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October 16, 2025 • 15 mins

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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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
I'm Nathan Hager and I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the
stories we're following today.

Speaker 4 (00:15):
Karen, we begin with the latest developments on the trade
front between the US and China. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson
is proposing a longer pause on high tariffs on Chinese
goods that would be in return for Beijing putting off
its recently announced plan to titan limits on critical rare earths.
As heard live here on Bloomberg Radio, Bessin spoke at
a Washington news conference.

Speaker 5 (00:37):
Right now, we are currently in a ninety day role
on the tariffs, So is it possible that we could
go to a longer role in return for a delay perhaps,
But all that's going to be negotiated in the coming weeks.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
And Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says there's a very good
chance travels to Asia to meet with his Chinese counterpart,
Vice Premier Harley Feng.

Speaker 6 (01:04):
And let's turn to a Bloomberg exclusive.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Now, Nathan sources age Chinese hackers accessed classified UK computer
systems for more than a decade. We go to London
and get the details. It's Bloomberg's James Wilcock, Good Morning, James.

Speaker 7 (01:18):
Good morning, Karen and Nathan. Politicians in Westminster are locked
in a very public row about if China should be
designated a threat to national security now. Former British security
officials tell Bloomberg exclusively that hackers from China have been
successfully accessing classified UK data for a decade. It includes
private communications, diplomatic communicays, and policy documents. Chinese officials have

(01:43):
not responded to Bloomberg's request for comments, but the story
is part of a broader debate about cybersecurity global risks,
with USIT firm f five blooming Chinese hackers for a
recent hack that compromises many Fortune five hundred companies in London.
James Wilcock, Bloomberg RADIOIM, James, thank you.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
And CEOs around the world, including Apple's Tim Cook, are
expected to meet with top trade Chinese negotiator Hulley Fang
and Beijing this week.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Source to say.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
The executives are part of an advisory board for Singhwa
University School of Economics and Management.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
That typically gathers every year.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
The sitdown comes at a critical time in bilateral ties,
with the US calling for a response from other nations
to China's curbs on rare earths that were announced last week.

Speaker 6 (02:25):
Let's get the latest now, Nathan.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
On the government shutdown, The White House has promised to
use the spending fight on Capitol Hill to layoff thousands
of federal workers, but a federal judge in San Francisco
has put those plans on whole. Judge Susan Ilston's decision
means more than thirty federal agencies cannot send new layoff
notices if they involve programs that affect unionized workers. About

(02:47):
forty one hundred employees have received pink slips so far.
The ruling came hours after White House Budget Director Russell
Vote said the layoffs could reach ten thousand.

Speaker 8 (02:57):
Think of Green New Deal programs at the Department of Energy.
I think the Minority Business Development Agency at Commerce that
divvy's up business grants on the basis of race. Think
environmental justice at EPA and.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Mine House A budget director, rest Vote spoke on that
Charlie Kirk Show. Judge Elson says it appears the Trump
administration is taking advantage of the shutdown to assume all
bets are off and the laws don't.

Speaker 6 (03:22):
Apply to them. She set a hearing for October twenty eighth.

Speaker 4 (03:25):
Well Meanwhile, Karen, President Trump has confirmed a report in
The New York Times that he's authorized covert CIA action
in Venezuela to ramp up pressure on President Nicholas Maduro.

Speaker 9 (03:34):
I authorized speak for two reasons, Julie. Number one, they
have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.
They came in through the well, they came in through
the border. They came in because we had an open
border policy.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
And speaking in the Oval Office, the President said he
also authorized the operation because a lot of drugs are
coming in from Venezuela. The US has already hit a
half dozen boats in the Southern Caribbean that the administration
says we're carrying drugs. The Times report says the CIA
is now authorized to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela.
Asked if agents have the authority to take out Maduro,
President Trump said that would be a ridiculous question to answer, well, Nathan.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
President Trump says he might go to the Supreme Court
to personally watch oral arguments on whether the bulk of
his tariffs past legal muster. The High Court will hear
arguments next month over whether import taxes imposed by Trump
or legal. With Trump saying the tariffs are authorized under
the nineteen seventy seven International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the

(04:33):
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that
the law does not authorize such a sweeping array of tariffs.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
All those arguments aren't expected till next month, Karen, But
we are less than two weeks away from the next
FED rate decision, and traders are ramping up their bets
on more cuts. Bloomberg's John Tucker is here with more.
Good morning John, Good morning Nathan. This is the activity
in the options, Marcus. It shows a build up in
positioning for a supersize half point rate reduction, either when

(05:02):
the Fed meets later this month or in December. And
that's more than two quarter point cuts now priced into
interest rate swaps. The week's long government shutdown, let's delay
the release of key data on employment and inflation, obviously,
but when we do finally get it, the traders expect
a deluge of weakness. And those renewed trade tensions between
the US and China appear to have provided further incentive

(05:24):
for traders to hedge for the possibility of half point moves.
You know, Yorkkom John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. Well, Karen, let's
turn to markets now. Global stocks are on the rise,
strong tech earnings are shifting the focus from the lingering
US China trade threat. Keith Lerner, chief investment officer at Truist,
is still bullish on tech.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
You know, this is not a bubblin of view.

Speaker 10 (05:45):
We're up about twenty five percent in the technology sector
over the last year. During the bubble period we were
up more than one hundred percent, and the earning power
today is a lot different than them. But there's a
lot of actually still a lot of concern as opposed
to just row optimism, which if you look at that
at the market making new highs, you would expect a
bit more optimism.

Speaker 4 (06:03):
It's True's chief investment officer, Keith Lerner. The Nasdaq is
up more than seventeen percent this year.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
Another day, Nathan, and another record for gold right now comes.
Gold is at four two hundred and forty eight dollars
in ounce. Earlier this week, JP Morgan Chases Jamie Diamond
said gold could easily go to five thousand dollars.

Speaker 6 (06:23):
Environments like this.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
And another company's benefiting from the AI boom. Caare in
Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing is hiking its projection for twenty twenty
five revenue growth to the mid thirty percent range.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
We get more from Bloomberg's Tom mackenzie.

Speaker 11 (06:37):
I think it's worth emphasizing at a time when people
are questioning whether or not we are in the middle
of an AI bubble, the fact that TSMC has come
through with a record set of profits and not for
the first time, but this is a new record almost
forty percent jump in quarterly profits for the company that
is the biggest foundry, so the maker that actually produces

(06:57):
the chips that are designed by the likes of Nvidia
an Apple.

Speaker 4 (07:02):
Bloomberg's Tom McKenzie says the results underscore HOWSMC remains one
of the bigger beneficiaries of a spending spree on AI
infrastructure that's expected to cross the trillion dollar mark in
coming years.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
And shares of Nesley they're surging this morning, Nathan up
more than eight percent. The food maker posted a stronger
than expected increase in quarterly sales and also announced plans
to slash sixteen thousand jobs just weeks after replacing its
Chief Executive Officer. Time now for look at some of
the other stories making news in New York and around

(07:35):
the world.

Speaker 6 (07:36):
And for that we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Michael, good Morning, Good morning, Karen.

Speaker 12 (07:40):
President Donald Trump said he terminated the sixteen billion dollar
Gateway rail tunnel under the Hudson River, linking New York
City and New Jersey. The President spoke during a press
conference Wednesday as tense negotiations over the federal government shutdown
drag on.

Speaker 9 (07:56):
Not only jobs. I mean the project in Manhattan, project
in New York. It's billions and billions of dollars at
Humor has worked twenty years to get it's terminated.

Speaker 12 (08:09):
Senator Schumer says the Gateway project is one of the
most important infrastructure projects in America and called President Trump's
move vindictive and reckless. New Jersey Senator Andy Kim agrees.

Speaker 13 (08:21):
I hope the American people see this. We have a
president that has unhinged, somebody that is so clearly not
thinking about what's best for this country, and this is
a perfect example of his willingness to hurt American families
for his own political benefit.

Speaker 12 (08:36):
Senator Kim made his comments In an online media post,
President Trump said his administration would look to San Francisco
as the next target of his federal crime crackdown. President
Trump's comments come as San Francisco's crime rates have fallen
in recent months, with the city on track to see
the fewest homicide since the nineteen fifties. Israel threatened to

(08:58):
resume attacks on Gaza if Amas does not go through
with all the steps outlined in President Trump's peace plan.
Hamas returned all twenty live hostages to Israel on Monday
and has sent the remains of seven deceased hostages so far,
leaving twenty one unaccounted for. Tonight, the top three candidates
in New York City's mayoral race will take to the

(09:21):
debate stage Queen's Assemblyman's around Memdani running as a Democrat,
former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo running as an independent,
and Curtis Sliwa running as a Republican. Sliwa said that
he's trying to distinguish himself from his opponents, saying that
Mamdani is a democratic socialist and that if he wins,

(09:41):
we'll see a rise of more democratic socialist candidates running
for elected office. Around the country, global news twenty four
hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg
News Now. Michael Barm This is Bloomberg Karen.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Thanks Michael.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
Time now for our Bloomberg Sports update, and for them,
we bring in John Stashauer.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
Grans getting on.

Speaker 14 (09:58):
The americ leag Championship Series began Toronto with two wins
by Seattle. The Mariners back home, took an early lead
in Game three, but the Blue Jays scored the next
twelve runs and they won, going away thirteen to four.
Toronto had eighteen hits, hit four home runs. They'll play
Game four tonight ahead of Game three and the NLCS
in LA. The Dodgers lead the Brewers two games to now,

(10:20):
and the NBA season begins next week. And Russell Westbrook
just got a job. His eighteenth season will be with Sacramento.
That's your Bloomberg Sports update.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Stay with us. More from Bloomberg day Break coming up
after this.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM,
and around the world on Bloomberg dot Com and the
Bloomberg Business app. This is Bloomberg Daybreak.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
After days of rising trade tensions between the US and China,
the US maybe eyeing an off ramp. Treasury Secretary Scott
Besson says the US could pause extend its pause on
one hundred percent tariffs if China puts its plans for
rare earth export controls on hold.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Besson says those restrictions go too far.

Speaker 5 (11:07):
If China wants to be an unreliable partner to the world,
then the world will have to decouple. The world does
not want to decouple.

Speaker 6 (11:16):
We want to de risk.

Speaker 4 (11:18):
That was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessont at a Washington news
conference heard live on Bloomberg Radio this morning. We're joined
by Bloomberg News Chief Asia correspondent Rosalind Matheson and Roz
We've been talking for days about the positioning ahead of
possible talks at the end of the month between Presidents
Trump and She. Could this offer from a Secretary Besson
be that off ramp from these tensions?

Speaker 2 (11:38):
Good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 15 (11:39):
Yeah, it will be interesting to see how this is
responded to, because there's been a rolling series of truces
of ninety days in Scott Bessont, as you were saying,
is floating the idea of a longer extension if China
backs down on some of its rare earth restrictions. But
rare us are really the key point of leverage that
China had in this, you know, obviously because of the

(12:02):
scarcity issue in the US desire to have them. And
so do you use all your leverage just to get
an extension of a trade truth or do you use
it for something more fundamental, which is a proper US
China trade deal. You know, are you willing to pull
back on some of it but not all of it
to get an extension? But if you're China, you probably

(12:22):
don't want to give it.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
All away just for an extension.

Speaker 15 (12:26):
You know, China has promised previously also to be more
fulsome with its rare earth and to open this spigot,
and hasn't necessarily done so in practice. And so for
the US also you need to ask are they going
to get something fundamental out of it? So maybe there
is a bit of a window here to at least
get an extension of the trade truth. But more broadly,

(12:48):
you know, China want to use its rare earth to
negotiate a proper trade deal.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
To your point, we have seen extension after extension of
the tear of pause, this planned meeting between Presidents Trump
and She, is there a possibility that that could lead
to that broader trade deal that seems to have been
so elusive for the last several years.

Speaker 15 (13:09):
We have seen that being the breakthrough. Previously, we've seen
it take Sieging Ping and Donald Trump to sit down,
and they have done that in different parts of the
world and emerge with the trade deal. Those trade deals
have lasted for a while but have descended generally back
after months or years, so that's no guarantee even then,
but you do have a strong personal rapport between Sieging

(13:31):
Ping and Donald Trump. They're both negotiators, They're both very transactional,
and in the minute it might take them meeting to
produce something. And obviously, if you are going into a
meeting that's so high stakes, as US president or the
president of China, you do kind of want to come
out of it with something and you want to be
sure that you're going to be able to do so.
So it does seem as at this point they're all

(13:53):
leaning on the idea that See and Trump need to
get in a room and that's where the magic's going
to happen.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Just thirty seconds left.

Speaker 4 (13:59):
Roswork's acting global CEOs to meet with the top trade
negotiator from China this week.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
Could that have any impact?

Speaker 15 (14:07):
Well, that would be interesting to see the messaging that
comes from that. I mean, Scott Besson has also said
that he intends to meet with Helefang, who's the Chinese
Vice Premier, before any meeting between Siegingping and Donald Trump.
And you know, it does show at least that there
are various avenues of communication to get messaging between China
and the US, and these executives obviously have skin in

(14:28):
the game with either side an incentive to have these
trade tensions ease, and so the messaging from that would
be very interesting to watch.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories
making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
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Speaker 3 (14:50):
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Speaker 4 (15:04):
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Speaker 3 (15:10):
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Speaker 6 (15:22):
I'm Karen Moscow.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
And I'm Nathan Hager.

Speaker 4 (15:24):
Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you
need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak
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