Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition

On today's podcast: 1) President Trump said the US needs “total access” to Venezuela as questions mount about the country’s leadership following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president of Venezuela, has asked the US to work with her country, striking a more conciliatory tone toward the Trump administration after her initial outrage at Maduro’s capture. It’s a sharp turnaround from the remarks she made in the hours after US forces snatched Maduro on Saturday and launched a series of targeted strikes in the capital and nearby cities. 2) The future of billions of barrels of Venezuelan oil that foreign companies are entitled to under current agreements has been thrown into doubt following Washington’s capture of President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend. Gold and silver advanced, with investors weighing heightened geopolitical risks following the US capture of Maduro. Gold is fresh from posting its best annual performance since 1979, hitting a series of records throughout last year with support from central-bank buying and inflows to bullion-backed exchange-traded funds. Three successive rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve were also a tailwind for precious metals, which don’t pay interest. 3) The US’s shock intervention in Venezuela will likely choke oil flows to China, although the short-term impact will be softened by large volumes of sanctioned crude being stored at sea. China is the major buyer of crude from the South American country, but that trade now looks in jeopardy after the seizure of Maduro over the weekend. President Trump said the US would run the country and American companies would rebuild its oil industry and sell a “large amount” to global buyers, including current customers and new ones, without specifically mentioning China. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until a transition could be organized, hours after a US operation captured leader Nicolás Maduro, ousting the strongman from power after months of mounting military and economic pressure on his regime. “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said Saturday at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.” Trump said the US administration of Venezuela would include deploying US oil companies to the country, though indicated that his embargo “on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect” and that US forces would stay on alert. Bloomberg's Joe Mathieu and Christina Ruffini speak with: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Zohran Mamdani unapologetically promised to lead New York City as a democratic socialist during a frigid inauguration ceremony on the steps of City Hall, a warning to those who believed he might moderate his positions after taking office. The nearly two-hour long event Thursday featured speeches by two of the US’s most liberal members of Congress, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a frequent target of President Trump, also had a speaking role. The ceremony served as a not-so-subtle statement of resistance to White House policies from the nation’s largest city. 2) The Trump administration stepped up a pressure campaign against Venezuela’s oil exports by sanctioning companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China, along with related oil tankers it accused of evading restrictions. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday added four companies with links to Venezuela’s oil industry to its specially designated nationals and blocked persons list, while also sanctioning four vessels connected with those firms. The US already has a list of vessels and companies under sanction for their connections to Venezuela’s oil trade. But targeting Chinese firms doing business there is rare, and could be a signal to Beijing to steer clear of the stand-off between the Trump administration and the regime of Nicolás Maduro. China is Venezuela’s biggest customer for oil exports, which represent about 95% of Venezuela’s revenue. 3) President Trump pledged in a late night social media post that the US will come to the rescue of Iranian protesters if they are attacked by Islamic Republic authorities. The post, around 3 a.m. Washington and late morning in Iran on Friday, comes after protests erupted this week in Tehran after the currency slumped to a record low, worsening an economic crisis in a country already wracked by sanctions. Demonstrations have since spread to other parts of the country, setting off clashes between civilians and security forces. Trump didn’t provide any specifics on what actions he would consider taking. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial Intelligence and Big Tech dominated market sentiment in 2025. Now, we look to what may come in the new year. In this episode, Nathan Hager speaks with Wedbush Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst Dan Ives and Deepwater Managing Partner and Co-Founder Gene Munster. Ives and Munster offer their short and long-term outlook for the technology industry heading into 2026. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Covid-era subsidies that help Americans pay for Obamacare health plans will expire today. It will result in more than 20 million Americans paying higher premiums next month. Democrats have tried to extend the additional support beyond the December deadline, but Republicans have balked, citing the cost of some $350 billion over the next decade. Meantime, a handful of House Republicans have joined Democrats in a maneuver that will put a three-year extension of the subsidies to a vote next month. 2) Russia and Ukraine struck each other’s Black Sea ports overnight, damaging infrastructure including an oil refinery. A drone attack on the Russian coastal city of Tuapse damaged a berth at the port and equipment at the local refinery, according to a statement from the emergency services. Fires at both sites were put out, while several residential buildings were also damaged. Two people were hospitalized. The Tuapse refinery, owned by Rosneft PJSC, has a processing capacity of about 240,000 barrels a day and produces mainly fuel oil, naphtha and diesel for export. In Ukraine, Russian forces struck the port city of Odesa, injuring at least six people and damaging residential properties and infrastructure, according to the local authorities. Some residents are without power, water and heating. 3) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran should heed President Trump Warning's about not restarting its nuclear program. Speaking Tuesday to Fox News, he added that Iran is 'trying to' rebuild its missile capacity at new sites, and said he is aligned with Trump on wanting to give the new Syrian government a chance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) President Trump’s campaign to end the war in Ukraine faced new complications on Monday when Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would revise his country’s negotiating position after the Russian leader claimed Ukrainian drones targeted his residence. Putin told Trump of his decision in a call Monday, according to the Kremlin, even as Kyiv cast the Russian allegations as a fabrication aimed at derailing the peace process. Trump addressed the dispute while speaking to reporters in Florida, saying that Putin had told him about the purported attack during their discussion. The US president, seeming to side with Putin, said he was “very angry.” 2) President Trump expressed concern that Iran is moving to rebuild its nuclear capabilities and bolster its ballistic missile program after strikes by the US and Israel earlier this year, and threatened to target the country again to prevent Tehran from stockpiling weapons. “Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are we are going to have to knock them down,” Trump said Monday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president also said he would support Israel in strikes if Iran continued with its ballistic missile program, which Netanyahu highlighted earlier this year as “existential” threat along with Tehran’s nuclear development. 3) President Trump said the US struck a facility inside Venezuela, in what would be a significant escalation in its campaign against alleged drug trafficking operations there. Trump’s reference to an attack within Venezuela would mark the first time the US has announced a land strike in the country. The administration has raised pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro by bombing boats in the region and implementing a blockade to disrupt the country’s oil exports. Separately, the US carried out another strike on an alleged drug boat in international waters on Monday, US Southern Command announced on X, sharing a 22-second video showing a vessel being destroyed in a fiery explosion. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) President Trump said he made “a lot of progress” in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over a possible peace deal, but that it might take a few weeks to get it done and there’s no set timeline. The pair met at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort Sunday, where they had lunch and later spoke on the phone with a group of European leaders to brief them on their progress. Among the major sticking points left to be resolved: the future of Ukraine’s Donbas region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces. Trump told reporters the issue was still unresolved, but “getting a lot closer.” 2) President Trump has another high profile meeting on the docket at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon. The two aim to boost a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, which faces challenges as it looks to move into a more complicated second phase. That phase involves rebuilding Gaza under international supervision, creating an international security force and normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab world. 3) China kicked off military maneuvers around Taiwan that will include live-fire drills, a move that comes after the US announced one of its biggest arms packages ever for the self-run democracy. The exercises starting Monday would involve the army, navy, air force and Rocket Force, the Chinese military said in a statement. The exercises named “Justice Mission-2025” would “test the actual combat capability of theater troops in joint operations.” The People’s Liberation Army said in a separate statement that from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday it would hold live-fire exercises in five blocks around Taiwan, saying “any irrelevant vessel or aircraft is advised not to enter” the area. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he plans to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump “in the coming days,” signaling optimism about reaching a peace deal to end Russia’s almost four-year war.“A lot could be decided before the New Year,” Zelenskiy said Friday in a Telegram and X post after receiving an update from Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s top negotiator with the US and head of the National Defense and Security Council. The Kyiv Post reported earlier that Zelenskiy is expected to travel to Florida, where Trump is spending the Christmas break, as soon as Sunday. It cited a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t identified. Kyiv and Washington are seeking to align on a 20-point peace plan to present to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the provision of strong security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5, and a global post-war development program for Ukraine. 2) The US launched a military strike in Nigeria against Islamic State targets in a security and intelligence collaboration with the African nation’s government, which has been struggling to contain increasing levels of terrorist attacks in parts of the country. President Trump said he directed American forces to carry out “a powerful and deadly strike” against ISIS. Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry confirmed the “precision hits on terrorist targets” and said it remains engaged with international partners including the US to address the “persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism.” 3) Gold, silver and platinum jumped to all-time highs to extend a historic end-of-year rally for precious metals, with support from escalating geopolitical tensions and US dollar weakness. Frictions in Venezuela, where the US has blockaded oil tankers and ramped up pressure on the government of Nicolás Maduro, have added to the precious metal’s haven appeal. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a key gauge of the US currency’s strength, was down 0.7% for the week, its biggest drop since June. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this special Christmas edition of Bloomberg Daybreak, host Nathan Hager speaks with: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) The US Justice Department released another tranche of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, including some that add fresh pressure on President Trump over his past relationship with the late, disgraced financier. The trove includes thousands of additional pages of material related to investigations of Epstein, including a 2020 email from a prosecutor that contains new detail about Trump’s trips on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s, which the president has said never took place. There are also fresh details on Epstein’s relationships with financial firms and figures. 2) The US Supreme Court has refused to let President Trump start deploying National Guard troops in Chicago, dealing a setback to his drive to use the military in liberal cities across the country. Rejecting a Trump request in a 6-3 decision, the court on Tuesday left in force a judge’s ruling that has blocked the deployment since Oct. 9. The president wanted to use hundreds of troops to aid immigration enforcement in the third-largest US city. The court said the legal provision Trump sought to invoke probably doesn’t permit deployment of the National Guard in situations where the president wouldn’t have authority to send in active-duty military. The court said that under federal law, the president can deploy the armed forces to help execute the laws only in “exceptional” circumstances. 3) A federal judge says the Trump administration can move ahead with a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, providing a setback for US technology companies that rely on hiring skilled foreign workers. US District Judge Beryl Howell said in a ruling Tuesday that President Trump’s move to radically increase the cost of the popular visa is lawful. The decision provides a boost to the administration’s campaign to restrict immigration and push demand for US workers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which sued to block the proposal, can appeal. Howell rejected the Chamber’s argument that the president doesn’t have the power to impose the fee, finding that his proclamation was issued under “an express statutory grant of authority to the President.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) President Trump warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not to challenge the US, and vowed to keep oil seized from a supertanker but declined to say if he’s seeking to oust the Venezuelan leader. “He can do whatever he wants to do, whatever he wants to do, if he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” Trump told reporters at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday evening. Asked if he would try to push Maduro out, he responded, “That’s up to him.” Trump spoke after the US stepped up its blockade of tankers going to and from Venezuela over the weekend, boarding a non-sanctioned ship owned by a Hong Kong-based entity on Saturday and pursuing a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Another very large crude carrier, the Skipper, was intercepted on Dec. 10. 2) During Monday's press conference, Trump also said he believed “people are very angry that pictures are being released” that connect them to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, days after the Justice Department released a new tranche of files tied to the late financier. Trump said he hated to see former President Bill Clinton, who appeared frequently in the release, being tarnished by the association, describing the situation as “terrible.” The Epstein files, and the fight over their disclosure, have sparked infighting among Trump’s supporters, adding to the political headwinds that the president is facing heading into next year’s midterm elections. 3) President Trump reiterated his desire for US control over Greenland on Monday, after announcing plans to appoint Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy to the island. The president said Landry was “a deal-maker-type guy” who could help execute his vision for taking control of the territory. The president also said his desire was not rooted in Greenland’s energy or mineral reserves — saying the US had plenty of resources — but that he did not believe Denmark had devoted enough spending to protect the island. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) The US’s pursuit of a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela has intensified a blockade that the Trump administration hopes will cut off a vital economic lifeline for the country and isolate the government of President Nicolás Maduro. The US Coast Guard chased the US-sanctioned Bella 1 on Sunday as it was en route to Venezuela. It boarded Centuries, a ship owned by a Hong Kong-based entity, on Saturday — the first non-sanctioned vessel to be targeted. Another very large crude carrier, the Skipper, was intercepted on Dec. 10. The moves on three separate vessels represent the most concerted attempt to date to sever the financial links sustaining a government that Washington says is led by a drug-trafficking cartel, and one that it has also recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Maduro has so far withstood the onslaught, but the blockade is beginning to limit hard currency and to hurt an already battered economy. 2) Democratic lawmakers said they plan to explore “all legal options” after the Justice Department announced it will not release all documents about the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein by the Friday deadline, threatening to prolong a high-stakes political fight as the midterm elections come into view. The US Justice Department released thousands of pages of pictures, phone records and notes from investigations into notorious sex offender on Friday, revealing new details about the late financier’s relationships with prominent business leaders and politicians. The department said more files will be released in coming weeks because the volume of material was too much to process by the Friday deadline set by Congress, sparking rebukes from many Democrats. The tranche included heavy redactions, a step intended to comply with the provisions of the law including protections for survivors and other accommodations. 3) A Supreme Court ruling that scraps President Trump’s tariffs — and refunds the import fees collected — would create a major “administrative problem,” the president’s top economic adviser said Sunday. “We really expect the Supreme Court is going to find with us,” Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CBS’s Face the Nation. Even if the court didn’t find in the Trump administration’s favor, Hassett argued it would be “pretty unlikely that they’re going to call for widespread refunds because it would be an administrative problem to get those refunds out there.” The Supreme Court is weighing a legal challenge to tariffs Trump imposed on dozens of nations under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Administration officials have drawn up options for reimposing import taxes in case of an adverse ruling, while publicly maintaining that a court defeat is unlikely. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Officials have found the dead body of the suspected shooter in a Brown University rampage and the murder of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor in his Boston-area home. The suspected shooter — Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who was a former student at Brown — took his own life, Providence Chief of Police Oscar Perez said at a press briefing on Thursday night. Meantime, the Trump administration halted the US green card lottery program, which it said was used by the suspect. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X that she’s asking US Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the lottery, officially known as the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. 2) A trove of Justice Department records tied to Jeffrey Epstein is set for release Friday, part of a long-awaited public reckoning over the convicted sex offender’s ties to elites and years of alleged abuse. The documents could shed new light on government investigations dating back nearly two decades. President Trump, who had previously resisted efforts to unseal the files, signed legislation last month mandating their release, while the Justice Department has yet to specify a time for publication. 3) European Union leaders have agreed to loan Ukraine €90 billion ($106 billion) for the next two years in a bid to strengthen Kyiv’s hand at the negotiating table and keep the war-torn country afloat. The EU will fund the loan through joint debt raised on the capital markets and backed by the bloc’s budget, a significant pivot from the preferred plan to use Russian assets frozen on European soil. The decision came early Friday morning after marathon talks at a summit in Brussels. Ukraine won’t need to repay the loan until Moscow compensates Kyiv with reparations — and in the meantime, the Russian assets will remain immobilized in the EU. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) President Trump looked to reassure Americans concerned about the rising cost of living by announcing plans to award a special holiday payment to military service members and roll out new housing reforms in the new year. Trump announced the plans Wednesday during a prime-time address from the White House, which he used to extol his accomplishments from his first year back in the White House and convince voters they should still blame his predecessor for persistent economic anxieties. Trump’s biggest announcement was a move to award service members $1,776 payments, a decision that should provide a holiday boost to 1.45 million Americans. 2) The US has approved a package of arms sales to Taiwan worth up to $11 billion — one of its biggest ever — a move that drew criticism from Beijing. The approvals announced late Wednesday by the State Department cover a broad range of equipment, including missiles, drones and artillery systems aimed at strengthening the democracy’s defenses. The package includes the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, valued at up to $4.05 billion and howitzer guns worth about $4 billion. The total value of the weaponry is up to $11.154 billion, according to a statement from Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. The State Department said that the final amount would be lower depending on factors such as budget authority and military needs. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun later said his nation “strongly opposes and condemns” the US arms sale. 3) European Union leaders will try to overcome staunch resistance to both a funding plan for Ukraine and a massive trade deal with South America during a summit in Brussels starting Thursday — insisting that the bloc’s reputation is on the line. The gathering has taken on unusually high stakes as the EU is up against deadlines on both fronts. Officials say the EU’s Ukraine funding plans could fall apart if no agreement is found at the summit, forcing everyone back to the drawing board. And the trade pact with the Mercosur bloc — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — may enter a prolonged freeze if the EU can’t approve it before a tentative signing ceremony on Saturday See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) President Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers going into and leaving Venezuela, ratcheting up pressure on Caracas as the US builds up its military presence in the region. The move threatens to choke off the economic lifeblood of a country that was already under severe financial pressure. But it will have a less profound impact on global markets due to the diminished status of Venezuela’s oil industry. The OPEC member’s crude output has slumped about 70% through more than 25 years of socialist rule to less than 1 million barrels a day. It could potentially rebound if the governing regime were to change. 2) The US is preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to increase the pressure on Moscow should President Vladimir Putin reject a peace agreement with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. The US is considering options, such as targeting vessels in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to transport Moscow’s oil, as well as traders who facilitate the transactions, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The new measures could be unveiled as early as this week. 3) OpenAI is in initial discussions to raise at least $10 billion from Amazon.com Inc. and use its chips, a potential win for the online retailer’s effort to broaden its AI industry presence and compete with Nvidia Corp. The deal under discussion could value OpenAI north of $500 billion and see it adopt Amazon’s Trainium chip, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking to remain anonymous to describe private negotiations. Talks, however, are at a preliminary stage and terms could change, the person added. A deal would mark a win for Amazon’s fledgling semiconductor division. While Nvidia dominates the market for the powerful chips required to create AI platforms, developers such as Meta Platforms Inc. are starting to explore rival offerings from the likes of Alphabet Inc.’s Google. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) US negotiators offered more significant security guarantees to Kyiv as part of President Trump’s renewed push to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but the effort still appeared part of a bid to pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on territory. The Trump administration offered to provide Ukraine with strong “Article 5-like” security guarantees — a reference to NATO’s mutual defense clause — as part of the current deal to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, a US official told reporters, without providing any details. Later on Monday, Trump said a negotiated end to the war was “closer than” ever and that the US was working with Europe on security guarantees. But then he appeared to suggest Ukraine ought to give up land as part of the deal. 2) Nick Reiner, 32, was arrested and booked for the murder of his parents, the Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner. The son was being held in jail in Los Angeles on no bail, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement on X. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney for filing consideration on Tuesday. Reiner, who directed 1980s classics like The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap, was found dead Sunday at his home with his wife, both of whom appeared to have died from stab wounds, NBC News and other outlets reported, citing a source close to the family. 3) Shock over a shooting rampage at Brown University over the weekend is giving way to frustration over the lack of video footage and suspects. Authorities in Providence, Rhode Island, said Monday they hadn’t identified any new persons of interest in the shooting that killed two people and injured nine on the Ivy League campus Saturday afternoon. A person detained earlier was released late Sunday, and officials have said a lack of clear security-camera footage from inside the Barus & Holley engineering building where the shooting took place has slowed the search. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Brown University, mourning two students killed during a shooting rampage Saturday, sent students home and called off final exams, classes and assignments for the fall semester. A blanket of snow covered the campus and downtown Providence, Rhode Island, on Sunday morning as the Ivy League school reeled from its first encounter with mass violence. Students recounted barricading themselves in their homes, waiting out the shelter-in-place orders by huddling together in the dark for hours as a manhunt ensued for the suspect who opened fire as the undergrads were preparing for exams. The shooting interrupted the second day of finals on Brown’s campus, shattering the calm in a study session in the Barus & Holley engineering building. 2) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state leaders pledged to strengthen gun laws a day after a father and son killed 15 people in the nation’s deadliest terror attack. The National Cabinet has tasked police ministers and attorneys-general to explore options including caps on the number of firearms an individual can hold, limits on open-ended licenses, stricter rules on the allowed types of guns and modifications, and a requirement that license holders be Australian citizens. Albanese also said in a statement following an emergency National Cabinet meeting that ministers pledged to eradicate antisemitism, hate, violence and terrorism. 3) Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner, who helmed 1980s classics like The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap, died Sunday in murky circumstances that triggered a police investigation. He was 78. Reiner was discovered in his Los Angeles home alongside wife Michele Singer Reiner, both of whom appeared to have died from stab wounds, NBC News and other US outlets reported, citing sources close to the family. Representatives for Reiner didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.