Big Take DC

Immigration has become a top issue for voters in the 2024 election cycle, but people on the border want action now — not after November.

On the Big Take DC podcast, Bloomberg's Washington Bureau Chief Peggy Collins visits Eagle Pass, Texas, to explore why the US-Mexico border is shaping up to be a dominant campaign issue and what the needs on the ground really are.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill with an ultimatum for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance: sell the app, or be banned in the US.

Today on The Big Take DC podcast, Bloomberg’s Dan Flatley and Alex Barinka cover the national security concerns behind this bill and the potential geopolitical and tech industry consequences.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is trying to navigate a tricky economy – stubborn inflation and persistent fears of a recession. Now, two men hoping for a second term in the White House are drawing the central bank into the political fray.

“We can expect that things are going to get a little spicy,” Bloomberg’s Kate Davidson, who covers the Fed, joins the Big Take DC podcast to talk about the battle to maintain the central bank’s independence in the glare of 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump faces four criminal trials amounting to 91 felony counts, and three civil cases. None of this has fazed his base as he runs for election. “If he was in jail, I sure would vote for him,” said Ralph Hunter, a South Carolina resident. He told the Big Take DC podcast that while he doesn’t like Trump “as a person,” he was impressed with his presidency.

Trump’s electability is intact – but his finances are another story. Today on the Big Take DC: How Trump’s legal woes are hitting his wallet and his re-election bid.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fifteen states voted in the presidential primary contest on Super Tuesday, marking a decisive point in the election cycle. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign notched a clear victory as he marches down the path to clinching the Republican nomination. For President Joe Biden, between Super Tuesday and his State of the Union on Thursday, it’s officially the beginning of campaign season.

Is Trump’s grip on the GOP’s future solidified? Will Biden be able to rekindle Trump angst to compete with Trump nostalgia?

Host Saleha Mohsin and Bloomberg politics editor Mario Parker talk about the vulnerabilities each candidate faces, and what lies ahead in 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, the US military’s mysterious project to bring modern artificial intelligence to the battlefield — told by the defense official behind it, whose job was so secretive he couldn’t even tell his wife about it. Bloomberg’s Katrina Manson takes host Saleha Mohsin behind the scenes for an unclassified look at Project Maven.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two years after the Kremlin's forces invaded Ukraine, US-led sanctions have certainly changed Russia's economy – but they haven’t stopped the war.

The US Treasury’s chief sanctions economist contends the effort is working. But an analyst who worked at Russia’s central bank before fleeing in 2022 counters that the economy is very much alive. In this episode of the Big Take DC, we find out about Russia’s “brain drain,” how an economy that was shrinking is projected to beat earlier expectations in 2024 and whether Russia will ever regain global prestige.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

American voters are so disillusioned by their options in the presidential election that pollsters have come up with a term for it: “Double-hater.” These are people who don’t like President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump, who leads the race for the GOP nomination. And yet, when asked by the Big Take DC podcast if an outsider candidate could break through in 2024, Ralph Nader, who ran for president outside the two major parties four times, gave a simple, “No.” Still, there are some indications that third-party candidates could cause trouble for the frontrunners.

In this episode of Big Take DC, we examine the impact an outsider candidate could have on the general election and efforts from groups like No Labels to offer a viable alternative.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China’s economy has been in rough shape, and the government is trying to address it. But there’s another threat on the horizon: the USelection.

During their presidencies, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump backed policies that drove the US and China further apart.Now, they're both campaigning for re-electionon continuing on that trajectory.

In this episode, Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway from the Odd Lots podcast speak with Tom Orlik, chief economist at Bloomberg Economics, and Mackenzie Hawkins, US industrial policy reporter for Bloomberg News. They’ve measured what a Trump or Bidenvictory in 2024 could mean for China’s economy, and beyond. Subscribe to Odd Lots to get all of their episodes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America’s use of sanctions has grown by almost 1,000% since 9/11. So why isn’t Congress giving the office in charge of them more resources?

Today on the Big Take DC podcast, host Saleha Mohsin talks to John Smith, a former director of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, and Bloomberg National Security editor Nick Wadhams about OFAC’s scrappy operation and why lawmakers aren’t giving it more to work with.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.