Iran sees two ships in the state of Hormuz, the White House says it's not a c...
violation because neither of them was American or Israeli.
“Meanwhile, a journalist was killed by an Israeli air strike on Lebanon even as ambassadors”
meet today to extend their ceasefire.
I'm Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News.
The Secretary of the Navy is out, it's the latest in more than 30 high-level dismissals at the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth. And this one comes as the war in Iran is in its eighth week. It's this level of turnover or problem, and the President's economic approval rating is on a downward turn.
The Iran war is two weeks past his own deadline, his tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court and the Republican redistricting push could backfire too. He'll examine President Trump's political position and head of false mid-term elections. Stay with us. News you need to start today.
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Follow shortwave wherever you get your podcasts, because the more you ask, the more interesting the world gets. Iran has tightened control on the straight-of-home moves while the U.S. continues to claim success in its blockade of Iranian ports in the strategic waterway. Iran is still not officially acknowledging a unilateral U.S. cease-fire declared by President
Trump for a more we go to NPR's J&RF in Amman, Jordan, Jane Hello, I'm Michelle. So there's been a flurry of competing messages over what's happening in the straight since U.S. warships in the Indian Ocean began efforts to intercept the traffic there. So what do we know about what's going on? Well, Iran yesterday fired on three ships, seizing two of them in the straight-of-hormous
that narrow waterway between Iran and Amman, and it released video with dramatic music swelling and Iranian gunboat and troops boarding one of the container ships that were taken to Iranian port.
It's the first time in this war that they have seized vessels.
The U.S. military put out a release noting that it had 10,000 personnel and 17 warships as part of its blockade of the straight-of-hormous that said it directed 31 vessels to change course since beginning at this month. And it said the majority complied. It wasn't clear what happened to the others.
So well, it seems like that release is an effort to show that the U.S. release still isn't charged. But having said that there do seem to be attempts by the President to do escalate can you tell us about those? Absolutely.
Earlier this week, President Trump had threatened to bomb all Iranian bridges and power plants. Yesterday, he wrote that he had been informed that eight female protesters who were to be executed in Iran last night, with no longer be killed. He said for where we're going to be released immediately and for sentenced to short prison terms, and he also said, quote, "I very much appreciate that Iran and its leaders respected
my request as President of the United States very different tone there." Iran's judiciary, though, disputed that. It said some of those arrested had already been released, some of those women. The others had not been sentenced and if convicted, they would receive prison sentences rather than death sentences.
So there's a parallel war going on in Lebanon between Israel and then Latin group his blood. So what's happening with that ceasefire? Yeah, Israeli air strikes in the South killed at least five people yesterday, including the Lebanese newspaper journalist, her name was Amal Khalil.
She and another journalist were in a vehicle when an Israeli air strike hit a nearby vehicle. They took refuge in a house, then that house was hit by Israeli air strikes. Lebanese medic said they rescued the wounded journalist with her, but then came under Israeli fire and had to retreat. She died under the rubble.
Israel said it was responding to an imminent threat, and the incident was under review. It has below responded to those Israeli attacks with drone and rocket strikes, but this afternoon
in Washington, Israeli and Lebanese diplomats are meeting for a second round of talks.
Those talks are aimed at extending a truce in paving way for future talks. That is NPR's General, and I'm on Jordan. James, thank you. Thank you. As the naval blockade of Iran continues, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, John Falen, has
been forced out of his job. This is the latest in a series of high-level dismissals at the Pentagon under Defense
“Secretary Hegsev, and it comes at a time when the Navy is playing a key role in the war”
in Iran. For more on this, we're joined now by NPR National Security, correspondent Greg Mayer, Greg
Mourning to you.
Hi, Michelle.
“So what does John Falen's dismissal as Navy Secretary Meen, at a moment when the U.S. is at war?”
Yeah, John Falen was the Navy's top civilian leader. It's a very important position, but we should stress he was not part of the military chain of command. He wasn't responsible for any day-to-day operations taking place in the Middle East. His role was the big picture to oversee the Navy's budget.
It's personnel, it's effort to build more ships, which President Trump considers the top priority. Just the day before his alster on Tuesday, Falen spoke at a conference about the Navy's upcoming budget, which calls for building more than 30 new ships, part of what's being called the golden fleets, and there's even this talk about a Trump battleship.
Part of Falen's speech was posted on social media, saying, "To be a superpower, a nation must be a C-power, and this is the opening move to strengthen American maritime dominance."
So tell us more about Falen, and why Trump appointed him to this position in the first
place? So Falen has no naval experience, but he did have a relationship with Trump.
“Falen was a major donor to Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.”
He's a billionaire businessman, he ran an investment firm and Palm Beach, so he was very much part of Trump's orbit in Florida. Trump appointed Falen to the position last year at the start of Trump's second term, and it's unusual, though, not unprecedented, to appoint someone as a service secretary who doesn't have relevant military experience.
Most often, it's someone who has served in the military at some point in his or her life. Did the Pentagon give a reason for his dismissal? No, his abrupt departure was announced in a brief statement on Acts by the Pentagon. It said Falen was, quote, "Departing the administration, effective immediately, we wish
him well in his future endeavors."
The Navy's undersecretary hung cow becomes the acting Navy secretary for the moment. Now at the official level, that's all we have, but there were signs of tension between Falen and Defense Secretary Pete Higgseth. We've seen people around Falen being dismissed. The issues seem to include personal friction, as well as the way the shipbuilding effort was being handled.
Now Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Falen's dismissal, quote, "another example of the instability and dysfunction that have come to define that apartment of defense under President Trump and Secretary Higgseth."
“What's the bigger picture of turnover at the Pentagon?”
Higgseth has been dismissing senior officials immediately when he arrived at the Pentagon, usually without offering a reason by one recent count that number now tops 30, many of them generals and admirals. This is now continued nonstop for well over a year. Earlier this month, the Army Chief of Staff General Randy George was forced to retire
after 40-year military career. This reflects Higgseth's stated desire to overhaul the Pentagon leadership. It's certainly not a great optic at a moment when the U.S. is in the middle of this war with Iran, though it seems likely to continue, Higgseth appears to have Trump's full support for now.
That's, and here's Greg Mayer, Greg. Thank you. Sure thing, Michelle. President Trump is facing an uphill battle in convincing American voters that he has a handle on the war with Iran, and he's having a bad week with his other policies too.
Witnesses can now request their money back after his tariff program was rejected by the Supreme Court. Virginia's voted in favor of Democrats' push to remake the mid-terms map there. That's in response to the President's moves elsewhere. And polling shows the President's approval rating on the economy is tanking even further.
It's putting the GOP in a tough spot ahead of the mid-terms in the fall. And Pierre Whitehouse correspondent, Deeper Shivram, is with us now to talk this through good morning, Deepa. Good morning, Michelle. All right. So let's start with Iran. The more is now eight weeks in after the President
said it would only last what six weeks. So how is the White House trying to explain this? Yeah. I mean, the timeline hasn't exactly been lining up with what the President has said. And he just keeps saying that the war will end soon.
Trump extended the ceasefire again this week. And White House press secretary Caroline Levitt spoke with reporters yesterday. She insisted that the cards are in the President's hands, and that Trump will decide when the ceasefire is overall, though no details there on the wind that actually will happen.
In the meantime, Levitt emphasized that the administration sees the blockade in the
straight forward moves as successful and is basically hammering Iran's economy.
Trump has spent a lot of time focusing on this conflict in the last two months. He keeps trying to argue why it was necessary. But at this point, he doesn't have much to show for it, voters are consistently unhappy with the war and how Trump has handled it. And voters are unhappy with his handling of the economy, too, and some of that is related
To the war because of all that we've been reporting about the straight from m...
how much oil and commerce goes through there.
“But on top of that, his tariff policy hasn't gone as planned, and neither has redistricting”
efforts to remake the election to happen. I mean, it seems almost like the President's priorities are almost working against him. Yeah. I mean, there was new polling that came out from the Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago this week that shows some bad numbers for Trump.
His approval rating on the economy has dropped from 38% last month, down to 30% this month, and his approval on specifically the cost of living with shell has lowered even among his own Republican supporters.
“On tariffs, like you mentioned, Trump spent a lot of time talking about how beneficial his”
tariffs would be. So now that companies are able to request these refunds, it's another loss for him there. And in Virginia, voters narrowly chose to remake the election map in a way that could favor Democrats in this year's midterms, though of Virginia State Judge blocked the certification of those results on Wednesday, the state has promised to appeal.
But on Trump's and Trump has advocated for red states to try and remake their maps in favor of Republicans. So yeah, another example here of Trump's plans kind of blowing back against him. I talked to Brandon Steinhouser, who's a Republican strategist, and has worked on campaigns in Texas.
He said when it comes to Trump's second term, the President may have bitten off more than
he could chew. But I do think he's probably picked too many fights, and he's probably stretched himself very thin.
“But it's still relatively early in his second term, and I think he can write the ship.”
But obviously he has a lot of headwinds against him. And he says Trump has to find a way to better explain the higher cost that have come from the war right now. Steinhouser says Trump isn't really doing that. And where does this all leave Republicans who are facing a tight midterm election and who
need Trump to help them win? Yeah, typically in the terms race after a presidential election does not favor the incumbent party in the White House, and right now Republicans in competitive seats are in an even tougher spot with how voters are feeling about the economy and Trump. Steinhouser says JUE candidates are going to have to tackle that topic of costs and affordability
head on, because it's going to be the number one issue in November. And he says when it comes to Trump, some Republicans may even try a void talking about him at all. That is Empire's deeper shiver on. Deepa, thank you, thank you.
And that's up first for Thursday, April 23rd, I'm Michelle Martin.
Today's episode of First Was edited by Ruth Scherlock Andrew Susman, Rebecca Metzler, Muhammad Elbar D.C. and Lindsay Taadi, who was produced by Zayat Bunch and Newt Dumas, our directors Christopher Thomas, we get engineering support from Nisha Heines, our technical director is Carly Strange and our deputy executive producers Kelly Dickens, we hope you'll turn us again tomorrow.
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