October 17, 2026: GOP: Russia Sanctions Waiver a Mistake, Ukraine Starlink Restrictions, More

0:01 News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Ed Kalecki. Republican members of Congress are blasting President Trump's decision to waive a tariff law passed last month to restrict Russian energy exports, arguing that the move will help Moscow wage its war on Ukraine. The Trump administration has cast the waiver as a way to facilitate a deal with Russia on diesel exports, aimed at lowering prices ahead of the midterm elections. But critics said it was irresponsible to bypass the sanctions law passed last month that was championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican closely tied to Trump, said the administration should have found other ways to lower fuel costs, such

0:44 as importing more from Canada or waiving renewable fuel requirements. At least eight Republican senators, along with several of their House counterparts, have spoken out against Trump's diesel deal with Russia or the sanctions waiver. Bloomberg's Jeff Mason says the move is a last-ditch effort by Trump to bring down sky-high fuel prices ahead of the midterms.

1:05 President Trump is underwater, and that's the reason why he's doing a whole bunch of campaign stops right now, flying around the country into primarily red states to shore up Republicans. And one of the things that has put him underwater is the price of diesel.

1:22 According to AAA, the national average for diesel is $ 6. 32 a gallon, up four cents from a week ago. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is slamming restrictions on a slowdown of SpaceX's Starlink internet system. Bloomberg's Monica Ricks explains.

1:38 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says restrictions on Ukraine's military use of SpaceX's Starlink system appear to be deliberate and not the result of any technical problems. On social media today, Zelensky accused President Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk of ordering the limitations on Starshield, which he says is preventing Ukraine from defending itself and has led to more civilian deaths.

2:02 Trump has denied it, but Starlink is critical for Ukraine. It's allowed the country to guide drones to Russian targets and protect its own skies as attacks from both sides continue. Monica Ricks, Bloomberg Radio.

2:14 The Vatican has confirmed Pope Leo has been discharged from the hospital just four days after lung cancer surgery. He's expected to deliver his weekly prayer and blessing on Sunday at St. Peter's Square, but the Vatican says private audiences will be suspended until Tuesday. New data from Abacus shows support for Alberta remaining in Canada is growing ahead of a referendum on whether the province should begin a legal process to separate from the country. Christia Freeland is Canada's former foreign minister, finance minister, and its deputy prime minister.

2:46 I think that this has been about the premier of Alberta trying to manage a part of her own party that she doesn't necessarily agree with, but she knows they could take her down. And I think as with the Brexit vote, it's a little bit of once you let the genie out of the bottle, you don't control the genie anymore.

3:06 Albertans will decide Monday whether to remain a Canadian province or to set the stage for a second binding vote on secession. At stake is the future of Canada's largest oil-producing province, which pumps more than 4 million barrels a day, most of it for export to the U.S. The Federal Reserve is now in a blackout period, which means we won't hear a peep from policymakers until their next meeting later this month. Bloomberg's Kate Davidson covered Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at this week's IMF meeting and weighs in on what we can expect.

3:37 We had gotten some pretty strong signals from some of his colleagues in the weeks or days leading up to these remarks that the Fed is going to hold, right? They're not inclined to raise interest rates again. They raised them in September, but they don't feel the need to raise them just days before the midterms. And I think investors were hoping that Kevin Warsh would give a signal one way or the other, but he basically stuck with his inclination to not give any fore guidance, any sense of where policy is headed. Every meeting is a live meeting.

4:04 He doesn't want to prejudge. So we didn't get a whole lot from him. And I guess the signal then you could take and that investors took is that there's not a rate hike likely coming.

4:13 Reporter Kate Davidson on Bloomberg this weekend. New York Fed President John Williams has said it may be appropriate to raise rates one more time by the end of the year. After its October meeting, the Fed meets again in December.

4:25 U.S.

4:25 Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is condemning the beating of a Washington Post journalist while working in the West Bank and demanded a full investigation, arrest and prosecution of the attackers. Heidi Levine, a U.S. citizen, was attacked Friday morning by Israeli settlers. This according to Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray.

4:44 In a separate incident Saturday, a group of diplomats was attacked by settlers in the West Bank. That according to several European governments. Huckabee said in a social media post Saturday, attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards. Israel has put out mixed messages on the incidents. The Israel Defense Forces called the violence intolerable and said the attacks would be investigated, but noted that the diplomat's visit wasn't coordinated with security officials.

5:14 Game one of the WNBA finals on Saturday, Golden State defeated Atlanta 68-64. That's news when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Ed Kalecki. This is Bloomberg.