Senate voted to proceed to debate yesterday, President Trump was asked whether this fund was actually dead.
It's, I'd have to ask the lawyers, I don't know. I know one thing, the weaponization, are you talking about the weaponization fund? The weaponization fund, as far as I'm concerned, was a beautiful thing.
We've already seen two amendments by Republicans to try and block this fund for good, though even if they do attract enough votes to pass, it is unclear if Senate rules will allow them in this unrelated $70 billion measure to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years. So this dispute over money to potentially compensate people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th may imperil one of Trump's top priorities, funding immigration enforcement.
OK, this seems to be another example of Trump undercutting Republicans in Congress and then in turn his own agenda.
Oh, totally. But Republicans like retiring Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina say what Trump is doing is self-sabotage. Tillis, who's also raised concerns about Blanche's statements on January 6th. called out Trump's pick for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, Wednesday on CNBC.
My God, you put forth this restitution fund when we're trying to get Homeland Security funded for three years, and you think that's going to go well in the same week? You put an incendiary attack dog like Pulte out on the agenda while we're trying to get 702 authorized and he would be one of the major users of it? It's like whoever these people are in the White House need to get the hell out of the White House.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:07
2
What are President Trump's latest party problems?
0:07–0:31
3
What tensions exist between Trump and Netanyahu?
0:31–0:40
4
How did Trump's comments affect Israeli-Lebanese relations?
0:40–0:42
5
What happened at the Russia Economic Forum?
0:42–0:48
6
How are Ukrainian drones impacting the economic forum?
0:48–0:52
7
What is the significance of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon?
0:52–1:00
8
What role does Iran play in the Israel-Lebanon conflict?
1:00–13:43
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from Up First from NPR
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