Jenny Leonard
@jendeben
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White House reporter for Bloomberg News. RTs not endorsements. Opinions mine.
Washington, D.C.
Joined October 2014
NEWS: @POTUS tomorrow will call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia, clearing the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports. Announcement will be alongside G7 & EU leaders. He'll work with Congress on legislation to repeal PNTR. Both parties have pushed for this.
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Scoop from my colleagues in Beijing: China isn’t ready to sign what Trump calls the “phase one” deal without more talks later this month. Beijing also wants commitments prior to signing that the next round of U.S. tariffs, scheduled for Dec. 15, is off.
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SCOOP: The U.S. will support a proposal to waive IP protections for Covid-19 vaccines, @AmbassadorTai tells @EMPosts and me. The U.S. will now participate in negotiations on text at the WTO. Story on @TheTerminal.
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SCOOP: Japan and the Netherlands will join US semiconductor export controls in a big foreign policy win for the Biden administration. Negotiations on track to be done tomorrow. Japanese and Dutch officials are in Washington to finalize details tonight.
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The @VP visited the John McCain memorial in Hanoi where his plane was shot down by the North Vietnamese in 1967. It’s the 3-year anniversary of his death. She told us he’s “an American hero” and “loved our country.” She said she was honored to serve alongside him in the Senate.
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Biden and Xi kicked off their virtual summit. @POTUS told Xi: “All countries have to play by the same rules of the road” and that they’ll have a candid discussion. Xi started his opening remarks by telling Biden: “I’m very happy to see my old friend.” Biden thanked him.
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Just trying to make my German mom proud from afar. ♥️.
DAMN: Major shoutout to Bloomberg White House reporter Jenny Leonard (@jendeben) for asking President Biden questions about Hong Kong and his infrastructure plan and THEN immediately switched from English to German to ask Chancellor Angela Merkel about China and vaccinations
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Biden left the stage after his speech posing for photos with children in a sea of Ukraine, Poland and USA flags. 🇺🇦 🇵🇱 🇺🇸 The White House says 30,000 people were in attendance tonight, per the mayor’s office.
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President Biden leaves church with granddaughter Natalie, who accompanied POTUS to mass today.
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NEWS: The US has confronted the Chinese government with evidence that suggests some state-owned companies may be providing support for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, as it’s assessing if Beijing is aware of those activities. w/ @PeterMartin_PCM
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President Biden, @FLOTUS, @VP and @SecondGentleman — surrounded by 500 candles to symbolize the 500,000 lives lost to Covid-19 — hold a moment of silence outside the White House.
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The @VP landed in Atlanta and told the traveling press pool: “Israel has the right to defend itself,” adding “in particular against a terrorist organization, which is exactly what Hezbollah is.” She empathized “we still must work on a diplomatic solution” to end the war.
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.@KamalaHarris’ entrance at her first campaign rally in Atlanta. The crowd count has exceeded 10,000 attendees, per campaign official. “The path to the White House runs right through this state,” Harris says. Trump and JD Vance will rally at this exact location on Saturday.
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.@VP swears in @AmbassadorTai as U.S. Trade Representative. She is the first woman of color and first Asian American to hold the office.
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The fist bump that everyone is talking about — and that has upset Democrats in Washington — was only witnessed by Saudi Arabian press. The WH press pool wasn’t allowed to cover Biden’s arrival at the palace. We saw photos on Twitter while holding on a bus.
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Scoop: The White House wants authority to dictate where auto companies make cars and parts to secure duty-free treatment under USMCA — in its most direct intervention yet to manage trade and production — an obvious break from GOP free-market principles.
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On her last day in Vietnam, the @VP meets with civil society leaders for a ‘change makers event.’ She said the U.S. supports the groups’ advocacy on behalf of disability, transgender, environment and LGBTQI rights but notes “there’s still a lot more work to be done.”
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Biden tells CBS on covid: "The idea that this can be done and we can get to herd immunity much before the end of this summer is very difficult." On Goodell's offer to use NFL stadiums for mass vaccinations: "Absolutely. I tell my team they're available, I believe we'll use them.".
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President Biden arrived in Greensboro, NC, where he’ll tour North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and give remarks on supply chains. EPA Administrator Regan’s son, Matthew, was among the greeters on the tarmac and @POTUS invited him to join him in the Beast.
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“In recent years, ‘Buy American’ has become a hollow promise,” @POTUS said in Pennsylvania today, announcing new govt procurement rules. Federal agencies and their contractors “have got a new sheriff in town. We’re going to be checking.” w/@MarioDParker .
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NEWS: Japan and the Netherlands agreed in principle to join the US in tightening controls over the export of advanced chipmaking machinery to China. Alliance on this would be near-total blockade for Beijing on chips. Announcement is likely in coming weeks.
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Massive fail for U.S. diplomacy. The White House two days ago urged Japan and South Korea to reach a standstill agreement and negotiate a solution to their trade dispute.
BREAKING: Japan has decided to remove South Korea from a list of trusted export destinations, escalating tensions between the two U.S. allies
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And here is the president openly linking a criminal justice matter with the trade talks — after his advisers for a week have been insisting that the two are on separate tracks.
EXCLUSIVE - @realDonaldTrump tells @Reuters in interview that he would consider intervening in case of Huawei CFO if it would serve national security and help with a China trade deal.
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Harris made a quick stop at Vietnam’s NIHE where 270,000 of the 1m Pfizer vaccine doses just arrived. The U.S. delivered 500,000 doses to Ho Chi Minh City and the final 270,000 doses will be delivered to Hanoi on Friday. Harris says “this is obviously what’s morally right to do.”
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NEWS: China said it would take "strong measures" if the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed. (It has strong bipartisan support in the Senate too, meaning it would go to Trump's desk). Signing a trade deal w/ Beijing could be pretty awkward now.
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.@KamalaHarris stopped by Paschal’s in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hill neighborhood to greet supporters. She’s joined by Senators @ossoff and @ReverendWarnock, @RepNikema Mayor Dickens.
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Yellen tomorrow will argue that the U.S. economy was K-shaped even before the pandemic exposed it. “People worry about a K-shaped recovery but well before COVID-19 infected a single American, we were living in a K-shaped economy . This is especially true for people of color.”.
From Yellen's prepared remarks for tomorrow:. "Neither the President-elect, nor I, propose this relief package without an appreciation for the country’s debt burden. But right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we can do is act big". w/@jendeben
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Tomorrow, @SecRaimondo will challenge business community complaints about tax increases in the $3.5T spending bill, urging companies to support Biden‘s economic agenda. She’ll argue that the plan will benefit everyone, especially businesses.
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Scoop: China is considering a U.S. request to shift some tariffs on key agricultural goods to other products so the Trump administration can sell its trade deal as a win for farmers ahead of the 2020 election, and so Beijing can meet its purchase targets.
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.@POTUS also told us he’s “very concerned” about the Middle East and that he had a “very direct” convo with Bibi today. “We have the basis for a ceasefire. He should move on it and they should move on it now.”. He declined to answer when I asked if he expects Iran to retaliate.
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Kamala Harris will give her first foreign policy speech as @VP at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay. She will warn of “threats” to the rules-based international order and vow to strengthen it. She also will speak about “the recognition that our common interests are not zero-sum.”
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NEWS: Biden and Xi held their second phone call tonight. The discussion was initiated by President Biden after lower-level talks with PRC officials over the last few months were not fruitful and the U.S. got frustrated by Beijing’s lack of serious engagement, per admin official.
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On whether he’s worried about the market reaction to CPI numbers: “The stock market doesn’t necessarily reflect the state of the economy, as you well know. The economy is still strong, unemployment is low, jobs are up, manufacturing is good. So I think we’re gonna be fine.”.
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During the last round in Beijing, China again walked back some of its previous commitments, this time on tech transfer. U.S. officials returned to DC frustrated. Then hawks had the president’s ear and started pushing for the tariff increase, I’m told.
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The @VP and @SecondGentleman are off to the province of Palawan, in the South China Sea. She’s the highest ranking US official ever to visit there, the White House says.
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.@POTUS during fundraiser in McLean, VA, says @mtgreenee wanted to impeach him from her first day in office. “I don’t know quite why, but they just knew they wanted to impeach me.”. “And now, best I can tell, they want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government.”.
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.@VP repeats warning for China in meeting with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc: “We need to find ways to pressure and raise the pressure, frankly, on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to challenge its bullying and excessive maritime claims.”
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Angelina Jolie in the White House press briefing room. She’s meeting with DOJ today, she told us.
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Saudi Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman’s facial expressions while @POTUS was talking earlier. 📷 by @evelynpix
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This ride turned out to be a bit more eventful than expected. @POTUS fell off his bike — he said he got his foot caught — but quickly got up and chatted with the pool and Delaware bystanders. He said he will talk to Xi soon and is in the process of making up his mind on tariffs.
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.@POTUS made some news at the beach today: He told us he spoke to @LHSummers about recession fears this morning, hopes to have a decision on the gas tax holiday by end of the week, and that he’s unlikely to go to Ukraine while he’s in Europe for the G7.
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As we're debating the pros and cons of reopening the U.S. economy, companies with supply chains across North America have a bigger question in mind: What if the U.S. doesn't coordinate the timetable and scope of its economic restart with Canada and Mexico?.
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VP told the pool she had a productive meeting with executives and government officials on supply chains. She briefly toured the Gardens by the Bay flower dome to see the orchid that was named after her yesterday, and once again said she’s honored.
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The @VP gaggled briefly in Bangkok after her meeting with climate activists. She wouldn’t say if she discussed North Korea or Taiwan with Chinese President Xi. When asked if she’s talked to Speaker Pelosi yet, she said they’ve been playing phone tag due to the time difference.
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Members of @POTUS’s Jobs Cabinet say they had a good meeting with Biden on his infrastructure plan. @SecRaimondo said they discussed funding for the bipartisan CHIPS Act. @SecretaryPete said the focus is on competitiveness and noted there’s bipartisan support for infrastructure.
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President Biden says he stressed to Putin that invading Ukraine “will be a heavy price to pay for him.” On Russia facing sanctions if troops stay, @POTUS said: “I’m not going to negotiate here in public but I made it clear that he cannot — emphasize cannot — move on Ukraine.”
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UPDATE to this drama from Friday: All documents between the U.S. and China have now been changed to "agreements" and are no longer called MOUs, a U.S. official tells me.
Trump’s trade chief lectures his boss and gets an earful in return
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Two noteworthy points:.1) The WH got exactly the market reaction it intended (usually tariff lists are made public after markets close to avoid negative reaction).2) This delay is the ultimate admission by the WH that U.S. consumers do in fact pay at least part of these duties.
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If you need an example of how arbitrary and opaque the USTR exclusion process is, look no further. At a time when demand for hand sanitizer is skyrocketing, the company that makes dispensers couldn't convince the government to give it a pass on tariffs. Meanwhile, Tim Cook could.
Gojo Industries makes hand sanitizer dispensers in the U.S. with a key input from China. Its request to get excluded from the 25% tariff was denied *this month* because it couldn't show serious economic harm. Then last week, USTR exempted the Apple Watch.
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.@RepLizCheney is among the attendees at the @POTUS Medal of Freedom ceremony, with a front row seat.
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President Donald Trump is on tape saying he had a conversation with Blackstone Group Inc. founder Steve Schwarzman about former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. On Friday, Schwarzman’s spokeswoman disputed that account.
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Mr. Ren, an outspoken property tycoon and critic of Xi Jinping, in an essay wrote that China’s leader was a power-hungry “clown.” He said the ruling Communist Party’s crackdown on free speech had exacerbated the coronavirus epidemic. Now Ren is missing.
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.@VP is at Wat Ratchabophit, one of the most highly regarded temples in Thailand and closely associated with the monarchy. The royal ashes of several previous kings and many minor royals of the Chakri dynasty are interred here. She also had an audience with the Supreme Patriarch.
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SCOOP: The Trump administration is considering whether to defer payments for tariffs on all imported goods for 90 days. That would keep a lot of needed $$ in companies' pockets during this crisis. Domestic industry, on the other hand, is not OK with this.
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NEW: Gil Kaplan, undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, resigned today, sources tell me. He was a key figure in enforcing trade rules for the Trump administration and was involved in negotiations for a trade deal with China.
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Happening now in Bangkok: Vice President Harris convenes a meeting with world leaders to consult on the DPRK’s recent ballistic missile launch. Joining her at the meeting: Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada’s leaders.
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NSC's Kirby, in the briefing room, says: "We've seen a number of announcements from the PRC in just the last several hours that are unfortunately right in line with what we had anticipated." . "We are prepared to manage what Beijing chooses to do," he adds, while urging calm.
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Nonsense! I can say with 100% certainty that this has NOTHING to do with impeachment distraction. The White House is really looking into these limits (investors: take note!) and the discussions have been going on for weeks. We made that clear in our story:
The Trump administration is using China to distract from impeachment
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Scoop: The Justice Dept said the White House can use executive privilege to decline to release the Commerce Dept’s Section 232 autos report because disclosure “would risk impairing ongoing diplomatic efforts to address a national-security concern.”.
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NEW: The U.K. is exploring joining the USMCA (trade deal between U.S., Mexico, Canada) a person familiar with the nation’s thinking said, a recognition the Biden administration won’t start negotiations on a bespoke deal any time soon. - By @kitty_donaldson.
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Harris told troops she knows they’re thinking about their fellow men and women in uniform who served in Afghanistan but noted they’re here with “a mission that is vital to the American people.” We’re here because the region will define the history of the 21st century, she added.
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Harris also stopped at Or Tor Kor Market. It was a chaotic scene as pool was shoved through the aisles and zig zagged through the market to capture her at multiple stalls.
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Very excited to announce that I’ll be joining the Bloomberg @economics team next month to continue covering the crazy busy trade beat.
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Grassley tells reporters he asked Trump yesterday, "don't you think the tariffs should come off" now that you have an agreement with Canada and Mexico? .Trump responded: "No," Grassley says. via /@laurapdavison.
Sen. Chuck GRASSLEY says he rejected the administration’s call for import quotas and that TRUMP rejected his request to lift current tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, which Grassley argued impede USMCA’s approval in Canada and Mexico.
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The smile was captured after @PeterAlexander asked the Crown Price if he will apologize to Khasoggi’s family and I asked @POTUS if he believes Saudi Arabia is still a pariah. Neither answered us but MBS seemed amused.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman smiles as he meets with President Joe Biden at the Al Salman Royal Palace
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.@VP today had a brief greet with President Xi before the APEC Leaders Meeting. She noted a key message that President Biden emphasized in his meeting with Xi: we must maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries, per the WH.
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