Trump Bashes Powell and Touts Tariffs; Amazon's Tariff Move
17:10 Share

When you have bars in the sky, onboard showers and award-winning in-flight entertainment, it's no surprise that Emirates was recently named the best airline in the world. We fly you to over 140 destinations and with partners across the globe, we connect you to another 1,700 cities across six continents. So when we say we're also the largest international airline, what we really mean is...

If you're going there, so are we. Book now on emirates.com. Fly Emirates. Fly better.

When you're with Amex Business Platinum, you have the card that helps businesses dream bigger. Get a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business and earn 1.5 times membership rewards points on select business purchases so you can stock up on what you need to take your business further and get rewarded for growing bigger. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Not all purchases will be approved. Terms apply. Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash AmexBusiness.

Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Lisa Mateo. Lisa, we begin with a milestone. In the second presidency of Donald Trump, the president marked his 100th day in office with a rally in Michigan automotive country. After decades of politicians who destroyed Detroit...

To build up Beijing, you finally have a champion for workers in the White House. And instead of putting China first, I'm putting Michigan first and I'm putting America first. President Trump told the crowd in Warren, Michigan, that his program of sweeping tariffs will unleash economic growth and bring back manufacturing jobs. And he says it's already paying off. And inflation is basically down and inflation.

Interest rates came down despite the fact that I have a Fed person who's not really doing a good job, but I won't say that. I want to be very nice. I want to be very nice and respectful to the Fed. President Trump's rally came hours after he signed a bit of relief from some of his tariffs for the auto industry, including a two-year reduction in 25% duties on foreign parts for cars made in the U.S.

But Nathan, President Trump is sticking to his overall tariff plan, including 145 percent levies on Chinese imports. In an interview with ABC News, the president said he does not think they'll hurt American consumers. China probably will eat those tariffs, but at 145, they basically can't do much business with the United States. And they were making from us a trillion dollars a year. They were ripping us off like nobody's ever ripped us off.

While still the president acknowledges that tariffs amount to a near embargo on trade with China, he says Beijing deserves it. And Lisa, reaction is pouring in this morning to President Trump's speech and his first 100 days in office. Jeannie Shianzano is a political contributor at Bloomberg.

His support and approval in terms of his handling of the economy has dropped in this last hundred days. And that's why he's attacking the pollsters. And I think he's really missing an important opportunity. This is his first time on the road since he became president, his first big rally in a swing state to explain to the American public this thing that he cares so deeply about, which is

He reiterated again to these interviewers in the last few days, he is deeply committed to this tariff regime. Bloomberg political contributor, Jeannie Shianzano notes, the polls show voters wary of president Trump's economic agenda in Michigan. Trump dismissed the surveys as biased against him. Well,

President Nathan Amazon says it will not display the cost of U.S. tariffs on products. That's after the White House blasted the reported move and President Donald Trump called Jeff Bezos to complain. Speaking outside the White House, Trump described his call with the Amazon founder. Great. Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly.

And he did the right thing, and he's a good guy. Well, that rebuke was sparked by an earlier Punchbowl News report that the e-commerce giant would soon begin displaying the cost of U.S. tariffs on individual products next to the total listed price. Well, Lisa, we may be starting to see the cost of tariffs on China now. The country's factory activity slipped into its worst contraction.

Since December of 2023, economists are calling for a speedy policy boost. Some are forecasting a significant economic slowdown this quarter that could trigger more stimulus. And turning to the markets, futures lower. This is after a six straight day of gains on Wall Street. And it'll be another busy day for earnings with 50 companies in the S&P 500 reporting. And they include two of the mag seven, Microsoft and Meta. Let's get a preview from Bloomberg's Tom Busby.

Microsoft is expected to post positive results, but there are concerns that growth in its Azure cloud computing unit could be at the low end of guidance, signaling a further deceleration in the fourth quarter amid a slowdown in data center and AI spending. That's after it canceled leases on new server farms.

and slowed construction on land it already owns. Bloomberg Consensus calls for revenue of $68.48 billion on adjusted earnings per share of $3.21. Tom Busby, Bloomberg Radio. Okay, Tom, thank you. While we wait for those Microsoft results, let's get you updated on some stocks on the move. Following earnings, shares of Supermicrocomputer are down 15.25%. The server maker gave preliminary results that fell well short of analyst estimates.

Supermicro had previously been a favorite of AI-obsessed investors. Now it attributes its underperformance to customers delaying purchases. And Nathan, shares have snapped. They're down 14%. The company's scaling back its full-year target for adjusted operating expenses.

It also declined to issue a sales forecast for the current period due to macroeconomic headwinds affecting its advertising business. And, Lisa, shares of Starbucks are down more than 6%. The coffee chain posted earnings below estimates. Same store sales declined 1% in the quarter. And it's also a busy morning for earnings in Europe with some big banks reporting. Let's go to London and get the very latest with Bloomberg's Yuan Potts. Good morning, Yuan.

Lisa and Nathan, more big beats from Europe's big banks, UBS, Santander and Barclays, all smashing estimates today. Volatility is the word of the moment with whipsawing markets driving returns in the first quarter. In Switzerland, UBS Group's markets unit posted a record performance with equities and FX trading revenue up 32%.

Here in London, Barclays stock traders cashed in with their best quarter in almost three years. But over in Spain, Santander shares lower today despite a beat on net income. The country's biggest bank reporting a drop in net interest income, perhaps a sign of things to come as the ECB cuts rates. Lisa and Nathan? Now, Donald Trump's tariffs also causing some European carmakers to scrap their guidance.

Yeah, away from the trading desk, the mood on the factory floors of Europe's biggest automakers is a lot gloomier. Donald Trump's tariffs have prompted several large carmakers to withdraw their financial guidance. Jeep owner Stellantis and Germany's Mercedes-Benz Group pulling their forecasts for this year, citing the duties as they upend supply chains and drive up car prices around the world. Volkswagen left its outlook largely unchanged, but warned its forecast doesn't factor in the impact of the tariffs.

Live in London, I'm Ewan Potts, Bloomberg Radio. Okay, Ewan, thank you. Back here in the U.S., we're waiting for a key reading on the economy. The government reports first quarter economic growth before the opening bell. Economists are forecasting a sharp slowdown in GDP due to President Trump's policy shifts disrupting activity. The median forecast is for a drop of two-tenths of one percent.

All right, time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. For that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Hey there, Michael. Hey, Lisa. The first accuser in disgrace movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault retrial took the witness stand yesterday in Manhattan. Miriam Haley told the jury that when she went to meet Weinstein on the sidelines of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, all she wanted was work. Here's what she said.

Haley says Weinstein commented on her legs and asked for a massage. Haley testified she said no. Weinstein, who is 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone.

millions of Americans are on alert for spring storms, severe weather, and possible tornadoes have already caused destruction in Missouri. Outside of Springfield, Jerry Bows saw a tree fall on his neighbor's home. I just kept praying that it wouldn't get as bad as it finally got. You couldn't hardly see anything because it was so foggy. We feel fortunate and our neighbors have a lot of damage, but they're all alive.

There are also several flood threats from Missouri to Minnesota. Over 130 cardinals will gather at the Vatican next week for the conclave to choose the next pope. Vatican analyst Father Tom Reese. I think we're going to find someone who supported Pope Francis, who is in touch with his legacy and wants to continue it. But we're not going to find anybody like Pope Francis. There's just nobody like him.

Meanwhile, the disgraced Italian Cardinal at the heart of the Vatican's trial of the century announced he was withdrawing from participating in the conclave. Cardinal Angelo Becci was banned from the gathering after his 2023 conviction on finance-related charges, although he maintains his innocence.

The president of Harvard says, "I'm sorry," after the university released its long-awaited reports on anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bias. The reports presented a scathing critique of how its students treated each other in the aftermath of the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. It comes as the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school has fired back at demands from the Trump administration to exert government control over the school.

Global news 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg. Lisa. Thank you, Michael.

When you have bars in the sky, onboard showers and award-winning in-flight entertainment, it's no surprise that Emirates was recently named the best airline in the world. We fly you to over 140 destinations and with partners across the globe, we connect you to another 1,700 cities across six continents. So when we say we're also the largest international airline, what we really mean is...

If you're going there, so are we. Book now on Emirates.com. Fly Emirates. Fly better. When you're with Amex Business Platinum, going the extra mile for your business pays off.

With five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through amxtravel.com, you can earn more points to help grow your business. And with access to more than 1,400 lounges globally through the American Express Global Lounge Collection, including the Centurion Lounge. Can I get you a refill? You can stay fresh wherever your business travel takes you. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash amxbusiness.

Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. For that, we bring in John Stashower.

Thanks, Lisa. Every game in this Knicks-Pistons series has been close, tough, physical, grinded-out type games, more of the same. Game five at the Garden, both teams struggled to score for most of the first half. Detroit went up by 10 in the third quarter. Knicks rallied, took a couple of narrow, short-lived leads in the fourth. But the Pistons, facing elimination, stayed alive, winning 106-103. The Knicks' Carl Anthony Towns knows nothing in this series has come easy. We haven't put ourselves in a position to...

get a commanding win. You know, we've been very gritty this whole series and physical and it's allowed us to find a way a lot of times to win. I think what was the differential in Detroit like the

Indeed, they won by two points and then by one, and then last night lost by three. And the series is going back to Detroit, where the Pistons still haven't won a playoff game in 17 years. But if they do win tomorrow, it'll be game seven at the Garden on Saturday. The Celtics await the series winner. Boston dominated the second half, beat Orlando 120-89, won the series 4-1. Indiana moving on, finished overtime with an 8-0 run over the last 35 seconds.

to oust Milwaukee 119-118. Denver beat the Clippers 131-115. Jamal Murray scored 43. The season over for the Devils. Painful Game 5 loss at Carolina, New Jersey led 3-0. But four minutes into the second overtime, Sebastian Ajo scored. Hurricanes won 5-4, took the series in five. Also winning in the NHL, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vegas in overtime. There was a point last night where the Mets and Yankees were winning their games by a combined score of 20-0.

Mets beat Arizona 8-3. They're now 13-1 at home. The Yankees won in Baltimore 15-3. They began the game first three batters, three solo home runs. Red Sox won 10-2 in Toronto. The Nationals lost 7-6 in Philadelphia. John Stachauer, Bloomberg Sports, Lisa and Nathan.

Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio. Nationwide on Sirius XM. And around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. President Donald Trump has marked his first 100 days back in office with a rousing defense of his economic policies. Sweeping tariffs, cutting taxes, and reshaping the federal government. We're taking back our country from a sick political class.

They got rich selling America out and bleeding America dry. We don't let that happen anymore. That was the president at a 100th day rally last night in Macomb County, Michigan. This morning, we are joined by Bloomberg News senior editor Bill Ferrys. And Bill, after the flurry of activity we've seen since January 20th from the president, he's back in campaign mode. Now, what did you take away from the rally last night? Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning, Nathan. Thanks for having me. Well, a really interesting thing was this is one of President Trump's first real opportunities to get before his supporters in a very public way. Since we've started to see the rollout of these tariffs, we've started to see a lot of that market volatility increase.

And a lot of questions about whether this is the right track. We know some of his poll numbers are down. We know consumer confidence is down and things like the S&P have also weakened. So this was a chance, as you said, for him to have another one of these campaign style rallies.

and put some of the first 100 days in perspective now that we're all sort of starting to digest what these policies are. Now, one element that came out last night, the president said inflation's coming down, interest rates are down, despite having a person in the Fed he says is not really doing a very good job. What to make of this renewed criticism now for Fed Chair Powell?

Yeah, I don't think he used Jay Powell's name directly, but everyone knows who he was talking about. I don't think despite kind of the market volatility we saw when when people thought that maybe Trump would try to fire Jay Powell.

I don't think he's ever going to totally let go of this until we see the Fed cutting rates to a level that Trump is comfortable with. There are a lot of questions about the economy in the months ahead. We've seen companies kind of ditching their forecast for the year as this uncertainty plays out.

One thing that usually does give the economy or at least the stock market a boost are Fed rate cuts. So I think Donald Trump would like to see that happen to help kind of juice things up a little bit while the rest of his agenda starts to play out. He says the tariff...

Money is rolling in. He says the tax cuts are coming. But he, I think, would like to see the Fed do what he would argue is its part in all this. Can we say that concerns about the economy could be part of the reason why President Trump signed that little bit of a reprieve for tariffs on the auto industry at a time where he was appearing before the auto industry, ostensibly?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this was a speech, a rally in the heart, in Michigan, in the heart of the auto industry. Donald Trump kind of giving another big reprieve to automakers, basically saying he doesn't want tariffs to stack up on them. You know, tariffs on top of tariffs on some of those imported cars or the parts. And also just stepping back, really like laying out a three-year roadmap for

on tariffs for auto parts. So, you know, I think the big fear is someone who was, you know, shopping for a car a few months ago, going back to the dealership and seeing something that may cost thousands of dollars more. That politically would be really tough for this president. All in all, though, Bill, where would you say the president is when it comes to his focus on tariffs? We heard him talking about it at the rally and again in an interview on ABC News saying that he thinks China is going to feel most of the

burn from the tariffs in place, even as we're starting to see some major Chinese companies at least try to pass on some of the added costs to consumers.

Yeah, both sides or neither side really willing to blink here so far in this fight. Donald Trump saying that he thinks China is going to, quote, eat these tariffs, meaning that he thinks they'll start absorbing some of the costs. No sign from Chinese companies like Xi'an and Temu, big retailers that ship directly to a lot of Americans.

No sign that they're really going to absorb any of that. They're trying to pass on basically all the costs they're getting. I think we're going to have to see how some of these one-on-one trade deals work out. The administration has said Japan and India are near the top of the list. Until you get a little more certainty on that front, I think the jury's going to be out on whether these tariffs are going to do a lot of damage or actually benefit.

of the U.S. economy and manufacturing. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen. You can also listen live each morning starting at

5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston, and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121. Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app. Now with Apple.

carplay and android auto interfaces and don't forget to subscribe to bloomberg news now it's the latest news whenever you want it in five minutes or less search bloomberg news now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long i'm nathan hager and i'm lisa mateo join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on bloomberg daybreak

Switch to Verizon Business and get more from your internet without paying more for your internet. Get LTE Business Internet starting at $39 a month when paired with select business mobile plans. That's unlimited data and with it, unlimited possibilities. Start saving today with Verizon Business. Ranked number one in small business internet customer satisfaction by J.D. Power. Starting price for 25 megabits per second LTE internet plan with smartphone plan savings.

plus taxes, fees, and economic adjustment charge. Terms apply. For J.D. Power 2024 award information, visit jdpower.com slash awards. AI is redefining what's possible for your business. With more unique challenges to solve and higher stakes than ever, Microsoft helps you stay ahead. Our trustworthy AI tools and guidance can empower leaders like you to drive greater impact. And with Azure's simplified platform management, we're helping businesses go further, faster, unlocking up to 150% improved output. What

Whatever challenge comes next, let Microsoft help you keep pushing forward. For more details, visit Microsoft.com slash challengers.