Playbook PM: Trump floats ‘severe' consequences if Putin meeting goes sideways

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THE CATCH-UP
TRUMP AND THE WORLD: President Donald Trump spoke with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning in an hourslong virtual meeting ahead of Trump's much-anticipated summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Though the White House has tempered expectations leading up to the confab, at stake is a potential ceasefire deal that could end the over three-year war in Ukraine.
WHAT TRUMP IS SAYING: Speaking at the Kennedy Center, Trump said the meeting with leaders this morning was a 'very good call' that he rated a 10. He also said his plan has always been to speak with both Putin and Zelenskyy, and that he would call Zelenskyy after the summit on Friday.
WHAT ZELENSKYY IS SAYING: 'Putin is bluffing,' the Ukrainian leader said in Berlin, where he traveled for the meeting. 'He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska on all directions of the Ukrainian front.' He doubled down on his call for sanctions, saying Putin is acting 'as if sanctions are not important to him and that they are not working. In fact, sanctions are very helpful and are hitting the Russian military economy.'
WHAT PUTIN IS SAYING: Russia said today that its demands haven't changed. The Kremlin still wants all Ukrainian forces out of the key territories they've occupied and for Ukraine to abandon its bid to join NATO, Reuters' Dmitry Antonov reports. Russia currently has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine, including all of Crimea — a longstanding disputed territory.
What Putin wants from Trump: Though a ceasefire is 'squarely on the agenda,' the meeting will 'venture further than that,' The Economist scoops this morning. 'One potential area is a deeper normalisation of diplomatic and business relations between America and Russia, including a lifting of sanctions. Mr Putin yearns for this kind of rehabilitation. Another is co-operation in the Arctic, for example over energy, resurrecting discussions that reportedly took place in February, with Russian officials keen to woo American business. What offers Russia might make for peace in Ukraine are less obvious.'
WHAT EUROPE IS SAYING: There's about five things European leaders pushed this morning, POLITICO's Nette Nöstlinger and Veronika Melkozerova write. Foremost, they want Ukraine to have a seat at the table and for a ceasefire to be put in place before the real negotiations start. Ukraine will only start negotiations at the 'contact line' between both countries (not the territory further inland that Russia currently claims). They want security guarantees. And there needs to be a crackdown on Putin if things don't improve after the Friday summit.
Other world leaders chime in: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said it was a 'great call' and that the 'ball is now in Putin's court.' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen dubbed it a 'very good call' and said Europe, the U.S. and NATO will 'remain in close coordination.'
A step back: This morning's call was pressure-packed for European leaders, who've been wary of the idea for a potential 'land swap' that might carve up Ukrainian territory and reward Russia for the war it started, WaPo's Ellen Francis reports. Trump has tempered expectations for what might come out of the summit, his administration calling it a 'listening exercise.' But many in Europe — none more than Zelenskyy — want to make sure that 'listening exercise' doesn't end with Trump agreeing with Putin's push to get more land.
But it seems everyone's on the same page — for now. That's the message German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron signaled after the meeting. Trump 'largely shares' Europe's priorities, 'and that is why I can say that we had a really constructive and good conversation,' Merz said, flanked by Zelenskyy. Macron told reporters that Trump agreed that Ukraine must be involved in territorial discussions to end the war, and that Trump was 'very clear' that he wants to get a ceasefire in Alaska. More from our POLTICO colleagues in Europe
Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Send me your thoughts and scoops at [e-mail].
8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. THE NATIONAL GUARD TAKES D.C.: Trump told reporters while speaking at the Kennedy Center that he intends to request an extension to federalize the D.C. police force beyond 30 days, WaPo's Maegan Vazquez reports. 'We're going to be asking for extensions on that — long-term extensions, because you can't have 30 days,' Trump said. The latest: There were 43 arrests overnight in D.C. — twice the amount from Monday night — as the federal policing of the district is now well underway, per CBS' Kathryn Watson. Around 30 National Guard officers were patrolling the district last night — that number is set to climb tonight, according to the White House.
In the background: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s self-proclaimed 'warrior on the Hill,' is not a public face in the fight against the district's federalization and has been largely absent from interacting with the media, POLITICO's Nick Wu reports. 'Norton's back-seat response to the most serious federal threat to the city's government in 30 years is out of step with her one-time reputation as a fierce defender of local prerogatives in the face of meddling by federal authorities. … Behind the scenes, Norton has been involved in marshalling a response to Trump's actions beyond her Monday statement.'
Somewhere in the middle: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is walking a fine line on criticizing the Trump administration's plans. 'Even the shocking takeover, it seems, hasn't changed Bowser's conciliatory approach to the president,' POLITICO's Michael Schaffer writes in his latest Capital City column.
2. NEWS FROM THE KENNEDY CENTER: Trump visited the famed performing arts center in D.C. this morning to announce this year's honorees and that he will be hosting the 48th Kennedy Center Honors ceremony himself, which no president has ever done, WaPo's Travis Andrews writes. The honorees are: metal band 'Kiss', Broadway star Michael Crawford, country music legend George Strait, actor Sylvester Stallone and singer Gloria Gaynor. More from WaPo
Tied together: It's notable to remember Trump named himself chair of the Kennedy Center's board earlier this year, and has tied his takeover of the Washington institution to his larger beautification project for D.C., NYT's Katie Rogers reports. Trump touched on this during the ceremony and said he would rid the district of crime and that 'we're going to redo the grass with the finest grasses.'
3. THE CRISIS IN GAZA: Israel has been hammering Gaza City with another 123 people reported dead in the last day, per Reuters. And 25 people were killed while seeking aid today, per AP. As the deadly war nears almost two years, not a single person has been charged or prosecuted by Israel for the Oct. 7 attack, even as several hundred Palestinians have been detained for suspicion of involvement and thousands of other Palestinians are being held for alleged connections to Hamas, NYT's Johnatan Reiss reports.
How it's playing: The DNC will weigh two different resolutions on the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip at its meeting this month, Semafor's Burgess Everett scooped. Votes will be held on whether to back a ceasefire and a return of hostages held by Hamas and on the resolution recommending 'suspension of military aid to Israel' and support for recognizing a Palestinian state.
4. FED UP: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is homing in on the Federal Reserve, calling for a 50 basis-point rate cut in September, Bloomberg's Daniel Flatley and colleagues scooped. Bessent said on Bloomberg TV that the Fed could go into a 'series of rate cuts' and said the Fed's benchmark should be lowered by at least 1.5 percentage points. He added there's a 'big list' of 10 or 11 potential names being floated to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell next May.
5. MAGA IN POWER: 'Leaving a top Trump administration post? The president may have an ambassadorship for you,' by AP's Will Weissart and Michelle Price: 'The new appointments can be viewed as consolation prizes for leaving a high-profile post in the Trump administration following rocky tenures. But they also reflect the degree to which Trump is trying to keep his loyalists close, even if their earlier placements in the administration were ill-fitting. During his first White House tenure, Trump was new to politics, made many staffing picks based on others' recommendations and saw heavy staff turnover. Trump has stocked his second administration with proven boosters, which has meant fewer high-profile departures.'
6. TECH CORNER: GE Appliances is set to invest $3 billion to build out its factories in the U.S. over the next five years to swerve Trump's tariffs, WSJ's John Keilman reports. The new factories in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama will make refrigerators, water heaters and more and will spur 1,000 new jobs, according to the company. Not just GE: Some tech startups are also turning their focus back toward the U.S., boosting their hiring plans to take advantage of the tax deduction on domestic spending on research and development from Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, WSJ's Meg Tanaka and Theo Francis write.
Chip on your shoulder: The U.S. has secretly placed location trackers in shipments of advanced chips believed to be at risk of diversion to China, Reuters' Fanny Potkin and colleagues scooped. It could also serve to 'build cases against people and companies who profit from violating U.S. export controls.' Plus: Bessent told Bloomberg TV that the revenue-sharing agreement with Nvidia and AMD could be a model applied to other industries over time, per FT's Myles McCormick. It all comes as Trump has cast himself as the central decision-maker of the global semiconductor industry, as NYT's Tripp Mickle writes this morning.
7. ON DEFENSE: 'How the unraveling of two Pentagon projects may result in a costly do-over,' by Reuters' Alexandra Alper: 'Trump's Navy and Air Force are poised to cancel two nearly complete software projects that took 12 years and well over $800 million combined to develop … The reason for the unusual move: officials at those departments, who have so far put the existing projects on hold, want other firms, including Salesforce and billionaire Peter Thiel's Palantir, to have a chance to win similar projects, which could amount to a costly do-over … Trump officials say the administration is striving to make the contracting process more efficient.'
8. CUTTING DEEP: A U.S. appeals court ruled today that the Trump administration can move forward with axing billions of dollars in foreign assistance funding, Bloomberg's Zoe Tillman reports. It reversed a lower court's decision that said the government had to pay out the money as appropriated by Congress for this year. 'The ruling is a significant win for President Donald Trump's efforts to dissolve the US Agency for International Development and broadly withhold funding from programs that have fallen out of favor with his administration, regardless of how Congress exercised its authority over spending.'
TALK OF THE TOWN
Mike Lee is writing a new book called 'The Uniparty', set to release next February.
THE PODCASTING ERA — Kyle Tharp in his Chaotic Era newsletter put together a review of the estimated monthly downloads of prominent politicians' podcasts. The highs: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is leading the pack by a wide margin with nearly 1.5 million downloads per month. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's podcast is next with just over 442,000 downloads, followed by Rep. Dan Crenshaw's (R-Texas) show at over 366,000. The lows: All the other shows on the list slot in with low numbers, with Sen. Marsha Blackburn's (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Troy Carter's (D-La.) podcasts at the bottom.
MEDIA MOVES — Katie Roof is joining The Information as deputy bureau chief of the venture capital section. She previously was a reporter covering venture capital for Bloomberg.
TRANSITIONS — David Frash is now director of state and local government affairs at Anduril. He previously was the director for state & local government external affairs at NetJets. … Elizabeth Price Foley is now a partner at Holtzman Vogel. She previously practiced law at Cooper & Kirk, and is a founding member of Florida International University's College of Law. … Anastasia Dellaccio is joining The Digital Chamber as executive director of state and regional affairs. She previously was SVP for external affairs and engagement at the Export-Import Bank of the U.S.
WEEKEND WEDDING — Antonia Pogacar, national battleground and candidate fundraising director for the DCCC, and Dan Kanninen, founding partner and CEO of Arc Initiatives and a Harris campaign alum, were married on Saturday on Madeline Island in Wisconsin. Bob Jauch, a former Wisconsin state senator, officiated the ceremony. Pic, via Natasha Lamalle … SPOTTED: Jim Doyle, Julie Merz, Buffy Wicks, Jeremy Bird, Betsy Hoover, Sam Cornale, John Bisangano, Aaron Florence-Weinberg, Jonae Wartel, Mitch Stewart, Paul Tewes, Julianna Smoot, Chris Wyant, Max Lesko, Mike O'Neil, Carlos Monje, Dave Wilkinson, Brian Farnkoff, Jordan Brooks, Kristen Bautz, Victoria Black, Michael McGarty, Mitchell Dunn, Tanya Bjork and Lon Johnson.
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