NPR News: 12-25-2025 6AM EST

Summary

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NPR News Now – December 25, 2025, 6AM EST

Host: Windsor Johnston

Duration: 5 minutes (main news coverage: 00:20–04:55)

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers an essential round-up of global and U.S. events on Christmas morning 2025. The episode highlights Pope Leo’s first Christmas Mass, vibrant holiday traditions in the Holy Land, President Trump's participation in NORAD's Santa tracking, stock market updates, a severe winter storm battering Southern California, and a disputed election in Honduras.

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Key News Highlights and Discussion Points

1. Pope Leo Leads First Christmas Day Mass

• [00:20] Windsor Johnston reports on the thousands of Christian faithful gathered at St. Peter’s Basilica for Pope Leo's first Christmas Mass as pontiff.
• The Pope encourages worshipers to see Christ’s birth not as “a distant story, but as a living invitation to grace, humility, and renewal.”
  • Quote:

    “Christ is born in the flesh and all people receive the life of heaven with grateful and confident hearts. Let us humbly acknowledge our sins so that we may joyfully celebrate the sacred mysteries.”
    – Pope Leo ([00:48])

2. Christmas Celebrations Return to Bethlehem

• [01:00] After two years of scaled-back events due to the war in Gaza, Bethlehem’s Manger Square hosts its largest Christmas Eve celebration in years.
  • Festive music by local scouts fills both Bethlehem and Nazareth.
  • The mood is notably more hopeful and communal, signaling a return to longstanding holiday traditions.

3. President Trump and NORAD Santa Tracker

• [01:00–01:55] President Trump, alongside First Lady Melania, participates in the annual NORAD Santa tracker from Mar-a-Lago.
  • He answers calls from children, emphasizing security—even in jest—regarding Santa’s “goodness.”
    • Quote:

      “Well, we track Santa all over the world. We want to make sure that Santa is being good. Santa's a very good person. We want to make sure that he's not infiltrated, that we're not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa.”
      – Donald Trump ([01:41])

  • Deepa Shivaram notes that President Trump also spoke to service members and attempted to tout economic achievements but the kids “weren't interested in hearing about that.”

4. Santa Claus Rally on Wall Street

• [02:06] Rafael Nam explains the holiday season’s significance in financial markets:
  • The “Santa Claus rally”—traditionally the last five trading days of December plus the first two sessions in January—often sees stock gains, though not always.
    • “Stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P closing at a record high. But... it doesn’t happen all the time. Last year… traders got coal when Santa left behind a market sell off.”
      – Rafael Nam ([02:20])
  • [03:04] Note: Wall Street is closed for Christmas; trading resumes Friday. Asian markets closed higher.

5. Severe Winter Storm in Southern California

• [03:04–03:49] Southern California faces flash floods, mudslides, and debris flows.
  • Flash flood warning remains in effect for areas including Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles.
    • Quote:

      “We got some sandbags, but we figured with this whole downpour coming for the next couple days, we have a pool so the pool might overflow and then plus we have all the debris from up there.”
      – Michael Burdick, Santa Barbara resident ([03:38])

  • Central and northern California see flooded roads, outages, and downed trees as storm moves inland.

6. Honduras Election Dispute

• [03:49–04:55] Nearly a month after voting, Honduras declares a U.S.-backed conservative candidate, Nasrias Fura, the winner.
  • The process is marred by technical issues, a resignation, and dueling claims of victory on Zoom.
  • The second-place, centrist candidate Salvador Nasrada, alleges “robbery” and does not accept the results.
    • Quote:

      “This was a robbery,” he shouted at reporters.
      – (as reported by Ader Peralta [04:16])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Let us humbly acknowledge our sins so that we may joyfully celebrate the sacred mysteries."
  – Pope Leo ([00:48])

• "We want to make sure that he's [Santa] not infiltrated, that we're not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa."
  – Donald Trump ([01:41])

• "It doesn’t happen all the time. Last year… traders got coal when Santa left behind a market sell off."
  – Rafael Nam ([02:20])

• "We got some sandbags... the pool might overflow and... all the debris from up there."
  – Michael Burdick ([03:38])

• "This was a robbery."
  – Salvador Nasrada (via Ader Peralta [04:16])

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Timestamps: Segment Guide

• 00:20 — Main news begins (skip sponsor)
• 00:20–01:00 — Pope Leo's Mass and message
• 01:00–01:55 — Bethlehem celebrations, Trump & NORAD calls
• 02:06–03:04 — Wall Street "Santa Claus rally"/holiday trading update
• 03:04–03:49 — Winter storm in Southern California
• 03:49–04:55 — Honduras election dispute

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This NPR News Now episode provides a succinct yet substantive survey of Christmas morning’s top global headlines, weaving together faith, celebration, presidential antics, financial optimism, climate urgency, and international politics.

Transcript

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[Windsor Johnston]

In Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Thousands of Christian faithful packed St. Peter's Basilica this morning as Pope Leo led his first Christmas Day Mass. As pontiff, the pope called on worshipers to reflect on the meaning of Christ's birth not as a distant story, but as a living invitation to grace, humility and renewal.

[Pope Leo]

Christ is born in the flesh and all people receive the life of heaven with grateful and confident hearts. Let us humbly acknowledge our sins so that we may joyfully celebrate the sacred mysteries.

[Windsor Johnston]

On Christmas Eve, thousands of people gathered in Bethlehem Manger Square. It was the largest celebration in years after two seasons of scaled back events due to the war in Gaza. Scouts played festive music in Bethlehem and Nazareth, where Christians believe Jesus was born and raised. President Trump spent part of Christmas Eve tracking Santa Claus with help from NORAD. Every year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command monitors Santa's location for kids around the world. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports. The president took a few of their calls.

[Deepa Shivaram]

Trump and first lady Melania Trump answered calls from their Florida Mar a Lago home and spoke with children around the country.

[Donald Trump]

Well, we track Santa all over the world. We want to make sure that Santa is being good. Santa's a very good person. We want to make sure that he's not infiltrated, that we're not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa.

[Deepa Shivaram]

The president tried to boast about his economy, but he said the kids weren't interested in hearing about that. Trump later made calls to service members as well. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News.

[Windsor Johnston]

The holiday period on Wall street is often all about the Santa Claus rally. As NPR's Rafael Nam explains, it's when traders get to discover whether stock market Santa will deliver gifts or a bunch of coal.

[Rafael Nam]

For many households across the country, it's the time of family Christmas traditions. And for Wall street, there's nothing more traditional than the Santa Claus rally. For reasons that been really clear, stocks have tended to do well in the last five trading days of the year, as well as the first two sessions of the new year. And so far, it's been a promising start. Stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S and P closing at a record high. But a warning here, it doesn't happen all the time Last year, instead of a rally, traders got coal when Santa left behind a market sell off. Rafael Nam, NPR News.

[Windsor Johnston]

Trading is paused on Wall street today for the Christmas holiday. Stocks resumed trading on Friday. Overseas markets across Asia closed higher today. This is NPR News. In Washington, a powerful winter storm is slamming Southern California, unleashing flash floods, mudslides and debris flows. A flash flood warning remains in effect for a number of including Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles. Resident Michael Burdick says he's doing what he can to get through the next few days.

[Michael Burdick]

We got some sandbags, but we figured with this whole downpour coming for the next couple days, we have a pool so the pool might overflow and then plus we have all the debris from up there.

[Windsor Johnston]

The northern and central parts of the state have also seen flooded roads, power outages and downed trees as the storm moves inland and interacts with mountain snow. Nearly a month after elections were held, Honduras has declared a U S backed candidate the winner. But as NPR's Ader Peralta reports, the candidate who came in second says the declaration is illegal.

[Ader Peralta]

Voters went to the polls on November 30. Since then, counting has been halted many times due to what the Electoral Commission said were catastrophic technical issues. One of the three members of the Electoral Commission has quit, claiming fraud. The two leading candidates both say they have independently counted and are declaring victory via zoom. The commission said Nasrias Fura, the conservative candidate backed by President Trump, won by less than 1% of the vote. Salvador Nasrada, the centrist candidate who had been favored to win, said he does not accept the results. This was a robbery. He shouted at reporters. Ada Pralta, NPR News, Mexico City.

[Windsor Johnston]

This is NPR News.

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