Wednesday, June 13
Round One: North Korea – 1, USA – 0
As we unpack what happened at the Singapore Summit, it’s becoming more clear who the winners and losers are. North Korea, China and Russia all appeared to gain ground, while the US and allies including South Korea appear to have lost ground.
Kim Jong Un tells North Korean state media that Trump offered to lift sanctions on his country, while Trump declares “mission accomplished.” On the upside (not insignificant) both Trump and Kim have put away their big buttons.
In deal news, the AT&T – Time Warner merger was cleared to move forward by a U.S. federal judge, opening the door to a wave of new mergers and acquisitions. TW’s talented Gary Ginsberg can now retire…or build the next conglomerate. And despite trade tensions among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the NAFTA bloc won their bid to jointly host the World Cup in 2026.
Here’s what I’m reading:
Trump’s Mostly Meaningless Summit with Kim; Too Much Show and Not Enough Substance (Bloomberg Opinion)
North Korea Says Trump Intends to Lift Sanctions (Bloomberg)
Russia Praises Trump’s Move to End South Korea War Games (Time)
Worth Watching: Here’s the four minute propaganda-like video Trump says he showed Kim Jong Un at the summit.
Merger News: AT&T’s Victory Expected to Spur Merger Wave Across Industries (Bloomberg)
Trump Won’t Be Tweeting This: U.S. Inflation Accelerates to Six-Year High, Eroding Wages (Bloomberg)
Tesla’s Aim for Sustainable Profits: In an internal email to Tesla staff on Tuesday, Elon Musk said this: “Given that Tesla has never made an annual profit in the almost 15 years since we have existed, profit is obviously not what motivates us. What drives us is our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable, clean energy, but we will never achieve that mission unless we eventually demonstrate that we can be sustainably profitable.” Musk’s Model 3 Miscalculation Culminates in Major Tesla Job Cuts (Bloomberg)
Reviving Supersonic Jets Will Damage the Climate (New York Times – oped by Carl Pope)
Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club from 1992 to 2010, is a co-author, with Michael Bloomberg, of “Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet.”
The World Cup Starts Tomorrow: Goldman Tips Brazil for World Cup After 1 Million Simulations (Bloomberg)
Don’t forget: Get your brackets and sweepstakes ready because the deadline to submit is tomorrow. Visit WCUP <GO> on your terminal to enter.
Best of late night.
From the New York Times:
“President Trump said Kim Jong-un is ‘absolutely’ invited to the White House. Unless, of course, Kim Jong-un wins the Super Bowl or the N.B.A. championship.”
— Conan O’Brien
“Of course, some people are questioning the meeting. One reporter asked, ‘How can you meet with someone with such a bad human rights record?’ Trump was like, ‘Sorry, is that question for me or Kim?’”
— Jimmy Fallon
“The two leaders did seem to hit it off. In fact, Trump liked Kim so much, he’s said he’s going to let him decide the next presidential election. Makes a nice change.”
— James Corden
“We’ve all got to admit that we were wrong. We said the man couldn’t do it, we said his temper would blow up the summit — but yesterday he proved everyone wrong and turned the nuclear summit in Singapore into a huge win for himself. So let’s swallow our pride and give it up for a leader who’s much smarter than we thought: Kim Jong-un, everybody!”
— Trevor Noah
80th Birthdays of the Day:
A special birthday wish to two important Sheekey Daily readers who turn 80 today: Arthur Sheekey and Dick Trippet.