NPR News: 07-05-2026 11AM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump marked the nation's 250th birthday with a speech on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. last night after record-breaking heat and severe thunderstorms. Trump spoke for roughly 40 minutes on the National Mall, saying, "We are made of the courage and the fire and the flesh and the blood of the best and the bravest people this world has ever produced. We are the bravest and the best." He invoked historical figures including David Crockett and the Wright brothers, and brought the crew of the Artemis II mission on stage, declaring that America had gone to the moon and would next go to Mars.

Some of Iran's top officials attended the funeral of the country's former Supreme Leader, who was killed along with four members of his family in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike last February. Iran's president, speaker of parliament, and the head of Iran's elite military were present, some sobbing profusely, their shoulders shaking. But one notable absence was that of Ayatollah Moshtabah Khamenei, Iran's new leader and Ali Khamenei's fourth son. Moshtabah Khamenei took over power from his father in March and is yet to be seen in public, as many top leaders stay in hiding to protect their whereabouts for fear of assassination. It remains unclear if Moshtabah Khamenei will take part in any of the ceremonies planned for his father's fu