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Chapter 1: Why is the U.S. interested in Greenland?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Vice President J.D. Vance is making the case for the U.S. to take control of Greenland. Speaking from the Danish territory today, Vance said the White House is, quote, really interested in Arctic security.
My argument again to them is I think that you'd be a lot better coming under the United States security umbrella than you have been under Denmark's security umbrella. Because what Denmark's security umbrella has meant is effectively they've passed it all off to brave Americans and hoped that we would pick up the tab.
Chapter 2: What is the U.S. Supreme Court's involvement in deportation issues?
Both Greenland and Denmark have pushed back, emphasizing that the island is not for sale. President Trump today said Greenland is crucial to U.S. national security, noting that Chinese and Russian warships use its waterways. The White House is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to use the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport certain migrants.
Chapter 3: How is President Trump using wartime powers?
President Trump invoked a rarely used wartime power to send more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to a prison in El Salvador. NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran reports a federal judge has temporarily blocked it.
Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris says the case presents questions on whether the president or the judiciary decide to conduct national security operations in the U.S. Harris says, quote, the Constitution supplies a clear answer. The president, the republic cannot afford a different choice.
Chapter 4: What is the controversy surrounding the Alien Enemies Act?
The American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward sued the Trump administration over its use of the Alien Enemies Act, saying it removed people without due process. Sky Perryman, the president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement Trump is not a king and that the organization, quote, will continue to meet this administration in court to protect people and our democratic values.
Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Austin.
Chapter 5: What changes are happening at the U.S. Agency for International Development?
The Trump administration is eliminating nearly all remaining positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development. NPR's Fatma Tanis reports the move is part of a process to merge what's left of the dismantled agency into the State Department.
The agency's nearly 900 remaining staff received an email saying they would get reduction in force notices and would have to leave their jobs either by July 1st or September 2nd of this year. The email was sent by Jeremy Lewin, who's running the hobbled agency after the administration cancelled thousands of its programs and shrunk the majority of its workforce.
Lewin said staff would be given an option to take leave, but many would be required to stay on to complete the drawing down of operations at USAID, and the transfer of remaining programs to the State Department. In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high.
Fatma Tanis, NPR News.
On Wall Street, the Dow was down 715 points. This is NPR News. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing for new changes to reform the regulation of food additives, specifically artificial dyes.
The real battle is that we're getting sicker and sicker every year. And it's really just a debate about who's going to pay the treatment. Nobody has been focused on how do we get ourselves less sick.
Some of the foods that are being targeted include brightly colored candies, cereals, especially those marketed to kids, cookies, chips, and soft drinks. A mining company announced this week that it's aiming to partner with the U.S. government on a first-of-its-kind seabed mining project beneath international waters in the Pacific Ocean.
Reporter Danielle Ackerman reports that it's a bid to acquire critical minerals.
The Metals Company is a Canada-based mining startup. They plan to collect nickel and cobalt from the deep ocean floor. The firm says those metals can be used in electric car batteries, but critics say deep-sea mining is unproven and could harm the marine environment.
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