Bruen: Political Power Is Diffusing in Post-American Era

What do you make of this announcement? We're just saying everything out loud. Yeah. Look, I think this is a plea from President Trump to try and keep things on the down low. As you know, he and Republicans try to salvage what they can of their prospects for November. I'm not sure that Tehran is going to play along, Joe. We've seen already an uptick in the number of strikes by the Iranians against those vessels. So what was encouraging last week in terms of the numbers hitting almost those pre-war levels, now we're back down again. Iran is going to want to remind voters. They're going to want to remind also Republicans that, uh, they do have cards. You know, Trump likes to say that, you know, other nations don't have any cards. Well, they're putting a lot of them on the table at this point. Brett Joe asked a very smart question earlier today, taking note of the true social statements use of the word. We will not be attacking Iran. And he asked whether or not we should assume that this is inclusive of Israel. Do you expect that Well, this is, uh, what Trump has tried several times, essentially, to speak on behalf of another nation, which is not just undiplomatic. Quite frankly, it's impractical. It's improbable. And so, while Trump may try to impose on Netanyahu, Netanyahu, as you well know, has his own election on his hands, his own political prospects to worry about, and so he's going to make his own calculations. And quite frankly, you know, Trump also has pulled out the proverbial rug from under Netanyahu or thrown him under the proverbial bus several times. So, you know, he also may have a few cards tucked into his pocket or up his sleeve that he's going to pull out here. And so Trump is in a very awkward position because, again, he is trying to impose this not just on Israel, but on some of these other groups, including the Houthis, who have proven problematic in the last several weeks as well. Well, you know, I'd be very curious to see what Israel's next step is here. We spoke last evening with Senator Chris Coons, who is also speaking openly in this case, about sanctioning Benjamin Netanyahu and the government over the trajectory of what's happening in Gaza. Uh, more Democrats are going to be speaking up about this, I suspect, and we're just a couple of hours away from an important Senate debate in Michigan, where this has been a huge issue. To what extent will Congress complicate these plans with the administration? Well, I think what Congress is going to do, assuming that Democrats are able to pull out a victory, one, if not both houses in November, we'll see a lot of investigations. And I think there is going to be both for Trump but also for Netanyahu and his rallies. A lot of unsavory details coming out. This has been a messy affair. And while Trump always tries to paint this very positive, this very, um, golden, uh, picture of how things are going, the reality on the ground and continues to this day. More attacks today in Gaza is, quite frankly, one of human suffering. It's one that, you know, requires, uh, a moral and ethical questioning of some of these things. And so what I think we're going to see, whether it's on Gaza, Iran, Ukraine, Venezuela, um, is a whole lot more oversight. And it's going to be more difficult for Trump to have that free hand he's enjoyed over these last two years. Bret, as you join us from Madrid, very late night, by the way, and thank you for doing that. As you expand the Global Situation Room internationally, what are you hearing from Europeans, from others that you speak with about the circumstances? And frankly, just the length of time that the Strait of Hormuz, that the Middle East has been mired in this particular conflict, are they getting to the point where they feel like they do have a role to play, or are they still want to stay out of it? You're right, Kaylee. I mean, we opened this week in office in Madrid, in large part because of the demand from European companies as well as some American companies. And as a result of this transatlantic tension, these global challenges and the increasing risk, and what we're hearing from European business leaders as well as European politicians is while they have adapted in a lot of respects to Trump, uh, what they are still worried about is some of the long term consequences on issues. For instance, like I Trump, you know, would like it to be laissez faire or the wild West, every, um, AI chat bot for uh, uh, his or her self, uh, here in Europe, it's a very different, uh, tune. And I think they are starting to chart their own course. And for U.S. businesses, for viewers on Bloomberg, I think it's important to understand there is, in this post-American era, a diffusion of some of that political power. A lot of the leaders here in Europe, as well as in places like Canada, Japan as well as the Middle East, are starting to erect their own structures. And I think that is going to create a new economic and political dynamic.