The audacity of pope

Politico

09-05-2025

Presented by The American Council of Life Insurers
With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
Good morning. It's Friday. This is Zack Stanton, thrilled that the new pope likely also calls it 'pop' rather than 'soda.' Get in touch.
YOUR MORNING LISTEN: Bret Baier is having a moment. The anchor of Fox News' 'Special Report' hosts the rare TV news show whose influence is exploding. In recent months, he has interviewed top Trump administration officials — including Elon Musk, Scott Bessent and JD Vance — as well as foreign leaders who want to make their case to his massive right-of-center audience. For today's episode of 'Playbook Deep Dive,' Baier sat down with POLITICO's Dasha Burns to talk about his unique position in Trump's Washington. A few highlights:
On whether Trump played a role in the loss of trust in the media: 'Of course, yeah, he kind of broke the system, and maybe that was part of his MO, what he wanted to do. But middle America didn't trust what they were getting from a lot of media.'
On whether Eric and Donald Trump Jr. should get scrutinized like Hunter Biden did: 'One-hundred percent. And if you're going to play it one way, you've got to play it another way. And you've gotta cover all of those things. I think there are real questions about how that works, what access looks like.'
Much more in the full episode: Apple Podcasts … Spotify … YouTube
DRIVING THE DAY
THE AUDACITY OF POPE: It takes a lot to bigfoot a news cycle that Donald Trump has set out to dominate. But that's precisely what happened yesterday, as the president's hopes to get as much coverage as possible around his nascent trade deal with the UK (more on that in a moment) went up in smoke — literally: white smoke billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, heralding the election of a new pope.
Red, white smoke and blue: That alone would be enough to merit the world's attention. Then came the announcement that landed like a haymaker: This pope is an American. Instantly, Robert Francis Prevost — henceforth known as Pope Leo XIV — became a subject of immense fascination, with Catholics around the country rallying to lay claim to him. Chicagoans rejoiced in the selection of one of their own, sparking endless memes and a brief debate over whether his loyalties were to the Cubs or White Sox (the latter, per the Sun-Times). He has Black Creole lineage, as the New Orleans Times-Picayune proudly reported. He attended Villanova ('Can he stream Big East games in Vatican City?' asked a subhead in the Philly Inquirer). On and on it went.
America's first vs. America First: And, just as quickly, the conversation turned to politics. This being an American pope, his record — and, especially, his purported account on X, whose authenticity POLITICO has not been able to independently verify — was plumbed for signs of his political beliefs. He tweeted a National Catholic Reporter op-ed swiping at Vice President JD Vance, reposted a criticism of Trump's Oval Office meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and urged action on climate change. He's an Illinois voter who has cast ballots in several Republican primaries over the last 15 years, all before Trump's first presidency. Far-right activist (and informal Trump adviser) Laura Loomer has labeled him a 'Marxist.' Steve Bannon has already declared him the 'anti-Trump pope' and 'worst pick for MAGA Catholics.'
The sacred and the profane: There are two realities worth acknowledging here.
First … The views of this pope (or any pope) do not map neatly on America's two-party system divide. Believe it or not, the fluctuations of electoral politics are not the top of mind for the pontiff, who is entrusted to lead an institution that has been around nearly eight times longer than the U.S. has existed. ('The keys entrusted to the successor of Peter are his for only a speck in time, and as steward, the pope is not answerable to the here and now,' as Pope Benedict XVI said.)
Second … And yet, because Leo is American, his selection and his papacy cannot help but be seen as political, both in the U.S. and around the world. That's an opportunity as well as a potential liability.
The opportunity: 'Leo's American citizenship is likely to give him a certain cache with the president — and, should he so choose, the authority to offer critiques from a worldview that the Argentine Francis lacked,' POLITICO's Megan Messerly, Rachael Bade and Eli Stokols write.
The liability: 'The elevation of Leo also comes at an pivotal moment for the Catholic Church, whose leadership is drifting leftward even as people in the U.S. who regularly attend Mass have been drifting to the right,' Megan, Rachael and Eli write. 'Recent years have seen an increasing embrace of traditional Catholicism … who prefer traditional Latin mass and reject what they perceived as a movement toward modernism in the Church.' Would it risk alienating parts of his flock if he's seen as too political?
And yet: With the exception of the most terminally online among us who are determined to see Leo as a partisan leader rather than, say, primarily a moral one, the prevailing mood about the new papacy among the nation's Catholics is, at least for the moment, ebullience. 'Onward into history,' WSJ's Peggy Noonan marvelled in a brisk, joyful piece about the selection. 'One of our countrymen has been raised high, a Midwestern boy, a Chicago kid raised to the throne of Peter. Did you ever think you'd see a Yank there? Really?'
THE STORY HE UPSTAGED: In the Oval Office yesterday, Trump had U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on speakerphone to unveil not so much a trade deal as a framework for one. POLITICO's Megan Messerly and team have the readout on the agreement — and on the long road ahead as the U.S. tries to seal literally dozens of bilateral trade deals with other nations over the next few months.
What to know: Under the agreement, all imports from the U.K. will be subject to a 10 percent tariff. Britain will be allowed to export 100,000 cars to the U.S. at that rate, rather than the current 25 percent tariff on autos. The tariff on British steel will be zeroed out. In exchange, the U.K. will drop 'its tariffs on U.S. beef, ethanol, sports equipment and other products, and [buy] $10 billion of Boeing airplanes,' per NYT's Ana Swanson and Jonathan Swan.
New poll: 'There's a fundamental challenge facing the nascent trade deal the United States and United Kingdom just unveiled: neither country trusts the man behind it,' POLITICO's Daniel Desrochers writes this morning. 'A wide majority of American and British adults support their governments reaching a deal, according to a POLITICO-Public First poll conducted last month, but less than one-third of respondents in the U.K. and 44 percent of Americans said they believed Trump would abide by it.'
How we got here: A team of my colleagues in the U.K. has a vivid read on how Britain got to the 'front of the queue' in the trade talks. (Hint: It involved 'a months-long buttering-up of the president,' culminating in an unscheduled Wednesday-night phone call by Trump to Starmer.)
And as such … there are real questions about how replicable the U.K. model is. The deal 'was limited in scope and included niche issues regarding the U.K., meaning it didn't offer other nations a clear road map to follow,' WSJ's Alex Leary, Lingling Wei and Paul Vieira report. 'Many other deals weren't seen as likely to come together so easily. The U.K. was low-hanging fruit, given the U.S. enjoys a goods trade surplus with the country, unlike with China.'
Speaking of … This weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will travel to Switzerland to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in an attempt to de-escalate tensions between the two global powers. (Unlike with the UK, in these talks, 'Trump's negotiating position will be the weaker one,' Michael Schuman writes in The Atlantic.) Stay tuned.
CONGRESS
A TAXING SITUATION: Today, House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) will head to the White House to meet with President Trump as the tax portion of the GOP megabill is at risk of unraveling, POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill and Benjamin Guggenheim scooped.
The big news: Behind closed doors, Speaker Mike Johnson announced yesterday that he's scaling down his ambitions for the package, as Meredith and Benjamin reported. He'll be seeking $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and $4 trillion in tax cuts — down from $2 trillion and $4.5 trillion, respectively.
Problem incoming: At this new size, it will 'present a huge challenge to House Republicans and their ability to include all of their priorities — not to mention the priorities of President Donald Trump,' my colleagues write.
What's getting cut? A whole lot, by the sound of it. 'On the chopping block could be a litany of Trump demands, including a permanent extension of the tax cuts passed during his first term, as well as second-term campaign promises to provide tax relief to seniors while also exempting taxes on tips and overtime earnings,' POLITICO's Ben Leonard, Benjamin and Meredith write this morning. 'Those provisions could end up getting enacted only temporarily, according to four Republican lawmakers, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.'
A curveball: Yesterday, Trump put higher taxes for the super-wealthy back on the table, proposing a new 39.6 percent tax bracket on individuals who make at least $2.5 million a year (or couples who pull in $5 million annually), Bloomberg's Eric Wasson reports. If enacted, that could give Republicans 'more wiggle room to make Trump's 2017 tax cuts for households permanent and enact some of his campaign pledges.' But voting to raise anyone's taxes may be a tough pill for Republicans to swallow.
Trying to get votes: Johnson said yesterday that he's considering raising the state and local tax deduction cap from $10,000 to $30,000 in an effort to get blue-state Republicans in swing districts on board, Bloomberg's Billy House, Emily Birnbaum and Erik Wasson write.
But not succeeding: Four New York Republicans dismis65sed Johnson's proposal as woefully insufficient, NBC's Sahil Kapur reports. (Among them, notably, is Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is thought to be considering a bid for governor.)
Risking a revolt: 'Conservative Ralph Norman [(R-S.C.)] said that if moderates get a $30,000 SALT cap then they need to agree to even deeper spending cuts such as to Medicaid,' Bloomberg notes. And that, in turn, is likely to alienate even more moderates.
Follow the latest today at Inside Congress Live
THE MAGA REVOLUTION
IN AND OUT: The series of high-profile Trump administration shake-ups continues, as the president last night fired Carla Hayden from the apolitical role of librarian of Congress, per POLITICO's Nick Wu, Lisa Kashinsky and Katherine Tully-McManus. Conservatives had targeted her to be purged for promoting books they disliked.
The Fox News presidency: Trump also selected Jeanine Pirro as the acting U.S. attorney for D.C., ABC's Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin report. The Fox News host, a former DA who pushed false claims about the 2020 election on TV, will replace lightning rod Ed Martin, whose nomination couldn't get through the Senate. But Martin got a plum new perch at the Justice Department as director of a 'weaponization working group,' associate deputy AG and pardon attorney.
Another name to know: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is tapping David Richardson to take over FEMA on an interim basis after she canned acting leader Cameron Hamilton, WSJ's Michelle Hackman and Tarini Parti report.
BILL OF HEALTH: Another of Trump's new replacement choices, Casey Means for surgeon general, is facing more scrutiny over her record. The L.A. Times' Jenny Jarvie reports that Means dropped out of her surgical residency due to anxiety and stress. … After HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised Means' non-traditional background and said she was top of her class at Stanford, CNN's Daniel Dale fact-checked that Stanford doesn't rank its med students.
Up next: Trump's major announcement coming Monday, which he previously teased as 'truly earth-shattering,' will be a 'most favored nation' drug-pricing policy, CBS' Jennifer Jacobs and Alexander Tin report.
LAW AND ORDERS: A new federal investigation is examining New York AG Letitia James and allegations of falsifying paperwork, per the Guardian's Hugo Lowell. James' lawyer says she made a simple mistake and that Trump is targeting her out of retaliation.
MORE SLASHING: NOAA is shuttering a 45-year-old major disaster database, which 'will make it next to impossible for the public to track the cost of extreme weather and climate events' in the future, CNN's Andrew Freedman scooped. … The National Science Foundation's 37 divisions are being closed, with layoffs coming, Science's Jeffrey Mervis scooped.
E-RING READING: After getting the Supreme Court's green light, the Pentagon will begin to boot thousands of transgender service members from the military next month, Reuters' Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali scooped. … Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's campaign to erase curricula that acknowledge negative aspects of U.S. history has upended classes at West Point, leading to canceled courses, purged books and scrubbed lessons, per NYT's Greg Jaffe.
BEST OF THE REST
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Tough news cycle for Fetterman: An internal survey shows that a plurality of Democratic voters in Pittsburgh now view Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) unfavorably, POLITICO's Holly Otterbein reports. Other public polls have shown Fetterman much stronger with Pennsylvania Dems, but this one 'has shocked some Democrats in the state.'
2026 WATCH: Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) officially jumped into the race to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein. He quickly sought to frame himself as a staunch Trump ally. But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp plans to meet with Trump to align on the best candidate for the race — possibly Reps. Mike Collins or Brian Jack, or Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Axios' Marc Caputo and Alex Isenstadt scooped.
Race for the states: Ohio Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel is new to his role, but he's already weighing a gubernatorial bid, he told NBC's Henry Gomez. … Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) says his decision about running for governor will come down to whether he thinks he can win the general election, not pressure from Trump, POLITICO's Emily Ngo reports.
HEADING TO SCOTUS: The fates of more than half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans are now in the hands of the Supreme Court, after the Trump administration appealed to the justices to be allowed to revoke their humanitarian parole en masse, per NBC.
REDISTRICTING ROUNDUP: A federal court yesterday said Alabama's 2023 congressional map illegally, purposefully limited Black voters' political power, per AL.com's Heather Gann. That could keep the current, court-ordered redraw in place, which allowed Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures to flip a seat last year.
THE WEEKEND AHEAD
TV TONIGHT — PBS' 'Washington Week': Susan Glasser, Asma Khalid, David Sanger and Nancy Youssef.
SUNDAY SO FAR …
NBC 'Meet the Press': Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy … Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Matt Gorman, Sahil Kapur, Carol Lee and Neera Tanden.
MSNBC 'The Weekend': Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear … Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka.
Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) … Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) … Maria Corina Machado … Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano.
NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). Panel: Tamara Keith, Megan McArdle, Margaret Talev and Ian Swanson.
FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Panel: Francesca Chambers, Josh Kraushaar, Marc Thiessen and Juan Williams.
CBS 'Face the Nation': New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
CNN 'State of the Union': Chris Sununu and Rahm Emanuel. Panel: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Brad Todd, Xochitl Hinojosa and Kristen Soltis Anderson.
TALK OF THE TOWN
Donald Norcross is now back home after rehab, his office announced.
Bill Gates slammed the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, singling out Elon Musk's role. 'The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one,' he told the Financial Times.
Ivanka Trump made her first big appearance since her father returned to office, promoting her produce company Planet Harvest.
Curtis Yarvin, whose once-fringe anti-government writing helped shape the New Right and many MAGA ideas, compared DOGE to incels and 'an orchestra of chimpanzees trying to perform Wagner.'
Melania Trump celebrated Barbara Bush with a new postage stamp.
IN MEMORIAM — 'Kenneth Walker Dies at 73; His Journalism Bared Apartheid's Brutality,' by NYT's Sam Roberts: He was 'an Emmy Award-winning journalist whose reporting for the ABC News program 'Nightline' helped bring the brutality of South Africa's racist apartheid system to the attention of the American public, propelling it onto the agenda of U.S. policymakers … Mr. Walker was a reporter for The Washington Star … for 'Nightline' … and for NPR.'
— 'Joseph Nye, Political Scientist Who Extolled 'Soft Power,' Dies at 88,' by NYT's Trip Gabriel: 'He coined the term, arguing that a country's global influence can't be built on military might alone. Diplomats around the world paid heed. … Sometimes considered the dean of American political science, Mr. Nye led the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and held senior jobs in the Carter and Clinton administrations.'
OUT AND ABOUT — Axel Springer's Mathias Döpfner was honored by The America Abroad Media awards held last night at the Fairmont hotel. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) introduced Döpfner, calling him a 'uniquely authentic truth-teller.' Other honorees included Ziad Doueiri, Iran International's Samira Gharae, Gelareh Hon, Marzia Hussaini and Mehdi Parpanchi, and Moira Forbes.
SPOTTED: James Jeffrey, Ed and Marie Royce, Jason and Yeganeh Rezaian, Jan Bayer, Robert Albritton, Chris and Jennifer Isham, Anita Kumar, Zak Hudak, Elliot Ackerman, Aaron Lobel, French Ambassador Laurent Bili, Danita Johnson, Morgan Ortagus, Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Esin Erkan, Jim Jeffrey, Joel Rayburn, Sara Bloomfield, Brett Ratner, Antoun Sehnaoui, Egyptian Ambassador Motaz Zahran, Azerbaijani Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Sherry Phillips, Elliot and Lea Ackerman, Sofia and Michael Haft, and Karim Sadjadpour.
— The Daily Wire hosted a happy hour at Butterworth's last night, after announcing a new D.C. office and greater presence in the city. SPOTTED: Sonny Nelson, Kaelan Dorr, Brock Belcher, Brent Scher, Raheem Kassam, Russell Dye, Ryan Tillman, Matt Foldi, Michael Abboud, Maggie Abboud, Corinne Day, Mary Margaret Olohan, Shelby Talcott, Dave Hookstead, Bradley Bishop, Caleb Robinson, Greg Price, Bryn Jeffers, Josh Christenson, Gabe Kaminsky, Tim Rice, Roma Daravi, CJ Pearson, Bradley Jaye, Taylor Rogers, Kieghan Nangle, Olivia Wales and Terry Schilling.
— EMILYs List held its annual national gala in D.C. on Wednesday night, marking its 40th anniversary. SPOTTED: Deb Haaland, Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Laphonza Butler, Barbara Mikulski, Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Mich.), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.), Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Gabby Giffords, Donna Edwards, Ellen Malcolm, Stephanie Schriock and Jessica Mackler.
— Trust for the National Mall hosted its annual 'America's Ball For The Mall: The Road to 250' on Wednesday in a tent on the Mall, where it launched the 'Our Monumental Moment' campaign to raise $250 million in honor of America's 250th anniversary. The black-tie gala honored Commanders owner Josh Harris and America250 Chair Rosie Rios with the Trust's History, Heroes & Hope Awards, hosted by emcee Pamela Brown and co-chairs Georgette 'Gigi' Dixon, Stacy Kerr and CR Wooters, and Katie and Robby Zirkelbach. SPOTTED: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Yamada, Larry Hogan, Wolf Blitzer, David Rubenstein, Ted Decker, Mark Clouse, Chip and Sally Akridge, Catherine Townsend, Bruce Broussard, Kellyanne Conway, Renee Fleming and Mark Ein.
— SPOTTED at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute Gala on Wednesday evening, which honored Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Dominican President Luis Abinader: Mary Ann Gomez Orta, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Jose Mallea, Daniel Garza and Daniel Diaz-Balart.
— SPOTTED at a party for Graydon Carter's new book, 'When the Going Was Good' ($32), hosted by Keith McNally at Lucy Mercer at Minetta Tavern on Wednesday night: Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), Richard E. Grant, Antonia Hitchens, Kaitlan Collins, Phil Rucker, Kara Swisher and Amanda Katz, Robert Costa, Brooke Singman, Chris Isham, Shawn McCreesh, Maureen Dowd, Isabel Gouveia and Mana Afsari.
MEDIA MOVE — Gemma Fox is joining Time as editorial director of news. She previously was deputy U.S. editor at The Times of London. The announcement
TRANSITIONS — Evan Meyers and Tessa Berner are joining the Ingram Group as members. Meyers previously was deputy executive counsel for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Berner previously was director of finance data at the RNC. … Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria is now a senior adviser in Kuala Lumpur at The Asia Group. She previously was executive director of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. … K&L Gates has added Marne Marotta and David Skillman as partners in its public policy and law practice. They previously were at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, and are Hill alums. …
… Robert Blair is joining WestExec Advisors as a principal. He most recently led U.S. government affairs at Microsoft focused on national security and emerging technology issues, and is a Trump Commerce and White House alum. … Alan Estevez is now a senior adviser at Covington & Burling. He previously was undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security. … Riley Cagle is joining the Consumer Brands Association as manager of product policy. He previously managed the grassroots advocacy program and state advocacy teams at the American Industrial Hygiene Association.
WEDDINGS — Andrew Smith, who recently started as health policy adviser for Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), and Anna Newton, a professional staff member for the Senate Appropriations Committee, got married in Leesburg, Virginia, on April 12. Pic
— Joseph Richardson Sprott, social media manager at the Truth Initiative, and Claire S. Gould, digital director of Al Gore's The Climate Reality Project, got married recently at Nina May. Pic, via Sam Hurd … Another pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT's Ezra Klein … Fox News' Dana Perino and Garrett Tenney … John McEntee … Justin Miller … Joel Kaplan … Parker Poling … Dhara Nayyar … NBC's Peter Nicholas … Third Way's Jon Cowan … Mark Leibovich … Taylor Andreae … POLITICO's Victoria Guida, Chris ReShore, Madi Alexander and James Romoser … Fabion Seaton … Ashley Schapitl … David Perera … Chris Ullman of Ullman Communications … Lauren Decot … Jason Linde … David Gergen … former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt … John Ashcroft … Kent Knutson … former Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) … Krystal Knight … Nihal Krishan … Theo LeCompte … Jonah Wendt … BGR Group's Anna Reese Couhig … Will Judson of Rep. Nathaniel Moran's (R-Texas) office … Stu Sandler
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Correction: Yesterday's Playbook misgendered Toby Douthat. She is a woman.