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Trump, GOP Clash After President Scraps Housing Bill Signing · Balance of Power

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  Speaker 2: A very busy day here in Washington, A busy day
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  Speaker 2: specifically for the President, who is heading right now from
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  Speaker 2: the White House to Capitol Hill for lunch with Senate
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  Speaker 2: Republicans that is likely to be testy, only to head
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  Speaker 2: back to the White House a few hours from now
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  Speaker 2: for another meeting that is set to be testy with
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  Speaker 2: the NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta. Then, of course you
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  Speaker 2: will have his celebratory America to fifty, Freedom to fifty
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  Speaker 2: rally on the National Mall this evening. What we didn't
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  Speaker 2: know was going to be on the President's schedule today
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  Speaker 2: until yesterday was a bill signing of the twenty first
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  Speaker 2: Century Road to Housing Act. He announced he would be
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  Speaker 2: signing it at the Capitol tomorrow. The White House Press
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  Speaker 2: Office was haralding this. Lawmakers were heralding it as a
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  Speaker 2: big bipartisan breakthrough and win on Capitol Hill, something we
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  Speaker 2: rarely see these days. And then this morning, of course, Joe,
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  Speaker 2: President Trump says the signing is canceled and he will
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  Speaker 2: not sign that legislation until the Save America Act is passed.
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  Speaker 3: Today's housing news conference, he writes, and signing is hereby
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  Speaker 3: canceled until such time as we passed the desperately needed
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  Speaker 3: Save America Act.
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  Speaker 4: Kaylee.
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  Speaker 3: The sharpies were laid out, the cameras were on the stand,
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  Speaker 3: stage orders were there of the stage was literally set.
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  Speaker 3: The leaders were at the altar. It's not often, if ever,
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  Speaker 3: we've heard of something like this happening. And that doesn't
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  Speaker 3: mean that the bill dies here, right if he doesn't
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  Speaker 3: do anything for ten days, it becomes law, and he's
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  Speaker 3: not threatening to veto it. But this really adds to
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  Speaker 3: the angst on Capitol Hill. And we start there with
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  Speaker 3: Tyler Kendall, who's on the north lawn of the White
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  Speaker 3: House right now. The President's motor cage just passed behind
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  Speaker 3: her as he makes his way up to the hill.
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  Speaker 3: What was the motivator here, Tyler? We had a ceremony
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  Speaker 3: set and something happened this morning, but change the president's mind.
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  Speaker 5: Well, Joe, at this point, it appears very evident that
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  Speaker 5: there has been mounting frustration I think it's fair to
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  Speaker 5: say for months from President Trump as he tries to
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  Speaker 5: get the Save America Act over the finish line. But
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  Speaker 5: we've repeatedly heard from Republican leaders, including this morning, that
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  Speaker 5: there just isn't the votes there, that the math doesn't
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  Speaker 5: work out. In fact, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, speaking
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  Speaker 5: to reporters within the last hour, said that it's clear
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  Speaker 5: that quote no doubt the President has got a lot
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  Speaker 5: of input, but ultimately he thinks that the President wants
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  Speaker 5: to eliminate the filibuster in order to get this done,
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  Speaker 5: and there's not going to be votes for that either, because,
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  Speaker 5: as you were mentioning at the top of the program,
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  Speaker 5: in order for this to actually get done, you would
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  Speaker 5: very likely need sixty votes in the Senate, which means
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  Speaker 5: Democrats would have to get on board, which doesn't seem likely,
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  Speaker 5: let alone all Republicans, as some have expressed concerns over
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  Speaker 5: this legislation that would seek to tighten a voter registration
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  Speaker 5: and casting of ballots. Now we'll have to see where
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  Speaker 5: it goes from here. The House Speaker Mike Johnson said
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  Speaker 5: earlier today that he does expect President Trump to actually
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  Speaker 5: put his signature to this legislation, considering that it passed
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  Speaker 5: with such broad biportisan support. It was highly anticipated. And
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  Speaker 5: this is an issue Joe and Keiley that we know
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  Speaker 5: both parties are trying to stake their claim too, when
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  Speaker 5: it comes to affordability as we get closer to November.
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  Speaker 2: Well, of course, the President has cast some doubt on
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  Speaker 2: that affordability narrative and suggested that this bill, ultimately, this
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  Speaker 2: housing bill that lawmakers are so celebrating, is insignificant. So
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  Speaker 2: what does this reveal Tyler about the president's priorities ahead
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  Speaker 2: of November is he's obviously about to go meet with
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  Speaker 2: lawmakers whose priorities may look slightly different.
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  Speaker 5: That's a really good point, and we can say just
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  Speaker 5: on the housing bill quickly. Industry analysts have told us
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  Speaker 5: that there is this potential that this bill would have
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  Speaker 5: at least a delayed or immuted impact one because it
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  Speaker 5: doesn't include any new funding that we know many advocates
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  Speaker 5: in the industry wanted to see, and it's harder for
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  Speaker 5: the federal government to streamline regulations if they're coming from
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  Speaker 5: the local level. But it is very clear that Republicans
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  Speaker 5: want to focus in on an economic message, as affordability
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  Speaker 5: remains the top concern for American voters, and we saw
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  Speaker 5: President Trump not to that yesterday, of course, visiting the
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  Speaker 5: critical battleground state of Pennsylvania for the fifth time so
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  Speaker 5: far this second term. But President Trump has really been pushing,
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  Speaker 5: of course, his foreign policy agenda, and perhaps that could
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  Speaker 5: be another instance where we see some tension on Capitol
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  Speaker 5: Hill later today, after that rare rebuke from the Senate
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  Speaker 5: passing after ten times of voting, that War Powers resolution
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  Speaker 5: that seeks to reign and incur President Trump when it
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  Speaker 5: comes to the conflict in Iran. This is another instance
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  Speaker 5: where the White House has dismissed this. Of course, the
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  Speaker 5: vote is largely symbolic, and the White House has chalked
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  Speaker 5: it up to essentially an accounting error here because two
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  Speaker 5: Senators Mitch McConnell and McCormick warrant there and that's ultimately
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  Speaker 5: what ended up tipping the voting in favor against President Trump.
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  Speaker 5: So definitely some heated exchanges that we're expecting later today,
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  Speaker 5: though also, of course perhaps it could be a rallying moment.
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  Speaker 5: We'll have to see where it ultimately goes from.
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  Speaker 3: Here to be a fly on the wall. He should
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  Speaker 3: be rolling up just about now to the carriage entrance. Tyler,
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  Speaker 3: I've got to ask you about his nighttime plans though,
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  Speaker 3: Big Maga rally on the National Mall eight thirty PM.
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  Speaker 3: This was originally supposed to be a concert with the
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  Speaker 3: likes of Martina McBride, Brett Michaels, the Commodores Milli Vanilli,
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  Speaker 3: all of whom canceled when they came to learn that
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  Speaker 3: this was a political event. So the President will be
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  Speaker 3: there this evening, Lee Greenwood, I guess is going to
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  Speaker 3: be singing to us. But what's the point of this
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  Speaker 3: whole rally when we're in the district of Columbia if
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  Speaker 3: this is a campaign style.
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  Speaker 5: Event, Well, Joe, at this point, it's supposed to kick
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  Speaker 5: off the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebrations that we
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  Speaker 5: know that this White House has been really gearing up
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  Speaker 5: for a coincize with the National State Fair, where we're
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  Speaker 5: seeing all these different states come to the nation's capital
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  Speaker 5: and tout some of the key priorities of their states.
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  Speaker 5: As part of this. Some states have chosen not to participate,
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  Speaker 5: which is another matter in and of itself, but we
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  Speaker 5: are expecting President Trump to really use this as a
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  Speaker 5: campaign style address to the American people. We'll have to
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  Speaker 5: see where he ultimately goes from here, because yesterday in
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  Speaker 5: his Pennsylvania address, we saw him hit on multiple topics,
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  Speaker 5: and he's going to be fresh off of his meeting
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  Speaker 5: at the White House with the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutta.
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  Speaker 5: So I would expect some foreign policy to probably come
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  Speaker 5: into his remarks tonight, since it will be likely top
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  Speaker 5: of mind and President Trump's, as he calls it, America
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  Speaker 5: First agenda is going to be very much at the
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  Speaker 5: forefront of that conversation amid what has been his intense
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  Speaker 5: criticism of the NATO alliance.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Bloomberg's Tyler Kendel live at the White House,
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  Speaker 2: thank you so much. So perhaps it is foreign policy
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  Speaker 2: that will be top of mine for the President this evening,
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  Speaker 2: but top of mind right now it likely is legislation
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  Speaker 2: on Capitol Hill that he would like to see pass.
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  Speaker 2: He's walking into a meeting now with Senate Republicans. He's
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  Speaker 2: going to be attending lunch. You see him for audience
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  Speaker 2: on Bloomberg TV. He is walking right next to the
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  Speaker 2: Senate Majority Leader John Thune. His job has been made
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  Speaker 2: very difficult by the demands and frequent surprizes of the President.
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  Speaker 2: It seems like the President is talking, let's listen in powerful.
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  Speaker 6: It's going very very well.
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  Speaker 7: Go ahead, buy a home.
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  Speaker 5: Is taking We're so many Americans because it is election
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  Speaker 5: lends more for as to you than all say.
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  Speaker 4: It's just every election is important.
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  Speaker 6: We're doing very well. They want a lot of communists
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  Speaker 6: to come in. I'm saying it a little bit differently,
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  Speaker 6: but the people that they're pushing are communists, and this
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  Speaker 6: country is not going to have communists.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: There you have it. President Trump was just asked there
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  Speaker 2: about the prioritizing of election related legislation over affordability legislation,
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  Speaker 2: and you just heard his answer, and clearly, Joe he
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  Speaker 2: had already made that clear earlier today when he said
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  Speaker 2: he wouldn't be signing this housing affordability bill instead wants
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  Speaker 2: to see the Save America Act passed.
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  Speaker 3: Of course, no communists were involved, their self described socialist Democrats,
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  Speaker 3: three of them, one with the backing of Mayor Mamdani
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  Speaker 3: last evening, which has created a new narrative for Republicans
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  Speaker 3: to seize on it. Not surprising to hear him make
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  Speaker 3: those remarks, But just imagine what's going through John Thune's
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  Speaker 3: head right now. As you pointed out, this is someone
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  Speaker 3: who's had the rug pulled out from under him by
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  Speaker 3: this president multiple times, and now they're going behind closed doors.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he has said publicly, repeatedly that the votes are
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  Speaker 2: not there for the Save America Act or to kill
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  Speaker 2: the filibuster in order to get the Save America Act done.
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  Speaker 2: So how much will he be reiterating a message we've
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  Speaker 2: been hearing for months again today, And of course what
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  Speaker 2: might the President say in return doing it through other
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  Speaker 2: means like reconciliation three point zero. So on that note,
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  Speaker 2: we turn to Jonathan Tamuri, who covers Congress for US
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  Speaker 2: through Bloomberg Government, where he's a senior Washington reporter. So, Jonathan,
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  Speaker 2: we heard the House Speaker Mike Johnson say reconciliation three
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  Speaker 2: point zero is how you get this done. We're going
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  Speaker 2: to pursue it in the House. What is the likelihood
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  Speaker 2: that that effort can be successful, that this even will
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  Speaker 2: be considered a budgetary matter?
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  Speaker 8: It seems very unlikely. To be honest with you, I
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  Speaker 8: mean they've there's a very tenuous budget connection, and as
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  Speaker 8: you know, reconciliation bills have to be fiscally related, so
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  Speaker 8: the connection there is very tenuous. Even if it was
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  Speaker 8: somehow added to the package and ruled in order, there's
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  Speaker 8: a lot of obstacles. Remember, it took Republicans six months
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  Speaker 8: last year to pass their tax cuts, which is something
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  Speaker 8: that really united the party. They're talking about trying to
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  Speaker 8: do a third reconciliation build here within a matter of
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  Speaker 8: two to three months on a topic that divides a
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  Speaker 8: lot of the party that the President obviously is not
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  Speaker 8: not fully bought in on this process because he keeps
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  Speaker 8: undercutting Republicans here on the hill. So I think the
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  Speaker 8: odds are extremely long that they get another reconciliation bill
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  Speaker 8: done this year before election day.
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  Speaker 3: So what's the point of this meeting then? Is this
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  Speaker 3: simply an airing of grievances, as Mike Dorning put it earlier,
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  Speaker 3: this is a festiv us for the rest of us
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  Speaker 3: Or could there be an agreement when lawmakers leave the
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  Speaker 3: room today with Donald Trump on any number of things,
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  Speaker 3: including extending fives to seven h two.
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  Speaker 8: Well, I think you never rule anything out with the President.
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  Speaker 8: You know that he loves to come out and announce
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  Speaker 8: big deals and agreements, but I think most likely it
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  Speaker 8: is the former. It is an airing of the grievances
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  Speaker 8: of the President expressing his frustration that a Republican majority
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  Speaker 8: is not moving a bill that he sees as a priority,
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  Speaker 8: and Republicans have made it clear that they think he's
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  Speaker 8: undercutting their priorities and particularly undercutting their efforts to hold
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  Speaker 8: on to their majorities in the Senate and the House.
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  Speaker 8: That they're here, they want to talk about affordability. John
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  Speaker 8: Thune all week has been trying to talk about affordability,
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  Speaker 8: to talk about this housing bill is an example of
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  Speaker 8: what they're doing for regular Americans, and here the President
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  Speaker 8: has stepped all over it. So I think both sides
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  Speaker 8: are going to have some grievances. It seems unlikely that
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  Speaker 8: they'll come to a deal today, but you obviously never
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  Speaker 8: know with the president.
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  Speaker 2: Well, so I wonder, Jonathan, if you expect that we'll
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  Speaker 2: hear from senators about what happened in the room today
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  Speaker 2: and who you would expect to be most vocal inside
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  Speaker 2: the room and out of it. As we consider, for example,
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  Speaker 2: the four senators who were willing to vote against the
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  Speaker 2: President on the War Powers Resolution last night.
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  Speaker 8: Yeah, I think the question of who's vocal in the
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  Speaker 8: room and out is going to be slightly different. I
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  Speaker 8: think that some senators might feel more comfortable speaking up
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  Speaker 8: in private and might not say that as publicly. I
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  Speaker 8: think some of those senators who have already lost their
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  Speaker 8: reelection bids or who are retiring and have nothing to lose,
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  Speaker 8: will be more clear, and they have been more clear
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  Speaker 8: going into the election. Senator John Cornyn, who of course
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  Speaker 8: t endorsed against in Texas and who lost his primary,
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  Speaker 8: said that he plans to ask the president, you know,
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  Speaker 8: whether he really cares about the midterms, that he plans
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  Speaker 8: to tell him that some of these actions that he's
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  Speaker 8: doing are hurting Republicans' chances of holding their majority. So
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  Speaker 8: he's somebody who I think will feel more comfortable speaking out.
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  Speaker 8: I think a lot of other comments will probably be
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  Speaker 8: kept in the room, or attempted to be kept in
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  Speaker 8: the room, because still most people don't most Republicans don't
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  Speaker 8: want to cross the president in public, as frustrated as
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  Speaker 8: they are. But Chathun wants other people to speak up.
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  Speaker 8: He says, I've delivered the message and I need other
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  Speaker 8: people to make it clear it's not just me making
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  Speaker 8: this up that that is kind of where the conference is.
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  Speaker 3: Boy, they do have a lot on the menu that
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  Speaker 3: they could be talking about here, Jonathan Samari. It's kind
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  Speaker 3: of incredible to think of how long the list has gotten.
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  Speaker 3: But if we're moving beyond things like the Anti Weaponization
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  Speaker 3: Fund and the matter of Bill POLTI I suspect will
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  Speaker 3: still come up here or be a conversation about the
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  Speaker 3: presidents supporting candidates on the midterm trail.
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  Speaker 8: I think that it's more likely to focus on legislation.
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  Speaker 8: I think that Republicans realize the president is going.
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  Speaker 9: To endorse who he wants to endorse, and.
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  Speaker 8: I think that many, if not all, of the biggest
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  Speaker 8: Republican primaries have passed where there's real challenges. I think
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  Speaker 8: they're mostly focused on things like affordability. The housing bill, fies,
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  Speaker 8: the legislation the head of the Office of National Intelligence
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  Speaker 8: are the things that I think you're going to hear
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  Speaker 8: from from senators more specifically today.
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  Speaker 4: I think that's probably enough. Jonathan.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you reporting for Bloomberg Government Live on Capitol Hill.
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  Speaker 4: Jonathan Samari, We appreciate it. Stay with us on Balance
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  Speaker 4: of Power.
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  Speaker 3: We'll have much more coming up after this.
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  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch
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  Speaker 1: our flagship New York station, Just Say Alexa played Bloomberg
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: eleven thirty.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: We had the voice of a Republican member of the
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: House Conference, Mike Lawler from the seventeenth District of New York.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: Mister Salt is back with us live here on Bloomberg
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: TV and Radio, and Congressman, it's good to have you back.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks for joining.
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  Speaker 3: I'm trying to tamp down the noise and get to
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  Speaker 3: the actual news here for our audience is the fact
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  Speaker 3: that the President is not suggesting a veto here only
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: means that we've canceled a ceremony and that voters and
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: investors can count on this bill becoming law within the
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: next ten days.
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  Speaker 10: Yeah, I think this bill is going to become law.
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  Speaker 10: I think there are major wins in here for the
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  Speaker 10: American people. Housing is one of the biggest issues that
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  Speaker 10: we can tackle as a country when it comes to
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  Speaker 10: the issue of affordability. You know, most people's wealth is
• 14:55
  Speaker 10: invested in their home. The average age of a first
• 14:59
  Speaker 10: time home buyers forty years old. We are eight million
• 15:03
  Speaker 10: units under built nationwide. And obviously, during the Biden administration,
• 15:08
  Speaker 10: we saw the thirty year fixed interest mortgage rate reached
• 15:12
  Speaker 10: thirty year record hives. So you know, we are working
• 15:15
  Speaker 10: to address housing in a bipartisan way. I mean overwhelming
• 15:19
  Speaker 10: bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate. Obviously,
• 15:23
  Speaker 10: the President and the Senate Republican Conference have.
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  Speaker 9: Some issues they need to work through.
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  Speaker 10: But from my vantage point, this bill needs to be signed,
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  Speaker 10: needs to become law, and I'm confident it will.
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  Speaker 2: So as the order of priority here out of line
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  Speaker 2: for the president. Congressman, if you say this needs to
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  Speaker 2: be addressed, this affordability concern for voters, does election voter
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  Speaker 2: id legislation not deserved to rank so highly.
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  Speaker 10: Well, Look, Congress deals with a multitude of issues on
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  Speaker 10: any given week. I mean we vote on dozens of bills.
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  Speaker 10: So obviously the president has a.
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  Speaker 2: President that there is priority we finish.
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  Speaker 9: Okay, let me finish.
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  Speaker 10: The president has a priority that he has put on
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  Speaker 10: the table with the Senate for months. The Senate rules
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  Speaker 10: have obviously impeded the ability to pass that and that's
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  Speaker 10: you know, for the Senate and the President to work out,
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  Speaker 10: and that's why they're meeting today. But fundamentally, to me,
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  Speaker 10: getting this housing bill passed and signed into law has
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  Speaker 10: been a priority. I've been leading in this effort since
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  Speaker 10: coming to Congress. Six of my bills were part of
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  Speaker 10: the final package of the Larger Housing Plan, and so,
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  Speaker 10: you know, this is something that I think is going
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  Speaker 10: to have a profoundly positive impact on the economy as
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  Speaker 10: we move forward, bringing down cost, increasing supply, cutting back
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  Speaker 10: barriers to construction, increasing access to capital, preventing you know,
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  Speaker 10: large institutional investors from gobbling up single family residential housing supply.
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  Speaker 10: So there are a lot of positive wins here that
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  Speaker 10: I think will ultimately impact the economy in a very
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  Speaker 10: in a very positive way. You know, the the the
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  Speaker 10: day to day bubble of Washington that you know, we
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  Speaker 10: get caught up in or you guys focus on, Ultimately,
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  Speaker 10: you know, isn't going to matter.
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  Speaker 9: The bill is going to become law.
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  Speaker 3: M That's what we're trying to arrive at. Congressman, Does
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  Speaker 3: that mean that the Save America Act also will but
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  Speaker 3: at a later time.
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  Speaker 10: We'll see what comes out of the conversation with the
• 17:49
  Speaker 10: Senate and the President on that issue. Obviously, you know,
• 17:55
  Speaker 10: Reconciliation three point zero is something that's on the table.
• 18:01
  Speaker 10: I know the President has talked about the Senate filibuster,
• 18:05
  Speaker 10: you know, as another issue. All of these issues matter,
• 18:11
  Speaker 10: and they're all stuff that Congress will work through. But
• 18:15
  Speaker 10: the Housing bill is passed and it's going to be
• 18:19
  Speaker 10: signed into law.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Well on reconciliation three point zero, and we heard the
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Speaker talk about this earlier, Congressman suggesting the House is
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: going to push ahead with it and try to have
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: the Save America Act included or at least have grants
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: associated with it included. How heavy of a lift is
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: that going to be? What actual odds would you put
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: around Reconciliation three point zero passing both chambers?
• 18:45
  Speaker 10: Look, I think a big part of this is defining
• 18:47
  Speaker 10: what is in it. You know, addressing a supplemental for
• 18:52
  Speaker 10: the military, dealing with waste fraud and abuse within the
• 18:57
  Speaker 10: federal government, addressing housing, healthcare, energy are critical. Those are
• 19:05
  Speaker 10: discussions that are underway, and we will see what ultimately
• 19:10
  Speaker 10: would be in a proposed package, and whether or not
• 19:14
  Speaker 10: you know that can garner the support within the House
• 19:17
  Speaker 10: and the Senate, and certainly in a time frame that
• 19:22
  Speaker 10: we're operating on before the midterms, or whether this is
• 19:25
  Speaker 10: something that would be looked at After.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: Quite a night in New York with the primaries, Congressman,
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: we've got two more socialists going to Congress. Mayor Mom
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: Donnie made three endorsements, all three of them one And
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: I'm wondering if you're looking at this as a Manhattan project,
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: if you will, or a national trend.
• 19:49
  Speaker 7: Look.
• 19:50
  Speaker 10: I think if you go back to Bernie Sanders campaign
• 19:53
  Speaker 10: in twenty sixteen through today, the Democratic Party has shifted
• 19:59
  Speaker 10: towards Bernie Sanders and the issues that he ran on
• 20:02
  Speaker 10: are very much the mainstream platform of the Democratic Party today.
• 20:07
  Speaker 10: And when you look at Zooran Mamdani election last November
• 20:13
  Speaker 10: and subsequently these primary elections, not just in New York,
• 20:17
  Speaker 10: but in Maine, in California, what's happening in Michigan, in
• 20:21
  Speaker 10: New Jersey, Democratic Socialists are winning. They are capturing the
• 20:29
  Speaker 10: base of the party and the momentum. And it very
• 20:33
  Speaker 10: much is clear that Hakeem Jeffries has no ability to
• 20:37
  Speaker 10: control the conference or the party. Neither does Chuck Schumer
• 20:43
  Speaker 10: for that matter, and that Zorn Mamdani, along with AOC
• 20:48
  Speaker 10: and Bernie Sanders very much are in control not just
• 20:51
  Speaker 10: of the message, but in terms of the electorate of
• 20:55
  Speaker 10: the Democratic Party. And so I think this is a
• 20:58
  Speaker 10: much bigger issue than Democrats want to let on. I
• 21:03
  Speaker 10: think most of them are petrified of losing these primaries.
• 21:08
  Speaker 10: Jefferys effectively cut a deal with Momdani to avoid a
• 21:11
  Speaker 10: primary of his own yesterday, but pretty much threw everybody
• 21:15
  Speaker 10: else under the bus as sacrificial lambs. And I think
• 21:20
  Speaker 10: it is extremely destructive, and every Democrat running in a
• 21:24
  Speaker 10: competitive district, including in Mind, is going to have to
• 21:28
  Speaker 10: answer for it, because you can't just say, oh, that's
• 21:32
  Speaker 10: not me. If you win, you're empowering these crazy people.
• 21:35
  Speaker 10: And that's a big problem.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Well, is it really fair to put your opponent, who
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: you now know will be Kate Conley, in the same
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: bucket as people who are self proclaimed Democratic socialists, the
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: likes of AOC and Bernie Sanders. This is a more
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: moderate individual, is it not?
• 21:51
  Speaker 9: Why not?
• 21:52
  Speaker 10: You guys have spent ten years putting Republicans in every
• 21:55
  Speaker 10: bucket with the president. They have to answer for the
• 21:59
  Speaker 10: positions of their party. And the fact is, if they
• 22:02
  Speaker 10: win and they get control of the majority, these people
• 22:06
  Speaker 10: are going to be driving the policy agenda. And so yes,
• 22:10
  Speaker 10: they do have to answer for it, and yes they
• 22:12
  Speaker 10: do have to say where they stand on it, and
• 22:14
  Speaker 10: yes they do have to say whether or not they
• 22:16
  Speaker 10: agree with zoron Mamdani, and whether or not they agree
• 22:20
  Speaker 10: with these socialist candidates being at the forefront of policy
• 22:25
  Speaker 10: in Washington and in Albany. It wasn't just the three
• 22:30
  Speaker 10: congressional seats yesterday. You had numerous incumbent state legislators taken
• 22:34
  Speaker 10: out by socialist Democrats running to be in the state Senate,
• 22:40
  Speaker 10: in the state Assembly. And no, my opponent is not
• 22:43
  Speaker 10: a moderate. The fact is she has said at no
• 22:47
  Speaker 10: point any issue in which she would buck her party
• 22:50
  Speaker 10: or work across the aisle or work with the president. Frankly,
• 22:55
  Speaker 10: I had a record of bipartisan accomplishment. I have a
• 22:58
  Speaker 10: record of being effective and actually delivering bipartisan results, agreeing
• 23:03
  Speaker 10: with the president at times and also pushing back on
• 23:06
  Speaker 10: the president. You don't just get to claim the mantle
• 23:10
  Speaker 10: of moderation in comparison to the avowed socialists, when in
• 23:15
  Speaker 10: fact you have the same exact policy positions.
• 23:18
  Speaker 9: Kate Conley wants to abolish ice.
• 23:20
  Speaker 10: Kate Conley wants to raise taxes on hardworking New Yorkers.
• 23:24
  Speaker 10: She was opposed to the Working Family's tax cut package.
• 23:28
  Speaker 10: She was in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to collect
• 23:32
  Speaker 10: healthcare benefits.
• 23:33
  Speaker 9: So you claiming that she's a moderate based on what.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Well, because she is not a democratic socialist or has
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: not opened.
• 23:46
  Speaker 9: Ideas.
• 23:46
  Speaker 10: The new standard is that the new standard you're a
• 23:49
  Speaker 10: moderate if you're not a socialist.
• 23:51
  Speaker 9: I mean, look, well now, I'm.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: Just saying that you're speaking about democratic socialists and that
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: is not just further.
• 23:58
  Speaker 9: To the left.
• 23:58
  Speaker 10: I mean, look at Dan gold and Dan Goldman lost yesterday.
• 24:02
  Speaker 10: Dan Goldman is not a moderate. Dan Goldman is a
• 24:04
  Speaker 10: progressive Democrat. Adriano Espayot is a progressive Democrat. You know,
• 24:10
  Speaker 10: Antonio Reinoso who lost in Nidia of Alaskas's seat, is
• 24:14
  Speaker 10: a progressive Democrat. These aren't moderates. The fact is the
• 24:18
  Speaker 10: socialist is further to the left. Sure, but they're not moderates.
• 24:22
  Speaker 10: And Kate Conley is not a moderate either, all.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: Right, Congressman, it's good to have you back. I do
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: think though we can just between you and I acknowledge
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: the fact that at Bloomberg we do try to bring
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: a range of voices on here, and we have never
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: suggested that all Republicans are Donald Trump.
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: But we'd love to talk to you.
• 24:40
  Speaker 10: But you guys do or to start to continually ask
• 24:43
  Speaker 10: every Republican candidate anything President Trump says or does. It's
• 24:48
  Speaker 10: fair then to say to the Democrats, well, where do
• 24:53
  Speaker 10: you stand on these people?
• 24:54
  Speaker 9: That's a fair question.
• 24:55
  Speaker 10: If you've done it for ten years against Republicans, get
• 24:58
  Speaker 10: ready to start doing it against Democrats with respect to run.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: We did do it for four years when President Biden.
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: Was President's tried. See that's free.
• 25:05
  Speaker 7: Sure.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: But Congressman, we appreciate you joining us. The Congressman from
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: the seventeenth District of New York, Mike Lahler with us
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. All right, let's talk
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: to both a Democrat and a Republican at the same time.
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: I just said it.
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: We've got a political panel and a good one for
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: you here.
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: Roger Fisk has been listening. Of course.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Our Democratic strategist, a former aide to President Obama. Senior
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: advisor Berwick Group in Rosemary Becky has had an ear
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: on our conversation as well, partner at Brownstein Hyatt Art
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: Republican strategist.
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: It's great to have you both with us.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: We were going to get to some other topics here,
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: but this is pretty hot right now. We may as
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: well stick with it. Roger, I'll start with you. You
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: heard everything that the congressman said, and Republicans are painting
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: a picture here of a wild left socialist wing of
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: the Democratic Party that's sweeping the nation. Is what happened
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: in downtown Manhattan going to take place coast to coast.
• 25:56
  Speaker 11: Well, the difference is that what the Congressman was pause
• 26:00
  Speaker 11: was putting Mom Donnie into the presidency is essentially what
• 26:03
  Speaker 11: he was doing, when in fact, what you all have
• 26:06
  Speaker 11: been doing for ten years is asking Republicans to respond
• 26:09
  Speaker 11: to what President Trump did. No Democrat running in Oregon
• 26:13
  Speaker 11: or Florida is beholden to whatever the mayor of New
• 26:16
  Speaker 11: York or the mayor of any.
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: Other place said.
• 26:18
  Speaker 11: So that I found that to be kind of a
• 26:22
  Speaker 11: flawed premise of how he was going about things. But
• 26:26
  Speaker 11: I do think you can imagine the editing suites right now.
• 26:33
  Speaker 11: Last time I was here was right after the I
• 26:36
  Speaker 11: don't care about inflation comments, so I want to be fair.
• 26:39
  Speaker 11: You can under you could just picture the editing suites
• 26:42
  Speaker 11: of the negative ads about the president being made, and
• 26:45
  Speaker 11: you can you can splice together a very effective negative
• 26:49
  Speaker 11: ad from some of the victory speeches of these of
• 26:53
  Speaker 11: these folks who won the primaries last night. So it's
• 26:56
  Speaker 11: going to be difficult for folks in every other district
• 26:59
  Speaker 11: than where they're at. And back on the congressman's point
• 27:02
  Speaker 11: about his opponent as well, that's what you're going to
• 27:06
  Speaker 11: see is them trying to take essentially a square peg
• 27:10
  Speaker 11: and shove it into a round hole and say that
• 27:13
  Speaker 11: no matter who you are, no matter where you're running,
• 27:15
  Speaker 11: no matter what you're running for, I'm going to try
• 27:18
  Speaker 11: to force you to go up or down on this
• 27:21
  Speaker 11: Mumdani question. And I get that, but I think any
• 27:24
  Speaker 11: agile politician would see that for what it is and
• 27:28
  Speaker 11: adjust accordingly and not get bogged down in comparing themselves
• 27:34
  Speaker 11: to some mayor that in many cases is thousands of
• 27:37
  Speaker 11: miles from wherever they are an elected official.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: Well, so, Rosemaria, I would love your take here, because
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: the Congressman did make a fair point that often elected
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: officials or those running for elected office have to answer
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: for whoever it is at the top of their party.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: That is the case for President Trump, and it was
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: the case when Joe Biden was president and historically for
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: generation before that. Is there a fair equation though, to
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: make right now between what the Republican Party is to
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: MAGA and what democratic socialism currently is to the wider
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Democratic Party. Is it really as powerful a force?
• 28:18
  Speaker 12: So I think what the Congressman was trying to stay
• 28:22
  Speaker 12: and I think the point that's trying to be made
• 28:25
  Speaker 12: is when you elect these ultra progressive you know factions
• 28:32
  Speaker 12: or even ultra conservative fractions, excuse me, they influence right
• 28:38
  Speaker 12: the party, and they influence legislation, and they are part
• 28:42
  Speaker 12: of the process. So when you're passing a bill or
• 28:47
  Speaker 12: you're in committee, I mean, they have influence, right, And
• 28:51
  Speaker 12: I think that that's his point and the fact that
• 28:55
  Speaker 12: he feels that, you know that Democrats will have to
• 28:59
  Speaker 12: answer true to it because those socialists are going to
• 29:03
  Speaker 12: have a voice in Congress going forward. So I think
• 29:07
  Speaker 12: it's true on both sides to be honest.
• 29:10
  Speaker 13: Right, like those extremes influence what happens in Washington, and
• 29:16
  Speaker 13: right now we've got that right We've got a whole
• 29:20
  Speaker 13: lot of grid lock going on because we've got a
• 29:22
  Speaker 13: lot of different factions that are duking it out right now.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: The statement from the spokesperson at the NRCC tonight was
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: not just a bad night for so called leader Hakeen Jeffreys.
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: Mike Maronella writes, it was the night the Democrat establishment
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: officially surrendered to Zoron Mamdani. The President had said weeks
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: ago when he had a visit in the Oval Office
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: with Mamdanni, that you're the leader of the Democratic Party.
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: Does this argument highlight the fact that there is not
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: a leader of the Democratic Party.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: In some ways absolutely.
• 30:00
  Speaker 11: Also the most recent right, So we're immersed in recency
• 30:03
  Speaker 11: bias right here. But one of the things that the
• 30:08
  Speaker 11: Republicans have been successful in doing is, for example, if
• 30:11
  Speaker 11: you polled many Republicans, you would get them to actually
• 30:15
  Speaker 11: say that the Green New Deal is was an actual
• 30:17
  Speaker 11: legislative package that was passed and is now law, when
• 30:23
  Speaker 11: in fact it was never a legitimate legislative vehicle at all.
• 30:26
  Speaker 11: Small elements of it were taken up in the infrastructure
• 30:30
  Speaker 11: bills and some other things in the in the Bidy administration.
• 30:33
  Speaker 11: But it did become an extremely effective brush with which
• 30:37
  Speaker 11: Republicans painted candidates, especially in primaries, is saying they're going
• 30:41
  Speaker 11: to come in and do the Green New Deal. And
• 30:43
  Speaker 11: so there's an element of jiu jitsu going on here.
• 30:46
  Speaker 11: But I get it. I would if I worked at
• 30:48
  Speaker 11: the NRCC, I would.
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: I would.
• 30:51
  Speaker 11: I would not leave anything on the table absolutely. I
• 30:53
  Speaker 11: mean it's it's on a platter, like, I get it.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: Well, so for the NRCC, as we get to the
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: crux of where the conversation began, Rosemary about Republicans now
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: pointing to what happened in New York and saying, look,
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: this is where the entire Democratic Party is going. Does
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: this make it easier in some swing districts for Republicans
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: to win their re elections or to flip seats, knowing
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: that there are other headwinds to consider, like an unpopular
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: war in Iran, like ongoing questions around affordability, where even
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: bipartisan efforts to address affordability aren't necessarily being seen to
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: completion at least today, if the President won't sign the bill.
• 31:36
  Speaker 12: Look, I think this is an opportunity for Republicans. I
• 31:39
  Speaker 12: think the Republicans need to really do talk about affordability
• 31:44
  Speaker 12: and talk about solutions, you know, talk about ideas about,
• 31:48
  Speaker 12: you know, how how do we improve housing, how do
• 31:51
  Speaker 12: we lower energy costs? Right, and start to address those
• 31:56
  Speaker 12: issues and address them by saying higher tax and more
• 32:01
  Speaker 12: spending isn't the answer, right, that there's other better solutions
• 32:05
  Speaker 12: out there, And so I think it's an opportunity and
• 32:09
  Speaker 12: I think the Republicans need to hone in on that
• 32:13
  Speaker 12: because at the end of the day, and I think
• 32:15
  Speaker 12: we saw this in twenty twenty five, it is about affordability, right.
• 32:19
  Speaker 12: Americans are feeling the pinch, whether it's energy costs, whether
• 32:25
  Speaker 12: it's at the grocery store, healthcare costs. They are feeling
• 32:28
  Speaker 12: the pinch, and so I think Republicans have to be
• 32:32
  Speaker 12: out there talking about the solutions.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: Great panel, Rosemary, We thank you, Rosemary Becky and Roger Fisk.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: Great insights. After a doozy of an interview, I need
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: to go get a glass of water or something. Can
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: we breathe. We'll be back with much more. As the
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: President prepares to meet with the Secretary General of NATO
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: in the next couple of.
• 32:50
  Speaker 9: Hours stay with us on Balance of Power.
• 32:52
  Speaker 4: We'll have much more coming up after this.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Balance of Power podcast ket Says
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on Apple,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Cockley and Android Otto with the Bloomberg Business App, with
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: theen on demand wherever you get your podcasts, or watch
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: us live on YouTube.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: We are considering a busy day on both ends of
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: Pennsylvania Avenue. Right now as we speak, President Trump is
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: in the luncheon with Senate Republicans, having walked in right
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: next to the Senate Majority leader John Thune. And we
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: know a number of items are going to be on
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: that agenda, including of course the Save America Act, which
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: the President wants passed before he signs the housing bill
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: he was supposed to sign today Thaisa. The war with
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: Iran likely to be a focus as well. And once
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: he's through all of that, he's going to head back
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: to the White House where he will be meeting scheduled
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: to be at three point thirty pm, but we'll see
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: how on time that is with the Secretary General of
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: NATO Mark Ruta. And on that agenda, of course, the
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: war between Russia and Ukraine and questions around the US's
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: commitment to the alliance and specifically the troops that the
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: US currently has committed to NATO countries in Europe and
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: whether or not they will be moved around or withdrawn completely.
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: A lot of contentious meetings for him potentially today. Unclear
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: if this will be or not, but it's going to
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: be a big ask for Mark Ruda to square the
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: circle on all of this. The President was talking about
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: NATO and what he believes is our troubled past just
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: yesterday in the Oval Office.
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: Listen, we have been a great member of NATO in many.
• 34:26
  Speaker 14: Ways, certainly the predominant member. The numbers that we spend
• 34:31
  Speaker 14: are so crazy or NATO and they weren't there for us.
• 34:35
  Speaker 14: We spend all of this money and then when we
• 34:38
  Speaker 14: want to maybe.
• 34:39
  Speaker 7: Have help us on small stuff. This is a small time.
• 34:42
  Speaker 7: This is not the big one. This is small potatoes.
• 34:46
  Speaker 7: They say no, would rather not help. Stupid thing to say.
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: We'll see what they say today.
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: As we're joined now by Jennifer de Louis, Bloomberg News
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: White House correspondent has just come out to the North
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: Lawn to spend some time with us. Janet's great to
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: see you what's going to happen inside this meeting and
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: will there be cameras allowed inside?
• 35:07
  Speaker 15: The million dollar question always here at the White House.
• 35:10
  Speaker 15: You know, right now it's technically close press on the
• 35:12
  Speaker 15: president's public schedule.
• 35:13
  Speaker 9: We'll see if it opens up.
• 35:15
  Speaker 15: That often happens. You know, it's not clear whether we're
• 35:19
  Speaker 15: going to see fireworks either. Clearly, the Secretary General of
• 35:22
  Speaker 15: NATO is coming here on a mission to continue to
• 35:25
  Speaker 15: build and foster. You know, he's already really warm relations
• 35:29
  Speaker 15: with the President, maybe to defuse some of the tensions
• 35:32
  Speaker 15: that you just saw on that clip of the president yesterday.
• 35:36
  Speaker 15: You know, President Trump has been extremely critical in recent
• 35:39
  Speaker 15: weeks and months about you know, what he complains as
• 35:42
  Speaker 15: a lack of support from NATO allies during the war
• 35:45
  Speaker 15: with Iran. He says, you know, they didn't allow use
• 35:49
  Speaker 15: of military bases to support the operation in Iran. He
• 35:52
  Speaker 15: complains that they didn't help open the straight of horror
• 35:56
  Speaker 15: moves by force. And now the US has launched a
• 36:00
  Speaker 15: review of essentially it's European military assets, it's support for
• 36:05
  Speaker 15: NATO that is causing a lot of heartache and heartburn
• 36:08
  Speaker 15: for European allies who are bracing for potentially deep cuts.
• 36:11
  Speaker 15: So Rude's coming here with a mission, I think, to
• 36:14
  Speaker 15: head some of that off, to try to speak directly
• 36:17
  Speaker 15: to what he considers a friend and President Trump, and
• 36:20
  Speaker 15: encourage him to continue support for the Alliance, but also
• 36:23
  Speaker 15: continue support for Ukraine through military sales, etc.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: Well, and jen remind us how much of that is
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: really at the President's discretion and his administration's discretion alone,
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: How much when it comes to NATO is actually a
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: decision making that has to run through conquers Well.
• 36:40
  Speaker 15: Full withdrawal is obviously not something that he can do independently.
• 36:44
  Speaker 15: But you know, the president can make life hard for
• 36:47
  Speaker 15: NATO allies. He certainly can pull down a good deal
• 36:52
  Speaker 15: of the US posture overseas. And this military review that
• 36:58
  Speaker 15: Defense Secretary Pete Heggs death has embarked on, which will
• 37:01
  Speaker 15: take six months, is you know, setting the stage for
• 37:04
  Speaker 15: some potentially serious cut. So that's what is causing a
• 37:07
  Speaker 15: fair amount of concern right now. You know, even if
• 37:11
  Speaker 15: the President can't do everything he might want to do
• 37:13
  Speaker 15: to retaliate or constrain NATO, he can still make life
• 37:18
  Speaker 15: difficult for allies overseas.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: All Right, Jennifer to Louis Bloomberg News White House correspondent
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: on the North Line for US today, Jen, thank you
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: so much and for more. As we continue this conversation,
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: we turn to a former US Ambassador to NATO, Ambassador
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: Evo Doddler, is with US now senior Fellow at the
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: Harvard Belfair Senator, having served in that role in the
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: ambassador role under President Obama. Ambassador, welcome back to Bloomberg
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: TV and Radio. I wonder how easy or difficult you
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: expect this meeting to be. For Mark Ruta specifically, who
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: has in the past had a very warm relationship with
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: President Trump. I would remind our audience that he once
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: referred to him him as daddy, and I just wonder
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: how warm you expect this to be today.
• 38:08
  Speaker 16: You know, I think on a personal level, the President
• 38:11
  Speaker 16: and the Secretary General get on very well. And as
• 38:13
  Speaker 16: President Trump said, people who like me, I like people
• 38:15
  Speaker 16: who like me. Well, mister Rute has done whatever he
• 38:20
  Speaker 16: can to demonstrate that he likes President Trump.
• 38:23
  Speaker 9: He's bent over backwards.
• 38:25
  Speaker 16: He is for many European leaders, gone too far in
• 38:29
  Speaker 16: doing so. But he doesn't have a political constituency other
• 38:32
  Speaker 16: than those leaders who are also interested in keeping the
• 38:35
  Speaker 16: United States on board.
• 38:37
  Speaker 9: But it's not just about this meeting.
• 38:38
  Speaker 16: It really is about the nature and the way in
• 38:42
  Speaker 16: that this alliance is going to move forward. In less
• 38:45
  Speaker 16: than two weeks, all thirty two leaders are going to
• 38:47
  Speaker 16: be in Ancora for a NATO summit, and what President
• 38:52
  Speaker 16: Trump will do at that summit is the big question
• 38:55
  Speaker 16: that mister Ruta is going to ask him. He wants
• 38:58
  Speaker 16: to make sure that the summit doesn't blow up, that
• 39:00
  Speaker 16: there aren't real fundamental, big differences. We saw on the
• 39:04
  Speaker 16: G seven that it worked pretty well and hopefully it
• 39:08
  Speaker 16: will work.
• 39:08
  Speaker 9: Well in Ankara as well.
• 39:10
  Speaker 16: But there's some really serious issues that the President will
• 39:12
  Speaker 16: want to raise and frankly that the Europeans are raising.
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: How do we define the summit blowing up?
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: Ambassador, I know that Pete Hegseth has announced this extended
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: review of US forces across Europe, presidents taken five thousand
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: troops out of Germany, or these the kind of ideas
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: that could blow up a NATO.
• 39:32
  Speaker 16: Summit, Well, that could be the President could walk out.
• 39:38
  Speaker 16: Whether he can legally withdraw from NATO is in fact
• 39:41
  Speaker 16: a constitutional question that hasn't been answered, but he can
• 39:44
  Speaker 16: certainly tell the NATO leaders that as president he's not
• 39:47
  Speaker 16: particularly prepared to defend them, which is pretty much the
• 39:52
  Speaker 16: same thing.
• 39:53
  Speaker 9: So that's what blowing up means.
• 39:54
  Speaker 16: But even if that doesn't happen, and I don't think
• 39:56
  Speaker 16: that's going to happen, there are some serious issues that
• 40:00
  Speaker 16: are on the table. Not only to five thousand troops
• 40:02
  Speaker 16: out of Germany that you mentioned, I think much more
• 40:04
  Speaker 16: worrisome was the announcement a few weeks ago that the
• 40:08
  Speaker 16: United States will not contribute to what is called the
• 40:12
  Speaker 16: NATO Force Model. Those are the forces that are going
• 40:15
  Speaker 16: to be available in ten thirty and three hundred days
• 40:17
  Speaker 16: in case of a major conflict in the US is
• 40:20
  Speaker 16: significantly reducing its commitment, particularly of air power. A number
• 40:26
  Speaker 16: of air wings, the number of airplanes that are dedicated
• 40:29
  Speaker 16: to that mission are going to be cut by a third.
• 40:32
  Speaker 16: The number of refuelers, those are the aircraft that refuel
• 40:37
  Speaker 16: in the air bombers and fighters and the like are
• 40:42
  Speaker 16: going to be cut by half. The intelligence and surveillance
• 40:46
  Speaker 16: systems that the United States almost uniquely possesses are going
• 40:50
  Speaker 16: to be cut as well. And so rather instead of
• 40:54
  Speaker 16: doing this in a slow and methodical way, as euro
• 40:58
  Speaker 16: builds up the US walk can reduce its capability, which
• 41:02
  Speaker 16: is something that everyone in Europe wants to do.
• 41:04
  Speaker 9: The US is now announced they're going to do it immediately.
• 41:06
  Speaker 16: If tomorrow there's a war, those forces that were available
• 41:11
  Speaker 16: four weeks ago would not be available today. That is
• 41:14
  Speaker 16: a major, major decision, which suggests that the United States
• 41:18
  Speaker 16: is disengaging from Europe, or at least less engaged in
• 41:21
  Speaker 16: Europe than it has been any time in the last
• 41:25
  Speaker 16: seventy six years.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Well, and of course that's an important consideration for wars
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: of the future potentially, But what about the war of
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: the president on the European continent? Ambassadors, we consider the
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: current state of play between Russia and Ukraine, where we
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: actually have seen Ukrainian advances, seen successful Ukrainian attacks on Moscow.
• 41:46
  Speaker 9: For example.
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: Do you since that there is a tide shifting there
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: that the President may actually want to ride a winning
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: Ukrainian tie to a Ukrainian wave more so than he
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: previously seemed that he had a desire to do.
• 42:02
  Speaker 9: Wouldn't that be nice?
• 42:03
  Speaker 16: That would be certainly a shift, But the president consistency
• 42:07
  Speaker 16: is not necessarily high on the agenda, so I.
• 42:09
  Speaker 9: Think the idea of him supporting a winning.
• 42:11
  Speaker 16: Ticket is perhaps attractive, and you're right. The military balance
• 42:18
  Speaker 16: inside Ukraine and in this war is slowly but surely
• 42:22
  Speaker 16: shifting because of two fundamental changes. Number one is that
• 42:26
  Speaker 16: the Russians are running out of manpower. Believe it or not,
• 42:28
  Speaker 16: they're times four times bigger in terms of personnel than
• 42:31
  Speaker 16: the Ukrainians, but they haven't mobilized the country because Vladimir
• 42:35
  Speaker 16: Putin is not at war with Ukraine, he is engaged
• 42:38
  Speaker 16: in a quote special military operation. He doesn't want to
• 42:41
  Speaker 16: mobilize because that would undermine his domestic support for this war,
• 42:47
  Speaker 16: and as a result, he's been paying a lot of
• 42:48
  Speaker 16: people to go to the front. And the number of
• 42:51
  Speaker 16: casualties that are now suffering on the front line by
• 42:55
  Speaker 16: the Russians are higher than a number of troops that
• 42:57
  Speaker 16: are being replaced each month. So the situation is getting worse.
• 43:01
  Speaker 16: So is the economic situation for Russia, and that is
• 43:06
  Speaker 16: one part of it. The second part of it is
• 43:08
  Speaker 16: the Ukrainians, through drones and other strikes, are becoming increasingly
• 43:12
  Speaker 16: able to hit the Russians both deep inside Russia beyond
• 43:16
  Speaker 16: the battlefield, and now to cut off Crimea from Russian support,
• 43:22
  Speaker 16: particularly oil and other logistical support. So the war is churning,
• 43:25
  Speaker 16: and if the president wants to jump on a winning bandwagon,
• 43:29
  Speaker 16: he's a way to do that. He could call Vladimir
• 43:32
  Speaker 16: Putin say, you know what, you're losing this war. You're
• 43:34
  Speaker 16: not getting the right kind of information from your generals.
• 43:37
  Speaker 16: Here's the information that we have about what the state
• 43:39
  Speaker 16: of the war is, and share some of the intelligence
• 43:42
  Speaker 16: information that we have about it in order to convince
• 43:44
  Speaker 16: Vladimir Putin that his choice is to stop now and
• 43:47
  Speaker 16: keep it least for now what he has, or suffer
• 43:51
  Speaker 16: first a worse defeat.
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: Well, you wonder if he might be motivated to take
• 43:56
  Speaker 3: that posta after spending some time with allies at the
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: NATO summit and Bass. When Bloomberg News wrote up a
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: story about today's meeting with the Secretary General, we spoke
• 44:05
  Speaker 3: to a number of lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, including Democratic
• 44:10
  Speaker 3: Senator Brian Schatz, and his comment jumps off the page.
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: This president, he said, is uniquely misaligned with the Western world,
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: and I'm not sure that's fixable with a White House visit.
• 44:22
  Speaker 4: Do you agree?
• 44:24
  Speaker 16: Yeah, I think there's a major breach in the relationship
• 44:28
  Speaker 16: between Europe and the United States. I think this is
• 44:29
  Speaker 16: the worst crisis among many crises that have been there
• 44:35
  Speaker 16: for the last eighty years, this is by far the worst.
• 44:38
  Speaker 16: Europeans are distrustful of the United States. Only eleven percent
• 44:43
  Speaker 16: of European publics now think that the United States is
• 44:46
  Speaker 16: an ally That is astonishing when you think about it,
• 44:49
  Speaker 16: more to the United States as a rival than as
• 44:51
  Speaker 16: a friend or a partner. Those are very worrisome signs.
• 44:56
  Speaker 16: And the same is true for Washington, which is now
• 45:00
  Speaker 16: basically decided that because the Europeans weren't willing to support
• 45:05
  Speaker 16: the United States in the war on which they were
• 45:07
  Speaker 16: neither consulted nor thought was necessary, conclusions that, by the way.
• 45:13
  Speaker 9: They were right on that. Therefore, there is no value
• 45:15
  Speaker 9: to NATO.
• 45:16
  Speaker 16: That's what the Secretary of State is saying, That's what
• 45:18
  Speaker 16: the Secretary of Defense is saying, It's what the President
• 45:20
  Speaker 16: is saying. So under those circumstances, yes, we are in
• 45:23
  Speaker 16: a misalignment, that's a nice way of putting them. We
• 45:25
  Speaker 16: are in a deep crisis in this alliance, and it's
• 45:29
  Speaker 16: not going to be fixed by one visit. It's frankly
• 45:32
  Speaker 16: not going to be fixed by one summit, and it
• 45:33
  Speaker 16: may not even be fixed by a change in an administration.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: Well, in our final moment, Ambassador, do you think it
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: could have been fixed by European allies being more willing
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: to intervene in the straight offor moves?
• 45:46
  Speaker 9: No, I don't really think so.
• 45:47
  Speaker 16: I think if the Europeans had supported the United States,
• 45:50
  Speaker 16: we would have still been where we are, which is
• 45:51
  Speaker 16: that the United States way overestimated its own military power
• 45:56
  Speaker 16: and way underestimated the capacity if the Uranians to resist
• 46:00
  Speaker 16: in this situation. So I think we would have been
• 46:02
  Speaker 16: in the same place, except that the US would continue
• 46:05
  Speaker 16: to blame the Europeans for a mistake that the United
• 46:07
  Speaker 16: States made, which was to start this war from the beginning.
• 46:11
  Speaker 3: Well, do you appreciate the time, Ambassador, ahead of Donald
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: Trump's meeting with the NATO Secretary General? Evo Dalder, former
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: US Ambassador to NATO in the Obama administration, Thanks for
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: being back with us on.
• 46:21
  Speaker 4: Bloomberg TV and radio. Kaylie.
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: We're seeing real destruction here in the markets, turning not
• 46:27
  Speaker 3: only below our highs of the day, but in fact
• 46:29
  Speaker 3: negative in terms of the S and P five hundred
• 46:31
  Speaker 3: now down twelve points. The NASDAK down almost one hundred
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: fractions but still lower. And look at bitcoin, unbelievable. We've
• 46:39
  Speaker 3: got a fifty nine handle.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we've broken below sixty thousand dollars. This is the
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: lowest levels since going back before the election September. This
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: is of twenty twenty four. That entire post election bounce
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: has been a race, so we'll continue to follow that
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: for you here on Bloomberg TV and radio. This is
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: Bounce and Powerful.
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make
• 47:03
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• 47:09
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• 47:12
  Speaker 3: at Bloomberg dot com.