Playbook: The sound of silence
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With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine
Good Wednesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The Conversation with Dasha Burns arrives on Sunday, June 1 — and we're dropping a first look. Each week on her new podcast, Dasha will sit down with one of the most compelling — and sometimes unexpected — power players in Washington. This isn't just a podcast. It's a new kind of political interview show for a moment when politics feels more personal, more chaotic and more consequential than ever. Catch the video and audio trailer out this morning to see what Dasha's digging into this season. And subscribe to the podcast, wherever you listen or watch.
And yes … You can still catch Dasha Monday through Thursday mornings as well, on the Playbook Podcast with yours truly. You don't get rid of us that easy.
In today's Playbook …
— The president takes a media hiatus ... but fear not! We'll always have his socials.
— Vance and the Trump boys go full crypto-bro in Vegas.
— Why gubernatorials are currently the races to watch.
DRIVING THE DAY
THE SOUND OF SILENCE: By lunchtime today it will have been 48 hours since Donald Trump stepped in front of a TV camera for a speech or Q&A — the first time that's happened (outside of the weekends) since he returned to the White House on Jan. 20. Whatever your politics, that's a remarkable record of public availability, especially when compared to his famously sheltered predecessor. And look how that turned out.
By the numbers: A quick trawl through the archives suggests Trump 2.0 has done media on 111 of his 138 days back in office — an 80 percent hit rate that includes weekends and must put him on course to being just about the most-accessible president in modern history. And aside from the lamentable attempt to ban AP, he's basically taken questions from all-comers. It's impressive stuff.
And it matters: In case anyone still needs this hammering home for them, the Joe Biden experience shows just how important it is that leaders are held up to regular scrutiny. Trump's answers may sometimes be rambling, erratic — or even downright unpleasant — but every American voter can see where he's at.
So why the sudden silence? Trump has no scheduled media appearances today, for the second-consecutive day — though it's still possible a 2 p.m. closed-doors 'executive order' session turns into one of his freeform Q&As. Either way, no one thinks he's shirking. Aides tell my Playbook colleague Dasha Burns Trump spent yesterday holding calls and meetings in the Oval Office, and on this morning's Playbook Podcast she predicts we're likely just witnessing the calm before the next storm.
Storm watch: We're still expecting a big announcement on Iran as soon as this week — the NYT reports this would be a 'declaration of some common principles' rather than a fully fledged nuclear deal — and Russia sanctions may or may not be in the offing, with Trump lashing out at President Vladimir Putin again yesterday … Everybody is praying for some sort of breakthrough on Gaza, especially after the aid chaos we saw yesterday … And the whole 'war on Harvard' thing doesn't appear to be losing any steam. Trump has posted about the Ivy League university multiple times on Truth Social the past few days.
Speaking of Truth Social: Close observers may have noticed that Trump's innate — how can we put this kindly? — desire to be heard has rather spilled out on social media during his brief MSM hiatus. Aside from the memes, reposts and videos that always pepper his feed, Trump posted nine genuine messages yesterday, another nine on Monday and eight on Sunday ... Which averages out about once every couple of hours, after you've factored in sleep. (If indeed, the president does sleep.)
What's on Trump's mind: Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac … Biden and the autopen … Jobs in Alaska … Fishing in Maine … Canada becoming the '51st state' … Border Patrol … Putin … Tariffs on Europe … California athletics … And that was just yesterday. Silence is not quite the right word for where we're at.
Nevertheless: It does feel like at least some of the relentless, minute-by-minute drama of Trump's first months back in power has started to fade. Elon Musk's all-consuming DOGE project feels much less significant since its principle character slinked back to the world of tech. Trump's market-wobbling tariff wars have become a series of snarled-up trade talks. The Ukraine war looks intractable. Mass deportations have been hampered by limited resources and the courts. Those of us covering the White House can actually take a quick breath.
And speaking of Musk … Filling the Trump-shaped void this morning is none other than Musk himself, now reverting back to his former tech-geek persona after tanking Tesla's image (and value) with his brief sojourn into politics. Flaunting an 'Occupy Mars' T-shirt rather than a MAGA hat in an interview with CBS, Musk seeks to put some clear blue water between himself and the GOP by criticising the budget passed by the House.
Regrets, I've had a few: Musk also did a sit-down with WaPo, in which he laments the reputational damage caused by his chainsaw-wielding work for the White House. 'DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,' Musk complained. 'Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.' Sympathy levels within the federal government will be pretty low.
COINING IT IN
TRUMP'S CRYPTO PLAY: Unusually, the biggest political event in the diary this morning is happening in Las Vegas, where the astonishing overlap between Trump's political and personal interests will again be on display.
First, the political … At 12 noon Eastern, VP JD Vance will deliver the keynote address at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Vegas, setting out the administration's full-speed-ahead approach to the U.S. crypto industry. It's the same conference Trump headlined in person last year, promising America would become a 'bitcoin superpower' under his leadership. He's certainly been true to his word, per CNBC.
Then, the personal … At 4:30 p.m., Trump's sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. will speak at the very same conference in Vegas. It's presumably an industry they feel invested in, given they back a major Bitcoin venture themselves, per Reuters. And it comes just a day after a separate family-linked business, the Trump Media & Technology Group, announced its intention to raise $2.5 billion to invest in bitcoin, as WSJ's Alexander Osipovich and Jennifer Calfas report. And that in turn came after Trump offered out exclusive VIP dinner invites to the 220 top buyers of his personal $Trump memecoin, as an incentive to buy more stock. It's all head-spinning stuff for a president of the United States.
More news from Vegas: Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad announced yesterday that the cryptocurrency exchange will be a 'major sponsor' of America250, the Trump-affiliated committee organizing celebrations of the 250th birthday for the U.S. And this isn't Coinbase's first donation to a Trump committee, notes The Verge's Tina Nguyen. It 'previously donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration committee,' she writes on X. 'The SEC dropped a lawsuit against Coinbase a month later.'
And a P.S. from Vegas: Last night, Vance headlined a Vegas fundraiser for Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC that required a donation of $1 million per attendee, WaPo's Natalie Allison reports.
2026 WATCH
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Earlier this year, Musk was 'growing tired' of Vivek Ramaswamy and telephoned Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine with a request, POLITICO's Jonathan Martin reports this morning: appoint Ramaswamy to the Senate seat vacated by Vance. DeWine demurred, of course, and Ramaswamy threw in for the 2026 gubernatorial race. And that means that DeWine now faces an unlikely coda to his long career in politics: He's likely to either be succeeded by Ramaswamy, or by his own longtime Democratic rival, Sherrod Brown, who is considering a run for governor.
But but but: There could be a way to avoid that fate: Enter Jim Tressel, the former Ohio State football coach, whom DeWine named lieutenant governor after appointing the sitting LG, Jon Husted, to the Senate, and who is now facing down a potential gubernatorial candidate of his own. Can the coach pull off the upset and beat Ramaswamy? The challenge is, as JMart writes, that 'Tressel is a Mike DeWine guy in a Donald Trump party.'
SPEAKING OF COACHES: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) announced yesterday that he is running for governor, immediately catapulting the former Auburn football coach to frontrunner status in the race, writes AL.com's Mike Cason. But the decision also sets up an open Senate race in the midterms, POLITICO's Ali Bianco notes.
MEANWHILE, IN MICHIGAN: The 2026 jockeying is in full swing at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference, with Senate and gubernatorial hopefuls working the well-connected crowds on the Island. Playbook's Zack Stanton writes in that much of the buzz last night surrounded new polling from the Glengariff Group posing head-to-head matchups in the state's marquee statewide 2026 races.
Notable among the results … Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's independent bid for governor is polling north of 20 percent statewide — despite his low name ID outside of metro Detroit. 'If you had told me I was in the 20s this early, I wouldn't have believed you,' Duggan told Zack. He sees a path to victory in pulling equally from both parties (which, indeed, the polling suggested he is) en route to 40 percent of the vote. The former longtime Democrat believes he can appeal to a segment of Trump voters who 'want to shake up the system,' but 'without the nastiness … [or] divisive language.'
BEST OF THE REST
DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: Following the ramped-up tariffs, U.S. companies report a spike in fraudulent activities from Chinese companies trying to avoid taxes, NYT's Ana Swanson and Lazaro Gamio report. Chinese shipping companies are offering ways to evade duties by 'altering the information about the shipments that is given to the U.S. government to qualify for a lower tariff rate,' executives and officials say. … Chip giant Nvidia will report Q1 earnings after the close of business today and investors are likely to 'look for definitive answers on how much U.S. chip curbs on China will cost the company,' Reuters' Arsheeya Bajwa previews.
FULL COURT PRESS: The Trump administration is pushing the Supreme Court to lift U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy's order blocking the administration's plans for expedited deportations to countries where immigrants 'have no previous ties,' POLITICO's Josh Gerstein reports. 'The federal government argued that Murphy has stalled its efforts to carry out deportations of migrants who can't be returned to their home countries,' AP's Rebecca Santana and Lindsay Whitehurst report.
Coming attractions: The appeal is just one of many the high court has faced from the White House in recent months. And SCOTUS is facing a series of hotly debated topics as the justices turn 'toward issuing a flurry of opinions through the end of June,' CNN's John Fritze reports. Still, they must contend with 'more than a dozen emergency appeals tied to Trump's second term, including cases dealing with mass firings, immigration and the president's efforts to end birthright citizenship,' with more to come even once they break.
More court reads: 'Judge tosses Trump order punishing the law firm WilmerHale,' by WaPo's Mark Berman: 'U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that Trump's order was unconstitutional and blocked the government from enforcing it, becoming the third judge this month to side with a law firm that had challenged the president's orders. … A ruling in the case of the fourth firm, Susman Godfrey, is still pending, though a judge has temporarily blocked most of Trump's penalties for that business.'
TALK OF THE TOWN
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — The Metro is launching its tap-to-pay upgrade at a ceremony at Dulles later today. Commuters can now pay for their rides right at the turnstile by tapping their phone, credit card or debit card. More from the Washingtonian
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — 314 Action has added Bri Gillis as a campaign adviser for federal and statewide candidates, Eden Giagnorio as comms director and Tara Saye as deputy development director.
TRANSITIONS — Cheyenne Hunt is now executive director of Gen-Z for Change. She previously was a big tech accountability advocate at Public Citizen and is an Amy Klobuchar alum. … Patrick Lohmeyer is now VP of international network programs and partnerships at United Way Worldwide. He most recently was CEO at LINC. … Chris Crawford will be senior director of civil strategies at Interfaith America. He currently is a policy strategist of free and fair elections at Protect Democracy.
… Kaylin Dines is now chief of staff for Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.). She most recently was press secretary and senior adviser for communications at OPM in the Biden administration and is a Yadira Caraveo and Tim Ryan alum. … Emma Mears is now head of membership development at Ned's Club. She previously was membership and community manager. And Jenna Groesch is now head of membership at Ned's Club. She previously was membership executive at the Club's New York location.
ENGAGED — Ted Scheinman, senior editor at Smithsonian, and Tara Ganapathy, counsel in the congressional investigations practice at K&L Gates and a Biden OMB and HHS alum, got engaged on Monday. They met in 2019 and reconnected because their respective interns were friends. He proposed in a park near their house, after hollowing out a portion of the Warren Report and hiding the ring box in there. Pic
WEDDING — Chris Ringer, legislative director for Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-S.C.), and Alexus Gutierrez, an intelligence analyst at the Defense Department and a Brian Fitzpatrick alum, recently got married in Charleston, South Carolina. The couple met on Capitol Hill in fall 2018. Pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Secretary of State Marco Rubio … Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md.) … Rudy Giuliani … Jessica Anderson of the Sentinel Action Fund … Natalie Yezbick of Sen. John Cornyn's (R-Texas) office … Mark Greenbaum of Rep. Nellie Pou's (D-N.J.) office … POLITICO's Alana Cunningham … Lauren Mandelker … The 19th's Emily Ramshaw … Andy Stone of Meta … WaPo's Pradnya (P.J.) Joshi … Lisa Wallenda Picard … Global Business Alliance's Jessica Cahill … Chris Downing … Uber's Josh Gold … Julie Hershey Carr … Herald Group's Colin Hensel … Edelman Smithfield's Chris Donahoe ... Robb Harleston … TSA's Brian Kelly … former Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa), Scott Rigell (R-Va.) and Tom Petri (R-Wis.) … Christy Felling … Marty Kramer … Katharine Weymouth … Matt Orr of Rep. Russell Fry's (R-S.C.) office … Adelle Nazarian … Thorn Run's Greg Lankler
Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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