Episode summary
Trump-Putin Diesel Deal Draws Backlash | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Jeff Mason, Margie Patel, Veena Ali-Khan, Tal Keinan
Summary
The episode opened with Washington politics and the midterm countdown, with the host and Jeff Mason arguing that President Trump’s travel schedule and policy agenda are now centered on helping Republicans hold power. Mason said Democrats are weighing whether to push impeachment again if they win control, but he argued many moderates fear it would backfire and strengthen Trump politically, as it did before. He also said the White House’s priorities are showing up in the president’s rallies and in policy, including the reported diesel arrangement tied to Russia.
The conversation then turned to markets, where Margie Patel argued that equities remain in a long-term secular growth path rather than a late-cycle peak. She said earnings growth is broadening beyond Nvidia and Micron, profit margins are holding near highs, and the Fed is less likely to surprise markets with aggressive tightening. Her view was that the economy is still strong enough for the third quarter to surprise on the upside, with higher rates and energy prices not yet derailing corporate profits.
Veena Ali-Khan explained why the Houthis remain so difficult to defeat, describing a group hardened by years of war, backed by Iranian support, and increasingly confident in its role inside the wider anti-U.S., anti-Israel axis. The final segment shifted to private aviation infrastructure, where Tal Keinan said Sky Harbour is benefiting from a growing fleet of private jets but scarce airport land, especially in markets like New York, South Florida, Nashville, and Dallas.
Key takeaways
- Jeff Mason said Trump’s midterm strategy is centered on travel and turnout, not a traditional governing reset, even if Democrats win the House or Senate.
- Mason said a new impeachment push could backfire politically, because earlier impeachments strengthened Trump with his base.
- Margie Patel argued that earnings growth is broadening beyond Nvidia and Micron and that the S&P 500 can keep surprising to the upside.
- Patel said the Fed’s less activist stance and strong profit margins make a 3- to 6-month market derailment unlikely.
- Veena Ali-Khan said the Houthis have become more capable through years of conflict, Iranian support, and their own weapons-making capacity.
- Tal Keinan said Sky Harbour’s growth is constrained less by demand than by the scarcity of airport land and hangar capacity.
Notable quotes
“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”
“I think the midterms are definitely the priority now. It's only roughly three weeks away”
“I look at this more as a long-term secular growth path”
“we should just expect earnings to keep on growing and I see no reason why she we should suddenly see a topping out and then then a decline”
“The best way to understand current events is to go backwards, right”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business Week 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 Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc.
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 midterm 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 at history, presidents in their lame duck period of their second terms often do turn their focus abroad and do more travel abroad uh and focus their policies abroad. But I I think it's worth reminding that President Trump is not a traditional president.
So uh I I don't think necessarily that his his governing strategy is going to change entirely. But certainly he will have uh a 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 curbs? That's one thing. What about something even more extreme which we saw in the first administration, Jeff, and that's impeachment. Would we see that?
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 diesel deal
- energy costs
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Allspring Global Investments
- Sky Harbour
Watch the episode
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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