Up First from NPR
Canada's Prime Minister Meets Trump, Abortion Lawsuit Surprise, Film Tariffs
Tue, 06 May 2025
President Trump will meet with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won his election on an anti-Trump platform. In a surprise move, the Justice Department asked for a lawsuit against the abortion medication mifepristone to be dismissed, and the global film industry is reeling after President Trump announced plans to hike tariffs on movies produced outside of the U.S. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Diane Webber, Jane Greenhalgh, Ciera Crawford, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Kaity Kline, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting the White House today.
Chapter 2: Who is Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney?
Carney ran and won, promising to fight Trump on tariffs and musings about taking over. So how will this visit go?
I'm Michelle Martin, that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. The Justice Department is moving to dismiss a case restricting access to abortion medication, which puts them on the same side of the issue as the Biden administration was and most Democrats are now.
I would say the jury is still out, essentially, of how aggressive the Trump administration is going to be on medication abortion. What's the strategy here?
And President Trump wants higher tariffs on a new category of foreign imports, the movies.
Our industry recently has suffered greatly, and many Americans have lost jobs to productions that have gone overseas.
Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. President Trump is hosting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House today.
Yes, the meeting comes as Trump has repeatedly offended the longtime ally and trading partner with tariffs that hit Canada hard and musings about somehow making Canada into the 51st state. Here's Trump in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.
If Canada was a state, It wouldn't cost us. It would be great. It would be such a great, it would be a cherished state.
When asked if he'll bring up the idea with Carney, Trump said he will always bring it up. So it could be an interesting meeting.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of the abortion medication lawsuit?
But on Monday, Trump's Justice Department asked the federal court to dismiss a case that could seriously restrict access to abortion nationally.
NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has been following this particular case for several years now. So tell us about this case, Selena.
Well, it's challenging the Food and Drug Administration's rules about mifepristone, which is one of the pills used for medication abortion. It's also used to manage miscarriages. And if you're thinking, didn't the Supreme Court already reject that case? You would be right, kind of. The justices last year rejected the original challenge brought by a group of Christian doctors.
But now three states, Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas, have intervened. They're arguing essentially they can't ban abortion if residents can receive this medication through the mail. So they're taking up this challenge to FDA's decisions about medication abortion again.
So that's what the Trump administration's Justice Department wants to dismiss?
Yeah, exactly. They took that position in a filing on Monday. And this was a bit surprising because that's the same position the Biden administration's Justice Department had made. And you might not expect a lot of continuity when it comes to abortion between these two administrations.
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Chapter 4: How are film tariffs affecting the industry?
Chapter 5: What was the result of Carney's election campaign?
Yeah, so Carney hasn't been really shying away from Trump's rhetoric at all.
Yeah, exactly. I mean, here's what Carney said on election night.
America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. Never. But these are not, these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us.
It's typical for new Canadian prime ministers to make their first foreign trip to the U.S., but Carney instead chose to go to Europe, and that sends a certain message.
Sounds like it might. Given the contentious climate, then how is this meeting supposed to go?
So I talked to Asa McKercher. He's a professor of public policy at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. And he says Carney has to play this balancing act, right, of standing up for Canada, but also not irking Trump, which is kind of tricky. But he says Carney could have a less conflicted relationship with Trump compared to his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, who Trump often mocked.
There seems to be a different tone of emphasis, I think, with Mark Carney as prime minister now. Obviously, Mr. Trump's still talking about the 51st state stuff, but he's not called him Governor Carney. You know, he's called him a very nice man. And I think Mr. Carney certainly looks like kind of a nerdy central bank kind of guy.
And I think for Mr. Trump, who obviously likes kind of central casting figures, you know, I think Mr. Carney looks that part.
And he also says that the meeting might be a chance for Trump and Carney to kind of have a reset.
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Chapter 6: How is the relationship between Canada and the U.S. evolving?
Chapter 7: What is the significance of the upcoming Trump-Carney meeting?
It's typical for new Canadian prime ministers to make their first foreign trip to the U.S., but Carney instead chose to go to Europe, and that sends a certain message.
Sounds like it might. Given the contentious climate, then how is this meeting supposed to go?
So I talked to Asa McKercher. He's a professor of public policy at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. And he says Carney has to play this balancing act, right, of standing up for Canada, but also not irking Trump, which is kind of tricky. But he says Carney could have a less conflicted relationship with Trump compared to his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, who Trump often mocked.
There seems to be a different tone of emphasis, I think, with Mark Carney as prime minister now. Obviously, Mr. Trump's still talking about the 51st state stuff, but he's not called him Governor Carney. You know, he's called him a very nice man. And I think Mr. Carney certainly looks like kind of a nerdy central bank kind of guy.
And I think for Mr. Trump, who obviously likes kind of central casting figures, you know, I think Mr. Carney looks that part.
And he also says that the meeting might be a chance for Trump and Carney to kind of have a reset.
Yeah, but Carney himself has said that the old relationship between the U.S. and Canada is over.
Yeah, you know, it's a pretty unprecedented thing to say, but it speaks to how much relations have soured since Trump's tariff war. Carney told Canadian reporters a few days ago not to expect white smoke out of this meeting on a new trade deal. And, you know, he's referencing the smoke signal that goes up when a new pope is chosen. So he's already tempering expectations.
But, you know, at the same time, Canada is already looking for new, more reliable trading partners. There's reports that South Korean companies are pitching sales of military equipment to Canada, which is significant because in the past, Canada's gotten most of their defense products from the U.S.
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