Playbook PM: A spiraling crisis in Gaza

Politico

2 days ago

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THE CATCH-UP
TRUMP AND THE WORLD: President Donald Trump is currently in the air en route to Scotland, where he'll head to one of his golf properties and inaugurate a new course honoring his late mother. But as Trump heads abroad — ostensibly for a short break from Washington — a growing list of global crises are vying for his attention.
Chief among them: The spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where an untold number of Palestinians, aid workers and reporters are dying of starvation. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's aid centers are falling short of the levels of food needed and have 'practically become shooting galleries,' as the Atlantic's Hussein Ibish writes. 'I truly don't know what to do anymore,' a MercyCorps worker told ABC News' Mary Kekatos. Hundreds of organizations have called on Israel to stop its blockade of aid.
But Trump today signaled that the fighting might only escalate: Israel may have to 'get rid of' Hamas, he said, echoing envoy Steve Witkoff's comments yesterday that Hamas does not want to end the war. 'I think they want to die, and it's very, very bad,' Trump said this morning. 'It got to be to a point where you're gonna have to finish the job.' Speaking to the humanitarian disaster, Trump said the U.S. has sent $60 million in aid to Gaza, and that he hopes further food aid gets there and doesn't get stolen, POLITICO's Irie Sentner writes.
The eyes of the world: World leaders are rallying to avoid an even worse catastrophe in Gaza — though Australian PM Anthony Albanese said the crisis has already 'gone beyond the world's worst fears,' per NYT's Qasim Nauman. U.K. PM Keir Starmer said yesterday he'll hold an emergency call with France and Germany on the issue, per Reuters' Andrea Shalal and Andrew Macaskill. And while French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his nation's intent to recognize Palestinian statehood, Trump this morning said it didn't matter: 'It's not going to change anything,' he said, per CNN's Kevin Liptak.
The pressure is building inside Congress, too. A group of Democratic senators led by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) are calling on Trump to directly appeal to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on the urgency of allowing humanitarian assistance to flow through the West Bank.
Other pressing international issues are stacking up, too.
On Iran's nuclear program: Talks between Iran and European officials began today, but are still at an impasse over Tehran's nuclear program, with more conversations to come, AP's Andrew Wilks and colleagues report from Istanbul.
On Russia and Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin is shutting down the possibility of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the time being, effectively throwing cold water on the prospect of progress on a peace deal anytime soon, WaPo's Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova write.
On Thailand and Cambodia: The newest potential international headache is the outbreak of fighting between Thailand, a U.S. ally, and Cambodia, a Chinese ally. Roughly 16 people have died in the revival of a centuries-old border dispute that is growing more and more serious as heavier artillery gets involved, NBC's Mithil Aggarwal reports. Each side blames the other, and worries are mounting that it could explode into a war. Thailand is pushing for bilateral negotiations to resolve the conflict, preferring not to involve a third party like the U.S, Reuters' Panu Wongcha-um scooped.
The big picture for Trump: World leaders have taken their leave during global crises before, but this time it's happening all at once, POLITICO's national security ace Eric-Bazail Eimil writes in to Playbook.
'There's also an optics question here. When President Joe Biden would go on vacation and situations would worsen, we'd barely see him,' Eric tells Playbook. 'That's not going to be the case this time. Trump will be visible. And it all creates an unusual split-screen; the president in Scotland opening a golf course as these issues rage. But it also means we could get a lot more information than usual in these situations about what the administration is considering.'
On the home front, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met this morning with Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds and Lithuanian National Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene at the Pentagon.
First in Playbook — Coming up: All three foreign defense ministers will be interviewed by FOX News' Bret Baier on 'Special Report' at 6 p.m. to talk about their meeting with Hegseth, the war in Ukraine and more.
It's a swelteringly hot Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. As always, send me your tips and thoughts at [e-mail]
8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. THE EPSTEIN CRISIS: Gaggling before he departed for Scotland this morning, Trump said he has no plans to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted child sex trafficker and associate of Jeffrey Epstein. But he also didn't rule it out. 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about,' Trump told reporters. He also said that he 'never went' to Epstein's notorious island, while alleging that former President Bill Clinton had.
The latest: Deputy AG Todd Blanche has wrapped his interview with Maxwell in Tallahassee.
Sowing division in MAGA: The DNC is planning to launch Epstein-focused ads in a dozen GOP-held House districts at the start of August recess, Axios' Tal Axelrod scooped. 'The ads will run before videos on right-wing YouTube and Meta channels like those of Fox News, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro — target-rich audiences for the voters fixated on Epstein.'
2. ON THE HILL: There's growing consternation on both sides of the aisle about a possible second rescissions package coming from the White House, WaPo's Theodoric Meyer reports. 'A number of [Republicans] do not like this process, they were unhappy with having to go through it the first time, and I urge them to reject it if it comes at them again,' top Senate Appropriations Dem Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said. … Meanwhile, in a letter to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, Senate Democrats accused Republicans of doling out the megabill's opaque $50 billion fund for rural hospitals to effectively win over GOP members, Axios' Stephen Neukam scooped.
3. 2026 WATCH: Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is running for governor in Wisconsin, the first Democrat to enter the race to succeed retiring Gov. Tony Evers, POLITICO's Elena Schneider reports. … Rep. Ralph Norman is entering the race for South Carolina governor and will file his candidacy papers today, AP's Meg Kinnard reports, joining a crowded GOP field. … Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins will launch his Senate bid early next week, thwarting Gov. Brian Kemp's wishes in doing so, Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Alex Miller scooped. … And in North Carolina, ahead of former Gov. Roy Cooper's formal announcement next week that he'll run for U.S. Senate, Democrats already in the race are starting to explore other options, Semafor's Eleanor Mueller and Burgess Everett scoop.
The GOP megalaw hits the trail: The Ways and Means Committee is in Nevada touting the passage of 'no tax on tips' — though the megalaw's provision on the matter is quite a bit more complicated than that slogan suggests — with Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) telling predicting Punchbowl's Laura Weiss that the provision will prove popular with voters next year, despite some negative polling. Meanwhile, the GOP is split over how to handle the Obamacare tax credits that expire at the end of the year, as NBC's Sahil Kapur reports.
From the wilderness: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is meeting with California and Texas lawmakers today as he mulls a mid-cycle redistricting plan, per FOX L.A.'s Elex Michaelson.
A chronically online read: 'Are the Democrats Getting Better at the Internet?,' by the New Yorker's Jon Allsop
4. THE ECONOMY, STUPID: Trump said this morning that Fed Chair Jerome Powell is a 'very good man' and praised their meeting yesterday. He signaled the Fed may soon cut interest rates, though it is largely expected to extend the current rates at their meeting next week, Reuters' Steve Holland and Nandita Bose report. That's likely to anger Trump, but Powell is singing a song of resistance, telling associates that there's no chance he resigns, CNN's Adam Cancryn writes.
Let's make a deal: The White House is in the process of sending out more letters to foreign trading partners, Trump said this morning. He suggested there's a 'a 50-50 chance, maybe less than that,' that the U.S. makes a deal with the European Union ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, POLITICO's Doug Palmer reports. (He'll meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday to talk trade.) Trump gives Canada even steeper odds: 'I think Canada could be one where they'll just pay tariffs, not really a negotiation,' Trump said. Meanwhile, he said that the U.S. and China have the 'confines of a deal,' but didn't elaborate. More from Bloomberg's Akayla Gardner
5. IMMIGRATION FILES: This morning, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the new immigration detention facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz' and announced that deportation flights from the Everglades center have begun, per the AP. About 100 immigrants have left the country, with DeSantis previewing that 'you're going to see the numbers go up dramatically.' A look inside the facility from CNN's Priscilla Alvarez
The growing crackdown: ICE is using part of its newly appropriated billions to rapidly increase their ranks with the aim of hitting Trump's goal of 10,000 new ICE agents. But in the recruitment rush, standards for who joins are likely to drop, the Bulwark's Adrian Carrasquillo reports.
The economic fallout: A Penn Wharton Budget Model analysis shows the administration's immigration crackdown will 'shrink most worker paychecks, erode gross domestic product (GDP) and spike the already-massive federal government budget deficit,' CNN's Matt Egan scooped.
Big read: 'His Former Company Got Caught Employing Undocumented Workers. Now He's Profiting Off an Immigrant Detention Camp,' by ProPublica's Avi Asher-Schapiro and Jeff Ernsthausen
6. SCHOOL TIES: Columbia University's choice to settle with the Trump administration took acting university president Claire Shipman back and forth from New York to Washington as she negotiated with Education Secretary Linda McMahon before acceding to the White House's position that the school had an antisemitism problem, NYT's Sharon Otterman reports in a timeline of the negotiations.
The new blueprint: Now, the White House is turning its attention to levying fines against other universities that haven't played their negotiations the same way as Columbia, WSJ's Natalie Andrews and colleagues scooped. The administration is in talks with Cornell, Duke, Northwestern and Brown, but the big fish they're still hoping to catch is Harvard, with 'a deal that would make Columbia's $200 million payment look like peanuts.'
Bleeding crimson: 'The quiet academic leading Harvard's fight against Trump,' by WaPo's Joanna Slater and Susan Svrluga
7. COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: Roughly one-third of Americans have 'hardly any confidence at all' in the Supreme Court, according to the latest AP-NORC poll — an improvement from three years ago after the Dobbs decision, when lack of confidence was at 43 percent. But there's growing concerns of another kind, with four in 10 U.S. adults saying the court has 'too much' power.
Another opinion to watch: Lower courts are getting frustrated at the amount of unsigned emergency SCOTUS rulings — from so-called 'shadow docket cases' — with massive implications on the law. 'You're reading an abbreviated opinion from the Supreme Court like it's a Rosetta Stone,' one lower court judge told Bloomberg's Zoe Tillman.
8. CUTTING DEEP: ''A more vulnerable nation': FEMA memos lay out risks of plan to cut $1B in disaster and security grants,' by CNN's Gabe Cohen: 'The Federal Emergency Management Agency has proposed cutting nearly $1 billion in grant funding for communities and first responders nationwide to better prepare for disasters and to bolster security for possible terror or cyberattacks. … The loss of one program that helps communities plan and train for disasters would 'leave state and local governments more vulnerable to catastrophic incidents,' one memo states. Ending another that bolsters transportation infrastructure and terrorism protections would 'contradict the administration's commitment to a safer and more secure country,' the memo says.'
TALK OF THE TOWN
STAY INDOORS: Massive heat advisory today in the district. It'll feel like 105-109 degrees outside, per Capital Weather Gang. Prepare for a scorching weekend, too.
Donald Trump, asked about the new 'South Park' episode mocking him, said today that 'I never watch South Park. I don't know anything about South Park.'
SPOTTED: former Trump national security adviser Robert O'Brien leaving the St. Regis yesterday.
MEDIA MOVES — David Andelman is now president of The Deadline Club, the largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
OUT AND ABOUT — at Washingtonian's 'Best Of Washington' party last night at the National Building Museum. SPOTTED: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Todd Newman, Kevin Keane, Hamad Al Muftah, Michael Kennedy, Theresa Fariello, Christina Sevilla, Yemeni Amb. Abdulwahab Alhajjri, Robert Costa, Yamiche Alcinder, Josh Dawsey, Cathy Merrill, Anna Palmer, Meredith McGraw, Heather Podesta, Gary Shapiro, Aileen Fuchs, Kathleen Biden Buhle, Carl Hulse, Fred Humphries, Daniel Heider, Franklin Davis and Anthea Hartig.
— SMI hosted its summer reception yesterday at The Salt Line. SPOTTED: Bill McCann, Molly Carpenter, Steph Penn, Sean Duggan, Kevin Lefeber, Phil Breuder, Bo Peard, Blake Souter, Nathan Flagg, Ryan Pettit, Jaylene Kennedy, JJ Villalvazo, Jesse Von Stein, Katie Sutton, Celia Morté and Bryan Maxwell.
— North Star Policy Initiative had their launch event yesterday at Engage Foundation's DC offices. SPOTTED: Madinah Wilson-Anton, Mohsin Syed, Brenda Abdelall, Wa'el Alzayat, Andrew Miller, Maher Bitar, Adham Sahloul, Mohamed Elsanousi, Habiba Ahmed, Omer Rafiq, Mohammed Soliman, Daniel Schneiderman, Iman Awad, Haris Tarin, Yousra Fazili, Laura Kupe, Diana Rayes, Jafer Ahmed, Fritz Lodge, Christopher Shell, Deema Homsi, Anas Alqaed, Akbar Shahid Ahmed, Adam Koussih, Caroline Rose, Adina Vogel Ayalon, Nezar Jamal, Simone Williams, Lalitha Adury, Ameer Alsamman, Sam Green and Minna Jaffery-Lindemulder.
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