Rick Davis (2:22)

It. Get a helicopter, follow the.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (2:24)

Tanker. Is it.

Rick Davis (2:25)

True? It's going to, but we're going to. I assume we're going to keep.

Joe (2:27)

The. I assume we're going to keep the oil, he says. We might need to update that at some point here as the Attorney General Pam Bondi goes to social media with actual video of the seizure. You see a military helicopter lowering itself to the deck, just hovering above the deck of this tanker. If you're with us on tv, we're showing you this now. As special forces rappel out of the chopper and take control of the ship. There was no resistance to answer questions we had last evening from the crew. There were no casualties. And apparently we are now in possession of this stateless ship as it's being referred to by the administration. Let's go to the White House right now for the latest on this. Bloomberg Washington correspondent Tyler Kendall is on the North Lawn. Looks like we've got ourselves a new boat here, Tyler, what are we going to do with.

Tyler Kendall (3:20)

It? Yeah, well, Joe, well, we'll have to wait and see. You heard the president there. But of course, this really does mark a significant escalation in the tensions between the two countries as the US has now taken aim with its pressure campaign at the heart of Venezuela's oil based economy. Now we're talking about this vessel just for some context here. This vessel was well known by US Authorities for years. It has been considered to be part of what's known as the dark fleet that helps to support Venezuelan but also Iranian crude exports. This specific vessel, Seoul, can hold up to 2 million barrels of oil when it comes to capacity. And analysts say that this really could mark some warning signs for other suppliers who may now be reluctant to load up their cargoes with Venezuelan exports. Just for some context here, I pulled the data. On average, Venezuela was exporting about 750,000 barrels of oil per day last year. And nearly half of that does go to China. So we're going to be watching really closely how this ultimately develops because as you have been following closely, this is just the latest pressure point point from this US Campaign which has included a massive military presence buildup in The Caribbean, now 20 strikes against alleged drug boats. And Joe, our analysts at Bloomberg Economics say that the administration has been saying that many of these measures have been aimed at curbing the flow of drug trafficking into the US but really the underlying message here is it is turning the screws on Nicolas Maduro. President Trump had said that Maduro's days are numbered in an interview earlier this week, though declined to say how far he would go to remove him from power. But of course, as you well know, the idea of potential land strikes inside Venezuela still remain on the table according to the.

Joe (5:05)

Administration. Tyler, it's two up and two down it seems in the Senate. We just pushed a headline while you were talking there The Senate rejecting the extension of health care subsidies. This would be the Democratic plan all but guaranteeing higher costs in 2026 for millions of Americans. The Republican plan that would not deal with Obamacare, in fact would create the health savings accounts failed earlier. Just quickly, Tyler, was the president leaning into this? Do we have any commentary from him today? Did he ever pick a.

Tyler Kendall (5:37)

Plan? So, Joe, he really hasn't been involved in these health care discussions, which is part of why we were widely expecting these votes today to fail in the Senate, particularly on the Republican side, though Republicans did choose to coalesce around the plan that is more in line with what President President Trump has indicated that he would be supportive of giving more money to Americans in the forms of these health savings accounts. Now, that is going to be the plan that we are closely watching, even though it failed, how that could potentially evolve going forward. We know that that plan, of course, shepherded from Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, would create these health savings accounts and encourage Americans to offer plans with lower premiums but higher deductibles. With the idea being that with more money in their HSA is they would be able to afford higher out of pocket costs. Again, this goes with the White House's position here that they want to see more money going to consumers instead of to insurance companies. But Joe, the lack of support from President Trump outrightly for one particular deal is ultimately why these votes were considered to be show votes today on Capitol.

Joe (6:41)

Hill. Yeah, right now. Bill Cassidy must be licking his wounds right now. We'll see where we go from here. Tyler, thank you so much. And what is a beautiful looking day on the North Lawn. But I can tell you, Tyler, might be pretty chilly out there. It's a cold one here in the nation's capital. And this whole conversation over health care is happening against the backdrop of one about affordability. And they're really the same story when we talk about this, right? President Trump tries to connect the dots to some of the deals he's made with pharmaceutical companies as an example, gas prices. But when it comes to premiums, maybe not so much. In fact, I think we can now say that they're going up and down. People be getting notices to have a sense of by how much. Over the past couple of weeks, the president is on an affordability road show. We're told he had the first night out and we talked about this yesterday, went to Pennsylvania to talk about the issue that got him elected and has been dogging him in the polls. Yes.

Rick Davis (7:35)

Affordability. Listen, they gave you high Prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history. And we're giving you, we're bringing those prices down rapidly. They say, oh, he doesn't realize prices are, prices are coming very substantially. But they have a new word. You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability. I have no higher priority than making America affordable again. You can give up certain products. You can give up pencils. You don't need $37 for your daughter. Two or three is.

Joe (8:06)

Nice. I don't know if Brendan Boyle has given up his pencils, but we get the view from the great state of Pennsylvania. Congressman Boyle, of course, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Pennsylvania's. You've got a voice of Philadelphia here, not the Poconos. And it's great to have you, Congressman, back on Bloomberg TV and radio. The president said it a lot of times in your home state the other evening that affordability is a Democrat hoax. Are you involved in some sort of conspiracy here? What is he referring.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (8:38)

To? Well, often I am bewildered by what exactly the president says. He says the problem is that too many kids have 37 pencils. I can assure you I don't have 37 pencils. Neither does my daughter. You know, this president really was elected more than any other reason, as you kind of referred to just a few moments ago. He was elected because of the cost of living crisis and because he went around my state more than any other state in the nation saying that he would lower prices. And I quote him on day one. Well, he's been president for a year. He has not lowered prices. In fact, prices are higher today than when he took office. And I would refer you to the comments that the Fed Chair Jay Powell gave yesterday. Jay Powell is not a Democrat. In fact, he's a Republican appointed by a Republican president named Donald Trump. And what did he say? Inflation is higher today than they projected and it is almost entirely due to the Trump.

Joe (9:40)

Tariffs. Wow. Well, of course, we add, as I mentioned, health care to that story. And I'm wondering your reaction to see this Democratic bill fail in the Senate. It was predicted to fail, as was the Republican plan. So now they're, they're both, I guess, up in smoke here. Congressman, what's going to happen? We're going over the cliff, as they call.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (10:01)

It. Well, first, you were right moments ago when you said the crisis in health care costs is one subset of the larger issue of the affordability crisis or cost of living crisis in this nation. It is probably the single biggest, along with the Trump tariffs or essentially the national sales tax that Donald Trump has created to put on most goods, those that are imported. Now, on health care, I would refer you back to a few months ago. Remember Donald Trump used to call, used to talk incessantly about something called the one big beautiful bill. Well, remember in his so called big beautiful bill, what was it about? At its essence, tax breaks that were skewed to the mega rich, paid for by the largest cuts to health care in American history. Cuts to Obamacare, cuts to Medicaid, cuts to other programs. Well, the first of those cuts will take effect January 1st. So that's why Obamacare has kind of been front and center right now. It just happens to be first on the chopping block. But later on in 2026, those Medicaid cuts come into play as well. And combined, according to the Congressional Budget Office, 15 million Americans will lose their health care over the course of the next year because of these Trump.

Joe (11:20)

Cuts. Wow. Does that mean a Democratic controlled House in the midterms premiums? Because a lot of Republicans come on the air and I'm going to guess that you don't like this kind of talk, but a lot of Republicans and even Democratic analysts have come on the air to say Democrats might prefer to keep these premiums right where they are and point to Republicans when we go to vote in the midterms because it guarantees a Democratic win. What would you say to.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (11:51)

Them? Well, no, I don't believe in harming people because it might be politically beneficial to you. And I would point out to the vote that we had over the summer on the big beautiful bill for billionaires, as I call it. What did we see? We saw every House Democrat, whether a very liberal Democrat, a more moderate to conservative Democrat, anywhere in between. You saw all House Democrats unite and vote against that proposal and you saw almost every Republican vote in favor of it. That was the original sin in this, that that's the bill that included the largest cuts to health care in American history. Even now, right now, live on the House floor, right in the. Well, there's a discharge petition initiated by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. It would be a three year clean extension. No additions to the program, no subtractions. Clean extension. Every single Democrat, all214, has signed that discharge petition. Not one Republican has. It only needs four. That's how we got the vote in the Epstein files. Let's not forget we had four House Republicans who did the right thing and signed it. So if they want to at least look out for their political interests, they can go to the well, of the House floor right now. Sign that discharge petition and we will soon get a.

Joe (13:09)

Vote. Well, after we speak, Congressman will be joined by Nicole Maliatakis. The Republican from New York is one of 10 at least at last count, 10 Republicans who signed on to another discharge petition. This is the bipartisan bill by Brian Fitzpatrick and Jared Goldin would extend the tax credits for two years but would also impose eligibility requirements. Would you be a no on.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (13:32)

That? I remain pretty open minded. I've been waiting to see what would happen in the Senate. You know, got the breaking news literally from you as I was waiting to go on that unfortunately, that vote failed, I will say for any of these extensions. However, the fact the overwhelming majority of House Republicans and the overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans oppose them, I think, let's face it, is the real stumbling block. And oh, by the way, let's not forget this does have to be signed into law. Anything that would somehow pass does have to be signed into law by President Trump, who I think it's safe to say is not exactly a fan of Obamacare. He's been railing against it ever since its inception 15 years ago. He pushed repeal and replace eight years ago. And I'm not at all convinced that he would sign any of these pieces of.

Joe (14:22)

Legislation. Interesting. Congressman, I want to bring it back to July. In a conversation that we had here on Bloomberg, I played this for you last time you were on because I thought it was a pretty key moment as we were walking up on a potential vote on the big beautiful bill. It was following a rescissions package that Republicans put forth and people were asking at that point, are we going to shut down? What the heck is going to go on around here with funding in the balance? This is what you said back in July following those moves in the House by Republicans. Let's, let's listen together back in.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (14:58)

Time. If the administration continues to do that, then I certainly would not be in favor or vote for a scenario in which we reach an agreement on a Monday on a bipartisan basis and then the very next day on a Tuesday, the White House says, oh, thanks for your vote for that. We're now rescinding X, Y and Z in that bill, but we're keeping the parts that we like. I'm not going to be a sucker and I'm certainly not going to go along with that. So I believe actually a shutdown is more likely than.

Joe (15:28)

Not. More likely than not. And I think you said one more rescissions package and you can count on it. Here we are again Congressman, if we go over the cliff at the end of the month, if there's another rescissions package, as Republicans have suggested in another reconciliation plan on the way, could we shut down in our remaining moment here at the end of.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (15:48)

January? You know, my first thought is I wish my sports predictions this year were as good as the prediction I made on the government shutdown over over the summer. I think all things are possible. I certainly don't want a government shutdown. I think it would be enormously costly to the country and will do everything I can to prevent one. But the issue of rescissions remains and my essential point remains intact and valid. And I even have privately a number of Republican members, especially those on the Appropriations Committee, who come up and voice to me their frustration that we follow the process, we follow the law, we put together packages, we vote for them in good faith, and then you have a White House and Office of Management and Budget director who comes around the very next day and does these rescissions, often in an entirely illegal way, as the courts have repeatedly ruled. That's really the root of the problem here and why there is understandably a lack of.

Joe (16:45)

Trust. Speaking as the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee ranking member, Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. It's great to have you back, sir, and thank you for the insights. We'll stay in touch with the Congressman as we get closer to the deadline. This is Bloomberg. Stay with us on Balance of Power. We'll have much more coming up after.

Public Ad Announcer (17:02)

This. Support for the show comes from public. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated Assets are completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com market and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com market paid for by.

Joe (17:56)

Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory services by Public Advisors.

Public Ad Announcer (18:03)

Llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis.

Joe (18:07)

Tool. Output is for informational purposes only.

Public Ad Announcer (18:09)

And is not an investment recommendation or.

Joe (18:11)

Advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com.

Narrator/Announcer (18:14)

Disclosures. You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at noon and 5pm Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station. Just say Alexa, play Bloomberg.

Joe (18:33)

1130. After what we just saw take place in the Senate, maybe we should be spending more time in the House because both the bills failed. It's already happened. It's 1:30 in the afternoon. The Democratic proposal to extend Obamacare subsidies just went down the tubes as we were told it would. And the Republican plan failed this morning. That would be the one to create health savings Accounts and take a different approach than the Affordable Care Act. But there's something interesting that's happening in the House of Representatives and we just talked about it with Congressman Brendan Boyle. Yes, there's the discharge petition that he talked about, the three year extension that doesn't have a single Republican on it. But there's a bipartisan discharge petition that we've talked about a couple times authored by Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Jared Goldin, R and D. We've got at least 10 Republicans who have signed on, including our next guest. Maybe this will be the path to solving all of this. Congresswoman Nicole Maliatakis, the Republican from New York is with us right now live from Capitol Hill on Bloomberg TV and Radio. It's great to have you with us on Congresswoman. Will this discharge petition be the.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (19:40)

Answer? Look, I'm not sure. I'm not sure that it can get the 218 signatures to get a House floor vote, especially now that the Democrats have introduced a simple one year extension without any fraud prevention measures. Our solution is truly the best way to go about this. We have Republicans and Democrats. There's eight of us that have introduced a solution here. We are members of the Problem Solvers Caucus. This is the very reason why our caucus exists, to try to put forward some type of compromise. What our legislation does, it allows for an extension of the subsidies, but in a way where we are not only preventing this spike in premiums that consumers and patients are trying to avoid right now, but it also goes after some of the fraud by putting in specific measures that reign in the insurance companies and the brokers and how they enroll individuals to ensure that we're not giving subsidies for people that don't even exist or are dead or the Social Security numbers that are being used to enroll thousands of people. It's the best solution I see based on everything that I've Heard here in Capitol Hill that really, truly brings both parties together. But people have to be willing to give a little and sign on to our legislation for us to be able to move it forward and convince.

Joe (21:07)

Leadership. What's the speaker saying about this? Anything. Congresswoman, is there a chance that this doesn't have to be a discharge petition? He might even bring it to the.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (21:15)

Floor. Unfortunately, the speaker says he does not want to do an extension of the Affordable Care act subsidy. Now, look, I recognize what my colleagues are saying here. It is true. The Affordable Care act was never truly affordable. That is how we got in this mess. Democrats sold the American people a bill of goods in 2014. Now, but here we are, and we have to address this issue to prevent this spike in premiums. What our bill does, what's really important here is that we go after the fraud. And that is the part. Look, 11 million people are enrolled in this program that never even used it. And there are millions of people that also have been enrolled that we believe could be potentially fraudulent. We saw tens of thousands of people being enrolled under the same Social Security number or their Social Security number match somebody who's dead under Social Security roles. So there's so much fraud here, which is why we think we have the proper balance. And this gives us enough time, by the way, to then work over the next year or two to be able to come up with something that can truly replace the Affordable Care act and bring costs down. Now, what the speaker and leadership are saying is that we're going to take up a health savings account measure which will help people, certainly with their medical costs. And I support that initiative, but it doesn't go far enough. What they also want to do is something else that will drive down premiums to 12 by 12%. I support both those measures, but I still think our solution, coupled with, by the way, the opportunity for Americans to have 50% of their premiums put, 50% of this tax credit put in a health savings account that they can use toward the payment of their premiums, which they cannot do now. Health savings accounts cannot be used for those premiums. That goes a long way. And we also have the PBM reform in there as well, preventing spread pricing that will drive down prescription drug costs. So we think we have a very good comprehensive.

Joe (23:14)

Plan. That's what I wanted to ask you about. Yeah, I thought cracking down on PBMs was one of the only bipartisan activities on Capitol Hill these days. You're not getting more love for that. I'm amazed that these numbers are not.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (23:25)

Higher. Well, I think you have a very, a very large group of angry members, both Republicans and Democrats, if we do not pass PBM reform. They are the.

Joe (23:35)

Middlemen.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (23:36)

Right? And they're also not just the pbm. Oftentimes they are the insurance company and they're the pharmacy. So, you know, this vertical integration is not good for the consumer. It is not good for our small mom and pop pharmacies. They're dictating what their competitors are making. If they're, if they're, let's say a cvs, for example, they're dictating what their competitor, small mom and pop, are getting reimbursed for prescription, prescription drugs. They're dictating which prescriptions are covered by the plans and what consumers are paying. And there's no transparency. It is wrong and it has to end. That is the number one thing that can drive down prescription costs in this country. And in the past, President Trump has been very supportive of that. And he's kind of signed that he was signaled that he was supportive of some type of extension with reforms to tackle the fraud for the insurance company. So. So we're hoping we can get to a resolution here. But remember, this was a problem that was dumped on Republicans.

Jeannie Shan Zaino (24:31)

Laps.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (24:32)

Right? We're trying to do the best we can with what we can do right now because the Democrats set the expiration date for these subsidies. They set it to expire now. And so we're trying to do what we can and come up with the best policy to move this forward to protect our constituents and the.

Joe (24:49)

Taxpayer. You mentioned disappointed members, and I keep hearing stories, if not direct accounts here on our air, about members who are disappointed with the speaker of the House right now, in many cases, female members like Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said they don't even want to stay around anymore with the way that he's running things. And President Trump came to his defense. Obviously, Mike Johnson has one of the hardest jobs in the world. I think we can all agree on that. The question is whether he's effective right now. Congresswoman, here's what Donald Trump.

Rick Davis (25:19)

Thinks. I think Mike Johnson is great. He's had a majority of 2, 3, 4, then back to 2. We actually had one. So we were one heart attack away from disaster. So everybody prayed for everybody's health. I think Mike Johnson has been a fantastic speaker. I mean, a very hard job because, you know, when you have a small majority, I think Mike Johnson's been a great speaker. I think few people could have done that.

Joe (25:47)

Joe, does the speaker deserve the Criticism that he's been getting from various quarters. Congresswoman, and do you feel heard as a female.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (25:56)

Member? Well, first I'll say that he does have a very difficult job and you do have a very slim majority. So we've been able to get a lot done. We've delivered historic tax relief for middle class families, for working Americans, for senior citizens, for businesses. I think we're going to see the economy do extraordinarily well in 2026 because of the measures we were able to pass this year. And we've been able to do a lot of good things. The problem is, I think there's a frustration from rank and file members, particularly because now we're at the end of the year with some of our own legislative priorities that could be considered non controversial, doesn't cost money. We're having trouble navigating these things out of the committee and onto the floor. We think we should be churning out more member priorities. And I think that's where the frustration lies. I have some of those priorities. I did get a lot done this year with the salt relief I delivered for New York, as well as the bonus deduction for senior citizens, the 100% manufacturing expensing for new facilities, expansion of facilities. Those were all my priorities that got into that big, beautiful bill. And I'm happy about that. However, I do have some smaller things that we would like to see get out of the committee and onto the floor. And if leadership could help us with that, I think you'd make a lot of members.

Joe (27:05)

Happy. Mm. Well, it's great to have you weigh in on this, all of this. Congresswoman, let's stay in touch on the discharge petition because it's not over yet. Nicole Molly Attack is Republican from New York with us live from Capitol Hill. We want to play this to the panel quickly. We'll have a lot more time ahead with Rick Davis and Jeannie Shan Zaino on matters of geopolitics. This is important, though, these health care votes, and we've been talking about it a lot. Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis, Republican strategist partner, Storm Court Capital, and Jeannie Shan Zaino, democracy visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School Center, Ash Center. What do you think in here, Jeannie? Because it looks like we're going to go careening over the cliff. We've got time for about a minute each and we'd love to just have you each take a swing at this because we saw it coming. And this is why people love Washington.

Jeannie Shan Zaino (27:50)

Right? Yeah, it's exactly why we love Washington. We saw it coming. It's very disheartening to hear members say that anything could happen in terms of a shutdown. So we could literally be facing another shutdown in a matter of a few weeks. And more importantly, millions of people paying ridiculous amounts for health care and two parties who can't get it together. I have to say Nicole Malliotakis, you know, she is part of this problem solvers Caucus. We need more people to join in this middle type of group and try to work towards these solutions. But they are anywhere but close to that. And of course, Mike Johnson remains in this terrible position. Even Malia Takis, his colleague from New York, Elise Stefanik, is upset. And she's part of leadership. She's called him a habitual liar. Nobody wants to be the speaker.

Joe (28:40)

Today. Why not the truth? So you start wondering about a shutdown, Rick, I don't know if anybody has the appetite for that after setting an all time record with the shutdown already this year. But we talked about this. We saw it coming a mile away. They have now both failed. Will there be a solution or this is the biggest issue in the.

Rick Davis (29:01)

Midterms. It's going to be one of the biggest issues in the midterms. And you know, when, you know, looking back 2020 vision. But this should have been dealt with back when we were doing reconciliation and dealing with the Medicaid program. Right. I mean, if Republicans were going to make cuts, that would have been the time to do it because you know, it would have stemmed all of the debate today. Now Republicans are on the defensive. We don't have a plan. It's only going to get worse before it gets better. And there is nothing on the horizon that shows Republicans gaining any advantage or stemming the losses that they're currently getting off of not being able to have a health care program. And all that will come right back into focus at the end of the month. And you know, it's just going to be replaying the same scenario over and over again between now and the.

Joe (29:51)

Midterms. Yeah, I think we could replay a couple segments about that, but we're going to do it live. Rick Davis and Jeannie Shan Zaino will be back with us. Coming up as we turn our attention to what is happening in the waters off Venezuela this the United States has now seized an oil cargo ship. That's next on Bloomberg. Stay with us On Balance of Power. We'll have much more coming up after.

Public Ad Announcer (30:13)

This. Support for the show comes from public on public. You can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now Generated Assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated Assets are completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com market and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com market paid for by.

Joe (31:07)

Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors.

Public Ad Announcer (31:13)

Llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis.

Joe (31:17)

Tool. Output is for informational purposes only.

Public Ad Announcer (31:20)

And is not an investment recommendation or.

Joe (31:22)

Advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com.

Narrator/Announcer (31:24)

Disclosures you're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at noon and 5pm Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on.

Joe (31:41)

YouTube. The President has affordability on his mind today. As we discussed it with Brendan Boyle and Nicole Malliotakis, the health care bills both failed. That's kind of out of the same file here. So as we know that premiums will be rising starting at the end of this month. Unless there's some sort of Christmas miracle, and those don't happen very often, this will continue to be an issue hanging over the White House. And the President has had it. He just went on Truth Social to write stock market just hit an all time high. Three exclamation points. When will the fake polls show that I am doing a great job on the economy and much more? 3 question marks, thank you. Referring to the fake polls, like maybe the Consumer Price Index. This is a story that won't be going away. And it's made for Bloomberg with Data driven reporting here in Washington D.C. there's the post if you're with us on Bloomberg TV or on YouTube where you can find us right now by searching Bloomberg Business News live. Remarkable development yesterday. You saw it first on the terminal here. Bloomberg.com as well. A scoop, an exclusive that the United States of America had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Just the latest move in a string of actions by the administration that include blowing up alleged drug boats, even flying F18s right around the coast flying B52s into airspace near the country. Now the tanker. And about an hour after this broke on Bloomberg, the president confirmed it live from the White House.

Rick Davis (33:17)

Listen, It is a step up in pressure on Maduro and it indicates that if he stays in power, he's going to really face much more constrained resources. It's going to make him difficult, make it very difficult for him to.

Rick Davis (33:37)

Pay off his people and do the.

Rick Davis (33:38)

Other things he's been doing. It's just one more push to get him out the door. But it does also make clear, Joe, that the purpose of this is not just counter.

Joe (33:47)

Narcotics. Reaction from retired four star General Wesley Clark. He was with us on the late edition of Balance of Power just after the president confirmed the report when he was asked, by the way, what are you going to do with the oil? So I guess we're going to keep it. Reuters adds another log on the fire here with a headline that just crossed the wire. US Prepares to intercept more tankers off Venezuela. Let's assemble the panel for their take on everything that's going on in the Caribbean. Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeannie Shanzano are back with us. Rick is our Republican strategist, Jeannie our Democratic analyst. And I don't know, Rick, we're going to find ourselves with a fleet of seized oil tankers. What do we do with them if this is actually.

Rick Davis (34:30)

Legal? Well, I think that Donald Trump clearly has a plan for the hemisphere. You know, he's released his strategy earlier this week and a focus on north and South America is, is a part of this overall strategy. To me, the tanker thing is a, is an insurance play. You know, even though these are dark fleet tankers, we don't know who their origins of ownership are. They still have to have insurance, be able to operate. And Trump wants to shut down the operation of these things, whether the oil or the gas is going to Iran or China. He sees that as a pernicious effect in our hemisphere. So why don't you just undercut the ability to have a tanker show up by not being able to get insurance? Who wants to write insurance for a tanker that's going to be in the Caribbean these days if they think that the US is going to seize it? So one tanker probably means 10 are now not going to be able to operate because they can't get insurance to operate. So I thought it was pretty crafty effort. If it takes two more tankers to acquire their low risk, they don't have, you know, weapons on board. I think it's A pretty good message to send to a rogue.

Joe (35:39)

Regime. Jeannie. Venezuela's government called the seizure a bare faced robbery and an act of international piracy. An interesting choice of words here. I don't know if you saw the footage that the Attorney General Pam Bondi, put on social media. We were just showing it to our TV and YouTube viewers. Pretty remarkable to see the military helicopter come right down above the deck of this tanker and see special forces rappelling onto the boat. Answering the question we all had last evening, apparently there was no resistance from the crew and no casualties. What should happen to the people who were.

Jeannie Shan Zaino (36:15)

Aboard? Yeah, I mean, what's the reason for the United States to release this kind of video, these kinds of pictures? It's of course to continue with the attempts at intimidation and to make the case to the Maduro regime. And of course, right after Maduro said this was an act of international piracy, of course he launched into a singing as he's want to do of don't worry, be happy. So it was one of a multitude of strange videos coming out of Venezuela yesterday. You know, I think what we're seeing here is a ratcheting up on two fronts. We've seen for a long time the ratcheting up on the military end of things. And this is another in line with that. And of course we're seeing a ratcheting up on the legality end. The United States has been seizing assets in Venezuela, as has the UK seizing gold, since about 2019. So this goes back a long way. And the President made it clear yesterday in the White House, which I think is so notable, that Venezuela is not the only country in this hemisphere in our crosshairs. It is also Colombia. He said he issued a warning, watch out, you're next. Interestingly, Ecuador, who you would think if this was about drugs would also be in line for this as left off the table because he's got a friendly relationship with the President which to your discussion with Wesley Clark yesterday, says this isn't about drugs, of course, this is I think also about ideology and control of the hemisphere. It gets back to what Rick was talking about about this national security document that came out. And I think if are Vladimir Zelinsky looking at this, you've got to be very, very concerned because how could we as the United States be engaged in this and tell Russia they can't do what they want in their hemisphere and likewise China and Taiwan. So it's a much, much bigger message than just to Maduro and.

Joe (38:16)

Venezuela. Now it's interesting you mentioned that Because Bloomberg is reporting, Rick and Jeannie, that Vladimir Putin has entered the picture here. Speaking with his Venezuelan counterpart in Nicolas Maduro, they talked about the development of bilateral ties as part of a strategic cooperation treaty, according to a Kremlin statement confirming both sides confirming their commitment to joint projects in trade, the economy, energy and other areas. How much could Russia complicate this mission.

Rick Davis (38:48)

Rick? Well, I don't think Russia can complicate this mission virtually at all. They're not going to send military advisors or significant amount of equipment to Venezuela that would have any impact on Venezuela's security. And that's likely the only thing that Russia could try to do. There's not enough juice in the Russian economy to help Venezuela at this point, and they would have done it a year ago if they could. So this is a distraction. Russia's got its own problems. And, you know, dealing with a significant war in Ukraine, we tend to underestimate the massive impact on the Russian economy. And by the way, the more of these tankers that get rolled up as a part of this scheme with the administration in Venezuela, the more pressure that puts on Russia. At the same time, how many, how many insurance companies are going to want to, you know, insure Russian tankers if they think the administration is getting serious about these.

Joe (39:49)

Sanctions? Well, it's interesting, Jeannie, that strategic treaty that I mentioned was signed by Putin and Maduro back in May. President Trump talks a lot about his, his great relationship with Vladimir Putin. They, of course, have seen each other in person repeatedly. Could this not be, as we try to figure, an end of the war in Ukraine, a lever for Donald Trump to pull? What if Putin asked Maduro to leave? We'll have you come on over here. You can move into Moscow and start a whole new life. Jeannie, does this, does this cut both.

Jeannie Shan Zaino (40:21)

Ways? It absolutely could. And we know Donald Trump is, you know, obviously, well, you know, he's able and willing to make transactional deals, so that can be one of them. But I don't think we should forget that Russia has also sent ships for one of the first times in a long time to this part of the world. And for all the pressure that Venezuela has been feeling and it's increasingly ratcheted up from the United States, they have not buckled or been goaded into a war or a confrontation. You know, you may think you mentioned the video, there was no resistance from the sailors on those boats. Venezuela has so far for a rogue regime, and certainly Maduro has a lot to answer for. They have been particularly disciplined about not being goaded into something with the United States for a long time. And so, you know, that is something that, that is notable. You know, I do think that there is a change of foot as we think about how the United States States presents itself around the world. And this is part and parcel of that. You know, some people are saying Monroe Doctrine 2.0. It's very curious for a president who talked about not getting involved in endless wars and being more focused on.

Joe (41:41)

The US And America first, Manifest Destiny, whatever happened to Greenland? So, Rick, this is the part where I'm supposed to ask you about Congress, and I think I know what your answer is going to be. But, but there are House and Senate war powers resolutions that are potentially on the floor as soon as next week. You've even got a Republican and Don Bacon here who says the president has made zero case for what they're doing in Venezuela. Will there be a world in which a War Powers act could pass the House or.

Rick Davis (42:11)

Senate? I don't think so. I think the president feels like, you know, he's got enough authorization to do what he's doing. And, and look, Congressman Bacon is right. I mean, one of the things that Donald Trump is not doing is telling the public what his goals and objectives are. I mean, we used to worry about how to get out of a conflict and have a clear strategy for that. We don't even have a clear strategy for how to get into this conflict, and we don't even know what kind of conflict it's going to be. So it's a, it's kind of unsure ground for most Republicans in the House and Senate. I think they're going to give Trump leeway on this. Yes, there are embarrassing things happening as it relates to the September 2nd boat attack where, you know, Republicans are very uncomfortable with the approach that Trump took. But these are on tactical issues, not the overall strategy of cleaning out a really pernicious government that has a lot of, I would say, loyalties to China and Russia in our own hemisphere. And I think you're going to see that go piece by piece. Remember what Donald Trump did in the first couple of months of his administration? He cleaned out Chinese out of the port systems in Panama Canal. I don't think this is inconsistent. You kind of guess what his strategy is because he won't articulate it. But, but I think it's a pretty clear.

Joe (43:34)

Plan. Jeannie, we've got a minute left. How much hope do you have? How optimistic are you about a War Powers resolution? Resolution? Pramila Jayapal, the Democrat leader of the Progressive Caucus says this tanker seizure makes this even more.

Jeannie Shan Zaino (43:49)

Urgent. It absolutely does. I mean, Rand Paul said it sounds like we are at the beginning of a war. And it is curious for a president who made his name in foreign policy by arguing that George Bush, that Hillary Clinton, they all did the wrong thing with going into, you know, these foreign wars. And yet here we are again. It's feeling a lot like 2000.

Joe (44:14)

2001. Boy, that's saying a lot. Jeannie, thank you very much as always. And Rick, our Bloomberg Politics contributors Jeannie Shan Zaino and Rick Davis and a great panel. Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can find us live every weekday from Washington D.C. at noontime.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (44:39)

Eastern@Bloomberg.Com if a Lenovo computer for your business is on your holiday list, don't shop around, just go directly to the source. Lenovo.com it's your last chance to get exclusive deals on the PCs you want for your business like the ThinkPad X914, Aura Edition and Yoga 7i2 in one. So avoid all that shock, stopping chaos and price comparing and just go directly to the.

Joe (45:02)

Source. Lenovo.com where PCs are up to 35%.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (45:05)

Off. That's Lenovo.com Lenovo.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (45:09)

Lenovo hey Ryan.

Joe (45:13)

Reynolds here wishing you a very happy.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (45:15)

Half off holiday because right now Mint.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (45:17)

Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (45:20)

Unlimited. To be clear, that's half price.

Joe (45:23)

Not half the super.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (45:24)

Service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (45:27)

For a great price, so that means half.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (45:31)

Day. Give it a try at.

Joe (45:33)

Mintmobile. Com Switch Upfront payment of $45.

Tyler Kendall (45:36)

For three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months.

Joe (45:39)

Only. Speed slow 135 gigabytes of networks.

Tyler Kendall (45:40)

Busy taxes and fees extra.

Rick Davis (45:41)

Cmtmobile.