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By
Brittney Melton
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In a roughly 20-minute address to the nation last night, President Trump made the case for the war with Iran, which began over a month ago. He said that the war has been a military success and he expects U.S. forces to leave the country in a few weeks. The president was critical of U.S. allies, saying it is their responsibility to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for oil access.
President Trump speaks about the war in Iran from the Cross Hall of the White House on April 1, 2026. Pool/Getty Images hide caption
The Supreme Court has finished questioning the lawyers in the birthright citizenship case. The 14th amendment says that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Trump's solicitor general, D. John Sauer, argued that the 14th Amendment does not confer automatic citizenship to every baby born in the U.S. — contrary to how the law has been understood for 160 years. Trump attended to watch the arguments. A majority of justices, including several conservatives, appeared skeptical of the administration's position yesterday and seemed inclined to rule in favor of upholding automatic citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil.
More than 10,000 veterans have lost their homes to foreclosure since May 2025, when the Trump administration shut down a key safety net in the Department of Veterans Affairs home loan program, according to the latest industry data. Another 90,000 veterans are at risk of foreclosure. This crisis began during the Biden administration when the VA abruptly ended a pandemic assistance program, forcing struggling homeowners to repay missed mortgage payments all at once. After an NPR investigation exposed the issue, the VA halted foreclosures for a year while it rolled out a fix. Republicans in Congress sought to eliminate and replace that fix due to costs. Mortgage industry experts warned that ending the program without a replacement would lead to disaster, but the Trump administration shut down the rescue program. The VA says it's launching a new program that could help many of those vets, but it still won't be up and running for months. Housing and industry groups say this new program could leave veterans with worse options than other homeowners.
LA Johnson/NPR For months, the Trump administration has sent immigration enforcement agents into American cities. Residents in cities experiencing a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity have reported feeling increasingly fearful. In these neighborhoods, community members are helping alleviate that feeling by walking children, whose parents are afraid to leave the home, to school. In Washington, D.C., some groups call these efforts a "walking bus." In an effort to better understand how ICE's efforts are impacting communities, Morning Edition host Leila Fadel went out into the nation's capital to learn more about these walking buses. Most people NPR interviewed were too afraid to speak publicly, fearing it might make their schools targets of the federal government. Listen to how community members, parents and students who use the walking bus are adjusting to the changes in their community under this administration, and read more about the community response.
by Peter O'Dowd, Here & Now's host-correspondent
A "For Sale" sign is shown outside a home in Southern Nevada. The median price for a home there hit record highs near the end of 2025, approaching $490,000. Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now hide caption
Here in the Southwest, it's fascinating to watch Sun Belt cities lose their reputations as affordable places to live.
It used to be that you could move to Las Vegas, get a working-class job at a hotel, buy a modest house and raise your family. That's a big reason why this part of the country has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the U.S. for so many years.
But all that is changing. Since the pandemic sent the cost of housing soaring, Las Vegas has become a "blue-collar town with white-collar house prices," according to Nicholas Irwin, research director at the Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada. Dina Neal, a Democratic state senator who's been pushing unsuccessfully to limit Wall Street investors from buying so many homes in Nevada, had a good laugh when she told me that President Trump's recent support for the policy might finally get it over the line in Carson City.
But you can't see the whole picture from Vegas. In the historic mining town of Tonopah, many locals are thrilled with the economy. After Trump's promise to fast-retrack energy exploration and critical mineral development, local business owners are banking on a boom. Lithium, gold, and geothermal energy are hot commodities in rural Nevada, and new projects are popping up in the desert outside of town.
With the midterms around the corner, you can bet that issues of affordability and energy prices will be hotly debated in this bellwether state. That's why there's no greater joy in journalism than driving through the great expanses of the West. If you're not distracted by the scenery, you'll come across pretty much every issue important to the country's future.
Holly Deiaco-Smith (left) and Chantal Jouve (right) in Strasbourg, France in 2014. The two met in the 1990s, during an encounter in a post office. Holly Deiaco-Smith hide caption
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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