Middle East War Intensifies, Trump's Rational For War, First Midterm Primaries
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2026
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
President Trump is offering shifting explanations for why the U.S. struck Iran, as the White House tries to unify its message and Americans remain wary about what the war is meant to achieve.
And the first midterm primary results are in, with Democrats in Texas choosing James Talarico and early races in North Carolina and Arkansas offering a first read on where both parties are headed.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Bloch, Rebekah Metzler, Dana Farrington, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ana Perez and Nia Dumas
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:55) Middle East War Intensifies
(05:58) Trump's Rational For War
(09:36) First Midterm Primaries
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Pentagon says not a single Iranian ship is left in the waterways off Iran. |
| 0:06.7 | It's also targeting symbols of the regime, including the country's paramilitary forces. |
| 0:11.2 | I'm Michelle Martin. That's A. Martinez. And this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:18.2 | President Trump answered questions publicly for the first time about why the U.S. attacked Iran. |
| 0:23.0 | It was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack if we didn't do it. |
| 0:27.4 | His Secretary of State gave a different rationale to reporters. |
| 0:30.6 | And people in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas cast their votes in the first primaries of the midterms. |
| 0:35.5 | Democrats in Texas chose James Tolariko to try and flip the U.S. Senate seat in a deep red state. What are the primary results? |
| 0:42.6 | Tell us about the mood heading into November. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start |
| 0:46.7 | your day. |
| 0:53.4 | This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. |
| 0:58.7 | You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. |
| 1:04.1 | Be smart. Get Wise. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply. |
| 1:11.2 | In the Middle East, Israel and the U.S. continues striking targets across Iran as Iran |
| 1:16.5 | widens its retaliatory strikes in the region. |
| 1:19.0 | The U.S. Military Central Command says it has destroyed Iran's Navy. And in Iran, preparations |
| 1:23.8 | for the funeral of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi, who was killed by Israel, were set to begin tonight but have been postponed. |
| 1:31.1 | The widespread fighting continues to disrupt air travel and shipping channels in the region. |
| 1:35.9 | For more, we go to NPR's Kerry Khan in Tel Aviv. |
| 1:39.3 | Carrie, Israel and the U.S. have continued their air campaign today. |
| 1:42.6 | What's the situation now? |
| 1:44.6 | The airstrikes continue in cities throughout Iran. On state TV, you see ruins of buildings |
... |
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