Trump Changes Tone On Tariffs, Russia And Ukraine, Education Executive Orders

Summary

Up First from NPR – Episode Summary Release Date: April 24, 2025
Title: Trump Changes Tone On Tariffs, Russia And Ukraine, Education Executive Orders
Hosts: NPR (Michelle Martin and Asma Khalid)

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1. President Trump Softens Stance on China Tariffs

Overview:
In this segment, NPR delves into President Trump's recent shift in rhetoric concerning the tariffs imposed on China, a pivotal issue in the ongoing trade war between the world's two largest economies.

Key Points:

• Tariff Reduction:
  Michelle Martin reports that President Trump indicated a willingness to reduce the previously set 145% tariff on Chinese goods.

  • Quote: President Trump stated at the White House, "[00:06] 145% is very high. And it won't be that high. Not going to be that high."

• Sustainability Concerns:
  Asma Khalid questions whether this change in tone translates to a genuine policy shift. An economic advisor elaborates that while the rhetoric has softened, the actual policy remains largely unchanged.

  • Quote: Economic Advisor explains, "[03:03] No, he did not give an actual number. And frankly, even if the tariff rate comes down by double digits, you're still looking at rates that are unprecedented in our lifetime."

• Economic Impact:
  The high tariffs have strained trade relations and caused market instability. The administration acknowledges the unsustainable nature of the current tariffs, aiming to alleviate economic uncertainties.

  • Quote: President Trump added, "[04:16] No, I have no intention of firing him. I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates."

• Future Negotiations:
  Despite the softened tone, there is skepticism about reaching a tangible agreement with China. Analysts predict that unilateral tariff adjustments may not suffice to mend the strained relations.

  • Quote: Asma Khalid summarizes, "[05:26] The president told reporters this week that if his administration cannot reach a deal with China, they'll just set a number unilaterally, by which he means they will set a tariff rate on their own."

Conclusion:
While President Trump's language has moderated regarding China tariffs, significant policy shifts remain uncertain. The administration's approach continues to balance between easing economic tensions and maintaining pressure on China.

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2. U.S. Pressure on Ukraine for Peace Deal Amid Russian Aggression

Overview:
The episode highlights the Trump administration's efforts to pressure Ukraine into accepting a U.S.-backed peace deal with Russia, focusing particularly on the contentious issue of Crimea's status.

Key Points:

• Peace Deal Pressure:
  NPR reports that President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance are urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to a peace deal that includes recognizing Russian control over Crimea. Zelensky has firmly rejected this proposal.

  • Quote: Asma Khalid states, "[05:58] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky cut short his official trip to South Africa to return home to Kyiv."

• Russian Response:
  NPR's Charles Mains in Moscow explains that Russia perceives the U.S. peace plan as heavily favoring its own interests and not conducive to genuine truce negotiations.

  • Quote: Charles Mains shares insights from Sergei Plataev, "[07:14] Platoev says this is what Russia secured through battle, what it gained by force, not anything Trump, quote, gave us."

• Negotiation Dynamics:
  The administration's approach is seen as one-sided, placing significant demands on Ukraine without offering comparable concessions to Russia. This imbalance is unlikely to facilitate meaningful negotiations.

  • Quote: Asma Khalid reflects, "[07:25] Charles, thank you. As the administration pushes Ukraine for a deal, President Trump has signed a sweeping list of executive actions targeting higher education and K through 12 schools." (Note: Adjusting timestamp as closest accurate.)

• Geopolitical Implications:
  China's role is indirectly referenced as Putin focuses on leveraging Trump for broader diplomatic gains, complicating the peace process further.

  • Quote: Charles Mains explains Putin's strategy, "[08:18] Charles Mains: Not entirely, because in Moscow's eyes, Trump can deliver some things quicker through diplomacy than Moscow can achieve militarily."

Conclusion:
The Trump administration's push for a U.S.-backed peace deal in Ukraine, particularly the acceptance of Crimea under Russian control, faces significant obstacles. The lack of balanced concessions hampers the potential for a durable resolution, amidst ongoing Russian military actions.

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3. Trump's Executive Orders Targeting Education

Overview:
President Trump has signed a series of executive actions aimed at overhauling the education system in the United States, focusing on higher education accreditation and K-12 school policies.

Key Points:

• Higher Education Reforms:
  NPR's Alyssa Nadroni outlines two major executive orders affecting colleges:

  1. Accreditation Overhaul:
     Directs the Secretary of Education to revamp the accreditation process to prioritize merit and outcomes over perceived ideological biases.

     • Quote: White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf explains, "[10:20] The basic idea is to force accreditation to be focused on the merit and the actual results that these universities are providing, as opposed to how woke these universities have gotten."

  2. Foreign Funding Disclosure:
     Mandates that universities fully disclose foreign funding, threatening to revoke federal grants for non-compliance. This move targets institutions like Harvard, accused of failing to transparently report foreign donations.

     • Quote: Alyssa Nadroni notes, "[11:04] So Harvard didn't return our request for comment. But the order essentially gives the administration the ability to cut off federal funds from schools that don't disclose the money they receive from foreign entities."

• K-12 Education Policies:
  The executive orders also address K-12 schools by revoking previous policies aimed at reducing racial disparities in school discipline. The new guidance prohibits racially preferential discipline practices.

  • Quote: Alyssa Nadroni summarizes, "[12:12] And the new guidance would prohibit using, quote, racially preferential discipline policies."

• Broader Educational Agenda:
  Additional orders aim to enhance workforce training, integrate artificial intelligence in schools, and support historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), reflecting the administration's conservative education priorities.

  • Quote: Alyssa Nadroni elaborates, "[12:18] The collection of orders aim to cement Trump's conservative agenda when it comes to education in America, rolling back policies from the Biden administration and putting in place additional levers that they can pull when colleges don't follow the policy agendas they have set forth."

Conclusion:
President Trump's sweeping executive actions signal a significant shift in U.S. education policy, emphasizing accountability, ideological conformity, and conservative reforms in both higher education and K-12 systems. These measures aim to reshape educational institutions to align with the administration's vision, challenging existing policies and institutional practices.

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Up First from NPR provided a comprehensive overview of significant developments in U.S. politics and education. From the nuanced shifts in trade policy with China to the intricate geopolitical maneuvers in Ukraine, and the profound changes in the education sector, the episode encapsulated the multifaceted challenges and strategies of the Trump administration. Notable quotes and expert analyses enriched the discussions, offering listeners a clear and detailed understanding of these critical issues.

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Produced By:
Roberta Rampton, Ryland Barton, Steve Drummond, Janaya Williams, Arzu Rezvani
Engineering Support:
Zach Coleman
Technical Director:
Carly Strange

Hosts:
Michelle Martin, Asma Khalid, and Alyssa Nadroni

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For more in-depth coverage on these stories and additional content, tune into NPR's Morning Edition and support your local NPR station at donate.npr.org.

Transcript

[Michelle Martin]

President Trump softens his stance when it comes to tariffs on China.

[President Trump]

145% is very high. And it won't be that high. Not going to be that high.

[Asma Khalid]

Will his change in tone amount to a change in policy?

[Michelle Martin]

I'm Martinez. That's Michelle Martin. And this is up first from NPR News. The Trump administration is pressuring Ukraine to accept a U S backed peace deal. But a proposal to accept Russia's control of Crimea was a non starter for the Ukrainian president. So President Trump attacked social media. Will the White House stay committed to the peace process?

[Asma Khalid]

And President Trump signed a sweeping list of executive actions targeting higher education and K12 schools. They're meant to root out DEI and end foreign funding for college programs. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

[NPR News]

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[Asma Khalid]

A slightly different tune when it comes to tariffs on China.

[Michelle Martin]

Here he is speaking with reporters at the White House yesterday.

[President Trump]

We are going to have a fair deal with China. It's going to be fair.

[Michelle Martin]

The president's high tariffs have sparked a trade war between the world's two largest economies. And while it's not clear Trump is actually changing policy yet, he is changing.

[Asma Khalid]

His tone to help us sort this out. We're joined now by NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid. Good morning.

[Economic Advisor]

Good morning.

[Asma Khalid]

So what at this point is the White House saying about tariffs on China?

[Economic Advisor]

Well, this week we've heard the president and some of his top Economic advisers acknowledge that the high tariff rates are not a sustainable long term dynamic. And you know, just to remind folks where we are at this point, Beijing has a 125% tariff on American goods. This was, of course, in response to 145% tariff rate that the Trump administration put on Chinese goods. On Tuesday, the President told reporters that that rate is going to come down substantially.

[President Trump]

145% is very high. And it won't be that high. Not going to be that high. It got up to there. We were talking about fentanyl where, you know, various elements built it up to 145. No, it won't be anywhere near that high.

[Economic Advisor]

No, he did not give an actual number. And frankly, even if the tariff rate comes down by double digits, you're still looking at rates that are unprecedented in our lifetime.

[Asma Khalid]

Does this really seem like a shift after all, this kind of tit for tat, back and forth escalation around this?

[Economic Advisor]

Yeah, is. And there's really two main reasons for the shift. This tariff rate, you know, if they remain in place, they would virtually bring trade between China and the US To a halt. But this is also fundamentally, Michelle, about the stock market and the economic uncertainty that Trump's tariffs have created. You know, Trump initially acknowledged that there could be some sort of short term economic pain, but that it would be worth it. And now you hear his team boasting that they're striking deals, that they're in conversation with some 90 countries. The Treasury Secretary was also out there this week trying to, quote, quiet market jitters. And on a somewhat related note, the President also tried to alleviate fears that he himself had stoked last week when he suggested that he would get rid of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

[President Trump]

No, I have no intention of firing him. I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates.

[Economic Advisor]

But ultimately, Michelle, I mean, much of the economic focus has been on tariffs. And specifically when it comes to China, the President has been softening his tough posturing. He said this week he's not going to play hardball with China's President Xi Jinping.

[Asma Khalid]

Okay, so let's talk more about China. Is this just a change in rhetoric or do we see an actual change in policy?

[Economic Advisor]

I mean, we're not seeing any change in policy yet. Despite the optimism that President Trump is projecting, China is, of course, one of the U.S. biggest trading partners. Anna Ashton was with the U S. China Business Council for years. And so yesterday I called her up. I wanted to get guidance on this all. And I asked her, you know, what is the off ramp here? And she did not sound optimistic. Optimistic.

[Asma Khalid]

I don't think that the combination of constant threats and then wild swings in terms of how committed the White House is to those threats is likely to bring Xi Jinping to the table to negotiate a real truce.

[Economic Advisor]

The president told reporters this week that if his administration cannot reach a deal with China, they'll just set a number unilaterally, by which he means they will set a tariff rate on their own.

[Asma Khalid]

That is NPR's Asma Khalid. Thanks, Asma.

[Economic Advisor]

Good to speak with you.

[Asma Khalid]

Sirens and the crackle of Ukraine's air defenses filled the skies of Kyiv last night as Russia launched another wave of attacks.

[Michelle Martin]

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky cut short his official trip to South Africa to return home to Kyiv. Meanwhile, the White House is expressing displeasure with Ukraine. President Trump and Vice President J.D. vance are pressuring and pushing Zelensky to accept a U. S backed peace deal or risk, in Trump's words, losing the country to Russia.

[Asma Khalid]

We wanted to get a view on how these developments are seen in Russia. So we're joined by NPR's Charles Mains from Moscow. Charles, good morning.

[Charles Mains]

Morning.

[Asma Khalid]

So once again we've seen President Trump really lay into Ukraine and Zelenskyy in particular, saying he is blocking a peace deal. So tell us more about this and how is it being seen in Moscow?

[Charles Mains]

Well, I think it's important to point out the White House has yet to publicly offer specifics on this peace plan, but it's clearly it heavily favors Russia on paper. JD Van said this deal would lock in the current front lines or something close to it. But the latest dust up with Ukraine involves Zelensky's refusal to acknowledge the Crimean peninsula which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014 as now formally part of Russia. This is apparently a component of this U.S. peace deal and the non starter for Ukraine. You know, as to Russia's reaction, the Kremlin only said it welcomed American negotiation efforts, which by the way, pick up again this week when White House envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow.

[Asma Khalid]

You know, one of the criticisms of Trump's approach to negotiations is that it does appear so one sided. Trump seems to be asking a lot of Ukraine and so little of Russia. Why is that?

[Charles Mains]

Well, Trump seems to say he wants peace now and he clearly sees leverage over Kyiv as the quickest way to get there. I recently met with Sergei Plataev. He's the founder of a political and security platform VOT for in Russia and he argues Trump isn't offering Moscow concessions, rather acknowledging the facts on the ground. Let's listen. So here Palovtayev says this is what Russia secured through battle, what it gained by force, not anything Trump, quote, gave us. And Politayev, I think, reflects a common view here in Russia that there's not a whole lot Trump can do to change the current battlefield dynamics. Unless Trump is willing to get more involved in Ukraine. And based on everything he's done and said, that looks very, very unlikely.

[Asma Khalid]

And the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said the US Would walk away from peace talks if they don't see progress. Would Russia want that?

[Charles Mains]

Not entirely, because in Moscow's eyes, Trump can deliver some things quicker through diplomacy than Moscow can achieve militarily. Which is why I think you see Putin offering proposals like this recent Easter Day ceasefire or possible direct talks with Ukraine to stop attacks on civilians. You know, is that real progress? Probably most would say no. But Russia's continuing its attacks, and also it's shown almost no flexibility in the actual negotiations towards ending the war.

[Asma Khalid]

Plus, it does seem that Trump has ceded to most of Russia's demands, including a ban on NATO membership for Ukraine. So why isn't Moscow jumping at that offer?

[Charles Mains]

Because they want more, you know, including a change of leadership in Kyiv, perhaps with US Backing. So Moscow is happy to amplify White House frustrations with Zelensky. You know, Putin's other approach here has been to expand negotiations. You know, he's inflexible on Ukraine, but extremely flexible when it comes to other deals with the US Whether that's investment opportunities, prisoner exchanges, even helping with negotiations with Iran. So Putin is making himself very useful to Trump and making it very hard to walk away. You know, think of it as Putin's own version of the art of the deal.

[Asma Khalid]

How about that? That is NPR's Charles Mainz. Charles, thank you.

[Charles Mains]

Thank you, Michelle.

[Asma Khalid]

As the administration pushes Ukraine for a deal, President Trump has signed a sweeping list of executive actions targeting higher education and K through 12 schools.

[Michelle Martin]

They include proposals to eliminate DEI programs at colleges and new discipline guidance for public schools.

[Asma Khalid]

NPR's Alyssa Nadroni is with us now with more details. Good morning, Alys.

[Alyssa Nadroni]

Good morning.

[Asma Khalid]

So what do these executive actions do?

[Alyssa Nadroni]

Well, let me tell you about two of the higher education orders. So the first deals with college accreditation, and directs the secretary of education to, quote, overhaul the system. Now, accreditation is the process colleges are required to go through to receive federal financial aid. It's aimed at ensuring that a program meets an acceptable level of quality. And Trump has referred to accreditation on the campaign trail as his, quote, secret weapon in his effort to combat what he considers ideological bias in higher education. Here's White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf.

[Will Scharf]

The basic idea is to force accreditation to be focused on the merit and the actual results that these universities are providing, as opposed to how woke these universities have gotten.

[Asma Khalid]

And what's the second?

[Alyssa Nadroni]

Well, it relates to colleges disclosing foreign gifts. So it essentially says that federal grants for universities could be revoked if schools do not complete full and timely disclosure of foreign funding. Now, federal law already requires schools to disclose gifts or contracts worth a quarter of a million dollars or more from foreign entities. The new order doesn't provide specific thresholds or new rules, but it instead asserts that universities provide, quote, the American people with greater access to general information about foreign funding.

[Asma Khalid]

So, Alyssa, you've been following this showdown between the administration and selective colleges like Harvard. How does this action fit into that?

[Alyssa Nadroni]

Yeah. So in a briefing announcing the order, Sharf actually called out Harvard specifically.

[Will Scharf]

We believe that certain universities, including, for example, Harvard, have routinely violated this law, and this law has not been effectively enforced.

[Alyssa Nadroni]

So Harvard didn't return our request for comment. But the order essentially gives the administration the ability to cut off federal funds from schools that don't disclose the money they receive from foreign entities. So you take these two together, and the administration is trying to create ways to hold colleges accountable for ideological overreach and to increase intellectual diversity on campus.

[Asma Khalid]

What they consider ideological overreach.

[Alyssa Nadroni]

Exactly.

[Asma Khalid]

So that's higher ed. What about K through 12?

[Alyssa Nadroni]

Basically, Trump requested new federal guidance on school discipline. The measure calls for revoking previous policies by Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama aimed at reducing racial disparities in, for example, suspensions and expulsions. And the new guidance would prohibit using, quote, racially preferential discipline policies.

[Asma Khalid]

So, once again, centering the administration's view of dei, what about the other orders?

[Alyssa Nadroni]

So the other executive actions focus on things like bolstering workforce training, improving artificial intelligence in schools, and launching a new White House initiative on historically black colleges and universities. The collection of orders aim to cement Trump's conservative agenda when it comes to education in America, rolling back policies from the Biden administration and putting in place additional levers that they can pull when colleges don't follow the policy agendas they have set forth.

[Asma Khalid]

That is NPR's Alyssa Nadroni. Alyssa, thank you.

[Alyssa Nadroni]

You bet.

[Asma Khalid]

And that's up first for Thursday, April 24th.

[Michelle Martin]

I'm Michelle Martin and Amy Martinez. Thanks for listening to up first, you can find more in depth coverage of the stories we've talked about today and a lot more on NPR's Morning Edition. That's the radio show that Michelle Martin, Leila Fadel, D. Inskeep and I host. You can find Morning Edition on your local NPR station.

[Asma Khalid]

Today's episode of up first was edited by Roberta Rampton, Ryland Barton, Steve Drummond, Janaya Williams and Arzu Rezvani. It was produced by Ziad Budge, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zach Coleman and our Technical director is Carly Strange. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

[NPR News]

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