Trump Talks Tariffs & Chips in Congressional Address; Disney Job Cuts
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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 President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress. As heard live on Bloomberg Radio, it began with a bold statement from the president. America is back. Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America.

From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. President Trump touted one of the biggest actions he's taken, plans for sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it's happening and it will happen rather quickly. There'll be a little disturbance eventually.

But we're OK with that. And while economists have warned tariffs will raise prices for consumers, President Trump blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for inflation. Their policies drove up energy prices, pushed up grocery costs and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions and millions of Americans. They've never had anything like it.

President Trump also touched on the war in Ukraine after his blow up with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Trump said he received a letter from Zelenskyy offering to sign the natural resources deal that was scrapped last week. I appreciate that he sent this letter, just got it a little while ago. Simultaneously, we've had serious discussions with Russia

and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn't that be beautiful? And Trump touted the government cost-cutting and downsizing effort led by Elon Musk, who was in the House chamber last night. The president read a long list of government programs and grants that he called examples of waste. Many more have been found out and exposed and swiftly terminated by a group of very intelligent, mostly young people headed up by Elon, and we appreciate it.

And Democrats frequently jumped in to reject the claims. Some of them held up protest signs like Musk steals and false. One Democratic congressman, Al Green of Texas, was removed from the House chamber during the president's record-setting 100-minute speech. And after the speech, Karen, it was the Democrats' chance to respond. Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin criticized Trump's economic agenda, accusing him of targeting Social Security and other benefits to give trillions of dollars to the wealthiest Americans.

President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends. He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America.

And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life. Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin argued high grocery and home prices will be exacerbated by the president's tariffs. Well, Nathan, we're getting more reaction this morning to President Trump's 100-minute speech. Jeanne Sheehan Zaino is a political contributor for Bloomberg. The reality is, is that by the time the speech ended, many Democrats had already left the floor out of protest, protest.

you know, and the president engaged with them. We heard him use an unfortunate term to refer to the senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren. And so it was a very, very contentious speech. And I think it speaks to how divided the American public is.

In addition to Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, he also caught up with Bloomberg politics contributor Rick Davis. RICK DAVIS, Bloomberg Political Contributor: Tariffs are going to be a regime that Donald Trump uses to punish

Countries that don't do his bidding to settle scores when it comes to trade, to equalize these reciprocal tariffs in order to equalize it and lower our trade deficits, and to take some pressure off American taxpayers, who he is intent on lowering the burden of taxes.

And Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeanne Sheehan-Zaino made the comments on a special edition of Balance of Power covering Trump's speech. And Karen, the address also included a call to end a key program from the Biden administration.

Let's get the details on that from Bloomberg's John Tucker. John, which program are we talking about here? Well, he took aim at the CHIPS Act. That's the $52 billion semiconductor subsidy that enjoyed bipartisan support. Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars...

And it doesn't mean a thing. They take our money and they don't spend it. In fact, the CHIPS Act has spurred over $400 billion in investments from companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Intel. It's intended to revitalize American semiconductor manufacturing and encourage chip research and development. The president argued that tariffs would achieve the same thing.

At the very least, Republicans want to repeal the law's labor-friendly regulations and environmental requirements. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. Well, President Trump's trade war against America's three biggest trading partners drew immediate retaliation from Canada and China. Trump imposed 25% taxes on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to the American public yesterday. We don't want this.

We want to work with you as a friend and ally. And we don't want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aims to put tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods. Well, this morning, Karen, there's some optimism that the White House may walk back some of its tariffs. Commerce Secretary Howard Ludnick spoke to Fox late yesterday.

Both the Mexicans and the Canadians were on the phone with me all day today trying to show that they'll do better. And the president's listening because, you know, he's very, very fair and very reasonable. So I think he's going to work something out with them. It's not going to be a pause. None of that pause stuff. But I think he's going to figure out you do more and I'll meet you in the middle some way. And we're going to probably be announcing that tomorrow.

Of course, tomorrow now is today and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's comments followed a turbulent day on Wall Street. Stocks plunged at first, then recovered before closing down 1.2 percent. This morning, futures are pointing to a recovery. Stay with Bloomberg for a special conversation with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. It happened

Well, Nathan, New York Fed President John Williams said he anticipates tariffs will contribute to inflation. Williams spoke at the Bloomberg Invest Conference in New York.

The talk of tariffs, the sense that there's higher prices out there is clearly influencing how people are thinking about inflation this year. I'm not seeing as much of an indication in most of these surveys that that's about long run inflation or inflation in the future, but more about inflation in the near term. And clearly, people are experiencing some higher prices.

New York Fed President John Williams also said monetary policy is in a good place and that he does not see the need to change borrowing costs right away. Well, despite a possible trade war with the U.S., Karen, China has set an economic growth goal of about 5% for this year. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that target during the opening session of the National People's Congress in Beijing. It marks the third straight year China set this goal.

We get more from Bloomberg chief North Asia correspondent Stephen Engel in Beijing. It's the same target that they set last year and met by the end of the year. And that's without a Trump trade war. So everyone is kind of saying, well, with this trade pressure coming and tariffs rising,

where are they going to find that growth? Well, that's why they did lift the fiscal deficit target to 4% of GDP from 3%. Bloomberg's Stephen Engel says investors are expecting Chinese officials to unleash more stimulus later this year to help meet those economic goals.

Well, back here in the U.S., Nathan, job cuts are coming to Disney. And we get the latest from Bloomberg's Lisa Mateo. Lisa, what's going on? Hey there, Karen. Well, according to an internal memo, it's about 6% or 200 jobs. Those are being eliminated at Walt Disney's ABC and Entertainment TV networks.

So here's the breakdown, okay? The biggest portion of the cuts, that will affect the ABC News division in New York, production units, including ABC News Studios, 2020, Nightline. They will be consolidated. But Disney has eliminated more than 8,000 roles since 2023. It's all part of an effort to cut about $7.5 billion of annual costs. Now, affected workers, they will be notified today. Disney shares checking with them, they're up nearly 1%.

Lisa Mateo, Bloomberg Radio. Okay, Lisa, thank you. And a programming note this morning. This is day two of the Bloomberg Invest Conference, convening dealmakers and investors from around the globe. Today's highlights include former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, KKR co-CEOs Joseph Bay, and Tasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of TIAA. We take you to Bloomberg Invest Live starting at 10 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg Radio and the Bloomberg Podcast YouTube page.

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. There were protests coast to coast over President Trump and Elon Musk's overhaul of the federal government in San Francisco.

No to dictatorship. Chance of no dictatorship were heard. In Washington, a protest was held alongside members of Congress, labor leaders rallying outside the office of personnel management building. Was there also Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland? Donald Trump has given Elon Musk

the keys to federal agencies, and they are dismantling services that are important to every American family. A rally was also in Manhattan in support of Ukraine. The protests were held before President Trump gave his address before a joint session of Congress where he defended his tariff plan, saying it would raise trillions.

Powerful storms have killed two people in Mississippi, torn the roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in Oklahoma, and threatened communities across the nation. Tuesday's large system brought blinding dust storms to the southwest, blizzards with whiteout conditions to the Midwest, and raised fears of wildfires.

In New Orleans, high winds forced some changes to Mardi Gras. The city shortened the celebration's two biggest parades to wrap them up before high winds moved in.

Dozens of people in Texas have been sickened in a measles outbreak, with health officials fearing this could spread at a high rate among the unvaccinated. Baylor College of Medicine's top vaccine researcher, Dr. Peter Hotez, warned measles has an incubation period of 12 days to three weeks, meaning someone can have it that long before symptoms show, and it can infect others without knowing it.

We're going to still be in this for at least another two weeks. And the fact that this is continuing to accelerate suggests to me that it's going to be around for quite some time. Last week, an unvaccinated child died in Texas from the illness. As of now, almost 160 people have been infected with close to two dozen people hospitalized. Global News, 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr. This is Bloomberg, Karen. All right, Michael Barr, 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...

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

I'm Alpine skier, Michaela Schifrin. I've won the most World Cup ski races in history. But what does success mean to me? Success means discipline. It's teamwork. It's the drive and passion inside of us that comes before all recognition. And it's why Stiefel is one of the fastest growing global wealth management firms in the country. If you're looking for success, surround yourself with the people who will get you there. It's

At Stiefel, we invest everything into our advisors so they can invest everything into their clients. That means direct access to one of the industry's largest equity research franchises and a leading middle market investment bank. And it's why Stiefel has won the J.D. Power Award for Employee Advisor Satisfaction two years in a row.

If you're an advisor or investor, choose Stiefel. Where success meets success. Stiefel Nicholas & Company, Inc. Member SIPC and NYSE. For J.D. Power 2024 award information, visit jdpower.com slash awards. Compensation provided for using, not obtaining the award.

Time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update brought to you by Tri-State Audi. Here's John Stashour. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Steph Curry's been coming to the Garden with the Golden State Warriors since 2010. He's only lost once, raised his personal record at MSG to 12-1. Curry got hot in the second half. Green one-on-one with Hart, working around for post. Green, hands, Curry, Curry!

A three for Steph Curry. TNT to call. Curry scored 20 of his 28 points after halftime. The Warriors went from down 10 to up 12. They beat Tom Thibodeau's Knicks 114-102. Low energy coming out to start to third. So they made up that ground real fast. Then we fought back and went back and forth. And then, you know, a couple of mental errors left wide open three-point shooters and

against a team that's that good, you just can't do that. O.J. Ananobi led the Knicks 29 points. Jalen Brunson scored 25. Knicks played without Carl Anthony Towns. Not an injury. It was for personal reasons. Nets lost in San Antonio 127-113. The Lakers a blowout win of New Orleans. They won 17 of the last 20. LeBron James moved over.

50,000 career points when you combine regular season and the playoffs. Good win for the Islanders, 3-2 over Winnipeg, who has the NHL's best record. Tough loss for the Devils in Dallas. They rallied to tie. The Stars scored with five seconds left to win 4-3. The Bruins lost to Nashville 6-3. Down goes number one in college basketball. Auburn lost at Texas A&M. Rutgers lost at Purdue by 29. The Super Bowl champion Eagles have rewarded Saquon Barkley for his historic season.

tacking two more years onto the three-year contract he signed a year ago. He'll make more than any running back ever has. The Jets acquired Devontae Adams to catch passes from his former teammate Aaron Rodgers. With Rodgers not returning, no surprise, neither will Adams. The Jets saved a ton of money by releasing him. 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 said he is leading what he calls a common sense revolution, as he appeared before a joint session of Congress last night. While the president admitted his plan to slash taxes and government spending and raise revenue through tariffs could cause, in his words, a little disturbance...

He had this to say to Democrats. These people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won't do it, no matter what. President Trump speaking before that joint session of Congress as heard live on Bloomberg Radio. This morning after, we are joined by Dr. Lindsay Newman, geopolitical risk analyst and columnist at GZERO Media.

Thanks for being with us this morning. You could certainly hear some of the tension from the president last night directed at Democrats. We saw that returned to him as well. What stood out to you from the House chamber last night? Morning, Nathan. Thanks for having me on. Well, for anyone hoping to catch their breath at the sort of six week mark that we're currently at.

The message is that Trump is full steam ahead. And that's what stood out for me. He said in his own words, the agenda has been swift and unrelenting. I can confirm as somebody who analyzes his moves, that is absolutely correct. And his administration is just getting started. It was a speech sort of in two parts. The first half of the speech really focused on what he has seen as his accomplishments, his successes in the first half.

43 days. It was a staggering—he identified his 100 executive actions that he signed and 400 additional presidential actions. We know these. He went through them in detail around border security, withdrawing from Paris climate, the freezes on federal hiring, the freezes on foreign aid. He went through a very long list of what he and the Doge see as fraudulent money that was being spent. And then the second half of the speech really looked at what is on the to-do list.

building that golden dome that he has on his mind, resurrecting U.S. shipbuilding. He had a call out for Greenland. I think what was interesting also is just how he approached the question that got him elected, which was,

Are you better off today than you were four years ago? And as you said, he said, look, there might be some disturbance on this path to the golden age. Please bear with me. Reciprocal tariffs are coming on April 2nd. This is going to, in his mind, make America rich again. Taxes across the board are coming. Energy and liquid gold is coming. And as you rightfully said, you know, this is he's seen this as

the common sense revolution. And it remains to be seen what kind of impact, real world impact, a lot of these promises that the president is making are going to have. What did you make of some of the defense of the policies that he's put in place so far, particularly around tariffs?

Yeah, so on tariffs, you know, Trump has essentially doubled and tripled down. I mean, literally, they obviously said the tariffs are going to be going ahead on Canada and Mexico. He increased them, increased the tariffs on China. We know overnight there's been some discussion, as you shared earlier from Secretary Lutnick, that there might be some positive news today about a deal with Canada and Mexico that wouldn't just be a pause but could actually resolve the issue. But Trump has made clear that tariff

policy is an integral part of his trade policy. His administration believes this will ultimately deliver the U.S. economy that they're looking to deliver. And his message is somewhat straightforward. If you don't

produce goods in the U.S., if you're not producing in America, you are going to face tariffs. It's going to be reciprocal tariffs. It's going to be additional non-tax measures where there's going to be reciprocity around. And he said specifically last night, it's not just going to be foes like China or potential foes like China. It's going to be friends. He called out specifically India, Canada, the European Union, even South Korea. So everybody is on notice. And

that this is the policy ahead. Did we hear a little bit of a warming of the tensions that we saw with Ukraine last week in the Oval Office with the president reading that letter from President Zelensky last night?

Yeah, so all of us who were tuning in from a sort of geopolitical foreign policy space were looking for some clarity around what lies ahead after a tumultuous set of weeks that really began with JD Vance's speech at Munich Security Conference and was bookended by the somewhat disastrous meeting between Zelensky and Trump on Friday.

You know, I think there was very little clarity offered. Trump certainly did seem to really appreciate what he called the important letter by Zelensky that really gave—that seemed to hear what Trump was looking for, right? So Zelensky said he wants peace, he appreciates the U.S. That was a big sticking point on Friday when things went off the rails. And he said, again, he's ready to sign the mineral agreement. But a big

QUESTION REMAINS ABOUT WHERE DOES THE U.S. STAND ON THIS WAR? IS IT GOING TO BE WITH ITS TRADITIONAL ALLIES IN EUROPE? THE NEWS ABOUT HALTING FUNDING, U.S. MILITARY FUNDING TO UKRAINE ON MONDAY CERTAINLY CONTINUED TO

to dial up the heat and panic across Europe. He has also said he was continued to have good conversations with Russia and Putin and thinks the signals there are also positive for peace. So, you know, betting markets are sort of all over the place about where whether we're going to have a ceasefire agreement in the next couple of months. But you have to think that it's more likely now than it was, say, six months to a year ago. In our last 30 seconds, Lindsay, your thoughts on the Democratic response, not only within the chamber, but the actual speech last night.

Yeah, sure. You know, obviously, it was half passive in the sense that there was no support for what Trump was saying, but then also active with Representative Greene's sort of demonstrative remarks and removal. We know that there are protests across the country. You know, what we're seeing overall from Democrats is they're still just essentially finding their footing after what was a very difficult moment in November.

we're you know they have not yet approached the answer here to how they're going to reconcile with the realities of the Trump administration. 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

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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.

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