Tamara Keith
Appearances
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 6PM EDT
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt says President Trump has made up his mind about the tariffs.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 6PM EDT
Many economists are warning adding tariffs will hurt American businesses and raise prices for consumers. But Leavitt dismissed those concerns, pointing to the strong economy during Trump's first term when he put high tariffs on China. Independent analysis found that those tariffs benefited some workers but harmed others, and U.S. consumers bore most of the cost.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 6PM EDT
Levitt says the new tariffs will go into effect immediately. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the White House.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-12-2025 7PM EST
Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said the media is spending too much time talking about the possibility of a constitutional crisis and said President Trump will comply with the law and the courts, but will also seek every legal remedy to overturn the injunctions.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-12-2025 7PM EST
The White House has taken an expansive view of the president's executive authority. Echoing Trump's words, Levitt called the judges activists. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-07-2024 4PM EST
The labor market has cooled from its formerly overheated state and remains solid. Inflation has eased substantially from a peak of 7 percent to 2.1 percent as of September.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-02-2025 3PM EST
The Presidential Citizens Medal honors Americans who've performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. It is among the highest civilian honors a president can bestow, and awarding it to Cheney and Thompson sends a signal.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-02-2025 3PM EST
President-elect Trump has criticized the pair repeatedly, falsely accusing them of breaking the law with their investigation into his actions on and around January 6th. Biden is also set to award the medal to several civil rights leaders and advocates who worked on issues he championed in his career, among others. In all, he will award the Citizens Medal to 20 people. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-08-2025 5PM EST
The government shuts down Friday night if a spending bill isn't passed. And with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate, Trump wrote on Truth Social, quote, we have to remain united, no dissent, fight for another day when the timing is right.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-08-2025 5PM EST
His argument is that although this measure punts the deep spending cuts conservatives want, it buys time for Republicans to pass what he really wants, big tax cuts and bulked up spending on immigration enforcement. Democrats are already rallying against it, saying it hands too much power over to the White House to determine which programs are cut. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Palm Beach, Florida.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-24-2025 6PM EDT
Atlantic Magazine's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg somehow got included in a group chat on the messaging app Signal, where the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and others were discussing plans for an attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. When asked about the story and the breach hours after it came to light, President Trump said it was news to him.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-24-2025 6PM EDT
A spokesman for the National Security Council confirms the chat, which broke with longstanding national security protocol, appears to be authentic. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
For now, at least, the answer appears to be yes and. President Trump took questions from the press in the Oval Office yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sitting in the chair next to him. And Netanyahu announced he would quickly eliminate all tariffs on American goods. and reduce the U.S. trade deficit to zero. But when asked whether he would reduce the 17% tariff the U.S.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
is set to apply to Israeli goods, Trump said maybe not. He said his tough tariffs are getting trading partners to offer big concessions.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
He says a team from Japan is coming to the U.S. to negotiate. Vietnam is sending one, too. So Trump is certainly signaling that he is open to negotiating, but he is also digging in. How is he digging in? Well, the president was asked if he might put a pause on his tariffs while negotiations play out, and he said no.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
Trump and top administration officials continue to make the case that this is about wholly restructuring the U.S. relationship with the global economy, bringing jobs and manufacturing back to the U.S., and making the U.S. wealthy. The president is urging patience. And then there's China. They slapped a retaliatory tariff on the U.S. after Trump's announcement last week.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
Trump is saying that if they don't reverse course, he will hike the tax on Chinese imports even higher for a grand total of a 104 percent tariff. China isn't backing down, though. And overnight, its commerce ministry accused the U.S. of blackmail, saying in a statement, quote, China will fight till the end.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
Well, President Trump believes firmly that he is right about tariffs and all the experts and economists who say prices will go up and the U.S. could be thrown into recession. They're all wrong.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
But if the dire warnings about prices rising because of tariffs become a reality, a reality that voters feel, or if the economy slows down or falls into recession, there won't be any question about whose economy this is. President Trump has made a historically dramatic economic policy move here. based on a conviction that he has held since the 1980s. If he succeeds, he can claim all the credit.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Response, Economics of Tariffs, SCOTUS Rules on Deportations
But if he fails, he and his party will get all of the blame.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
Later, I asked him again to clarify, are you planning to leave office on January 20th, 2029, or are you saying you might not? And he looked to the other reporters and said, any other questions? He also said it is still quite early to be having these conversations. And as you say, the 22nd Amendment bars a president from being elected to a third term.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
But there are some novel legal theories that have been floated. And while they are quite far-fetched, the fact that Trump isn't dismissing it out of hand means it can't be ignored.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
Trump's approval rating is underwater right now, but these are better poll numbers than he's seen before. And there is something of a movement among his most ardent supporters to promote the idea of a third term. Earlier this month, Steve Bannon, who served in Trump's first White House and is now an influential podcaster, said that he not only thinks Trump should run, but that he'd win.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
Separately, just three days into Trump's second term, a Republican congressman introduced a constitutional amendment to pave the way for a third Trump term. But just to go back to the Constitution, there are actually two amendments that would stand in his way. The 22nd Amendment is one of those. It was put in place after FDR served four terms.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
Separately, the 12th Amendment prevents anyone disqualified constitutionally from being the president from being the vice president.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
Yeah, you know, he's in his second and final term, unless something dramatic happens. And that means the clock is ticking on his power and relevance, because soon members of his own party will be running to replace him, and he will be seen as a lame duck. So teasing a third term has the potential, at least, to extend his influence.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
Yeah, he stood firm on the 25% tariffs on foreign automobile imports, including parts made outside of the U.S. He dismissed concerns that this could cause prices to rise for American consumers. He said, quote, I couldn't care less because if the prices on foreign cars go up, they're going to buy American cars. But even cars assembled in the U.S. often contain parts made in other countries.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
The president is promising additional tariffs later this week. He is calling Wednesday Liberation Day. Economists warn higher tariffs mean increased costs for consumers, and polls show that voters just want the president to focus on bringing costs down.
Up First from NPR
President Trump Third Term, Smithsonian Executive Order, Myanmar Earthquake
You know, the way he talks about a third term, it's like he's keeping his options open. On Air Force One, I asked him about what he told NBC and asked if that means he's not planning to leave office. And here's what he said.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
Well, this is one of the biggest themes of the second Trump term. President Trump is taking a very expansive view of his executive authority. He is blowing past statutes like the law requiring 30 days notice to Congress before firing inspectors general and running straight into significant constitutional questions.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
He's trying to redefine birthright citizenship, something enshrined in the Constitution, and He's freezing federal funds and trying to erase agencies that were created by Congress without going back to Congress for the authority to do it. And I should say he's trying to do much more, much faster and going it alone in a way that he didn't in his first term. But he has a lot less to lose this time.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
He isn't running for reelection. And the Supreme Court has given presidents broad legal immunity for laws that are broken in the course of doing their job.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
We're likely going to find out and perhaps sooner than later. President Trump did say last week that he will abide by the courts. But already in at least one case, a federal judge has found that the Trump administration defied a temporary order to unfreeze federal funding. The administration has appealed.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
You know, if a theme of the first Trump administration was that he was challenging norms, the theme this time around is that he is challenging laws and the common understanding of the balance of power laid out in the Constitution. Yesterday, he shared an article on social media that argued the real threat to democracy is Democrats and federal judges trampling on the president's authority.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
There's a new sheriff in town and he is nothing like Joe Biden. Biden was all about strengthening alliances. Trump is coming at it from a very different perspective. He is skeptical of international organizations like NATO and doesn't think alliances are worth much unless they are directly helping the U.S., This week, we're expecting that meeting in Saudi Arabia with Russian officials and U.S.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
diplomats to discuss the end of the war in Ukraine. At this point, Europe isn't at the table and it's not clear just yet what Ukraine's role will be. Add to this Trump's many tariff threats, the latest being reciprocal tariffs on friends and rivals alike.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
his talk of wanting to take back the Panama Canal or Greenland or even take control of Gaza, I think it's safe to say the era of predictability in American foreign policy is over.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
Well, generally speaking, his supporters are cheering him on all the way and Democrats are beside themselves. But if you paid attention to what he said on the campaign trail, none of what's happened in this first month should be much of a surprise. It's just a lot of people didn't believe he was going to do all these things or certainly not all at once.
Up First from NPR
Paris Emergency Summit, Marco Rubio in the Middle East, Trump's First Month
You're welcome.