Latest / Balance of Power / Trump Hits Campaign Trail in Michigan

Transcript

Trump Hits Campaign Trail in Michigan · Balance of Power

0:02
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the
0:10
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at
0:13
Speaker 1: noon and five pm Eastern on Applecarclay, and Android Auto
0:17
Speaker 1: with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever you
0:20
Speaker 1: get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube.
0:25
Speaker 2: The Monday trade not looking quite as strong as it
0:28
Speaker 2: was this morning despite the downturn in oil prices. This
0:31
Speaker 2: pause in strikes against Iran pulling oil sharply lower today.
0:35
Speaker 2: As Charlie mentions, we're looking at losses more than seven
0:39
Speaker 2: percent of you TI almost eight percent for Brent back
0:42
Speaker 2: below ninety dollars a barrel. Gas prices are a different
0:46
Speaker 2: matter as they continue to rise, and that's not.
0:49
Speaker 3: A big shot the way these things work.
0:50
Speaker 2: With four dollars and eleven cents averaging nationally today according
0:55
Speaker 2: to Triple A, in the state of Michigan, it's four
0:59
Speaker 2: dollars in twenty one sense. And I mentioned that because
1:02
Speaker 2: that's where the President is going today to talk about affordability.
1:04
Speaker 2: He's going to be at a GM facility in Michigan,
1:07
Speaker 2: not in Detroit this time, but speaking to GM workers
1:11
Speaker 2: who are acutely aware of the president's tariff regime, and
1:14
Speaker 2: of course the gas prices that they and GM's customers
1:18
Speaker 2: are all paying. Affordability was also the issue for Hakim Jeffries,
1:24
Speaker 2: the Democratic leader in the House, as he marked one
1:28
Speaker 2: hundred days to the midterms yesterday in the Lehigh Valley
1:30
Speaker 2: in Pennsylvania, joined by Governor Josh Shapiro and others, beating
1:34
Speaker 2: the drum on once again the issue of affordability, and
1:39
Speaker 2: with now ninety nine days to go to the election.
1:42
Speaker 2: I spent some time a short time ago today talking
1:46
Speaker 2: with Congressman Jeffries about the affordability issue, about Democratic strategies,
1:51
Speaker 2: about the money trail in this election cycle, and started
1:55
Speaker 2: by asking him about this very message and the one
1:57
Speaker 2: that the president will be speaking to prices and what
2:00
Speaker 2: Democrats have tried to do to bring them lower.
2:03
Speaker 4: Listen, well, life has gotten far too expensive under Donald
2:06
Speaker 4: Trump and the Republican controlled Congress. Donald Trump promised to
2:11
Speaker 4: lower the high cost of living on day one, but
2:13
Speaker 4: what we've seen is that costs having gone down. Of course,
2:16
Speaker 4: in America, costs have gone up. Democrats have been focused
2:20
Speaker 4: on doing a variety of different things to push back
2:23
Speaker 4: aggressively against the policies that Republicans have jammed down our throats,
2:29
Speaker 4: which is making life more expensive. For instance, we're pushing
2:32
Speaker 4: back against the Trump tariffs, which have increased costs on
2:36
Speaker 4: everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year in terms
2:41
Speaker 4: of increased groceries and goods and other household items. At
2:46
Speaker 4: the same period of time, Democrats are focused on ending
2:50
Speaker 4: Donald Trump's reckless war of Choice in Iran, which has
2:54
Speaker 4: skyrocketed gas prices all across the country while actually putting
3:00
Speaker 4: Iran in a stronger position than they were in prior
3:04
Speaker 4: to the war starting.
3:05
Speaker 2: I want to get specific, if you in fact win
3:08
Speaker 2: the House, if you're the majority party in the House,
3:10
Speaker 2: what you might be able to do to address prices.
3:13
Speaker 2: And you talked about some ideas yesterday, including repealing what
3:18
Speaker 2: the President calls his One Big, Beautiful Bill. Is that
3:21
Speaker 2: the answer here? Is there more that Democrats have in mind?
3:26
Speaker 4: Well, we want to make sure that healthcare is affordable
3:29
Speaker 4: to every single American, and there are several steps that
3:33
Speaker 4: we need to take, including repealing the Affordable Care Act
3:37
Speaker 4: tax making sure that the Affordable Care Act tax credits
3:42
Speaker 4: actually are extended, and repealing I should say the Medicaid
3:47
Speaker 4: cuts in the One Big Ugly Bill which have created
3:51
Speaker 4: a situation where the healthcare of more than fourteen million
3:54
Speaker 4: Americans is at risk.
3:57
Speaker 3: How do you do that?
3:58
Speaker 2: Do you need to see the Senate turned democratic as
4:01
Speaker 2: well to actually repeal what's been already put in place.
4:05
Speaker 5: Well, here's the thing.
4:07
Speaker 4: We sawt a couple of weeks ago, the Congress be
4:11
Speaker 4: able to move a bipartisan bill forward on housing affordability
4:16
Speaker 4: that is designed to alleviate some of the cost pressures
4:19
Speaker 4: that exist from the housing market. And we got that
4:23
Speaker 4: bill into law over the objection of Donald Trump. So
4:28
Speaker 4: what is clear is that even in a context where
4:31
Speaker 4: Republicans have complete control of government, we've been able to
4:35
Speaker 4: move some things forward. Certainly, if we have the House
4:38
Speaker 4: and the House plus the Senate, we'll be in a
4:41
Speaker 4: stronger position to drive the affordability agenda forward.
4:46
Speaker 2: You mentioned the president's war with Iran. We've already seen
4:50
Speaker 2: the House and the Senate pass war powers legislation. Leader Jeffries,
4:55
Speaker 2: presuming you take the gavel knowing that the President has
4:58
Speaker 2: blown right through these war as, is there anything else
5:02
Speaker 2: that you can do to put callers on this effort?
5:06
Speaker 4: Well, we're gonna continue to aggressively push the effort to
5:13
Speaker 4: push back against this reckless war of choice. It's deeply
5:17
Speaker 4: unpopular with the American people, and we have to sustain
5:21
Speaker 4: the intensity. Donald Trump has unfortunately got us involved in
5:25
Speaker 4: this situation without any plan, any objective, any clear exit strategy,
5:30
Speaker 4: and now the American people are clearly paying the price.
5:34
Speaker 4: One of the things we have to take a look
5:35
Speaker 4: at is the amount of taxpayer dollars that are being
5:41
Speaker 4: spent to fund Donald Trump's reckless war machine and effort
5:47
Speaker 4: in the Middle East. It's clear to us that the
5:49
Speaker 4: American people would much rather their taxpayer dollars being spent
5:54
Speaker 4: to make their life more affordable. That's why we're committed
5:58
Speaker 4: to lowering the cost of groceries, lowering the cost of gas,
6:02
Speaker 4: lowering the cost of housing, and making sure that healthcare
6:06
Speaker 4: is affordable for every single American.
6:09
Speaker 2: How do you lower the cost of gas without ending
6:11
Speaker 2: the war? Though we're at four dollars and eleven cents,
6:15
Speaker 2: Mister Leader, that it's been suggested even by the President,
6:17
Speaker 2: we eliminate the federal gas tax.
6:19
Speaker 3: Is that something that you would support.
6:21
Speaker 4: The most significant thing that could be done right now
6:24
Speaker 4: to lower the price of gas for everyday Americans who
6:29
Speaker 4: are suffocating at the pump is to end Donald Trump's
6:32
Speaker 4: reckless war of choice in the Middle East, and we're
6:36
Speaker 4: going to continue to relentlessly make the case that that
6:39
Speaker 4: needs to happen.
6:43
Speaker 2: Where are you on the gas tax, then, is that
6:45
Speaker 2: something that should be removed, at least temporarily.
6:48
Speaker 4: Well, the gas tax, of course, is something that's in
6:51
Speaker 4: place to help fund are desperately needed infrastructure on highways
6:57
Speaker 4: and beyond, and so I think it's something that the
7:03
Speaker 4: Republicans put it on the table, will have to evaluate it.
7:06
Speaker 4: But clearly the most significant thing that could be done
7:09
Speaker 4: at this moment, as opposed to a temporary measure, is
7:14
Speaker 4: to end the war in Iran.
7:16
Speaker 2: You know that we start talking about affordability, mister leader,
7:20
Speaker 2: it creeps into all kinds of other stories, including now
7:22
Speaker 2: data centers, which have become a massive political issue, and
7:25
Speaker 2: we've been struck by how often it comes up when
7:27
Speaker 2: we talk to voters around the country. And of course
7:30
Speaker 2: the state of New York, where you're right now sitting
7:33
Speaker 2: has become an important guidepost here, at least for some
7:37
Speaker 2: who believe that there should be restrictions on data centers.
7:40
Speaker 2: As you well know, the governor has put a one
7:42
Speaker 2: year moratorium on new data centers in the state. There
7:47
Speaker 2: are a lot of different ways to get to this.
7:49
Speaker 2: We spoke with Byron Donald's the other day, the Republican
7:52
Speaker 2: from Florida, who has a bill that wouldn't put on
7:54
Speaker 2: a moratorium, but would take data centers off the grid
7:57
Speaker 2: and would compel them to have their own water supply.
8:00
Speaker 2: How do you get to this in a way that
8:02
Speaker 2: makes voters happy?
8:05
Speaker 4: Walhouse Democrats have launched a permission on Artificial Intelligence and
8:12
Speaker 4: Innovation Economy to thoughtfully engage with community based organizations and groups,
8:19
Speaker 4: advocacy organizations as well as industry stakeholders to try to
8:25
Speaker 4: evaluate the best possible path forward. But what is clear
8:28
Speaker 4: is that we have to put at the center of
8:31
Speaker 4: any effort making sure we're not doing anything to exacerbate
8:36
Speaker 4: the affordability crisis that everyday Americans are experiencing in every
8:40
Speaker 4: area of life, and that of course includes figuring out
8:45
Speaker 4: how to drive down utility costs and the cost of water,
8:50
Speaker 4: for instance, bills as opposed to increasing the strain on
8:56
Speaker 4: the system in ways that would actually drive up costs.
9:00
Speaker 4: And so I think this has been a state by
9:03
Speaker 4: state effort up until this point, with states landing in
9:06
Speaker 4: a variety of different places in terms of approach. I
9:09
Speaker 4: do think in the new Congress we're going to have
9:12
Speaker 4: to come together and think about how we can address
9:14
Speaker 4: many of these issues nationally.
9:19
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you what I'd love to ask you
9:20
Speaker 2: about some of the strokes behind this midterm cycle, which
9:23
Speaker 2: is what we're talking about with ninety nine days to go,
9:25
Speaker 2: and I can't walk into a room in Washington without
9:28
Speaker 2: hearing about the Save America Act. That's, of course because
9:31
Speaker 2: of the amount of attention the President has paid to it.
9:34
Speaker 2: Leader Jeffries, were Republicans successful and salvaging this? Will it
9:39
Speaker 2: cost Democrats votes if it becomes law?
9:42
Speaker 3: Where are you on this? Have you talked to John
9:44
Speaker 3: Thune about it?
9:46
Speaker 4: I haven't talked to John Thune, but he's made clear
9:48
Speaker 4: repeatedly at the so called Save America Act, which is
9:52
Speaker 4: really all about voter suppression, is actually dead on arrival
9:56
Speaker 4: in the Senate and there's nothing that Donald Trump can
9:59
Speaker 4: do about out it. What's extraordinary to me is that
10:02
Speaker 4: he continues to actually waste time trying to rig the
10:06
Speaker 4: midterm election in a variety of different ways as opposed
10:10
Speaker 4: to actually solving problems for everyday Americans, including the problems
10:14
Speaker 4: that he promised to address like lowering the high cost
10:18
Speaker 4: of living on day one, and instead, of course, has
10:21
Speaker 4: done the opposite. He's made clear he thinks the affordability
10:24
Speaker 4: of crisis is a hoax. Donald Trump has said very
10:28
Speaker 4: publicly he doesn't think about the personal financial situation of
10:32
Speaker 4: the American people. It's all very extraordinary. He's even said
10:35
Speaker 4: he loves the inflation. Now, our focus is going to
10:39
Speaker 4: be quite different because it's clear people are paying too
10:42
Speaker 4: much at the gas pump, people are paying too much
10:45
Speaker 4: for food. People can't afford their rent or their mortgage,
10:50
Speaker 4: and that shouldn't be the case in America, the wealthiest
10:52
Speaker 4: country in the history of the world.
10:54
Speaker 5: We want to work.
10:55
Speaker 2: Do you guess troops at polling places, Leader Jefferys, I'm
10:58
Speaker 2: sorry to interrupt. You're going to see ice agents at
11:01
Speaker 2: polling places of Save America does not go into effect.
11:06
Speaker 4: Certainly think the American people would outright reject that. And
11:10
Speaker 4: we are going to put together the largest voter protection
11:13
Speaker 4: effort in the history of the country. We know we
11:15
Speaker 4: won't see troops at polling places because the Supreme Court,
11:19
Speaker 4: in a six to three decision in December, has ripped
11:22
Speaker 4: away Donald Trump's efforts to try to actually federalize the
11:28
Speaker 4: National Guard.
11:28
Speaker 5: He does not have the power to do that.
11:31
Speaker 4: In terms of ICE agents, we're continuing to push for
11:35
Speaker 4: a ban on ICE agents showing up at sensitive locations.
11:39
Speaker 4: That includes polling sites, but it also includes schools, it
11:44
Speaker 4: includes hospitals, and it certainly includes houses of worship. The
11:49
Speaker 4: American people want to see immigration enforcement in this country
11:52
Speaker 4: that's fair, just and humane.
11:54
Speaker 2: I'm wondering where you're looking here as we consider the
11:58
Speaker 2: money in this midterm election cycle. There's been some tough
12:01
Speaker 2: reporting about the DNC, and you probably saw them right
12:03
Speaker 2: up in the New York Times with a frustrated chair
12:07
Speaker 2: Ken Martin throwing his phone in one scene. It was
12:09
Speaker 2: described as dysfunction and despair leader Jeffries. When you talk
12:14
Speaker 2: to the d Triple C though, they've got a lot
12:15
Speaker 2: of candidates who are out raising their Republican rivals, but
12:19
Speaker 2: the fact is on the party level there's a great disparity,
12:22
Speaker 2: and I'm wondering if you care if history is at
12:25
Speaker 2: your back to a point where the money will not
12:27
Speaker 2: make a difference.
12:29
Speaker 4: Well, we certainly need to continue to raise the resources
12:32
Speaker 4: necessary to both re elect all of our incredible frontline
12:37
Speaker 4: incumbents who are in the battleground districts across the nation,
12:41
Speaker 4: while making sure that our candidates who are trying to
12:44
Speaker 4: flip red seats blue have the ability to communicate their message.
12:49
Speaker 4: We're all fighting for an affordable America. That's what unites us.
12:53
Speaker 4: That is a very powerful narrative that will have available
12:57
Speaker 4: to us as we communicate with voters over the next
13:00
Speaker 4: one hundred or so days.
13:03
Speaker 5: Now, as you.
13:04
Speaker 4: Pointed out, from a d triple C standpoint, we just
13:07
Speaker 4: recently reported out raising Republicans, our House counterparts. We've been
13:14
Speaker 4: competitive with them all cycle, and of course some of
13:18
Speaker 4: the outside groups that work in support of House Democratic
13:23
Speaker 4: candidates have posted record breaking numbers.
13:28
Speaker 2: If you take the House, does Ken Martin keep his job?
13:32
Speaker 4: Well, listen, I'm focused right now. I think we all are,
13:35
Speaker 4: including Ken Martin on November three, and under the DNC partnership,
13:42
Speaker 4: what we have seen Ken Martin's leadership is Democrats winning
13:46
Speaker 4: races all across the country for the last eighteen plus months,
13:53
Speaker 4: and the DNC has quietly been involved in a lot
13:56
Speaker 4: of those races where we have seen success, and so
14:01
Speaker 4: let's all, you know, keep the main thing, the main thing.
14:04
Speaker 4: I know that's what Ken Martin is doing, and he's
14:06
Speaker 4: focused on helping Democrats win elections all across America, and
14:11
Speaker 4: then all of us we'll figure out the path forward.
14:15
Speaker 4: But I think Ken Martin's term is four years and
14:18
Speaker 4: there's no reason to believe.
14:19
Speaker 5: At this point that he's going anywhere.
14:23
Speaker 2: Okay, I appreciate your answering that, and I guess i'd
14:25
Speaker 2: rap by asking you about some of those candidates who
14:28
Speaker 2: one of those races you point to were Democratic Socialists,
14:31
Speaker 2: and there's been a big question about Big Tent leader Jeffries.
14:34
Speaker 3: You don't need me to tell you that.
14:36
Speaker 2: And I'm wondering if you see that as being part
14:38
Speaker 2: of the recipe to take the House in the midterm elections,
14:43
Speaker 2: or if a more moderate approach is the long term
14:46
Speaker 2: success story for Democrats.
14:49
Speaker 4: I'm fixedass is going to hinge on convincing the American
14:52
Speaker 4: people that, as Democrats were fighting for an affordable America,
14:55
Speaker 4: we recognize.
14:56
Speaker 5: The cost of living is way too high.
14:58
Speaker 4: Far too many people are working, they're playing by the rules,
15:01
Speaker 4: but they can't thrive, they can barely survive. People are
15:04
Speaker 4: drowning in this failed Trump economy. And we're committed to
15:09
Speaker 4: making a difference in all of the areas that matter.
15:12
Speaker 4: That's lowering grocery costs, lowering gas prices, lowering housing costs,
15:17
Speaker 4: and of course, making sure health care is affordable to
15:19
Speaker 4: every single American. Let me make sure as well to
15:24
Speaker 4: point out look, I believe that Democratic Party is added
15:28
Speaker 4: strongest and America is added strongest when we are a
15:33
Speaker 4: country focused on having a strong floor and no ceiling.
15:38
Speaker 4: Because in this country, you work very hard, right, you
15:41
Speaker 4: played by the rules, you you should there should be
15:44
Speaker 4: no ceiling to the success that you can achieve for yourself,
15:47
Speaker 4: for your family, for your community. At the same period
15:50
Speaker 4: of time, America, the wealthiest country in the history of
15:54
Speaker 4: the world, should always have a strong floor.
15:58
Speaker 5: And we know what that looks like.
16:00
Speaker 4: That's Social Security, that's Medicare, that's Medicaid, that's the Affordable
16:04
Speaker 4: Care Act, that's Veterans Benefits, that's nutritional Assistance. By the way,
16:09
Speaker 4: every single one of these things brought to you by
16:11
Speaker 4: your friendly neighborhood Democratic Party, designed to ensure that there's
16:16
Speaker 4: a strong floor for working class Americans, for middle class Americans,
16:21
Speaker 4: and for everyday Americans. And I think that at its
16:24
Speaker 4: core is what the Democratic Party has been about, is about,
16:29
Speaker 4: and will continue to be about into the future.
16:32
Speaker 2: And the DSA helps to reinforce that floor.
16:37
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, the DSA can speak for themselves. I'm
16:39
Speaker 4: not a part of the DSA. I'm not a member
16:41
Speaker 4: of the DSA. The DSA can speak to their particular platform.
16:45
Speaker 4: We've got two hundred and fifteen plus Democrats in the
16:49
Speaker 4: House of Representatives, and what I can tell you is
16:51
Speaker 4: that we unites all of us and our candidates out
16:55
Speaker 4: throughout the country who are working hard, is that we're
16:59
Speaker 4: committed to actually making life more affordable for the American people.
17:04
Speaker 2: Hawking Jeffreys, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives,
17:07
Speaker 2: speaking with us exclusively today on Bloomberg TV.
17:11
Speaker 3: And Radio with ninety nine days to go.
17:13
Speaker 2: Until the midterm elections, as we assemble our political panel
17:17
Speaker 2: for their take on everything we just heard. Bloomberg Politics
17:20
Speaker 2: contributor Genie Shanzino is with us, our Democratic analyst and
17:23
Speaker 2: democracy visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy Schools ASH Center, alongside
17:27
Speaker 2: Republican strategist Greta joins policy director at Brownstein Hyatt. Great
17:31
Speaker 2: to have you both with us here, and I'd love
17:34
Speaker 2: to get your insights on the money to start here, Genie,
17:37
Speaker 2: we talked about the disparity between the committee level and
17:43
Speaker 2: the party level, where the d Triple C can't seem
17:45
Speaker 2: to send out enough news releases to crow about individual
17:49
Speaker 2: candidates and campaigns raising money, as opposed to the DNC
17:53
Speaker 2: with reporting over the weekend that I'm sure you saw
17:55
Speaker 2: in the New York Times, Ken Martin throwing his phone
17:57
Speaker 2: and anger morales heading love or how do we rationalize
18:01
Speaker 2: these two?
18:02
Speaker 6: Yeah, and I'm glad you talked about the disparity as
18:06
Speaker 6: it pertains to the difference between the party and the committees.
18:09
Speaker 6: A lot of this goes back to the decision by
18:12
Speaker 6: the Supreme Court and Citizens United And so every time
18:16
Speaker 6: we hear about the Democratic Party not fundraising to the
18:20
Speaker 6: level it should be, having financial issues, all of which
18:23
Speaker 6: are true. That story in the New York Times was,
18:26
Speaker 6: you know, right on point and utterly, you know, just frustrating.
18:31
Speaker 6: But the reality is those comparisons we're hearing are not
18:36
Speaker 6: to the Republican Party, but we're hearing to Donald Trump's
18:40
Speaker 6: own committee, which has about four hundred and one million dollars,
18:43
Speaker 6: an astonishing number. But when you compare, as we heard
18:48
Speaker 6: how King Jeffries do the d triple C to the
18:51
Speaker 6: Republican counterpart, they have outraised them. I agree these issues
18:56
Speaker 6: in the Democratic Party become much more important in the
18:59
Speaker 6: present idential term. In the midterm, they're not a great look,
19:03
Speaker 6: but they're not critically important because of so many structural
19:07
Speaker 6: changes in the way we run elections in this country,
19:11
Speaker 6: particularly as it pertains to money. So right now, I
19:14
Speaker 6: think haw Kien Jeffries is right to say the focus
19:17
Speaker 6: has to be on winning these and then the DNC
19:20
Speaker 6: has to work it's stuff out. It's not a good
19:22
Speaker 6: situation there, but it won't change what happens in the
19:25
Speaker 6: midterm from.
19:27
Speaker 2: A campaign strategy standpoint. Greta, I'm wondering if you would
19:30
Speaker 2: choose between the fundamentals or the technicals.
19:33
Speaker 3: The RNC is swimming in cash.
19:36
Speaker 2: Do you go with the money or do you wish
19:38
Speaker 2: you had the historical advantage in this midterm cycle that
19:41
Speaker 2: Democrats enjoy.
19:43
Speaker 7: I mean, I certainly would love some of the historical
19:47
Speaker 7: nature of this and sort of where we've seen trend
19:51
Speaker 7: lines over the years. I do think fundraising is part
19:54
Speaker 7: of it, but given that so many campaigns are moving
19:58
Speaker 7: off of the traditional, more expensive broadcast news as their
20:04
Speaker 7: means by which to connect to voters and really focusing
20:07
Speaker 7: on more targeted online ads and streaming ads, money is
20:11
Speaker 7: not the be all end all that it was, So
20:15
Speaker 7: I do think that this is all about using money
20:18
Speaker 7: effectively and appropriately. I mean, Kamala Harris spent god knows
20:22
Speaker 7: how much money and it really and really came up short.
20:26
Speaker 7: So Republicans can't assume that this is a lock because
20:29
Speaker 7: of fundraising numbers, and I.
20:32
Speaker 2: Think we can all argue that President Trump has done
20:35
Speaker 2: a pretty good job not at spending his money as
20:38
Speaker 2: the master of free or earned media. Jennie, what do
20:42
Speaker 2: you think of the to do list here of some
20:44
Speaker 2: of which we talked about with Hakim Jeffreys. If Democrats
20:46
Speaker 2: actually take the House, never mind possibly the Senate, repealing
20:52
Speaker 2: the President's Big Beautiful Bill as it's called, would be
20:55
Speaker 2: a tall order.
20:56
Speaker 3: Do you think that's within the realm.
21:00
Speaker 6: I think it's within the realm. I think it would
21:02
Speaker 6: be very very difficult. One thing we know about United
21:05
Speaker 6: States legislation is once it passes, it's very, very tough
21:10
Speaker 6: to pull back on. I mean, Republicans learned that when
21:12
Speaker 6: it came to Obamacare. So I don't think that talk
21:16
Speaker 6: of repeal is necessarily something that's going to be in
21:20
Speaker 6: the offing. And I think this is a challenge that
21:22
Speaker 6: Democrats have because if they just take the House, or
21:25
Speaker 6: even if they take the Senate and the House, they
21:28
Speaker 6: still are facing a Republican control of the White House,
21:32
Speaker 6: which makes doing things beyond investigations that much more difficult
21:38
Speaker 6: for them. And that's where they're going to have to
21:40
Speaker 6: temper what they promise. They should not overpromise and under deliver.
21:45
Speaker 6: And so that's where the Democratic Socialists come in because
21:49
Speaker 6: they have been talking about things that might be more
21:53
Speaker 6: plausible in some ways as a positive step that can
21:57
Speaker 6: be taken, particularly at the state and local level.
22:02
Speaker 2: Well, you know one thing that did ring true to me, Greta.
22:05
Speaker 2: You can give me your thoughts on this, the idea
22:07
Speaker 2: of extending Affordable Care Acts tax credits. At the time
22:12
Speaker 2: when that was a hot and live issue in the
22:15
Speaker 2: advancing of the President's Big Beautiful bill, there were Republican
22:19
Speaker 2: members who joined us, many of them frontliners from states
22:22
Speaker 2: like Pennsylvania or New York who were concerned about this,
22:25
Speaker 2: and you wonder if there'd be enough to band together
22:27
Speaker 2: with Democrats to get that done.
22:31
Speaker 7: I mean, I think it's certainly possible, you know, I
22:34
Speaker 7: think there was a lot of talk when you know
22:37
Speaker 7: that was all, you know, very timely, you know, where
22:40
Speaker 7: it was the sky's falling. I think that the impacted
22:44
Speaker 7: number of individuals was smaller than initially anticipated. But I
22:49
Speaker 7: do think there is a desire to make the Affordable
22:53
Speaker 7: Care Act work as intended, and I think Republicans would
22:58
Speaker 7: certainly partner with Democrats to look at holistically the problems
23:02
Speaker 7: that exist and why healthcare costs since the passage of
23:05
Speaker 7: it have only gone up, they have not gotten any
23:09
Speaker 7: more affordable for Americans.
23:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll ask you quickly.
23:14
Speaker 2: We're just about out of time here, the same question, Jeannie,
23:17
Speaker 2: do you think that Republicans can keep the House as
23:20
Speaker 2: long as the war in Iran is underway?
23:24
Speaker 6: I think it's going to be very difficult. It's historically
23:26
Speaker 6: very difficult. It's very difficult in the context with Donald
23:29
Speaker 6: Trump's low approval ratings, the issue of the economy, he
23:32
Speaker 6: is underwater. I mentioned before that cbsu GO poll, six
23:36
Speaker 6: out of ten Americans say things are getting worse, and
23:39
Speaker 6: of course the war, as you mentioned, which is weighing heavily.
23:42
Speaker 6: So if those things stay the same and we are
23:45
Speaker 6: less than one hundred days now almost August, Joe, this
23:48
Speaker 6: becomes that much tougher. And you were probably just speaking
23:51
Speaker 6: to the next Speaker of the House of the US Representatives,
23:55
Speaker 6: the third in line to the presidency, likely come January
23:58
Speaker 6: twenty twenty seventh. All things remain the same in history
24:02
Speaker 6: as any guide.
24:03
Speaker 2: What's your thought, Greta, With thirty seconds left, that's the
24:06
Speaker 2: one way you know that you're going to get gas
24:08
Speaker 2: prices down is for this war to come to an end.
24:10
Speaker 3: Does that change Republicans' fortunes?
24:13
Speaker 7: I mean, I think it certainly would, But I also
24:16
Speaker 7: think that it's really important to look when you compare
24:19
Speaker 7: it can contrast this cycle to others, is that the
24:23
Speaker 7: universe of congressional districts that is in play is very small,
24:29
Speaker 7: and a lot of those districts, now after we're past redistricting,
24:35
Speaker 7: are much more close in numbers to where Republicans want
24:40
Speaker 7: to be than some of the previous cycles. So I
24:42
Speaker 7: do think it's possible for Republicans to keep the House,
24:45
Speaker 7: but staying on message and working with their popular party
24:49
Speaker 7: leaders will be important.
24:51
Speaker 2: Great conversation and thanks to both of you, great panel,
24:53
Speaker 2: Greta Joins and Jeanie Schanze. No thanks as well to
24:56
Speaker 2: Democratic leader Hakim Jeffries for getting us started here with
24:59
Speaker 2: a great exclusive conversation on Bloomberg.
25:02
Speaker 3: Stay with us on Balance of Power. We'll have much
25:04
Speaker 3: more coming up after this.
25:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch
25:12
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on
25:15
Speaker 1: Apple Cocklay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App.
25:19
Speaker 1: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our
25:22
Speaker 1: flagship New York station, Just say Alexa, play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
25:28
Speaker 2: A doozy of a week for earnings. We're talking Apple,
25:31
Speaker 2: Amazon Meta. We came off, of course, a very difficult
25:35
Speaker 2: reaction to Alphabet earnings last week, and with so much
25:38
Speaker 2: sensitivity over the Capex having to do with AI. We'll
25:42
Speaker 2: be listening very closely and a lot of the late
25:44
Speaker 2: edition of Balance of Power will be focused on just that.
25:47
Speaker 2: We're focused on affordability right now, as the President makes
25:50
Speaker 2: his way to Michigan. He's going to be speaking to
25:53
Speaker 2: GM workers and others at a GM vehicle testing facility.
25:58
Speaker 3: A little bit later on in the day.
26:00
Speaker 2: And as we mentioned, if you're just joining us, we
26:02
Speaker 2: were speaking with Hakim Jeffries, who was on the trail
26:05
Speaker 2: yesterday in Pennsylvania to talk about the same issue, affordability.
26:10
Speaker 2: With one hundred days to go until the election day,
26:13
Speaker 2: we want to give you the view of the President
26:15
Speaker 2: and the administration on this. Having just explored Leader Jeffries'
26:18
Speaker 2: points of view with Jeff Mason Bloomberg White House correspondents
26:22
Speaker 2: with us in studio right now as the President flies
26:24
Speaker 2: to Michigan, it's great to see Jeff. Affordability is an
26:27
Speaker 2: issue this president has struggled with, not only in a
26:29
Speaker 2: literal sense, but rhetorically. He frequently calls it a Democrat hoax.
26:34
Speaker 2: He has also said that we've won the war on affordability.
26:38
Speaker 2: What will be his message today.
26:39
Speaker 8: I think just the fact that he's going out at
26:41
Speaker 8: all to talk about affordability. It's a reminder to me
26:44
Speaker 8: anyway that this was the tour that he was going
26:47
Speaker 8: to do all spring, which didn't happen because of the war,
26:50
Speaker 8: and it is a vulnerability for him absolutely going into
26:54
Speaker 8: the midterms. I think his advisors want him to talk
26:56
Speaker 8: about it more so. But you're right, even rhetorically, he
27:00
Speaker 8: hasn't been able to sell his message. And this is
27:02
Speaker 8: someone who's pretty good at messaging Donald Trump, because he
27:06
Speaker 8: uses he gets defensive about it, and it.
27:08
Speaker 3: Says affordability as a hoax.
27:09
Speaker 8: As you just said, Well, the truth is, polls show
27:13
Speaker 8: that Americans are concerned about high prices. Sure, and it's
27:16
Speaker 8: also a year and a half into his term, and
27:19
Speaker 8: you've got the tariffs, you've got the war that are
27:22
Speaker 8: directly tied to his policies. It's pretty hard for him
27:24
Speaker 8: to make the argument that this is just to hang
27:27
Speaker 8: over from Biden.
27:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was a very effective messenger on this issue
27:31
Speaker 2: when he was on the campaign dress of course, right,
27:34
Speaker 2: and promised at the time, how are you going to
27:36
Speaker 2: what's your plan to get prices down? You were at
27:39
Speaker 2: all these rallies he said, lower the price of gas
27:41
Speaker 2: and everything else will follow. Yeah, gas is back up
27:44
Speaker 2: the four to eleven today, it's about four dollars and
27:46
Speaker 2: twenty one cents in the state of Michigan. And I
27:50
Speaker 2: think we've said pretty clearly the only way around us.
27:52
Speaker 2: You can suspend the federal gas tax or do any
27:54
Speaker 2: number of things drill, but knowing our refining capacity and
27:58
Speaker 2: our limitations there, the only real way to bring this
28:01
Speaker 2: down is to.
28:01
Speaker 3: See an end of the war.
28:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, so is it about changing the messaging on the war,
28:05
Speaker 2: then good question.
28:06
Speaker 8: I mean, he has been asked directly by me and
28:08
Speaker 8: my colleagues about whether or not how concerned he is
28:11
Speaker 8: about the price of fuel, and he's dismissive of that.
28:15
Speaker 8: He's also suggested that he doesn't care that much about
28:17
Speaker 8: the midterm elections, which of course his party does. But
28:21
Speaker 8: he has painted the war as a broader, more important goal,
28:25
Speaker 8: and that's a historical one for him. He wants to
28:28
Speaker 8: see himself as someone who's taken on the Iranians in
28:32
Speaker 8: a way that previous presidents have not. But that said,
28:36
Speaker 8: he has also, and he cited this before the last
28:39
Speaker 8: time the latest ceasefire started, he has also said he
28:42
Speaker 8: doesn't want to be a president who presides over a
28:44
Speaker 8: great depression. So he's clearly aware of the economic impacts
28:49
Speaker 8: and the political impacts related to.
28:51
Speaker 2: That, probably encouraged by lower oil prices, this market still
28:54
Speaker 2: is hinging on what they think he is about today
28:56
Speaker 2: every day, which is amazing. We're down sharply seven eight
28:59
Speaker 2: percent crude oil. Nothing really actually has changed. It's just
29:03
Speaker 2: been a pause, as we're calling.
29:04
Speaker 3: It's been a pause.
29:05
Speaker 8: And he foreshadowed that a little bit on Friday when
29:07
Speaker 8: I was talking to him in the Oval office about
29:10
Speaker 8: whether or not he wanted to he had made a
29:12
Speaker 8: decision to go forward with another massive strike, and he
29:16
Speaker 8: said he hadn't.
29:17
Speaker 2: He seemed to want to turn you away from that
29:19
Speaker 2: idea almost.
29:20
Speaker 8: I think he did, and I think he also, and
29:22
Speaker 8: that was the first time at Lease that I had
29:24
Speaker 8: heard him say talks have started again. And now we
29:28
Speaker 8: don't have a whole lot of details about those talks,
29:30
Speaker 8: but certainly the fact that he did not not only
29:33
Speaker 8: launch another round of massive strikes over the weekend, it
29:36
Speaker 8: didn't even do any minor ones or smaller ones. There is,
29:40
Speaker 8: in fact a pause. There may be multiple reasons for
29:43
Speaker 8: that munitions maybe one of them and another one of
29:45
Speaker 8: them may be that he wants to give a seaspire
29:51
Speaker 8: or a peace agreement another try.
29:53
Speaker 3: So what's today, We're going to Michigan.
29:55
Speaker 2: I've been reading about this amazing facility that GM has
29:58
Speaker 2: out there. This is where the first crash to ro
30:00
Speaker 2: over tests were done. It's approving ground, as it's called,
30:04
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty miles of track. This is where
30:06
Speaker 2: they test new technologies and so forth. They can simulate
30:10
Speaker 2: extreme weather conditions. And he's going to be watching a
30:13
Speaker 2: drag race. What's that all about? Or what are the
30:17
Speaker 2: optics that are helping the president today?
30:19
Speaker 8: To be clear, drag race in this case is referring
30:21
Speaker 8: to cars. Okay, fine, and cars. It's ahead of a
30:26
Speaker 8: race that he's bringing to Washington next month.
30:28
Speaker 5: Yeah.
30:28
Speaker 3: Next month is August, right, for part of.
30:32
Speaker 8: The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary selling.
30:34
Speaker 3: Is there a tie into this thing today?
30:36
Speaker 8: I don't know if it's a specific tie in, but
30:37
Speaker 8: it's at least it's not unrelated gear.
30:40
Speaker 2: Heads sort of afternoon, Fast and Furious was the headline
30:43
Speaker 2: that jumped into my brain this morning.
30:45
Speaker 3: I think that works. He's not been real happy lately,
30:48
Speaker 3: has he?
30:49
Speaker 5: Well?
30:50
Speaker 2: I think his demeanor when you guys go into the
30:52
Speaker 2: Oval office, yeah, has been different over the past couple
30:57
Speaker 2: of weeks. Is you can kind of see the the
31:00
Speaker 2: impact of the war on him and the barrage of
31:03
Speaker 2: negative questions that he's hearing every day.
31:07
Speaker 3: Do you feel that or see that.
31:08
Speaker 8: He's I mean, our reporting certainly shows that he's boxed
31:11
Speaker 8: in by this war and that is got to be
31:14
Speaker 8: frustrating to him. And you're seeing some of that frustration
31:17
Speaker 8: for sure. On the other hand, you're not seeing him,
31:20
Speaker 8: you know, outlining a clear exit plan for this, which
31:23
Speaker 8: is something that we were asking all spring as well.
31:26
Speaker 8: So and that's sort of the interesting contrast between now
31:30
Speaker 8: and even the last you know, a month or so ago,
31:32
Speaker 8: which is he'll say this war doesn't last, isn't lasting
31:36
Speaker 8: very long compared to other wars historically, and yet he's
31:39
Speaker 8: not saying this is how we're going to get out
31:41
Speaker 8: of it.
31:41
Speaker 2: With the chief goals well, of course, we can never
31:43
Speaker 2: get into his head. The fact of the matter is
31:45
Speaker 2: he says deep talks are underway, and maybe next time
31:47
Speaker 2: you join us, we'll have some real news on this. Yeah,
31:49
Speaker 2: it's great to see you, as Jeff Mason, of course,
31:51
Speaker 2: getting us started here on the Monday edition of Balance
31:54
Speaker 2: of Power, we'll be tracking the president's moves in Michigan,
31:57
Speaker 2: of course, and let you know how things go. The
32:00
Speaker 2: drag race. Those are still acceptable around here. I'm Joe,
32:04
Speaker 2: Matthew and Washington. More on the war with Heather Conley
32:07
Speaker 2: from AI coming up next. Stay with us on Balance
32:10
Speaker 2: of Power. We'll have much more coming up after this.
32:16
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power Podcast. Catch
32:20
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on Apple,
32:23
Speaker 1: Coarclay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen
32:27
Speaker 1: on demand wherever you get your podcasts, or watch us
32:30
Speaker 1: live on YouTube.
32:33
Speaker 2: Interesting to see oil down so sharply, but stocks really
32:35
Speaker 2: aren't keying off of that, at least.
32:37
Speaker 3: Not on an index level.
32:39
Speaker 2: With the broad market trading lower today, we thought that
32:42
Speaker 2: there might be a bit under this market with some
32:45
Speaker 2: optimistic headlines involving Iran deep talks, the words the President
32:50
Speaker 2: used when he spoke on the phone with Axios. But
32:54
Speaker 2: indeed we've got an S and P five hundred down
32:56
Speaker 2: fractionally here twenty points. The NASDAK is off about a
32:59
Speaker 2: half percent, even with WTI down to eighty two dollars
33:03
Speaker 2: today and Brent back below eighty nine.
33:08
Speaker 3: Interesting moment we're in as.
33:09
Speaker 2: The President approaches his destination in Michigan, where he's going
33:13
Speaker 2: to be talking about affordability today and lower oil prices
33:15
Speaker 2: would certainly fulfill this idea and this concern, but gas
33:20
Speaker 2: prices keep rising around four dollars and eleven cents. The
33:24
Speaker 2: reason why we're watching the markets respond is because of
33:26
Speaker 2: the pause. There's been no strikes since Friday, and interesting
33:32
Speaker 2: reporting from Axios. Aforementioned it was Admiral Cooper, the top
33:37
Speaker 2: US military commander in the Middle East, Brad Cooper, who
33:40
Speaker 2: recommended stopping what had been thirteen straight nights of bombing
33:46
Speaker 2: around the Strait of Hormuz because it's reached the limit
33:49
Speaker 2: of its effectiveness, which calls into question exactly what options
33:54
Speaker 2: we have right now. And that's where we begin our
33:56
Speaker 2: conversation with Heather Conley, who's back with us from the
33:59
Speaker 2: American Enterprise Institute, senior fellow, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of
34:03
Speaker 2: State for the Bureau of European and Euration Affairs in
34:06
Speaker 2: the George W.
34:07
Speaker 3: Bush Administration. Great to see you, Welcome back.
34:10
Speaker 2: As you consider that conversation with the Admiral, what does
34:14
Speaker 2: the president see as options we have right now?
34:16
Speaker 9: If not diplomacy, so the president does not have great
34:20
Speaker 9: options moving forward militarily, Joe, you have reports of the
34:25
Speaker 9: chairman of the Joint Staff, General Kin, being very concerned
34:29
Speaker 9: about stockpiles. Now, the President just said, I think on
34:32
Speaker 9: Air Force one. He counteracted that, he said mid range
34:36
Speaker 9: munitions are fine.
34:37
Speaker 3: I'd like more.
34:38
Speaker 9: You have Admiral Cooper saying we can go back and
34:41
Speaker 9: keep hitting these things over and over again. It's not working.
34:44
Speaker 9: We need a new strategy. The air campaign is just
34:47
Speaker 9: not going to produce those results. But the President has
34:50
Speaker 9: really bad choices. He doesn't want to do a ground campaign.
34:53
Speaker 9: He doesn't want to introduce land forces. Our munition stocks
34:58
Speaker 9: are critical. And the diplomacy part, you're certainly hearing the
35:01
Speaker 9: President talk about talks. You're hearing the Iranians saying there
35:05
Speaker 9: are no talks. There are exchanges of messages, but I
35:09
Speaker 9: think they the Iranians are going to hold out and
35:11
Speaker 9: wait for that price of energy to go up to
35:13
Speaker 9: make those options more unappealing, and then forcing the President
35:18
Speaker 9: to acquiesce to additional Iranian demands.
35:21
Speaker 10: I hate that we're in that position, but that's where
35:23
Speaker 10: it feels like we're hitting.
35:24
Speaker 3: Well, is it?
35:25
Speaker 2: Because Iran is simply so effective at hiding its missile stockpiles,
35:29
Speaker 2: for instance, and its drones were repeatedly hitting the same
35:32
Speaker 2: targets because they're digging them out and pulling launchers back
35:35
Speaker 2: out from underground.
35:37
Speaker 3: Is that the essence of this.
35:38
Speaker 10: I think there's two parts.
35:39
Speaker 9: Definitely, the underground and these are fast boats. These are
35:42
Speaker 9: small things. They are very hard to target. I think
35:45
Speaker 9: the other thing is the Iranians are able to reconstitute
35:50
Speaker 9: these cheaper, faster effective drones and missiles, and this is
35:55
Speaker 9: the problem that we're facing. Our reconstitution times, particularly with
35:59
Speaker 9: our high end munitions, they can take two to four years,
36:02
Speaker 9: five to seven years. This is why there's sort of
36:04
Speaker 9: panic in the ranks here. The air defense capabilities, the
36:08
Speaker 9: Patriot missiles, the fad that long range, it takes so
36:12
Speaker 9: long to replace them. There's now a global shortage and
36:14
Speaker 9: that really puts to question, you know, could we protect
36:18
Speaker 9: against attack in the Pacific theater, in the European theater,
36:21
Speaker 9: now in the Middle East? So this is why this
36:23
Speaker 9: is such a that bad position strategically enter Ukraine.
36:27
Speaker 3: I don't know what to make of this.
36:28
Speaker 2: I know that President Zelenski will be in town for
36:31
Speaker 2: Lindsey Graham's funeral tomorrow, but to learn that Ukraine fired
36:37
Speaker 2: on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea is
36:42
Speaker 2: quite remarkable. Iran says, this killed a sailor. Iran has
36:46
Speaker 2: summoned a Ukrainian diplomat to register protest.
36:50
Speaker 3: Here.
36:51
Speaker 2: Did Ukraine just get involved in the war with Iran
36:53
Speaker 2: or where was this boat going?
36:54
Speaker 9: Well, Iran has been involved in the Ukraine War for many,
36:57
Speaker 9: many years, flying in Russia, and this is where, first
37:01
Speaker 9: of all, I think this attack a couple of things.
37:04
Speaker 9: It continues to demonstrate Ukraine is really developing impressive military capabilities.
37:10
Speaker 9: It can reach there on its own, so huge, huge
37:13
Speaker 9: gains there. I think on the on the eve before
37:16
Speaker 9: President Zelenski does come to Washington, he'll meet with President Trump,
37:20
Speaker 9: attend Senator Graham's funeral, you know, President Zelinski saying, I
37:24
Speaker 9: have some cards to play here. I can be of
37:27
Speaker 9: assistance to you.
37:29
Speaker 3: And then the.
37:30
Speaker 9: Third is, honestly, as what Zelenski has been saying all along,
37:34
Speaker 9: the conflict in Ukraine is the demonstration of this axis
37:38
Speaker 9: of evil what you're talking about. Before we came online,
37:40
Speaker 9: you have now suggestions that North Korea is going to
37:44
Speaker 9: introduce thirty thousand troops on the Russian side to fight
37:47
Speaker 9: in the war in Ukraine. This vessel allegedly was carrying
37:52
Speaker 9: components and parts to go to Russia to help Russia
37:55
Speaker 9: build additional ballistic missiles to.
37:57
Speaker 3: Be used in Ukraine.
37:58
Speaker 9: You have China fighting intelligence components potentially to Russia. So
38:04
Speaker 9: all of these are interconnected. You cannot separate one theater out.
38:09
Speaker 9: So this was a really I think hit all of
38:12
Speaker 9: those themes of Ukraine's really producing some serious weaponry that we,
38:16
Speaker 9: I think hopefully can gain access to. Mentioning that this
38:20
Speaker 9: is this is a part of Ukraine helping the United
38:23
Speaker 9: States out with this alignment.
38:25
Speaker 2: Were you in the Bush administration for the access of
38:27
Speaker 2: evil speech?
38:28
Speaker 3: I think.
38:30
Speaker 2: History is rhyming or something for you here that Okay,
38:35
Speaker 2: this is brilliant politics on Zelenski's part. Right, he can
38:39
Speaker 2: come here and say NATO's not helping you out, But
38:41
Speaker 2: I am does the President say thank you?
38:44
Speaker 9: Will he ask the president to say yeah, back to
38:47
Speaker 9: that infamous Oval officing, No, I think I think what
38:51
Speaker 9: President Zelenski is doing. And you had, of course this
38:54
Speaker 9: extraordinary moment over the weekend with Laura Loomer, influencer for
38:58
Speaker 9: the Republican She's just transformed her view on Ukraine. You
39:03
Speaker 9: have you know, the US Army co production of Ukrainian drones,
39:09
Speaker 9: the license for the Patriot missiles, the meeting that happened
39:12
Speaker 9: at the NATO summit.
39:13
Speaker 10: You are seeing a change.
39:14
Speaker 9: We are shifting into a much more supportive role. And
39:18
Speaker 9: I think again, President Selenski's here to honor Senator Graham,
39:21
Speaker 9: who was a huge advocate for Ukraine fighting Russia, the
39:26
Speaker 9: gram Bloom and Thought bill. So in some ways it
39:28
Speaker 9: is absolutely fitting the President Zelonsky honor that. But this
39:31
Speaker 9: relationship is changing, and I hope the White House really
39:34
Speaker 9: gets on that. On the side of Ukraine to Supper.
39:37
Speaker 2: Are you about to tell me the war in Ukraine
39:39
Speaker 2: is going to end before the war with.
39:40
Speaker 9: Hern No, both both are going to continue to endure.
39:45
Speaker 9: They're similar because both sides are are in really for
39:49
Speaker 9: survival mode. I mean this is we have to watch
39:53
Speaker 9: Russia's escalation Putin. You're starting to now see that Putin
39:58
Speaker 9: is feeling the effects of both the Ukrainian strikes. If
40:04
Speaker 9: the sanctioned bill goes into place, it's more of a
40:06
Speaker 9: tariff build than a sanctions bill, but that could add
40:09
Speaker 9: additional pressure. There's some movement there that I think we
40:13
Speaker 9: need to watch in Russia and Iran are similar. They
40:18
Speaker 9: also want to press huge advantage right now and are
40:21
Speaker 9: helping each other do that. So I think, unfortunately, I
40:24
Speaker 9: think both are going to continue on for the foreseeable future.
40:27
Speaker 10: Hope not, but that's the way.
40:28
Speaker 2: It feels pretty interesting to see the president's posts on
40:32
Speaker 2: truth social from over the weekends. Your point, he indicated
40:35
Speaker 2: that we were in deep talks with Iran. They've suggested
40:37
Speaker 2: otherwise the imagery he's posting on social media would not
40:41
Speaker 2: indicate someone who's advancing to the peace table. There was
40:46
Speaker 2: one AI generated image, one that portrayed a strike on
40:52
Speaker 2: karg As.
40:52
Speaker 3: It said.
40:54
Speaker 2: A different image showed the president on the helm of
40:56
Speaker 2: a naval ship wearing a hat that says another he's
41:02
Speaker 2: on board in Iranian oil tanker with the American flag
41:04
Speaker 2: and it says it's our oil tanker.
41:06
Speaker 5: Now.
41:06
Speaker 2: Does this stuff resonate that the Bravado resonate in Tehran?
41:11
Speaker 9: No, I don't believe it does. I think they interpret
41:15
Speaker 9: this is continuing. Their actions are continuing to get under
41:18
Speaker 9: the President's skin.
41:20
Speaker 3: So they think they're winning with these Well, I think they're.
41:21
Speaker 9: Going to continue to press their advantage. Look, they too,
41:24
Speaker 9: the inflation is running very high in Iran. It's not
41:27
Speaker 9: that they aren't feeling the effects of a five month conflict,
41:31
Speaker 9: but they feel that they have the leverage. They still
41:34
Speaker 9: control the Straits of Hormones. Now they're proxy in Yemen.
41:38
Speaker 9: The Hooties are squeezing the Red Sea. This is putting
41:40
Speaker 9: massive pressure on Saudi Arabia. Even though we've had this
41:43
Speaker 9: two day pause, which we're thankful for that pause. You
41:47
Speaker 9: have Iranian proxies in a rock now attacking Saudi Arabia,
41:51
Speaker 9: Jordan and so this isn't stopping. And they're targeting energy infrastructure.
41:57
Speaker 9: So they know the pain point is the price of energy.
42:00
Speaker 9: Know the pain point they can if they can hang
42:02
Speaker 9: on longer, they believe that they can get more.
42:07
Speaker 10: Concessions from the US.
42:09
Speaker 9: It's just we're not in a good strategic place and
42:12
Speaker 9: Iran's going to continue to press advance.
42:15
Speaker 3: So what does this new front in the Red Sea mean?
42:16
Speaker 3: You made reference here.
42:18
Speaker 2: We've got Iranian proxies bombing Saudi Arabia. Now this is
42:25
Speaker 2: escalation and if we have another choke point, where does
42:28
Speaker 2: it leave the US?
42:29
Speaker 9: So this is where really the last five months when
42:33
Speaker 9: the strait really closed down you saw a diversification of
42:35
Speaker 9: trying to ship out by land pipe it across to
42:38
Speaker 9: get to the Red Sea, even northern pipelines up through
42:42
Speaker 9: the Mediterranean, and it has helped, but the Saudis, by
42:47
Speaker 9: diverting to the Red Sea created another pinch point and
42:51
Speaker 9: the conflict in Yemen for many years. And if you recall,
42:54
Speaker 9: even in the Biden administration, the Hoodies were taking action
42:57
Speaker 9: in the Red Sea from twenty three to twenty four.
43:00
Speaker 10: Our naval we couldn't stop them. We reached a pause.
43:05
Speaker 3: But this is now.
43:06
Speaker 9: The Saudis are getting this on both sides and will
43:10
Speaker 9: continue to really challenge. What I worried about is some
43:13
Speaker 9: of the drone attacks on some of these major refineries
43:16
Speaker 9: and points. It's product, it's diesel, it's jet fuel that's
43:21
Speaker 9: going to really feel the pinch. So this squeeze play
43:25
Speaker 9: is ratcheting up the price for the United States.
43:28
Speaker 10: And our allies.
43:28
Speaker 3: Yeah.
43:29
Speaker 2: President Trump has made his way to Michigan to a
43:31
Speaker 2: GM vehicle testing facility where he's just shaken some hands
43:36
Speaker 2: and talking with looks like Mary Bara.
43:38
Speaker 3: From at least where I'm sitting from across the room.
43:40
Speaker 2: We'll be speaking to the issue of affordability with some
43:43
Speaker 2: GM workers a little bit later on here indeed, spending
43:47
Speaker 2: some time with the CEO of General Motors, which had
43:49
Speaker 2: a stronger than expected beat and raised quarter last week,
43:53
Speaker 2: and the stock has been chugging higher. This attention from
43:56
Speaker 2: the President today might well help the President in his
44:00
Speaker 2: effort to convince folks that affordability is the issue on
44:04
Speaker 2: his mind as.
44:05
Speaker 3: We consider the impact here.
44:06
Speaker 2: You know, you're talking about the pipelines, Heathery kindly across
44:10
Speaker 2: Saudi Arabia. I think it was Javier Bloss who tweeted
44:12
Speaker 2: over the weekend they need a bypass for the bypass
44:14
Speaker 2: now I don't know if you can pipe around now
44:17
Speaker 2: two choke points. And so as we look at four
44:20
Speaker 2: dollars and eleven cents, these prices could keep going higher.
44:25
Speaker 9: Absolutely, and again China to hav you's been doing amazing reporting.
44:29
Speaker 10: China's still pretty off the market they have, I.
44:31
Speaker 9: Mean they if they could, if they begin to increase,
44:35
Speaker 9: that's really going to drive price up, I think, Joe,
44:38
Speaker 9: we also want to keep our eye on the future.
44:42
Speaker 9: As Europe United States drains its strategic petroleum reserves. Europe
44:47
Speaker 9: is going to be at an all time low in
44:49
Speaker 9: their storage capacity before they enter winter. You're watching obviously
44:54
Speaker 9: these wildfires in Europe, drought hydropower now has gone.
44:58
Speaker 10: I mean, this could really up a huge challenge in
45:01
Speaker 10: the fall.
45:02
Speaker 9: Food in security, water insecurity, energy at Low's.
45:06
Speaker 10: We just we met her buckle in. This is going
45:09
Speaker 10: to be a massive check to.
45:10
Speaker 3: Start of a mad Max movie.
45:12
Speaker 8: Heather.
45:12
Speaker 2: I don't know how we're going to get out of this,
45:14
Speaker 2: but at least she's still smiling.
45:15
Speaker 5: Right.
45:16
Speaker 3: American Enterprise Institute.
45:17
Speaker 2: Heather Conley is with us every week here on Balance
45:20
Speaker 2: of Power to help us understand what's taking place on Mondays.
45:23
Speaker 2: It's always a job picking through everything from the weekend
45:25
Speaker 2: right the truth, social posts, all the rhetoric. And we're
45:27
Speaker 2: going to get a lot more when the President speaks
45:30
Speaker 2: a short time from now.
45:30
Speaker 3: Heather, thank you for being with.
45:31
Speaker 2: Us, right with us live on Bloomberg TV and Radio
45:34
Speaker 2: live from Washington, and I'll meet you back here on
45:36
Speaker 2: the late edition of Balance of Power with much more
45:39
Speaker 2: to follow. Thanks to HOCKEYM Jeffries for joining us our
45:42
Speaker 2: great panel and Heather Conley as well.
45:46
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast.
45:49
Speaker 2: Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already at Apple, Spotify,
45:52
Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find
45:55
Speaker 2: us live every weekday from Washington, DC at New Time
45:58
Speaker 2: Eastern at Bloomberg car