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--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Welcome to Up First from NPR News. I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- Host A Martinez: And I'm A Martinez.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Will President Trump try to serve a third term? He won't rule it out. I'll tell you, I have had more people ask me to have a third term. The Constitution says he cannot, so how would he get around that?
--:-- Host A Martinez: That's right. A new executive order aims to reshape how American history is told through research, monuments, and museums. You can't turn an ugly history into a glorious one unless you're not telling the truth.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: What changes does the Trump administration want to make? And rescue workers in Myanmar are searching through rubble following Friday's earthquake. As the window to find survivors closes, the death toll is rising. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- Host A Martinez: Could President Trump get elected to a third term in office? The Constitution says no. But President Trump has declined to rule out the possibility of serving a third term. Yesterday, Trump told NBC News' Kristen Welker in a phone call that he is, quote, not joking about staying on as president and said there are ways he could, although he did not elaborate.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Joining us to talk about all this is NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, who was traveling with the president this weekend. Good morning, Tam.
--:-- Tamara Keith: Good morning.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: So Trump has talked about serving a third term many times. I think people assumed he was joking. And based on the plain language of the 22nd Amendment, that would not be constitutional. So what's going on here?
--:-- Tamara Keith: 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. I'm not looking at that, but I'll tell you, I have had more people ask me to have a third term.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: 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?
--:-- Tamara Keith: 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. But there are some novel legal theories that have been floated. And while they are quite far, the fact that Trump is dismissing it out of hand means it can be ignored.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Is there support for a third Trump term as he says? Trump 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.
--:-- Tamara Keith: 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. 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.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: 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. Separately, the 12th Amendment prevents anyone disqualified constitutionally from being the president from being the vice president.
--:-- Tamara Keith: Is there a political reason for Trump to be saying this? 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.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: So teasing a third term has the potential, at least, to extend his influence. Before we let you go, in his conversation with NBC's Kristen Welker, Trump also made news on tariffs. Tell us what he said there, please.
--:-- Tamara Keith: Yeah, he stood firm on the 25 percent 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.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: But even cars assembled in the U.S. often contain parts made in other countries. 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.
--:-- Tamara Keith: That is. And P.R.'s Tamara Keith. Tam, thank you.
--:-- Tamara Keith: You're welcome.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: President Trump has issued an executive order to try to make changes at the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, and it's comprised of 21 museums and libraries each, 14 education centers, and the National Zoo.
--:-- Host A Martinez: The order also paves the way for the return of monuments that have been removed in recent years. NPR culture reporter Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento is with us now for more. Good morning, Isabella.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: Good morning. So the order is called Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. Maybe start by telling us a bit more about what it says.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: A lot of this is about the people and stories that are highlighted at these museums and sites and the language used to describe American history. The order directs Vice President J.D. Vance, who is on the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, to oversee the removal of, quote, improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian's museums and research centers.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch sent an email on Friday telling staff that the Smithsonian will continue to employ internal review processes and that, quote, as always, our work will be shaped by the best scholarship, free of partisanship, to help the American public better understand the nation's history, challenges, and triumphs.
--:-- Host A Martinez: The Smithsonian spokesperson confirmed that email to NPR, and we should note here Lonnie Bunch was previously the founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, one of the museums Trump singled out in the executive order.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: There's also a section of the executive order focused on monuments. What does that say?
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: That's right. I mean, if we can rewind a little bit, there's been a growing movement in recent years to reflect on what history we honor in the U.S. and what may have been left out. But there was a turning point when a white police officer killed George Floyd who was black in 2020. His death sparked wide protests and for a lot of people it was a reexamining of this country's racial history.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: Within a year and a half, 200 public Confederate symbols had been taken down, relocated, or renamed. That included things like monuments, school names, even road names. Those are numbers provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is a legal and advocacy group, which tracks Confederate iconography in the U.S.
--:-- Host A Martinez: I should say, the executive order isn't specifically about Confederate symbols, but it instructs the Interior Secretary to review monuments, markers, and statues that may have been taken down or changed since January 2020, more than a year before Trump left office in his first term, and restore them.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: It calls for a wholesale review to make sure that memorials under Interior Department jurisdiction quote, do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living, including persons living in colonial times.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Do we know what monuments could actually be put back up? That's the big question, and it's pretty unclear right now.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: Seth Levy of the Southern Poverty Law Center says many of the sites that did see changes were on land controlled by municipalities and state governments, not land controlled by the Department of the Interior or any of the bureaus it oversees, like the National Park Service.
--:-- Host A Martinez: I'm not actually aware of any removals on National Park Service land. We reached out to the Department of the Interior and didn't hear back.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: So, you know, a lot of this executive order focuses on how the story of America is told. So what are historians saying about this?
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: That's right. I spoke with art historian Erin Thompson. She's the author of a book called Smashing Statues, The Rise and Fall of America's Public Monuments. And she says that Trump's executive order is trying to gloss over some of the darker aspects of American history. But you can't turn an ugly history into a glorious one unless you're not telling the truth.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: Thompson says it's important to grapple with mistakes from the past so we don't make them again. But ultimately, you can't control historical memory by controlling monuments.
--:-- Host A Martinez: That is NPR culture reporter Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento. Isabella, thank you.
--:-- Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento: Thank you.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Myanmar's military authorities say the death toll from Friday's earthquake has risen to more than 1,700 with thousands more wounded. Numbers that are expected to rise as the window for finding survivors closes.
--:-- Host A Martinez: While some foreign assistance has started to arrive in the country, efforts to get help to those who need it may have been stymied by buckled roads, collapsed bridges, and downed cell towers that make communication difficult.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Reporter Michael Sullivan has been following the relief effort from neighboring Thailand. Hello, Michael.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: Good morning.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: So what do we know about the damage so far?
--:-- Michael Sullivan: Well, the pictures we're seeing coming out of Mandalay are pretty awful. It's Myanmar's second largest city, about 10 miles from the epicenter. And those pictures show many parts of the city of 1.5 million in ruins.
--:-- Host A Martinez: And efforts to free those trapped under the rubble have been hampered by a lack of heavy equipment and personnel.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: And time is running short for finding more survivors, especially with the temperature hovering near 100 degrees and the smell of death rescue workers say is overpowering.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Here's a retired teacher from Mandalay. She doesn't want to be identified. She's afraid of the military. My house was badly damaged, she says, so now we're sleeping out here in the road. A hot pot shop near my house just disappeared into the earth, she says, and many, many big buildings just collapsed. We cannot count how many have died.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: And this is just in Mandalay, Michelle. There's other areas rescuers haven't been able to reach.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: What has been the military government's response? Have they reached out to other countries for help?
--:-- Michael Sullivan: They have, and that's unusual and maybe a sign they realize how bad things are. It's something they've been loathed to do in past crises, especially in 2008 when cyclone Nargis struck and left about 140 dead.
--:-- Host A Martinez: Emergency response teams from China, India, and Russia, and some other countries have arrived in country, but the airport in Mandalay, it's still closed to large aircraft, and that means much of the foreign assistance is being flown into the former capital, Yangon, some 350 miles to the south.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: That's a long way from Mandalay.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: President Trump said on Friday, the U.S. will be helping too. But we're still waiting to see just how USAID has played a large role in disaster relief in the past. But it's been gutted by the Trump administration in recent weeks.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: And, you know, you've reminded us that this is just the latest problem for the people of Myanmar because they're in the midst of a civil war.
--:-- Host A Martinez: That's right. I mean, this war has been raging since the 2021 coup and it's crippled Myanmar's public health system. It's displaced millions and severely restricted the distribution of aid for those people and for others as well.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: The UN says nearly 20 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance and roughly 15 million were facing acute food insecurity. That's before the quake.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: And there have been calls for a ceasefire from abroad and from some of the groups battling the military.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: So is the conflict on hold to deal with this tragedy? No. In fact, just hours after the quake, the military launched airstrikes and drone attacks in Karen State, according to relief workers, and reportedly launched several more airstrikes on Sunday against another rebel-controlled area in neighboring Shan State.
--:-- Host A Martinez: The war goes on, even as the death toll from the quake continues to rise.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: That is reporter Michael Sullivan in Thailand. Michael, thank you.
--:-- Michael Sullivan: You're welcome.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: And that's Up First for Monday, March 31st. I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- Host A Martinez: And I'm A Martinez.
--:-- Host Michelle Martin: Make one of the next things you listen to consider this from NPR. We here at Up First give you the three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you. Everything you need to know about that big story of the day in fewer than 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get those podcasts.
--:-- Host A Martinez: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Krishnadev Kalamar, Claire Lombardo, Rylan Barton, Lisa Thompson, and Ellis Wolfley. It was produced by Zia Bunch, Nia Dumas, and Chris Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas and our technical director is Carly Strange. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.
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