World Waits for Trump-Putin Talks; Israel Ends Gaza Truce
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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 this morning with the latest on the war in Ukraine. President Donald Trump is expected to speak today with Russia's Vladimir Putin. The U.S. is pressing for Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has said it's ready to accept. However, Putin has insisted on a number of conditions before committing to any truce. Speaking to reporters, President Trump sounded a positive note on the prospects for the call.

It's a bad situation in Russia, and it's a bad situation in Ukraine. What's happening in Ukraine is not good, but we're going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a ceasefire and peace, and I think we'll be able to do it. The news website Semaphore is reporting that the White House is considering recognizing Crimea as Russian territory in a future agreement.

Well, Nathan, Trump has already sparked concerns that he may sacrifice Kiev's interest in a deal after his comments over the weekend that the U.S. and Moscow are already talking about, quote, dividing up certain assets. Julie Norman is a professor at University College London. Obviously, there's this discussion now of a 30-day ceasefire. Ukraine has agreed to it. Putin has not said no, but has certainly said there are going to be major conditions and things he wants to discuss.

We heard from Trump's envoy over the weekend that they're moving closer to some kinds of agreement. But I think what's really going to be on the table is what does Putin actually want and how willing is Trump to essentially give it to him.

University College London professor Julie Norman, European leaders have made no secret of their concern that Trump may concede on points that could weaken both Ukraine and Europe's security in a one-on-one exchange with Putin. And along with that exchange, Karen, President Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Washington in the not-too-distant future.

The Wall Street Journal has reported U.S. and Chinese officials are discussing a possible birthday summit between the two leaders in June. Talks are currently stuck at low levels. China has said it hasn't gotten clear steps on what to do about fentanyl to have tariffs lifted.

Well, Nathan, we have new developments in the war in the Middle East. Israel has launched a series of airstrikes on Gaza, effectively ending a nearly two-month ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government will go after Hamas with increasing military strength for failing to release the remaining hostages. We get more from Bloomberg's Dan Williams in Jerusalem. Really, this resumption of fighting was just a matter of time. There may be an element of tactical surprise here. Indeed,

Israel, Israeli public opinion was largely diverted in recent hours by internal discussions about the fate of Israel's Shin Bet security chief, his termination. It could be that discussion was actually meant to provide a smokescreen for the resumption of these Israeli attacks.

Bloomberg's Dan Williams reports Hamas still holds about 60 Israeli hostages. Hamas says more than 300 people have been killed or are missing in the airstrikes. And the rising tensions in the Middle East have oil on the rise for a third straight day, Karen. Right now, NYMEX crewed.

is up 1.2%, trading at $68.41 per barrel. As for equity markets, futures are modestly lower after two straight days of gains on Wall Street. More than 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 rose yesterday. Phil Orlando is chief equity market strategist at Federated Hermes.

If you're a long-term investor, I couldn't disagree with you starting to nibble here. But in terms of getting an all-out, full-blown market capitulation signal, I don't know that we're quite there just yet. And Federated Hermes equity strategist Phil Orlando notes the Magnificent Seven did not participate in the comeback. A gauge of those mega caps fell 1.1%.

Well, Nathan, one of the MAG-7 will be in focus today. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is expected to unveil more about the firm's next-generation AI chips at its annual Developers Conference. And Bloomberg's Tom Busby has more. At today's annual GPU Technology Conference, CEO Huang is expected to update developers, shareholders, analysts, employees, and others...

on the company's next generation Blackwell Ultra AI chip, promising in February, quote, some really exciting things to share. Also expected comments on gross margins, China, competitors, and growth. Now, this address comes at a critical time for NVIDIA, which has seen its share price fall about 11% so far this year, amid fears that the AI boom may have peaked significantly.

At least for now. Tom Busby, Bloomberg Radio. All right, Tom, thanks. In other tech news this morning, Bloomberg News has learned Alphabet's in talks to purchase cloud security company Wiz for $33 billion. The deal would be the Google parent's largest acquisition to date and could help it catch up with Microsoft and Amazon in the competitive cloud computing market.

Well, in Asia, Nathan, consumer sentiment on the rise in China. In a new survey by Deutsche Bank, 54% of respondents say they feel financially better off than a year ago. That's up from 44% on average in 2024. 60% of respondents anticipate an income increase in the year ahead. Well, back here in the U.S., Karen, federal agencies say they've fired nearly 25,000 probationary employees.

since inauguration day. Let's get the latest on that with Bloomberg's John Tucker. John. Good morning, Nathan. These figures actually come from the Trump administration after they were demanded by a judge. It's the fullest accounting yet of cuts in the federal workforce. The Treasury Department fired the largest percent of its workforce at 7%. That's about 7,600 employees. Agriculture fired 6% of its employees. The

The abrupt firings led to lawsuits in California and Maryland. Judges ordered a slew of agencies to temporarily reinstate the employees. The Trump administration is appealing those rulings. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. Well, elsewhere in Washington, the latest move by President Trump's government cost-cutting drive has gotten the police involved. The U.S. Institute of Peace says staffers with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency forced their way into the building last night.

That led to a standoff between the Institute's acting president, George Moose, and the man the Trump administration wants to replace him with, Kenneth Jackson. Moose says he's backing down for now. D.C. police showed up at my office and said, it's time for you to go. And I didn't think, given who they are...

and what they have at their disposal that it made a whole lot of sense for us to put anybody in harm's way by resisting. George Moos says the U.S. Institute of Peace is not a government agency, but an independent nonprofit that receives its funding directly from Congress. And Karen, after nine long months, two NASA astronauts are finally leaving the International Space Station. Undocking confirmed.

Freedom is free of its moorings. Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore begin their belated trip home. Mission Control in Houston captured the moment the SpaceX Dragon capsule left the station early this morning. It is now due to splash down along the Florida coast around 6 o'clock this evening, Wall Street time. Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams were only supposed to stay on the station for eight days back in June, but NASA decided to bring them home on SpaceX in August. That's because of technical issues on the Boeing spacecraft that brought them there.

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 was a problem with a Delta flight at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. An investigation is underway after the wing of a Delta jet clipped the runway as it was landing. The plane, with 80 people on board, was arriving Sunday night from Jacksonville. The pilots executed a go-around and landed safely.

A federal judge is pressing Justice Department lawyers on whether the Trump administration violated his order concerning the deportation of a group of Venezuelan migrants being removed under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law. The judge had told the administration to hold off on the deportation, but the migrants were deported anyway. Deputy White House Staff Stephen Miller. The president is operating at the apex of his authority when you are dealing with questions of invasion.

and questions of alien enemy infiltration, as well as the expulsion of terrorist illegal aliens from the country. However, Yale Law School professor Harold Koh said in this case, invoking the Alien Enemies Act is illegal. It's a blatantly illegal invocation of that statute to send these people abroad. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is postponing several planned events this week to promote his new book over security concerns.

It came after criticism from the party's liberal base over Schumer's vote to move forward with the GOP spending legislation last week. Global News 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and 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...

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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. The Knicks back home. They were away from the Garden for 11 days, played five games during that trip, during which time they lost Jalen Brunson. He's going to miss likely another couple of weeks. Miami led early on 12-0.

Knicks came back in the second quarter. They had a 15-0 run with Carl Anthony Towns scoring all 15. Then the Knicks won the third quarter 41-15, their most lopsided quarter of the season. They beat the Heat 116-95. Mikael Bridges scored 28 points. Josh Hart had his eighth triple-double of the season. The Devils won 2-1 at Columbus. That helps the Rangers. The Blue Jackets, one of the teams the Rangers are vying with for a playoff spot. The Rangers are at the Garden tonight against Calgary. NCAA tournament begins tonight.

As always in Dayton with two first four games, two more there tomorrow before the tourney begins in earnest on Thursday. In Tokyo this morning, two Japanese pitchers on the mound as the Dodgers and Cubs play the first regular season game of 2025. Yashinobu Yamamoto for the defending world champion Dodgers. Shota Imanaga for the Cubs. Shohei Otani will be DH-ing when J.J. Spahn put his

T-Shot on the 17th hole into the water. That was all Rory McIlroy needed to win the Players' Championship in the playoff. John Stanshaw with Bloomberg Sports. Karen 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. On the morning, President Trump is scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. president is sounding hopeful Russia will agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine today. We're going to have a very important call. You know, we've had calls.

But we're getting down to a very critical stage and we want to get the whole Russia-Ukraine thing done. But there are questions about what the president will do when it comes to the conditions Russia wants before it will stop the fighting. For more, we're joined by Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight. Good morning, Tina. To put it in President Trump's words, what are the chances that the Russia-Ukraine thing gets done today? Good morning.

Good morning. I think that chances are slim, in fact, despite the president's optimism. We can see the seeds of what a likely response is from Vladimir Putin in that it tends to be something like, yes, but. Yes, we're happy for a ceasefire, but followed by a list of conditions which are unlikely to be acceptable.

Some of those conditions, it sounds as though President Trump has been alluding to already, talking about dividing land, dividing power plants. What does that tell you?

Well, first of all, this is extraordinary. It suggests and more than suggests, it highlights the extent to which the White House position is very closely aligned with that of the Kremlin. And that's a reversal, of course, of U.S. policy, not just since the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, but going back to the Maidan.

So this should be worrying not just for anyone concerned about Russia and Ukraine, but indeed for wider European security. And China and other powers will be taking note. Are you suggesting that the president is putting himself at complete cross purposes with Europe in an alignment with Russia as Europe tries to assemble what it's been calling a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine?

I think that Europe is being very pragmatic in this moment in terms of trying to develop a peacekeeping force,

That could indeed keep the peace on whatever terms are agreed, which look likely to include significant concessions by Ukraine on territory. But here is where you don't have to be a close student of history to recall that Vladimir Putin never met an agreement that he didn't eventually violate.

So to my mind, as a Russia watcher of 30 years standing, it's only a matter of time before the ceasefire is violated. And that's where anticipation of the so-called Putin trade may be running a bit faster than the peace process.

Do you see any aspect of the agreement that the U.S. reached with Ukraine that supports Ukraine in terms of what the president might be willing to provide following these talks today with Russia's Putin?

Well, from what I recall, what the president has suggested is that the agreement on a rare earth minerals deal would be a de facto security agreement for Ukraine because there would be U.S. personnel. And the suggestion from President Trump is that Russia wouldn't.

Dare to attack with with that in place I'm not sure that that holds up to scrutiny and it certainly wouldn't be consistent with any other kind of post-conflict settlement a bad piece really is worse than no peace and

And while the president is pushing for this at least temporary peace between Russia and Ukraine, it looks like the truce between Israel and Hamas after nearly two months is shattered at this point with Israel mounting multiple airstrikes on Hamas in Gaza. What is it going to take to get that process back on track?

Well, the attacks in Gaza or the resumption of attacks in Gaza, of course, follow some pretty serious round of U.S.-led strikes against Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. So we've had several days of bombardment following the end of the ceasefire agreement. And all of this suggests that Israel will be able to continue to press its

war aims when it comes to the situation in Gaza and that it has U.S. backing to do so. And then don't forget that on Truth Social, President Trump has also issued some pretty serious threats to Iran and Iran, the Houthi rebels and Palestinian support is what the U.S. is backing Israel against.

No, just 30 seconds left, Tina, but we've heard a lot of criticism from the families of hostages about this remounted military operation. Where does this leave Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu? Well, Netanyahu is really the ultimate political comeback kid, isn't he? And he has been able to maintain his position.

support long enough to again press his war aims. The rather extraordinary peace proposal or resettlement proposal in Gaza has been rejected by Arab states, by Palestinians themselves. But we're at a stalemate. And the last reports I've seen have been about suggestions that some

Countries in Africa might take Palestinians, which would not be acceptable to the Palestinian side. 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.

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