Episode summary
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily Podcast: Trump-Putin Diesel Deal
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Jeff Mason, Margie Patel, Veena Ali-Khan, Tal Keinan
Summary
Washington politics dominated the first segment, with the host pressing a guest correspondent on how President Trump may behave after the midterms, whether Democrats would pursue impeachment, and why Trump is traveling so heavily in the final weeks. The guest said the midterms are clearly the priority and that the travel schedule is aimed at turnout in tight races, even as some Republicans worry about the optics and Trump’s popularity on cost of living.
The show then turned to Trump’s deal with Moscow over diesel exports and the backlash it has triggered. The guest said there are few specifics, but the reaction has been broadly negative, including criticism from Mike Pence and concern from lawmakers and European officials. He framed the move as part of Trump’s focus on fuel markets and the election, alongside his sharper attacks on Zelensky.
A portfolio manager from Allspring Global Investments argued that corporate earnings remain on a long-term secular growth path, with broadening profit growth, strong margins, and only limited risk from higher rates or private credit stress. She said the market is positioned to keep surprising to the upside over the next three to six months.
Later, the show examined why the Houthis remain hard to defeat, and then shifted to private aviation infrastructure with Sky Harbour’s CEO, who said the business is constrained by scarce airport land and rising demand for hangar space as wealthy owners and corporate fleets keep expanding.
Key takeaways
- The White House correspondent said the midterms are now the Trump team’s top priority, and travel is being used to drive turnout in key races.
- The correspondent said Trump’s diesel deal with Moscow has drawn negative reactions even inside his own party, with little public detail on the arrangement.
- Margie Patel said earnings growth is broadening beyond Nvidia and Micron, and she expects third-quarter results to surprise on the upside.
- Patel argued that higher rates and energy prices have not derailed corporate profits because margins, pricing power, and balance sheets remain strong.
- Veena Ali-Khan said the Houthis are hard to beat because they have survived repeated bombardment, built missile capabilities, and operate within a wider axis of resistance.
- Sky Harbour’s CEO said demand for hangars is outstripping airport land supply, making development rights the key bottleneck in private-jet infrastructure.
Notable quotes
“the midterms are definitely the priority now”
“the president is traveling a lot and doing almost all of it to be, uh, to try to help his party get over the finish line”
“the reaction has not been positive even among some in his party”
“I think you instead of looking at it as a cyclical, the kind of uh, economic cycles you said before, I look at this more as a long term secular growth path”
“we have seen, uh, growth in average wages. So consumers haven't been left completely behind”
How the episode opens
This is Bloomberg Businessweek daily reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy, plus global business, finance and tech news. As it happens. The Bloomberg Businessweek daily podcast with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec Let's get to our Washington roundup.
Jeff Mason is once again back with us. Jeff, of course, is Bloomberg News white House and Washington correspondent. He joins us from the white House.
Jeff, uh, very good to have you here with Tim and myself. We are talking war a lot. It feels like, um, I do wonder if we're getting almost a preview not to jump ahead, but let's go there.
A preview of what life might be like after the midterms, should there be a blue wave. And we just see President Trump increasingly focusing on affairs outside the United States because he can more easily do that. It's a fair question, Carol.
Certainly, if you look into history, presidents in their lame duck period of their second terms often do turn their focus abroad and do more travel abroad and focus their policies abroad. But I think it's worth reminding the President Trump is not a traditional president. So, uh, I don't think necessarily that his his governing strategy is going to change entirely, but certainly he will have, uh, an enormous number of curbs that he does not face right now.
If the Democrats are successful in taking over control of the House and perhaps the Senate, too. What about he curbs? That's one thing.
What about something even more extreme, which we saw in the first administration, Jeff. And that's impeachment. Where do we see that?
Well good question. Um, I think that's a question that Democrats are asking themselves as well.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- earnings season
- inflation data
- federal reserve outlook
- russia us diesel exports
- bond yields
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Allspring Global Investments
- Sky Harbour
Watch the episode
Watch “Bloomberg Businessweek Daily Podcast: Trump-Putin Diesel Deal” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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