Trump Seeks to Boost Iowa Republicans, Musk Midterm Giving Tops $445 Million

0:02 Bloomberg Audio Studios.

0:04 Podcasts.

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0:06 News.

0:10 Good morning.

0:11 I'm Karen Moscow.

0:12 And I'm Alexis Christophorus. Here are the stories we're following today. Alexis, we begin with the race to the midterms.

0:18 We are just 11 days from the election that will determine control of Congress. And President Trump was in Sioux City, Iowa last night, stumping for Ashley Hinson, It was locked in a tight race with Democrat Josh Turek for retiring Republican Joni Ernst's Senate seat.

0:34 So Ashley Hinson, on the other hand, is a mother, a warrior, a patriot, and she will never let far-left maniacs push the radical left insanity on Iowa's children.

0:45 President Trump fired his base up with attacks on Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and a defense of Vivek Ramaswamy, who's running an ad against his Democratic opponent for Ohio Governor Amy Acton that other Republicans say should come down.

0:59 He must take that ad down immediately. He must.

1:02 No, the mother is calling the daughter a terrible person and a liar.

1:09 The Iowa race has turned competitive thanks to rising fuel and fertilizer costs from the Iran war and tariffs shrinking farmers' export markets. President Trump spent relatively little time discussing cost of living issues, though he did tout a plan to boost fuel production through a Cold War-era law. The latest RealClearPolitics polling average puts Ashley Hinson ahead of Josh Turek in Iowa by less than half a percent. President Trump is expected to return to Iowa at least once more before the November 3rd vote.

1:39 And as the president stumps for Republican candidates, Alexis, the GOP continues to rack up donations. Filings show the world's richest man, Elon Musk, put another $ 77 million into his political action committee, America PAC, in the first two weeks of October. That totals Musk's political giving to more than $ 445 million. President Trump, the Republican Party, and its congressional super PACs have raised $ 2. 1 billion through the end of the third quarter. That tops the $ 1. 3 billion that Democrats' corresponding committees raised. And we should note that Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg Radio, contributed about $ 80 million in September and

2:20 October to help Democrats in the midterms.

2:24 And Nathan, President Trump is touting his relationship with Elon Musk, despite a report from The Wall Street Journal saying the president expressed frustration over Ukraine's access to Musk's Starlink service. President Trump was asked if the two spoke about Musk restricting Starlink system speeds for Ukraine.

2:42 I don't want to say, but.

2:44 I know it was a very interesting situation, so I don't want to comment one way or the other, but my relationship with Elon is a very good one.

2:55 Go ahead.

2:59 Yeah, I don't want to comment on it. You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called doesn't make any difference. I guess the bottom line, he put it back.

3:07 President Trump speaking to reporters there. Bloomberg News is reporting that Ukrainian troops are still seeing limits on connection speeds, though the service improved slightly in some areas.

3:17 Alexis, we want to turn to the latest from the Middle East. Israel has ordered its army to prepare for a full closure of the West Bank today. This follows a deadly shooting earlier in the day in the occupied territory. Israeli soldiers shot and killed two men who they say had launched an attack near the city of Hebron, injuring at least five people. Orders to close off the West Bank came after Israel's army said it thwarted a terror attack, and Israel's government warned of potential attacks by its enemies in the lead-up to their election this coming Tuesday.

3:50 And now to the latest on how fighting overseas is impacting energy. Physical prices of some Middle East crude oil sold outside the Persian Gulf have dropped as flows via the Strait of Hormuz are holding up. It's a sign that producers and global traders getting more adept here at pushing cargos through the Strait despite the attacks. Checking the price of oil this morning, we've got Brent up about half a percent at $ 1. 1370 a barrel and WTI crude $ 100. 27 a barrel. That is up about eight-tenths of a percent, Nathan.

4:19 Alexis France is preparing to put extra troops on its streets, bracing for another weekend of protests with soldiers ready to guard sensitive buildings. On top of a 20% increase in police presence, specialist forces normally used for missions including counterterrorism are going to be available as well. French President Emmanuel Macron says only protests organized by labor unions will be authorized this weekend. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is commenting on the protests. He says violence is unacceptable, but legitimate grievances must not be suppressed. The violence and destruction we have seen on the streets is unacceptable, and those responsible for criminal activities must be held accountable.

5:01 At the same time, we.

5:02 Cannot let intolerable violence obscure the legitimate and very real grievances of the many peaceful protesters.

5:10 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' comments come as French supermarket chain Carrefour warned earlier this week that the unrest will weigh on its earnings this year.

5:18 And to Latin America now, in the fiercely contested president race in Brazil, Flavio Bolsonaro and incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are tied just days before the country's Sunday runoff election. That's according to a new poll from Datafor, showing Bolsonaro and Lula would each take 50 percent of valid votes, which exclude null and blank ballots. Brazilians head to the polls on Sunday. Bolsonaro upset Lula in the October 4th first round vote, making the conservative challenger the favorite to win the runoff.

5:48 Let's turn to the markets now, Alexis. The AI trade is whipsawing equities, and investors have been searching for a flight to safety in U.S.

5:56 Treasuries.

5:56 The 10-year yield fell back below 5%. It's still below that benchmark, as bonds posted their best day in more than two years. Bloomberg Markets Editor Garfield Reynolds says mounting doubts over returns on AI are a boon to treasuries.

6:12 Treasuries are recapturing, at least for the moment, their role as, you know, it's a deep market. If you need somewhere to hide, that's a place to go. And in fact, if you look across the bond space this week, most bond markets have been rallying strongly, government bond markets, just not as strong as the.

6:34 U.S., Bloomberg's Garfield Reynolds says investors are reluctant to make big bets in either direction as they take stock of a tech route fueled by doubts about the sustainability of heavy spending on the global AI build-out.

6:46 And speaking of the AI build-out, tech stocks are trimming their losses. NASDAQ 100 futures edging higher here this morning, now up just about 73 points after the index suffered its worst session since June. Investors are questioning whether heavy spending will deliver enough revenue to justify the cost. Bloomberg News equity strategist Ruel Amin has more from London.

7:07 We know CapEx has been a huge theme this year. Meta guided for about $ 140 billion of CapEx next year. And what that means is for the first time, their CapEx to operating cash flow ratio is going to exceed 100%, which means that they're going to have to increasingly finance these things through debt and other things. And that's what the concern was.

7:25 Bloomberg's Ruel Amin. The sell-off is also pushing money into defensive sectors while markets wait for earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet next week.

7:34 And Alexa, SpaceX is laying the groundwork for a new nationwide mobile cell phone network. The company is seeking access to at least 80,000 cell sites across the U.S. Sources tell Bloomberg that SpaceX is in talks with at least one major tower operator. The new infrastructure would complement existing Starlink satellites and recently acquired wireless spectrum.

8:00 It's 5.09 on Wall Street. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. For that, we're joined by Bloomberg's John Tucker.

8:06 Good morning, John.

8:07 Good morning, Alexis. It's the end of the road for horse-drawn carriages in New York City. Following a vote by the city council, let's get the update from Bloomberg's Charlie Pellett.

8:16 It's a 150-year tradition dating back to the 19th century, and the vote came after years of debate over the horse's place on New York City streets. The ban will take effect June 1st of 2028 and prohibits the sale of horses for slaughter... or their transfer to other carriage companies. The vote ends an iconic tradition that was beloved by tourists but long opposed by animal welfare activists. In New York, Charlie Pellett, Bloomberg Radio.

8:46 Apple's foldable iPhone Duo went on sale today, bringing back the sight of people lining up overnight to get their hands on it first. Customers packing stores from Beijing to Singapore. It marks the company's most radical reinvention of the iPhone's nearly two-decade history. President Trump signing an executive order aimed at trying to bring down housing costs. The order would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to create a pilot program that would proactively cancel mortgage insurance on certain loans.

9:16 An insurer controlled by Mark Walter, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has won partial approval on a plan to slash lending to his other businesses. This move comes after those deals came under scrutiny from the Justice Department. And a police officer in Florida facing five felony charges for allegedly impersonating a dead man and moving into that man's home after conducting a welfare check. Lauderville police officer Brian Surgis remains on paid administrative leave. Investigators accuse him of helping a welfare, carrying out a welfare check at a home of Dennis West, who was found dead inside, then moving into the man's home. Global News, 24 hours a day, whenever you want it, with Bloomberg News Now.

9:58 I'm John Tucker.

9:59 And this is Bloomberg, Alexis.

10:03 Thanks, John.

10:03 Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in John Staschauer.

10:07 Thanks, Karen.

10:08 Thursday night football to begin Week 7. In Chicago, the Bears led the Patriots 20-7. New England scored a touchdown in the last play of the first half but never got closer. Chicago won 30-24. Big comeback in the NBA. Biggest comeback of LeBron James' career. Philadelphia in its home opener came from 29 down to beat Cleveland. The World Series begins tonight in Milwaukee. Between two teams who've never won the series, it's the Rays and Brewers. Jacob Misurowski, the Milwaukee Ace, goes against Tampa Bay's Dick Martinez. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update.

10:39 Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.

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10:55 This is Bloomberg Daybreak.

10:57 Good morning.

10:57 I'm Nathan Hager. The countdown to the midterms continues. We are now just 11 days away. And President Donald Trump continues to fire up his base with rallies in once reliably red states.

11:10 Early voting in Iowa is underway right now. And so get everyone that you know, go vote.

11:16 While the president looks to shore up the Senate, word of Elon Musk's massive giving to boost Republicans has the potential to reshape this race as well. For more, we're joined by Bloomberg News managing editor Jill Desis.

11:30 Jill, good morning.

11:32 $ 445 million is the figure we're seeing from federal election filings when it comes to Elon Musk's PAC giving. How much could that sway this race?

11:42 Good morning.

11:42 Good morning.

11:44 Good morning, Nathan. Yeah, I think to just really kind of put this spending by Elon Musk into context, I mean, you're looking at $ 77 million of that going into America PAC. That's according to Federal Election Commission filings. Looking at trying to aid that effort to elect Republicans in November, where America PAC is really putting in those biggest expenditures have been in the Texas Senate's race. That's the race between Democrat James Tellerito and and Republican Ken Paxton. So maybe there's a little bit of influence there. But ultimately, I think when you're looking at that spending, it does kind of indicate that broader narrative that we're really looking at here, which is that you're seeing Democrats at this point pose

12:26 to potentially retake the House of Representatives, also keep the Senate in play. Certainly something that's very competitive there. So the spending does just indicate, I think, to us that You're looking at a very, very competitive midterm when we're really only just a couple of weeks out at this point.

12:43 It seems that the president is well aware that the Senate is in play because a lot of the visits that he's been making to these rallies are in states that have very competitive Senate races. What do you make of how he's been trying to rally up his base with just a few days left?

13:02 Yes, I think Iowa in particular is fascinating. So you've got the president of the United States traveling to Iowa just yesterday to boost Ashley Hinson. She's the Republican Senate candidate. She's locked in a very tight race with the Democrat Josh Turek. And I think that this race in particular, very interesting because they're sort of fighting, campaigning to replace outgoing Republican Senator Joni Ernst, who when you look at her elections back in 2014, 2020, I mean, she was winning this race. The Republican Joni Ernst won the Senate seat by what, 10 percentage points? I think around 8 percentage points in 2020. So you're looking at a race that was incredibly competitive. Now you've got the president stopping

13:42 in deep conservative parts of Iowa once a reliable Republican stronghold to try to boost Republican turnout. What he often talked about, so again, kind of back up a little bit. One of the reasons why some of these races are so competitive is because you're seeing Iowans, farmers very concerned about tariffs, fuel costs that have been under pressure because of the Iran war. And now you've got the president kind of coming in, giving rallies in very deep red parts of the state on a lot of standard Republican talking points. And it still does, again, kind of indicates how difficult Or at least the pressure that the president is under to kind of rally turn up from these deeply reliable Republican voters. They try to just capture Senate

14:31 seats that again were once reliably very well held.

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15:23 And I'm Alexis Christophorus. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day, right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.