NPR News: 02-27-2026 7PM EST

Greenland has said it is not for sale. Denmark has said it can't even legally sell Greenland. And whether Trump can or will or should try to control or purchase a territory that does not want to be sold is one question. But on Planet Money, we are more interested in how we even got to this moment and how we might gracefully get out of it. Listen to Planet Money on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump says he is not happy with the way Iran is negotiating with the U.S., but as NPR's Franco Ordonez reports, Trump has made no final decision on whether to strike the country. On his way to Texas, Trump told reporters that U.S. officials may have more talks on Iran today. I'm not happy with the fact that they're not willing to give us what we have to have. I'm not thrilled with that. We'll see what happens. We're talking later. We'll have some additional talks today. Trump has repeatedly threatened military strikes if Iran doesn't agree to a deal that ends their nuclear capabilities. The U.S. has amassed a large military presence in the Middle East as negotiations continue. Trump says he doesn want to use military force on Iran but that quote sometimes you have to Asked about the risk of a long drawn conflict Trump said I guess you could say there always a risk Franco Ordonez NPR News the White House The Justice Department has indicted 30 more people who allegedly took part in a demonstration last month protesting ICE inside a Minnesota church, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced today on social media. As NPR's Meg Anderson reports, 39 people have now been charged in relation to the protest. In a post on social media, Attorney General Bondi said federal authorities have already arrested 25 of the 30 people newly charged in the protest. All are facing charges related to a conspiracy to deprive others of religious rights and with interfering with the right to religious freedom. On January 18th, protesters disrupted a church service in St. Paul, where one of the pastors is also a local ICE official. Bondi wrote in her post, quote, you cannot attack a house of worship. Videos of the protest, however, show people marching and chanting and do not appear violent. Several people had already been charged for the incident, including journalist Don Lemon, a local journalist and a prominent local civil rights attorney. Meg Anderson, NPR News. The Department of Veterans Affairs has rescinded a new rule to change how it calculates veterans benefits NPR Quill Lawrence reports The rule published on February 17th could have lowered a vet disability rating if medication improves their condition More than 20 public comments flooded in that the rule could deter veterans from taking medication and that VA benefits aren't welfare. They're earned compensation for war wounds. Many vets saw it as part of the Trump administration's ongoing cuts of VA jobs and contracts. Coleman Nee, with the group Disabled American Veterans, spoke at a congressional hearing. Our nation should never balance its budget on the backs of those who have stood to defend it. They already paid. The VA secretary first called the controversy fake news, but then rescinded the rule after just 10 days, saying vets spoke and the VA listened. Quill Lawrence, NPR News. U.S. stocks sank on Wall Street today. This is NPR News. A civil rights agency says the federal government can bar transgender employees from using bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, dismissing an appeal from a transgender woman who worked for the Army. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says the Army didn't violate the provision in the Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, and national identity. Members of Congress say the U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone The Federal Aviation administration responded by closing more airspace near El Paso Texas The FAA shut down the El Paso airport and the surrounding area just over two weeks ago after another use of an anti laser Pokemon is celebrating its 30th anniversary today. The franchise started as a pair of games in Japan and has exploded into a worldwide phenomenon. NPR's Andrew Limbong has more. 30 years ago, the games Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green dropped in Japan for the Nintendo Game Boy. In case you've been living inside a Pokeball for the past 30 years, you walk around catching monsters and use them to fight other trainers with monsters in their pocket. Since then, there have been more video games, TV shows, movies, a trading card game, Pokemon Go for mobile. The Pokemon company regularly rakes in billions of dollars in revenue each year. The company announced a slew of new games and merch in celebration of the anniversary and announced the Pokemon World Championships will be taking place in San Francisco. this year. Andrew Limbong, NPR News. The S&P 500 fell nearly half a percent today. The Dow dropped more than one percent and the Nasdaq fell nearly one percent. This is NPR News.