Trump Meets Syria's President, Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, RFK Jr. On Capitol Hill

Summary

Up First from NPR – May 14, 2025

Hosts: Michelle Martin, Emma Martinez, Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, and A Martinez

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1. President Trump’s Diplomatic Moves in the Middle East

Meeting with Syria’s New President

In a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy, President Donald Trump met with Syria's new president, Ahmed Al Shara, marking a departure from longstanding sanctions imposed on the country. This meeting, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, underscores the administration's intent to reset relations with Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad's regime.

Key Highlights:

• Sanctions Lifted: Michelle Martin introduces the topic, noting that "Syria's new president was on the United States list of designated terrorists" just months prior (00:02).

• Strategic Implications: Aya Batrawy from NPR in Riyadh explains, “This could transform the region, not just Syria” (02:53). The lifting of sanctions is expected to rejuvenate Syria's struggling economy, which has been ravaged by civil war and sanctions that have severely impacted everyday services like hospitals and infrastructure.

• Regional Reactions: The decision received enthusiastic approval from Saudi officials. Batrawy recalls the moment Trump announced the policy change: “Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the entire room... were brought to their feet in a standing ovation” (03:15). This move aims to reduce Iran's influence in Syria and curb Russia's military presence, aligning with regional allies' interests.

Contesting Views and Challenges:

• Israeli Concerns: Despite the positive reception, not all stakeholders are on board. Israel has expressed strong opposition, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting that Trump refrain from lifting sanctions, citing ongoing airstrikes and the presence of extremist groups in Syria (04:14).

• Congressional Hurdles: For Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism to be removed, Congressional approval is necessary, adding a layer of complexity to the policy shift (04:42).

Business and Investment Deals:

• Economic Engagements: Trump’s agenda includes securing substantial investments from Saudi Arabia. Aya Batrawy notes, “the crown prince told Trump he would get at least $600 billion in Saudi investments into the US over the next four years” (04:49), primarily in defense, technology, and AI sectors.

• Corporate Involvement: The presence of top CEOs from major companies like Google, Amazon, Nvidia, and Boeing at the Riyadh meeting signifies the importance of these deals to both the U.S. and Saudi economies (05:06).

Upcoming Trip to Qatar:

• Negotiations and Ceasefire Efforts: Following the Riyadh meeting, Trump is set to visit Qatar to discuss the nation’s role in hosting U.S. troops and mediating with groups like Hamas. This comes in the wake of a recent hostage release, signaling potential breakthroughs in Gaza ceasefire initiatives (05:33).

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2. Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks: A Delicate Balance

Scheduled Negotiations in Turkey

Russia and Ukraine are set to engage in peace talks in Istanbul, marking their first direct negotiations since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The involvement of President Trump in brokering these talks introduces a new dynamic to the ongoing conflict.

Key Highlights:

• Origins of the Talks: Charles Maines, reporting from Moscow, attributes the initiation of these negotiations partly to Trump’s efforts to mediate peace, despite some actions favoring Russia (06:23). The talks emerged after Putin proposed a three-day ceasefire coinciding with the Soviet victory in World War II, which Ukraine declined for its brevity (06:29).

• Strategic Maneuvering: The Kremlin views the negotiations as a strategic move to position themselves as the more serious party for peace, while Ukraine and its allies seek a genuine path to ending the conflict (06:53).

Participants and Skepticism:

• Leaders Involved: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accepted the invitation to Istanbul, challenging Putin’s commitment to a lasting ceasefire. Zelensky remains doubtful of Putin’s intentions, citing it as a potential stalling tactic (08:00).

• Potential Outcomes: Maines suggests that without a unified front from Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy, achieving a comprehensive peace deal remains unlikely. Instead, a ceasefire, though fraught with challenges, might be the most attainable objective (08:45).

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3. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Overhaul of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Testimony and Controversial Cuts

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is slated to testify before Capitol Hill, addressing his administration's significant cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). His approach has sparked debate regarding its impact on public health and government efficiency.

Key Highlights:

• Massive Reductions: Since February, Kennedy has implemented substantial downsizing measures within HHS, including the termination of thousands of employees and the elimination of entire centers and divisions (09:34). He argues that these cuts are essential for “streamlining the agency” and “making America healthy again” (04:28).

• Impact on Services: Selena Simmons Duffin outlines the chaos ensuing from the rapid layoffs, noting that critical functions have been disrupted. Centers within the CDC focusing on violence prevention, reproductive health, and workplace safety have been disbanded, hindering essential services like food safety inspections (11:12).

Kennedy’s Justifications and Criticisms:

• Rationale for Cuts: Kennedy posits that the overexpansion of HHS has contributed to a “chronic disease epidemic,” linking the department’s size and budget to declining public health standards (10:20). He emphasizes the need to eliminate redundancies: “We have 100 communications departments... 40 IT departments” (10:56).

• Expert Opinions: Former Health Secretary Tommy Thompson expressed reservations, stating, “I wish [Kennedy] had learned a little bit more about the department before they do it” (12:37). Thompson refrains from outright criticism but highlights the potential pitfalls of such sweeping reforms.

Legislative Scrutiny:

• Congressional Hearings: Kennedy will testify before both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, defending his budget cuts and strategic overhaul. Duffin anticipates questions on the elimination of key programs and the handling of ongoing public health issues like measles and bird flu (09:51).

• Bipartisan Response: The reduction in funding for NIH and biomedical research is expected to draw bipartisan critique, given the economic and scientific implications for communities nationwide, including traditionally Republican regions (12:24).

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Conclusion

This episode of Up First delves into pivotal developments in international diplomacy and domestic health policy. President Trump’s strategic engagements in the Middle East and potential involvement in Russia-Ukraine peace talks highlight a dynamic shift in U.S. foreign relations. Concurrently, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s controversial restructuring of HHS poses significant questions about the future of public health administration. These stories encapsulate a day of profound policy decisions that could reshape both geopolitical landscapes and the nation's health infrastructure.

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Notable Quotes:

• Michelle Martin (00:02): “Syria's new president was on the United States list of designated terrorists.”

• Aya Batrawy (02:53): “This could transform the region, not just Syria.”

• Charles Maines (06:29): “President Trump endorsed the idea and demanded Ukraine participate, and that's forced Europe to hold off on new sanctions against Russia for now.”

• Selena Simmons Duffin (12:37): “I wish [Kennedy] had learned a little bit more about the department before they do it.”

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Transcript

[Michelle Martin]

Just a few months ago, Syria's new president was on the United States list of designated terrorists.

[Martinez]

Now he's meeting with President Trump as the US Adopts a new stance towards Syria after the fall of Assad's regime.

[Michelle Martin]

I'm Michelle Martin. That's a Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News. Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to hold peace talks this week. Still unclear is whether President Trump will attend. Ukraine's president questions whether Putin will either.

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

Russia is not ready for any country.

[Martinez]

And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Says his cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services are streamlining the agency. But are they, quote, making America healthy again? Lawmakers get a chance to ask today. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

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[Michelle Martin]

President Trump is in Saudi Arabia.

[Martinez]

Yeah, he met in Riyadh with Syria's new leader who just months ago was on the US designated list of terrorists with a $10 million bounty on his head. The meeting comes after Trump saying he will lift decades of US Sanctions on Syria. The country's economy is struggling following its civil war and the ouster of the Assad regime.

[Michelle Martin]

To talk about this and more, we're joined by NPR's Aya Batrawy in Riyadh. Hi, Aya, good morning.

[Aya Batrawy]

Good morning, Michelle.

[Michelle Martin]

So how significant is Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Syria?

[Aya Batrawy]

Michelle, this could transform the region, not just Syria. And to get a sense of how big this decision is, have a listen to the reaction in the room when Trump announced this. He was at an investment forum in Riyadh in front of the Saudi crown prince when he said this.

[Charles Maines]

I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.

[Aya Batrawy]

So this brought Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the entire room to their feet in a standing ovation. And it matters because Syria is a pillar of the Middle East. It's a beacon of culture and intellect. But for more than a decade, it was crumbling, and it was impoverished from civil war. This destabilized parts of the region. And throughout those sanctions were really hurting average Syrians. You know, hospitals were struggling to get spare parts to keep machines or even elevators running. But now, Trump says that was then and this is now. And this new Syria, led by Ahmed Al Shara, the says it's ready to build a relationship with the United States. Now, Trump's meeting with him today lasted half an hour. It included the Saudi crown prince and Turkey's president joined over the phone. They touched on security concerns that the US has with some extremists groups still in Syria. Another reason this reset matters, though, Michelle, is that Arab states don't want Iran to have a foothold in Syria anymore, and the US doesn't want Russia building back its bases there.

[Michelle Martin]

So, you know, we heard those cheers in the room. But is anybody not on board with this decision to lift sanctions?

[Aya Batrawy]

You know, lifting sanctions like this will be a complicated process. Syria is listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, and for that to be changed, this would have to go through Congress. Also, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes inside Syria for months. They call the new government extremists, and they have troops positioned deep inside Syrian territory indefinitely. Israel says it's concerned Syria could become a base of attacks. And we know that just last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked Trump not to lift sanctions on Syria.

[Michelle Martin]

Okay, so we know that President Trump had been planning to focus on business deals while he's in the region. How have those deals been shaping up?

[Aya Batrawy]

So the crown prince told Trump he would get at least $600 billion in Saudi investments into the US over the next four years. And the bulk of this is in defense and weapons sales to the kingdom. But it also includes deals in tech and AI. Now, Trump brought with him two Riyadh, America's top CEOs from companies like Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Boeing. And they lined up to greet Trump and the crown prince in a lavish reception. The handshakes show just how pivotal Trump is to the CR Prince's relaunch. You know, it was only seven years ago that the world turned its back on him after the murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi by his men inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

[Michelle Martin]

Yes. Oh, we cannot forget that. So President Trump is heading to Qatar next. What's on the agenda there?

[Aya Batrawy]

I think the trip is going to focus on two things. First, it'll be Qatar's unique role in the region as host to the biggest number of US Troops in the Middle east, but also as a host to groups the US doesn't traditionally talk to, like Hamas, which the Trump administration is directly negotiating with. That led to the release of a US Israeli soldier and hostage on Monday. So we might hear surprises from Trump in Qatar later today about his vision for a Gaza ceasefire.

[Michelle Martin]

That is NPR A in Riyadh. A thank you.

[Aya Batrawy]

Thanks, Michelle.

[Martinez]

Efforts to pause or even end the war in Ukraine enter a new phase this Thursday.

[Michelle Martin]

Representatives from Russia and Ukraine are expected to gather in Turkey for negotiations. Their first since the early months of the Kremlin's full scale invasion in 2022.

[Martinez]

NPR's Charles mainnes is covering this story. He's online from Moscow. Charles, how do these talks even come about?

[Charles Maines]

Yeah, sure, you know, to a degree. I think you can credit efforts by the Trump administration to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, even if at times those efforts skewed heavily in Russia's favor. Because this meeting, it comes amid wrang between Moscow and Kyiv to show President Trump they're the more serious party for peace, or at least the other is an obstacle to it.

[Martinez]

Show Trump. It makes it sound like they're almost competing for Trump's favor. I mean, is that what's happening here?

[Charles Maines]

You know, it does seem that way. This latest maneuvering began after Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally called for a three day ceasefire around events marking the Soviet victory in World War II. That was last week. Ukraine never agreed, but only because it said, why just three days? You know, we could have a longer ceasefire. That idea got backing from Europe and the US who to give it some teeth, threaten new sanctions if Putin didn't commit to an immediate 30 day ceasefire. But instead, Putin made a counter offer. He called for direct talks with Ukraine starting Thursday in Istanbul. Let's listen so here Putin says military operations are ongoing, a war is happening, and we are offering to return to negotiations, adding, what could be bad about that?

[Martinez]

So, I mean, is this a change of heart for Russia or a political tactic?

[Charles Maines]

Well, it certainly appears strategic. President Trump endorsed the idea and demanded Ukraine participate, and that's forced Europe to hold off on new sanctions against Russia for now. So it's bought Moscow some time.

[Martinez]

All right, now, who is headed to Turkey for these negotiations? Do we know who is on the list there?

[Charles Maines]

Well, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he'll be there, and he's challenged Putin to show up, even as he's expressed skepticism over Putin's motives. So here Zelensky says he doesn't believe Putin actually wants to end the war or a ceasefire, and that this is essentially all just a stalling tactic.

[Martinez]

And yet it sounds like Zelensky has thrown the gauntlet down. I mean, what are the chances that Vladimir Putin does come?

[Charles Maines]

Well, you know, the Kremlin routinely presents Zelensky as illegitimate, so there are reasons to doubt Putin would engage directly. But entered President Trump currently in the Middle east, as we just heard, who suggested he might stop by for the talks. That's prompted speculation Putin might as well. Although it certainly involve a lot of stars aligning, probably too many.

[Martinez]

Okay, so whatever form these meetings actually wind up taking, I mean, what are the chances of a deal?

[Charles Maines]

Well, if Trump, Putin, and Zelensky really do gather in a room together, I think anything could happen. But without them, some kind of ceasefire seems the best hope, and even that would take some doing. The Kremlin sees an extended truce as a way for Ukraine to rearm at a moment when Russia has the battlefield advantage. And Russia's demanding a stop to all Western arms shipments to Ukraine as a result.

[Martinez]

All right, that's NPR's Charles mainnes in Moscow. Thank you very much.

[Charles Maines]

Thank you.

[Martinez]

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Will be on Capitol Hill today, testifying for the first time since he became Secretary of Health and Human Services.

[Michelle Martin]

Since Kennedy was sworn in in February, he has moved to reshape the department, firing thousands of people, canceling billions of dollars in grants, and purging scientific leaders.

[Martinez]

NPR's Selena Simmons Duffin is here to give us a preview of today's hearing. So it sounds like Kennedy has a very busy day today.

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

Yeah. So in the morning, he's testifying in the House before the Appropriations Committee, and in the afternoon, he heads to the Senate. There, he'll testify before the Health, Education, labor and Pensions Committee and the Topic for both hearings is the President's budget proposal for hhs. Kennedy will explain why he wants less money for his department in the coming. And that's certainly connected to the DOGE effort to shrink government. But Kennedy's also trying to fundamentally reshape the mission of HHS and reorient it to his priorities.

[Martinez]

All right, so tell us about those priorities, because I know he's worried about chronic diseases.

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

Yeah, he calls it a chronic disease epidemic. He even ties the size of HHS in terms of staff and budget with what he describes as the worsening health of the American population. As a reminder, HHS is the health umbrella agency. So it oversees CDC, the FDA, Medicaid, and Medicare. The NI. In April, Kennedy fired 10,000 staff members, eliminating whole centers and divisions across the department. Here he is on NewsNation earlier this month defending those moves.

[Charles Maines]

It's not throwing money at it or hiring people.

[Martinez]

That is solving the problem. We have so much redundancy in our agency.

[Charles Maines]

We have 100 communications departments.

[Martinez]

We have 40 IT departments, we have 40 procurement departments.

[Charles Maines]

We're streamlining the agency, and we're recalibrating its trajectory.

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

I should say the rollout of these firings has been chaotic, and Kennedy has not seemed to be terribly familiar with what and who have been cut and what remains. He said the speed of the firings was necessary to not lose, quote, political momentum.

[Martinez]

All right, so a lot happening. What will you be listening for and what questions are you expecting?

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

Well, definitely there'll be questions about the overhaul. As I said, whole centers at CDC were eliminated, including violence prevention, reproductive health, workplace safety, including services for coal miners with black lines at fda. Food safety labs were hit. Some routine inspections have been delayed or canceled. And even though the overhaul was billed as being about administrative redundancies, many core functions of the agency, including those required by Congress, are now in limbo. And lawmakers may have a lot of questions about that. There are other big questions, too. Like measles in West Texas is still a big problem. There are growing concerns about bird flu. Kennedy's approach to autism, I'm sure will be asked about. And the cuts to biomedical research will definitely come up as well. This isn't just shrinking the staff and budget of the National Institutes of Health. It's also slashing funding to universities. And that research can be an economic driver in communities all over the country, including in red states like Alabama. So I'm curious to hear whether there's a bipartisan objection to Kennedy's moves there.

[Martinez]

So you've been calling up former US Health secretaries to ask their views of Kennedy's approach to the job. What have you heard from them?

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

Yeah, I actually reached three former secretaries. One of the ones I talked to was Tommy Thompson. He was secretary under President George W. Bush. He said he didn't want to criticize Kennedy for making cuts, but I wish.

[Charles Maines]

They learned a little bit more about.

[Michelle Martin]

The department before they do it.

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

He said it's up to Congress to decide whether all of these cuts should stay, and we'll know a lot more after hearing from lawmakers how much they plan to push back on Kennedy's overhaul.

[Martinez]

That's npr. Selena Simmons, Duffin, thanks, Juan.

[Selena Simmons Duffin]

Thank you.

[Martinez]

And that's up first for Wednesday, May.

[Michelle Martin]

14Th, Emma Martinez, and I'm Michelle Martin. And remember, you can listen to this podcast sponsor free, while financially supporting public media with Up First Plus. Learn more at plus.NPR.org Today's episode of.

[Martinez]

Up first was edited by Ryland Barton, Diane Weber, Ali Schweitzer and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ana Perez, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

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