Trump on seeking 3rd term; Myanmar earthquake : NPR

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Today’s top stories

President Trump says he isn’t ruling out the possibility of seeking a third term in office. Yesterday, Trump told NBC News he “was not joking” about serving another term and that “there are methods” that would allow him to do so. He did not elaborate on those methods. The Constitution mandates a two-term limit for the president.

• 🎧 There is something of a movement among Trump’s most avid supporters promoting the idea of a third termNPR’s Tamara Keith tells Up First. A Republican congressman even introduced a constitutional amendment three days into Trump’s second term to pave the way for a third. Keith says there’s a political reason for Trump to pursue this. Unless something dramatic happens, the clock is ticking on his power. Members of his party will soon run to replace him and he will be seen as a lame duck, she says. Teasing a third term could potentially extend his influence.

Trump has issued an executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, aiming to restore the “truth and sanity to American history.” The order includes provisions seeking to reinstate monumentsmemorials and statues that were removed or altered since January 2020. In response, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch told staff in an email that it would continue to employ internal review processes and that their work “will be shaped by the best scholarship, free of partisanship, to help the American public better understand the nation’s history, challenges and triumphs.”

• 🎧 NPR’s Isabella Gomez Sarmiento says one big question is which monuments would be put back up. Many of the sites that saw changes to monuments were on land controlled by municipalities and state governments, according to Seth Levi of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal and advocacy group. This land isn’t controlled by the Department of the Interior, which is tasked with reviewing monuments by Trump’s executive order.

Myanmar’s military authorities say the death toll from Friday’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake has climbed to over 1,700. That number is expected to rise as the window to find survivors is closing. Foreign assistance has started to arrive, but efforts have been stifled by buckled roads, collapsed bridges and downed cell towers.

• 🎧 Lack of heavy equipment and personnel has hampered efforts to rescue those trapped underneath the rubblesays NPR’s Michael Sullivan. Rescue workers say the smell of death is overpowering. Rescue teams from China, India and Russia have arrived in the country, but the airport is closed to large aircraft and much of the foreign assistance is being flown around 350 miles south to Yangon. Trump said on Friday that the U.S. would also help in assistance efforts. The USAID, which played a large role in disaster relief in the past, has been gutted by the Trump administration in recent weeks.
• ➡️ See photos of the aftermath of the earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand.

Picture show

The cherry blossoms in the nation’s capital reached peak bloom this weekend, attracting scores of people to the approximately 3,800 cherry trees near the National Mall. But even two days before peak bloom, droves of people came out to see the spectacle. Last Wednesday, D.C.’s Tidal Basin was packed with a mixed scene of special occasions and everyday moments. People posed for photoshoots, families pushed their strollers along the blossoms and joggers weaved through the crowd. Check out these photos of the blossoms and see how people have been enjoying them.

From our hosts

by Steve Inskeep, Morning Edition and Up First host

During a week in China, we glimpsed the high and low ends of its economy.

Global business leaders spoke at the China Development Forum. China’s premier, or prime minister, told them China is now a stable country that follows global rules — a dig at the United States with its near-weekly changes in tariff policy. He also promoted China’s progress in building humanoid robots.

An executive at the Forum spoke of artificial intelligence. To the layman, AI means ChatGPT, but he said the real money was in AI’s application to manufacturing.

We sensed what the executive meant when we toured a factory making trendy Xiaomi electric cars. Robotic machinery did most of the work: Crane-like arms moved parts around on the assembly line while self-driving vehicles moved items around the factory floor. A century ago, Henry Ford’s famous River Rouge auto plant employed 100,000 people; this plant employs 2,000.

At the low end, we toured a factory consisting of 4,000 3-D printers, the kind you can buy on Amazon and use in your home. The printers are cranking out millions of plastic animals and other toys for the global market. The factory owner contends he’s creating opportunities for young people like himself who are adrift in China’s high-tech, high-powered economy, which faces high youth unemployment.

3 things to know before you go

1. Eighteen Rosie the Riveters were honored as Congressional Gold Medal recipients at the National WWII Museum. The women were trailblazers, proving women could succeed in what was considered a man’s job at the time.
2. In a break with tradition, this year’s White House Correspondents’ dinner will not include a featured comedian. Amber Ruffin’s appearance was canceled.
3. A babysitter in Kansas was checking for a “monster” under a child’s bed and came face-to-face with a male suspect hiding there.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.