1A

It's safe to say there's been a lot of confusion and even panic in the wake of President Donald Trump's tariff announcement last week — investors are confused, the markets are confused, even the president's Republican colleagues are confused. But what do these tariffs mean for working people? Especially as many have seen their personal wealth take a sizable hit and their budgets likely be blown to bits. We discuss what the tariffs could mean for America's finances in the near and far futures with The Washington Post's Michelle Singletary. We also hear from Martha Gimbel of the Budget Lab at Yale about the bigger economic picture. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The auto industry is already reeling from President Donald Trump's new tariffs. They've only been in effect for about six days, but the response was immediate. On the same day those tariffs went live, Stellantis temporarily paused production at plants in Canada and Mexico. The company also temporarily laid off 900 U.S. workers. And Volkswagen said it's planning to add an import fee to its sticker price. According to financial analytics firm S&P Global, about half of car sales could be affected by these tariffs. Trump says auto tariffs will bring manufacturing and jobs back to the U.S. We discuss how these new trade rules actually affect American production and your pocketbook, as part of our "How Did This Get Here?" series. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

People visited U.S. National Park sites a record 331 million times last year. Were you one of them? If you were, and plan to visit any National Parks this year though, staff cuts might mean a different kind of experience. At the direction of Elon Musk's DOGE entity, the Department of the Interior fired around 1,000 probationary National Park Service employees in February. That has current and former NPS employees feeling pessimistic about the future. We discuss how these cuts will impact the future of America's National Parks. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

President Donald Trump's escalating trade war sent markets lurching between hope and panic yesterday. But overall, stocks have been tumbling since last Wednesday. That's when President Trump announced a universal 10 percent tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. He also announced additional import taxes on 185 countries. Those tariffs are set to kick in Wednesday. In response, the global economy is in a tailspin. We discuss the latest. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The nation's health administration is the latest target of the Trump administration's effort to dismantle the federal bureaucracy. That's after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slashed 10,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services early last week. Entire offices were eliminated during the layoffs. Some of those positions, Kennedy says, will need to be reinstated. Experts warn that these sweeping job cuts at the HHS will affect drug approvals, disease tracking, and vital biomedical research. We continue our series "If You Can Keep It" with a look at what these actions mean for our public health - and the health of U.S. democracy. We discuss the latest on the dismantling of the HHS and how staff cuts at the department might change the way the U.S. delivers health services. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Donald Trump unveiled his so-called "Liberation Day" plans this week. On Wednesday he announced a slew of tariffs that will affect goods being imported into the U.S. Elon Musk took a hit in Wisconsin. Liberal candidate Susan Crawford emerged victorious in the special election to the state's Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the White House is working to find countries that will take migrants deported from the U.S. Reporting this week found that the Trump Administration has contacted governments in South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. The war in Gaza is the deadliest for journalists in history. French politician and far-right leader Marine le Pen was barred from running for public office for half a decade as she was found guilty of embezzlement by a court in Paris. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The arrest and detainment of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil by Immigration and Customs Enforcement garnered national attention. Last week, the video of the arrest of a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk, by masked federal agents received similar attention. In addition to Ozturk and Khalil, nearly a dozen international students and faculty at universities across the country have been detained for possible deportation as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on those who've voiced pro-Palestinian views. The arrests have raised questions — not just about the rights of immigrants with legal status in the U.S. — but about the right to dissent, regardless of citizenship, under the Trump administration. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The Trump administration's cutbacks to the federal workforce continued this week at the Department of Health and Human Services. Thousands of staffers were fired at agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the layoffs last week, an additional "reduction in force" of 10,000 people on top of the 10,000 who've already left the department this year. This amounts to one of the largest government departments losing a quarter of its workforce. One of the agencies affected is the National Institutes of Health. The network of research centers funds much of the country's biomedical research. We discuss what the layoffs at the NIH mean for the country's ability to research and develop medical treatments. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Your new iPhone goes through a lot before you peel the plastic off and finally boot it up. Further Apple purchases might have to go through more thanks to the Trump administration's tariffs. From its assembly, to its packaging, to its shipping, to stocking, to purchase, it's a long process. So, what does it actually look like? Why is this the way we do it? And what could be done to make things better? This is our new series,"How Did This Get Here." We explore how goods make their way to us from overseas to our hands. This week we discuss iPhones. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Some of the best songs you can hear this spring aren't on the radio. Hundreds of millions of birds make their annual migration back into North America in early March. Despite their return to our neighborhoods and backyards to wake us up bright and early, a new report reveals they're numbering fewer and fewer. The 2025 State of the Birds report is a joint effort spearheaded by a coalition of science and conservation organizations. It found widespread population decline across nearly all habitats and that over one third of species require conservation help. But it's not all bad news. The report also finds that an increased interest in birding has led to more volunteer data that helped shaped the report. We discuss what we can learn about our feathered friends and our environment while birding. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" of reciprocal tariffs is almost here. On April 2, Trump is rolling out a plan that would charge a blanket dollar for dollar tax on goods coming into the U.S. Trump clarified Sunday that this policy would apply to all countries instead of a more focused list. The uncertainty around and scope of these tariffs (and a potential trade war) has spooked Wall Street and raised fears of inflation. We discuss America's financial future. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump is known for going after his political opponents. And for the past month or so, one target has been certain powerful lawyers and law firms. But why is he going after these lawyers and firms? Will courts let him get away with intimidating law firms he doesn't like with threats and executive orders? And how does it all fit into Trump's broader efforts to tilt the legal system to his advantage? Today we hear from one of the lawyers named in the recent flurry of White House orders and memos that aim to limit law firm's ability to represent clients. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Florida holds a special election tomorrow for a House seat that has long been solidly red. Now? Maybe a bit less so. Former Congressman Mike Waltz gave up his seat in the 6th Congressional District – the area around Daytona Beach – to accept the post of President Donald Trump's national security advisor. In line to win his vacant seat tomorrow is Trump-backed Randy Fine, a state senator. But in recent days polls have been too close for comfort for many Republicans. Fine's Democratic opponent, math teacher Josh Weil, has raised $10 million for his campaign. Fine has brought in just $1 million. We discuss what we could learn from tomorrow's results. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

We've spent a lot of time in 2025 talking about the president. The executive orders. The court challenges. The cabinet appointments. Now, the Signal group chats. It's a challenge to report on the administration, full stop. But what if you're not reporting on the administration for an audience directly affected by the U.S. federal government? What kinds of challenges does that present? In a 1A first, we sit down in front of an audience at our home base at WAMU in Washington, DC, to talk to three international journalists about their experiences covering the Trump administration for their audiences back home. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

This week the Atlantic published messages shared between national security officials on a Signal group chat laying out plans for U.S airstrikes in Yemen. It appears that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz added The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the message thread. European leaders have been cautious in their comments on the scandal. President Trump is threatening to suspend security clearances and access to federal buildings of lawyers he does not like. Meanwhile, Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza after breaking the ceasefire agreement with Hamas earlier this month. And five lions rescued from the frontlines of the war in Ukraine have now been resettled in England by the Wild Animals Rescue Center. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The acting assistant administrator for global health at USAID, Nicholas Enrich, was placed on administrative leave in early March. Before his departure, he had made a series of chilling predictions in memos concerning the consequences of the Trump administration's gutting of the agency. These include some 18 million additional cases of malaria and 166,000 resulting deaths. One million children who will remain malnourished. And 200,000 additional children paralyzed by polio. And he placed the blame squarely at the feet of USAID leadership, the State Department, and DOGE. We discuss what the world will look like without American aid to help address global problems. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

As the earth continues to heat up unsustainably due to society's love of fossil fuels, scientists say natural disasters are only going to become more frequent and more destructive. That's something California knows all too well. Wildfires burned more than 58,000 acres this year and destroyed more than 16,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. For many towns, a disaster like a wildfire or hurricane can completely destroy the town and its history, leaving its residents wondering if it can ever be what it once was. The Altadena community is seeing that process play out. The Eaton fire killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes when it burned through the neighborhood outside of Los Angeles earlier this year. We discuss what choices families are left to face in the aftermath of a disaster that destroys their home, and what the process looks like if you do try to rebuild. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

If you've been following the news lately — including with 1A — it can be a lot to take in. We've heard from many of you about how the news makes you feel. But what can we do in chaotic moments of history to build a sense of control in our lives? Maybe it's organizing in your community, starting a new hobby, or picking up that TV show from 10 years ago that you promised you'd get around to watching. We talk about what finding agency in the chaos can look like, and why we should actively focus on something rather than simply react to what's happening. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

It's safe to say the Trump administration has shaken up the federal government. That includes environmental policy and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Trump administration is making deep cuts to the department. The agency's top official, Lee Zeldin, says he wants to cut 65 percent of its budget. The EPA has already slashed jobs at the environmental justice office, which addresses disproportionate environmental and health effects on minority and low-income populations. The agency is now bracing for more cuts. The administration has already rolled back regulations, frozen funds, and made larger moves like pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate agreement. We discuss what's next for environmental policy in the U.S. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The story of TikTok in the U.S. is one that's had many chapters, to say the least. First, then-President Donald Trump called for its ban in 2020. Then, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law in 2024 requiring the company in charge of the video-sharing platform to sell the app or face a ban. Then, the app went dark this January after failing to sell, only to come back hours later, thanking newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump for his support in keeping the app operational. The president extended the deadline for the sale until April. Why is the government so uncomfortable with TikTok and Chinese parent company ByteDance? What's going to happen in April when the same deadline to sell arises once again? We discuss what the future holds for TikTok with our friends at the Click Here podcast. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy