by Suzanne Nuyen

December 24, 2025

Hey, it’s Suzanne Nuyen from the Up First newsletter team. We know you count on us to break down the day's top stories so you stay in the know. But did you know we count on you, too? Public media is now operating without federal funding. Resources across the NPR Network are stretched thin. You can make a difference and help us keep delivering the reporting you rely on by donating today.

The Up First newsletter team is taking a holiday break tomorrow. We’ll be back Friday with the news you need to start your day. Merry Christmas!

The Justice Department yesterday released about 30,000 pages of new documents, including flight logs, memos and letters, related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The files contain hundreds of references to President Trump.

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec.15 in Washington, D.C.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

🎧 It's well established that Epstein was well-connected and knew many influential figures, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton, NPR's Sarah McCammon tells Up First. She emphasizes that Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but notes that the documents continue to highlight the relationship between Trump and Epstein, raising questions about how much Trump knew about Epstein's activities. She adds that it's unclear which documents are credible and which aren't. On social media, the DOJ has claimed that one of the files — a letter from Epstein to convicted sex offender Larry Nassar — is fake.

The Supreme Court has ruled that National Guard troops must stay out of Chicago — for now. The decision is one of several "emergency docket" cases in which the conservative majority court has ruled against Trump since he began his second term as president. The justices ruled 6-3, stating that the president failed to explain why the situation in Chicago warranted an exception to a law called the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the military's ability to execute laws on U.S. soil.

🎧 Because the ruling came through an emergency decision, it does not set precedent, NPR's Kat Lonsdorf explains. The decision applies only to this specific case in Illinois, not to troop deployments elsewhere. But deployments in other cities are currently tied up in litigation in lower courts, and Lonsdorf says lower court judges tend to look to these emergency decisions for guidance.

The U.S. economy grew faster than economists expected from July through September, according to a delayed report from the Commerce Department on the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). The agency usually releases this report in October, but it pushed it to this month due to the government shutdown.

🎧 Two factors helped drive the growth, NPR’s Alina Selyukh reports. The first was people and companies spending money on artificial intelligence and other technologies. The other is what Selyukh called the "perpetual motion machine" that is the American consumer. Americans are continuing to spend, despite recent polling showing growing uncertainty about their financial prospects. A new Conference Board report on consumer confidence found that sentiment declined for the fifth consecutive month, as Americans worry about inflation, the political landscape, and the labor market.

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Mariah Carey on stage at a Christmas performance.

Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Live Nation Las

Christmas stirs a mix of joy, anticipation and … yearning. That tender longing runs through holiday classics like Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and Judy Garland's version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." Slate music critic Carl Wilson speaks with Morning Edition about why the holiday evokes this sense of yearning, and why these songs still resonate. Listen and grab some inspiration for your Christmas playlist.

Cookie Jones (left) sits with her mother, Valerie (right), in Cookie's home. Valerie can be seen in front, her legs outstretched, wearing blue pants and a white shirt. The walls of the room are light blue.

Tyler Russell/Connecticut Public

As the year comes to a close, NPR photojournalists are sharing a collection of images that defined 2025. The photographs capture the biggest headlines and quiet, powerful human scenes across the U.S. They're representative of the fact that journalism not only documents factual events but also conveys the experiences and emotions felt in the many places we call home. Here’s a look at some of the images that resonated with the photographers this year.

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A black-and-white illustration of a family at their Victorian-era Christmas dinner.

Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive

Today, the word "yule" conjures up images of cozy Christmas cheer. But Yuletide traditions got their start in wild parties and animal sacrifice. On this week's Word of the Week, dive into the pagan origins of Yule festivals.

The Middle Collegiate Church, a centuries-old space in New York City, will hold its first Christmas Eve service tonight after a six-alarm fire destroyed the building in 2020. The church officially reopened on Easter this year.

At the Ground Zero Hurricane Katrina museum in Waveland, Miss., an exhibit showcasing letters written to Santa in the wake of the storm tells stories of resilience and recovery. (via New Orleans Public Radio)

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This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi. Brittney Melton contributed.

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