Playbook: ‘The center of everything'

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2 days ago

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Good Saturday morning. This is Kimberly Leonard, the Florida Playbook author, writing from Miami. Get in touch.
MAGA VS. MAHA?: How are partisan politics affecting the Food and Drug Administration? FDA Commissioner Marty Makary sat down with Playbook's Dasha Burns to discuss that and more for 'The Conversation.' That episode drops tomorrow, but we have an early clip for you of Makary's response to far-right activist Laura Loomer's attacks on top FDA vaccine regulator Vinay Prasad for past remarks that she believes were not aligned with President Donald Trump's agenda. Watch the clip … Subscribe to 'The Conversation' on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Spotify
DRIVING THE DAY
'THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING': President Donald Trump is in Scotland. But to understand where we are six months into his second term, look no further than Florida.
This week's announcement that Trump wanted longtime loyalist state Sen. Joe Gruters, a former Republican Party of Florida chair, as the next leader of the Republican National Committee was just the latest example of Trump turning to his adopted home state to enact his agenda.
The New York native has spent decades in Florida. In the White House, he has Floridians all around him, from chief of staff Susie Wiles to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
And now, Florida-tested policies on everything from education to the environment have been exported to Washington.
'Florida is the center of everything,' said former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, a host at One America News Network. 'It's awesome.'
Plenty of people called it. When your author was reporting in Washington over Trump's inauguration, Florida Republicans and lobbyists were beside themselves with glee about what it would mean to be a major power player in the new administration. Despite being a huge state, Florida had historically been viewed as the loud, embarrassing uncle of American politics. Trump changed that.
'The combination of Mar-a-Lago, a modern-day castle, and Trump, a modern-day king, has attracted all types,' said prominent trial attorney John Morgan, who's been a megadonor to Democrats but left the party in 2017 to become an unaffiliated voter.
It's worth taking stock of just how dominant Florida continues to be. Amid the Jeffrey Epstein saga, Florida has remained prominent. During the last two days, Justice Department officials were in Tallahassee interviewing Ghislaine Maxwell, the former socialite convicted of conspiring with Epstein in his child sex-trafficking scheme. She's serving a 20-year prison sentence in the Sunshine State, where police and prosecutors said Epstein sexually abused girls at his mansion in Palm Beach.
On policy, there are plenty of examples of Florida's influence — from the Trump administration scouring Department of Education funding for progressive causes to banning transgender athletes from women's sports. Cabinet members brought attention to Chinese ownership of US land and the Environmental Protection Agency posted fact pages about geoengineering.
It's all familiar to Floridians. Transgender athletes have been banned from women's sports for more than four years and state officials restricted how schools teach race, sexual orientation and gender identity. A 2023 Florida law blocks some Chinese citizens from owning land in the state and GOP state lawmakers prohibited weather modification this past session.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday during a press conference in the Everglades that all these actions were 'things conservatives have wanted to see done for a long time.'
'We've seen problems, we've responded to the voters that have elected us here and we've led in ways that I think have paved the way for more progress to happen nationally,' he said.
But national politics are also influencing Florida. After all, DeSantis was able to win the GOP nomination in 2018 thanks to Trump's endorsement and running on the MAGA agenda.
He's still enacting that agenda, especially by pushing the state to play a big role in Trump's illegal immigration crackdown with projects such as the 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center.
Inspired by DOGE, DeSantis and Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia have also been raking through local government spending to blast programs they see as wasteful or 'woke.'
'Florida has adopted and replicated President Trump's America First agenda and has created many emerging leaders to carry on the MAGA torch,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers tells Playbook. 'President Trump appreciates Gov. DeSantis' work and they will continue to advance the same goal — Making America Great Again.'
So where does Florida go from here? Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate GOP Rep. Byron Donalds has been saying that if elected he wants to turn Florida into the go-to state for tech, aerospace and finance. The state is also setting its sights even beyond the earth's atmosphere, with a push to have NASA headquarters moved here from Washington.
'As we say in FL-01, 'Y'all come!'' Gaetz said. 'But leave your Democrat voter registration cards north of the Mason-Dixon line.'
9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US
1. DEALMAKER-IN-CHIEF: Today, Trump is in Scotland, where he'll spend the day golfing at his Turnberry resort. But it's not all leisure: Tomorrow, he'll meet in person with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, raising hopes of a trade deal with the E.U. ahead of Trump's self-imposed Aug. 1 deadline, WSJ's Max Colchester and Kim Mackrael report. Von der Leyen said yesterday that she and Trump had a good call on Friday, as Europe increasingly seems amenable to accepting a baseline 15 percent tariff on most goods, including on cars. But European officials aren't celebrating just yet: Trump's 'penchant for last-minute reversals' hangs over the negotiations, POLITICO's Daniel Desrochers and colleagues write.
2. THE EPSTEIN CRISIS: The Justice Department wrapped its interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted child sex trafficker and associate of Jeffrey Epstein, yesterday — totaling nine hours over two days. The DOJ granted Maxwell limited immunity in exchange for her participation, per ABC's Katherine Faulders and Aaron Katersky. Maxwell has, for the moment at least, become the center of the spiraling Epstein discourse, as WaPo's Jonathan Edwards writes. Some Epstein survivors worry that Trump will consider pardoning her; one tells NYT's Glenn Thrush and Valerie Crowder that such a move would be a 'crumbling of this justice system.' Maxwell's legal team is still making a decision on whether she will honor a congressional subpoena and appear for testimony before House lawmakers in early August, POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Meredith Lee Hill report.
Meanwhile: Democrats are trying to get a copy of the Epstein birthday book in which Trump reportedly drew a nude woman and wrote an inscription. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) have written to attorneys for Epstein's estate asking for a 'complete, unredacted copy,' Axios' Andrew Solender reports.
3. FOR YOUR RADAR: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is preparing to get rid of all of the members of a health advisory panel that decides what preventative treatments — including cancer screenings — must be covered by insurance, WSJ's Liz Essley Whyte scooped. All 16 will be dismissed because he 'views them as too 'woke,'' per WSJ. It comes just after the task force's July meeting was suddenly postponed earlier this month.
4. ON THE HILL: Some Republicans who supported a tax hike on gamblers in the megabill are now looking to reverse the policy, with House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) calling its inclusion a 'mistake' by the Senate, NBC's Sahil Kapur reports. … Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) is pushing a conversation about cognitive decline due to age, despite the pushback from her fellow members of Congress, NYT's Annie Karni writes. … Despite the Senate's efforts to save PEPFAR, the U.S. program to combat HIV/AIDS abroad, alarm bells are still ringing as the Trump administration considers gutting it, per NBC's Andrea Mitchell and Abigail Williams. Though it was rescued at the 11th hour from the cuts in an earlier version of the megabill, the funding still isn't coming through.
2026 watch: Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) met with the White House recently about the possibility of jumping into the Texas senate race, Semafor's Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott report. … Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who is now a contender for the GOP Senate nomination in New Hampshire, has been blasting diversity programs and 'woke' ideology on the campaign trail. But the Washington Examiner's Ramsey Touchberry reports that he touted DEI efforts while serving as dean and president of New England Law. … Wiley Nickel is out of the North Carolina Senate race, and has endorsed former Gov. Roy Cooper, WRAL's Andy Specht scooped. Cooper is expected to announce his candidacy this coming week. … Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is heading to North Carolina to fundraise for Michael Whatley's recently launched Senate bid, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports.
A headline Dems won't like: 'Democrats Get Lowest Rating From Voters in 35 Years, WSJ Poll Finds,' by WSJ's Aaron Zitner
5. GAZA LATEST: At least 25 people in Gaza were killed overnight in Israeli airstrikes as ceasefire talks reach a standstill, per AP's Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy. The starvation crisis is expected to worsen imminently, as aid groups are running out of specialized therapeutic food that saves malnourished kids, Reuters' Olivia Le Poidevin and colleagues scooped. Israel said yesterday they'll allow countries to airdrop aid in, which now has the U.K., Jordan and the UAE scrambling to get supplies into Gaza, NYT's Aaron Boxerman writes. And contrary to the Israeli government's posture, there is no proof that Hamas has systematically stolen humanitarian aid from Gaza, two senior Israeli officials told NYT's Natan Odenheimer.
Unclear path forward: While Hamas negotiators said ceasefire talks would resume next week, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel is considering 'alternative options,' per Reuters.
6. THE MAGA REVOLUTION: The State Department announced yesterday that Darren Beattie will be acting president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, POLITICO's Jacob Wendler reports. Beattie was fired from his speechwriting gig in Trump's first term for speaking at a white nationalist conference, and drew widespread condemnation for a 2024 social media post in which he wrote 'competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work.'
Laying down a marker: Two top officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — Steve Volz and Jeff Dillen, who led the 'Sharpiegate' investigation during Trump's first term — were put on leave this week, WaPo's Anusha Mathur and Hannah Natanson report.
Who's in: Trump's war against Fed Chair Jerome Powell has its biggest champion in Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Pulte's been leading the charge against Powell on social media, even drafting the letter to possibly fire him earlier this month, and NYT's Alan Rappeport and Matthew Goldstein report it's all bringing him closer to Trump.
As astra, per aspera: NASA will lose about 3,870 employees through its voluntary resignation program as part of Trump's push to cut the federal workforce, Bloomberg's Sana Pashankar and Loren Grush write.
The bigger push: The Trump administration looked to institute mass layoffs across 17 different agencies, with a series of 40 requests sent in March and April to OPM to approve procedural moves for RIF's, according to recent court filings reported by POLITICO's Sam Ogozalek.
7. SCHOOL TIES: 'White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay,' by NYT's Sarah Mervosh: 'President Trump had faced growing pressure over the delay from within his own party, including from 10 Senate Republicans who had signed a rare public letter urging the White House to release the funds. … The money was part of nearly $7 billion in education funding that had been approved by Congress and was set to be released by July 1, before the Trump administration abruptly withheld it a day before the deadline. … The unexpected delay sent school districts around the country scrounging for the lost dollars, unsure when or whether the money might come through.'
8. IMMIGRATION FILES: The Trump administration's new director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, has plans to change the H-1B visa program, he told NYT's Hamed Aleaziz. The changes could affect the wages of skilled foreign workers. Edlow also said he plans to change the U.S. citizenship test, which he deemed as 'not very difficult.' … A federal judge yesterday threw out Trump's lawsuit that would have forced Illinois and the city of Chicago to abandon their so-called sanctuary city policies and aid ICE agents, POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein write. … A top U.S. embassy official in South Africa asked if non-white South African Afrikaners could apply for Trump's refugee program, and were told by a State Department official that the program is only for white people, Reuters' Ted Hesson and colleagues scooped.
9. PLAYING DEFENSE: 'The Navy secretary is trying to limit a deputy's role — before he's even confirmed,' by POLITICO's Jack Detsch and colleagues: 'Navy Secretary John Phelan is attempting to curb the role of the service's No. 2 civilian leader even before President Donald Trump's pick arrives at the Pentagon … Phelan and his chief of staff, Jon Harrison, last week reassigned the top two aides who were supposed to help Navy undersecretary nominee Hung Cao navigate the role once he's confirmed .… Phelan and Harrison don't know Cao and worry he will undercut their efforts to centralize authority within the Navy, especially since he is a former naval officer who has Trump's ear.'
CLICKER — 'The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics,' edited by Matt Wuerker — 16 funnies
GREAT WEEKEND READS:
— 'Mary Had Schizophrenia — Then Suddenly She Didn't,' by The New Yorker's Rachel Aviv: 'Some psychiatric patients may actually have treatable autoimmune conditions. But what happens to the newly sane?'
— 'Competing Conspiracy Theories Consume Trump's Washington,' by NYT's Peter Baker: 'No commander in chief in his lifetime has been as consumed by conspiracy theories as President Trump and now they seem to be consuming him.'
— 'No One Was Supposed to Leave Alive,' by the Atlantic's Gisela Salim-Peyer: 'Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration say they were tortured during their four months in CECOT.'
— 'Dry Taps, Empty Lakes, Shuttered Cities: A Water Crisis Batters Iran,' by NYT's Farnaz Fassihi, Sanam Mahoozi and Leily Nikounazar: 'After a five-year drought and decades of mismanagement, Tehran is at risk of running out of water in several weeks, the government warned.'
— 'Trump Perfects the Art of Making Powerful People Squirm on Camera,' by WSJ's Meridith McGraw and Annie Linskey: 'One of the hallmarks of Trump's second term has been his ability to put others on the spot.'
— 'We Found Your Bag!' by the Cut's Wells Tower: 'It's at a superstore in Alabama, along with everyone else's lost luggage.'
TALK OF THE TOWN
One of Venezuela's Little League baseball teams was blocked from the championship tournament in the U.S. because the team was denied travel visas.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has to pay $2,733.28 to the brand that made her 2021 Met Gala dress following an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
MEDIA CORNER — Project Veritas withdrew its yearslong libel lawsuit against the New York Times yesterday without a settlement.
TRANSITIONS — Joel Valdez is now acting deputy press secretary for the Pentagon. He most recently was comms director and senior adviser for Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and has previously worked for Matt Gaetz. … Jennifer Kuskowski is now SVP of government affairs and public policy at Edwards Lifesciences. She previously was a VP and head of government affairs for the Americas at Siemens Healthineers.
WEDDING — James Tucker Higgins and Emma Marie Newburger, via NYT: 'James Tucker Higgins had an instant crush when he met Emma Marie Newburger in July 2018 in CNBC's newsroom in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. … They wed July 12 in front of 98 guests at Cielo Farms, an event space and winery in Malibu, Calif.'
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) … Center for American Progress' Patrick Gaspard … Maura Corbett of Glen Echo Group and Orchestra … Erin Gloria Ryan … Bill Raines … Nick Muzin of Stonington Global (5-0) … Andrew Romeo … U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia Richard Buangan … Allison Dong of House Budget … Emily Kane of Sen. Maggie Hassan's (D-N.H.) office … Julie Anbender … Scott Sforza of Scott Sforza & Associates … former Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) … Jonathan Davidson … Lara Costello … Ashley Allison … Joe Jackson of Sen. Cynthia Lummis' (R-Wyo.) office … Mike McConnell … Sonny Bunch … David Mayorga … Oscar Goodman … POLITICO's Aayush Prasad … Andrew Gillum … Jacinda Ardern
THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here):
POLITICO 'The Conversation with Dasha Burns': Marty Makary
ABC 'This Week': Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) … Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Legal Panel: Chris Christie and Sarah Isgur. Panel: Donna Brazile, Reince Priebus and Rachael Bade.
MSNBC 'The Weekend: Primetime': Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.)... Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas)... Dan Osborn.
MSNBC 'The Weekend': Maryland Gov. Wes Moore ... Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.)... Eric Holder… Mike Gordon.
CNN 'State of the Union': Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) … Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) … OMB Director Russ Vought. Panel: Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Alyssa Farah Griffin, Jamal Simmons and Shermichael Singleton.
FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick … Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) … Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.). Legal panel: Jonathan Turley and Ilya Shapiro. Panel: Stef Kight, Mario Parker, Kevin Roberts and Juan Williams.
NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': John Bolton … Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) … Chris Sununu. Panel: Andrew Desiderio, David Drucker, Emily Brooks and Kellie Meyer.
CBS 'Face the Nation': OMB Director Russ Vought … Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) … Jean‑Noël Barrot … Ted Carter.
NBC 'Meet the Press': Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) … Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Panel: Peter Baker, Amna Nawaz, Carlos Curbelo and Jeh Johnson.
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