The World and Everything in It: May 13, 2026

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Good morning!

Trade, Taiwan, and the war in Iran. Who has the leverage as President Trump talks with China?

TRUMP: I spoke with President Xi. We look, we both look forward to the meeting. It’s gonna be great.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Hunter Baker standing by for Washington Wednesday.

Also today, World Tour.

Later, a Christian worldview program sending hundreds into schools, churches, medicine, and media.

COLSON: What we need is a cadre of people who know how to defend Christianity in every single area of life.

And WORLD Commentator Daniel Suhr on U.S. pushback to mass migration.

MAST: It’s Wednesday, May 13th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. 

I’m Lindsay Mast.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

MAST: Up next, Kent Covington has today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Trump in China » President Trump sits down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing today. Trade negotiations top the agenda, but the Iran war also looms over the talks.

Republican Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania says China, as Iran’s biggest oil customer, has the leverage to help put an end to the war.

MCCORMICK: They should want to find a resolution and add more pressure. They also are a supporter of Iran with a lot of military technology, and I would hope the president's gonna, uh, you know, make them stop, uh, assisting Iran with its, uh, with its buildup of ballistic missiles and so forth.

Trump says he'll have a "long talk" with Xi Jinping about Iran, but trade is his main focus.

Top business executives, including Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook are along for the trip.

California mayor foreign agent » Today’s gathering in China comes after a Southern California mayor this week agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

Federal officials said Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, was charged with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

The 58-year-old's plea agreement states that she worked on behalf of Chinese officials to advance their interests by promoting pro-China propaganda.

Makary resigning » President Trump's FDA chief Marty Makary is resigning — just 13 months into the job.

The president told reporters:

TRUMP: Marty's a great guy. He's a friend of mine. He's a wonderful man, and he's going to be off, and the, uh, assistant, the deputy, is taking over temporarily until we find. Everybody wants that job.

Makary, a surgical oncologist, has drawn fire in recent months from a range of critics. Those include pharmaceutical companies, and pro-life groups frustrated that he slow-walked an FDA review of abortion drugs.

Kyle Diamantas — the FDA's food chief — steps in as acting commissioner. A permanent pick will need Senate confirmation.

Spain reports new hantavirus case » Authorities are working to contain a so-called hantavirus that spread aboard the high seas after a new case was detected on Tuesday.

So far, three people are dead after the outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. There are now 11 reported cases, nine of which are confirmed. A Spanish passenger is the latest to test positive after being evacuated from the ship. But World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Tuesday:

GHUBREYESUS: At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak. But, of course, the situation could change. And given the long incubation period of the virus, it's possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.

The ship's complement of more than 120 passengers has already been sent home to their own countries. That includes more than a dozen Americans, only one of whom has since tested positive for the virus, but that individual is not showing symptoms.

Most American passengers were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for quarantine. As for other countries:

GHUBREYESUS: They have the sovereignty, so we can't force them to take our protocols. We can only advise and recommend, but I hope they will follow the advice and the recommendations we're making.

Doctors said a French woman who was infected on the ship was critically ill Tuesday.

Health officials characterize this particular form of hantavirus as rare but severe...with more than 30 percent of cases resulting in death.

Charges filed in Baltimore bridge collapse » Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges Tuesday related to the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024.

The indictment names two companies—operators of the container ship known as the Dali—as well as the firm's shore-based superintendent.

Six construction workers were killed when the Dali slammed into a bridge support.

Justice Department official Adam Gustafson:

GUSTAFSON: When the Dali crashed into the Key Bridge, massive pieces of the bridge fell into the Patapsco River, along with vehicles, cargo containers, and other debris. The crash also resulted in the discharge of oil into the water.

Prosecutors say the crew rigged up a makeshift pump instead of using the proper fuel supply system—and when it failed, the ship lost power and steering.

FBI special agent Jimmy Paul:

PAUL: As is laid out in this indictment, the collapse should never have happened. As alleged, the bridge was struck and collapsed because those who were responsible for the ship's operation deliberately cut corners at the expense of safety.

Replacing the bridge will cost up to $5.2 billion—and it won't open to traffic until 2030.

Migrant smuggling deaths in TX » Federal agents are investigating six deaths at a Texas rail yard as a potential human smuggling case. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Workers opened a shipping container this week in Laredo and found the bodies inside.

The medical examiner says heat stroke killed them slowly, over as long as eight hours in the metal box. Five men and one woman were among the dead. IDs and cellphones at the scene suggest the deceased were from Mexico and Honduras.

Laredo sits on the busy U.S.-Mexico border, a major land port, and a frequent crossing point for human smuggling. The deadliest such case in U.S. history happened nearby in 2022, when 53 illegal immigrants were found dead in a sweltering tractor-trailer in Texas.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I'm Kent Covington.

Coming up, more on President Trump’s trip to China. And later, a Christian worldview program sending hundreds into schools, churches, medicine, and media.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 13th of May.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

President Trump is in Beijing with a delegation of major American CEOs—from finance, tech, manufacturing, and aviation. This comes against a backdrop of tensions over Taiwan, trade, and military competition in the Pacific. There’s an official welcome ceremony tonight, which is actually Thursday morning Beijing time.

EICHER: Meanwhile, Chinese analysts and state media increasingly describe the United States as a declining and internally divided power. The New York Times carried a major piece on that yesterday. Some reports suggest Beijing believes it may now hold more leverage in the relationship than at any point in years.

It’s Washington Wednesday and joining us is political scientist Hunter Baker. Good morning.

HUNTER BAKER: Good morning.

EICHER: So Hunter, this trip comes at a moment when China is seeing the U.S. as weakened and distracted, but President Trump appears to be approaching Beijing with a very transactional mindset. His idea is trade and economic opportunity. So what do you think each side believes it has to gain going into the summit?

BAKER: Carl F. Henry, who some of the audience may remember, wrote a short book called Has Democracy Had Its Day? And I think that if we were to ask the Chinese, “Has democracy had its day?” I think they would say, “Yes, it has.”

They would look at the United States. They would see how we have our elections every couple of years, with power changing hands, and they would say, “How can you govern that way, especially when the population is not united?” And so they see that as a tremendous weakness that we have.

We, on the other hand, tend to see the ability of human beings to be true citizens, to vote, to organize, to speak, as more of a strength than a weakness.

But right now, as you’re seeing how events in Iran are affecting the United States, you can see something to the Chinese position. You can see the U.S. president is trying to resolve this thing, and the Iranians know if they can just draw it out long enough that it will be a problem.

Now, what Trump wants—yes, he wants trade. He wants economic wins. And I think he probably wants Beijing to pressure Iran to resolve this thing and to get world commerce going full tilt again.

The Chinese, of course, want to continue to do business with the United States. We have the greatest markets in the world. They benefit tremendously from doing business with us.

They’re not that crazy about us protecting ourselves. They’re not that crazy about us trying to prevent them from doing things to American corporations that want to do business in China. And most of all, maybe they want to affect our posture toward their policy with regard to Taiwan.

MAST: Hunter, I wanted to ask you about that. How central is Taiwan to this trip, really, even if both sides publicly emphasize economics?

BAKER: Taiwan is a big deal. It has been for a long time. They are very aggressive in their push against anyone who acknowledges Taiwan’s independent existence.

And the United States has been cagey about it for quite a while, and we sort of take this strategic ambiguity with regard to Taiwan.

Some folks may remember that Joe Biden, at one point, made a fairly strong statement about our defense of Taiwan. And there was almost this rush to walk those words back, to return to strategic ambiguity.

But the Chinese care tremendously about it. They would view it as a huge victory if we would not sell arms to Taiwan, or if we would express that Taiwan is not our business.

MAST: You know, Hunter, we also talk a lot about military rivalry, but things like soybean purchases and aircraft deals still seem to matter enormously here. I want to know, why are basic commodities still such powerful geopolitical tools?

BAKER: Well, in the case of China, you’re just talking about an incredible amount of money.

It’s certainly true that we have come to rely tremendously on Chinese products in the United States. Walmart, for example, is absolutely full of things made in China. And American consumers have benefited from that. We have paid lower prices.

Before COVID, we had an incredibly long period of price stability that I think was achieved in part because of trade with China and cheap goods.

But it is also the case that we sell things to them. There was once a time when China was constantly deprived of foodstuffs and unable to feed their massive and burgeoning population. United States agriculture is a very big part of that, and so our farmers depend on having those markets open.

So Trump is always aware of how our trade relationship with China is going to affect the sale of agricultural stuff and also, of course, things like aircraft.

We largely have a duopoly between the European Airbus and the American Boeing, and he wants to make sure that Boeing is able to be part of that growing Chinese market.

EICHER: You know, nothing says this meeting is about the economy more than having a plane full of multinational CEOs with you. What do you think it says that some of America’s biggest corporations still see China as indispensable, despite years of rhetoric around the idea of decoupling?

BAKER: It’s a really complex situation.

There’s a famous international political concept called the Thucydides Trap. And it’s the idea of a nation like Sparta having once been dominant and facing the rising power of Athens.

And the trap is that the dominant power and the rising power very often, if you study history, will end up in conflict, maybe a real war.

I think that the big players are aware of that dynamic between the United States as the dominant power and China as the quickly rising power. And there is a desire to achieve something like a managed rivalry.

We don’t want a war. They don’t want a war.

If you talk to people who really understand China, they’ll emphasize this idea of winning without fighting. They want to find a way to defeat, to overcome, the United States without ever actually having to get into a fight.

And for our part, we have no appetite for the sort of gigantic military conflict that would entail. And so we continue in this sort of rivalrous dance that we’ve been involved with for the past couple of decades.

EICHER: Speaking of rivalrous dances, we’ve got a story out of Arcadia, California, of all places. Federal investigators say that the mayor of that town agreed to plead guilty to acting as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government while serving in office.

Prosecutors say that the case is connected to a broader influence network involving Chinese-language media and efforts to shape opinion inside Chinese American communities in Southern California.

So Hunter, when Americans hear Chinese espionage, perhaps they’re thinking cyberattacks or something huge, like spies in Washington. But this case apparently involves just a local mayor, community media, and smaller influence operations. What stands out to you about this story?

BAKER: Remember those words that I used just a couple of minutes ago: winning without fighting.

They are willing to use any number of different kinds of levers of influence, and this is the kind of thing that the United States of America is vulnerable to.

We are a free society, and so that means that there are lots of ways that enemies of the United States, or rivals of the United States, will try to influence American citizens, to influence opinion.

It’s understood that opinion is maybe the most powerful source of law in the United States, and everybody on the outside understands that they can do something about that, that they can try to affect that.

And so that’s what we’re seeing with this one small instance of this mayor in Arcadia. You can assume that we could multiply this instance probably by many thousands and never get to the end of the different types of influence that are being used to affect American politics and culture and institutions.

MAST: Switching continents here, The Wall Street Journal this week highlighted what it called a capitalist makeover underway in Sweden. The country long held up by many American progressives as proof that expansive social democracy works has embraced school choice, private-sector reforms, and tougher conversations around immigration and welfare-state sustainability.

Hunter, Sweden occupies an almost mythic place in American progressive politics. So why is The Wall Street Journal suddenly talking about Sweden embracing market reforms and school choice? And really, why should Americans care?

BAKER: It’s a really important part of the American political conversation.

For a long time you had this kind of debate about the United States versus the Soviet Union, and it was understood, or at least thought by various American elites, that the Soviet Union was at least on par with the United States, possibly better.

And then, of course, the Soviet Union fell apart, and it became quite clear that it could not compete with the American model, and that capitalism, or free-market economics, had been vindicated over against that Marxist model.

But when you would have that conversation, people on the left would say, “Well, there’s Sweden.” They would point to Sweden, with their social democracy and their very high taxes and very extensive welfare state and healthcare provided and education provided, basically everything coming forth from the state, as the superior model.

The Soviet Union had failed and hadn’t respected human rights, but Sweden had done it the right way.

And what we have seen—and really this has been for probably the past couple of decades—is Sweden slowly unwinding, slowly engaging in more privatization.

And it’s just amazing to me to read this story in The Wall Street Journal and talk about the success of school choice in Sweden. It’s unbelievable.

So I just think that the other thing to say about this is it’s amazing that we have these American socialists who are trying to do the things that other people have tried and are walking away from.

MAST: Hunter Baker is a political scientist and provost of North Greenville University. Hunter, thank you so much.

Thank you.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour.

In ancient times, many skin issues were lumped under one term that was later translated into English as: leprosy.

Thousands of years later, scientists are still learning about it. Although it’s no longer a public health problem, it still occurs in 120 countries.

WORLD correspondent Amy Lewis has the story.

AMY LEWIS: In March, Chile became just the second country in the world to eradicate leprosy. Dr. Jarbas Barbosa is the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Americas.

JARBAS BARBOSA: Quero felicitar al governo de Chile por alcançar la eliminación de la lepra segérios internacionais de la Organización Mundial de la Salud.

TRANSLATION: I want to congratulate the government of Chile for achieving the elimination of leprosy according to international standards of the World Health Organization.

Chile has logged no local cases for more than 30 years. It joined Jordan, which earned the same designation in 2024.

But to many, the big news was not that Chile eliminated the disease, but that it still needs eliminating. The WHO classifies it as an NTD—a Neglected Tropical Disease—because 95 percent of the world’s population is naturally immune.

But the battle against leprosy continues, especially for those who have it.

Eva Lee is the International Program Officer for Leprosy Mission Australia. Here she is on the Awareness! podcast.

LEE: Leprosy is actually a bacterial disease that affects the nerves as well as affects the skin.

For centuries it was thought to be a hereditary disease. Whole families were quarantined and thought to be under God’s curse. During biblical times, people with leprosy were kept from corporate worship.

In 1873, Norwegian Doctor Armauer Hansen made a discovery reenacted in this CBS production more than a century later.

HANSEN, PERISCOPE FILMS: These small rods, bacilli, must be the cause of leprosy. The discovery of the leprosy bacillus is a milestone in man’s struggle to find a remedy for ancient scourges.

It’s the first time bacteria was discovered to cause human illness. The disease was re-named Hansen’s disease. In the 1980s, the advent of multi-drug antibiotic therapy made new cases of leprosy plummet from the millions to only 200,000 globally each year. Most occur in India, Brazil, and Indonesia.

The disease is normally only mildly infectious and not at all after a week of antibiotic therapy. Dr. Barbosa says a unified front helped achieve the eradication of Hansen’s disease in Chile.

BARBOSA: Destaco especialmente la integración de la atenção de la lepra em los servicios generales de salud, sim, estigmatización e com acesso universal ao diagnóstico, tratamento e reabilitação, independentemente de nacionalidade ou situação migratória.

TRANSLATION: I especially highlight the integration of leprosy care into general health services, without stigmatization and with universal access to diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, regardless of nationality or migratory status.

With proper antibiotic treatment, the disease is completely curable within six to 12 months. Between 1994 and 2014, 16 million people around the world were cured of the disease.

But symptoms mimic other skin diseases, and few doctors are trained to recognize or test for it. So cases can go undiagnosed for years until victims become disabled or disfigured.

The suffering goes beyond the physical.

Thirty-eight countries have legislation that discriminates against people with leprosy. Some countries still require them to live in leper colonies.

Doctors familiar with the disease are working to eliminate the shame associated with it. Brazil, for example, works to destigmatize it by only calling it Hansen’s disease instead of “lepra”—the term for leprosy.

In biblical times, Christians were some of the first to establish care for those with leprosy. Many still help those with the disease.

HYMN: Brother, sister, let me serve you. Let me be as Christ to you …

Last week, hundreds of people gathered in meetings online for a global day of prayer, led by leaders from Leprosy Mission International.

People from countries with very few cases like the Netherlands, Germany, Northern Ireland, and Australia praised God for the good news from Chile, and prayed for complete eradication.

Leprosy Mission’s Dr. Utane Bernadette Adama in Nigeria shared her experience.

DR. ADAMA: When you see these people reconnect with their families, it makes you know that it is not just medicine or public health but that you’re participating in something more meaningful, that is restoring humanity or dignity.

Attendees prayed with hope—for the elimination of an ancient disease, and in the Great Physician who demonstrated centuries ago that he cares for the body, mind, and soul of each person who suffers.

That’s this week’s World Tour. I’m Amy Lewis.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Detectives in Southern California say organized retail crime has entered its pasta phase.

Police accuse a man of buying Lego sets from Target stores, removing the Legos, then refilling the boxes with uncooked pasta, and returning them for full refunds.

Investigators say the switch worked — at least for a while — because a box of dried pasta sounded enough like a box of Legos to fool store employees.

AUDIO: Irvine Police Department!

But crime does not pay, not even in California.

Body-cam video shows officers dragging the suspect from his Lexus.

SOUND: Cuffs clicking shut

 And now, his master plan is fully cooked.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, May 13th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Helping Christians live out their worldview.

That was Chuck Colson’s goal in 1991when he established the organization that bears his name.

But helping men and women clearly and confidently think and speak from a biblical lens comes with challenges. Especially in a culture that twists the truth about identity and purpose.

WORLD’s Myrna Brown begins a two-part series on how Colson’s vision is still helping Christians step boldly into everyday cultural moments.

CHUCK COLSON: Hi, I’m Chuck Colson of Breakpoint.

MYRNA BROWN: Thirteen years after he started the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Chuck Colson had another idea.

COLSON: We’ve started something here at Breakpoint called the Centurion Program.

Colson was looking for a few good men and women. As the name suggests…one hundred of them.

COLSON: What we need desperately in the world today is a cadre of people who know how to think Christianly and defend Christianity in every single area of life.

Stuart Kellogg is part of the class of 2007.

STUART KELLOGG: I’m a C-4. The fourth class of Centurions.

Back then Kellogg was a 50-year-old general manager of a television station. His fellow centurions were journalists, doctors, educators, business owners and home makers. Colson spent 10 months educating the centurions in worldview, culture and biblical theology.

KELLOGG: Chuck Colson used to constantly tell us about being winsome. We’re speaking the truth. It may make people uncomfortable, but be winsome.

Colson’s death in 2012 put the Centurion program on pause. But John Stonestreet, current president of the Colson Center, pushed to preserve what he calls the most important part of Colson’s legacy.

JOHN STONESTREET: There were already lots of parts to the legacy. There were books. There were organizations. There was a public persona. There was a counselor to statesmen and to presidents. But he was like. No, it’s reproduction. I need to equip a new generation of leaders in Christian worldview.

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to the national commissioning ceremony for the Colson Fellows class of 2025. [applause]

Centurions are now called Colson Fellows. More than six thousand men and women around the globe have completed the program. On this day, an additional 700 hundred are about to walk across the stage.

S. MICHAEL CRAVEN: It’s literally 51 percent women and 49 percent men.

Michael Craven is the dean of the Colson Fellows Program.

CRAVEN: They’ve spent about 273 hours of attention to curriculum that they’ve been accessing online. They’ve been gathering in their cohorts. They have been participating in these rigorous discussions, debates. Wrestling with what they’re learning in community.

Now that they’re about to complete the program, these Colson Fellows will go back to their communities, equipped to address four questions.

CRAVEN: What is good in this world that I can be used to preserve, protect, promote? That’s the first question. Second, what is evil that I absolutely must oppose? Third is what is broken that the Lord might use me to restore? And finally, what is missing that I might be able to provide or innovate?

After he was commissioned, Stuart Kellogg stepped into the pro-life movement. He wrote and published a five-part pro-life series for students. And he’s still teaching parenting classes for men who walk through the doors of his local pregnancy resource center.

KELLOGG: So I can say, 20 years later, Hey thank you Chuck, I’m still working.

But what about this new generation of Colson Fellows?

ANNOUNCER: Colson fellows in training, are you ready to receive your commission? [applause]

ANNOUNCER: Alonzo Blankenship…

37-year-old Alonzo Blankenship is an assistant principal at a Christian school in Austin, Texas.

ALONZO BLANKENSHIP: There’s a need for them to be grounded and understand why they believe and what it means to live with a Biblical worldview.

ANNOUNCER: Dr. David Kim…

Dr. David Kim co-founded a faith-based health Center in Staten Island, New York. He’s also teaching the next generation of healthcare professionals.

DAVID KIM: Thought it would be a great way for me to pick up more of the language and knowledge I would need to be even better able to teach that foundation that we felt that students needed.

ANNOUNCER: Cynthia Kitchen….Steven Kitchen…

STEVEN KITCHEN: I’m a pastor

CINDY KITCHEN: And I homeschool my kids.

Steven and Cynthia Kitchen are from Massachusetts.

STEVEN KITCHEN: We’re going to read through one of the books with our kids next fall and then we’re talking about doing a summer introductory course. Pulling out some of this material for our church.

ANNOUNCER: Kristine Smith….[applause]

And Kris Smith, is a retired first-grade teacher and grandmother of eight. She lives in California and wants to focus on middle school girls at her church.

KRISTINE SMITH: And work on gender identity and who God made us. It’s going to be exciting to see what God does. What’s the next step? How’s it going to flush out?

COLSON FELLOWS RECITING OATH: Please rise, raise your right hand and repeat this after me: I, having been commissioned a Colson Fellow….

How will this new generation of Colson Fellows serve their communities? What happens after they walk across the stage and head home? Will they be strong and courageous, steadfast and immovable? We asked one of the Colson Fellows to take us along. Tomorrow, the audio diary of a Colson Fellow.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown in Louisville, Kentucky.

ANNOUNCER: Congratulations to the Colson Fellows Class of 2025…[applause]

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

The Trump administration is escalating its clash with the United Nations—this time over migration policy.

The State Department this week rejected a new U.N. migration declaration, accusing the global body of helping drive mass migration into the United States and Europe.

WORLD commentator Daniel Suhr says the administration is doing more than objecting to policy—it’s challenging the worldview behind it.

DANIEL SUHR: The Trump administration picked a fight this week with one of Washington’s favorite punching bags: the United Nations.

The State Department announced the United States would not participate in the U.N.’s latest review of the Global Compact on Migration … and then it explained why in unusually blunt terms.

The official statement accused U.N. agencies of helping facilitate mass migration into the United States and Europe … while ignoring the consequences for the citizens of those countries.

That language may sound sharp. But it reflects something bigger than a disagreement over border policy.

For decades, the governing assumption inside many international institutions has been that borders are obstacles to overcome … not protections to preserve.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out that critique earlier this year at the Munich Security Conference.

RUBIO: In pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people.

That’s the real argument here.

Not whether immigration should exist.

America has always welcomed immigrants.

The question is whether democratic nations still have the sovereign right to decide who enters, how many enter, and under what conditions.

The administration says the U.N.’s migration framework steadily pushes nations in the opposite direction—toward treating migration as a global entitlement rather than a national decision.

And Rubio argues Western leaders ignored the scale of the problem for too long.

RUBIO: Mass migration is not, was not, isn’t some fringe concern of little consequence. It was and continues to be a crisis which is transforming and destabilizing societies all across the West.

The State Department backed up that accusation with specifics.

It pointed to U.N.-funded groups working migration routes through Central America … aiding migrants moving toward the U.S. border … and condemning countries that tried to tighten enforcement.

The administration also argues that working-class Americans bore much of the cost: strained cities, competition for housing and services, and billions spent managing the crisis.

Whether one agrees with all of that language or not, the political reality is hard to miss.

Across the West, voters have repeatedly demanded tighter border control. Yet many international organizations continue promoting policies that move in the opposite direction.

That disconnect helps explain why institutions like the U.N. increasingly face skepticism—not just from conservatives in America, but from voters across Europe as well.

Secretary Rubio put it plainly in Munich:

RUBIO: Controlling who and how many people enter our countries, this is not an expression of xenophobia. It is not hate. It is a fundamental act of national sovereignty.

That may end up being the defining divide of this debate.

Not immigration versus no immigration.

But whether democratic nations—or international institutions—ultimately control the borders.

For WORLD, I’m Daniel Suhr.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Tomorrow: farmers grapple with fertilizer shortages since the Iran war. We’ll have a report. 

And, we’ll follow along as a Colson Fellow puts into practice what she’s learned. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’” —Acts 4:8-12

Go now in grace and peace.

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