President Trump defends economy, CPI report gains, giant Medline IPO, and more in Morning Squawk

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Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.

President Donald Trump, whose approval ratings are low, touted his economic and other policies and attacked his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, in a speech at the White House. “I inherited a mess,” Trump said of returning to the White House last January. “And I’m fixing it.”

Here’s what you need to know:

President Trump predicted “the biggest tax refund season in history” thanks to the tax and spending package he signed over the summer. The president also announced a $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” for 1.45 million U.S. military personnel, expected to cost about $2.5 billion. The speech came as President Trump’s approval ratings have slumped across the board on issues ranging from immigration to inflation, and as Republicans seek to maintain their majorities in both chambers of Congress. The Obamacare subsidy extension is scheduled for a vote after four Republicans rebelled against leadership, while FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced he would resign in January. The U.S. government has admitted negligence on the part of the U.S. Army and FAA officials in the January fatal collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an incoming American Airlines regional jet that claimed the lives of 67 people.

The Consumer Price Index report for November, the first since the record government shutdown ended last month, is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect 12-month inflation to be 3.1%. Core CPI excluding food and energy is expected to grow at 3.0% annually.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the release “does not include the one-month percentage change in November 2025, which is missing data for October 2025,” because the bureau stopped reporting October inflation in late November, weeks before the last Federal Reserve meeting of the year.

Stock futures were rising ahead of the release of the monthly inflation report.

Micron Technology soared 10% in premarket trading after its latest results and forecasts beat Wall Street expectations. Olive Garden parent company stock Darden Shares rose pre-market on improved sales outlook.

of S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average The stock ended the market down for the fourth consecutive day. oracle Shares fell more than 5% after the Financial Times reported that the company’s major investors had pulled out of its $10 billion Michigan data center.

Trump Media and Technology Group announced Thursday a merger agreement with fusion power company TAE Technologies worth more than $6 billion, marking further expansion of the company behind President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform.

Stock prices of major medical supplies companies medlineThe company, which makes everything from hospital beds to scrubs, soared 41% in its Nasdaq debut on Wednesday as the world’s biggest IPO this year. The stock price started at $35, up from the public offering price of $29, and closed the first day of trading at $41 per share, giving Medline a market capitalization of about $54 billion.

More than 200 IPOs have priced out this year, despite a volatile spring market due to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and the fall’s longest U.S. government shutdown in history. This would be the largest U.S. listing since Rivian traded for $13.7 billion in November 2021, according to data compiled by CNBC.

delta airlines Delta President Glenn Hauenstein, who built Delta Air Lines into the industry’s revenue leader, will retire at the end of February. Mr. Hauenstein, who joined Delta Air Lines 20 years ago, led the airline’s embrace of travelers willing to spend more money for more luxurious travel or at least a few inches of legroom on board.

Some of Delta’s strategies have been too successful for customer tastes, such as its popular airport sky club, which recently raised the bar for entry.

And the winner is…YouTube. In a major shift away from traditional television, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday that it has signed a multiyear deal with the Google-owned service to stream the Oscars, including the red carpet, from 2029 to 2033.

—CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Justin Papp, Kevin Bruninger, Amelia Lucas, Dan Mangan, Garrett Downs, Annika Kim Constantino, Pia Singh and Sarah Witten contributed to this report. Melody Warner edited this version.