--:-- [Up First theme music fades out]
--:-- Michelle Martin: President Trump addressed Congress promising new waves of tariffs on products Americans buy and criticizing Democrats for not smiling or applauding.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: What did the speech reveal about the administration's next moves?
--:-- Michelle Martin: I'm Michelle Martin, that's Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The president also talked up a plan to let rich foreigners buy U.S. residency for $5 million. He also spoke of current migrants as terrorists. Every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country.
--:-- Michelle Martin: His Homeland Security czar says they are short of resources, so what's the president's need from Congress?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Also, how is China responding to U.S. tariffs? The communist government has its own public ritual, the annual meeting of its one-party Congress.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Our colleague John Ruich is there and helps us to listen in. Stay with us.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: We've got the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- Steve Inskeep: Instead, get guidance from a licensed therapist online with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
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--:-- Michelle Martin: President Trump took the occasion of a speech to Congress to proclaim in his view that America is back.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: For more than 90 minutes, he talked of securing the border, slashing government, and imposing tariffs.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And he said he did not expect much support from Democrats.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: These people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.
--:-- Michelle Martin: They won't do it, no matter what.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The opposition party did spend most of his speech stony-faced, seated, or protesting.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez was listening to all of those minutes, and he joins us now.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Franco, good morning.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Good morning, Steve.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: What was it like? Yeah, I mean, there was always some kind of tension in these kind of speeches. But last night, that tension was really so much higher.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, in the first five minutes, a Democratic congressman, Al Green of Texas, stood up in protest. He was waving his cane and calling out that Trump didn't have a mandate.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And when he wouldn't sit down, House Speaker Mike Johnson actually had him escorted out of the chamber, which was a first as far as I can remember.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: And throughout the speech, Republicans were cheering, Democrats were holding up these signs that read things like false and save Medicaid.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And just repeatedly, Trump would go after former President Joe Biden by name and calling Democrats radical left lunatics.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, the partisan nature of this speech is really likely what this is going to be remembered for.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Well, the president certainly celebrated some of his more divisive or partisan achievements.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Yeah, Trump actually spent a lot of time touting the work of Elon Musk and his project to cut costs known as the Department of Government Efficiency.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And he got into some of the nitty gritty, giving this long list of examples that he said were being cut.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Here's a small part. $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: $8 million to promote LGBTQI plus in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Now, Steve, Trump's critics have said some of these cuts were for necessary services like aid for starving children.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And in some cases, the White House did acknowledge this and rehired people.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: But NPR has also looked into some of the claims of savings posted on the Doge website. And documents show that most of those savings don't actually exist.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Well, did the president talk about his plans for the year ahead?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: This can be a table-setting moment.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Yeah, a little bit. He asked Congress to pass his tax cuts.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: He talked about a plan that he'll announce this week to expand production of critical minerals in the U.S.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But he really spent most of his time talking about things that he's already done.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Well, did he use guests in attendance to make his points, as presidents often do?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: He did. He did. And that kind of shows, you know, the priorities.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: A lot of the guests were victims of crime or worked in law enforcement.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: There was this really heartwarming moment when Trump honored a 13-year-old boy who has fought brain cancer.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: He was dressed in a police uniform, and Trump said he had a special surprise for him.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Tonight, DJ, we're going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: And Trump's Secret Service director then came out and gave him a badge and a hug.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: In this 90-minute or more speech, Franco, did anything go unsaid?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Well, I mean, one of the biggest concerns Americans have is their grocery bills.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And Trump promised to cut high prices, but we really didn't hear anything new about those plans.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: He just blamed Biden.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: That's White House correspondent Franco Ordonez.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Thanks so much.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Thanks, Franco.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: Now, Democrats took note of what the president didn't say about prices.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Senator Alyssa Slotkin of Michigan delivered the party's response.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Grocery and home prices are going up, not down.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: And he hasn't laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Slotkin argued that Trump's tariffs and other proposals will raise prices the opposite of what voters said they wanted in last year's election.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: Another big issue in last year's election was immigration, and the president spoke last night of rounding up migrants that he described as terrorists.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Every last one will be rounded up and forcibly removed from our country, or if they're too dangerous, put in jails, standing trial in this country.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: NPR's immigration policy reporter Jimena Bestillo is listening in and is with us after a long night.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Jimena, good morning.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: Good morning, Steve.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Well, how did the president highlight immigration as you listened?
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: There were several guests in the audience invited that showcased this priority not just for the administration but for Republicans.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: One was House Speaker Mike Johnson's guest, who was White House boarder's R. Tom Homan.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: Oh. Homan is one of the key advisors designating and directing Trump's immigration policy through the federal agencies and has been one of the spokespeople for the administration's goals.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Other guests of the White House included Roberto Ortiz, a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: And also there were family members of Lake and Riley.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: You might recall that she a Georgia nursing student whose murder became a rallying cry for Republicans criticizing the Biden administration immigration plans
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: The first law Trump signed in his second term was named after Riley and it expanded the scope of who could be deported
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Now, the president made a claim during the address that illegal border crossings are at the lowest level ever recorded.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: What do the facts show you?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The agency has not reported the numbers for February yet.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: That's the Customs and Border Protection.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: However, posts on social media by the president suggests the administration is on track to report about 8,500 arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border in the month of February.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: This could be the lowest number of crossings since Homeland Security started reporting the data in 2000.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: OK, so that is a drop.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: Right. And these numbers can ebb and flow depending on various factors.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: During President Biden's administration, unlawful crossings nationwide peaked in 2022.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: There was another peak again in 2023.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But they've been declining ever since and were on a downward trend when Trump took office.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: Now, the president, interestingly enough, also talked about letting people in to the country, future action on visas.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: What's he talking about?
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: Trump recently announced a plan to create a so-called gold card, which he said would allow, very high-level people to apply to become lawful permanent residents.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: His administration has pitched this as a replacement to the current EB-5 immigrant investor visa.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: But the president can't solely create a new visa. That power lies within Congress.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So far, a formal proposal has not been issued by the Trump administration.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: And speaking of Congress, Trump also took this speech as a reminder to lawmakers that his administration is asking for more money to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Speaking to reporters at the White House earlier in the day, Border Czar Tom Homan described the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency as being, quote, in the hole.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: And he said that they needed more money for detention beds and flights to send people out.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But that money has to come from Congress.
--:-- Jimena Bestillo: NPR's Jimena Bastillo, get some sleep.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Okay.
--:-- John Ruich: President Trump was not the only world leader to give a big speech in front of a legislature in the past day.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Yes, Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered an annual government work report on the first day of the annual session of China's parliament.
--:-- John Ruich: It's a State of the Union type address, and it gives us an idea of what's on the minds of the leaders of the world's number two economy.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And Piers John Ruich was at the Great Hall of the People, big building in the middle of Beijing, to hear this.
--:-- John Ruich: And he's on the line.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: John, hi there.
--:-- John Ruich: Hi, Steve.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So did China's leaders use this occasion to respond to what President Trump was saying here, including about them?
--:-- John Ruich: Well, no. Li Chang's speech was wrapping up as Trump was getting started.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So we haven't really seen a Chinese response to Trump's speech yet.
--:-- John Ruich: The Chinese government responded, though, to the new tariffs by Trump.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: You know, he ratcheted tariffs on Chinese imports up to 20 percent yesterday.
--:-- John Ruich: They retaliated with their own tariffs on American chicken, wheat, corn, soybeans and such, blacklisted about 15 U.S. companies.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: The Chinese premier did not mention the U.S. by name in his address.
--:-- John Ruich: It's the kind of document that's drafted over the course of months, doesn't change with headlines.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But he did talk about, quote, an increasingly complex and severe external environment.
--:-- John Ruich: Now, those are words we've heard from Chinese leaders before.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And analysts say they're basically code for this confrontational situation they have with the U.S.
--:-- John Ruich: On that front, Li flagged some concerns that that external environment may actually have a greater impact on China going forward.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Rank-and-file delegates to the National People's Congress didn't seem too worried, though, about the terror.
--:-- John Ruich: Oh, this is really interesting.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: I've been talking with economic and business figures connected with China who seem to think that tariffs will hurt Americans more than they're going to hurt the Chinese.
--:-- John Ruich: But what are you hearing where you are?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Yeah well we had a chance to talk to a handful of delegates on their way into the opening session today
--:-- John Ruich: One of them was Tian Xuan who a professor of finance part of the Shanghai delegation
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So he told me that China's basically in a better position to handle the tariffs now and to offset them than before.
--:-- John Ruich: China has a huge domestic market, for instance.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It's got comprehensive supply chains.
--:-- John Ruich: He says the authorities are taking steps to stimulate domestic demand.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And he says the tariffs are also kind of a motivator for China to promote high tech and to expand relations with other countries.
--:-- John Ruich: Economists, like you say, say the tariffs will probably start to hurt, especially if they keep going up.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But these handpicked delegates to parliament were projecting confidence, as you might expect.
--:-- John Ruich: OK, so that's the spin.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And there's not nothing behind the spin.
--:-- John Ruich: But also China's economy has really been struggling, sputtering and doing strange things the last couple of years.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So how do they address that?
--:-- John Ruich: Well, the premier flagged the risks like that external environment, like sluggish domestic demand.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But he also projected some confidence.
--:-- John Ruich: He set a growth target of around 5 percent this year.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It's about the same as last year.
--:-- John Ruich: And to get there, announced some fresh fiscal stimulus, a willingness to pursue more accommodative monetary policy, to increase funding for industries of the future like quantum technology, AI, these type of things.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: OK, so I just want to note there's a one-party Congress, not likely to have a failed vote or a close vote on anything.
--:-- John Ruich: But it does, I guess, signal where the government is going.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: So what do you expect in the coming days?
--:-- John Ruich: Well, one interesting thing we'll be looking out for is that the NPC may pass some legislation that would support and protect private businesses.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And that's pretty interesting because the leadership here seems to have renewed its interest in these companies as drivers of the economy and innovation, especially after the Chinese company DeepSeek released an advanced AI model in January that shocked the world.
--:-- John Ruich: NPR's John Ruich with some insights from Beijing.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Really appreciate it, John.
--:-- John Ruich: You're welcome.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And that's Up First for this Wednesday, March 5th.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I'm Steve Inskeep.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: There is an easy way to stay connected to news and podcasts from the NPR network, the NPR app.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Hear community coverage from your local station, stories from around the world, and podcast suggestions based on what you like.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Download the NPR app in your app store.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Today's Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Kevin Drew, Ryland Barton, Alice Wolfley, and Mohamed El-Bardisi.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It was produced by Ziad Bach, Nia Dumas and Chris Thomas.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We get engineering support from Nisha Hines, and our technical director is Stacey Abbott.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I know, it's almost baseball season.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: I should have described her fist pump as I said her name.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So, he's ready.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Stacey Abbott!
--:-- Michelle Martin: Okay.
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--:-- Steve Inskeep: And each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Visit Lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR.
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--:-- Steve Inskeep: And when it comes to business insurance for midsize and large businesses, they know just how complex it can be, and businesses rely on them to make the complex challenges less so.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's why at each step, from quotes to claims to everything in between, The Hartford is devoted to making it easier.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Connect with your underwriter at The Hartford or visit thehartford.com.
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--:-- Steve Inskeep: If you're a woman over 40 dealing with hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, or brain fog, you don't have to accept it as just another part of aging.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The clinicians at MidiHealth understand what you're experiencing and know how to help.
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