AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
We're now joined by NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben. Good morning, Danielle.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So President Trump now seems to be prioritizing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked to shipping traffic. That's disrupted the global energy market, and it's driving up oil prices. In Trump's Truth Social post, he mentioned wanting the Iranian military to lay down their arms, but he did it at the end of his post. It was almost just kind of like an afterthought or an...
KURTZLEBEN: Right.
RASCOE: ...Addendum. Is reopening that strait now the definition of victory?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, like you're kind of getting at there, the definition of victory has been a moving target thus far. But it's pretty fair to say that, yeah, he cares a lot about reopening that strait because gas prices, like you said. I mean, before this war, he talked about gas prices all the time, trying to make the case that his economy was strong, and that was one of his key data points. And now that line about gas prices is conspicuously gone when he speaks. And then this last week, he temporarily eased sanctions on Russian oil that had been put in place after Russia invaded Ukraine. Easing those sanctions is a move European allies and Ukraine criticized. And on social media, like you said, he's posted multiple times about the Strait of Hormuz. So, yeah, he's thinking a lot about this. Now, as for whether reopening would constitute victory, like I said, Trump's definition of victory has slid around a bit, so I'm not sure we could firmly pin down that definition at this point.
RASCOE: The war in Iran isn't popular with voters. The latest NPR/PBS/Marist poll shows that 56% of those surveyed don't approve of military action in Iran, and this includes some in the president's own base. How is he responding to this information?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, he seems very worried about how this war is being received. President Trump has been angrily criticizing press coverage of the war. In one social media post, he said the news media, quote, "actually want us to lose the war." And so then yesterday, when FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened the licenses of broadcasters running, as he put it, hoaxes and news distortions, it was easy to connect that to the president's anger at war coverage. So, yeah, they're worried. But what's fascinating to me is that while Trump is conducting this war, also, a lot of the time, he seems to be trying to do business as usual. Last week, he spoke in Kentucky, and he talked a little about Iran, but mostly about taxes and prescription drug prices. So he's still trying to sell this cost-of-living message, even as gas prices climb.
RASCOE: Well, there was also some tariff news on Wednesday, when the Trump administration announced new investigations of dozens of trading partners under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. What can you tell us about these probes?
KURTZLEBEN: Right. So a few weeks ago, after the Supreme Court ruled a whole bunch of Trump's tariffs were unconstitutional, Trump said he would use other laws to impose tariffs. So Section 301 is one of the main laws he can use. And there's a key difference between these new, investigated tariffs and the tariffs the Supreme Court ruled against. And what it is is those old tariffs Trump would impose on a whim just by signing an order. But with 301 tariffs, there has to be an investigation. These tariffs are meant to be used against countries with unfair trade practices, so the U.S. Trade Representative has to investigate whether these countries are being unfair. So this last week, the USTR announced these investigations into dozens of countries. One investigation says countries are overproducing manufactured goods. Another is into how much countries are importing goods made with forced labor. And both of these investigations include major trading partners. So if these tariffs were to happen, they could be a very big deal.
RASCOE: Earlier in the week, President Trump said he wouldn't sign any bills until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, which would eliminate things like voting by mail in most cases, but also trans athletes participating in women's sports.
KURTZLEBEN: Right. Yeah. He's wrapping a lot of priorities together into this, but at the heart of this bill are these restrictive voting rules. It would require proof of citizenship, like, say, a birth certificate, to register to vote, and then a person would also have to present photo ID to vote. So Trump really wants this bill that would add some friction to voting. Now, Democrats argue that the goal is to shrink the electorate. However, Trump's problem here is the bill doesn't have 60 Senate votes to overcome a filibuster, so it's not clear how it would pass. But regardless, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it will be brought to the floor this week.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Thanks so much for speaking with us today.
KURTZLEBEN: Of course. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF KENDRICK LAMAR SONG, "HIIIPOWER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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