Inside DC's invite-only AI after party
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President DONALD TRUMP is scheduled to deliver a high-profile address tomorrow touting his Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, but the real action will happen hours later at a private after party.
The exclusive event will be held at Ned's Club, the invite-only rooftop social club perched atop the Walker Building next to the White House, where membership sets you back $5,000 per year.
The event is hosted by CHRISTIAN GARRETT, managing partner at 137 Ventures — an early investor in SpaceX and Anduril — and cofounder of the Hill & Valley Forum that's co-hosting tomorrow's rollout with the All-In podcast.
The after party is shaping up to be a who's who of Silicon Valley's AI and tech elite — and the people in Washington deciding how to investigate, fund or do business with them, according to an invite list obtained by POLITICO.
Trump's new AI strategy is expected to cut regulation, push exports, speed up data center builds and go after 'woke AI,' our MOHAR CHATTERJEE reports.
That approach, combined with ELON MUSK's advance into government earlier this year, has accelerated the convergence of tech power and Washington policymaking. And the Ned's party list shows who is likely to benefit from the changes underfoot.
Sen. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) will deliver the keynote, according to the invite. He'll discuss his experience as an entrepreneur and highlight the need to shrink government, a person familiar with his thinking said.
Among those invited are OpenAI COO BRAD LIGHTCAP, Meta's ALEXANDR WANG and a slate of top venture capitalists including Sequoia's SHAUN MAGUIRE — now well known in political circles for his MAGA-aligned social media posts and beef with New York City mayoral candidate ZOHRAN MAMDANI.
The invite list also includes executives and officials from a range of social circles including:
DOGE: More than 30 DOGE-affiliated federal officials, including STEPHEN EHIKIAN, THOMAS SHEDD and JOSH GRUENBAUM at General Services Administration, along with ANTHONY ARMSTRONG at the National Security Council. They're joined by DOGE engineers including LUKE FARRITOR, MARKO ELEZ and EDWARD 'BIG BALLS' CORISTINE, who tore through federal agencies with Musk in the early days of DOGE.
Elon allies: The newly confirmed OPM director and Andreessen Horowitz veteran, SCOTT KUPOR, SpaceX's head of policy, TIM HUGHES, and retired Gen. TERRENCE O'SHAUGHNESSY, one of Musk's top advisers at SpaceX.
White House: Trump policy advisor EMILY UNDERWOOD.
The antitrust flank: Federal Trade Commission CTO JAKE DENTON, DOJ's antitrust chief of staff, SARA MATAR, and MARK WAIT, a top aide to Sen. MIKE LEE (R-Utah), who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust.
The Pentagon: EMIL MICHAEL, the former Uber executive turned undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering, and ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, chief of staff of the Defense Innovation Unit.
The private sector: Anduril's president, MATTHEW STECKMAN, and emissaries from Palantir, Thrive Capital (JOSHUA KUSHNER's firm), Applied Intuition, Plaid, Stripe, Ramp, Databricks and others.
Christine Mui and Daniel Lippman contributed reporting.
MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.
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POTUS PUZZLER
How many presidents did not have any pets in the White House?
(Answer at bottom.)
The Oval
EPSTEIN SAGA, CONT: Trump attempted to shift the focus away from the controversy over the sealed documents in the JEFFREY EPSTEIN case today, and instead urged his Justice Department to go after former President BARACK OBAMA, our ELI STOKOLS reports.
'Whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people,' Trump said in the Oval Office, accusing the former president of 'treason' for an alleged plot to rig the 2016 presidential election.
PATRICK RODENBUSH, a spokesperson for Obama, called Trump's claim 'outrageous' in a statement.
'Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,' he said. 'But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.'
Agenda Setting
COUNT US OUT: The U.S. will pull out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at the president's request, our NICOLE MARKUS reports. 'President Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from UNESCO — which supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November,' White House deputy press secretary ANNA KELLY said in a statement.
In February, Trump issued an executive order requiring Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO to review UNESCO and other international organizations which may 'promote radical or anti-American sentiment.'
HISTORY UNDER REVIEW: Employees of the National Park Service have had to flag descriptions and displays at parks and historic sites for review after a Trump executive order directed employees to remove or cover up materials that 'inappropriately disparage Americans,' NYT's MAXINE JOSELOW and LISA FRIEDMAN report.
Some of the flags employees raised include:
ELIZABETH PEACE, a spokesperson for the Interior Department, the parent agency of the Park Service, said the Trump administration's move 'is not about rewriting the past.'
'Interpretive materials that disproportionately emphasize negative aspects of U.S. history or historical figures, without acknowledging broader context or national progress, can unintentionally distort understanding rather than enrich it,' she said.
NO NEED: The Department of Labor is planning to rewrite or repeal more than 60 'obsolete' workplace regulations, from minimum wage requirements for some workers to standards governing exposure to harmful substances, AP's CATHY BUSSEWITZ reports, in what the department secretary called the 'most ambitious proposal to slash red tape of any department across the federal government.'
If approved, the changes would also impact working conditions at construction sites and in mines, and limit the government's ability to penalize employers if workers are injured or killed while engaged in dangerous activities.
'The Department of Labor is proud to lead the way by eliminating unnecessary regulations that stifle growth and limit opportunity,' Secretary of Labor LORI CHAVEZ-DeREMER said in a statement.
WHERE'S THE MONEY? The White House and Republican lawmakers are locked in a confrontation with a federal watchdog that has opened dozens of investigations into whether the administration has illegally withheld billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated funds, NYT's TONY ROMM reports.
The attacks target the Government Accountability Office, which produces reports on ways that Washington can save money. The GAO has twice determined in recent months that the president violated rules preventing him from unilaterally canceling funding, first for withholding federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations and then again for libraries across the country.
White House budget director RUSS VOUGHT has denied any wrongdoings, arguing that the White House's spending is an attempt to use taxpayers' dollars more effectively. A spokesperson for Vought declined to comment.
In the Courts
NOT VIBING: Federal judges ousted Trump's former personal attorney ALINA HABBA as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor, exercising a statute to rebuff the administration's wishes, our RY RIVARD and DANIEL HAN report. The state's district court judges voted to not let Habba, who was serving on an interim basis, stay on the job after her 120-day term expires, instead choosing prosecutor DESIREE LEIGH GRACE.
White House spokesperson HARRISON FIELDS said in a statement that 'President Trump has full confidence in Alina Habba,' adding that the administration 'looks forward to her final confirmation in the U.S. Senate and will work tirelessly to ensure the people of New Jersey are well represented.'
Knives Out
LATE NIGHT ATTACKS: The president slammed late night talk show hosts JIMMY KIMMEL and JIMMY FALLON today after they voiced support for 'The Late Show' host STEPHEN COLBERT after Paramount canceled his show amid an ongoing riff between the network and the Trump administration, Markus reports.
'The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television.'
JON STEWART, a longtime friend of Colbert, said on Monday during 'The Daily Show' that the ending of the show was 'the path of least resistance' for the network to get its proposed $8 billion merger with Skydance Media approved by a 'fragile and vengeful president.'
Paramount has said the show's cancellation was 'purely a financial decision.'
What We're Reading
China behind vast global hack involving multiple US agencies (POLITICO's John Sakellariadis and Dana Nickel)
Trump's WSJ Lawsuit Raises a New Constitutional Question (POLITICO's Ankush Khardori)
The Hype Man of Trump's Mass Deportations (The Atlantic's Nick Miroff)
Trump's Effort to Quash DC's NFL Team Has Some Lefties Celebrating (POLITICO's Michael Schaffer)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
Former Presidents ANDREW JOHNSON and JAMES POLK, as well as Trump, are the three presidents to never own a pet while in office. Johnson, however, did reportedly strike up a relationship with some mice who resided in the White House.
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