Trump In China, Hegseth Requests Wartime Budget, FDA Commissioner Resigns
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
The Pentagon told Congress they estimate the war in Iran has cost $29 billion dollars so far. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked for $1.5 trillion dollars for next year’s Pentagon budget.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary has resigned after thirteen months on the job, with the final straw being White House pressure to approve flavored vapes, something he refused to do.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Jason Breslow, Kris Husted, Mohamad El-Bardicy and John Stolnis.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas Our director is Christopher Thomas.
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And our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:57) Trump In China
(05:40) Hegseth Requests Wartime Budget
(09:26) FDA Commissioner Resigns
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | President Trump arrives in Beijing for a summit with China's Xi Jinping. |
| 0:06.0 | Our co-host Steve Inskeep is there with NPR's Jennifer Pack. |
| 0:09.0 | They visit the Great Hall where the leaders will meet and talk about what's at stake for the world's two largest economies. |
| 0:14.0 | I'm Leila Faudil. That's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:19.0 | A Pentagon official told lawmakers, the war in Iran has cost $29 billion so far. |
| 0:27.4 | Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth is asking Congress for $1.5 trillion for next year's budget. |
| 0:32.9 | This is, admittedly, a historic budget. |
| 0:36.0 | It is a fiscally responsible budget, and it is a war-fighting |
| 0:39.7 | budget. Some Republicans are joining Democrats in pushing back. And FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty |
| 0:45.5 | McCarrie is out after 13 months on the job. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day. |
| 0:56.6 | Air Force One lands in Beijing soon. |
| 0:59.3 | President Trump is there to talk with China's President Xi Jinping. |
| 1:02.5 | Their summit will be brief. |
| 1:04.1 | Expectations are low, but much is at stake in the trade war. |
| 1:07.8 | And the president is bringing along many of the biggest corporate |
| 1:10.8 | chief executives in the United States. Our colleague Steve Inskeep is in Beijing for the summit. |
| 1:15.7 | Hey there. Hi there, Michelle. I'm in the center of this gigantic city, and I'm with NPR's |
| 1:21.5 | Jennifer Pack, who's based in China, and we're going to talk through the events of this summit |
| 1:26.3 | that begins shortly. |
| 1:29.1 | Jennifer, Layla mentioned CEOs. |
| 1:30.5 | Who's the president bringing here? |
| 1:35.4 | Well, he's bringing a bunch of CEOs from Boeing, Cargill, even Nvidia. |
... |
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