Iran Says Ceasefire Violated, Trump Lashes Out at NATO

0:01Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcast Radio News. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appears fragile this morning, even as the U.S. looks ahead to talks this weekend. The White House says Vice President J.D. Vance will lead a delegation to Pakistan on Saturday, along with Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Vance says President Trump's terms are clear. The deal is a ceasefire, a negotiation. That's what we give. And what they give is that straits are going to be reopened. If we don't see that happening, the president is not going to abide by our terms if the Iranians are not abiding by their terms.

0:46Vice President J.D. Vance spoke to reporters in Hungary. Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes reports the terms of the negotiation are in dispute. Iran has this 10-point plan that it talks about being the basis for negotiations. It says that the U.S. has accepted that as a basis for talks. The U.S. talks about its own 15-point plan. So it does seem we are still some way apart, even on the very broad contours of what is up for discussion this weekend. That's Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes reporting from Istanbul. President Trump says the U.S. military will remain around Iran until the, quote, real agreement is fully complied with.

1:26If not, he says in a social media post, the real shooting starts. Iran's ambassador to Pakistan posted on X that a delegation would arrive in Islamabad for this weekend's talks tonight. That post has since been deleted without explanation. Well, Nathan, Iranian officials say Israel's strikes in Lebanon yesterday violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Israel launched its largest assault yesterday on Lebanon since the start of its invasion. We get more from Bloomberg Israeli bureau chief Ethan Bronner in Tel Aviv. Everyone has understood that when the U.S. says the war has to come to an end in Iran, Israel will agree.

2:03Israel is insisting on more independence in terms of what it does in Lebanon. And generally, the U.S. has allowed it to do that. But Danza's statement suggests that they've said to the Israelis, do us a favor here. We're in the middle of this negotiation. Because what the Israelis did yesterday was their biggest single-moment operation since the pager thing two years ago. A hundred planes dropped on targets simultaneously over a period of one to five minutes, something like that, and killed what they said was hundreds of key Hezbollah operatives. And Bloomberg Israeli Bureau Chief Ethan Brawner, Lebanon's health ministry, said at least 182 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the operation.

2:46Karen, President Trump is lashing out at NATO's stance on the Iran war following a meeting at the White House with the Alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutta. Here is Rota after that meeting with the president. Well, let me be absolutely clear. He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies. And I can see his point. But at the same time, I was also able to point to the fact that the large majority of European nations has been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with making sure that they lift up to the commitments. NATO Secretary General Mark Rota made those comments on CNN.

3:27A senior NATO official says the U.S. wants specific commitments from European allies on their pledge to help secure the Strait of Hormuz after the fighting in Iran stops. He wants the countries to present concrete plans to ensure navigation through the waterway within days. Nathan, FBI Director Cash Patel says a former employee of the U.S. military has been arrested for leaking classified information to the media. It comes two days after President Trump threatened criminal charges for journalists who published details of a military operation to rescue two U.S. airmen in Iran. When we turn now to the markets, Karen, oil is on the rise once again as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.

4:07Brent crude is up 3.2 percent, trading just shy of$98 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate's not too far behind, up 3.4 percent. Yesterday, Brent slumped 13%, its biggest one-day drop in six years. Ed Morris is senior advisor and commodities analyst at Hartree Partners. I think we're going to see even more volatility than we've had in the past, and that's been a lot of volatility. We don't know what's going to happen in the next two months, let alone the next two weeks. And no matter what happens in terms of a declaration of a ceasefire and an effort to do it, We're not going to see ships moving through the strait except all those lined up, trapped north of the Strait of Hormuz that want to get out.

4:52Hartree Partners Commodities analyst Ed Moore says even once Hormuz Transit picks up, it could take weeks or possibly longer to return to normal. And Nathan, stocks are giving up some of yesterday's big gains. Right now, S &P futures are down four-tenths of a percent. Yesterday, all three major indexes gained at least two and a half percent. The Dow surged more than 1 ,300 points. Priya Misra is a portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Some of that heated rhetoric over the last few days, it felt like it was coming to a head. So hopefully there is a ceasefire. I think we're watching headlines like everyone is.

5:28I mean, there's a lot of questions. I think there's a sigh of relief. But there's a lot of details around who controls the straight of foremost. Is two weeks enough to get some sort of a permanence to this? And J.P. Morgan Asset Management Portfolio Manager Priya Misra notes the S &P 500 broke above its 200-day and 50-day moving averages yesterday. And that rally, Karen, notched the second biggest one-day gain ever for the world's richest people. In fact, the 500 wealthiest added$265 billion to their collective fortunes as stock soared. The surge comes almost exactly one year after the richest gained a record$304 billion in the day following President Trump's declaration of a 90-day pause on his planned Liberation Day tariffs.

6:15Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was the biggest gainer on Bloomberg's wealth index yesterday. He added$12.8 billion to his net worth after Meta shares rose 6.5%. Well, Nathan, let's turn to the economy now. Minutes of the Fed's March meeting showed a growing number of officials worried the Iran war could stoke inflation. Most officials worried a protracted war could hurt the labor market and warrant lower interest rates. At the same time, many policymakers highlighted the risk to inflation that might ultimately warrant rate increases. Well, today, Karen, Fed officials and investors get a slew of economic data.

6:51Let's get a preview from Bloomberg's Michael McKee. It's a day of important but mostly before the war data. The PCE Inflation Index is the Fed's key measure. Both headline and core forecast to be little changed. But the data are from February before the war started and energy prices skyrocketed. The same caveat holds for consumer spending and incomes. Any sign of a gas price-led spending slowdown would be premature. Although nationwide average pump prices were rising through February, the high was only$2.98 on the last day of the month. More current, initial jobless claims for last week. Claims have been holding at a very low level, suggesting companies aren't shedding workers, a sign of labor market stability.

7:34A surprise move up or down would cause a market reaction. Michael McKee, Bloomberg Radio.

7:44It's time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Long Island serial killer Rex Heuerman entered a guilty plea in the Gilgal Beach murders. With the families of the victims in the courtroom and his ex-wife of 27 years and daughter watching, Hewerman pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering eight women in a nearly two-decade killing spree starting in 1993. Hewerman strangled his victims, who he hired as escorts. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

8:17We are honored and thankful for being able to have played a small role in obtaining a small measure of justice for these families. DA Ray Tierney says he believes there was just a point where Heuerman was exhausted and did not want to go on defending himself. At least one person is dead after a seven-story garage under construction collapsed in Philadelphia Wednesday. Emergency crews are searching for survivors in the debris, but Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson says the structure remains unstable. We have to very carefully and methodically deconstruct this building for the safety of the people working on it and ultimately for the safety of the first responders who will continue this search.

9:02Commissioner Thompson says the collapse started in a stairwell of the structure. The Artemis 2 crew is heading back to Earth after flying behind the moon. The crew of the Orion spacecraft is carrying out some final tests on the way home. in a news conference from space. Pilot Victor Glover reflected on the mission. We have to get back. There's so much data that you've seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There's so many more pictures, so many more stories. And gosh, I haven't even begun to process what we've been through. Artemis II is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean Friday night.

9:37Global News 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg Karen. Thanks, Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in John Stashauer. Thanks, Dan. The Oklahoma City Thunder defended NBA champions and favorites to win again this year. They beat the Clippers in L.A. to clinch the one seed and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Thunder, after 68 wins last year at 64, with still two games to go. That's the third most wins in a two-year span in NBA history. The Masters, 90th edition, tees off today at Augusta.

10:11Rory McIlroy is the defending champion. Scotty Scheffler won in 2022. and 24, John Rahman 23. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this. As markets move and headlines break, what matters most is context. A Bloomberg subscription gives you unmatched reporting, sharp analysis, and powerful tools that help you connect the dots. Visit Bloomberg.com slash podcast offer to learn more. Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM and around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business app. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning.

10:56I'm Nathan Hager. It is day two of the two week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. The situation remains fragile with Tehran accusing the U.S. of violating the agreement through Israeli attacks on Lebanon. But Vice President J.D. Vance says it would be dumb, in his words, to let negotiations fall apart over that. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn't. We never made that promise. We never indicated that was going to be the case. That was Vice President J.D. Vance speaking with reporters in Hungary ahead of the negotiations he set to lead in Pakistan this weekend.

11:28Joining us from Tel Aviv this morning is Bloomberg News Israel Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner. Ethan, good morning. What is the possibility that these Israeli attacks on Lebanon could derail this truce? Good morning. Morning, Nathan. Look, I think they're an obstacle, but I would be surprised if they derailed the truce. I think that the core issue here is the Strait of Hormuz, the global movement of oil, and these larger Gulf issues rather than what to some extent has been a sideshow in Lebanon and Hezbollah. So it's something that's going to be on the table, but I don't think it's going to be the thing that will cause the problem.

12:11And in the meantime, the attack we saw yesterday by Israel on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon was pretty significant to say the very least. What does it mean for Hezbollah's potential going forward? Yeah, what happened yesterday, I mean, it was some massive affair of like 100 planes attacking within 10 minutes, different spots. The defense minister here and the prime minister both compared it to the attack that israel carried out on hezbollah a couple of years ago using those um rigged pagers which wounded thousands of people the idea being that this was a major intelligence cool for what israel did yesterday we don't have a lot of details uh but it they they're claiming to have gotten a lot of important hezbollah people at that time yesterday.

13:05So if they did, that will, of course, play a role. But as we've seen with Hamas, with Hezbollah, and indeed with Iran, eliminating a whole row of people at the top of these organizations and countries don't necessarily, doesn't necessarily, and the place of their ability to keep functioning, you know. Is there a concern in Israel that this could lead to a direct Iranian response against Israel? There is a concern. I will say that the Home Command has told people that they can go back to acting more or less normally. School is due to begin. The airport has vastly increased its traffic. So while there is concern, I would say that the official view is that it will not.

13:51There have been a few Hezbollah rocket and missile attacks in the last 12 hours or so, but relatively minor and in the north. nothing from Iran. In our last 30 seconds, with so much focus on the Strait of Hormuz, what is the situation there right now? Yeah, the situation seems to be that it's still basically blocked by Iran. They've handed out a map telling people how they could do it. There's some lack of clarity about whether they're going to continue to collect fees in cooperation with the U.S., all of that to be negotiated. A huge, huge mess for oil and global economic issues, unquestionably.

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15:14Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.