Trump Announces New Tariffs And Gets Supreme Court's OK On Layoff Plans

Summary

NPR Politics Podcast Summary: "Trump Announces New Tariffs And Gets Supreme Court's OK On Layoff Plans"

Release Date: July 11, 2025

In this episode of The NPR Politics Podcast, hosts Ashley Lopez and Domenico Montanaro delve into President Donald Trump's latest initiatives to restructure the federal workforce and implement new tariffs, alongside a significant Supreme Court ruling that impacts these moves. The episode provides an in-depth analysis of the implications for federal employees, the broader economic landscape, and the political maneuvers behind these actions.

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1. Supreme Court Ruling on Federal Workforce Downsizing

Andrea Hsu provides a comprehensive overview of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Trump's plan to downsize the federal workforce. Initially, a lower court had blocked mass layoffs across approximately 20 federal agencies, declaring Trump's executive order and subsequent memos as likely unlawful without congressional authorization.

• Key Points:
  • The Supreme Court, via its emergency docket, has lifted the lower court's injunction, allowing the Trump administration to proceed with its workforce reduction plans.
  • Andrea Hsu (01:35): "The Trump administration can carry on asking agencies to resume what they had started, putting these plans into motion."
  • The State Department has already announced layoffs of around 1,300 employees, including several hundred foreign service officers.
  • Despite the Supreme Court's decision, several lawsuits targeting specific agencies like the Health and Human Services Department and the Department of Education remain active, potentially halting further layoffs in those areas.

Impact on Federal Workers:

• Federal employees face significant uncertainty regarding job security, with thousands already exiting through programs like deferred resignation and early retirement.
• Andrea Hsu (05:07): "Tens of thousands of them have already left, and the ones who are still there don't know whether the cuts are going to be as deep as originally promised."
• Concerns extend to the preservation of institutional knowledge and the effectiveness of agencies, particularly the State Department, in fulfilling their global roles.

2. Analysis of the Supreme Court's Decision and Administration's Priorities

Domenico Montanaro discusses the broader implications of the Supreme Court siding with Trump and questions the administration's commitment to restructuring amidst other pressing issues.

• Domenico Montanaro (03:57): "The Supreme Court continues to side with Trump on a lot of different ways... but it just doesn't seem to be as much of a priority as Trump is dealing with other international and domestic issues."
• Speculation arises about the future focus of Trump's administration, especially following the departure of key figures like Elon Musk from roles influencing government efficiency.

3. Trump's New Tariffs and Economic Strategy

The conversation shifts to President Trump's recent tariff announcements, outlining a potential escalation in the ongoing trade war.

Tamara Keith elaborates on the specifics of the new tariffs and their intended impact.

• Key Points:
  • Trump has issued letters to various trading partners imposing tariffs ranging from 20% to 50%, effective August 1st.
  • Tamara Keith (09:01): "The president has been sending letters to various trading partners assigning a tariff to them."
  • These tariffs are part of Trump's broader strategy to address what he perceives as unfair trade practices and to boost domestic production of critical materials like copper and steel under the guise of national security.

Historical Context and Market Reaction:

• The recent tariff announcements echo Trump's earlier "Liberation Day" in April, where over 100 countries were subjected to elevated tariffs.
• Initial market responses were negative, with bond markets reacting poorly, leading Trump to temporarily reduce tariffs from 20% to about 10% and promise numerous trade deals within 90 days—a target that remains unmet as only one and a half deals were secured before the deadline was extended.

Economic Implications:

• High tariffs on essential materials like copper could disrupt supply chains, increase costs for American industries, and lead to higher prices for consumers.
• Tamara Keith (11:26): "Copper goes into all kinds of things like batteries and like, I mean... demand for copper is really high in this country."

Trump's Political Strategy and Wall Street Relations:

• Domenico Montanaro (10:35): "Trump is a little penned in by Wall Street and people like Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell... economists and Wall Street do not like tariffs."
• The administration's persistent tariff implementation is seen as a tactic to exert pressure on trading partners for better negotiation outcomes, despite adverse economic signals.

4. Additional Political Developments

The episode also touches on President Trump's ongoing critiques of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Elon Musk's announcement to start a new political party.

Jerome Powell and Federal Reserve Tensions:

• Trump's dissatisfaction with Powell centers around interest rate policies. The President seeks lower rates to stimulate economic growth, while Powell focuses on balancing employment and inflation.
• Despite calls from within his administration for Powell to resign or face investigations, Trump has refrained from taking direct action, understanding the potential market instability that could ensue from such a move.

Elon Musk's Political Endeavors:

• Musk's intention to establish a new political party is met with skepticism from the hosts, highlighting the difficulties third parties face in the current political climate.
• Tamara Keith (15:12): "80% of voters have some issues with the two parties... but they go vote like partisans."
• Infrastructure challenges, such as ballot access and the concentration of party support, further hinder the viability of new political movements.

5. Conclusion and Wrap-Up

The episode concludes with reflections on the broader implications of Trump's policies on the federal workforce and international trade, emphasizing the uncertainty and potential long-term effects on both government operations and the U.S. economy.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andrea Hsu (01:35): "The Trump administration can carry on asking agencies to resume what they had started, putting these plans into motion."
• Domenico Montanaro (03:57): "The Supreme Court continues to side with Trump on a lot of different ways... but it just doesn't seem to be as much of a priority as Trump is dealing with other international and domestic issues."
• Tamara Keith (09:01): "The president has been sending letters to various trading partners assigning a tariff to them."
• Tamara Keith (11:26): "Copper goes into all kinds of things like batteries and like, I mean... demand for copper is really high in this country."
• Domenico Montanaro (10:35): "Trump is a little penned in by Wall Street and people like Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell... economists and Wall Street do not like tariffs."

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This episode of The NPR Politics Podcast offers a thorough examination of President Trump's continued efforts to reshape federal employment and escalate trade tensions through tariffs, set against the backdrop of judicial support and political strategy. Listeners gain valuable insights into the complexities and potential repercussions of these policies on both the government's functionality and the nation's economic health.

Transcript

[Domenico Montanaro]

The House of Representatives has approved a.

[Andrea Hsu]

White House request to claw back two years of previously approved funding for public media. The rescissions package now moves on to the Senate. This move poses a serious threat to local stations and public media as we know it. Please take a stand for public media [e-mail] thank you. Hey, this is Des from Bridgewater, New Jersey. I'm currently working on storyboards for this short film that a few of my friends are making.

[Ashley Lopez]

This podcast was recorded at 12:37pm Eastern Time on Friday, July 11, 2025.

[Andrea Hsu]

Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but hopefully we'll have started filming by then, and my storyboards will be used as a reference for all the shots we need to take. Okay, here's the show.

[Ashley Lopez]

Very cool.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Filming. What now? I'm like, very. I'm curious.

[Ashley Lopez]

They said a short film.

[Tamara Keith]

Yeah.

[Ashley Lopez]

What is it about New Jersey?

[Domenico Montanaro]

Just makes me think of, like all those Kevin Smith movies. But, yeah, I'm probably dating myself.

[Ashley Lopez]

You probably are. Hey, there. It's the NPR Politics podcast. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent.

[Ashley Lopez]

We also have NPR's Andrea Hsu here. She covers labor for the network. Hi, Andrea.

[Andrea Hsu]

Hi.

[Ashley Lopez]

And today we're talking about the latest developments in President Trump's efforts to downsize the federal workforce. You've been covering this a lot, and there was a big Supreme Court ruling this week on that front. Can you tell me what it did and what this means for federal workers across the the board?

[Tamara Keith]

Yeah.

[Andrea Hsu]

So this was a case that was heard on what's called the Supreme Court's emergency docket. The Trump administration had asked the court to stay a lower court ruling that had halted mass layoffs and restructuring at around 20 different federal agencies. You know, a lower court judge had found that Trump's executive order announcing the sweeping overhaul of the government and a subsequent memo telling agencies how to carry out layoffs and cuts, that those were likely unlawful and that Trump needed to have gotten authorization from Congress, you know, before doing this. And so for about two months, that was paused, but a majority in the Supreme Court lifted that order. The court did not weigh in on whether the reorganization and layoff plans themselves were legal. But for now, the Trump administration can carry on asking agencies to resume what they had started, putting these plans into motion. And indeed, today we saw the State Department announced layoffs of some 1300 employees, including a couple hundred foreign service officers. Now, the lower court can still consider whether the agency plans for these Layoffs are legal, but that's, you know, that's ahead.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. Does this, like, remove any hurdle for any future layoffs as well, or is this pretty limited?

[Andrea Hsu]

This is somewhat limited in that there are still other lawsuits specific to agencies. So, for example, there are lawsuits that are blocking layoffs at the moment at parts of the Health and Human Services Department, the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and several others. And there might be still more lawsuits coming as agencies start putting their plans into motion. Now, we also have seen some agencies change up plans that they had earlier announced for layoffs without lawsuits. For example, at the Department of Veterans affairs, they announced earlier this week that they were not going to do mass layoffs because they had enough people leaving through things like early retirement and the deferred resignation program. You know, a lot of these agency plans are really in flux. A lot of what we heard earlier this year about, you know, cuts of 40 to 50%, it hasn't happen yet. But it's not to say that won't happen or they might not try to do it. It's just everything is sort of still in a state of limbo.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. Gotcha. Well, Domenico, what do you think this means for all these cases, mean for President Trump and I guess his ability to move forward with his larger plan to shrink the workforce?

[Domenico Montanaro]

Well, first of all, it just shows that the Supreme Court continues to side with Trump on a lot of different ways when they didn't necessarily have to take up some of these cases that they wind up siding with Trump on for the time being. Obviously, he can continue his restructuring, but there, as Andrea noted, there are cases about specific agencies is not clear. Also, just how much of a priority that this government restructuring is with Elon Musk gone and Trump at the helm and Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency, not really in Trump's sort of front and center inside circle, it seems anymore. It just doesn't seem to be as much of a priority as Trump is dealing with all of these other international and domestic issues.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, like, not in his ear as much on this.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Not in his ear. And there's nobody really who could really replace Musk as, you know, that sort of person who could be as big a personality. We're not going to see some other General Services Administration official standing by Trump in the Oval Office while Trump sits behind a desk. That is not what's going to be happening.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. And Andrea, for the federal workers here that we're talking about, what's next for them.

[Andrea Hsu]

Yeah, there's still a ton of Uncertainty, you know, there's very little information. Tens of thousands of them have already left, as I mentioned, like, either through the deferred resignation program, early retirement, but still, the ones who are still there, they don't know whether the cuts that have been floated, that have been rumored are going to be as deep as originally promised. There have been announcements of agency headquarters moving to different buildings. There's litigation over whether employees who are in union still will have collective bargaining rights. So just a lot of questions for them, things are far from settled. They don't know what the future is really going to look like.

[Domenico Montanaro]

And a lot of this looks like Trump got the intended effect, which is to be a deterrent for people to want to be part of government. I mean, government was seen as a job that was secure, as the kind of job you could stay in your entire life. And as the VA tells Andrea, they've already gotten rid of enough people through those early retirements and deferred resignations.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. And Andrea, I mean, I wonder if there's, like, a bigger vision here, if, like, the administration has any sort of plan behind these layoffs or is simply just, I want fewer people on the payroll.

[Andrea Hsu]

Well, you know, I'll go back to the State Department because that's, you know, where there has been some action this week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has talked a lot about the bloated bureaucracy. A senior State Department official this week gave examples of people who were going to be laid off. He said, you know, for example, there were three different offices handling sanctions. And he said, you know, no one said any one of them was doing a bad job, but that made more sense to combine them into one office. But, you know, critics of what's happening say this is gutting the State Department of valuable institutional knowledge. It's gonna diminish the US Presence around the world. They worry about what's gonna happen to the work that the US has done for decades promoting democracy and human rights. And, you know, they say these effects might not be felt immediately, but, you know, probably will over time.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, that will be the big question, is what will the loss of all this institutional knowledge mean for all these agencies? Well, thank you so much, Andrea, for your time. Thanks for joining us.

[Andrea Hsu]

Thank you.

[Ashley Lopez]

All right, we're gonna take a quick break. More in a moment.

[Domenico Montanaro]

This summer on Planet Money Summer School, we're learning about political economy. We're getting into the nitty gritty of.

[Andrea Hsu]

What government does with things like trade.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Taxes, immigration, and healthcare. So politics and economics, which are taught separately, they shouldn't be separated at all. I think you have to understand one to really appreciate the other. So what is the right amount of government in our lives? Tune into Planet Money Summer School from npr, wherever you get your podcasts. This is Eric Glass on this American Life. Sometimes we just show up somewhere, turn on our tape recorders and see what happens. If you can't get seven cars in 12 days, you gotta look yourself in the mirror and say, holy. What, are you kidding me? This car dealership trying to sell its monthly quota of cars and it is not going well. I just don't want one balloon to a car. Balloon the whole freaking place so it.

[Tamara Keith]

Looks like a circus.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Real life stories every week. You're listening to NPR because you're curious. You want to know what the world is like beyond the surface. NPR feeds that curiousness with stories from real people, with real experiences and all the perspectives that come with them. It's our right to be curious and our prerogative to listen. So keep your curiosity alive. Hear the bigger picture every day on npr. Squid Game is Netflix's most popular show of all time, and it just wrapped up its final season. And we're here to help you unpack that bloody finale. Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on.

[Andrea Hsu]

The NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ashley Lopez]

And we're back. And senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith is here with us, too.

[Tamara Keith]

Hi, Tam. Hello.

[Ashley Lopez]

So it's been a busy week in Washington, which I guess we can say all the time now, this time with a lot of tariff news. Tam, did we get any clarity over what tariffs are gonna look like this week?

[Tamara Keith]

Well, we got some clarity that things are not clear and also that the trade war is ramping back up again. The president has been sending letters to various trade trading partners assigning a tariff to them. The letters say something to the effect of congratulations, you can continue doing business with America, but you're going to face this tariff. And the tariffs have been, you know, a wide range from 20% to 25 to 30 to 50% for Brazil. And he says that these tariffs will go into effect August 1st. Now, if this all sounds like kind of familiar, that's because this has been sort of a rolling party. We have to go back to April, which he called Liberation Day, where he had these big poster boards listing tariffs for, you know, more than 100 countries. The markets did not react well to these very high tariffs. The bond markets really didn't react well. And Trump backed down. He put a pause in place for 90 days, dropped the tariffs, mostly down to about 10%. And one of his top aides said there would be 90 deals in 90 days. And 90 days later we had one and a half deals and Trump extended the deadline. But he says he's very serious and, like, the reality is he likes tariffs. It's never quite clear if this is strategic uncertainty, whether he's trying to put countries off balance and make them really want to negotiate, or if, like, he really just doesn't care whether the deals happen or not.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Yeah, I mean, Trump's a little penned in by Wall street and people like Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who Trump obviously has issues with. He wants him to lower rates. And, you know, again, it's Trump boasting of things that he says he can do easily that are really complicated, complex problems. And even though he likes tariffs, economists, Wall street do not like tariffs. And they're very hard to unwind, being able to figure out supply chains and all the like. And we're just seeing this as the result of all of that complicated mess. And he has not been able to really, you know, nail down, nevermind the 90, but the, but two trade deals at this point.

[Ashley Lopez]

So I want to talk about one of the latest announcements, tariff announcements from Trump, which is this proposed 50% tariff on copper. Can you tell me what impact that would have?

[Tamara Keith]

Yeah, the theory here is he has been putting tariffs on all kinds of things like steel and aluminum, sort of sectoral tariffs on really important inputs that go into a lot of things Americans use and need. And that the argument is that this is a national security issue, that the US Needs to be producing more steel, more copper, more aluminum on its own. And so he announced these tariffs on copper. The, the issue is that the US does actually import a lot of copper. It produces a lot, but it also imports a lot. And copper goes into all kinds of things like batteries and like, I mean, you might remember all of these stories about copper pipes being stolen because copper is so expensive. Like, demand for copper is really high in this country.

[Ashley Lopez]

Well, Domenico, as you mentioned, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, this is a person who Trump has been ramping up attacks for, I guess, most of his second term now. But he's back at it. What do you think this is about? Like, why is he talking about him once more?

[Domenico Montanaro]

Well, it's about money first, first and foremost. I mean, Trump knows that the amount of interest that the US Pays on its debt is directly related to how much the interest rate is in the country. And it's also more difficult for people to borrow, to buy houses, to buy cars if the interest rate's high. Now, the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, who I think, stylistically, Trump probably doesn't like either, because he's pretty dry. He's very serious. And Trump likes showman at the front of a lot of things and people who are gonna echo his message.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah.

[Tamara Keith]

And the Reserve has two main jobs. Those jobs are to maximize employment and minimize inflation, to keep the economy strong. Well, right now, employment continues to be strong. There's some underlying weakness, but the numbers are still pretty solid. The president wants the economy to be supercharged, and if you lower rates, the economy will be supercharged. You know, the. The fascinating thing here is that. But Jerome Powell is not the only person who determines what the rates are. Um, and so just firing the Fed chair wouldn't really fix the president's problems. However, if he did fire the Fed chair, the markets would go nuts, and that is why President Trump hasn't done that. But members of his administration are calling for him to resign, calling for investigations of construction costs around a remodel of the Fed building. Um, and they are really just ratcheting up pressure to somehow try to convince him to resign before his term is up. And Powell's term as Fed chair ends less than a year from now. Not soon enough, though, for President Trump and his allies in the administration, who are making it very uncomfortable for the Fed chair.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I mean, Powell's not the only person that Trump has been criticizing. I mean, Elon Musk, you know, announced this week that he plans to start a new political party. I know, Ashley, you've been doing some reporting about that, right?

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. Mostly I've been looking into, like. Like, you know, how easy this would be, the sort of history we have of this. I mean, this is not a great time to start a third party. The rules lately have only gotten harder. It's really not easy to get on a ballot, which presumably Elon Musk would want to, at least in some races. You know, I want to say, like, I don't know how serious to take this, because it's not like Elon Musk has filed any formal paperwork yet. So we'll see. I do think, like, his theory of the case about politics, which is that there's this 80% of voters are centrist voters, I think is wrong.

[Domenico Montanaro]

It is wrong.

[Tamara Keith]

So, I mean, I would say 80% of voters have some issues with the two parties.

[Ashley Lopez]

Sure.

[Tamara Keith]

However, then they go vote, and they vote like partisans. Yeah, like hardcore partisans. Nobody's voting for moderation.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Yeah. I mean, that's what we've seen over the years. You know, the Pew Research center has done these typologies that show that we're more something like eight or nine different political parties. And the people who are most disengaged with politics rarely agree on a policy front. You know, this has been the problem with a lot of these third party groups that have popped up. There's disaffection that they can agree on, but they can't agree on a policy platform. And every time I've asked these groups, what are your policies? What are you going to. What will your candidates be running on? You know, they sort of demure and say, well, we're waiting on a candidate first. You know, you got to have policies that party can get together on and form an alliance on. That's not to say that this country isn't ripe for a potential third party or fourth party or fifth party, but the structures being what they are, the amount of money that it takes to do it. Certainly Elon Musk's the richest guy in the world. Maybe he could do it. But how focused is he gonna be on that when he's got other issues with his businesses also, and. Which is a big reason why he left the government in the first place?

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, I think he's looking at eight to 10 House seats. And I mean, getting on the ballot in congressional districts is really hard. Like, boundary. Like, you could go to, like, an area and get voters, but, like, the chances that they're in this, like, sliver of that district is actually not that, like, it's like a really hard task. So we'll see.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I mean, I guess we're skeptical.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, I guess we remain skeptical. All right, we're going to take a quick break, and when we get back, it's time for Can't Let It Go.

[Domenico Montanaro]

At Planet Money, we know that economic jargon can sometimes feel like speaking another language.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, like arbitrage Alpha.

[Domenico Montanaro]

That's just what's in the news these days. There's also absolute advantage.

[Andrea Hsu]

Aggregate demand, aggregate supply. And this is just the A's.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Oh, animal spirits.

[Ashley Lopez]

That's a pretty good one. Planet Money from npr. We help you translate the economy so you can understand the world.

[Andrea Hsu]

Wherever you get your podcasts, you know.

[Domenico Montanaro]

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[Ashley Lopez]

What would you think if you saw a.

[Andrea Hsu]

Robot dog out for a walk in your neighborhood? What the hell is that?

[Tamara Keith]

Oh, my God.

[Andrea Hsu]

This is Basya. She's hanging out with us.

[Ashley Lopez]

So could I have a medium double.

[Andrea Hsu]

Takes and how they can change your point of view. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from npr. There have been many Supermans, supermen.

[Ashley Lopez]

And now after much anticipation, there is another. And the new Superman movie is pretty great. And it's bringing exactly what we are looking for. Hope we'll tell you why on Pop Culture Happy Hour. Listen on the NPR app or wherever.

[Andrea Hsu]

You get your podcasts.

[Ashley Lopez]

And we're back. And it's time to end the show like we do every week with Can't Let It Go. That's the part of the show where we talk about the things from the week that we just can't stop talking about politics or otherwise. I guess I'll go first. So what I can't let go of this week is so I have been avoiding the plethora of comedy podcasts that have been in our feeds for the past couple of years. I think this started with Marc Maron, but lately I have gotten really into Amy Poehler started a podcast, it's called Good Hanging. And I just, I'm surprised. I liked it because I think comedy podcasts are like, it's what happens to comedians when they're kind of tired of, I think, doing standup and touring the country. They're like, oh, I get to just be in my LA studio and do this from here and make money that way. But hers is actually really good. Like, I think the quality of like the personality of the person doing the podcast really matters. And this was a good reminder of that. Her latest episode with Andy Samberg was really fun. So if anyone wants to check it out.

[Tamara Keith]

Yeah, I will have to check it out.

[Domenico Montanaro]

That sounds like a good duo.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah.

[Domenico Montanaro]

So, yeah, sounds fun.

[Tamara Keith]

I've always enjoyed Conan o' Brien's podcast, whatever it's called. Those are always really interesting. Cause you get sort of the behind the scenes stories of movies and other comedic things that you've seen and then you get to learn what happened when you weren't watching.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. And like Conan, I think Amy Poehler has been in this world for a long time. So she brings in people that she's worked with on snl. Cause she was on SNL for many years. It's interesting to hear the history of a lot of that stuff too. So I think it's like Conan's show in that way. All right, Tam, what can't you let go of this week?

[Tamara Keith]

What I can't let go of is what the President can't let go of. So earlier, Harris. Well, that's his favorite word, but no. So you might remember earlier this week he had a cabinet meeting and it lasted about 90 minutes. But the remarkable thing was the final 15 minutes. And here's how it started.

[Domenico Montanaro]

And I actually spent time in the vaults. The vaults are where we have a lot of great pictures and artwork. And I picked it all myself. I'm very proud of it. That's Andrew Jackson. Great Andrew Jackson.

[Tamara Keith]

And then he literally spoke for 15 minutes about the decor in the Cabinet Room, including about the frames, like the portraits, but also the frames that the portraits were in. But I think the best part was when he talked about the clock. So this is a grandfather clock that is now in the Cabinet Room. He lifted it from Marco Rubio's office. That's Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio's office.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I tried to talk him into it first and it sort of worked. And then I had to use a little more. I'd to like love to take that clock out and put it in the Cabinet Room. He said, no, are you serious? I said, marco, I have the right to do it. Marco.

[Ashley Lopez]

He muscled a clock away.

[Tamara Keith]

I don't know. All I know is we have to.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Get ruby on the light.

[Tamara Keith]

He also talked about the lighting and how he had them add medallions above the lights.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, but I feel like this has come up before, right? Like I've seen him talk about decor in the White House a million times, which usually you'd see like the first lady do it, but he seems way more invested in the look of the White House.

[Tamara Keith]

And I feel like in the second term he is really going all in on the decor. Like he is spending a lot of time and effort on, you know, making it, putting his stamp on the White House.

[Ashley Lopez]

Well, okay. Well, Domenico, what can't you let go of this week?

[Domenico Montanaro]

I'm going back a bit further. 65 million years to be exact. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which has massive skeletons of T. Rexes and all kinds of other stuff that kids love. They found a dinosaur fossil in their parking lot.

[Tamara Keith]

What?

[Domenico Montanaro]

Can you believe that museum? They bore a 5 centimeter hole down 763ft in an effort to study geothermal heating. This is a completely unrelated project. And they found a vertebra of a smallish plant eating dinosaur. Not a very Exciting find. It's not a massive T. Rex, but. But still, they found something that was one of the oldest fossils to be found in the Denver area. And, you know, those who know the American west know that it's hugely rich in dinosaur fossils. So, you know, also thinking about other things that people take great pride in and enjoy really being super excited about. Was also nice to sort of read some of the quotes from some of the people involved. I did find this quote from the museum's curator of geology really fascinating. He said, finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon. It's like winning the Willy Wonka factory. It's incredible. It's super rare.

[Ashley Lopez]

So nerd excitement.

[Tamara Keith]

Are they gonna install the geothermal heating system?

[Domenico Montanaro]

I have no idea. They're there to study geothermal heating.

[Andrea Hsu]

I just think that's interesting.

[Domenico Montanaro]

And soon that project will continue.

[Ashley Lopez]

That's, like, so coincidental, too. Like, it was, like, right beneath them, this museum.

[Tamara Keith]

At the museum.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah.

[Tamara Keith]

I mean, there are few things more exciting than, like, finding a dinosaur bone. Like, that's pretty cool.

[Domenico Montanaro]

I found a shark tooth once, and it was. It was very cool out Calvert Cliffs in. In Maryland at State Park.

[Ashley Lopez]

All right, that's a wrap for today. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Our editor is Rachel Bay. Our producers are Casey Morell and Bria Suggs. Thanks to Krishna Dev Kalamer. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.

[Tamara Keith]

I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House.

[Domenico Montanaro]

And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent.

[Ashley Lopez]

And thank you for listening to the NPR politics podcast.

[Domenico Montanaro]

This is going to be terrific.

[Ashley Lopez]

Oh, boy.

[Tamara Keith]

Whoop, whoop, whoop.

[Ashley Lopez]

Terrific. Okay.

[Tamara Keith]

Oh, God.

[Domenico Montanaro]

What did you find that terrifying?

[Ashley Lopez]

Oh, my God. Domenico.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Hey, everybody, it's Ian from How to Do Everything. On our show, we attempt to answer your how to questions. We don't know how to do anything, so we call experts. Last season, both Tom Hanks and Martha Stewart stopped by to help. Our next season is launching in just a few months, so get us your questions now by emailing howtopr.org or calling 1-800-424-2935.

[Andrea Hsu]

Recycling can feel like a lost cause. But one college student started a grassroots efforts to turn beer bottles into sand for eroding beaches.

[Ashley Lopez]

We have some music bump in and, like, some people are sorting. There's one person crushing and the rest of us are, like, hand sifting the material.

[Andrea Hsu]

Now you can come up with creative ideas by taking a second look. Double takes. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from npr.

[Domenico Montanaro]

Here on the Indicator from Planet Money, we fanned out across the country to ask how you are feeling about economy. Anxious, uncertain, unfair, turbulent, crazy. We don't just recite the headlines, we show you how the economy is affecting your life. In 10 minutes or less each weekday, listen to the Indicator from Planet Money. Wherever you get your podcasts.