Trump and NATO, Shaky Ceasefire In Middle East, Lebanon's Day Of Mourning
Up First from NPR
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4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has started blocking ships in the Strait of Hormuz again, as Iran warns the U.S. it must choose between a ceasefire and continued war via Israel.
And Lebanon declared a national day of mourning after Israeli strikes killed more than 250 people in a single day, with Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel this morning despite the ceasefire.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Gerry Holmes, Mohamad ElBardicy and Taylor Haney.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch.
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(0:00) Introduction
(01:53) Trump and NATO
(05:22) Shaky Ceasefire In Middle East
(09:04) Lebanon's Day Of Mourning
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The head of NATO visited Washington, insisting the alliance is helping the United States. |
| 0:07.2 | President Trump did not consult the allies before launching a war on Iran, then talked of leaving the alliance when some refused to help. |
| 0:13.8 | I'm Steve Inskeep with Leila Faddle, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:20.8 | The ceasefire in the war with Iran has yet to cease all fire. |
| 0:25.1 | Gulf states are still intercepting Iranian attacks. |
| 0:27.8 | Iran has not fully opened the strait of Hormuz. |
| 0:30.6 | And that's over, continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon. |
| 0:33.5 | The country declared a national day of mourning after Israeli strikes killed more than 250 people in a single day. |
| 0:40.0 | Hasbullah held its fire yesterday but shot rockets into northern Israel this morning. |
| 0:44.3 | Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:52.8 | President Trump met with the NATO Secretary General Mark Ruda at the White House on Wednesday. |
| 0:58.0 | Trump has been talking again about leaving the NATO alliance. He did not consult NATO allies before |
| 1:04.2 | launching a war in Iran and then complained that many allies did not help. The announcement of a two-week |
| 1:10.1 | ceasefire doesn't appear to have eased the president's feelings. He said on social media after the meeting, this is a quote, in all caps, NATO wasn't there when we needed them and they won't be there if we need them again. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez is here to discuss the latest meeting. Good morning, Franco? Good morning, Alamo. So what came out of the NATO meeting? |
| 1:29.7 | Yeah, I mean, it was a frank and open discussion where, according to the Secretary General, |
| 1:33.6 | Trump raised his disappointment about countries who did not help the U.S. |
| 1:37.3 | And in an interview with CNN, Ruda said he could see Trump's point. |
| 1:41.5 | At the same time, I was also able to point into the fact that the |
| 1:45.9 | large majority of European nations has been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights, |
| 1:54.1 | with making sure that they lived up to the commitments. Now, he would not say whether Trump told him |
| 2:00.7 | he wanted to leave or, |
| 2:01.9 | as the Wall Street Journal reported, is considering pulling U.S. troops from countries who were unhelpful. |
... |
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