NPR News: 07-14-2026 1PM EDT

Lakshmi Singh· Host0:01

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. E. Jean Carroll, the columnist who accused President Trump of sexually assaulting and defaming her, has received a five point six million dollar payment from her civil case against Trump. She waited three years after a jury found Trump was liable for damages. The money was held in escrow while the president appealed the award. President Trump's hosting Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi today. During a joint news conference, Trump defended a decision to reinstate the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz as its war with Iran escalates. He also says there won't be a twenty percent toll on ships going through the critical passageway, but wants to strike investment deals with other countries in the region.

Donald Trump· Soundbite0:42

And they said, "We'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars and continue our record-setting," 'cause we would— there's never been a time like this with the United States, with the factories, with the plants, with everything else. "And we would like to invest tremendously in the United States as opposed to charging a fee." And I like that, actually, because I don't think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the, uh, for the strait or for any other, uh, strait.

Lakshmi Singh· Host1:12

The U.S. and Iran have been trading fire for several days. The president's deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C. has been extended until Inauguration Day twenty twenty-nine, the Pentagon confirmed to NPR. Thousands of armed and uniformed troops have been