Rescission Vote, Trump And The Wall Street Journal, Trump's Health

Summary

Up First from NPR – July 18, 2025

Hosts: Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, Michel Martin, A Martinez, Ayesha Rascoe, Scott Simon
Episode Title: Rescission Vote, Trump And The Wall Street Journal, Trump's Health

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1. Rescission Vote: Impact on Public Broadcasting and Foreign Aid

Timestamp: 00:02 – 06:10

Overview:
Republican lawmakers in Congress, responding to President Donald Trump's directive, have agreed to roll back previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. This decision has significant implications for hundreds of local public media stations across the country.

Key Points:

• Congressional Agreement:
  Michelle Martin reports that Republicans "agreed with President Trump's demand to roll back funding they'd already approved" (00:02). The funds affected major areas including foreign aid and public broadcasting.

• Effect on Public Media:
  Steve Inskeep raises concerns about the impact on local public media stations, querying, "So what's that mean for local public media stations?" (00:07).

• Funding Details:
  Nitin Singh, NPR News correspondent, elaborates that approximately "$1.1 billion over two years" allocated through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will be canceled (03:03). Public radio stations typically receive about 8-10% of their funding from this federal source, with some rural stations dependent on up to 50%.

• Political Motivation:
  Nitin Singh explains that while public broadcasting has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support, under Trump, it has become a target. He states, "President Trump has talked about revenge and vengeance as part of his mandate. And he put the media as a center core of that" (04:05).

• Future of Public Broadcasting:
  The rollback is expected to lead to significant restructuring within public broadcasting, including potential consolidations and closures, particularly in underserved and rural areas (05:22).

Notable Quote:
"President Trump has talked about in campaigning last year about revenge and vengeance as part of his mandate. And he put the media as a center core of that." – Nitin Singh (04:05)

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2. Trump’s Legal Threats Against the Wall Street Journal

Timestamp: 06:10 – 13:25

Overview:
The Wall Street Journal published an article alleging that Donald Trump sent a sexually suggestive birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. President Trump has vehemently denied the allegations, labeling the letter as fake and threatening legal action against the newspaper.

Key Points:

• Wall Street Journal Report:
  Anaida Dua discusses an exclusive claim by the Wall Street Journal about a letter from Trump to Epstein, featuring a drawing of a naked woman, which allegedly contained "sexual innuendo" (07:02).

• Trump’s Response:
  President Trump has "swiftly" responded by threatening to sue the Wall Street Journal and denying the authenticity of the letter, stating, "I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women." (07:35). He also directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release Epstein-related files, dismissing ongoing investigations as a "scam" (08:12).

• Timing and Public Reaction:
  The publication and Trump's subsequent response occurred rapidly, with Trump addressing his supporters shortly after the story emerged. Polling indicates general public disapproval of how the situation has been handled, including among many Republicans (09:07).

• Potential Release of Epstein Files:
  While Trump has requested the release of grand jury testimony related to Epstein, experts predict that any released documents will likely contain significant redactions, offering minimal new information (08:57).

Notable Quote:
"President Trump has threatened to sue the Wall Street Journal over the story and strongly denying the allegations. He called the letter fake." – Michelle Martin (06:54)

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3. Disclosure of President Trump's Chronic Condition

Timestamp: 09:39 – 13:25

Overview:
Following public concern over images showing President Trump's swollen ankles, the White House has disclosed that the president is managing a chronic venous insufficiency—a common condition affecting the veins in the legs.

Key Points:

• Condition Explained:
  Will Stone defines chronic venous insufficiency as a condition where blood in the veins has difficulty returning to the heart, leading to pooling and swelling in the legs (10:14). He notes, "the valves in your veins not working all that well" is the primary issue (10:14).

• Prevalence and Symptoms:
  The condition is "not unusual at all," affecting approximately "10% to more than 30% of adults" (11:43). Symptoms include swelling, itching, dryness, pain, varicose veins, and skin discoloration.

• Severity and Management:
  While generally manageable with treatments like compression socks, chronic venous insufficiency can lead to serious complications such as leg ulcers or infections in rare cases (12:21). President Trump's doctor has assured that he remains "in excellent health" despite the condition (10:06).

• Public Disclosure and Transparency:
  The White House's decision to disclose the condition follows public scrutiny over the president’s health transparency. Steve Inskeep points out that Trump has historically claimed to be in "excellent health" while facing questions about the extent of his medical disclosures (11:27).

Notable Quote:
"The President has what's called chronic venous insufficiency... these valves can become dysfunctional." – Will Stone (10:14)

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Conclusion

This episode of Up First from NPR delves into significant current events impacting public broadcasting funding, ongoing controversies surrounding President Trump's interactions with the Wall Street Journal and Jeffrey Epstein's legacy, and recent disclosures about the president's health. Through insightful reporting and expert analysis, the hosts provide listeners with a comprehensive overview of these pivotal issues shaping the national conversation.

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Produced by Ziad Buch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. Edited by Jerry Holmes, Padmananda Rama, Jane Greenhalt, Janaya Williams, and Ali Schweitzer. Executive Producer: Jay Shaler.

Transcript

[Michelle Martin]

Republicans in Congress agreed with President Trump's demand to roll back funding they'd already approved.

[Steve Inskeep]

Most of the money was for foreign aid. Some was for public broadcasting. So what's that mean for local public media stations?

[Michelle Martin]

I'm Michelle Martin. That's Steve Inskeep. And this is up first from NPR News. President Trump says he told Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch he's going to sue the paper. The paper published an article saying Trump once sent Jeffrey Epstein a birthday note filled with sexual innuendo. Trump says it' fake. How is this landing with Trump supporters who say he's not being transparent?

[Steve Inskeep]

Also, images of the president's swollen ankles prompted the White House to disclose he has a chronic condition.

[Will Stone]

The veins are very thin walled structures and they have valves. But over time, these valves can become dysfunctional.

[Steve Inskeep]

How's his health? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

[David Folkenflik]

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[Steve Inskeep]

A narrow majority in Congress took another step in ceding their power to the president.

[Michelle Martin]

The Constitution gives Congress authority over government spending, but at the president's request, they overturned spending they'd previously agreed to for foreign aid and public broadcasting. The request was more of a demand. He'd threatened consequences for lawmakers who didn't go along. Some voted in favor while publicly expressing concern or even saying they didn't know what they were voting for. The White House promises to use the.

[Steve Inskeep]

Technique again, the people affected this time include hundreds of public radio stations. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflick has been covering them and will note as we have been doing, that no corporate official or news executive in this company has reviewed the interview we're about to do. David, good. Good morning.

[Nitin Singh]

Good morning, Steve.

[Steve Inskeep]

People have sort of followed this, but it's complicated. So what money are we talking about here?

[Nitin Singh]

Well, so there are hundreds of local public radio, public television stations across the country. They get money from a lot of sources, but a good chunk comes from what's called the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That's the not for profit set up by Congress that funnels federal money to these stations, other actors in public broadcasting world, so call it $1.1 billion over two years. A tiny sliver of that comes to NPR. But about 8 to 10% of funding for public radio stations across the country on average comes from that Federal source. About 15% of PBS's revenues and PBS member stations revenues come from Corporation Public Broadcasting. And want to be clear, it's not the same for every station. So some stations might hit 6, 8%, some might be 20, 30%. In some cases, particularly rural areas, more like 50%.

[Steve Inskeep]

Yeah, it varies highly. And they were funded two years in advance to avoid political influence. That's the money that is now canceled. What is the backstory of Republic going after this now?

[Nitin Singh]

Well, look, it has been an episodic thing that has happened in the 50 plus years since the creation of public broadcasting as a federally subsidized thing back in 1967 under President Lyndon Baines Johnson. But nonetheless, public broadcasting has enjoyed strong bipartisan support, which has been reflected in recent polls that have been released by NPR, but also by others about this very issue. The real issue is that this used to be seen as something that Republicans wanted to run on and now under President Trump, it's been something Republicans wanted to win. President Trump has talked about in campaigning last year about revenge and vengeance as part of his mandate. And he put the media as a center core of that. Having the lever of federal funding meant that he had a way in which to focus on the media. He wanted to take it away. He's been calling NPR and PBS sort of left wing monsters. He described them again last week as monstrous. It's the charge of bias is one that the networks have rejected. And yet it comes up again and again from Republicans. This time they wanted to score a win and with his pressure, yeah, they did.

[Steve Inskeep]

And we'll just note the reality for the record that many of The Republicans who accused bias or voted against public radio have been on NPR telling their own stories in their own words. And that's all a matter of just the transcripts. So what do public media stations do now?

[Nitin Singh]

Well, I think what you're seeing right now in the hours after this, you're going to start to see across the country a lot of folks fundraising, but they're really, with any luck, have been thinking about this hard. There's going to be some consolidation. Some stations may close down and go dark and not serve all 99 + percent of the nation that we do now. And that's going to be particularly in underserved areas, rural areas, perhaps tribal areas, although there's been some promises by South Dakota as Mike Rounds that some money will be set aside for them. But I think you're going to see a radical reconstruction of what the public broadcasting system looks like in radio, in television. They're going to have to meet a very different future.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflick, thanks for your insights.

[Nitin Singh]

You bet.

[Steve Inskeep]

President Trump's effort to silence talk about the Epstein files doesn't seem to be working.

[Michelle Martin]

Last night the Wall Street Journal published an article describing what it said was a sexually suggestive note that Donald Trump sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday. This is before Epstein was first arrested for sexually abusing girls. Trump's ties to Epstein, the financier who faced sex trafficking charges before dying by suicide in federal custody, have rocked the president this last night. Trump responded swiftly, threatening to sue the Wall Street Journal over the story and strongly denying the allegations. He called the letter fake. He also directed Attorney General Pam Bonney to seek release of some of the files related to Epstein's criminal sex trafficking case and insists continued questions about the investigations are a, quote, scam.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR's Stephen Fowler has been covering this story. Stephen, good morning.

[Anaida Dua]

Good morning.

[Steve Inskeep]

Okay, we got to begin with the Wall Street Journal story. What do they report?

[Anaida Dua]

This exclusive claims that Trump sent a letter for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003 that included a drawing of a naked woman with the signature Donald below the waist part of a leather bound collection of letters from Epstein's friends and family. The letter supposedly concludes happy birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret. NPR has not independently confirmed that story.

[Steve Inskeep]

Yeah, and I guess we should note that the Journal has not published an image of this letter, but there's a description and the Journal says that they have reviewed the letter. How's that president responding?

[Anaida Dua]

Well, he said in an interview for the article on Tuesday, quote, I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women. And in that interview, plus several truth social posts, Trump is threatening a lawsuit. The Post said, among other things, that, quote, the press has to learn to be truthful and that Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Wall Street Journal parent company News Corp, Said he would take care of it. But since the story published, Trump said that he was, quote, going to sue his. You know what? Off, Steve.

[Steve Inskeep]

Okay, interesting. But Trump is now asking his attorney general to release something related to the Epstein case. What's going on now?

[Anaida Dua]

Well, after Trump threatened the Wall Street Journal, he made another post that said, quote, based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent grand jury testimony subject to court approval. So up until a week ago, Bondi and other Trump administration officials were the ones pushing claims that there were files to be released exposing the truth about the life and death of the convicted sex trafficker. And what Trump is asking Bondi to do is probably not the Epstein files people may be expecting or hoping for. Now, Bondi said she would be prepared to move in court to have these documents released. They will likely have redactions to protect privacy of victims in the case and likely not have very much in the way of new information.

[Steve Inskeep]

Steve and I have one other question, and it has to do with the president's effort to make this story stop. Did he know the Wall Street Journal was coming as he insulted his own supporters and tried to get them to stop talking about it?

[Anaida Dua]

Here's the timing thing. Trump's interview with the Journal supposedly came Tuesday, the very next day when Trump knew this story was in the works. That's when he called supporters who questioned the narrative around Epstein's death and called for transparency, quote, stupid and foolish and falsely claimed the Epstein files was a hoax perpetrated by Democrats. So a lot of the bad news cycle has been influenced and increased by the president's own action here. And there's also polling that shows, in general, the public doesn't approve of the way this has been handled. Handled, including by many Republicans.

[Steve Inskeep]

Stephen, thanks so much.

[Anaida Dua]

Thank you.

[Steve Inskeep]

That's NPR's Stephen Falmer. So much news about the president this morning. The White House has acknowledged that the president has a chronic condition affecting the veins in his legs.

[Michelle Martin]

The administration disclosed this after people online called attention to photos showing the president with swollen ankles, among other symptoms.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR's Will Stone is here to tell us more. Will, good morning.

[Will Stone]

Good morning, Steve.

[Steve Inskeep]

Okay, so what does the White House now say is the President's diagnosis?

[Will Stone]

Well, the President has what's called chronic venous insufficiency. And put simply, this is when the blood in your veins has trouble getting pumped back up to the heart. And as a result, the blood can start to accumulate. It can start to pool in your legs, causing swelling, as we've seen with President Trump. And specifically, this has to do with the valves in your veins not working all that well. Here's how Dr. Nitin Singh described it to me. He's a vascular surgeon at the University of Washington. The veins, particularly in the lower extremity, are very thin wall structures. And they have valves so that when you stand up, all the blood doesn't rush to your feet. These valves close. But over time, these valves can become dysfunctional. And this dysfunction most often happens just as a result of getting older. The condition can also be due to a blood cl, what's known as deep vein thrombosis. And of course, a clot can be serious, although it's also possible the clot happened years earlier and that ends up damaging the valves and causing problems later on. The President's doctor did check for a blood clot using an ultrasound and found no evidence of that. They also did not see any signs of arterial disease. And his doctor concluded President Trump remains, quote, in excellent health.

[Steve Inskeep]

We're obliged to note here the President has said for a decade that he is in excellent health and has faced many questions over the years about exactly how much he discloses of what his doctors may or may not find. But let's talk about the condition itself. Is this common, as the President's press secretary contends?

[Will Stone]

Yeah, it's not unusual at all. The numbers out there vary quite a lot. There are estimates that anywhere from 10% to more than 30% of adults are affected. And it's much more prevalent in older adults, although other risk factors are smoking, obesity. Genetics can also play a role. And the symptoms are swelling, obviously, which can build up over the course of the day. There can also be itching, dryness, pain. People can have these bulging purple or blue looking veins called varicose veins and brown discoloration on their skin.

[Steve Inskeep]

Now, granting that many people have this, can it sometimes be serious?

[Will Stone]

It can. All the vascular experts I spoke with said generally it's not a big deal. Of course it can be uncomfortable, but for a minority of people, less than 15%, depending on their risk factors, and it's not so benign. They can have serious complications where they develop these painful ulcers on their legs. Dr. Anaida Dua is a vascular surgeon at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. This is what she told me in some people who have severe chronic venous.

[Michelle Martin]

Insufficiency over time, because that blood pools.

[Will Stone]

For so long, they start to get ulcers of the legs. And those ulcers can be very difficult to heal.

[Michelle Martin]

Based on the description of the president and what was said in terms of.

[Will Stone]

The mild swelling, it's unlikely that he.

[Michelle Martin]

Will ever have those symptoms.

[Will Stone]

Now, in rare cases, these ulcers can even get infected. People may need to get surgery, but Dua says most who have chronic venous insufficiency can manage it simply by wearing compression socks or stockings that help push that blood back up to their heart.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR health correspondent Will Stone, thanks so much.

[Will Stone]

Thank you.

[Steve Inskeep]

And that's it. First for this Friday, July 18th, I'm Steve Inskeep.

[Michelle Martin]

And I'm Michelle Martin. How does a teenage boy take in painful lessons about life that his father thinks he needs to learn?

[Anaida Dua]

I've started to see that the very people you know I look to to protect me started to discriminate against and harm the community I hold most dear.

[Michelle Martin]

Life lessons ABOUT race this weekend, the Sunday STORY brings you a conversation about growing up black from a father to son. Tune in this weekend right here and in the up first feed.

[Steve Inskeep]

Today's up first was edited by Jerry Holmes, Padmananda Rama, Jane Greenhalt, Janaya Williams and Ali Schweitzer. It was produced by Ziad Buch, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from David Greenberg, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Have a good weekend.

[David Folkenflik]

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