Trump says ABC journo ‘hurting Australia’ with questions

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

1.

Meeting confirmed? US President Donald Trump told an ABC journalist he was “hurting Australia” and said he would raise the issue with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who he said was “coming over to see me very soon,” during a clash at the White House. The exchange occurred after the ABC’s Americas editor John Lyons asked whether it was appropriate for a president to be engaged in business activity while in office. Trump responded that his children were running the business, and when Lyons attempted to ask about a USD 2 billion deal involving a Trump-linked crypto company and the UAE royal family, Trump cut him off saying, “Quiet.” The confrontation came days before Albanese is due to arrive in the US for the UN General Assembly. Earlier, Albanese said, “We’ll see each other in New York. He [Trump] is hosting a reception on Tuesday night of next week.” The leaders’ comments appeared to confirm a meeting is planned, though no official details have been provided. Trump also sparred with another reporter over hate speech questions during the same press conference. (Capital Brief)(ABC)(SMH)(NYT)

2.

ANZ minus: Leaked internal correspondence viewed by Capital Brief shows ANZ has made sweeping cuts to the team behind its billion-dollar ANZ Plus consumer app, as chief executive Nuno Matos moves to decisively end the bank’s contentious two tech platform strategy. Now rebranded internally as ‘Digital Channels’, the team has lost eight senior staff – including ANZ Plus chief product officer Tara Bourne and executives across digital transformation, strategy, home loans and retail deposits – who together had more than 100 years of ANZ experience. The moves offer the first major indication of how Matos is thinking about the ANZ Plus project in the lead up to the bank’s strategy day on 13 October. Internal sources indicated features from Plus would be slowly integrated into the Classic platform, with Suncorp customers to be moved there. Nigel Dobson will act as head of Digital Channels until a permanent hire is made, with that team currently recruiting two new permanent members. It comes after Matos and chair Paul O’Sullivan told investors this week the bank would not scrap ANZ Plus but confirmed its strategy would be overhauled. (Capital Brief)

3.

Boom times: Blackbird Ventures partner Rick Baker declared the startup ecosystem is "back to growth" after his firm's portfolio value hit a new record high off the back of surging valuations for Canva and other prominent portfolio companies. Annual data released by the venture firm to investors this week shows it has delivered a net internal rate of return of 36.09% across its discretionary funds since it was established in 2012. That has pushed its portfolio to a new record high of $9.9 billion, eclipsing an earlier peak set in 2022 before the market turned sour. Baker described the last financial year as a "standout" for the VC firm with almost a billion dollars in value added in the final quarter alone. "It’s great to see the valuation uplifts coming across the board, driven by some of our mature companies like Canva, Halter and Tracksuit.” (Capital Brief)

4.

Gaza burning: Israel launched its long-threatened ground offensive into Gaza City early Tuesday local time, as troops began moving deeper into the enclave’s main city following weeks of airstrikes. Israel Defense Forces said troops had begun expanded operations and would increase their presence in coming days to dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure and confront the up to 3,000 Hamas fighters it believes remain there. At least 75 Palestinians were killed in the early hours of the assault, according to Gaza health officials, with heavy strikes reported across Gaza City. Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “Gaza is burning… We will not relent and we will not go back - until the completion of the mission.” The IDF said around 350,000 people have fled the city, but hundreds of thousands remain. The offensive coincided with the release of a UN Commission of Inquiry report accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and alleging that senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts. Israel rejected the report, calling it “distorted and false” and based on “Hamas falsehoods.” (UN)(WSJ)(Reuters)(AP)(Capital Brief)(ABC)

5.

TikTok deal: TikTok’s US operations would be transferred from ByteDance to a new company controlled by a consortium of US investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, The Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources. Under the framework, US investors would hold roughly 80% of the new entity, with ByteDance’s Chinese shareholders holding 19.9%, the paper said. The new company would have an American-dominated board, including one member designated by the US government. Oracle would continue managing US user data at its Texas facilities. President Trump on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) confirmed there had been an agreement, telling reporters outside the White House: “We’ve got a deal on TikTok. I’ve reached a deal with China. I’m going to speak to President Xi [Jinping] on Friday to confirm everything.” Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US assets to 16 December. According to CNBC, the deal is expected to close in 30 to 45 days, while Beijing said TikTok’s US app will use parent company ByteDance’s Chinese algorithm. (Bloomberg)(Reuters)(WSJ)(FT)

6.

Government guardrails: In what will be her first major economic speech as opposition leader, Sussan Ley will promise to reintroduce fiscal guardrails and run balanced budgets over the cycle as she warns government over-spending could risk both the nation’s AAA credit rating and intergenerational fairness. In a speech to be delivered to the CEDA in Melbourne on Wednesday, Ley will focus on “restoring responsibility to the budget” and raise her concerns the nation could end up permanently dependent on government support if spending is not reduced. She will push to “put guardrails around government spending, not as an end in itself, but so that we can strengthen our economy, preserve our capacity to help those truly in need, and ensure the next generation inherits opportunity, not debt”. Government spending is expected to hit 27% of GDP this year. (Capital Brief)

7.

Top heavy: American consumers kept spending in August, lifting retail sales by 0.6% for a third consecutive month, according to US Commerce Department data. Nine of 13 categories recorded gains, led by online retailers, clothing stores and sporting goods, likely reflecting back-to-school shopping. Sales excluding cars rose 0.7%, and control-group sales, a datapoint used to estimate GDP, also climbed 0.7%. Online sales rose 2%, restaurant and bar spending increased 0.7% and motor vehicle sales were up 0.5%. The figures, which are not adjusted for inflation, point to resilient demand despite higher prices from tariffs, subdued sentiment and a softening labour market. Economists said some of the increase was driven by price rises rather than stronger volumes, especially in apparel and vehicles. Meanwhile, analysis by Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi showed the top 10% of earners accounted for 49.2% of total spending in Q2, the highest share since 1989. “The economy’s prospects are tethered to the fortunes and spending of the well-to-do,” Zandi said. “If they turn more cautious in their spending, for whatever reason, the economy will suffer a recession.” (Capital Brief)(Census Bureau)(Bloomberg)(Reuters)

8.

New suit: Trump filed a USD 15 billion ($22.4 billion) defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, four of its reporters and Penguin Random House, accusing them of spreading false and defamatory content and interfering in the 2024 presidential election. Filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, the complaint alleges the book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, and three Times articles were published with “actual malice” and caused “enormous” economic losses and reputational harm. The lawsuit describes what it says is a “decades-long pattern” by the Times of “intentional and malicious defamation” against him and takes issue with the paper’s “deranged” endorsement of Kamala Harris last year. Trump is seeking USD 15 billion in damages and unspecified punitive damages for harm to his “one-of-a-kind, unprecedented personal brand.” The New York Times said the suit “has no merit” and is an effort to stifle and discourage independent reporting. Penguin Random House called it “meritless”. Trump has also filed lawsuits against other media outlets, including the ABC, Paramount and The Wall Street Journal. (Capital Brief)(NYT)(Bloomberg)(WSJ)