Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today's top stories

President Trump says that the U.S. will withdraw from Iran in two to three weeks. He also says he has had one goal in mind during this conflict: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Trump also appeared to reverse previous comments about reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying that countries dependent on the oil passing through the Strait will have to secure it themselves. Trump is set to address the U.S. tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

• 🎧 Trump's shifting his stance on the Strait, which was once the basis for his most serious threats against Iran, marks a significant reversal, NPR's Mara Liasson tells Up First. The president appears to be seeking a way out of the conflict, she adds. Trump says he has achieved some of his objectives, even as some have contradicted each other and changed rapidly over these few weeks. Liasson says the president has reached his pain threshold. He now says the U.S. can exit without even needing to negotiate.
• 🎧 The U.S. and Israel's war with Iran has pushed gasoline prices above $4 a gallon — the highest in more than three years. Diesel prices are up even more. This increase could raise the cost of goods transported across the U.S. by truck or train, NPR's Scott Horsley says. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projects the war will push U.S. inflation back above 4%. Employers, already hesitant to hire before the war, will likely become even more cautious due to uncertainty about energy prices and consumer spending, Horsley says.

Trump is scheduled to be at the Supreme Court today as the justices hear arguments in a case on birthright citizenship. No sitting president has ever been present for oral arguments at the high court before. The central focus in this landmark case is the president's challenge to a constitutional provision that has long been interpreted to guarantee American citizenship to every child born in the U.S.

• 🎧 The president has long argued that the Constitution does not guarantee birthright citizenship, NPR's Nina Totenberg says. On the first day of his second term, Trump issued an executive order that denies automatic citizenship to any baby born in the U.S. to parents who entered the country illegally or who are living and working here legally on temporary visas. The landmark case often cited for birthright citizenship centers around Wong Kim Ark, born to Chinese immigrants in San Francisco in 1873. His parents later returned to China. After visiting them there, he was denied reentry to the U.S. because officials said he wasn't a citizen. He challenged this decision and won in a 6-2 Supreme Court ruling. The Trump administration points to the case, saying the court's language assumes that Wong's parents were legally in the U.S. at the time of his birth. In response, the ACLU's Cecillia Wong is expected to tell the Supreme Court today that the men who wrote the 14th Amendment intended to confer automatic citizenship on the child, not the parent.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered Trump to halt construction on his White House ballroom "until Congress authorizes its completion." Leon said he is granting a preliminary injunction, believing the National Trust for Historic Preservation is likely to win its lawsuit. The judge will delay enforcement of the injunction for 14 days because he anticipates the Trump administration to appeal the decision immediately. The president's ballroom is designed to seat 1,000 guests and will cost at least $300 million, according to Trump's estimates.

A federal judge ruled yesterday that Trump's executive order to defund NPR and PBS violated the broadcasters' First Amendment rights. Judge Randolph D. Moss declared the Trump White House executive order to defund NPR and PBS "unlawful and unenforceable."The president's order and accompanying materials accuse the public broadcasters of ideological bias — in NPR's case, due to its news coverage. The networks deny this. It remains unclear what Moss' decision, which the administration could appeal, means for federal funding of public broadcasting.

Deep dive

Andrea Lucas, the Trump-appointed chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, is driving a new agenda, shifting the agency's long-standing prioritization of vulnerable and underserved workers. Congress established the EEOC through Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to remedy the vast racial injustices faced by Black Americans. While Title VII makes clear that the same protections against discrimination apply regardless of a worker's race, color, religion, sex or national origin, limited resources always force the EEOC to pick and choose which cases to pursue based on those it believes will have the greatest impact. Here's how the Trump administration's EEOC is attacking DEI and emphasizing white people:

• ➡️ In February, Lucas sent a letter to the CEOs, general counsels, and board chairs of Fortune 500 companies, warning that a company's diversity, equity and inclusion policies or practices may become illegal if they base employment decisions, even in part, on a person's race, sex or other protected characteristic.
• ➡️ Former agency leaders point to the dismissal of multiple lawsuits fought on behalf of transgender and nonbinary individuals, the reversal of earlier decisions protecting transgender workers and the rollback of its comprehensive harassment guidance as evidence that the agency pursues an agenda at odds with its traditions.
• ➡️ Lucas posted a video on X making a direct appeal to white men to come forward if they believe they've been disadvantaged due to their sex or race, as they could be owed money. The video garnered more than 6 million views and was shared by Vice President Vance.

Living better

Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.

Protein is currently having a moment in the spotlight. Coffee chains are adding it to their drinks and food companies are marketing protein snacks. Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Dietary Guidelines released this year recommend higher levels of this essential nutrient. Our bodies rely on protein to build and repair muscles, create digestive enzymes and produce antibodies that support immune function. Your protein needs are personal. Here's how to figure out yours:

• 🍗 New recommendations say to aim for 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. To calculate this: Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms. Then, multiply that weight by 1.2 and 1.6 to find your range.
• 🍗 Exercise increases your muscles' protein use, so if you work out regularly, you may want to increase your protein intake toward the high end of your recommended range.
• 🍗 Both animal and plant foods can meet your protein needs. But many plant foods alone don't provide enough of all the essential amino acids. You can close that gap with a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and beans.

3 things to know before you go

• USA Track & Field said three leading runners who were misled off course in a qualifying race for the 2026 World Road Running Championships, thereby ruining their chances of victory, have been invited to compete.
• Trump shared a first look at his vision for a sky-high presidential library bearing his name in an almost two-minute-long video on social media.
• Six books have made the shortlist for the International Booker Prize this year. The winner will be announced on May 19.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.