Trump-Putin Discuss Ukraine in Saudi Arabia; Toronto Plane Crash Latest
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Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin with talks now underway in Saudi Arabia between the U.S. and Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is not represented at this meeting. It's headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh. Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated he would not recognize any agreement reached without his country. Hello.

Ukraine is not participating. Ukraine knew nothing about it. Ukraine regards any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine as negotiations with no result. And we cannot acknowledge anything, any arrangements about us that were made without us. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke through an interpreter after both the U.S. and Russia clarified Ukraine would be involved in future negotiations, though as yet it's not clear what form that would take.

While Nathan, Ukraine is not alone in not being invited to the meeting in Saudi Arabia, Europe is also not represented at the talks. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, says they didn't want them there. The European philosophy hasn't gone anywhere. If they're going to weasel out some cunning ideas about freezing the conflict while actually intending, as is their custom, nature and habit to continue the war, then why should we invite them at all?

And Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaking there through an interpreter. The meeting follows a landmark phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which could pave the way for a summit between the two leaders as soon as next week. Meanwhile, back in Washington, Karen, President Trump's push to rein in the federal government is leading to more high-profile clashes.

According to the Washington Post, the acting head of the Social Security Administration resigned over the weekend after a dispute with Elon Musk's government efficiency team over its attempts to access sensitive government records. Michelle King had served several decades at Social Security before she became acting commissioner last month.

Now, President Trump has named an anti-fraud manager, Leland Dudek, as the new acting commissioner. This puts Dudek ahead of dozens of senior executives who are higher up in the agency's ranks.

Meanwhile, Nathan, nearly two dozen U.S. attorneys have found out they're out of jobs after an email mix-up. Bloomberg Law has learned the White House sent termination emails to the wrong addresses of as many as 22 U.S. attorneys in Philadelphia, Arizona, New Mexico, and other districts. The prosecutors had an idea their jobs were on the line when they lost access to their government-issued devices last Friday. By last night, the Justice Department sent the notices back.

where they should have gone to their personal emails. Sources tell Bloomberg Law the firings were originally sent to the prosecutor's internal DOJ email addresses, which should have bounced back to White House staffers. And Karen, the Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees. Probationary workers were targeted.

In a message posted to X late last night, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go. Well, Nathan, the firing comes amid another plane crash. A Delta Airlines plane flipped upside down upon landing in windy and freezing conditions in Toronto. All 80 people on board survived. 15 people were injured. Bruce Landsberg is a former vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.

we will have a team going up there. The GO team is just in the process of getting organized now, and they'll go up there and they will participate with TSB in going through the wreckage and gathering information. And then we'll provide our expertise and we'll share knowledge.

Former NTSB Vice Chair Bruce Landsberg, the incident continues a bad start to the year for air safety in North America. Ten people died on board a commuter plane that crashed in Alaska in late January. Sixty-seven people died after a regional jet and a military helicopter collided midair near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

And days later, a medevac plane crashed soon after takeoff in Philadelphia. Karen, President Trump has announced a U.S. operation in Syria that took out an al-Qaeda leader. In a Truth Social post, the president says the precision airstrike took place over the weekend. The New York Post reports U.S. Central Command released a statement saying the strike took place on Saturday and led to the death of a senior finance and logistics official from an al-Qaeda affiliate known as Haras Aldin.

Well, we turn to the markets now, Nathan, and futures are higher as we kick off a holiday-shortened trading week. The S&P 500 is just a few points away from a record high. Cameron Dawson, the chief investment officer at New Edge Wealth, says the threat of a trade war is easing. Markets are trading with this relief on an idea of we have the boy who cried tariff. Effectively, for all the talk and rhetoric of how big tariffs would be, you're seeing these things like the delay in the rollout till April.

April of the reciprocal tariffs, effectively providing a window for them to be negotiated. And New Edge Wealth's Cameron Dawson says earnings will be key for the markets going forward. And Karen Goldman Sachs remains bullish on gold. The firm is raising its year-end target for bullion to $3,100.

an ounce. Goldman says that's because of central bank buying and inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds. Checking gold prices right now, COMEX Gold is up 0.8% at $2,924.80 per ounce.

And Nathan, shares of BHP Billiton are down about six-tenths of a percent overseas. First-half profit slumped 23% as China's faltering economy dampened demand for iron ore. We caught up with CEO Mike Henry. There has been some overall economic challenges or headwinds in China, but the sectors of the economy that are important to BHP's commodity demand, for the most part, have been performing strongly.

The exception, of course, is the property sector that has been under some pressure. But we're starting to see some green shoots there by way of increased new starts, property price rises in some sectors. So I think we'll see some momentum building into 2026. BHP CEO Mike Henry cut the interim dividend to an eight-year low. It's now 50 cents a share, down from 72 cents the year before.

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 John Tucker. John, good morning. And good morning, Karen. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is under increasing pressure to step down as a crisis envelops City Hall. Let's get the very latest this morning from Bloomberg's Gina Cervini.

Governor Kathy Hochul is meeting with key leaders today, raising, quote, serious questions about the future of Eric Adams' administration, citing her power to remove the mayor. The crisis surrounding Adams intensified after four top deputies said yesterday they were resigning, and the Speaker of the City Council called for him to step down.

The four deputy mayors who resigned oversee much of the city's government. Hochul, a fellow Democrat, called allegations of a quid pro quo between the mayor and the Trump administration, quote, extremely concerning and serious. The mayor has remained defiant, saying he's not leaving office and is able to continue doing the job despite the chaos surrounding City Hall. Gina Cervetti, Bloomberg Radio. Severe winter weather slammed the eastern seaboard over the weekend, killing at least 15 people across several states.

including a dozen in Kentucky where parts of the state remain severely flooded. When some gusting over 70 mph took down telephone poles in New Jersey and huge trees all over the tri-state region.

On President's Day, a number of protests held across the nation showing support for federal workers losing their jobs as part of the Trump administration's push for efficiency. Rallying in downtown Seattle was this Veterans Affairs worker. We're all terrified. These are people that have dedicated their entire careers to serving veterans, and our work is being ripped away from us, and it's scary. It's really scary. Nearly 1,000 people marched in the snow from the Statehouse in Boston to City Hall, chanting, Elon Musk has to go.

Global News, 24 hours a day and whenever you want it. We have Bloomberg News Now. I'm John Tucker and this is Bloomberg. Karen. All right, John Tucker, thank you.

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...

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Time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update brought to you by Tri-State Audi. Here's John Stashower. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Let the hype begin for the Thursday night hockey game in Boston, the U.S. versus Canada, part two. Last Saturday in Montreal saw the U.S. victory after those three fights in the first nine seconds. This time they'll play for the Four Nations Faceoff Championship. U.S. played a tune-up game in Boston, lost to Sweden 2-1. No scoring after the first period. Canada, the U.S. versus Canada, part two.

earned the trip to the final by beating finland five to three nathan mckinnon scored twice then said we can play better than the first game we feel we can beat those guys we last saw john carlos stanton he was the yankees best hitter in the postseason hit seven home runs with the alcs mvp on his first day at yankee camp in tampa stanton said he did all that despite pain in both elbows

And it's still bothering him, and he may not play at all, and spring training may miss the start of the season. And Mets camp starting pitcher Frankie Montas, who they signed as a free agent, has a lat strain. He'll be shut down six to eight weeks. Pete Alonzo also signed, met the media in Port St. Lucie to talk about his decision to remain a Met. And here we are. We're back at it again. So it's...

The biggest thing that the takeaway is that, I mean, this is a really special place. And what makes this a special place is the people here. I mean, we've got a great, great clubhouse, obviously great talent. But I mean, I've been here my entire career.

just so many relationships that I've fostered and created over the years. And Red Sox camp, the buzz is what position will Raphael Devers play? Oh, he's been a third baseman. He has led AL third baseman in errors seven straight years. They just signed Alex Bregman. Will they move him to second baseman or will they DH Devers or play him at first? He says he only wants to play third. Speaking of positions, the Angels' Mike Trout

been strictly a center fielder. He's moving to right in an effort to help him avoid injuries. Trapp hardly played last season with a knee injury. He's also had leg and back issues. He's missed almost 400 games over the last four seasons. John Stashower, Bloomberg Sports, Cameron and Anthony.

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 on a morning where talks are underway on ending the war in Ukraine without Ukraine.

U.S. officials led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio are now meeting with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia. Eeyore Brusolo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office says his country should not be sidelined. It stands to reason to expect that the talks should be held first with Ukraine to hear.

EOR BRUSILO WITH THE UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT'S OFFICE SPOKE TO BLOOMBERG AHEAD OF THESE TALKS AGAIN NOW UNDERWAY IN RIAD. FOR MORE WE ARE JOINED BY BLOOMBERG NEWS SENIOR EDITOR BILL FERRIES. AND BILL LOOKS AS THOUGH

The Ukrainian president's office official is not getting what he wanted here. It is hard not to get the impression that Kiev is sidelined right now. Good morning. Good morning, Nathan. I think that's right. I mean, things seem to be really moving at warp speed.

here when it comes to the U.S. talks over the future of Ukraine. Of course, it was just last week that President Trump had that 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And after that, he announced that he would inform Ukrainian President Zelensky of the outcome of those talks. The U.S. now, the U.S. team there in Riyadh, having these meetings with

the Russian officials, without really much of a European presence and no Ukrainian presence there as well. The U.S. side is pitching this as kind of a restart in communication that really hasn't taken place between the U.S. and Russia since the war started. But it's clearly—clearly there are—things are—the momentum is building there.

without very much Ukrainian or European input. And we'd heard from a foreign policy aide at the Kremlin that they were hoping that there could be some discussion about economic issues as well in these talks. What is the Russian goal here in having these discussions with U.S. officials?

Well, their goal is to make as much progress in securing their gains, I think, in Ukraine and getting U.S. sanctions eased at some level. You're right. The head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dimitriev, is going to possibly be a part of those talks.

You know, it would be the U.S. said there would be tougher sanctions coming if Russia isn't ready to deal. But there already are very tough sanctions in place. It would be a different thing for the U.S. to start easing some of those sanctions, giving a big boost to Russia's economy.

But, you know, we're in a we're in a very different world now than we were five or six weeks ago. And a lot of things that were had become standard under the Biden administration are shifting very quickly. We certainly got even more clues of that just late last week when Vice President J.D. Vance appeared at the Munich Security Conference and told Europe that he felt like the biggest threat to the European Union was the threat from within this idea that Europe,

Free speech is being sidelined in some way. Where is Europe when it comes to all this? Can Europe play a role here in moving things forward when it comes to Ukraine?

Well, it's remarkable that we're asking that question because, of course, this battleground, this war is taking place in Europe. But, yeah, I think European leaders are still stunned by the U.S. position outlined by Vice President Vance and also by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the past week there in Munich.

I think a lot of people had gathered at that speech by Vice President Vance expecting to hear more about the U.S. position on Ukraine and where the war might be headed. Instead, they got much more of a talk focused on freedom of expression and even the German election and things like that. So it was not what a lot of people had expected. You saw a lot of

really angry European ministers and defense leaders. And they are moving as quickly as they can, though, to see if there's something they can do to make sure they have a seat at the table. And they're also talking about boosting defense spending even more than they had been before all this started happening. Our last minute, Bill, you talked about things moving at warp speed when it comes to U.S.-Russia relations. It seems like you could say the same thing when it comes to the government efficiency effort back in Washington.

Yeah, I think every weekend and every day we're hearing more about the repercussions from the Doge team's work and the effort to lay off primarily, at least in the beginning, some of these probationary workers. You know, we're seeing reports now about firings at the FDIC,

The head of the food safety at the FDA has resigned, saying that kind of the broad job cuts were going to make it hard to do his job. Top Social Security officials, a lot of government agencies now starting to...

count up the costs from layoffs that I expect would continue for the days and weeks ahead. 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 in

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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. This podcast is supported by BetterHelp, offering licensed therapists you can connect with via video, phone, or chat. Here's BetterHelp Head of Clinical Operations Hesu Jo discussing who can benefit from therapy. I think...

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