steven witkoff, special envoy is there, the egyptians, the qatari's, do they have any power to bring to the table? glen: the hope would be that steven witkoff can go back to donald trump and say we are trying to get this done, the arab world is in the room with me and this does not help. whether the president listens to that is totally unclear, but he has a lot of faith in witkoff. if it were to make his work impossible, i think he would try to prevail upon the president to try and back off. christian: one of the toughest jobs in the administration right now. really good to talk to you. thanks for coming on, glen. we will take a short break. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. ♪ christian: welcome back. donald trump is expanding his trade war with the rest of the world to the metals sector with new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. he made the announcement from air force one on his way to the super bowl yesterday while passing over the gulf of mexico which he is trying to rebrand as the gulf of america. beyond steel and aluminum, he promised

steven witkoff, everybody. great job in the middle east. really great. but we will see how it all turns out. it is complex but i think he will do very well. >> next we have your special envoy to latin america. >> ok. good man. >> thank you, sir. next we have retired general keith kellogg to be your special envoy on russia-ukraine issues. >> we have made a lot of progress on russia, ukraine. we will see what happens. but a lot of progress has been made. we are going to stop that ridiculous more. >> thank you, sir. next, we have designation of richard grinell to be your envoy for special missions. pres. trump: i sent him to california to turn on the water. it was not easy because we had to go through a lot of environmentalists that are causing a lot of problems. we have billions of gallons of water. it was on three days ago, you probably saw it. should have gotten a lot of press but it didn't get much. while we are doing is giving los angeles and the entire state of california virtually unlimited water, which they could've done five years ago, which i told

afterward, secretary you -- rubio, special envoy steven witkoff work together to outline the next steps in negotiations. >> are you walking away with any agreements? sec. rubio: i would start by saying we have agreed on four principles that are important. first is we are going to appoint our teams to work very quickly to reestablish the functionality of our respective missions in washington and in moscow. for us to be able to continue to move down the road we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally. the second point is that we will appoint a high-level team from our end to help negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in ukraine in a way that is enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged. the third point is to begin to work at a high level as well to begin to discuss and think about and examine both the geopolitical and economic cooperation that could result from an end to the conflict in ukraine. obviously, we have to see that conflict come to a successful and enduring end. in order for that to be possible. the last thing we agre

in fact, i'm betting what happened in that meeting is the president and steven witkoff agreed to israeliphase two. the key modification is undermining hamas and expelling the senior leadership. i don't know what senior leadership internally remains. i think they simply toughened the conditions in phase two. the bromance between trump and netanyahu was in my judgment not some ridiculous gaza plan. that was the takeaway. i think that sadly and reluctantly is going to give up on the only vehicle that could begin to end the war. >> always a pleasure. thank you for coming on tonight. governments around the world have today condemned donald trump's decision to impose u.s. sanctions on staff at the international criminal court. statement signed by nearly 80 countries including some of washington's closest allies said the measures increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes. the united nations has called on mr. trump to reverse the order. in his statement, he criticized the icy seat for issuing the arrest -- icc for issuing the arrest warrant for benjamin netanyahu along with his f

caller: i just wanted to let you guys know that steven witkoff, who is the middle east envoy, i just looked up his resume online and she is a billionaire real estate developer. that is what he is. host: which means what? caller: which means he's not qualified to be a middle east envoy. that is what it means.

steven witkoff not greatly experienced at this game.ean the presidents instincts take precedent within the oval office? >> i'm not going to comment on that. i will comment on the extraordinary difficulty in obtaining, whether through pressure or persuasion, the significant acceptance by either governments of egypt or jordan of any meaningful number of palestinians out of gaza, or for that matter, any other state in the middle east. that is a reality. it is a reality based on those countries defined self interests and not justification. >> hugely interesting, thank you for coming on the program. >> we will take a short break. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. >> police in sweden say around 10 people have been killed in a shooting at a community college. the suspected attacker is among the dead. the swedish prime minister said it is the worst mass in sweden's history. the shooting happened in the city of -- around 120 five miles west of the capital, stockholm. students and staff were kept inside the building

caller: i just wanted to let you guys know that steven witkoff, who is the middle east envoy, i just looked up his resume online and she is a billionaire real estate developer. that is what he is. host: which means what? caller: which means he's not qualified to be a middle east envoy. that is what it means. where is his diplomatic experience, you know? a world history experience, just for one. number two, anyone who decides out of the white house to go to the middle east again is missing their brain, you know? host: previous administrations -- caller: we've already had wars there under bush. -- under gw bush. host: previous administrations worked in the middle east, why not this one? caller: of course we have, but hopefully these people mr. aguilar: that we've seen from donald trump's white house. one thing is clear. with trump and republicans in control, america will be less safe and more expensive. because of an unelected billionaire with controversial ties to china has access to personal information for every american. including potentially tax and social security information. we

steven witkoff, the president's middle east special envoy, even jared kushner, that they are going tor a group of real estate developers who will come up with their own plan. so, there is a sense of pressure on the arab states the really try to forestall any of these other initiatives and move forward with a feasible, possible solution. caitriona: all of those conversations depend in the first instance, the cease-fire holding and becoming into something more permanent. what's your assessment of where that is now, particularly given that the body of shiri bibas, which was purported to be her ultimately wasn't? gerald: unfortunately -- i can understand why for the family it was so draining, such a tragedy. on the other hand, in the grander scheme of things, it is a minor blip. the an important thing is will the two parties be able to come to an understanding of how to move forward? again, we have so many different issues. it is not only will the cease-fire hold? it is what happens on the day after in terms of governance, in terms of security. if the israelis insist that they won't accep

caller: i just wanted to let you guys know that steven witkoff, who is the middle east envoy, i just looked up his resume online and she is a billionaire real estate developer. that is what he is. host: which means what? caller: which means he's not qualified to be a middle east envoy. that is what it means. where is his diplomatic experience, you know? a world history experience, just for one. number two, anyone who decides out of the white house to go to the middle east again is missing their brain, you know? host: previous administrations -- caller: we've already had wars there under bush. -- under gw bush. host: previous administrations worked in the middle east, why not this one? caller: of course we have, but hopefully these people were qualified. they were diplomats, condoleezza rice, not real estate billionaire developers from rhode island. come on. host: next, sacramento, high. caller: i'm a longtime listener. i would like to say that people are acting like the palestinian people are not human. and we are comparing it through the natural fires that happened. that is not what

he is already in washington meeting with president trump's envoy steven witkoff with the focus now turningcond phase with hamas. since the cease-fire agreement came into effect on the 19th of january, a total of 18 israeli hostages have been released. that leaves 79 unaccounted for but only 44 are believed to still be alive, according to the israeli side. there are emotional reunions on the other side, too. twin brothers reunited in gaza after 15 months of separation. they were split up earlier in the conflict. one brother traveling to the south, the other staying in the north. the family home, as you can see, now in ruins. before leaving, mr. netanyahu gave us some idea of what he would be discussing with president trump on tuesday. >> this meeting will deal with important, critical issues facing israel and our region. a victory over hamas, achieving the release of all of our hostages, and dealing with the iranian terror access and all of its components. an axis that threatens the peace of israel, the middle east, and the entire world. christian: let's break that down with a senior fellow

steven witkoff, we have the most important person until the world cup is over, stand up. thank you very much. you have done a fantastic job. it is very interesting. when i was president, i got the world cup and we have the 250 anniversary. that fell on this administration. that's a big deal -- would you call if you let the committee because at that time president obama will not take their phone call and we are going to the -- we are going to get the olympics in los angeles and by the way they have recommitted to los angeles -- they said we will do it someplace else -- they have recently recommitted and they are going to make it bigger and better than ever. i had the olympics, i got the olympics, i got the world cup and the 250 but that when i didn't get, but it was there, it was in this term and iran election and we did fantastic in 2016, we did much at her, millions and millions, millions better and bad things happened and i didn't get that one and i said you know, when i originally signed the olympics, i said i won't people to even be president because when i spoke with

you sent steven witkoff, who is doing an incredible job for you. you are changing the middle east and supporting israel and i could not be more impressed with the outcomes you have driven. and choosing this saturday to save people's lives or just be done with it is the right choice. pres. trump: it's time to come up with a date. every week, two people, three people? no. i don't think you can do that anymore. these are seriously endangered people. these are endangered people.. i don't think they are going to last very long. you know, the people that came out yesterday, they would not last very long. pres. trump: would you rule out any u.s. involvement in whatever happens -- reporter: would you rule out any u.s. involvement in whatever happens? pres. trump: we will see. reporter: did you talk to president zelenskyy? pres. trump: yes. we are dealing with him and i think they both want to make a deal that we will have to see. it's got to be done. would have never happened if i were president. this would have never happened. millions of people are dead.

marco rubio, mike waltz, special envoy steven witkoff. >> we'll appoint a high-level team from our end to work through the end of the kwon flicked in ukraine in a way that's enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged. >> month after month after month in the killing fields of eastern and southern ukraine is unacceptable. it is not in the interest of either country. it is not in the interest of the world and certainly not in the interest of the united states and europe. so all of those things will drive the negotiations going forward. >> bill: a lot of things to point out here. just to repeat there. nato membership said to be unacceptable by michael waltz and saying russian controlled parts of the country are lost. in addition the president of egypt announced i guess two hours ago that he was flying to saudi arabia. maybe these talks only not just continue but maybe expand. stay tuned for more on that as we get it. >> dana: today governor hochul meets with new york city leaders as she weighs the fate of embattled mayor eric adams. she announced the meeting hours after four of ada

and steven witkoff from harvard says, but this is the point. he's actually working around that. congress and hearings and debates and discussions when you can just have elon musk and your folks go in there and fiddle with whatever they want? this is it's sort of softening us up for whatever he wants to do. he can do. >> yes. and that's that. the comment it's sent chills down my spine as well that he can, you know, he can say what the law is basically, as long as he's saving the nation. this is one of the oldest parts of the authoritarian playbook. i literally have a chapter in strongman about, you know, the great man as the savior and on the basis of having to save the nation. the nation from what? it's not clear. but it's always the same. marxism degenerates, immigrants. that's how autocrats declare, you know, states of emergencies and other states of exception that allow them to use the law differently or discard the law altogether. but he it doesn't make sense for him as an authoritarian. he is enacting authoritarianism every day right now. and so for him to do business as us

trump administration's special envoy, steven witkoff, could take anywhere from 10 to 15 years. an additional, i mean, five to clear away all the rubble and demining that's going to have to take place in gaza. and that, frankly. >> is. >> going to depend on gaza not being a free fire military zone, which is why phase two is critically important. phase two compels both sides, hamas, to release all of the hostages. they will, after. >> phase. >> one, probably retain 65 israeli soldiers, half of whom the. >> israelis judged. >> to be dead, and the they're obligated to release those. and the war. >> the israelis. >> are obligated to end the war on their part and withdraw all israeli forces from gaza. right now, i think. >> it's very. >> hard to imagine the implementation of that deal. and that's why the netanyahu meeting with president trump next week. >> is. >> going to be critically important, because donald trump owns these agreements. he deployed his key mediator to push them over to the final stage. and he's claimed. credit for the release of the hostages. now it's up to trump

sean, is that i find it really interesting that president trump called on his middle east envoy, steven witkoff, to close this deal. it's like he just looked at the bench and said, that's the right guy. i've got to send him to do this. the middle east may also be a part of the discussion that took place when this when this deal was made. >> well. >> dan, i'm personal friends with steve witkoff, and i got to tell you something. he's one of the most charming and personable people you ever meet. he's a guy that's hard to say no to and an incredible negotiator. you know, look, i realize that vladimir putin, i have no illusions who he is. i think he's a thug, a murderer and a dictator. however, that does not mean we can't have a relationship where we understand he's going to look out for his country, and we're looking out for ours and come to agreements that benefit both countries that bring peace. and it was interesting. putin made comments where he predicted donald trump would restore order in europe, which i found interesting. and then he said, i assure you, trump with his character, with his per

special envoy to the midd east steven witkoff are leading a delegation in udi arabia for talks on thea-ukraine war and aancing the solution to e situation in gaza. "the washington post" is repoing that foreign minister sergey lavrov will lead the russian negotiator he has been quoted as saying that the time has come to normalize relations between the united states and russia. this week's talks our plude to a planned meeting between present trump and vladimir tin, according to the common, and follows a 90-minute call between the two leaders last week. ukrainian leaders, not present at the meetings in riyadh, are expected to be allowed to participatg in the final negotiations. the u.s. team was greeted by saudi arabian leader on, bin salman --mohammed bin salman. here's a sure look at their meeting. >> [indiscernible] sec. rubio: [indiscernible] >> michael waltz, national security advisor -- [indiscernible] >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognize as one of the best intern

steven witkoff is in moscow. we have not seen that since bill burns went, former cia director.it. we did not know if it was just a meeting. he came back. fantastic this he mark fogel back on the jet to the u.s. jonathan: we want to seem on that front. president trump backing off threats to withhold aid for jordan after king abdullah agreed to accept 2006 children from gaza. -- 2000 sick children from gaza. annmarie: two things that were interesting. he did soften what he told our colleague jenny later that he would conceivably -- jenny leonard that he would conceivably withhold aid. king abdullah saying we will take into thousand children. you did -- in 2000 children. where is the plan? jonathan: waiting for the plan. you can criticize the sitting president for the plan he offered but we want to see a plan offered from others. annmarie: he's forcing the countries nearby who say there will be no normalization unless there's a two state solution, but they don't go further in terms of a plan. he invited the president of egypt to come to washington. let's see the plans from the oth

secretary rubio, steven witkoff, other individuals and he said not just that putin would come to the united states, but their first meeting would be in the gulf in the kingdom. jonathan: i'm not sure the european leaders feel this way but good news for the euro, stronger. energy lower. lisa: this was the potential tail risk for the euro region. this was the unknown question about how much this could single-handedly bolster the entire outlook for the european project. here is the question. bloomberg economic expects this plan could cost european governments $3 trillion to expand their nato presence at a time where they would have to do it in denmark with still elevated inflation. a huge question about how they would do this, whether they would be willing, and if they are really on board with the way the negotiations are going down. annmarie: there'll be a lot of criticism towards this administration especially when you have pete hegseth in europe saying data will not be a part of this which is a 180 from what we saw from the biden administration. officials are saying is a compromise.

caller: i just wanted to let you guys know that steven witkoff, who is the middle east envoy, i justooked up his resume online and she is a billionaire real estate developer. that is what he is. host: which means what? caller: which means he's not qualified to be a middle east envoy. that is what it means. where is his diplomatic experience, you know? a world history experience, just for one. number two, anyone who decides out of the white house to go to the middle east again is missing their brain, you know? host: previous administrations -- caller: we've already had wars there under bush. -- under gw bush. host: previous administrations worked in the middle east, why not this one? caller: of course we have, but hopefully these people were qualified. they were diplomats, condoleezza rice, not real estate billionaire developers from rhode island. come on. host: next, sacramento, high. caller: i'm a longtime listener. i would like to say that people are acting like the palestinian people are not human. and we are comparing it through the natural fires that happened. that is not what h

has put forward key envoys for discussing these negotiations, including marco rubio and steven witkoffhat will ultimately be a broader discussion as we learn more about what trump gleaned from his conversation with vladimir putin. lizzy: ok, that's tyler kendall with the view from d.c. thank you for the update on the tariff threats, on the ukraine story, fast developing as it is. in the last few minutes we heard from the philadelphia fed president, patrick harker, who said policy is well-positioned. we will stay with the central banking story and bring it closer to home with andrew bailey saying the u.k. economy has been quite static since last year, so we are bringing you all the central banks, coming up next. this is bloomberg. ♪ lizzy: welcome back to "bloomberg markets." i'm lizzy burden. u.s. markets are taking a break for presidents' day, but we can dive into the u.k. story now, it's a busy week when it comes to economic data. we just had word from the bank of england governor, saying it still static despite stronger-than-expected gdp numbers for the end of 2024. for more analysi

special envoy steven witkoff work together to outline the next steps in negotiations.