Trump-Putin Expectations, Trump and D.C. Homelessness, Inflation Check-In

Summary

Up First from NPR
Episode: Trump-Putin Expectations, Trump and D.C. Homelessness, Inflation Check-In
Release Date: August 13, 2025

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1. President Trump's Summit with Vladimir Putin

Overview:
The episode opens with an in-depth discussion about President Donald Trump's impending summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. The meeting marks the first encounter between the two leaders in Trump's second term and has raised questions about its purpose and potential outcomes, especially in the absence of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Key Points:

• Nature of the Summit:
  White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt described the summit as a "listening exercise" (02:28). This characterization has tempered earlier expectations of a potential deal to end the Ukraine conflict.

  "It's just a listening exercise," said Levitt (02:28).

• Shift from Trilateral to Bilateral Meeting:
  Initially, there were considerations for a trilateral meeting including Zelenskyy. However, the summit was ultimately set as a bilateral discussion between Trump and Putin, sparking debate about its effectiveness.

  "The President has always said he wants a peace deal, he wants to see this war come to an end. But this bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between one party in this two-party war," explained E.J. Antoni (03:53).

• Criticism and Concerns:
  Critics argue that meeting Putin without preconditions could reward his aggressive actions and may disadvantage Ukraine and European allies. Additionally, there are concerns regarding the lack of transparency, as past intimate meetings lacked official notetaking.

• Possible Outcomes:
  The summit may serve as a platform for Trump to gauge Putin's sincerity regarding peace, but experts remain skeptical about achieving tangible results without Ukrainian participation.

  "There's value in Trump sitting down face to face with Putin and taking a measure of his seriousness," Levitt added (04:18).

2. Crackdown on Homelessness in Washington, D.C.

Overview:
The episode transitions to the significant increase in National Guard troops, federal agents, and metropolitan police presence in Washington, D.C., aimed at addressing homelessness and enhancing city safety. This 30-day surge has led to aggressive measures against homeless populations, raising ethical and practical concerns.

Key Points:

• Implementation of Crackdown:
  President Trump has initiated operations to make Washington, D.C. safer by targeting homeless encampments. Homeless individuals are being offered shelter and services but face fines or jail time if they refuse.

  "Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services. And, and if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time," stated Carolyn Levitt (06:38).

• Expert Opinions:
  Dr. Steven Taylor from the American Society of Addiction Medicine criticized the approach, emphasizing that homelessness and addiction are chronic issues requiring more substantial support rather than punitive measures.

  "It's a chronic illness. It's not the kind of thing where you sweep people up, you get them better, and then they're cured forever," Taylor remarked (08:04).

• Challenges in Implementation:
  There is a scarcity of shelters and treatment facilities, making it difficult to accommodate all individuals affected by the crackdown. Experts warn that without increased affordable housing and healthcare, such measures are ineffective and may exacerbate the problem.

  "There just aren't enough shelters for people living on the streets," noted Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center (07:27).

• Potential Nationwide Impact:
  The methods employed in D.C. may set a precedent for other cities, leading to a nationwide trend of criminalizing homelessness.

  "We've already started to see that take hold in communities that criminalize people just because they don't have a safe place to sleep," explained E.J. Antoni (08:58).

3. Inflation and Tariffs: Economic Impact and Future Outlook

Overview:
The discussion shifts to the current state of inflation in the United States, highlighting the role of tariffs in driving up consumer prices. The Treasury Department reported a collection of $28 billion in tariff revenue last month, with tangible effects on import prices and overall inflation rates.

Key Points:

• Tariffs and Consumer Prices:
  Importers are increasingly passing the costs of tariffs onto consumers, leading to higher prices for goods such as furniture, toys, coffee, and bananas.

  "Consumers are paying more for some items we import a lot of, like furniture and toys," stated Kyle Pomerleau (10:05).

• Future of Tariffs:
  Experts predict that the trend of increasing tariffs is likely to continue, further impacting consumer prices.

  "It's more a question of when, not if, that we see more increases from tariffs," Scott Horsley observed (10:45).

• Federal Reserve's Role:
  Despite rising inflation, the Federal Reserve is constrained by the need to support a sagging job market. There is speculation that the Fed may cut interest rates in the near future to stimulate the economy, which has been positively received by investors.

  "Investors are betting it is low enough that the Federal Reserve will see its way clear to cut interest rates when policymakers meet next month," Pomerleau explained (11:07).

• Political Maneuvering and Data Integrity:
  President Trump nominated E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, raising concerns about the impartiality and accuracy of economic data. Economists argue that politicizing such roles could undermine confidence in essential economic indicators.

  "We want a good measure of inflation. We certainly don't want to be under measuring or mismeasuring inflation in a way that's going to cause households to face a higher tax burden when they don't need to," Antoni asserted (12:56).

• Economic Recommendations:
  Experts advocate for increased affordable housing and healthcare rather than punitive measures to effectively address homelessness and economic challenges.

  "They say the answer is a lot more affordable housing, more affordable healthcare for people with mental illness and addiction," Taylor suggested (09:14).

Conclusion

The episode of Up First from NPR provides a comprehensive analysis of three pressing issues: the strategic implications of Trump's summit with Putin, the humanitarian and logistical challenges of the crackdown on homelessness in Washington, D.C., and the multifaceted dynamics of inflation driven by tariffs. Through expert interviews and authoritative reporting, the podcast offers listeners a nuanced understanding of these complex topics, highlighting both immediate impacts and long-term consequences.

Notable Quotes:

• "It's just a listening exercise," – Caroline Levitt (02:28)
• "It's a chronic illness. It's not the kind of thing where you sweep people up, you get them better, and then they're cured forever," – Dr. Steven Taylor (08:04)
• "Consumers are paying more for some items we import a lot of, like furniture and toys," – Kyle Pomerleau (10:05)
• "We want a good measure of inflation. We certainly don't want to be under measuring or mismeasuring inflation," – E.J. Antoni (12:56)

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Transcript

[Michelle Martin]

A listening exercise. That's what the White House is now calling President Trump's upcoming summit with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

[Martinez]

But without Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance, what's the point?

[Michelle Martin]

I'm Michelle Martin. That's a Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News. Hundreds of National Guard troops, federal agents and metropolitan police are now patrolling Washington, D.C. streets. And homeless people also face a crackdown. Will the 30 day surge actually make nation's capital safer?

[Martinez]

And tariffs are up. So is inflation. Importers are passing the extra cost of goods along to customers.

[Scott Horsley]

It's more a question of when, not if, that we see more increases from tariffs.

[Martinez]

Might there be movement at the Fed? Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

[Caroline Levitt]

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[Tamara Keith]

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[Martinez]

Preparations are underway in Alaska for a summit between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

[Michelle Martin]

It will be their first meeting of Trump's second term and comes as Ukraine's leader raises alarms that Russia may be planning a new offensive in the fall. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt is downplaying the chances of a breakthrough, describing the summit as a, quote, listening exercise.

[Brian Mann]

So this is for the president to go and to get a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end.

[Martinez]

NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith is traveling today to Alaska, joins us now before heading to the airport. So, Tam, I mean, it's a listening exercise at this point, though. What are the expectations for this meeting?

[E.J. Antoni]

There was a time last week before the summit was actually announced when White House statements made it seem like a trilateral meeting including Trump, Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky from Ukraine was being considered. But when Trump announced the details on Friday, it was just a bilateral meeting with Putin. Trump, Trump has made no secret of his desire to be the one to broker the deal to end the fighting in Ukraine. But by Monday morning, Trump was saying this is just a, quote, feel out meeting. So in yesterday's briefing, after Levitt called it a listening exercise, I asked about expectations. Last week, the meeting with Putin was sort of described potentially as an opportunity for a deal. Now it's a feeling out. Has there been a shift in expectations within the White House or an effort to temper expectations about what's happening, success looks like for this meeting?

[Brian Mann]

I mean, look, I think both can be true, right? The President has always said he wants a peace deal, he wants to see this war come to an end. But this bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between one party in this two party war.

[Martinez]

Okay, so if Trump can't make a deal with only one party, then what's the point, Tam, of flying all the way to Alaska for a face to face meeting?

[E.J. Antoni]

President Trump is meeting virtually with Zelensky and European leaders ahead of the summit and has also said he'll speak to them right after his meeting with Putin. Levitt was asked why Zelinsky isn't coming to the summit. And she said the meeting came about because Putin asked for a meeting with Trump. So she says Trump agreed to the meeting and is, quote, honored to host Putin on American soil. Trump has complained recently that Putin tells him he wants peace when they talk on the phone, but then turns around and bombs Ukraine. So Levitt said there's value in Trump sitting down face to face with Putin and taking a measure of his seriousness. But critics say meeting with Putin without real preconditions rewards Putin for malign behavior as he continues to wage a war he started. And they say there's a risk that Putin gets Trump to take a position that disadvantages Ukraine and European allies.

[Martinez]

So I gotta admit, Sam, I mean, I am a little interested to see what happens on Friday. Any more details about what to expect?

[E.J. Antoni]

I too am interested to see how this plays out. A reminder that this is a major summit that is being thrown together in about a week. What we know is that they will meet in Anchorage, Alaska, and there will be a one on one component with Trump and Putin meeting without their larger delegations. That is something that they did in Trump's first term that generated a lot of controversy because normally there are notetakers, even in more intimate meetings between leaders. And Levitt said she expects President Trump will take questions from reporters once the meeting is over. As for whether Putin will join him for that press conference, the White House didn't have an answer on that yet.

[Martinez]

All right, that's NPR's Tamara Keith. Thanks a lot.

[E.J. Antoni]

You're welcome.

[Martinez]

National Guard troops deployed on the streets of Washington last night alongside hundreds of federal agents and metropolitan police.

[Michelle Martin]

President Trump says the goal is to make the city safer. One part of the plan that's coming into focus is how the White House intends to treat people living on the streets and in homeless camps. Advocates fear many of them will wind up behind bars.

[Martinez]

NPR's Brian Mann joins us now. So, Brian, what have we learned about how this crackdown will affect people in the nation's capital who lack housing?

[Steven Taylor]

Yeah, we just heard from Tamara, and she was also able to ask this question directly at a White House press briefing. Where will these homeless people go? And here's how spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt answered.

[Brian Mann]

Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services. And, and if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time.

[Steven Taylor]

Now, it's that last part, a the punishment part, sending people to jail, that worries many experts.

[Martinez]

But if people are offered a place in a shelter, I mean, doesn't that mean they can avoid jail?

[Steven Taylor]

Yeah. People have been speaking with here in Washington who've been trying for years to reduce homelessness say it's not that simple. They say there just aren't enough shelters for people living on the streets. Jesse Rabinowitz is with a group called the National Homelessness Law Center. There are very few beds available. There are a handful of shelter beds available in far flung parts of the city, often in places where people don't want to be. And experts I've been speaking to also say shelters aren't a permanent fix for many Americans. Apartments and homes are unaffordable. Even after staying for a while in shelters, many people wind up back on the streets and potentially now behind bars.

[Martinez]

And President Trump also says he wants to force Homeless people with addiction and mental health challenges to get treatment here again, though, I mean, if they, if they don't agree, they could go to jail. So, I mean, do experts think that kind of pressure is a good idea?

[Steven Taylor]

I put that question to Dr. Steven Taylor. He heads the American Society of Addiction Medicine. And Taylor told me a lot of people who live on the streets with addiction are really ill. And he thinks crackdowns like this can actually do a lot more harm than good.

[Scott Horsley]

It is a chronic illness. It's not the kind of thing where you sweep people up, you get them better, and then they're cured forever and that's it.

[Steven Taylor]

And here again, experts say there also just aren't enough treatment beds for people with these really complicated health problems.

[Martinez]

Yeah, I mean, homelessness is obviously a national issue. Is the president's move to break up homeless camps in Washington something we might see somewhere else?

[Kyle Pomerleau]

Yeah.

[Steven Taylor]

Levitt said yesterday dozens of homeless camps here in the city have already been broken up since March. And Trump made it plain he wants what he's doing in Washington to happen in lots of other cities. I spoke about this with Ann Oliva, who heads the national alliance to End Homelessness. And she says Trump's harsh talk is already shifting the way Americans treat people who can't afford housing.

[E.J. Antoni]

We've already started to see that take hold in communities that criminalize people just because they don't have a safe place to sleep.

[Steven Taylor]

Advocates say they think Trump is tapping into real frustration among Americans about the number of people living on the streets and the fact that these camps keep growing.

[Martinez]

But if experts don't think that Trump's get tough approach will work, what do they think that will reduce homelessness?

[Steven Taylor]

Yeah, they say the answer is a lot more affordable housing, more affordable healthcare for people with mental illness and addiction. But they say this crackdown is actually happening at a time when the Trump administration is cutting things like Medicaid, also trying to scale back programs that help low income renters stay in their apartments.

[Martinez]

That's NPR's Brian Mann in Washington, D.C. brian, thank you.

[Steven Taylor]

Thanks, Hay.

[Martinez]

The Treasury Department says it collected $28 billion in tariff revenue last month.

[Michelle Martin]

There are signs that some of that extra cost to importers is being passed along to consumers. This week's inflation report shows evidence of tariff related price hikes.

[Martinez]

Let's bring in NPR's Scott Horsley. So, Scott, where are the tariffs showing up and what does it mean for.

[Kyle Pomerleau]

Inflation Overall, the government is taxing just about everything the US Imports. Not all those costs are showing up. At the retail level yet, but consumers are paying more for some items we import a lot of, like furniture and toys. The price of imported foods like coffee and bananas was also up in July, even as overall grocery prices ticked down a little bit. Now we're likely to see coffee prices climb even more now after President Trump has ordered a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil, the world's biggest coffee producer. Michael Pierce, who's with the forecasting firm Oxford Economics, says over time, more and more of the tariff price tag is likely to be paid out of consumers pockets.

[Scott Horsley]

We know from this company's plans they're planning to start raising prices later in the year. So I think it's more a question of when, not if, that we see more increases from tariffs. It's just proceeding at a very varied rate now.

[Kyle Pomerleau]

Of course, tariffs are not the only factor driving inflation. Last month also saw rising prices for airfares, used cars and rent. That was partially offset by falling prices for gasoline.

[Martinez]

I saw after yesterday's inflation report, Scott, the stock market actually rallied. So why are investors so upbeat?

[Kyle Pomerleau]

Yeah, even though inflation is still elevated, investors are betting it is low enough that the Federal Reserve will see its way clear to cut interest rates when policymakers meet next month. That would be good for stocks. Pierce agrees that a rate cut in September is likely, but he says it's not a slam dunk.

[Scott Horsley]

It feels like the Fed is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Inflation is uncomfortably high. Core inflation back above 3%, this isn't where they would like to be.

[Kyle Pomerleau]

Pierce says the only reason the Fed's even talking about cutting interest rates is because central bankers are worried about the sagging job market. You know, we got that jobs report a couple of weeks ago showing weak job growth in July and almost no job growth in May and June.

[Martinez]

Yeah, that's the report that prompted President Trump to fire the head of a bureau that's responsible for gathering all those numbers. So bring us up to speed on that.

[Kyle Pomerleau]

Right. This week, Trump nominated a new person to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, E.J. antone, who's an economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation. That choice got immediate blowback from economists on both the left and the right. I spoke to Kyle Pomerleau, who's with another conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. He worries that Antoni is too partisan and too inexperienced and says if he's confirmed by the Senate, he runs the risk of wrecking confidence in the government's economic data. Pomerleau notes that the inflation numbers, for example, are used to adjust tax brackets. And while President Trump might want the government to issue a lowball inflation number for short term political gain, ultimately that could backfire by forcing families into higher and higher tax brackets.

[E.J. Antoni]

We want a good measure of inflation. We certainly don't want to be under measuring or mismeasuring inflation in a way that's going to cause households to face a higher tax burden when they don't need to.

[Kyle Pomerleau]

That's just one example of why it's really important to get these closely watched economic indicators right and not let them be monkeyed with for partisan political purposes.

[Martinez]

NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thank you very much.

[Kyle Pomerleau]

You're welcome.

[Martinez]

And that's up first for Wednesday, August 13th, Emmy Martinez, and I'm Michele Martin.

[Michelle Martin]

Thanks for waking up with npr. Your NPR station makes up first possible each morning. Support their work and [e-mail] upfirst.

[Martinez]

Today's episode of UPFIRST was edited by Andrew Sussman, Gigi Duban, Raphael Naam, Olivia Hampton and Adam Biren. It was produced by Ziad Bachnia Dumas and Kristen Jasper Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carly Strange joining us again tomorrow.

[Caroline Levitt]

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[Tamara Keith]

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