The cabinet member predicted to be by Trump's side when he meets Putin
By a pretty large margin, those waging on the betting site Kalshi are predicting one of Trump's most loyal cabinet members will be at his side during the summit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio leads the list with a 92% chance of sitting alongside Trump at the Putin summit, according to Thursday afternoon's reading of the market.
Sitting at approximately even odds above 50%, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is in fourth place with a 53% chance, according to bettors on Kalshi. The total betting volume as of Thursday afternoon is more than $227,000 in bets.
Unlike some of Trump's other cabinet members, Bessent in the past has been very critical of the Russian president. In May, Bessent gave a speech to the House Committee on Financial Services where he was asked for his thoughts on Putin.
Democratic Rep. Juan Vargas asked the Treasury secretary, 'Do you consider Vladimir Putin a war criminal?' Bessent responded with a simple but direct answer: 'Yes.'
Vargas then asked Bessent, 'Would you negotiate with a war criminal?' He replied, 'I think that's the nature of diplomacy, one must negotiate with both sides, sir.'
Friday's upcoming summit, which will not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is the most significant diplomatic event between the US and Russia since the start of the war in 2022.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hillary Clinton urges Trump not to cede Ukrainian land to Putin
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would nominate United States President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize if he successfully brokered a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The condition for this nomination is that the peace agreement must not involve Ukraine conceding any territory to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Her comments came as Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss potential peace negotiations for the conflict. Clinton made the declaration on the Raging Moderates podcast, saying she aimed to incentivize Trump to make a deal that did not allow 'capitulation' to Putin, 'aided and abetted by the United States.' She emphasised that Trump has an opportunity to be the "architect" of a deal that prevents Russia from retaining seized Ukrainian areas.
Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
In split decision, court clears Trump to restart CFPB mass firings
WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Friday found that U.S. President Donald Trump should be able to resume mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ruling that a lower court had lacked jurisdiction in temporarily blocking this, court records showed. However, the court said its decision would not take immediate effect, allowing lawyers representing CFPB workers and pro-consumer organizations to seek reconsideration by the full Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. "We hold that the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider the claims predicated on loss of employment, which must proceed through the specialized-review scheme" under laws governing the civil service, the majority wrote. Other objections raised by the plaintiffs did not concern final decisions made by the agency and so could not be reviewed in court, wrote U.S. Circuit Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both Trump appointees. In a dissent, Circuit Judge Cornelia Pillard said the lower court had acted properly in blocking the Trump administration from eradicating the CFPB entirely as the lawsuit played out, writing that "it is emphatically not within the discretion of the President or his appointees to decide that the country would benefit most if there were no Bureau at all."
Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
World equities flat, crude oil prices fall as markets await Trump-Putin talks
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Global stocks were flat but still traded near record highs on Friday as investors awaited talks in Alaska between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Ukraine. Short-term U.S. Treasury bond yields fell with markets anticipating a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The Dow hit a record high earlier in the session, becoming the last of Wall Street's main indexes to soar to a new peak. Benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were losing ground, dragged down by technology, utilities and financials stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 0.09%, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab fell 0.25% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab fell 0.36%. "This market continues to move higher and the story is just earnings and margins," said Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group in New Jersey. "The inflation numbers that we saw this week were mostly services and in a services-based economy like ours, this is good for profit margins." Data showed that U.S. retail sales increased solidly in July, rising 0.5% from the prior month, after an unexpected spike in producer price data on Thursday renewed inflation concerns and pared market expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. European shares touched a near five-month high before pulling back, as investors drew support from a largely positive earnings season. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab index was flat at 0.08%. The MSCI All Country World Index (.MIWD00000PUS), opens new tab consolidated recent gains. It was last up 0.05% at 952.34, just shy of the record level of 954.21 set on Wednesday. The White House has said the Trump-Putin meeting will take place at 11 a.m. Alaska time (1900 GMT), with the U.S. president's hopes of a ceasefire agreement on Ukraine uncertain. Trump has said a second summit involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy could follow if the talks go well. Details and the longevity of any agreement will be key, and for now investors are on standby. Ukraine's government bonds - key indicators of the mood - in recent days have largely stalled at a still-distressed 55 cents on the dollar. "There's still a small degree of risk premium in European markets because of the war. Any type of resolution will ultimately pare that back," said Shaniel Ramjee, co-head of multi-asset at Pictet Asset Management, adding that oil and other commodity prices could also react. "But I think that the market has learnt not to expect too much from these negotiations. Ultimately, Zelenskiy and the Europeans are not invited. They will need to be involved in any final negotiation," Ramjee added. The two-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, fell 0.9 basis points to 3.73%. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 0.3 basis points to 4.297%. In currency markets, the dollar weakened 0.64% to 146.82 against the Japanese yen and was down 0.35% to 0.805 against the Swiss franc . The euro was up 0.57% at $1.1712. The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last trading down 0.45% at 97.74. Japanese GDP data released on Friday showed the economy expanding by an annualised 1.0% in the April-to-June quarter, beating analyst estimates. The dollar weakened 0.6% against the yen to 146.875 . Brent crude was down 0.79% at $66.32 per barrel. U.S. crude fell 0.89% to $63.45. Spot gold rose 0.17% to $3,341.26 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.22% to $3,342.70 an ounce. Cryptocurrency markets stabilised after bitcoin touched a record $124,480.82 on Thursday. It was down 0.35% to $117,531.48.
