Trump Threatens Chicago, DOJ Latest, US-South Korea Summit

Summary

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NPR Up First – Episode Summary

Date: August 25, 2025
Hosts: Steve Inskeep & A Martinez

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Overview

This episode of NPR's Up First zeroes in on three major stories shaping U.S. and world affairs:

1. President Trump's Threat to Deploy the National Guard in Chicago following a trial run in Washington, D.C., and the legal and political fallout.
2. The Justice Department’s Latest Moves—releasing the Ghislaine Maxwell interview and escalating law enforcement action against high-profile Trump critics, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
3. U.S.-South Korea Summit—a closely watched meeting between President Trump and South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, covering trade tensions and shifting alliance priorities on China.

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1. Trump Threatens to Send National Guard to Chicago

Key Points:

• President Trump has ramped up rhetoric about sending National Guard troops to Chicago, similar to recent actions in Washington, D.C.
  • Quote: "When we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago just like we did D.C." — President Trump (02:48)
• Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson firmly rejected the idea, calling it "illegal, uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound."
• Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker also denounced the move, calling it a "test of the limits of his power and a trial run for a police state."
  • Quote: "We won't let a dictator impose his will." — Governor Pritzker (05:16)
• The legal basis for such an action remains murky and ongoing, with Trump asserting broad constitutional authority while daring legal challenges.

Insights:

• The deployment of over 2,000 Guard troops to D.C. has included expanded powers, such as carrying service weapons and launching "Task Force Beautification."
• The administration has announced hundreds of arrests, many related to immigration enforcement and petty crimes.
• Trump's willingness to bypass local resistance and exploit legal ambiguities is a hallmark of his current term.
  • Quote: "One of the key lessons of the second Trump term is that he is going to assert immense constitutional authority and isn't afraid of being sued." — Tamara Keith (06:13)

Timestamps:

• [02:44] Chicago's rejection of federal troops
• [03:19] Trump’s shifting rhetoric and trial runs
• [05:09] Governor Pritzker's statement

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2. Justice Department’s Moves: Ghislaine Maxwell & John Bolton

Key Points:

• The DOJ released the full transcript and audio of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving time for trafficking minors for Jeffrey Epstein.

• Maxwell praised Trump and claimed she "never saw any man do anything inappropriate" in Epstein’s presence.

  • Quote: "President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me." — Ghislaine Maxwell (00:52)

• The DOJ’s transparency move followed backlash from both the public and Trump’s supporters over the department’s prior handling of the Epstein case.

• Maxwell’s credibility is questioned due to previous perjury charges and her conviction.

  • Quote: "The Justice Department itself has previously said that she's not credible." — Ryan Lucas (08:25)

• John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser and a public critic, had his home and office searched by the FBI, purportedly over a classified documents investigation.

  • The list of political opponents facing DOJ scrutiny (incl. Adam Schiff, Letitia James) appears to align with Trump’s campaign pledge for retribution.
  • Quote: "All of these actions certainly fit into the vision Trump spelled out during the campaign of seeking vengeance on his perceived enemies." — Ryan Lucas (10:13)

Timestamps:

• [07:11] DOJ releases Ghislaine Maxwell interview
• [08:25] Discussion of Maxwell's credibility and motives
• [09:17] John Bolton investigation and pattern of actions against Trump critics

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3. U.S.–South Korea Summit: Trade, Security, and China

Key Points:

• Newly elected President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea is in Washington to solidify a trade deal and discuss the U.S. military presence on the peninsula.
  • Lee is a former human rights lawyer who shifted toward centrism to secure election and overthrew his predecessor after martial law was declared.
  • Quote: "[Lee] still emphasizes diplomatic engagement with North Korea and China over military deterrence of them." — Anthony Kuhn (10:53)
• Key sticking point in trade talks: South Korea’s $350bn U.S. investment, with disagreements over profit allocation and targeting of investments.
  • The U.S. wants 90% of the profits to flow its way and for Trump to pick the investments, which South Korea rejects.
• The U.S. seeks to shift the focus of its alliance from North Korea to deterring China, but South Korea is reluctant due to proximity and economic ties to China.
  • Quote: "This is not an issue that we can easily agree with." — President Lee Jae-myung (12:34)
• Lee notably visited Japan before the U.S., highlighting an emerging regional alliance approach to manage U.S. tariff pressures and China risks.

Timestamps:

• [10:36] Preview of the South Korea summit
• [11:30] Trade deal framework and sticking points
• [12:30] Shifting military alliance priorities
• [13:23] Regional diplomacy with Japan

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Notable Quotes

• "Donald Trump's threat to bring the National Guard to Chicago isn't about safety. It's a test of the limits of his power and a trial run for a police state... We won’t let a dictator impose his will." — Gov. J.B. Pritzker ([05:16])
• "The Justice Department itself has previously said that she's not credible." — Ryan Lucas on Ghislaine Maxwell ([08:25])
• "All of these actions certainly fit into the vision Trump spelled out during the campaign of seeking vengeance on his perceived enemies." — Ryan Lucas ([10:13])
• "Lee still emphasizes diplomatic engagement with North Korea and China over military deterrence of them." — Anthony Kuhn ([10:53])
• "This is not an issue that we can easily agree with." — President Lee Jae-myung on U.S. alliance shift ([12:34])

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Episode Highlights & Tone

• The episode maintains a brisk, newsy tone, with hosts providing context and analysis alongside expert correspondents.
• The situation in Chicago and the broader use of federal power are explored critically, highlighting constitutional, legal, and political tensions.
• DOJ stories are linked to the broader theme of retribution and transparency under the Trump administration.
• U.S.–South Korea relations are depicted as complex, with transactional trade negotiation giving way to broad strategic questions on China.
• The hosts and correspondents avoid sensationalism, instead grounding their commentary in reporting and sourced analysis.

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Transcript

[A]

Good morning.

[B]

How are you?

[A]

I'm okay. I was off a couple weeks.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, you noticed. That's a plus.

[B]

I don't want to say I deeply missed you, Steve, because then it would.

[A]

Sound weird, but we know you're thinking it, so that's I'm touched. Thank you. President Trump talks of sending the National Guard to another American city. When we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago just like we.

[B]

Did DC So how are Chicago officials responding?

[A]

I'm Steve Inskeep with a Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News. The Justice Department released its interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Trump's former personal lawyer. Asked about the president who has the power to set her free.

[C]

As far as I'm concerned, President Trump.

[B]

Was always very cordial and very kind to me.

[A]

What is she receiving after that interview?

[B]

And the president of South Korea is in Washington today for a summit on trade and security. What the US Demand of a longtime ally. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. This message comes from BetterHelp.

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[B]

Of Chicago is rejecting the idea of federal troops patrolling a city.

[A]

Brandon Johnson says the idea would be illegal, uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound. He said that after President Trump talked of sending National Guard troops to Chicago, just as he has in Washington, D.C. chicago's a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we'll straighten that one out probably next. That'll be our next one after this, and it won't even be tough.

[B]

We're joined now by NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith. So, Tam, do we know what President Trump has in mind here?

[D]

The short answer is no. Trump has been talking about crime in Chicago for as long as he's been a politician. But his remarks in the Oval Office on Friday appeared to move Chicago to the top of his list. But I should say this was not a big announcement or rollout. It was an off the cuff comment during an unrelated event about soccer. He it has been clear for some time that what Trump is doing in Washington, D.C. is a trial run for other cities. He has said as much. The Washington Post has an exclusive report that the Pentagon has been drawing up plans for the National Guard to be deployed to Chicago. But when I asked the White House about that, they referred me to these remarks from Trump on Friday in response to a reporter's question. Have there been concrete steps that the.

[B]

Administration is taking to do that?

[D]

Or what are other cities?

[A]

I haven't spoken. He's grossly incompetent. I haven't spoken to the mayor. Know when we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago just like.

[D]

We did D.C. over the weekend, Trump also got into a war of words with the Maryland governor, Wes Moore, and said he might send troops there as well.

[B]

Yeah, now that trial run has been in place in D.C. for what, two weeks now. How's it going?

[D]

There are now more than 2,000 troops assigned to D.C. and as of yesterday, they began carrying their service weapons in addition to assisting local and federal law enforcement. Some are now beginning community improvement work under the umbrella of Task Force beautification. The White House has announced hundreds of arrests. A significant share of them are immigration enforcement in addition to gun possession, outstanding warrants, and then more petty crimes. Trump is now claiming there is no crime and no murder in D.C. crime was already falling in D.C. when Trump declared an emergency. But what is less clear is what will happen with crime if and when the guard goes home.

[B]

Now Chicago's mayor says all of this would be illegal and uncalled for. What does Illinois Governor J.B. pritzker think?

[D]

Oh, Governor Pritzker said in no uncertain terms over the weekend that he doesn't want the National Guard sent to Chicago. And normally the governor has to call up the Guard. Here's part of what he said. Quote, donald Trump's threat to bring the National Guard to Chicago isn't about safety. It's a test of the limits of his power and a trial run for a police state. Illinois has long worked with federal law enforcement to tackle crime. But we won't let a dictator impose his will, Unquote.

[B]

All right, so it doesn't sound like Pritzker will be calling up the Guard anytime soon, but will that matter? Will his wishes matter?

[D]

Yeah. It didn't stop Trump from sending thousands of Guard troops and hundreds of active duty Marines into Los Angeles amid protests against immigration raids. And that was over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom of California. And the question of whether Trump can legally do this is still being litigated. One of the key lessons of the second Trump term is that he is going to assert immense constitutional authority and isn't afraid of being sued because the judicial process takes a long time and sometimes the courts hand him a win, further cementing powers that other presidents never even tried to assert.

[B]

That's NPR's Tamara Keith. Thanks a lot.

[D]

You're welcome.

[B]

The Trump administration is using law enforcement to investigate one of the president's critics.

[A]

The FBI searched the home and office of John Bolton. He's Trump's former national security adviser, now a guest on numerous programs, including this one, where he's given an independent view. The FBI move against Bolton seized attention on the same day as another Justice Department action in a case where the president has a stake. Officials released their interview with Ghislaine Maxwell. She's the longtime accomplice of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and is now speaking up for Trump.

[B]

NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas is here. So, Ryan, let's start with a Maxwell interview. Why did the department want to talk to her?

[C]

So, first off, the department released what it says is the full transcript and audio of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interview last month in Florida with Maxwell, where she's serving her prison sentence. Blanch, who it's important to note, previously served as President Trump's personal attorney. He took this unusual step because the Justice Department and the administration more broadly has been under a lot of fire for how it's handled the Epstein matter. It promised transparency, only to then say that no more documents would be made public. That caused a public backlash, including from some MAGA faithful. So the administration has been scrambling to contain that fallout.

[B]

So what did she have to say?

[C]

Well, she was asked about many of the rich and powerful people who have been associated over the years with Epstein. That includes, of course, President Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years before they had a falling out. Maxwell was very complimentary of Trump. She told Blanche that she liked him, that he was on Always a Gentleman. She also said that she never saw any man do anything inappropriate with a woman of any age while with Epstein.

[B]

Yeah, she was also convicted of helping Epstein sexually exploit underage girls. So how credible is she?

[C]

Right. She is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence, in fact, for helping Epstein recruit, groom, and sexually exploit girls as young as 14. So a jury heard evidence at trial of her role in that and found her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Federal prosecutors also charged her at one point with perjury for allegedly lying in a deposition about her actions with Epstein. So the Justice Department itself has previously said that she's not credible. Now, Maxwell's attorney, David Marcus, said in a statement after this interview was released that Maxwell's innocent, that she told the truth. But it's important to point out again that Maxwell is serving a long prison sentence. She would like some sort of clemency, whether a reduction in sentence or a pardon. And of course, President Trump is the only man with the power to deliver that. I'll also note that shortly after Maxwell's interview with Blanche, she was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum security prison camp in Texas.

[B]

All right, now let's turn now to John Bolton. The search of John Bolton's home and office, Is this part of Trump's campaign? Maybe a vengeance against perceived political enemies?

[C]

Well, look, Trump said on Friday that he didn't know anything about it. His vice president, J.D. vance, told NBC News that Bolton was not targeted because he's a critic of the president. We know that this investigation relates to classified documents, but we don't know much more at this point. But look, there is certainly a growing list of people whom the president considers political enemies who are facing Justice Department investigations. California Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James are two of them. The department also has reportedly taken steps to investigate actions around the Obama era intelligence that led to the Russia investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign, which of course is a main grievance of Trump's. The department's also fired prosecutors who worked on the investigations into Trump himself. Or January 6th Capitol riot cases. All of these actions certainly fit into the vision that Trump spelled out during the campaign of seeking vengeance on his perceived enemies.

[B]

That's NPR's Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thank you.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

President Trump will meet with the president of South Korea for a summit in Washington today.

[A]

The two countries longtime alliance is on the table. They're expected to work out the final details of a trade deal and discuss the role of US Forces stationed in South Korea.

[B]

NPR correspondent Anthony Kuhn joins us now for a preview of this meeting. So, Anthony, the South Korean president took office in June. Tell us about him.

[F]

Well, his name is Lee Jae myung. He's a 61 year old former human rights lawyer who later served as mayor and provincial governor. Three years ago, he narrowly lost the presidential election to his predecessor, Yoon Sung Yolk. Then last December, Yoon declared martial law over South Korea. And Lee led the charge to defeat the martial law and then get Yoon impeached. And then Lee won snap elections. And in order to become president, he sort of moved his liberal politics more towards the center. He still emphasizes diplomatic engagement with North Korea and China over military deterrence of them.

[B]

Okay, so I remember last month a verbal trade deal was reached between the US And South Korea. So what still needs to be worked out a lot.

[F]

It's a pretty spare framework. One of the key points is that South Korea has pledged to invest $350 billion in the US basically as a payment to get tariffs lowered from 25% to 15%. Now, the US has said that President Trump is going to get to pick those investments and 90% of the profits from the investments will go to the U.S. south Korea says they don't agree with that. They're not making any investments that don't benefit them. And they point out that Most of the $350 billion will actually be to South Korean companies to make stuff in the U.S. what's clear about this is that the U.S. is counting on South Korea to help it rebuild industrial manufacturing such as shipbuilding. Lee is going to visit a Korean invested shipyard in Philadelphia, for example. And they also rely on South Korea to compete with China in high tech sectors such as semiconductors.

[B]

All right, so that's the business end. What about when it comes to military alliance?

[F]

Yeah, the US wants to modernize its 71 year old alliance with South Korea to focus less on countering North Korea and more on deterring China. Now, on his flight to Washington, President Lee told reporters that this is not an issue that we can easily agree with. So they've got a major difference in priorities and threat perceptions. South Korea has previously sent troops to Vietnam and Iraq away from the Korean Peninsula. It does not want to be dragged into a conflict with China over, say, for example, Taiwan. China is just too close close to South Korea geographically and economically. Remember that South Korea's economy is about the size of Canada's. Its land mass is about the size of Indiana, and it's right next to China.

[B]

Why didn't Lee visit the United States first? Normally, that's what happens with South Korean presidents. They come to the US first.

[F]

That's right. Lee instead chose to visit Japan, and he spent much of his time there speaking with Japan's prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, about how to deal with U.S. tariffs in past. Japan and South Korea used to feud over history. They used to compete with each other for the US's favor. Now they find they have a lot in common, especially managing the risks of their alliances with the US.

[B]

That's NPR's Anthony Kuhn joining us from Seoul. Anthony, thank you.

[F]

You're welcoming.

[B]

And that's up first for Monday, August 25th. I'm Amy Martinez.

[A]

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Your next listen is consider this from NPR NPR News. Up first gives you three big stories of the day. Consider this drills down on one. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

Today's episode of up first was edited by Chris Dev, Calimore Ryland Barton, Lisa Thompson and H.J. miles, produced by Ziad Buch, Nia Dumas and Mansi Khurana. We got engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

[E]

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