Executives raised myriad questions with management. From the outset, “we did a fair amount of warnings to make sure that the leadership, especially at the board level, were aware of these risks”, said the senior executive.

Where would the 9mn people due to populate The Line come from? How quickly could they be reasonably expected to arrive? Could construction and manufacturing start quickly enough? Would the levels of imports required overheat the economy? What if oil prices sank, drying up Saudi Arabia’s key source of revenue? What if the necessary materials could not be found? And did the Gulf nation really have the scientific and technical expertise to execute such a vast scheme?

Yet the pressure to deliver was relentless. The board expected the chief executive to “move things very quickly”, said the senior executive. “Dates had been given to the crown prince about what was achievable, but without the detail of knowing how it could be done,” said the senior design manager. When those dates were made public, there would be a loss of face if they weren’t met. “That’s where tensions grew.”

Staff were “being put into a position of effectively having to lie about the timescales and the cost of delivering the vision”, they added.

What remains

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The Line — or at least its beginnings — can already be seen from space. Satellite imagery shows excavation and tunnelling work for the railway system, the “spine” connecting The Line to Neom International Airport, stretching for 150km — from the coast into the Hejaz mountains.

In a valley between two mountain ranges, levelling work is evident for the airport and its runways. “In true Neom fashion, there’s a mountain at the end of the runway that had to be blown up,” said the senior architect. Construction work has now stopped on both the spine and the airport. No new target for the airport has been set.

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The foundations for The Line’s first modules — perhaps the largest piles ever laid by man — are also visible, waiting to support the world’s largest occupied building, if it ever arrives. The village of Qayal, which was a few kilometres from the “hidden marina”, has been razed. Fifteen members of the Huwaitat tribe who protested against their eviction were sent to prison, some for up to 50 years, and three others were sentenced to death, according to human rights observers.

At the marina, excavations by late last year had dug out 100mn cubic metres of soil, the equivalent of 40 Great Pyramids of Giza. Ships will access it via a canal leading more than a kilometre inland from the coast.

The chandelier, the upside-down office building hanging from the giant arch above the marina, remains in the plans. But Neom no longer intends to base its headquarters there. Neom’s deputy chief executive Rayan Fayez acknowledged last month that the project’s budget “evolves every day”, adding that it was a good point to “reassess what worked and what hasn’t worked”.

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With the goal now to build just three of the 20 modules originally planned, the ambition for The Line’s first phase is a faint echo of what it once was. One person familiar with the project said work had effectively stopped, with efforts now focused on completing a few small buildings around the marina. Some of the earlier piling work has been covered with sand.

“I think as a thought experiment, great,” said one urban planning expert who works in Saudi Arabia. “But don’t build thought experiments.”

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Today’s top stories

The government shutdown is now in its 37th day, and President Trump has been urging Republicans to end it by eliminating the Senate filibuster. Earlier this week, some Democrats expressed their interest in finding a way to resolve the shutdown, but their victories at the ballot box on Tuesday have emboldened many to hold firm. Meanwhile, the president acknowledged that the shutdown hurt Republicans on election night.

• 🎧 Most Republicans are not in favor of ditching the filibuster, as Trump has sought, but some bipartisan talks appear to have picked up steam this week, NPR’s Sam Gringlas tells Up First. The solution that Senate Democrats and Republicans could be discussing is a short-term funding measure until December or later, along with votes on a small package of regular appropriations bills. Republicans would need eight Democrats to sign onto a deal to reopen the government. However, the expiring health care subsidies remain a sticking point during these talks.

The Supreme Court has heard arguments in a case about Trump’s tariffs, but has not yet issued a major ruling. Trump utilized a 1977 law, known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, to impose the tariffs. The central question of the case is whether the law gives the president the authority to impose tariffs on products from countries worldwide. The justices’ opinions are not yet known, but their questions yesterday indicate that they were skeptical of Trump’s position.

• 🎧 If the court rules against Trump, the ultimate impact on tariffs is unclear. NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben says the ruling would make a bunch of his tariffs illegal. Tariffs like the ones he’s imposed on goods like steel and aluminum, however, would remain in place. The president has stated that this is the most important Supreme Court case ever. If the high court ruled against the president, it would be the first time they have tried to rein in his power.

In Chicago this week, the Trump administration has been taken to court by city residents who oppose the aggressive immigration campaign there. Judge Sara Ellis has listened to hours of testimony from citizens’ accounts of jarring encounters with federal agents. Another judge, Robert Gettleman, presided over a hearing on Tuesday on the conditions inside an immigration holding facility in a Chicago suburb.

• 🎧 Ellis is preparing to hand down her ruling today in the preliminary injunction, according to Jon Seidel with Chicago Public Media and the Chicago Sun-Times. It would essentially extend the order she issued last month, limiting the use of force by federal agents against protesters. During yesterday’s eight-hour hearing, Ellis heard from a woman who found herself staring down the barrel of a gun for filming the arrest of day laborers. She also listened to the video testimony of U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who stated that the use of force has been “more than exemplary.”

Deep dive

Natalya Kosarevich/Getty Images

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Tax season is approaching. The tax breaks extended under President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” primarily benefit high-net-worth individuals and high-income earners. While middle-income households may experience modest relief, the majority of benefits will be allocated to those with substantial earnings, investment income, or large estates. Here are some provisions in the bill that favor upper-income individuals and families:

• 💰 Starting next year, Americans will have a permanent lifetime exemption for estate and gift taxes set at $15 million per individual and $30 million per married couple, up from $13.99 million and $27.98 million limits.
• 💰 The exclusion for capital gains from sold qualified small business stock issued after July 4, 2025, has increased from $10 million to $15 million for companies with assets up to $75 million.
• 💰 Bonus depreciation has been extended. This tax incentive enables businesses to immediately deduct 100% of the cost of qualifying assets, such as machinery and vehicles, rather than spreading the deduction over several years.

Read about three other tax changes that will benefit the wealthy here.

Today’s listen

Misty Copeland was the first Black female principal dancer in the history of American Ballet Theatre. She took a final bow at Lincoln Center on Oct. 22, 2025

Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP

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Misty Copeland, who made history as the first Black woman to become a principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, took her final bow last month. For Copeland, it had been over five years since she last performed on stage. To prepare for her farewell performance with ABT, she began getting her body back in shape a year ago. She says the performance was a way to express gratitude to the communities that supported her throughout her journey. At the end of her dance, Copeland was greeted with a 15-minute standing ovation. NPR’s Fresh Air caught up with Copeland to discuss the farewell show and what comes next for her. Listen to what she had to say or read highlights from the interview.

3 things to know before you go

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions from reporters during a press briefing at the White House in June 2025.

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1. A federal judge has ordered the White House to immediately start providing American Sign Language interpretation at its briefings held by the press secretary or the president.
2. In October, Johannesburg, South Africa, is bursting with violet Jacaranda blooms for the country’s spring season. This week, NPR’s Far-Flung Postcard series provides a peek at the beautiful plant.
3. From whether brain rot is real to why female politicians might underperform in elections, check out these five recent economic papers that Planet Money says are worth examining.

This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.