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- [00:01]
Joe Matthew
Coffee.
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Joe Matthew
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- [00:33]
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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news. 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 YouTube.
- [00:55]
Joe Matthew
Welcome to the Friday edition of Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio. Live from Washington following our stay this week in Atlanta and Kevin Warsh is now installed. You saw it and heard it live here on Bloomberg. A short time ago in the East Room of the White House, there were some questions about the choreography. Who would handle the swearing in. It was not Donald Trump. He delivered introductory remarks. The Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas actually came to the stage and swore Kevin Warsh in as the 17th Federal Reserve Chair. The message from the President as we read in the headline on the terminal do your own thing.
- [01:39]
President Donald Trump
Listen, I want Kevin to be totally independent. I want him to be independent and just do a great job. Don't look at me, don't look at anybody. Just do your own thing and do a great job.
- [01:52]
Joe Matthew
With questions about independence at the top of the Fed, we highlight that comment because you know it will be played back many times considering conditions economically that will make it very difficult for Kevin Warsh to cut rates anytime soon, as the President has indicated. But you've also got a new chair who has promised reforms at the Fed. And that's where we start our conversation with Michael McKee, Bloomberg's international economics and policy correspondent. This is the man who's going to be asking questions of Kevin Warsh should he choose to hold news conferences at his meetings. Do we actually know that, Mike, as he said, he'll keep doing the news conferences.
- [02:26]
Michael McKee
We don't know that. He has said in the past that he thinks that they could be eliminated or they could be cut down. There are good reasons why you probably don't want to do that. So I think he will probably begin his term at least with the news conferences, but we'll find out on June 17th.
- [02:43]
Joe Matthew
How did you read the remarks of the President today? Will he be able to, quote, do his own thing?
- [02:48]
Michael McKee
I suspect for a while. It is pretty obvious that you can't cut interest rates right now with inflation Going up and up and up. And Scott Bessant's been vocal in saying that he understands that Kevin Warsh can't do that right away. But the question is, at what point does the President get back on track? I might point out that if you were on one of those prediction markets betting about when the first tweet would come about Kevin Warsh, it's already happened. The President's put out on, on Truth Social that he thinks that Kevin Wash will be one of the truly great chairmen of the Federal Reserve. But he has not commented on interest rates. And Kevin Warsh yet
- [03:32]
Joe Matthew
was referred to Alan Greenspan in his brief remarks in the East Room. He said Greenspan was the first to tell me and show me what this role demands. And I'm thinking about him today. Like Alan, I intend to fill the role with energy and purpose. Was he talking about the personal demands on the Fed chair?
- [03:51]
Michael McKee
I think he was, but there's also a lot of professional demands as well.
- [03:55]
Joe Matthew
Yeah.
- [03:56]
Michael McKee
And Greenspan was in office for 18 years as chair, so. So he would know a lot about what it takes. Greenspan also was the one who drove the transparency at the Fed, beginning with the first statement in 1994 and then up through expanding the statements and changing the dates of the minutes. He didn't start the news conferences. That was Ben Bernanke. But Greenspan did.
- [04:17]
Joe Matthew
That's right.
- [04:18]
Michael McKee
A sort of example that maybe Kevin Warsh wants to follow to a certain extent.
- [04:25]
Joe Matthew
I can't imagine Alan Greenspan holding news conferences. Michael McKee, we've got a break breaker here that does not involve the Fed. Fox News is reporting that Tulsi Gabbard is out resigning as President Trump's Director of National Intelligence. I will note that many didn't think Gabbard would be confirmed for this role to begin with, considering her stand on Syria. The comments that she's made before about a potential war in Iran, apparently making this more difficult. Whether this comes to fruition and is in fact confirmed by the White House or Bloomberg News for that matter, is a different thing. This is a single source, Fox News, saying that Tulsi Gabbard is out, not fired, but resigning as the Director of National Intelligence. And we'll have more for you here, of course, as we learn it. What about reforms at the Fed? Michael McKee, the president talked today about a reform minded chair and he's suggested that he would like to see and hear less Fed speak, that the criterion for rate changes might be different. The dot plot might go away. Would those be difficult changes for him
- [05:35]
Michael McKee
to make, some more than others. It's certainly going to be difficult for him to shrink the balance sheet as he would like to do. And it may be hard for him to tamp down on the speeches that Open Market Committee members make, particularly the regional bank presidents, since they feel they have a constituency they need to talk to in their districts. He may be able to get rid of or adjust the dot plot or the way they do the summary of economic projections, and he may be able to change some of the inflation measurements that they use. But it's unlikely they will get rid of the PCE as the main index for the 2% target because there's not anything that's necessarily proven better. And at this point, it is so embedded in Wall street that it might send the wrong signal if they change that. So, you know, he can do a few things, tinkering around the edges, but he's going to have to build up a lot of credibility. I mean, you saw Chris Waller today sort of almost say in your face by coming out and changing his position and saying, well, I think we could maybe have to raise rates if inflation keeps going up.
- [06:49]
Joe Matthew
You don't see that happening though, either?
- [06:52]
Michael McKee
Well, Chris Waller doesn't necessarily see that happening, but he admitted that if the war keeps going and inflation keeps rising, then inflation expectations would rise. And we saw that today in the Michigan Sentiment survey. It's not it doesn't get as much credibility as it used to from the Fed, but it is a sign that Americans are worried about inflation. And if they start thinking the target's not 2%, but it's 3% because it can't get to 2, etc. Etc. Then the Fed's got a problem and so they might have to consider raising rates.
- [07:25]
Joe Matthew
Yeah, amazing. Rest of this year is going to be a doozy. And Michael McKee is instrumental in helping us understand it all. It's great to see you, sir. I hope you have a long weekend. Bloomberg's international economics policy correspondent, he'll be down in Washington whether or not there's a news conference for the next Fed meeting. I can tell you that with reporting. If you're just joining us now by FOX News that Tulsi Gabbard is out resigning as the dni, the Director of National Intelligence, trying to learn more on this as we speak and whether the White House confirms this today. The president does have a public event, as I mentioned mentioned, a couple of hours away in New York State. He's going to be talking about tax cuts, affordability, And SALT alongside Congressman Mike Lawler, the Republican from New York, as we turn our attention to the aforementioned war in Iran. As Michael was just suggesting, it's showing no signs of ending here. The strait is still closed and we've got $4.55 to show for it for a gallon of gasoline. There are a couple of interesting stories today as the UAE joins Saudi Arabia and Qatar in urging President Trump not to restart the war. Fascinating with reporting that an attack on a nuke plant in the UAE has raised a lot of fears about Iran's threats to start responding and targeting areas outside of the Middle east beyond the radius that we have seen so far. Now, as soon as I mention this, the president's got another voice in his other ear, and it's coming from the Senate Armed Services Committee Chair, Roger Wicker, a Republican in Washington whose words bring a lot of weight, saying that the US should finish the job in Iran. Quote, we are at a moment that will define President Trump's legacy. The chairman says his instincts have been to finish the job he started in Iran, but he's being ill advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it's written on. Our commander in chief needs to allow America's skilled armed services to finish the destruction of Iran's conventional military capabilities and reopen the straight knowing the president has said two, three days, maybe even this weekend, the US May resume strikes here. That's where we start our conversation with Michelle Brohard. The head of policy and geopolitical risk at Kepler is with us now on Bloomberg TV and Radio. Michelle, when you hear words like that from the chairman, what does it tell you about what might happen this weekend?
- [09:56]
Michelle Brohard
It does raise the risk of escalation going into the weekend. We do have a long weekend. And I know every time we start to see escalation, it typically is on the weekend when the markets are closed. And because the markets will be closed on Monday, it does give a little bit of more of a timeline or Runway for the president to execute military strikes on Iran again. But can he finish the job in three days? What is finished the job actually look like is also another question I would really have. And probably the question the president would also have, what does that look like finishing the job? Most likely looks like coming up with a comprehensive deal rather than eliminating Iranian military.
- [10:41]
Joe Matthew
Yeah. Or attacking power plants, for instance. Here's what the president said yesterday, Michelle, in the Oval Office when he was asked about the Strait.
- [10:48]
President Donald Trump
Listen, we have total control of the Strait of Hormuz, as you know, with our blockade. The blockade has been 100% effective. Nobody's been able to get through. It's like a steel wall. And this is with the Iran conflict. That'll end soon, very soon. And when it ends, your gasoline prices will go down lower than they were before.
- [11:08]
Joe Matthew
That will end very soon, which we've been hearing since the beginning of this. And the president said we do this the easy way or the hard way. But I'm struck by this attack on the nuke plant in the UAE that said a drone targeting the plant was launched from Iraq. They called it a terrorist attack. And there are real worries about what this means for Iran's proxies. Michelle. It's kind of like the war on terror, as you hear. They only have to be right once. We have to be right all the time. Iran knows where the short hairs are. They send a drone at a nuke plant in the uae, it changes the entire landscape. They put a speedboat in the strait and we've got our entire Navy out there. And it can change the course of this conflict. How do you compete with that?
- [11:56]
Michelle Brohard
I don't think you can. I think you really do have to get to some sort of diplomatic deal. And what does that diplomatic deal look like? I know that the president's red line is uranium. Iran's red line looks like being able to control the strait. And I think there could. They could reach that incremental mini deal which has been proposed several times, where Iran can implement a toll booth or some sort of structure around controlling the strait while they work on the remaining nuclear issues in the future. That probably feels a little bit more peaceful than allowing Iran to initiate proxy wars in the U.S. bombing power plants and bridges. It escalation isn't going to solve the problem. We have to get to a point where we can have diplomacy to solve the problem.
- [12:47]
Joe Matthew
Will the proxies widen this war first?
- [12:53]
Michelle Brohard
It looks like they're working on it. We haven't seen any action from the Houthis. And that's where I'm waiting. The Houthis have been relatively quiet. Iraq coming into the. Coming into the game over the last week or so is new. It could just be a warning across the bow. Like we have this option and we have this optionality. And it's not just Iraq, it's also the. Who's these. It's also Hezbollah in Lebanon. So Iran might be just reminding the President that they do have options other than just controlling the strait or. Or trying to navigate around the current
- [13:32]
Joe Matthew
naval blockade when the president was Asked earlier this week about his intentions and the potential for resuming military strikes, he said two or three days. Maybe it's Saturday, maybe it's Sunday. Maybe it's the holiday. Could we be back at war on Memorial Day?
- [13:50]
Michelle Brohard
If yes, we could be. It feels like it's so binary. We could either be back at war or we could have some sort of mini deal. And it looks like because the Iranians have said uranium is not an option for them, it looks like we're heading more toward escalation. Could it last three days? It seems like three days is a, is a short amount of time in order for him to finish the job, if that's what the arrangement is supposed to be. But three days also is enough time for Iran to activate their, to activate their proxies.
- [14:25]
Joe Matthew
I'm really glad you could join us, Michelle. It's good to talk to you. She's the head of.
- [14:29]
Michelle Brohard
Thank you so much.
- [14:29]
Joe Matthew
Policy and geopolitical risk at Kepler. That is Michelle Brohard. Thank you. Stay with us. On balance of Power. We'll have much more coming up after this.
- [14:41]
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- [15:11]
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- [15:30]
Joe Matthew
I'm Joe Matthew in Washington as we get back to the breaker this hour. Still waiting for more information as Fox News reports that Tulsi Gabbard is resigning as the president's director of National Intelligence. Knowing that this has been a controversial figure since before she was even confirmed, knowing as well that several members of the president's cabinet have been dispatched. And we wanted to spend some time with Jeff Mason, of course, Bloomberg's White House correspondent, who's been all over the recent developments in the changing contours of the administration. Jeff, it's great to see you.
- [16:05]
Jeff Mason
You too.
- [16:06]
Joe Matthew
A lot of folks thought Gabbard wouldn't be confirmed to begin with because of her stand on Syria, because of her opposition to a war with Iran, not to mention some of the conspiracy theories, frankly, that she had been associated with. There's been so much water under the bridge since then. I'm wondering what you make of this now.
- [16:24]
Jeff Mason
She's certainly a controversial figure and has been for a while. It doesn't seem surprising that she's leaving. She's been sort of at the top of our watch list for potential administration officials, cabinet members who would be going. One thing that's been a little bit of a tell on that is that she really has not been part of the public conversation about Iran. Right. You haven't seen her in the meetings, you haven't seen her in press conferences.
- [16:49]
Joe Matthew
And DNI would typically be part of this.
- [16:51]
Jeff Mason
She's the Director of National Intelligence. Absolutely. I mean, in that the agencies that report up to her are giving intelligence to the Pentagon and to the White House about Iran and the war. So that's been interesting. According to Fox, she cited her husband's cancer diagnosis as the reason that she's leaving. Also notable that she's a woman, and most of the big departures from President Trump's Cabinet in the last month or so have all been women.
- [17:22]
Joe Matthew
This is a job that maybe not everyone is familiar with. She was well known before she got this job, but DNI isn't like Defense secretary or Secretary of State for a lot of folks to understand what that means. But everyone remembers the picture of her in Fulton County.
- [17:42]
Michael Shepherd
Yeah.
- [17:43]
Joe Matthew
People remember her testifying about her views on Iran.
- [17:46]
Jeff Mason
Yeah.
- [17:47]
Joe Matthew
Were these the breaking points?
- [17:49]
Jeff Mason
It's hard to say. It's possible. I mean, it's certainly especially the. Perhaps the disagreement over Iran is not in lockstep with the messaging that President Trump has certainly been delivering about the war. But going back to sort of her controversial past, it's worth noting she at one point ran for president. That's right. As a Democrat. Yeah. Really was not a fan of Hillary Clinton, and Hillary Clinton. Not a fan of hers either. So they had some tension there, and then she became a Trump supporter and joined his Cabinet, but, you know, not entirely in line with him on some of these major issues. Sure.
- [18:28]
Joe Matthew
President is on his way now to New York. He just left the White House. Is this something we expect he might speak about? Or is this all handled on truth, social, or maybe not even acknowledged?
- [18:40]
Jeff Mason
Well, I would imagine he'll have to acknowledge it at some point. Certainly if she's delivered the resignation letter to him, then he's gonna. He's probably gonna wanna be the one to confirm the news. So far, the White House hasn't confirmed it at least before I got on the air.
- [18:51]
Joe Matthew
Yeah, sure. No, we haven't seen that. And just quickly as well. Is there an heir apparent? Do you know where he would turn next?
- [18:57]
Jeff Mason
Well, I don't know where he would turn next. And it's interesting because one of her deputies resigned several weeks ago and put out a pretty noteworthy note of opposition to the Iran war, so. So it's not going to be him, but we'll see.
- [19:14]
Tyler Kendall
Yeah.
- [19:15]
Joe Matthew
All right. I know we pulled you away from your reporting on this, Jeff. You're great and thank you. Let us know what you're learning. Of course, throughout the day, I suspect there's going to be a lot more news with Jeff's help on this. He's our White House correspondent, Jeff Mason live here in Washington. We want to hear the panel on this when they didn't see it coming either. Tulsi Gabbard is out and Jeannie Shan Zaino is with us, Bloomberg Politics contributor, our Democratic analyst and of course, democracy visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy Center's Ash Center. Republican strategist Lisa Camuso Miller is here as well, former RNC spokesperson, advisor Rock Solutions and founder of Friday Reporter Public Affairs. Lisa, what do you think on this one? To Jeff's point, it is another woman, but few should be surprised that it's Tulsi Gabbard who is leaving. Some might say they are surprised she lasted this long. What about you?
- [20:07]
Lisa Camuso Miller
I think that that's a fair assessment, Joe. We haven't seen her in some time and there's been quite a bit of activity around what the DNI ordinarily would speak out or at least be part of announcements. And we have not seen her much at all. And so this has not come as a tremendous surprise. It will be interesting to see. Jeff makes a great point. There's been a couple of exits from the, from the dni, and it's going to be interesting to see what comes next. You make mention of the fact that she is one of several females now that have exited the administration. That's an interesting point of view for us to keep an eye on. She also was at one point herself affiliated with Democratic Party. And so all of that to say it does look like this was a choice that ultimately she is attributing to the sickness of her own husband. And so we wish him and her well in that journey. But it is one to really keep an eye on, especially as we talk about other conflicts, as we talk about the escalation in the Middle east, some things that could potentially be happening in other corners of the globe. The director of National Intelligence ordinarily is very involved in those kinds of decisions. And that's one that I think that we will be watching very closely indeed.
- [21:18]
Joe Matthew
Lisa Axios has got this now as well, Jeannie. So we've got two reports pointing to the big picture. Axios says the departure is not due to controversies surrounding her work or job performance, quoting, by the way, a Trump administration official on that, but due to her husband being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. What do you make of the way this is being framed, Jeannie, and the fact the White House has not spoken yet?
- [21:47]
Jeannie Shan Zaino
Yeah, I mean, of course we wish her husband well, but you have to also look at what we know. We know that for some time Donald Trump has been publicly and privately polling advisers about whether he should replace her. We know that just a few weeks ago it was Roger Stone of all people, who convinced the president to keep her on. We know to Jeff's point that she has not been active at all, really publicly at least, in discussions of what is going on in Iran, Venezuela and the like. And of course, she's lost not just Joe Kent, but other members of her team of late. So this is certainly not a surprise by any stretch of the imagination. I do think that it is a win for the neocons. This has been a huge dividing line in the Republican Party and she did obviously not a traditional Republican, certainly she ran as a Democrat for president, but she did represent people in the MAGA base, people like a Tucker Carlson or others who really fervently believed Donald Trump when he said no more wars, no more foreign wars. She was a person who was really vocal on that issue, hence the way she's been sidelined. Even Donald Trump the other day said they frequently disagree. So I do think this is policy wise, a win for the neocons. I just don't know how it's going to play out with Donald Trump's decision making.
- [23:18]
Joe Matthew
Well, you can still go on tea public and buy one of Tulsi Gabbard's no War with Iran T shirts. Lisa, you know, it's Friday. We got a long weekend. President just celebrated the beginning of the Warsh era. Does the timing make sense?
- [23:38]
Lisa Camuso Miller
Well, you know, all good news happens during the week and all the lousy stuff gets rolled out on Friday, Joe. So, I mean, this to me feels like a long weekend kind of announcement that they're hoping maybe we'll just get swept up in the rest of what's happening and certainly not hearing from the White house right away tells me that this is one that they're hoping gets sort of swept under the rug and into the next week of activity.
- [24:01]
Joe Matthew
Is this as simple as Iran, Jeannie? Is it as simple as that?
- [24:08]
Jeannie Shan Zaino
I think it's Iran. I think it's Venezuela. I think it is his division with her on these big issues. I also do think there are questions about on the gender issue. It's not a question as to why he might or she might want to leave. Question as to why others that are not female haven't chosen to leave or been pushed out. And I'm thinking of people who are under the gun like Cash Patel, Howard Lutnick and some others. So I do think there are real questions to raise about the gendered nature of so many of these high profile departures from the Cabinet.
- [24:46]
Joe Matthew
Appreciate both of you weighing in on a breaking story here. Jeannie Shanzano and Lisa Camusa Miller, we thank you as always for the insights and a great panel today. The President has not said anything about this on Truth Social, but he has been posting. It's not just that he's on his way to New York. In fact, the last post that hit right after we came to air this hour had to do with his son's wedding. He's not going. President says. While I very much wanted to be with my son Don Jr. And the newest member of the Trump family, his soon to be wife, circumstances pertaining to government and my love for the United States of America do not allow me to I feel it's important for me to remain in Washington, D.C. at the White House during this important period of time. Good luck to the newly married couple. Stay with us on balance of power. We'll have much more coming up after this.
- [25:35]
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- [26:37]
Podcast Announcer
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 YouTube, we have something
- [26:53]
Joe Matthew
special for you here on Balance of Power and a conversation that you'll only hear right here. We step just outside of the nation's capital to Manassas, Virginia, where something important is happening today. Bloomberg White House correspondent Tyler Kendall sits down now with the CEO of Micron Technology. This is live on Bloomberg. Tyler, take it away.
- [27:17]
Sanjay Marotra
Hey Joe, thanks so much. As you mentioned, I am pleased to say I am joined now by the Micron CEO, President and Chairman Sanjay Marotra. Sanjay, it's so nice to see you and thanks so much for joining us here on Bloomberg Television and Radio. We are here in Manassas, Virginia to mark the start of the One Alpha DRAM manufacturing in the United States States for one of the most highly advanced and widely used memory chips. I know Micron has a commitment to onshore 40% of its dram manufacturing. Can you just give us a little bit of insight? How does today help you with achieving that goal?
- [27:53]
Tyler Kendall
So first of all, Tyler, thank you very much for having me on the show. In terms of what today means, it really means, as you noted, bringing the most advanced DDR4 memory built with one alpha technology, which is critical for industries like automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial networking. These are critical industries that powered America. And by us bringing this technology from Asia into now manufacturing here, it will help us quadruple our production here at point this, this site in Manassas for their DDR4 memory. This is going to be huge for our customers in those key sectors. Memory today is absolutely key across all industries that have electronic systems. And Micron is of course investing in Boise, Idaho building our Leading Edge Fab. That's for leading edge memory that goes into smartphones, PCs, servers and that Leading edge memory in Boise, Idaho will bring first wafers out middle of next year and then ramp up from there on. We'll have a second fab in Boise, Idaho soon to follow that start first wafers by end of 2028 there and then we have production planned for Syracuse, New York area where we'll build over time a mega cluster or four fabs. And as you can see, $200 billion of investments that Micron is making here in America to bring these long life cycle production that will be managed here in Manassas, Virginia, along with production in Boise, Idaho and Syracuse, New York. And that will bring Micron's total production over the course of about next 10 years as we ramp up all these multiple fabs to about 40% of our production. By comparison, it is about 10% today. And all of that 10% comes from this site here in Manassas for Micron. And this will totally our investments, massive investments in long life cycle technology nodes as well as leading edge technology nodes to serve these vast markets that are really surging in demand driven by AI, Micron is going to be bringing those investments, that's semiconductor manufacturing and in the process create 90,000 new jobs here in the US as well.
- [30:24]
Sanjay Marotra
On this point of demand and how this investment is seeking to help reach that growing demand, I'm wondering how long do you expect the shortage of memory chips to last? When can we expect an easing?
- [30:37]
Tyler Kendall
Of course, the demand for memory has really surged and that is because of the importance and the value and the capability of memory that is really essential for all advanced systems. And yes, there is a shortage, but Micron is working hard to increase supply through these projects here in America, here in Manassas, Virginia, Boise and New York. And we see this shortage continuing beyond well beyond 2026 time frame. But the important thing is that Micron is working hard with our customers, working also on the long term supply agreements with our customers to really ensure that they can have predictability for supply. And of course Micron can have the confidence for the investments that we are really committing to here for the long haul.
- [31:30]
Sanjay Marotra
Well, could historically, memory is a cyclical business, right? Periods of boom, periods of bust. I'm wondering if a $200 billion investment here in the US signals perhaps more of a confidence that that demand, that high demand is going to be permanent. Or are there concerns here that the industry could be overbuilding capacity?
- [31:51]
Tyler Kendall
You know, of course what we are doing is building these fabs which are very long lead time item as you can see. See in terms of what we are doing in Boise and New York, it really takes several years just to build, construct the shell. How we equip that shell really very much depends on our latest assessments of demand at a given time. So important thing is to have that preparedness to meet the market demand. And memory has become a key enabler. It is a strategic asset for our customers. It is a strategic asset for AI across consumer as well as data center industries. Because without memory, you don't really have that intelligence that is critically important for the future roadmaps that our customers have. So memory is critical. Our investments of course, will always be managed with discipline. Today we are able to meet the demand of our key customers, customers only about 50% to about 2 thirds in many cases. And it's really important that we of course bring up this supply with discipline and continue to really fuel the growing, provide the necessity, you know, serve the necessary demand that is ahead.
- [33:11]
Sanjay Marotra
Where are your biggest bottlenecks right now in the supply chain? And I'm wondering how labor fits into that picture because a lot of the analysis announcement here today was about boosting jobs here in the US As I mentioned earlier.
- [33:23]
Tyler Kendall
I mean our investments will create 90,000 new jobs. These are high paying jobs. Of course, Micron is very much focused on engaging with the communities, with the colleges and universities with really local systems in order to even support and advance apprenticeships. So we are very much focused on investing for the training and development of the workforce across the United States, particularly in the regions where Micron plans to have these fabs. And that is of course an important critical priority in terms of, you know, the bottleneck in terms of bringing up the supply. Of course it is the construction that is really long tent in the pool. And as construction happens, then it is about bringing in the equipment and qualifying the lines, which also takes some period of time. And that's why we see that meaningful new supply in the industry doesn't really start ramping until 2028 time frame because our Boise Idaho fab will have first wafers out middle of next year and subsequent fabs will have wafers out later in the future as well.
- [34:37]
Sanjay Marotra
Well, does it advantage you to be the only American company in this space working with the Trump administration in this way? I'm wondering if you could shed any light on that. And where does this position you against your largest competitors like Samsung, SK Hynix when it comes to market share?
- [34:53]
Tyler Kendall
I'm very proud of Micron's team and of course very proud that we are the only US Memory manufacturer in memory today is absolutely critical for everything electronic system. So yes, very proud. And of course our customers here in the U.S. very much value our investments in the U.S. they value resilient, secure supply chains that Micron is investing in to support their future growing requirements. We are very pleased with the partnership, the engagement. We are very thankful to President Trump and his administration and his focus on bringing leading edge manufacturing here to America to support a wide range of our industries. And our partnership with the administration is strong as you saw. I mean, Secretary Lutnick as well as Ambassador Greer made strong comments in support of our investments today. We are very thankful, thankful to President Trump for the support. And we are very much focused on making our supply grow so that we can meet our customers requirements but have it grow in a disciplined manner. Focusing on of course, always demand and supply and of course, accelerating the timeline for our investments as much as possible.
- [36:16]
Sanjay Marotra
In the final minute that I have, you you mentioned U.S. commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick who gave remarks today. I think it's fair to say that he's been pretty integral in the administration's perhaps more hands on industrial policy, including when it comes to taking stakes in companies. The US Government has done this to try to spur the kind of production that Micron's doing. But I'm wondering, have you had any conversations with the administration about that?
- [36:41]
Tyler Kendall
Our discussions with the administration are always focused on bringing up supply. You know, President Trump as well as Secretary Lutnick are always focused on how do we go bigger, how do we go faster, particularly, you know, when the supply is tight. And Micron is a technology leader today. We are a global technology leader today. Our DRAM as well as NAND technology are most advanced ahead of others in the industry. Leveraging that technology leadership and building the future of America with large scale manufacturing is absolutely a priority of President Trump, Secretary Lutnick and our discussions with the administration.
- [37:25]
Sanjay Marotra
All right, Sanjay Marocha, the CEO of Micron, also the president and chair, thank you so much for joining us here live on Bloomberg Television and Radio. Joe, this has been a conversation here at one of Micron's manufacturing facilities in Manassas, Virginia. I'll send it to back to you in Washington.
- [37:42]
Joe Matthew
Beautiful shot there, Tyler. Thank you so much. And thanks to the chairman. Shares of Micron right Now up about $9, a little more than 1% to $771, up 700% over the last year and up more than 100% year to date. Which brings us back to the memory shortage, the storage shortage that Tyler was talking to Sanjay about. We want to continue that conversation with Michael shepherd here in our Washington bureau, senior editor for Strategic Industries. The headline that cranked out of that conversation pretty early on, Mike, was Micron CEO sees memory chip shortage lasting beyond 2026. The stock popped higher when that headline ran because that is the question that every shareholder has today.
- [38:28]
Michael Shepherd
I caught my ear to Joe and it really echoed what we heard earlier in this week on these airwaves from Jensen Huang and Michael Dell, who were in of view by our colleague Ed Ludlow, they too said that, look, the memory shortage is here. It may not be here to stay for good, but it is here for the foreseeable future. And it is one of the biggest bottlenecks when it comes to the AI rollout right now. Now Micron is really having a moment, as you said, pointing to their share price gains over the past year. And it really is driven so much by the AI boom. But more broadly, as we heard from from the CEO just now, their products go into literally every electronic device out there in the world. It not just the smartphones on our desk here, but also into cars, into missiles, you name it. Everything has a memory chip in it to some degree or another. And the demand for AI is actually creating a squeeze in those markets for those goods as well. And we've heard even Apple, Apple CEO Tim Cook talk about that as well as a challenge. And he talked interestingly about disciplined growth. Because one of the characteristics of the memory market has been this boom and bust cycle that with the economy, you'll see demand for memory go up, followed by, you know, number go down. And, and that is something that they have to manage even as they expand plants like this one.
- [39:54]
Joe Matthew
Well, so in our remaining moment here, not unlike the oil business. Right, right. Prices are up, we need you guys to pump more, and they get left holding the bag. Does Micron eventually get left holding a bag full of memory chips that nobody needs?
- [40:07]
Michael Shepherd
Well, one of the things that they are trying to avoid with the rollout of all the plants that he was talking about, not just the one in Manassas, just a few miles from here, but also the ones they are planning to build in Boise, Idaho, their headquarters and the big sprawling facility outside Syracuse, New York, they want to space that out to make sure that they are not holding, holding the bag. But one of the questions, Joe, surrounding memory these days is will this be sort of a jailbreak moment on memory? Will we get to this point where we're no longer in the boom and bust and that they are in a permanent growth trajectory that's a little bit more stable, thanks in no small part
- [40:41]
Joe Matthew
to AI with the chips work in space. Right. Can they bring Micron chips to outer space data centers?
- [40:48]
Michael Shepherd
They'd be willing to, willing to try it. How are you could set him up with Elon Musk?
- [40:52]
Joe Matthew
Exactly right. That's where this is all going is into orbit, apparently. Shep, thank you so much. Michael shepherd with us live in Washington. And thanks again to Tyler. Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can find us live every weekday from Washington, D.C. at noontime eastern@bloomberg.com
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