Trump May Implement Copper Tariffs Soon; Wall Street Bonuses Soar On today's podcast:
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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 copper trading at a record as Bloomberg News has learned U.S. tariffs on copper imports could be coming within weeks. That would be months earlier than expected. The news comes as President Trump told Newsmax there could be limited exceptions to his tariff push. Not too many exceptions. No, I don't want to have too many exceptions. Look,

We've been ripped off for 45 years by other countries, 50 years more. We always were soft and weak. It's almost like we had people that didn't know what they were doing. We were just ripped as a country like nobody has ever seen before. Ms. President Trump speaking on Newsmax. Analysts at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup in notes have said they expect the U.S. will impose a 25 percent copper tariff by year's end.

Well, Nathan, President Trump is also saying more about the signal chat that Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was allowed into as top officials discussed plans to bomb Yemen. In the Newsmax interview, the president suggested a lower-level staffer to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz invited Goldberg into the chain. Somehow this guy ended up on the call.

Now, it wasn't classified, as I understand it. There was no classified information. There was no problem. And the attack was a tremendous success. President Trump says his administration is investigating how Goldberg was added. But Mike Walz says the mistake is on him. I take responsibility. I built the group. OK. So that's—but, look, that's the part that we have to figure out. And that's the part that we—embarrassing? Yes.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz tells Fox News he's spoken with Elon Musk about the incident. Jeffrey Goldberg did not reveal actual attack plans in his article about the apparent breach, but did say Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at one point shared operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen.

Speaking of forthcoming, Karen, the U.S. Treasury Department is the latest target of Elon Musk's forthcoming Doge effort. Let's get the very latest on that from Bloomberg's John Tucker. John, I assume we're talking about job cuts. Yes, we are. And the Treasury says it's planning to lay off what it calls, quote, a substantial number of employees.

The Treasury is finalizing the plans in response to President Trump's executive order implementing the Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk. The Treasury has more than 100,000 employees across several different bureaus, including the Internal Revenue Service.

The disclosure comes from a Treasury human resources official as part of a collection of sworn affidavits filed in court. The Trump administration has been required to certify to a federal judge that it's complying with a temporary restraining order. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio.

All right, John, thank you. Meanwhile, Republican leaders say they are getting close to agreeing on a plan to pass an extension of President Trump's 2017 tax cuts and an increase to the debt ceiling. The plan is to approve an economic package by the end of May, with House lawmakers aiming to move even quicker before the Memorial Day weekend.

Well, Karen, now we get to the latest developments in the war in Ukraine. The U.S. says Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea. The Kremlin has confirmed the agreement, but says it's conditional on lifting sanctions on banks and companies involved in agricultural exports.

Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, says his forces will observe the partial truce immediately, but in a video post on X, he also sounded this warning. If this agreement fails, if Russia does not fulfill the terms of today's agreement and instead tries once again to pressure the U.S.,

Europe and Ukraine, then I believe there should be only one response. Definitely new sanctions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking through an interpreter on X. And in the Newsmax interview, President Trump conceded Russian President Vladimir Putin may be delaying a full ceasefire agreement. I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they're dragging the feet. I've done it over the years. You know, I don't want to sign a contract. I want to sort of stay in the game, but maybe...

I don't want to do it quite. I'm not sure. But no, I think Russia would like to see it end. And I think Zelensky would like to see it end at this point. Bloomberg News has learned the Trump administration is aiming to reach a full ceasefire as soon as April 20th. The Ukrainian and European officials have called that timeline overly ambitious.

We turn to the markets now, Nathan. Futures, they're lower following three straight days of gains on Wall Street. Jim Bianco, president and founder at Bianco Research, thinks the worst is over. We have more uncertainty now than we did during the COVID shutdown, during 9-11 or during the financial crisis. Now is more uncertain period. It isn't. We're overdoing it right now. So I don't understand why we're getting ourselves all worked up.

that this isn't just a 10% correction in the stock market, but this is the end of the American experience right now. So this is the type of environment where bottoms are made in markets.

Jim Bianco of Bianco Research. Stocks have bounced back in recent days as the White House signaled plans to take a more targeted approach to the tariffs coming next week. We have this just crossing the Bloomberg Terminal, Karen. It was a good year to work on Wall Street. The average annual bonus rose by almost a third in 2024 to almost $245,000. Total payouts jumped to a record $47.5 billion, the largest since at least 1987 when these records began.

as revenue gains from trading and underwriting fueled a near doubling of Wall Street bank profits. Well, now to company news, Nathan. And Apple CEO Tim Cook has paid a visit to the hometown of China's deep sea. That's the company that shocked the world with its artificial intelligence models, built at a fraction of the cost of American rivals. Cook met with developers at Zhejiang University and Hangzhou. The city is home to some of China's most revered tech firms, including Alibaba.

And a stock on the move in a big way this morning, Karen, is GameStop. The shares of the video game retailer are up more than 12.5% in early trading. Of course, GameStop was a favorite of retail traders during the meme frenzy. Now, GameStop says its board has approved a plan to add Bitcoin as a Treasury Reserve asset.

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. President Trump signed an executive order that aims to overhaul the election system. One of the order's requirement is to require voters to show proof of citizenship before they can register for federal elections.

Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson says Trump's action will likely face a vigorous legal challenge. Estimates are that almost 10% of U.S. citizens of voting age, which is over 21 million people, don't have proof of citizenship that are readily available.

Who are we talking about here when it comes to people who lack proof of citizenship that's readily available? Sometimes we're talking about married women who have changed their names and their birth certificates list their maiden names.

Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson spoke to CBS. There's growing concern about DNA held by a testing firm. New York Attorney General Letitia James is joining a chorus of voices warning millions of users to delete their data and destroy DNA samples held by 23andMe. It comes after 23andMe declared bankruptcy, raising concerns over whether the genetic testing company can protect its customers.

Vice President J.D. Vance said that he would join a delegation visiting Greenland this week. Vance said he would join the trip on Friday, which was already slated to include his wife. There was so much excitement around Usha's visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided that I didn't want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I'm going to join her. The trip has sparked criticism from local leaders in the Danish territory that President Donald Trump has suggested should come under American control.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul asked the federal government to increase its funding contribution to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a March 24th letter. The MTA carries 43% of the nation's mass transit riders, but receives only 17% of federal funding, which Hochul calls a fundamental misalignment. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the request outrageous, adding in a social media post, Governor Hochul is asking for more money for the horribly run MTA.

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...

If you're going there, so are we. Book now on Emirates.com. Fly Emirates. Fly better. This is an ad by BetterHelp. Let's talk numbers. Traditional in-person therapy can cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per session. And that adds up. But with BetterHelp Online Therapy, you can save up to 50% per session and pay a flat fee for weekly sessions, making therapy more affordable and easier to fit into your life.

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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. A week ago, Tommy DeVito was the only quarterback on the Giants roster. Then last Friday, they added Jameis Winston. Now four days later, Russell Wilson has become a Giant. Just a one-year deal. He can make up to $21 million. About half that guaranteed. Wilson is 36. They're not getting the nine-time Pro Bowler from his days in Seattle. He struggled in Denver. He was subpar.

down the stretch this past season with Pittsburgh. But Wilson's career record as a starting QB is 44 games over 500. This puts the Giants out of the running to get Aaron Rodgers, but the feeling is it does not mean they won't also draft a quarterback next month. They've got the third pick. The Patriots signed veteran wideout Stefan Diggs. The Garden triple-double night. Carl Anthony Towns, 26 points. Josh Hart scored 16. They both had 12 rebounds and 11 assists for Hart.

His ninth triple-double this season, breaking Clyde Frazier's team record. Teammates with triple-doubles had never been done before. In Knicks history, they beat Dallas 128-113. The coach is Tom Thibodeau. The way Josh was going to another triple-double, breaking the record, great accomplishment. And then to have Cat do it as well.

That's pretty special. But O.G. was terrific throughout. I thought McHale gave us really good minutes. And then our point guard play between Cam and Tyler was also very good. O.G. and NLB team high 35 points. Najee Marshall scored 38 for the Mavs. Rangers and L.A. scored first. J.T. Miller early second period, but it was their only goal. They lost to the Kings 3-1. John Stasch, Howard 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, and we now stand a week away from President Trump's promised Liberation Day of country-by-country tariffs around the world. After hinting earlier this week that some countries could get breaks, the president now says he does not want too many exceptions.

All we're going to do, it's reciprocal. We're just going to be reciprocal. In fact, I'll probably be more lenient than reciprocal because if I was reciprocal, that would be that would be very tough for people. President Trump spoke on Newsmax as Bloomberg News has learned the president may impose copper tariffs within weeks, months ahead of deadline. For the very latest, we are joined by Bloomberg News senior editor Bill Ferrys. Bill, what is the president considering when it comes to copper tariffs? What have we learned?

Hey, good morning, Nathan. Thanks for having me. So what we do know is when President Trump called on the Department of Commerce to look into the possibility of tariffs on copper imports, that investigation could have taken up to nine months. Now it seems like the administration, their probe,

is moving very quickly. They expect to have a report on the president's desk very shortly. So nine months has gone down to possibly days or weeks before a report is ready and the president makes a decision. With people in the administration suggesting that the president has largely made up his mind that there will likely be tariffs on copper imports. And you saw that affecting the markets today.

Absolutely, with copper trading close to, if not at, a record. Why the apparent rush here, Bill? I mean, it took several months, didn't it, for steel and aluminum tariffs to be finalized?

It did. I think, you know, I think the president has just identified this as another one of his priorities. It's a way to it's it's it's a way to in his mind, I think, help boost domestic mining, domestic manufacturing, try to get more of that in here. The reality is what we're seeing with a lot of products, including metals, is that shippers are trying to get that into the U.S. before anything takes effect. But as you know, and people who are listening every day know on this show,

every day we have slightly different news when it comes to tariffs. So what we're talking about today, there's still a lot of time for things to change before copper tariffs come and before this April 2nd Liberation Day that the president keeps talking about. And to that point, the president keeps talking about whether some countries could get exceptions, whether he even wants to see exceptions. What is the messaging that we're getting from the president at this point when it comes to what we could get on this coming Wednesday?

Well, what we expected, I think, a few weeks ago was perhaps a wall of tariffs coming down on all imported goods from all countries. It looks like that perhaps is a bit of a stretch in terms of being able to do that for every country. The administration has repeatedly talked about a narrower list of countries. We don't know how many countries are in a narrower list.

That certainly opens the door for a lot of lobbying by different countries. And I think what we heard in your clip there is the president pushing back on some of those efforts. But we know the countries he's talked quite a bit about. They include Canada, Mexico, obviously already under a lot of tariffs. There's China. There's India, who he said has very high tariffs, even Ireland. So obviously.

A lot of European countries likely facing some of these tariffs as well. So it's just universally there's not going to be a lot of clarity until we wake up on April 2nd. While the market's focused on what could be coming a week from today, there's also a lot of focus in Washington still, Bill, on this signal chat that Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg got into about Yemen plans. What's the latest on that?

Well, we're seeing a real circling of the wagons there. The president saying that they're going to be looking into how this journalist was added to that text group, but largely defending his national security advisor, Michael Waltz, for for the work he's done so far there. Michael Waltz saying that he doesn't know how Jeffrey Goldberg got into that chat group.

He said he took responsibility, but he's not sure how that happened. And then you had the DNI director, Tulsi Gabbard, and John Ratcliffe, head of the CIA, up on the Hill yesterday, up on the Hill today. So far, their line has been there's not been classified information shared. But, of course, we haven't seen that full text message because Goldberg decided not to publish it.

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.

Thank you.

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