Trump Meets Zelenskyy And Netanyahu, TPS Update, Political Corruption

0:02David Greene:President Trump is meeting with two world leaders separately at the White House today. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu are seeking Trump's support amid ongoing conflicts. What can we expect from those meetings? That's Leila Faddle, I'm Amy Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians who are in the U.S. legally are facing deportation. We don't have any official word at all from ICE. The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that the Trump administration can revoke their temporary protected status. And new research shows that an increasing number of Americans say corruption is a problem in politics.

0:42President Trump's business dealings are a contributing factor, but voters are divided on how to address the issue. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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1:58Use code STRESS2026 for 20 % off of Cortisol Manager on Amazon.com. Services for the late Senator Lindsey Graham begin here in Washington today. In attendance will be three world leaders, President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

2:17David Greene:Their presence reflects not only their respect for Graham, but also the loss of a key ally who helped shape their relationships with Trump and the rest of Washington. Trump is expected to meet with each of them before the funeral separately. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez is here with us to talk about this. Good morning. Good morning, Lionel. So walk us through why two world leaders, Netanyahu and Zelensky, involved in two different wars, made sure to come to Washington for Graham's funeral. Well, as you know, it's about respect, but also Graham really was one of the most tenacious supporters of those two countries.

2:52David Greene:And he's really leaving behind a void because I'm not sure there's another political leader who can step in to advocate like he did for both Israel and Ukraine. And certainly not someone who had the president's ear as Graham did. So the fact that the leaders are going to be meeting with Trump, there's kind of a certain symmetry that they're having to make the case themselves that Graham used to do on their behalf. Zelensky said he's bringing intelligence of Russia cooperating with Iran. What can you tell us? Yeah, Zelensky is really trying to build support for Ukraine's cause against Russia and saying Russia is providing satellite imagery of U.S.

3:34David Greene:military facilities in the Gulf. I was talking with Richard Fontaine, who served in the George W. Bush White House and now leads the Center for a New American Security. He says this is one of those scenarios where the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Well, certainly if you're about to come to the United States and you're trying to make the case for U.S. support for your country and opposition to Russia, then it helps if you've got any information about Russia helping the enemy the United States is fighting right now in Iran. Now, Trump has gone back and forth over how much he seems to be siding with Russia or Ukraine publicly.

4:11He seems to be talking more positively about Ukraine at the moment. Is Zelensky trying to build on that?

4:16David Greene:Yeah, I mean, I'd say for sure. I mean, that turn in the relationship has been very much on display, even just a few weeks ago in Turkey, when Trump and Zelensky met on the sidelines of the NATO summit. You know, Trump announced that the U.S. would be granting Ukraine a license to manufacture patriot air defense systems. That's something that Kiev has been wanting for years. I will, though, say, Leila, that when Trump was asked directly yesterday about Russia possibly giving Iran intelligence on U.S. bases, Trump really seemed to dismiss that. He said he'd asked Putin about it but doubted it was true.

4:51I don't think they've been doing it, certainly not at a high level. And if they have, it has been very unimpactful.

4:58David Greene:So that might be a challenge for Zelensky. Now, Netanyahu is coming at a time that President Trump is trying to get out of the war. it started with Israel in Iran. That's not the same goal as Israel. What do you expect from this meeting? Yeah, the White House says the two will discuss a conflict in Iran and a U.S. brokered plan for Israeli forces to pull out of southern Lebanon. On the one hand, Netanyahu wants to smooth over what's really been a rocky relationship with Trump over the last few months. It was really only a few weeks ago that Trump was calling Netanyahu crazy. Netanyahu, though, has to strike a delicate balance, you know, making nice with the president, but also playing some defense.

5:37David Greene:When it comes to the conflicts in Iran and Lebanon, the two countries really just have different goals. Israel wants to keep fighting and protecting its borders as it sees fit. Trump's focused on getting the Strait of Hormuz open, then wants to stop fighting and just get out as soon as possible. That's White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Thank you, Franco. Thank you.

6:07Hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians who are in the United States legally could face deportation any day now.

6:14David Greene:The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration earlier this year, allowing it to revoke the temporary protected status, or TPS, for these groups. If they want to stay, they need to find another legal avenue to stay in the country. Joining us is WOSU reporter George Shilcock, based in Columbus, Ohio. Good morning, George. Good morning, Layla. So how many Haitians in Ohio are facing deportation, and how are they preparing? Columbus is one of the larger cities in the United States with a sizable number of Haitian immigrants, nearly 30 ,000 in all, with over half on TPS. In nearby Springfield, Ohio, there are about 12 ,000 on TPS.

6:51That's the community of Haitian immigrants that President Trump and his allies smeared with false accusations that they were eating cats and dogs. Many here feel out of sorts, as they've had to wait and see if this legal limbo would allow them to stay. Yola Lamar with the Haitian Community Network has been trying to help the refugees. She said recently many are getting their affairs in order, while others are trying to apply for another legal status to stay in the place they've called home for, in some cases, over a decade. We are acknowledging the fear. We are acknowledging, you know, the travesty that is taking place and the level of uncertainty that they do feel.

7:28And then secondly, we are making sure that they have the right resources in their reach. Now, the Trump administration has argued temporary protected status is just that, temporary. But it's also a designation for people whose countries are just too dangerous to go back to. Is Haiti considered safe to return to? By most accounts, no. The Trump administration even had mixed guidance on this debate between its agencies. If you ask the Department of Homeland Security, which I did, they say conditions have improved sufficiently to support the return of Haitian nationals. However, the U.S. Secretary of State's office considers Haiti unsafe to travel to and notes commercial flights from the U.S.

8:07to the country's capital, Port-au-Prince, are suspended. The travel advisory notes this is due to the risk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest, and limited health care. Violent, heavily armed gangs, some of whom are considered terrorist organizations by the U.S., control much of the country. Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine has been at odds with President Trump on this decision. Has he heard anything about whether and when immigration and customs enforcement might target TPS holders? DeWine told reporters Monday he had seen reports from CBS and Fox News citing unnamed sources that ICE would start targeting this community in Ohio.

8:44But DeWine says he hasn't heard anything himself.

8:48David Greene:I'm reading the same reports that you're seeing, which indicates that that will be happening, but we don't have any official word at all off the mice. DeWine calls the decision-ending TPS a mistake and defends the community, noting their contributions to the economy at restaurants and in health care. DeWine says the Trump administration may not be thinking about this, and the outgoing Republican governor called for legal immigration reform. So what do we know about the administration's plans? The Department of Homeland Security told me in a statement it doesn't discuss ongoing or future operations.

9:20However, DHS did encourage eligible individuals to utilize the Customs and Border Protection Home Program to have a safe and orderly departure. DHS General Counsel James Percival said, quote, the good news is it's not too late to get a$2 ,600 check and a free flight home. That's George Shilcock with WOSU in Columbus, Ohio. Thank you, George. You're welcome.

9:51Huge majorities of Americans say corruption is a problem in politics. This according to new research from the Brennan Center.

9:58David Greene:Many people talk about politicians enriching themselves, building systems that advantage the wealthy and powerful, all while ignoring the problems of regular people. NPR's Mara Lyson has been covering corruption in politics, what voters think about it, and if anything can be done about it. And she's with me now. Good morning, Mara. Good morning. So voters say they are increasingly concerned about corruption. What is contributing to that feeling? Well, the feeling isn't new, but the main thing that's contributing right now is Donald Trump. He has increased his net worth by making investments in companies with business before the government at a level never seen before, as much as$2 billion in the last year.

10:37And just to give you a few examples, he bought stock in Paramount and Warner Brothers while his Justice Department was considering whether or not to approve their merger. He bought stock in Palantir and then he praised the company publicly, including in a social media post that listed Palantir's stock ticker. He invested in Oracle while he was trying to get that company to buy TikTok and it goes on and on. I mean that list is jarring and the amount,$2 billion, a huge amount of money. How does Trump respond? Well, after those disclosures, he told reporters he doesn't know anything about his own investments.

11:12Other people do them for him. Here he is talking about it on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews while standing next to Air Force One.

11:19David Greene:Well, you know why I'm profiting? Because the stock market's going up. Everybody's profiting. You have a 401k? How's your 401k done? It's about up 85 percent. Thank you, President Trump. He's acting as if everyone is in the stock market when most people can't afford to be in the stock market. But at other times, Trump has given very different answers. He said he tried to prevent his kids from making money from his office in his first term, and he didn't get any credit. He said, quote, I found out that nobody cared. And he's right. The Supreme Court gave him a kind of blanket immunity. His acting attorney general has ruled that he and his family have lifetime immunity from IRS audits of their past tax returns.

12:00His own party in Congress isn't criticizing him for doing it. So if there are no consequences for self-dealing, why should any president restrain themselves? That Brennan Center report also shows that corruption is an issue for voters across the political spectrum. But how worried are they about it? Well, that's the big question. Voters from our recent focus group of Pennsylvania swing voters, that is voters who voted for Biden in 2020 and Trump in 24, have differing answers about how much they care. We identify them only by their first names. This is Betsy, and she reacted pretty much with a shrug.

12:37You know, I'm not saying it's okay. I'm just not troubled by it because I just think it's typical for politicians to increase their wealth while in office. So people are incredibly cynical, almost numb. They see this as just the way things work in Washington. Everybody does it. And Trump has helped contribute to that. But other voters, like Bhavana, find this wrong and offensive.

13:01David Greene:For me, when I see that, the first thing that comes to my mind is abuse of power. President Donald Trump, who's using his powers in manipulative ways to draw something that is of his personal interest. And that, to me, is morally wrong. And then there are a lot of Trump voters who reacted like Todd. He's a shrewd businessman. What can I say? So Trump has convinced a lot of his voters that he is such a good businessman, he just makes money no matter what he does. Okay, so that's three voters kind of reacting there. Significant majorities say in polls that they don't like this kind of corruption.

13:39Is there sufficient pressure for something to actually change? Because you pointed out earlier, there's not really accountability. Well, for people who follow this, like Michael Waldman from the Brennan Center, they say that historically this political moment is very similar to other times in American history where corruption was actually addressed. Teddy Roosevelt and the progressive era reforms came after the corruption of the Gilded Age. After Watergate came a wave of protections and reforms in the 1970s. It's now a half century later. The corruption is growing. The abuse is growing. And it's time for another reform moment.

14:19Now, whether Congress will do anything about this is another question. But there are policies, reform policies, that do have public support, banning stock trading from members of Congress, requiring presidents to abide by certain investment rules. It's fair to say that as long as Congress is controlled by the president's party, these things probably will not become law. But Democrats are already trying to make this a political issue, telling voters your prices are going up while Trump and his rich friends make billions. That's NPR's Mara Eliasson. Thank you, Mara. You're welcome.

14:54And that's up first for Tuesday, July 28th. I'm Leila Faldil.

14:58David Greene:And I'm Amy Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Metzler, Cheryl Corley, Kelsey Snell, H.J. Mayan, Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas. Our technical director is Carly Strange. And our supervising senior producer is Vince Pearson. Join us again tomorrow.

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