Up First from NPR
President Trump's 2026 Budget, Gloomy Economic Outlook, Secretary of State's New Role
Sat, 03 May 2025
President Trump proposes major cuts to several federal agencies in next year's budget, but he wants defense and border security spending to increase. The budget plan comes after the economy shrank during the first three months of this year. We'll have the latest on the state of the economy. Plus, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has added the title of national security adviser to his growing roster of roles. But will he have the bandwidth to do both jobs?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What are the key proposals in Trump’s 2026 budget?
President Trump proposes major cuts to federal spending.
Part of the White House's budget plan for next year.
But any spending will have to be approved by Congress. I'm Ayesha Roscoe.
And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News.
The budget plan was announced after the economy shrank during the first three months of this year.
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Chapter 2: How does the economic outlook look amid budget cuts?
But job figures announced this week were better than expected. What do these mixed signals tell us about the state of the economy? We'll have the latest.
And Secretary of State Marco Rubio has added a new role to his portfolio. He's now the National Security Advisor after Mike Waltz was moved aside.
How could one official holding two top posts affect foreign policy? Please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend.
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President Trump has issued his first budget proposal since returning to the White House.
He wants to slash spending for many federal agencies, but increase spending for defense and border security.
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Chapter 3: What role does Marco Rubio play in national security?
There have been some court challenges to Trump's attempted cuts so far, but congressional Republicans, they haven't really pushed back on those moves. So this budget could be a roadmap for things to come from the Trump White House.
And there's Daniel Kurtzleben. Thanks so much.
Thanks, Scott.
President Trump's tariff policy has generated enormous economic uncertainty at home and abroad.
The U.S. economy is shrinking, consumer confidence is faltering, and yet the job market still appears to be strong.
We're joined now by NPR's Scott Horsley. Thanks for being with us, Scott. Good morning. Good to be with you. Let's begin with this positive note, because even with the backdrop of the president's trade war, employers continued to add a lot of jobs last month. This sounds encouraging.
Yes, that's right. Employers added 177,000 jobs in April, not quite as many as the month before, but more than forecasters had expected. And the unemployment rate held steady at a low 4.2%. That suggests that even with all the tariff chaos of the recent weeks, employers are still hiring. Wages are also still going up.
So with more people working and paychecks getting bigger, that should provide some juice to keep the economy moving forward.
But we also learned this week that the economy went backwards a little bit January through March. What do those numbers disclose?
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