Trump Praises Zelenskiy After Mar-a-Lago Talks; Trump and Netanyahu to Meet Today

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1:02Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News.

1:10Good morning. I'm John Tucker. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. And Karen, let's start with the latest developments to end the war in Ukraine. President Trump says Ukraine and Russia are, quote, closer than ever before to a peace deal. But he acknowledges that negotiations could still break down and leave the war dragging out for years. Trump spoke yesterday as he hosted Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at his Florida resort. I really believe we're probably, Mr. President, closer than, by far closer than ever before with both parties. We had some times when he was close and President Putin wasn't.

1:45Then when President Putin was close and he wasn't, you saw that in the White House. But I think they both want to see it happen. Well, let's get more in the meeting from Bloomberg's Rosalind Matheson. Zelensky and Trump had what seemed to be a pretty productive conversation from Donald Trump's point of view, at least warm words afterward. So progress on those areas, perhaps on the role and size of the Ukrainian military after a war and some understandings around the Ukraine economy, including the trade arrangements with the US. But not a lot of progress on the really biggest issues, the stickiest ones.

2:25And there, it seems still, we're quite away from getting a full agreement and one that certainly Ukraine and Russia would sign off on. Bloomberg's Rosalind Matheson says Vladimir Zelensky says he asked President Trump to consider the possibility providing his country with security guarantees that would last 30 to 50 years. Well, John, President Trump has another high profile meeting on the docket as Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida. He's scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon. The two aim to boost a U.S. brokered ceasefire in Gaza, which faces challenges as it looks to move into a more complicated second phase.

3:02That phase involves rebuilding Gaza under international supervision, creating an international security force, and normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab world. And China kicked off military maneuvers around Taiwan that it said included live fire drills. This is a dramatic show of force after the U.S. announced one of its biggest arms packages ever for the cell phone democracy, China has vowed to, quote, take effective and strong measures to safeguard national sovereignty. On Friday, it unveiled largely symbolic sanctions against 20 U.S. defense companies and 10 executives. John, a powerful winter storm is sweeping east across the United States, bringing a dangerous mix of snow, ice, rain and high winds.

3:47And we get more with Bloomberg meteorologist Craig Allen. More than a dozen states with some kind of alert or warning for a winter storm that is near the Great Lakes and very powerful in moving towards the St. Lawrence River Valley. We have blizzards across the upper Midwest, very heavy snowfall in portions of the Great Lakes. There is snow falling around Chicago. Strong winds, damaging winds all the way down through the central plains and the Tennessee, Ohio valleys into southern sections of the U.S. And in the east, big lake affects snow. Just downwind of the lakes in New York State, there will be snow in portions of New England.

4:22In fact, ice storm warnings for some sections of New York, Vermont, as well as New Hampshire. From Boston on down to New York City and Philadelphia and Washington, there will be some heavy rain showers during the day today, and then followed by some very cold, gusty winds. And that's Bloomberg meteorologist Craig Allen reporting. We will be checking in with Craig throughout the morning. And Carol, let's turn to the markets where futures right now, I call it mixed as we begin the last trading week of 2025. Still, the stock average is hovering near all time highs. And Robert Teeters, the chief investment strategist at Silvercrest Asset Management.

4:59My base case for next year is that we do see very solid earnings growth. So kind of low teens earnings growth, maybe a little bit of multiple compression now. And part of that's just going to be a factor of some of this rotation. Maybe you get a little bit of pressure release valve out of the mega caps that have been so strong, and I think strong for good reasons. But as you get some of that rotation, multiples might come down a little bit. So we're looking for high single-digit gains from equities next year, powered by double-digit earnings gains. Silver Cress at Asset Management's Robert Teter.

5:28So far this year, the S &P 500 up almost 18%. The Nasdaq is up 22%. John, it's a volatile session in the commodities market. Silver and gold are now lower after rising to records earlier. And we get more with Bloomberg Markets reporter Valerie Teitel. Today we're seeing some of the air come out of Friday's blistering rally. Silver was up 10 % on Friday, the biggest one-day move since 2008. If you look about the month of December, it's had the biggest one-month change since 1979. I have to go all the way back to the inflation days of the 70 to see a similar rise in silver in one-month time, up near 40 % just in this month.

6:09This morning was quite a pronounced volatile session. Essentially, silver moved 11 % in an hour. It opened up higher, around 6%, breaking through $84 an ounce for the first time ever. We've now come off of that, trading around$76 an ounce. And that's one of our markets reporter, Valerie Teitel, who again says gold is lower this morning after earlier rising to a record. So is platinum. And Bank of America's CEO Brian Moynihan says that maintaining the banking system's independence is important. This comes as President Trump is searching for a new chair for the Federal Reserve. Here's Moynihan speaking on CBS's Face the Nation.

6:49We're a country that's driven by the private sector, by what people do. And in the businesses and the companies, small companies and large companies, medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs and doctors and lawyers, all these people drive our economy. The idea that we are like hanging on the thread by the Fed moving rates 25 basis points, it seems to me we've gotten out of whack. Well, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan speaking on CBS's Face the Nation. And you can catch the program Sunday afternoons on Bloomberg Radio. Moynihan also says he expects the Trump administration to de-escalate trade tensions in 2026 after the tariffs and shockwaves through the U.S.

7:26economy in 2025. And we have an entertainment note this morning, John. Americans are watching fewer new TV shows and more free TV. In fact, free streaming services are growing more quickly than paid ones, with YouTube being the fastest-growing network on TV and the Roku channel and Tubi also growing rapidly. Netflix accounts for about two-thirds of streaming hits, but its lead is slipping. Its share of streaming viewership is going down over time, and other major streaming services are landing shows in the top ten on a regular basis. YouTube, the alphabet-owned streaming service, eclipsed Netflix as the most popular streaming service on TVs a couple of years ago, and it's never looked back.

8:07It is now larger than Netflix and Amazon combined.

8:14Time 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. Two helicopters crashed midair in New Jersey, killing one person and critically injuring another. The Federal Aviation Administration says the crash happened over Hamilton Municipal Airport about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia. It happened in Caitlin Collins' backyard, who came out of her house and tried to comfort the surviving pilot. Collins says they could hear sirens as first responders raced to the scene.

8:49They did. They got here so fast. Four minutes, I don't know. All I know is I was just sitting down there just holding his hand. just holding his hand, maybe trying to crack a joke, saying, I guess this isn't the way you thought you were going to start your day, but we're here. You're safe. We got you. The NTSB is investigating with a preliminary report expected as soon as today. The man accused of placing two pipe bombs in Washington on the eve of the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol told investigators after his arrest that he believed someone needed to speak up for people who believe the 2020 election was stolen.

9:26Brian Cole Jr. also said he wanted to target the country's political parties because they were in charge. That's according to a memo filed by the Justice Department on Sunday arguing that Cole should remain jailed as the case moves forward. Cole was arrested earlier this month on charges of placing pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees. A big change at the nation's largest public transit system, New York City officially ends its MetroCard era at the end of the year. Jody Shapiro of the New York Transit Museum says the swipable plastic card replaced the subway token coin back in 1994.

10:08As a native New Yorker, I feel all the feels like people do. I don't want something that works to go away. The system switches fully to tap and go fares. Bridgette Bardot, the French actress who became a global icon in the 50s, died on Sunday. In 1973, she quit the movie industry to focus on animal rights. Bridgette Bardot was 91. Global News, 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with the Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg Hearing. Thanks, Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in Dan Schwarzman. Huge Week 17 in the NFL. The Patriots locked up their first AFC East Division title since 2019 with a dominating 42-10 win over the Jets, while the Bills fall at home to the Eagles 13-12.

10:53The Browns stunned the Steelers 13-6 to deny Pittsburgh winning the AFC North. In the Battle of 11-win teams, the Niners getting past the Bears 42-38. The Giants destroyed the Raiders 34-10 to snap their nine-game losing streak, while the Seahawks improved to 13-3 with a 27-10 win over the Panthers. Elsewhere, the Jaguars beat the Colts 23-17. Dolphins outlast the Buccaneers 20-17, while the Saints get past the Titans 34-26. On Monday Night Football, the Rams will battle the Falcons in Atlanta. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.

11:29I'm Matt Miller. And I'm Hannah Elliott, inviting you to join us for the Bloomberg Hot Pursuit podcast. Every week we bring you news and industry insight on everything cars. And we do a whole lot more than just talk about cars, Matt. We actually get behind the wheel of basically every latest model, especially the luxury ones and the sports cars, direct from the showroom floor. It really is remarkable how many cars we have access to. I feel a little bit guilty about it, but everything from$40 ,000 EVs to exotic half-million-dollar supercars. We also speak with the insiders who shape the automotive industry, from the top CEOs and collectors to visionary designers and racing champions.

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12:39Business app. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning. I'm John Tucker. Well, President Trump said he made, quote, a lot of progress in the talks with the Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, over the possible peace deal in Russia's war against Ukraine. Let's find out more this morning. We're joined by Bloomberg's Russia economic senator, Greg Sullivan. Greg, good morning to you. Thanks for being with us. What exactly have they agreed to so far? Well, yes, President Trump did characterize those talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as having made progress. But it is a little difficult to see where exactly the progress was made.

13:17President Zelensky did say that there was 100 percent agreement on the issue of U.S.-Ukraine security guarantees, which was somewhat important given that this has been an important issue for Kiev throughout the negotiating process. And they had a little difficulty bringing the U.S. on board. Of course, though he said they have 100 percent agreement, we don't have the actual agreement or know exactly the contours of those security agreements. And he also said that on the issue of Europe, Ukraine and the U.S. security agreements, they were only at 90 percent. So it's an important issue. It's also hard to see what Ukraine and the U.S.

13:54can agree to that Russia would accept. Russia has long thrown a spanner in the works on this issue. So that's that's still tough to see. Those security guarantees, how long would they last or what does Zelensky want? Well, President Zelensky spoke with reporters today and he said that he actually asked President Trump for a 30 to 50 year commitment on the security guarantees. Obviously, Ukraine has sought joining NATO as the primary security guarantee, but that the U.S. has tamped that down since the Trump administration started. And that has been a nonstarter for Russia. But it is really hard to see what Russia would accept in terms of, say, European troops on Ukrainian soil.

14:36They've ruled that out in the past. But Ukraine wants a security guarantee that's strong enough to dissuade Russia from simply restarting hostilities down the road. Now, what about territorial concessions on the part of Ukraine? Well, this is a major sticking point and potentially the biggest one that has been left mostly unresolved. President Trump said that they had made some progress toward that, but there was no additional details. And it's unclear where they stand on that. Moscow has been seeking this territory in eastern Ukraine, in an area known as the Dunbar. Ukraine is concerned because part of it is heavily fortified.

15:10And if they seed it, that could leave them vulnerable to future Russian attacks. But it's also a politically charged issue. Zelensky, it would not be popular among Ukrainian people to simply cede territory that Kiev still controls. And also legally hard. There'd probably have to be a referendum. So it doesn't seem like much progress has been made. Russia has shown no signs of backing down on this. And even over the weekend, President Putin said that he's willing to continue pursuing his goals militarily. So the two sides still seem rather far apart on that issue. In like the 45 seconds we have left, where's NATO and Europe in all of this right now?

15:47Well, throughout the negotiating process, since President Trump came to power, Europe has really struggled to maintain a seat at the table. Russia does not want them at the table. The U.S. seems to consider it not that important. But for Europe, this is very important. They see this as part of their own security architecture. So NATO has been trying to be involved. In terms of security guarantees, it's obviously going to be tough. Ukraine does not seem poised to be able to join NATO anytime soon. But they are seeking security, NATO-like guarantees for their own security, and Europe could play a role in those down the road.

16:21And even Trump acknowledged that Europe would probably have to play a role in the security for Ukraine. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen. You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston, and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121. Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces.

17:01And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. I'm John Tucker. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

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