Bloomberg News Now: Trump: Ceasefire with Iran on ‘Massive Life Support’

0:00 News when you want it with Bloomberg News now.

0:04 I'm Nathan Hager and I'm Karen Moscow.

0:06 Karen, the cease fire between the U.S.

0:09 and Iran has reached a precarious moment.

0:11 President Trump says he has rejected Tehran's latest peace proposal.

0:15 And the truce is, in his words, unbelievably weak.

0:19 I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support,

0:22 where the doctor walks in and says,

0:25 sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.

0:31 President Trump spoke in the Oval Office at an event with medical professionals.

0:36 We get more from Bloomberg in Dubai.

0:39 He also went on to describe the Iranian counterproposal as a piece of garbage.

0:44 Probably, you know, a bit of an exaggeration there.

0:46 But at the same time, he also seemed to insinuate that the Iranians

0:51 are planning on handing over the nuclear dust.

0:53 That is, of course, we have not heard any

0:56 indication from the Iranian side that that is the case.

0:58 But then he went on to say that a diplomatic solution is still in sight.

1:02 So multiple different narratives coming out from President

1:04 Trump during the course of that press conference yesterday.

1:07 Bloomberg essentially reports, Iran demanded a lifting of the U.S.

1:10 naval blockade and sanctions relief in its latest counterproposal,

1:13 while maintaining some control over the Strait of Hormuz.

1:17 President Trump is not indicating whether

1:19 he will resume military attacks on Iran,

1:21 but he told Fox News he could revive a plan

1:24 to escort ships through the strait known as Project Freedom.

1:27 Well, anything to help ease the burden of higher prices at the pump.

1:31 President Trump said he is seeking to suspend

1:33 the federal 18.4 cents a gallon tax on gasoline,

1:37 according to an independent budget analyst.

1:39 That would cost the federal government about $3.5 billion

1:43 a month in lost gasoline and diesel tax revenue.

1:47 The president's proposal would require an act of Congress,

1:49 and carrying the war will be the backdrop of President Trump's trip to China.

1:53 But several other topics will be on the agenda as well, including Taiwan.

1:58 Bloomberg's Amy Morris reports from Washington.

2:01 The white House says deals spanning aerospace,

2:04 energy and agriculture industries are expected

2:06 from the president's meeting with Chinese leader XI Jinping.

2:09 And Trump says he'll also discuss whether the U.S.

2:13 should continue arms sales to Taiwan.

2:15 Well, I'm going to have that discussion with President XI.

2:18 President XI would like us not to.

2:20 Trump's comments could ruffle feathers in Congress,

2:22 where a bipartisan group of senators urged the president

2:25 to advance a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan.

2:28 In Washington, Amy Morris, Bloomberg Radio.

2:31 All right, Amy, thank you.

2:32 About several Wall Street titans will be

2:34 accompanying the president on his China trip.

2:36 One notable absence, though, Nvidia CEO Jensen Wong.

2:39 Well, more than a dozen other top executives,

2:42 including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla's Elon Musk,

2:45 made the cut for the business delegation,

2:47 a white House official says Wong was not among those invited.

2:51 Wong's absence may be a potential setback for him

2:54 and his bid to sell Nvidia's AI chips to China.

2:57 Karen, the mayor of an affluent Los Angeles suburb,

3:00 has resigned after agreeing to plead guilty

3:02 to acting as an unregistered foreign agent for China.

3:05 Eileen Wong admitted to posting pro-China propaganda

3:08 at the direction of Chinese government officials.

3:10 Wang was the mayor of Arcadia.

3:12 That's a city of about 55,000, about 50 miles northeast of downtown L.A.

3:17 Well, let's go to politics overseas.

3:20 Nathan Keir Starmer is facing growing pressure

3:23 to step down as Britain's prime minister.

3:25 Let's go live to London and get the very latest is Bloomberg's James Willcock.

3:29 Good morning James.

3:31 Karen Nathan.

3:32 This increasingly looks like Keir Starmer's endgame.

3:35 20% of his Labour Party MPs have now publicly called on the UK leader to go.

3:40 He's not going to stand last night,

3:42 so I was close as cabinet allies told him to set out his exit plans.

3:45 He has gathered his cabinet in the past hour at number ten Downing Street,

3:48 and told them he intends to stay on.

3:51 Now we wait to see what their verdict on his leadership is.

3:54 In London, James Willcock, Bloomberg Radio.

3:57 All right, James, thank you.

3:58 Now, the latest on that cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak.

4:01 All the passengers who are aboard the MV hunters have disembarked

4:04 and boarded planes to more than 20 countries to be quarantined.

4:07 15 Americans who are exposed to the disease

4:11 are being isolated at the University of Nebraska.

4:13 One is infected and being treated in a bio containment unit.

4:17 Another, who developed symptoms but has not tested positive,

4:19 is at Emory University in Atlanta.

4:21 President Trump says he is hopeful the virus can be contained.

4:25 I hope it's fine.

4:26 All I can do is give everything that a president can do,

4:29 which is some of which is actually somewhat limited,

4:32 but but, uh, it seems like it is not, uh, easy to spread.

4:38 President Trump again speaking from the Oval Office.

4:40 Three cruise passengers died.

4:42 Six others with confirmed or suspected cases are being quarantined.

4:46 Health officials say this is the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship.

4:51 Let's turn to the markets now, Nathan, where South Korea has Cosby and shed more

4:55 than $300 billion in value in just 97 minutes.

4:59 Today, the sharp sell off followed a proposal from a top South

5:02 Korean policymaker to introduce a so-called

5:05 citizens dividend using taxes on eye profits.

5:08 The cost B, which is one point, was down 5%, closed down more than 2%.

5:12 Kevin Warsh is nomination to the fed Board

5:15 of Governors has cleared the first in a series

5:17 of Senate votes planned this week to install him as chair of the central bank.

5:21 A separate Senate vote confirming Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell

5:25 as chairman of the board is expected later in the week.

5:29 And that's news when you want it with Bloomberg News now.

5:32 I'm Karen Moscow, I'm Nathan Hager and this is Bloomberg.