Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Monica Ricks. President Trump is expressing some reluctance now in nominating Kevin Hassett as Federal Reserve Chair.
I actually want to keep you where you are if you want to know the truth.
Chapter 2: What concerns does Trump have about nominating Kevin Hassett as Fed Chair?
Trump says if Hassett were to leave his post as director of the National Economic Council, it would deprive the administration of one of its most powerful messengers on the economy.
Kevin Hassett is so good. I'm saying, wait a minute. If I move him, these Fed guys, certainly the one we have now, they don't talk much. I would lose you. It's a serious concern to me.
Hassett has been a top contender to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell. But Trump's effort to fill Fed vacancies is already facing roadblocks in the Senate. Bloomberg's Stuart Paul explains.
Earlier this week, we saw Senator Tom Tillis, one of the members of the Senate Banking Committee. say that he would not consider any nomination to the Fed from the president until the entire DOJ probe of Chairman Powell and the Federal Reserve is brought to a conclusion. Now, Tillis is an important member of the Senate Banking Committee.
He's not running for reelection in 2026, so he gets to assert a little bit more legislative independence and a little bit more oversight independence. And if he refuses to vote for any Trump nominee, you cannot get any nominee through the Senate Banking Committee into the floor of the Senate.
That's Bloomberg's Stuart Paul on Bloomberg Intelligence. President Trump has said he plans to announce his nominee for Fed chair in the next few weeks. The market's deflated a little bit and treasuries dropped following Trump's Fed comments today. The Dow's pretty flat right now, but the Nasdaq is up about a tenth of a percent. The S&P also up about a tenth of a percent.
The 10-year treasury yield at 4.2 percent. The two-year yields at about 3.6 percent. Canada and China just reached a wide-ranging agreement to lower trade barriers and rebuild its ties. Under this new deal, Canada will allow Chinese electric vehicles into its market at a tariff rate of about 6 percent, down from the current rate of 100 percent. in exchange for visa-free travel to China.
The agreement also includes tariff concessions, with Canada anticipating a drop in canola tariffs from 85 to about 15 percent combined by March 1st. Beijing plans to suspend anti-discrimination duties on other farm products. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is in Denmark today to reassure Danes that Congress is opposed to President Trump's threats to seize Greenland.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is among them.
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Chapter 3: What challenges are Trump’s Fed nominations facing in the Senate?
It is a recognition. again, of a strong and a continuing relationship over decades.
Murkowski speaking to reporters there after meeting with leaders in Copenhagen today. Trump has threatened more tariffs on goods from nations that oppose his push to take control of Greenland. Iran is still under its most extensive Internet blackout on record continues. Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall has more from Washington.
President Trump earlier this week said that he was canceling all meetings between U.S. and Iranian officials. But we know that there is this diplomacy going forward, as previous White House officials have suggested that that is always going to be an option on the table.
Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall reports the blackout in Iran has lasted eight days now. That's longer than demonstrations in 2019. Activists say nearly 3,500 people have died so far, at least 20,000 arrested.
Here at home, President Trump's considering sending in the U.S.
military as violent protests continue in Minnesota over ICE operations and two shootings now involving federal agents. Videos and witness accounts show escalating confrontations with ICE breaking car windows, pulling people from vehicles, and using tear gas and pepper spray during clashes with protesters.
Experts say such tactics, while sometimes justified during targeted arrests, carry heightened risks when used for crowd control. President Trump has agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that could compel tech companies to effectively fund new power plants.
But Bloomberg's head of global tech, Mandeep Singh, says the big question will be where they'll get the electricity to power massive data centers without raising utility costs.
when you think about what is existing in terms of ai data centers these are 50 to 100 megawatt data centers we are already talking about power requirements going 10x to 1 gigawatt and so how will a 70 to 80 year old grid supply electricity which is 10 times more than what these data centers already consume
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