Trump Takes Hard Line on Iran, China’s Xi to Skip UN Meeting

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**Nathan Hager** (0:10)
Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager.

**Karen Moskow** (0:11)
And I'm Karen Moskow. Here are the stories we're following today.

**Nathan Hager** (0:15)
Karen, President Trump is taking a harder line with Iran with the 60-day memorandum of understanding between the two countries officially expired. The president says he is not interested in seeking an extension, and now he's making a new threat to bomb Oman if that country gets in the way of the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:35)
Would you say you're out of patience with Oman, a strategic partner?

**Donald Trump** (0:38)
No, I don't think they'd behave very well, but we'd handle them very easily, just like we do others.

**Nathan Hager** (0:43)
President Trump spoke to reporters from the White House as Iran and Oman continue negotiations on how to manage the Strait. Bloomberg Middle East correspondent Abirabu Omar has more from Dubai.

**Abirabu Omar** (0:54)
From the Iranian side, we know that there's a lot of complexities when it comes to finding that mechanism and a way around just finding those paths in the Strait of Hormuz to reopen and get oil moving once again through the waterway. That is when it comes to that agreement that is happening between Oman and Iran.

**Nathan Hager** (1:13)
Bloomberg's Abirabu Omar reports the US is not part of those negotiations, but President Trump insists the US has total control of the Strait and he likes the idea of declaring it US territory.

**Karen Moskow** (1:24)
Well Nathan, a marathon meeting between US negotiator Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the fate of the Gaza ceasefire unclear. Officials signaled moderate optimism after yesterday's talks, but offered no concrete commitment by Israel to the latest US proposed plan. American negotiators appear to acquiesce to Israeli demands that Hamas disarmament must come before any reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian enclave.

**Nathan Hager** (1:52)
Another geopolitical news, Karen. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is going to forgo a stop in New York to address the UN General Assembly when he visits the US next month. Politico is reporting Xi will be in the US for three days. The highlight will be a meeting with President Trump on September 24th. This comes after the two leaders met in Asia last spring.

**Karen Moskow** (2:13)
Now to the latest on trade negotiations between the US and Canada, Nathan. President Trump and Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke by phony yesterday about 24 hours before the US is due to implement punishing new tariffs on Canadian products. Negotiators have been working for days to try to craft an agreement that would avert 50% duties on a range of US imports from Canada, including milk, beer, plywood and hockey equipment. Sources say automotive sector rules are proving to be a major obstacle toward an agreement.

**Nathan Hager** (2:45)
And Karen, President Trump is keeping up his push to overhaul this country's voting laws. In a social media post, he urged Congress to pass the Save America Act and held up India's voting system as an example to follow. He says India's chief election commissioner recently asked how the US could hold elections without requiring voter ID. The Justice Department says it plans to send a thousand monitors to watch voting during this year's midterms in November. We discussed that with the head of DOJ's Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:14)
We are still formulating our final list, but the places where there may be language issues, the places where there may have been access of disability rights issues, places where there may be voter fraud issues that we've seen, we've had some prosecutions. I think you've seen some of those. There'll be some prosecutions in the pipeline of people who voted illegally who should not have.

**Nathan Hager** (3:34)
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon tells Bloomberg's balance of power her plans are consistent with DOJ policy, but she says the number of election monitors will probably be historic for a Republican administration.

**Karen Moskow** (3:46)
And speaking of elections, Nathan, it's primary day in Florida, Wyoming and Alaska. And Bloomberg's Amy Morris reports.

**Amy Morris** (3:53)
We begin in Florida where voters will choose nominees to replace Governor Ron DeSantis and to complete the remainder of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's Senate term. The state will also hold its first congressional primaries since adopting a redrawn district map designed to boost Republican candidates in November.
Voters in Wyoming and Alaska will choose nominees for Governor, Senate and the House. And Alaska voters will also decide on a statewide ballot measure to impose contribution limits on state and local political campaigns. Amy Morris, Bloomberg Radio.

**Nathan Hager** (4:25)