Trump Looks to Tighten Chip Ban; US Sides with Russia on UN Vote
17:31 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. This is a message from sponsor Intuit TurboTax.

Taxes was waiting to get your money back, which turned into worrying about getting your money back. Now taxes is matching with a TurboTax expert who can do your taxes today and help you get up to a $4,000 refund advance loan fast. Get an expert on TurboTax.com. Only available with TurboTax Live Full Service. Refund advance has $0 loan fees and 0% APR. Refund advance loans may be issued by First Century Bank, N.A., or WebBank. Terms apply subject to approval.

Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News.

Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin with the latest on U.S.-China relations. President Donald Trump is planning to toughen Biden-era controls over China's tech sector. Bloomberg News has learned the White House is sketching out more restrictive semiconductor curbs and is pressuring key allies to escalate their own restrictions on China. We get more from Bloomberg's Tom McKenzie.

It's the existing platform that's already there that the Biden administration built, and they're looking to tighten that up, which, for example, is working with U.S. partners like the Dutch and the Japanese. And we know officials from the Trump administration have been out to the Netherlands and to Japan, particularly Tokyo Electron in Japan and ASML in the Netherlands, to put pressure on both those countries to try and limit the access that engineers from those companies have to the Chinese markets to continue to work on the machines and the kit that is already in situ in China.

Bloomberg's Tom McKenzie says some Trump officials are also looking to further restrict the types of NVIDIA chips that can be exported to China without a license. Well, Nathan, China is not the only country in the crosshairs of Trump. As heard right here on Bloomberg Radio, the president said tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada are on track to take effect on March 4th. The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule.

This is an abuse that took place for many, many years. And I'm not even blaming the other countries that did this. I blame our leadership for allowing it to happen. I mean, you know, who can blame them if they made these great deals with the United States, took advantage of the United States? Trump also said he wants to revive Canada's XL oil pipeline. The project, which was meant to carry Canadian oil sands crude to Nebraska, became a litmus test for environmentalism under former President Obama.

who rejected it in 2015. It's been subject to political jockeying ever since. And Karen, President Trump appears to be breaking even further with U.S. allies on the war in Ukraine. At the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. joined with Russia in voting against a European resolution calling out Moscow's full-scale invasion. Russia later backed a U.S. resolution calling for a swift end to the conflict without assigning blame.

Meanwhile, President Trump says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could come to Washington as soon as this week to sign a deal on critical minerals. The deal's being worked on. We're, I think, getting very close to getting an agreement where we get our money back over a period of time. But it also gives us something where I think it's very beneficial to their economy.

President Trump spoke alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House. Macron says Europe would be willing to send peacekeepers into Ukraine after a peace is negotiated. Trump is signaling he would support that. Well, Nathan, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is denouncing the Trump administration's pressure on Ukraine over its natural resources. Summers spoke with David Weston on Bloomberg's Wall Street Week.

What the Trump administration seems to be proposing, and to be fair, we have not seen all the details, is Versailles, a Versailles-like agreement imposed not on aggressors, but imposed on the victims of aggression.

Bloomberg contributor Larry Summers was referring to the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles, which imposed strict financial and other penalties on Germany. Well, Karen, confusion reigns among federal government workers on whether to respond to a threatening email from Elon Musk. Let's get the latest from Bloomberg's John Tucker. John. Good morning, Nathan. The

deadline was just before midnight. Musk demanded that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments or risk getting fired. Now, Musk says federal workers are going to be given a second opportunity to respond.

But the federal agency that sent the email says it's up to agency leadership, not Musk. What happens to those who ignore the message? Everett Kelly, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, takes a pretty dim view of the tactics used by Musk. They want to confuse the workforce. They want to put fear in the minds of the workforce that they'll just quit.

At least three agencies, including the Justice Department, the State Department and the Department of Defense, told their employees not to respond to Musk's directive. But other agencies sent the opposite message. Musk's escalating threats come as President Trump has urged him to be even more aggressive.

I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. Meanwhile, Bloomberg News has learned Musk's SpaceX is seeking to deploy Starlink satellite internet terminals to help upgrade the Federal Aviation Administration's national airspace system. The effort raises questions about conflicts of interest for Musk's business empire and the future of a $2 billion contract awarded in 2023 to Verizon Communications.

We've got some political news outside Washington, Karen. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is reportedly on the verge of running for mayor of New York City. The New York Times is reporting Cuomo may announce his candidacy as soon as this weekend. Cuomo resigned from office in 2021 over sexual misconduct claims.

Cuomo denied the allegations. Well, Nathan, turning to the markets, futures there lower this morning, falling a mostly down day on Wall Street. Bank of America says trading clients are remaining on the sidelines because of uncertainty about the Trump administration. Jim DiMari leads Bank of America's global markets division and spoke with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the bank's investor summit in Dubai.

Clients are doing a little bit less today than they were, let's say, when we were coming into the beginning of the year and certainly where we were ending the fourth quarter of last year. One of the most common areas of interest and opportunity as people were thinking about potential for increase in tariffs was what markets would be impacted the most.

And despite his skepticism, Bank of America's Jim DiMari expects it to likely be a good quarter for his firm's traders who hauled in record revenue last year. And in Europe, Karen, there's a change at the top of Unilever. Chief Executive Officer Hein Schumacher is stepping down in a surprise move after less than two years in charge of the consumer goods business. The maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream says Schumacher will be replaced by Fernando Fernandez, who's currently the company's chief financial officer.

And it's time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. New York Mayor Eric Adams made it official. A Midtown Manhattan hotel that became the city's main intake center for migrants will be closing soon. The Roosevelt Hotel, which has served as both

Our Asylum Arrivals Center and a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center for nearly two years will be closing in the coming months. Mayor Adams says for the last seven months, new arrivals have declined, and therefore the Roosevelt that housed migrants will be winding down its operations. Former tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announced he is running for governor of Ohio in 2026.

At an event in Cincinnati, Ramaswamy said he believes the Trump administration will bring positive change to the country. I'm now more optimistic than I have ever been for the future of our country. We're on the cusp of a new golden age in America right now. Ramaswamy ran for the Republican presidential nomination last year, coming in fourth in the Iowa caucuses before dropping out of the race. More than 100 corrections officers are on strike at New York State's Kokstaki Correctional Facility.

Corrections officers have been striking or picketing at about 30 prisons across the state in the past week, calling for heightened security and a reversal of limits on solidarity confinement. Republican Assemblyman Chris Taig gave his support to the strikers.

It's not just the COs. You're talking about the inmates as well. There are serious safety concerns on both sides. And without these people in there doing their job, we've got a very big problem on our hands. The strikes are not authorized by the Corrections Officers Union, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced legal action against the strikers.

Thousands of people have gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, hoping for his recovery. The 88-year-old Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and remains in critical condition, despite showing a slight improvement after 11 days in the hospital. And finally, we've lost Grammy-winning singer Roberta Flack. Killing me softly with his song, killing me softly.

Flack, who gave us Killing Me Softly with his song, The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face and other hits, died Monday. Roberta Flack was 88. Global News 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg, Karen. Yeah, that song cuts right into my soul, Michael Barr. Thank you so much. Thank you, Michael Barr.

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.

This was the cloud built for AI.

A blazing fast enterprise-grade platform for your infrastructure, database, apps, and all your AI workloads. OCI costs 50% less than other major hyperscalers for compute, 70% less for storage, and 80% less for networking. Thousands of businesses have already scored with OCI, including Vodafone, Thomson Reuters, and Suno AI. Now the ball's in your court. Right now, Oracle can cut your current cloud bill in half if you move to OCI. Minimum financial commitment and other terms apply.

Offer ends March 31st. See if your company qualifies for this special offer at oracle.com slash strategic. That's oracle.com slash strategic.

And it's time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update brought to you by Tri-State Audi. Here's John Stashower. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Sean Minaya emerged last season as the Mets' best starting pitcher. Won 12 games. ERA was 3.5. That's why the Mets re-signed him for three years, $75 million. With the left-hander as an oblique strain on his right side. The news delivered yesterday in Fort St. Lucie by Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. This was something that he felt...

from the beginning of camp and didn't think much of it. None of us think he was much of it either, but he kept throwing live and bullpen, but he got to a point where we thought he was going to turn the corner and that wasn't the case. We sent him for a MRI yesterday, which

you know, show the strain. Minaya will have to heal, then get amped up. He'll almost certainly start the season on the injured list. And Frankie Montas, who the Mets signed as a free agent, has had an even longer with a lat strain. Jose Quintana, who pitched well for the Mets last season, remains an unsigned free agent. But word is, the Mets do not want to add any payroll. The Nets went to Washington having won seven of their last nine. They did lose earlier this month to the lowly Wizards, and they lost to them again. 107-99 just the Wizards.

10th win of the season, first time all year they held an opponent under 100 points. In L.A. tonight, it's the Lakers and Mavs. Luka Doncic plays his old team at UBS. Only the second meeting this season between the Rangers and Islanders, both on the outside looking in for a playoff spot. The new college basketball poll has Auburn number one and St. John's number seven.

Highest ranking for the Red Storm since 1991. Kansas began the year number one, had been ranked 80 weeks in a row. The Jayhawks are now out of the top 25. The Green Bay Packers are the team leading the charge to the NFL competition committee, asking for the end of the tush push, the play perfected by the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. John Staschauer, Bloomberg Sports.

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 is pressing ahead with plans to bring the war in Ukraine to a quick end. He says he could meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as soon as this week to finalize a critical minerals deal. I will be meeting with President Zelensky. In fact, he may come in

This week or next week to sign the agreement, which would be nice. I'd love to meet him. We'd meet at the Oval Office. The president spoke there at the Oval Office alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. But there are more signs the president could be looking to do these deals with or without European allied backing. For more, we're joined by Dr. Lindsay Newman, geopolitical risk analyst and columnist.

at GZERO Media. Lindsay, it's good to speak with you once again. I wonder what you make of the latest moves that we're seeing from President Trump, particularly with this focus on critical minerals and these votes at the United Nations, where U.S. and Russia are aligning with each other for the first time since the war broke out. Good morning.

Hi, Nathan. Morning. Thanks for having me back on. Yes, Trump has said yesterday that he now thinks that his greatest legacy may be as a peacemaker and unifier. Think about that as we think of how far we have come. You know, we're just a little bit more than a month into this Trump 2.0 administration. It's an administration that has obviously wasted no time on executing on its agenda.

The biggest geopolitical story of the week has to be what began unfolding last week with those meetings of the U.S. delegation with the Russian delegation in Saudi. And as you say, sort of spilled over very publicly yesterday on the third anniversary of the conflict with those competing U.N. resolutions. It can't be understated. So we had earlier in the day a U.N. General Assembly resolution, which was Ukraine sponsored and the U.S.

voted against the resolution because it merely included this phrasing of noting the full scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. So the U.S. voted against that and was joined by some company. It usually doesn't keep Russia and North Korea. And then later in the day, the UN Security Council passed a U.S. led resolution, which was very short about Russia's involvement in initiating the war. This was really the first UN Security Council resolution passed

since the conflict because Russia has vetoed all prior attempts. And again, there the U.S. sided with Russia and China. So we're seeing this gulf open up between the U.S. and its European allies. It has riled Europe, these stunning developments. And unfortunately for French President Emmanuel Macron, he was in the sort of unenviable position yesterday of visiting the White House on the same day that France had abstained from supporting the U.S.-U.N. Security Council resolution.

Is this a full-scale pivot or is it just a gap between the U.S. and Europe that can still be bridged? You know, I think that is the big question because we see in the press conference yesterday between President Trump and Macron, it's very collegial, it's very friendly, it's hearkening back to the U.S., you know, to the French role in supporting U.S. during its own revolution. But then what you also...

see is a very different lens between the two sides, between how the US is looking at the war and bringing an end to the war in Ukraine and how Europe is. For Europe, for Macron, it's all about security guarantees. I think I counted, he said the phrase security guarantees seven times yesterday in the press conference. For Trump,

Trump, it's about breaking from foreign policy of the past. He was very clear about that. And he sees this about ending the war as soon as possible to prevent a World War III. But really, the key point that's very interesting that we're watching develop is he's looking to recoup U.S. funding through this critical minerals deal with Ukraine. And he's

even talking about perhaps reestablishing ties with Russia and Russia for its part seems open to it Putin in an interview yesterday said hey we have critical minerals as well perhaps more than Ukraine we're willing to help you develop those deposits so for Trump as always this is very transactional this is about how do we bring an end to this war and what can the U.S and the Trump administration get out of it for Europe it's saying hey this is existential this is about security guarantees and

are in the inviolability of European borders. In our last minute, Lindsay, put this in the context of the continued pressure that we're seeing from President Trump when it comes to tariffs, saying that tariffs on Canada and Mexico are still on track, still talking about reciprocal tariffs, and now continuing to apply pressure on China when it comes to chip access.

Yeah, absolutely. So there's been some big pronouncements over the last couple of days, including this national security presidential memorandum, which we will be looking at very closely because it's really the first big tenet piece from this administration on China. But as you say, the Trump administration has put in policy, it's put in place its trade policy. It makes clear that it's going to go after allies and adversaries alike.

And, you know, so this is about not just a China story anymore. This is about looking at the global landscape and seeing how can the U.S. best position itself under Donald Trump for the for its economic future. 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 Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

I think...

A lot of people think that you're supposed to be going to therapy once you're like having panic attacks every day. But before you get to that point, I think once you start even noticing that you feel a little bit off and you can't maintain this harmony that you once had in relationships, that could be a sign that maybe you want to go talk to somebody.

There's always a benefit in talking to someone because we can all benefit from improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people. So if you're human, that's like a good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody. Find out if therapy is right for you. Visit BetterHelp.com today. That's BetterHelp.com. Never settle unless it's in the electrifying BMW i4.

Blend the lines of cutting-edge and classic with groundbreaking technology at your fingertips. Experience M-engineered precision while you twist around every turn. After all, electric doesn't have to be static. If you thought EVs couldn't live up to your expectations, then you've never experienced the ultimate electric driving machine. The 100% Electric 2025 BMW i4. Hurry into the BMW President's Day sales event and receive exceptional offers through March 2nd.