Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition

On today's podcast:
1) President Trump said he would hold a second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin “within two weeks or so” aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Trump and Putin agreed to meet in Budapest during a two-hour phone call on Thursday. Later, Trump expressed optimism that the summit could result in a ceasefire breakthrough even though an August meeting in Alaska failed to yield one. The conversation took place a day before Trump’s White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, who has pressed the US president to sell his country long-range Tomahawk missiles that can strike deeper into Russian territory.
2) Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo sparred over experience and integrity in a heated New York City mayoral debate, while Republican Curtis Sliwa took aim at both rivals. Cuomo attacked Mamdani’s policies as radical, while Mamdani hit back over the former governor’s pandemic handling and harassment allegations. With the presence of President Trump looming large, candidates also clashed over public safety, antisemitism, and political credibility.
3) Three weeks into the federal government shutdown, President Trump has avoided direct involvement in talks to end the stalemate, despite Democratic calls for him to lead negotiations. Republican leaders continue to resist linking health care subsidies to any funding deal, while the administration pushes forward with unilateral budget cuts and federal layoffs.

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On today's podcast:
1) President Trump said he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to take covert action in Venezuela, citing the flow of drugs and illegal migrants into the US. Trump stated that Venezuelan leaders had "emptied their prisons in to the United States of America" and "we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela".
2) A federal judge in California froze the Trump administration's latest round of layoffs, saying the move is likely "illegal and in excess of authority." The judge issued a temporary restraining order to block terminations nationwide that were started last week and ordered the administration to provide a full accounting of all employees laid off and planned future layoffs.
3) US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the possibility of extending a pause of import duties on Chinese goods for longer than three months exists if China halts its plan for strict new export controls on rare-earth elements. The US and China have agreed to a series of 90-day truces, with the next deadline looming in November, and economists describe the latest moves by both sides as attempts to stack up bargaining chips ahead of a likely leaders’ meeting.

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On today's podcast:
1) President Trump said he might stop trade in cooking oil with China, injecting fresh tensions into the relationship between the world’s two largest economies. Trump on Tuesday cast the potential move as retaliation against Beijing for its refusal to buy American soybeans, which he said “is an Economically Hostile Act” that is purposefully “causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers.” China remains well supplied with the oilseed, largely thanks to South American purchases. 
2) President Trump pledged to release a list of federal programs slated for cuts later this week, the White House’s latest threat to slash the federal bureaucracy and put pressure on Democrats to end the impasse over the shutdown. The threat is the latest effort from the White House to make the shutdown — now in its 14th day — as painful as possible for Democrats. It also marks another end-run by the administration around Congress, which determines how federal funds are spent. The White House has already terminated more than 4,000 federal workers and suspended funding for clean energy and transportation programs in Democratic-run states, escalating the standoff with Democrats.
3) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank may stop shrinking its balance sheet in the coming months, an important shift necessary to preserve liquidity in overnight funding markets. The Fed chair also indicated labor-market prospects continue to worsen, a message that supports investors’ expectations for another interest-rate cut this month. Fed officials have been winding down the central bank’s balance sheet since 2022 — a process known as quantitative tightening — reversing trillions of dollars of asset purchases designed to stimulate the economy after the pandemic struck. Earlier this year, the Fed slowed the pace by reducing the amount of bond holdings it lets roll off every month.

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On today's podcast:
1) China has signaled it’s keeping communication channels open with the US after a series of tit-for-tat moves that intensified a confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies. The Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday reiterated “the door is open” to talks even as it defended China’s decision to implement export curbs on rare earths amid escalating trade tensions in recent weeks. The remarks came just hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Beijing had failed to respond to US inquiries over the weekend following China’s announcement of export controls on products containing traces of certain rare earths. It marked China’s first major attempt to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies that target the chip industry.
2) President Trump used a one-day tour of Israel and Egypt to soak in the praise from fellow leaders and lay out a vision for broader Middle East peace after the success of US-led mediation efforts to end the fighting in Gaza. Yet the nascent ceasefire remains fragile, with many key details left to be worked out. Trump said food and aid has begun to flow into Gaza, which has been devastated by the conflict. “Numerous countries of great wealth” have pledged reconstruction funds, Trump added, though he did not name them. 
3) House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is calling Democrats in his chamber back to Washington Tuesday - the 14th day of the government shutdown - despite GOP leadership nixing votes, according to a Democratic lawmaker and two leadership aides. House Republican leaders announced Friday that the chamber will stay out, after originally having been scheduled to be in session. This is the third week in a row Johnson has canceled votes, keeping House lawmakers in their districts amid the government shutdown.

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On today's podcast:
1) Hamas freed seven living Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, following a US-led deal reached late last week. The Palestinian militant group released them to the International Committee of the Red Cross and they were then passed over to the Israeli military. The rest of the living hostages, 13 in total, are expected to be freed later in the day. Around 10 a.m. Israel time, the Israeli military said the Red Cross is on its way to an additional meeting point in the southern Gaza Strip, where several more hostages will be handed over. The release of the first hostages came just before President Trump’s arrival in Israel for a Middle East trip to celebrate the ceasefire deal clinched last week, also with Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish mediation. Trump has said the agreement should end the devastating two-year conflict in Gaza.
2) President Trump’s administration signaled openness Sunday to a deal with China to quell fresh trade tensions while also warning that recent export controls announced by Beijing were a major barrier to talks. Vice President JD Vance called on Beijing to “choose the path of reason” in the latest spiraling trade fight between the world’s two leading economies, claiming that Trump has more leverage if the fight drags on. Trump later posted a statement that hinted at a possible off-ramp for Chinese President Xi Jinping while issuing a veiled threat that a full trade war would wound China.
3) President Trump said he is directing the Defense Department to use funds his administration has identified to deliver paychecks to US troops on Oct. 15 despite the ongoing government shutdown. More than a quarter of a million federal employees missed scheduled paychecks this week, with another 2 million expected to go without pay by next week, which would be the third week of the shutdown. Under current law, US troops aren’t guaranteed backpay during a shutdown, unlike civilian employees. The Pentagon’s next military payday, Oct. 15, was shaping up as a key pressure point in the ongoing standoff between Republicans and Democrats over a stopgap spending measure.

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Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week.

• In the US – a look ahead to earnings for U.S banks.
• In the UK – a look ahead to the annual New Energy Finance summit in London.
• We also focus on a conversation with Citadel CEO Ken Griffin from Citadel’s securities conference on gold.

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On today's podcast:
1) Israel’s cabinet approved a deal that will see Hamas free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in exchange for around 2,000 prisoners, a major step toward ending a two-year war that’s killed tens of thousands of people and destabilized the wider Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition gave its approval overnight, around a day after negotiators for the warring sides reached an agreement in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. The deal is based on a plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump late last month and followed days of talks mediated by the Americans, as well as Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
2) Congressional leaders continued to blame the other party for the US government shutdown as President Trump doubled down on his threats to use the stalemate, now entering its tenth day, to make sweeping cuts to Democratic priorities and the federal bureaucracy. There was no sign of progress as government workers and military personnel prepare for missed paychecks and the general public begins to feel the effects of the closure on everything from taxpayer services to air travel. 
3) New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia, making her the second of President Trump’s perceived political enemies to be criminally charged in two weeks. James was charged with one count of alleged bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution. The indictment made public on Thursday follows allegations from Trump administration officials that James engaged in mortgage fraud.

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On today's podcast:

1) Israel and Hamas have reached a deal for the release of all hostages held by the militant group in Gaza, a major step toward ending a two-year war that’s devastated the Palestinian territory and triggered multiple conflicts in the Middle East as well as protests across the world. The agreement was reached early on Thursday after several days of indirect negotiations between the warring sides in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. The ongoing talks were brokered by the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey and based on a plan unveiled by President Trump last week.

2) French President Emmanuel Macron said he’ll name a new prime minister by Friday evening, having for the time being avoided the need to call a snap election that would have deepened the political chaos in France. Outgoing Premier Sebastien Lecornu, who was tasked by Macron on Monday to negotiate with the political groups in the National Assembly, said sufficient progress had been made to allow work to begin on forming a new cabinet.

3) China has unveiled broad new curbs on its rare earth exports, as Beijing moves to shore up its trade war leverage ahead of a high-stakes meeting this month between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Overseas exporters of items that use even traces of certain rare earths sourced from China will now need an export license, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Thursday, citing national security grounds. Certain equipment and engineering technology will also be subject to controls, according to a separate release.

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On today's podcast:
1) The Trump administration’s push to deny back pay to federal workers furloughed during the shutdown sets the stage for another round of legal battles over the president’s control of the workforce. The White House in a draft legal opinion Tuesday suggested it may withhold back pay from government employees when the shutdown ends, raising the threat of lost wages for potentially 750,000 civilian workers and stoking a broader clash over how much employees are owed after a shutdown ends. Meantime, spot gold smashed through $4,000 an ounce for the first time, as concerns over the US economy and the government shutdown added fresh momentum to a scorching rally.
2) Outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu expressed optimism that an an accord can be reached to allow the formation of a new government without fully endorsing a new proposal to rethink a controversial pension law as demanded by the Socialists.
3) Teams from the US, Qatar, Israel and other nations are headed to Egypt as part of a final push for a deal with Hamas aimed at ending the two-year war that’s devastated Gaza and destabilized much of the Middle East. A US team that includes US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will join Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and other senior officials in Sharm El-Sheikh.

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On today's podcast:
1) With the US government shutdown closing in on the one week mark, President Trump showed signs of cracking Monday, sending mixed messages about the state of talks with Democrats on their biggest demand. Trump, who had remained on the sidelines of negotiations for days, on Monday said he was open to negotiating with Democrats over health care subsidies to bring an end to the funding stalemate, at one point suggesting those talks had already begun. The remarks appeared to mark a shift after days of Republicans maintaining they’d only consider a possible extension of Obamacare subsidies after Democrats first passed legislation to fund the government.
2) A federal judge declined to quickly issue a temporary order blocking the Trump administration’s plan to deploy National Guard members to Chicago to counter protests against the US immigration crackdown, while urging the government to delay the controversial plan until she rules. US District Judge April Perry on Monday said she could not rule immediately on a request by Illinois for a two-week halt to the deployment, which would include National Guard troops under federal control from Illinois and Texas. She set a Thursday hearing for arguments.
3) President Trump is pressing Israel and Hamas to secure a settlement to the two-year conflict that’s devastated Gaza and destabilized the Middle East, with the warring sides starting mediated negotiations. A key sign of progress in the talks, taking place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, will be whether Hamas frees all the roughly 20 of its live hostages — plus the remains of those who are dead — in return for Israel releasing about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Indirect discussions between negotiators about preparing the conditions for that exchange got underway on Monday, AlQahera News reported on its X account, citing unidentified individuals. Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish an appropriate mechanism.

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