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Politico
8 hours ago
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- Politico
Trump turns the screws
Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Good Tuesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, having a completely unstressful time moving the family into a new D.C. home after months in an Airbnb. Our furniture and entire worldly goods arrived from London by boat yesterday — all 167 boxes. But as the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, my actions are my only true belongings. So let's get to it. SPOTTED: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dining with White House personnel chief Sergio Gor at Cafe Milano last night, Playbook's Dasha Burns writes in. Tavolo per due: 'They talked for nearly two hours,' Dasha reports. 'Sen. Mark Warner and Art Collins came over to say hello, among others … One can only guess at what the two could have been gabbing about for so long — but you may recall both Gor and Bessent had their share of clashes with the recently departed Elon Musk. Perhaps it was a celebration dinner?' In today's Playbook … — Trump goes to work on the Senate GOP. — Iran deal on the brink after latest enrichment row. — Washington waits for the first Trump-Xi call. DRIVING THE DAY LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL: Donald Trump is turning the screws on GOP senators as he races to get the centerpiece legislation of his term into the statute books. For the second-successive day, the president has no public-facing events on his schedule — though that could change — as he focuses attention on getting the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill over the line by the self-imposed July Fourth deadline. This is quieter, grubbier work than the shock and awe tactics of Trump's first 100 days, and it shows. As Playbook noted last week, there has been less minute-by-minute drama emanating from the White House of late, with attention shifting away from the headline-grabbing purges of early-stage DOGE and the market-melting tariff warfare of 'Liberation Day' to the altogether muckier business of, well, getting things done. Phase Two: VP JD Vance told us back in April that the focus of Trump's second 100 days would be very different to the low-hanging fruit of the first — chiefly, pushing this megabill through Congress while resolving key foreign policy targets like the war in Ukraine and the Iranian nuclear program, one way or another. We're very much into that phase now. Consider Trump's Monday: A face-to-face with Majority Leader John Thune within hours of the Senate returning from its Memorial Day break. … Personal calls or meetings with key Republican holdouts, including Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). … And a barrage of stream-of-consciousness Truth Social posts — totalling more than 400 words — urging GOP colleagues to hit the July Fourth deadline, and insisting (again) that the bill includes 'NO CUTS to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.' Fact check: This last claim — hardly a new one for Trump — is the subject of a buzzy new piece by my ace POLITICO colleagues Adam Cancryn and Jake Traylor, which notes fast-shifting definitions around what the White House means by 'no cuts.' Trump, after all, has been saying for months that he will protect these very programs — and yet the BBB in its current form cuts more than $600 billion from Medicaid, and according to some estimates will see millions of people lose access to insurance. So which is it? Here's the rub: Trump is framing the $600 billion budget cut as nothing more than a long-overdue clampdown on waste, fraud and abuse, pushing undocumented immigrants off the system as well as unemployed people who fail to sign up for training or volunteering opportunities. 'Medicaid does not belong to people who are here illegally, and it does not belong to capable and able-bodied men who refuse to work,' one White House official tells POLITICO. 'So no one is getting cut.' This debate matters hugely: The 2026 midterms will be a referendum on Trump 2.0 — and Democrats want to convince voters the GOP chose to expend its trifecta powers delivering tax cuts for the wealthy while ripping health care from the poorest. But Trump believes he has a winning argument, too. GOP consultants say removing Medicaid from undocumented people and those refusing to work resonates strongly with voters who hate to see their hard-earned tax dollars frittered away. Whichever of these messages hits home hardest next year will go a long way to deciding who wins out. Reminder: These arguments are playing out within the GOP Senate conference, too. Just like House Speaker Mike Johnson before him, Thune is facing pressure from both 'Medicaid moderates' nervous about the already-planned changes and deficit hard-liners who want far bigger cuts than those proposed. As usual, any shift in one direction would risk enraging the other side … And any Senate changes to the legislation will need to be signed off by the wafer-thin GOP majority in the House. How this week pans out: Senate committees will start releasing their text portions as soon as today, per my POLITICO colleagues on Inside Congress. The uncontroversial parts will go first — we're expected to get the Armed Services panel's document today — but the real action will come later in the process, when the Finance Committee releases portions on tax and Medicaid. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told Bloomberg he expected Senate leaders to present Trump with a draft of these revisions by this weekend. While we're waiting for all that: Trump is expected to send his rescissions plan to Congress today, as my POLITICO colleagues Meredith Lee Hill and Jennifer Scholtes scooped last week. We're expecting to see $9.4 billion in DOGE cuts codified, mostly covering NPR, PBS and foreign aid. $2 trillion in savings, it certainly ain't. WAR AND PEACE GOING NUCLEAR: Trump's hotly anticipated prospective nuclear deal with Iran — seemingly on the brink of being signed several weeks ago, per hints dropped by administration officials — suddenly looks a lot less certain. Trump moved to slap down surprise reports yesterday that the U.S. proposal sent to Tehran at the weekend would allow 'limited low-level uranium enrichment on Iranian soil,' per Axios' Barak Ravid. AP swiftly confirmed the scoop, a significant compromise which would have risked enraging GOP hard-liners. Trump wades in: 'The AUTOPEN should have stopped Iran a long time ago from 'enriching,'' Trump wrote on Truth Social last night. 'Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!' It's unclear where that statement leaves the proposal sent by his envoy Steve Witkoff last weekend — and either way, the noises out of Tehran are not good. One senior Iranian official told CNN the U.S. plan was 'incoherent and disjointed,' while Reuters suggests Iran is poised to reject the deal. BREAKING OVERNIGHT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: 'Israeli Soldiers Open Fire Near Gaza Aid Site. Gaza Health Officials Say 27 Are Killed,' by NYT's Patrick Kingsley and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad ALSO NOT LOOKING GOOD: Russia and Ukrainian officials agreed last night to swap killed and captured soldiers after a brief round of talks in Istanbul — but report little progress toward ending the three-year conflict, per the AP. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Russia again refused to agree to an unconditional ceasefire. The second round of talks followed Sunday's devastating Ukrainian attack on Russian air bases, and Russia's endless barrage of drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. Officials from Ukraine have proposed a third round of talks at the end of the month. Meanwhile in Washington: The president is facing mounting pressure to impose further sanctions on the Kremlin from Senate Republicans, Semafor's Burgess Everett reports. He says several frustrated lawmakers have been 'saying recently they do not want to wait for the White House's greenlight at this point' — though Thune told reporters Trump is 'still hopeful they'll be able to strike some sort of a deal.' IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: 'The Pentagon is poised to shift its oversight of Greenland by putting it under U.S. Northern Command, a symbolic gesture that would more closely align the island territory with the U.S.,' POLITICO's Paul McLeary and Phelim Kine report. 'The switch is the most concrete step yet in the Trump administration's months-long effort to gain ownership over Greenland, an autonomous island aligned with Denmark.' THE ECONOMY, STUPID XI DRIVES ME CRAZY: Washington is still waiting for the big Trump-Xi Jinping phone call that administration officials hope will unlock stalled trade talks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is the latest official to signal that Trump is likely to talk with the Chinese president this week, per Reuters — and it's worth recalling there's been no publicly acknowledged call between the two since Jan. 17. Trump warmed up last night (and again early this morning) with a series of pro-tariff posts on social media. TACO Tuesday: It comes with China increasingly bullish about the way this trade war has panned out, noting Trump's surprising willingness to roll back tariffs so quickly after his initial flurry of attacks. Beijing yesterday hit back at Trump's latest claims about its conduct, with Beijing's Ministry of Commerce calling Trump's accusations 'baseless' and claiming the U.S. had been the party who 'severely undermined' the truce, per NYT. Man with a plan: In a highly readable new profile of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng — the man Xi has entrusted with waging war on the U.S. economy — the WSJ's Lingling Wei writes how Beijing's 'economic gatekeeper' has built an arsenal of strategic tools 'including export controls of critical materials used to make chips, cars and F-35 jets.' This, she notes, 'gives it the ability to cause the U.S. real pain.' Trump will hate every word. Coming attractions: Despite the various legal challenges to his power to even enact trade barriers without congressional support, Trump is due to double the 25 percent steel and aluminum tariffs tomorrow. The announcement was announced last Friday night and prompted domestic steel and aluminum prices to skyrocket yesterday. And as for those legal challenges: Trump won the 'appeals court lottery' last night, as my POLITICO colleague Kyle Cheney put it, after one of his appeals to a judgment challenging his tariff powers was handed to the only three Trump-appointed judges that sit on the D.C. Circuit Court. MORE ECONOMY CHAT: Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are both addressing the American Compass New World Gala in D.C. tonight. BEST OF THE REST COMING TO A WHITE HOUSE BRIEFING NEAR YOU: Murder rates are tumbling across the U.S. in 2025, Reason's Billy Binion reports (and re-ups in an X post now going viral). Homicide stats are down at least 20 percent on last year, and we could even be on course for the lowest number on record. It's an extraordinary stat which, as he says, probably deserves a little more attention. (The trend follows dramatic falls in homicide rates in 2024 and 2023 too, Binion notes, though that's less likely to be the subject of a gleeful Truth Social post any time soon.) FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Out of the wilderness — Adam Jentleson, the former chief of staff to Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and top aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, thinks he may have part of the solution to what ails Democrats: A new think tank that will 'push the Democratic Party toward the most effective, broadly popular positions regardless of which wing of the party they come from, with an eye toward 2028,' POLITICO's Elena Schneider scoops this morning. He's calling this new policy research and messaging hub 'Searchlight,' in honor of Reid's famously hardscrabble home town. What it would do: At a hush-hush meeting of top party donors and elected officials last month in upstate New York, Jentleson pitched the group as 'an institutional space where Democrats can think freely and put … ideas out into the world,' per one person directly familiar with the project. 'Voters do not break down among the perceived ideological lines that a lot of Democrats are drawn into by the interest groups,' one retreat attendee told Elena. THE VIEW FROM THE GOP: In 2024, Republicans made historic inroads with Latino voters. Now comes a warning from GOP consultant Albert Eisenberg in POLITICO Magazine: New survey numbers show that Latino support has curdled, and Republicans risk blowing their shot. 'It is tempting for Republicans to scoff at polls, but even if the topline voter approval is wrong, the significant drop in approval rating still matters,' Eisenberg writes. 'And both the polls and my conversations with would-be Hispanic Republicans in Pennsylvania show a clear drop-off. It should be a blaring alarm bell for the GOP as the 2026 midterms appear on the horizon.' COLD SHOULDER FOR CUBA: POLITICO's Eric Bazail-Eimil reports how Cuba had hoped to mend relations with the U.S. by accepting five deportation flights this year, yet 'the island nation finds itself increasingly at odds with the Trump administration.' EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: Andrew Cuomo hasn't won the New York City mayor's race yet — but he's already planning a national campaign to take on Trump. In a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO's Sally Goldenberg, the former governor and mayoral frontrunner said he plans to campaign against Trump's proposed Medicaid cuts to help Democrats in swing House districts across the country — a political strategy he says could help his party retake the House. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Virginia Del. Irene Shin is running to succeed the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) in Congress, opening with an endorsement from Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who describes Shin as a disruptor who can bring a 'different kind of politics' to Congress. In her launch video, Shin says she's running for the seat because 'this moment calls for generational change.' Watch the full video HAPPENING TODAY: South Koreans headed to the polls overnight to elect a new president after months of political upheaval. Analysts projected that Lee Jae-myung, centrist Democratic Party candidate, would beat out Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party. But, as NYT's Choe Sang-Hun reports from Seoul, whoever wins faces daunting challenges, including trying to fix a sputtering domestic economy and navigating tensions between Washington and Beijing. 'The new leader must mend ties with China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, to spur exports and economic growth. But the United States, its only military ally, is demanding that South Korea help contain China.' TALK OF THE TOWN AND THE AWARD GOES TO: The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation honored the winners of the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prizes for Distinguished Reporting in 2024 at its annual dinner last night. Annie Linskey, Davis Winkie and Noah Robertson were this year's honorees. More on the winners here MEDIA MOVES — Chelsea Cirruzzo is now a Washington correspondent at Stat, covering HHS. She previously was a health care reporter at POLITICO. … Steve Shepard will be associate director of political research at Pew Research Center. He previously was senior campaign and elections editor and chief polling analyst at POLITICO. … Jason Dean will be lead analyst for WP' Intelligence's AI and tech vertical at WaPo. He previously was global technology editor at WSJ. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Harper Polling is relaunching under the leadership of pollster/owner Brock McCleary and data strategist/managing director Mike Yelovich. McCleary previously served as a pollster for Trump's 2020 campaign and Vivek Ramaswamy's 2024 presidential effort and is an NRCC alum. Yelovich was previously polling director at Cygnal. Read the full press release — Megan Dorward is now VP of public affairs at Optimal. She previously was head of industry, government and political advertising at Snapchat. TRANSITIONS — The Human Rights Campaign is adding Jonathan Lovitz as SVP of campaigns and comms and Amy Peña as SVP and general counsel. Lovitz most recently was a director of public affairs and senior adviser at the Biden Commerce Department. Peña previously was general counsel for the Chicago Community Trust. … Liz Abraham is now a counsel in White & Case's international trade practice. She previously was director of the international policy office at the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security. … Ken Farnaso is now an associate in the public affairs, regulation and geopolitical practice at the Brunswick Group. He is a Trump, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and PLUS Communications alum. … … Tara Hupman is now VP of external affairs at the American Clean Power Association. She most recently was general counsel to the House Republican Conference. … Fara Sonderling is now a partner at Converge Public Strategies. She previously was manager of government affairs for the American Forest & Paper Association. … Chris Bowman is now director of government affairs at the Carbon Removal Alliance. He previously was a senior professional staff member for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and is a Joe Manchin, Steny Hoyer, Conor Lamb and Mike Doyle alum. WEDDINGS — Olivia Umoren, director of public policy and advocacy at USAging, and Nnamdi Ezeuko, sports performance coach at The St. James, got married May 10 on Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria. They met at a South African house music (amapiano) concert in D.C. featuring their favorite DJs. Pic … Another pic — Meghan Murphy (née Maffey), a senior account manager at DCI Group, and Connor Murphy, deputy director of government affairs at Schagrin Associates, got married Saturday at the Decatur House. Pic … SPOTTED: Bill Johnson, Mike Smullen, McKenna Simpson, Alyssa Gulick, Jack Rosemond, Alex Stepahin, Laura Dyer, Sam Hattrup and Connor Crowley. — Meg Gallagher, a policy adviser for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Marine Corps Major Matt Lake, VP of federal affairs at Havoc AI, got married on Saturday in Napa Valley at St. Helena Catholic Church followed by a reception at Meg's childhood home. The couple met in 2021 while training for the Marine Corps Marathon with the Capitol Hill Running Club and started dating a few years later. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Former first lady Jill Biden … John Kirby … Anderson Cooper … WSJ's Michelle Hackman … Erick Erickson … David Planning of Cornerstone … Evan Medeiros … Defend the Vote's Brian Lemek … Gina Foote of FGS Global … Edelman's Rob Rehg … Avoq's Josette Barrans and Bryce Harlow … Lilia Horder of Monument Advocacy … former Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) (98), Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) and Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) … Amy McGrath … Michael Fleischer of DDC Public Affairs … Patrick Martin of Cozen O'Connor … Kellee Lanza-Bolen … Nick Troiano ... Justin Clark (5-0) … Manisha Sunil of New Heights Communications … Sophia Sokolowski … POLITICO's Ahmed Routher Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
a day ago
- Politics
- Politico
Russia's Pearl Harbor
Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD IT ALREADY: My wonderful Playbook colleague Dasha Burns launched her new Sunday show podcast 'The Conversation' yesterday, kicking off her inaugural show with TV star turned MAGA world fave Dr. Mehmet Oz. They covered Medicaid cuts; drug pricing, AI medtech and more. 'One thing that surprised me was the way he talked about government employees — with real reverence,' Dasha tells me on this morning's edition of our daily Playbook Podcast. 'That stuck out at me in the era of DOGE, when government workers have been so vilified.' Watch it on YouTube, or or listen wherever you get your podcasts. A BLEAK START TO THE MORNING — LATEST FROM BOULDER: America is today processing the horrific scenes in Boulder, Colorado, where a weekly parade marching in solidarity with the Israeli hostages in Gaza was attacked by a man wielding a flamethrower and Molotov cocktails. Eight people were injured in what the FBI called a 'targeted terror attack' as they marched past an outdoor shopping mall. The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, shouted 'Free Palestine' before being taken into custody by police. More from the AP. Footage posted online showed scenes of chaos, with victims rolling on the floor and passers-by flapping coats and throwing water to douse the flames. Two were airlifted to a serious burns unit in Aurora, the Denver Post reports. Among the many shocking facts — most of the people hospitalized were senior citizens, police said, the eldest 88 years old. 9News in Colorado reported that one was a Holocaust survivor. America, 2025: The attack follows the murder last month of two young Israeli Embassy staffers in downtown D.C. by another man shouting 'Free Palestine.' And in April, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, saw his family home firebombed by an assailant who cited Shapiro's position on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Senior politicians and plenty of others last night decried the spike of violence and warned of rising antisemitism. But there's more: Citing multiple DHS sources, Fox News reports the suspect in Boulder is an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa but was given permission to remain under Joe Biden's presidency. The report — yet to be confirmed elsewhere — was immediately seized upon by MAGA figures both inside and outside the Trump administration as further evidence that Biden dangerously lost control of immigration. 'The Biden Admin granted the alien a visa and then, when he illegally overstayed, they gave him a work permit,' wrote White House policy guru Stephen Miller on X. 'Immigration security is national security. No more hostile migration. Keep them out and send them back.' Needless to say … for all of the above reasons, this attack will dominate political conversations today. It surely won't be long before Donald Trump weighs in. In today's Playbook … — How Ukraine humiliated Vladimir Putin … and changed the rules of modern war. — Trump to speak with Xi Jinping this week after China trade talks stall. — Senate returns from break as spending bill deadline looms. DRIVING THE DAY PUTIN'S HUMILIATION: Ukraine's delegation arrives in Istanbul for a second round of U.S.-led peace talks with Russia today after pulling off one of the most astonishing military attacks of the modern era. Around one-third of Vladimir Putin's strategic cruise missile carriers were hit in yesterday's coordinated drone strikes on airfields across Russia. The stunning videos of destruction are a humiliation for Putin, who has sought to create an air of inevitability about this war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, it seems, holds more cards than Trump gave him credit for. The facts are astonishing: More than 100 drones were smuggled deep into Russia by Ukrainian spies and hidden in the rooftops of specially constructed wooden cabins. These roofs then opened remotely at the moment of attack, with the drones swarming out and striking more than 40 bomber jets parked at Russian airfields across the country. One of the targets — the Belaya airfield in Siberia — is 3,500 miles from Ukraine (the same distance as D.C. is from your author's house in south London). Yet Russia never saw it coming. Experts agree: This is a game-changing moment in modern warfare, with repercussions for every serious military on the planet, including here in America. At relatively little expense — although with jaw-dropping audacity — a small-ish nation has delivered a major strategic setback to one of the most powerful militaries on earth, deep inside its own territory. The U.S., China and others will be intently watching. Russian pro-military bloggers called it 'our Pearl Harbor' — though this was no unprovoked attack. For these are — or were — the same bombers which carry the airborne proponent of Russia's strategic nuclear threat, one of the jewels in Putin's military crown. And planes like these have been relentlessly bombing Ukrainian cities for months — albeit not with nuclear warheads — as Ukraine tries in vain to shoot their missiles down. Speaking to the WSJ, defense analyst George Barros likens yesterday's attacks to 'killing the archers, instead of intercepting the arrows.' In fact, forget Pearl Harbor: Israel's exploding pager attack on Hezbollah may be a better comparison — the novel deployment of cheap but ultra-modern technology to devastating effect. This is the reality of the 21st century battlefield, where drone power and remote attacks are suddenly key. 'This is exactly what wars of the future will look like,' Iryna Vereshchuk, a top official in Zelenskyy's office, said. The previous night Russia had launched its heaviest drone strike on Ukraine since 2022, with more than 470 drones attacking cities including Kharkiv. None of this sets a tone for peace, of course, although Zelenskyy stressed he had targeted only military infrastructure to protect his people, in contrast to Putin's unprovoked attacks on civilian areas. Ukraine's delegation in Istanbul today will again reiterate its support for Trump's demand for an immediate ceasefire and call for the further release of prisoners and the return of thousands of children kidnapped by the Russian forces. But Russia has yet to even formally offer its demands — and no one is seriously expecting a breakthrough today. GOP diplomacy: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov yesterday — but realistically, nothing is going to change until Trump steps in. Among those fast losing patience is Trump's friend and golfing buddy Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is still in Europe after meetings with Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron. Graham has a hard-as-nails sanctions bill waiting to go — but will need Trump's signoff to get it into law. (Trump just gave Putin another two weeks to show he means business.) Stalling for time: 'What I learned on this trip was [Putin] is preparing for more war,' Graham warned. 'We saw credible evidence of a summer or early fall invasion.' Graham's bipartisan bill 'would impose 500 percent tariffs on countries that continue buying Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations like China and India that account for roughly 70 percent of Russia's energy trade and bankroll much of its war effort,' AP reports. Graham called it 'the most draconian bill I've ever seen in my life in the Senate.' For now, all eyes are on Trump. THE ECONOMY, STUPID NICE TO XI YOU: Trump is due to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming days after his outburst last week accusing Beijing of violating an interim trade deal. Cabinet members confirmed yesterday that trade talks with China have slowed, but hinted the much-anticipated Trump-Xi chat will likely come this week. 'That's our expectation,' National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent agreed a call should come 'very soon,' telling CBS that China has slow-walked a critical minerals agreement. While we're waiting for that: Another consequential week for the U.S. and global economies will kick off with Fed Chair Jerome Powell giving a speech at 1 p.m. today and run through the monthly jobs report coming Friday morning. In between, expect plenty of attention on the ongoing trade talks — as well as growing debt concerns with Republicans' reconciliation megabill. Trading places: Stock market futures were down following Trump's latest move to amp up steel and aluminum tariffs Friday, per Bloomberg. Last week's back-and-forth court rulings over the legality of Trump's tariffs continued to make planning more confusing and life harder for some U.S. small businesses, CNN's Lisa Eadicicco reports. Driving the morning: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will be on Maria Bartiromo's Fox Business Network breakfast show following his recent warnings about the state of the bond market. Dimon said the ballooning national debt could become a crisis for the U.S., which prompted a dismissal from Bessent on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' 'For his entire career, he's made predictions like this,' Bessent said. 'Fortunately, none of them have come true.' Reconcilable differences: Despite his debt fears, Dimon said in advance excerpts from the Fox interview that Congress should 'get the tax bill done,' with the clock ticking down to the GOP's July 4 deadline. Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans have insisted the high-spending bill won't actually add trillions to the national debt, because it will grow the economy — but as AP's Josh Boak notes, '[t]he response so far from financial markets has been skeptical.' Dynamics on the Hill: As the Senate returns to town today, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he's talked with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about coordinating unified Democratic opposition to the bill. But the main focus will be on Senate Republicans: Trump plans to talk with Majority Leader John Thune and amp up his calls for senators to fall in line this week, WSJ's Alex Leary and colleagues report. Hard-right senators and deficit hawks have made the most noise recently in their worries about the bill's debt impact. But POLITICO's Jordain Carney reports that it's really the 'Medicaid moderates' to watch — centrists and populists who want to pare back the bill's health care cuts. TRAIL MIX THE CLOSER: With early in-person voting starting tomorrow in New Jersey, Trump will hold a tele-rally at 7 p.m. tonight for Jack Ciattarelli's GOP gubernatorial campaign, the New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein reports. Next week's primary looks fairly sewn up for Ciattarelli after he landed Trump's endorsement, but there's been scant public polling of his race or that of the Democrats, where Rep. Mikie Sherrill appears to be the frontrunner. SCOOP — ROGERS GETS MORE BACKUP: As he races to stave off a possible GOP primary with Rep. Bill Huizenga in Michigan's pivotal 2026 Senate race, former Rep. Mike Rogers picked up the endorsement of Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, POLITICO's Adam Wren scoops. Trump hasn't yet decided who to endorse, and Barrasso's endorsement speaks directly to him: 'President Trump needs a fighter. Mike Rogers is a veteran, a lawman, and a fighter for America First. I will support Mike in every way possible.' FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is endorsing Democratic Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Levar Stoney, Adam writes in. 'As a fellow former mayor, I know that some of the best leadership comes from our local leaders, because mayors have to solve problems,' Buttigieg said of the former Richmond mayor in a statement to Playbook. What Virginia Dems are watching: The party is optimistic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger will retain her big lead and flip the governor's mansion this fall, POLITICO's Liz Crampton reports from Norfolk. Democrats' big fear is that the party's toxic national brand will weigh her down. But if she can improve outside of Northern Virginia, expect Democrats nationwide to look at her messaging on high prices and federal government cuts as an exemplar. What California Dems are watching: At party gatherings in California and South Carolina this weekend, there was a distinct lack of excitement — and in some cases much worse — for the political return of Kamala Harris, POLITICO's Melanie Mason and Brakkton Booker report. Harris is polling strongly and would be an initial frontrunner in either the gubernatorial or presidential race. But some South Carolinians sounded happy to let California have her, while some Californians fretted about whether she should really be running for governor. 2028 WATCH: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) has a new PAC, American Mobilization Project, that's focused on drumming up opposition to the Trump agenda rather than supporting political candidacies, POLITICO's Holly Otterbein scoops this morning. Its early focus is voter registration and organizing against Medicaid cuts, but with plans to spend $2 million this cycle, the PAC is the latest indicator that Murphy could make a presidential run. … Maryland Gov. Wes Moore met with former Obama and Biden advisers in South Carolina, The Baltimore Sun's Sam Janesch reports from Columbia. BEST OF THE REST ON THE MENU: The only public item on Trump's schedule so far today is lunch at 1 p.m. with VP JD Vance. NOT ADDING UP: Trump reportedly pulled Jared Isaacman's nomination as NASA administrator after being told about his donations to Democrats. But NYT's Maggie Haberman and Ryan Mac report that Isaacman actually already told Trump directly about them late last year. CAPITULATION CORNER: 'The Law Firms That Appeased Trump — and Angered Their Clients,' by WSJ's Erin Mulvaney and colleagues: 'At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving — or intend to give — more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals.' That includes Oracle and Morgan Stanley. THE SCUTTLEBUTT FROM SINGAPORE: At the Shangri-La Dialogue, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Australia to spike its defense spending much higher, to 3.5 percent of GDP from about 2 percent, per Bloomberg. There were also some tensions between the U.S. and Europe, which didn't take kindly to Hegseth's suggestion to focus on their own backyard, Reuters' Greg Torode and Fanny Potkin report. JUST POSTED: The guest on the latest episode of Greg Sargent's New Republic podcast 'Daily Blast' is a detained immigrant who recorded her audio straight from jail. Ming Li 'Carol' Hui — whose arrest after living in Kennett, Missouri, for more than two decades has spurred a local campaign to get her released — says of the outpouring: 'I was so shocked. I didn't know that many people loved me.' Listen to her voice for the first time here THE WORLD ELISE STEFANIK BUILT: 'The First Casualty in the War Against Elite Universities,' by POLITICO Magazine's Evan Mandery: 'Liz Magill goes deep, for the first time, on how a congressional hearing on antisemitism fueled her resignation from the University of Pennsylvania — and launched a broader war on higher ed.' TALK OF THE TOWN John Fetterman and Dave McCormick are the latest participants in the Senate Project series at 9 a.m. today, with the Kennedy Institute, Hatch Foundation and Fox News' Shannon Bream. SPOTTED: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 7th Street Burger in Georgetown yesterday. Pic FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — June is crunch time for many of the year's biggest Supreme Court decisions, which typically have much of Washington glued to social media for instant legal analysis. But a number of prominent commentators, experts and groups — including Dahlia Lithwick, Leah Litman, Stephen Vladeck, Jennifer Taub, Chris Geidner, Court Accountability and Public Citizen — are pledging to post to all other platforms before X. The 'X-last' strategy, led by Indivisible and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, is an effort to shift discourse from Elon Musk's platform to Bluesky. — Hunter Lovell is now press secretary for the Labor Department. He previously was comms director for Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and is a Steve Scalise alum. MEDIA MOVES — Brett Bachman will be senior editor for breaking news at NOTUS. He previously was a news editor at The Daily Beast. … Elise Girard is now senior director of partnerships at The Atlantic. She previously was advertising director at The Hill. TRANSITIONS — Sam Somogye is now press secretary for Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.). He most recently was comms director for Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) and is a Ted Cruz campaign alum. … Justin Vail has rejoined Protect Democracy as counsel and head of coalition advocacy. He previously was special assistant to the president for democracy and civic participation in the Biden White House. … Brian Reich and Eric Hollister Williams are now SVPs at One Strategy Group. Reich previously was deputy assistant secretary for strategic planning and director of speechwriting at HHS and is a Clinton White House alum. Williams previously was director of corporate comms at Apple. … … Reilly McBride is now VP of policy and advocacy comms at JPMorganChase. She previously was deputy comms director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and is an Invariant alum. … Philip Bednarczyk is now director of the German Marshall Fund's Warsaw office. He previously was an adviser for Europe and Eurasia for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. … Christian Calvert is now press assistant for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He previously was SEC program officer for campus advancement at Young America's Foundation. ENGAGED — Elizabeth Ralph, editor of POLITICO Magazine, and Alex Keeney, senior producer for podcasting at POLITICO, got engaged in Radnor, Pennsylvania, this weekend. They met the old-fashioned way: in the office. WEEKEND WEDDING — Christine Delargy, a VP at Sunshine Sachs Morgan and Lylis and a WaPo and POLITICO alum, and Dave McKeown of the U.S. Secret Service got married Friday night at The Airlie in Warrenton, Virginia. Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Kiki and Tim Burger, Sara and Ron Bonjean, Mary Kathryn and Michael Steel, Sheena and Rodell Mollineau, Nick Massella and Brian Gill, and Elizabeth Thorp. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Mike Berg, chief of staff for Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) and an NRSC and NRCC alum, and Eva Bandola Berg, a managing director at CGCN, welcomed George Kennedy Berg on May 14. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) … acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro … former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) … Alex Hornbrook … Mia Heck ... Mike Lynch … Crooked Media's Jon Favreau … Ian Byrne … Rich Ashooh ... Jen Tumminio … Ben Cassidy of the BLC Group … Clarence Page … Vanessa Day … POLITICO's Katie Wojcik and Patrick Caldwell … JP Schnapper-Casteras … Alex Joyce of the American Conservation Coalition … Zach Isakowitz of the Semiconductor Industry Association … Jason Rosenbaum … Darby McQueen-Dever of Rep. Michael Cloud's (R-Texas) office … Hannah Botelho of Kieloch Consulting … Reason's Elizabeth Nolan Brown … Edgar Barrios … Jane Meyer of Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) office … Chris Lehane Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
3 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook: Dems rev up 2028 travel
Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Happy Saturday morning. It's Adam Wren. We made it to the weekend. What are you up to? Get in touch. DRIVING THE DAY The 2028 shadow Democratic presidential primary is edging into the spotlight. Candidates are crisscrossing the country and delivering after-action reports about what went wrong with Joe Biden's presidency — even some who were involved in the administration. And this weekend it's turning toward South Carolina, where state Democrats gather for their annual confab. On Friday, at the Blue Palmetto Dinner, where Maryland Gov. Wes Moore delivered the keynote address, the rising star who has said he's 'not running' for president sounded a lot like he was running for president. As our colleague Brakkton Booker writes in a dispatch from Columbia, 'Moore's premium speaking slot before the state's well-connected party leaders does little to tamp down speculation he's kicking the tires on an upcoming presidential bid.' FIRST IN THE SOUTH (AGAIN): Speaking at the World Famous Fish Fry, an annual political event hosted by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke of the missteps Democrats made last cycle, even comparing his time on the campaign trail to Taylor Swift's record-setting global tour, Brakkton writes into Playbook. 'I called it my 90-day 'Eras Tour' to seven states,' the former vice presidential nominee said, drawing a smattering of chuckles. 'I went to the same seven damn states over and over and over. You know what? People are pissed off in South Carolina, they're pissed off in Texas, they're pissed off in Indiana. And there's more of us than there are of the billionaires. So we need to change the attitude [and] compete in every district, compete for every school board seat.' Today, moving toward center stage is Walz, who has quite the itinerary. At 10 a.m., in Columbia, he'll speak to South Carolina Democratic Party convention goers. Then, he'll jet to Anaheim, California, where he'll speak at the California Democratic Party Convention. But as they search for a way back, Democrats like Walz, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and even former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg aren't just visiting reliably Democratic (or early primary) states. They're focusing on red states, where the party has endured significant setbacks. In fact, Walz has focused his travel on red states: Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio and West Virginia. And the South Dakota Democratic Party recently announced he will be the keynote speaker at the annual McGovern Day dinner on July 12 in Sioux Falls. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: 2028 Democrats aren't done with South Carolina. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will travel to the state to speak at the state's AFL-CIO convention on July 16. The following evening, he will also speak at the Georgetown County Democratic Party Dinner — a county Trump won in all three of his presidential bids. But 2028 Democrats' more urgent issue is not where to go, but which direction. Populism? Abundance? A third way? So far, the party has been focused more on where to say what they are saying — the right types of podcasts — than on what they are saying. Their earliest steps out of the wilderness have been in reference to Trump, not the party's own values — whether they should accommodate him or fight him. At a leaderless moment for their party, Trumpism and their response to it has been the clearest organizing principle. On Friday evening, Moore acknowledged that Democrats could learn from the unlikeliest of instructors: Trump himself. 'Urgency is the instrument of change. And do you know who understands that really well? Donald Trump,' Moore said. 'I want to be clear: We can — and we must — condemn Donald Trump's reckless actions. But we would also be foolish not to learn from his impatience.' 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — IMMIGRATION FILES: The Trump administration's 'efforts to strip protections from more than half a million legal immigrants could devastate the health sector, endangering care for the elderly and worsening rates of both chronic and infectious diseases,' POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. By the numbers: 'Hundreds of thousands of health care workers, including an estimated 30,000 legal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, are at risk of being deported — worrying providers and patients who rely on them for everything from nursing and physical therapy to maintenance, janitorial, foodservice and housekeeping work.' Another case study: The Trump administration has now 'admitted that it improperly deported another immigrant in violation of a court order — the fourth known case in which the administration deported someone erroneously or in breach of specific legal requirements,' POLITICO's Kyle Cheney reports. The details: 'Jordin Melgar-Salmeron, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, had been in immigration detention since 2022 while deportation proceedings against him were pending. But on May 7, shortly after a federal appeals court ordered the government to keep him in the United States, immigration authorities deported him back to his native country.' Melgar-Salmeron's lawyer told POLITICO he intends to ask the court to order the government to return his client and to hold government officials in contempt. On another note: 'Murkowski slams Trump administration revoking protections for Afghan immigrants,' by POLITICO's Ali Bianco 2. THE STAND OF OZ: CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, a Harvard alum, downplayed concerns surrounding Trump's efforts to ban his alma mater from accepting international students during an interview with Playbook's Dasha Burns for her new podcast, 'The Conversation.' Oz said he still believes Harvard will be able to recruit international students with vetting in the future. What Oz said: 'I think that will happen over time, but this is a bigger discussion about what is Harvard willing to do to truly represent the best interests of its students and the American people. … We will continue to train the best and the brightest of other parts of the world. We want there to be a brain drain towards America from those nations. But there's been a change in my alma mater, Harvard, that anyone who went to school with me would have to acknowledge. We witnessed our school lose its way.' For the full episode: Dasha's full conversation with Oz will be live tomorrow morning. Listen and watch on YouTube … Subscribe to the podcast … More from POLITICO's Katherine Long 3. IN DEFENSE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a stark warning to Asian allies today, portraying the threat China poses to the region as 'real, and it could be imminent,' POLITICO's Paul McLeary reports. 'In his first speech to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth was blunt about Washington's view of the Chinese military buildup in the region and the threat it poses to Taiwan, calling on allies to spend more on defense while pledging continued American partnership and support.' What Hegseth said: 'There's no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,' Hegseth said. Any Chinese military move on Taiwan 'would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,' he added. 4. ON THE AGENDA: Despite a week that delivered several blows to his trade agenda, Trump is 'digging in on his vow to impose steep tariffs by any means necessary — and stick it to those who question his strength and think he's bound to 'chicken out,'' POLITICO's Megan Messerly and colleagues report. 'He and administration officials have said that negotiations with other countries will continue, are insisting they'll win their current tariff battle in court and are even preparing back-up strategies for new tariffs in case they don't.' The resolve: 'Trump's determination to move fast could slow implementation of his tariff regime. It also threatens to cost him credibility with businesses he's counting on to invest in the U.S. and world leaders whose buy-in he needs to negotiate trade deals. Still, few expect a different posture from a famously intransigent president or any second-guessing following the Wednesday ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which briefly halted most of the tariffs.' About last night: Trump said that he plans to double his tariff on steel to 50 percent, from 25 percent currently, to prevent billions of dollars worth of foreign steel from continuing to enter the United States, POLITICO's Doug Palmer reports. 'At 50 percent, they can no longer get over the fence,' Trump said during a speech at a U.S. Steel facility in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania last night. 5. BUILDING OUT THE BUDGET: Trump's 'skinny' budget is filling out. Federal agencies began sending the nitty-gritty of Trump's budget proposal to Congress yesterday, detailing which programs he wants Republicans to cut deeply — or wipe out entirely — when they vote to fund the government in September, POLITICO's Jennifer Scholtes reports. The details: 'In 'budget in brief' documents, agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, along with the departments of Education and Health and Human Services, detailed their requests to cut billions of dollars from their budgets. … Among the proposed cuts to most federal departments, the administration is asking Congress to slash $12 billion from federal education programs, $5 billion from agriculture efforts and a total of more than $60 billion from health, housing and community development work.' 6. THE MEDIA MELEE: PBS yesterday sued the Trump administration in an effort to 'block his order stripping federal funding from the 330-station public television system, three days after NPR did the same for its radio network,' AP's David Bauder reports. 'In its lawsuit, PBS relies on similar arguments, saying Trump was overstepping his authority and engaging in 'viewpoint discrimination' because of his claim that PBS' news coverage is biased against conservatives.' From the suit: 'PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms,' lawyer Z.W. Julius Chen wrote. 'But regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS's programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.' Meanwhile: 'California lawmakers ask former CBS leaders to testify on proposed settlement with Trump,' by POLITICO's Blake Jones 7. ATTENTION TO DETAIL: DNI Tulsi Gabbard is 'exploring ways to revamp [Trump's] routine intelligence briefing in order to build his trust in the material and make it more aligned with how he likes to consume information,' NBC's Courtney Kube and colleagues scoop. 'One idea that's been discussed is possibly creating a video version of the PDB that's made to look and feel like a Fox News broadcast. … According to his public schedule, since his inauguration Trump has taken the PDB 14 times, or on average less than once a week, which is less often than his recent predecessors.' 8. FOOTING THE BILL: Wall Street is 'privately warning the Trump administration that the tax bill moving through Congress could stoke investor anxiety about rising deficits, push up U.S. borrowing costs and damage the broader economy,' WaPo's Andrew Ackerman and Jeff Stein reports. 'Most have been reluctant to raise their worries publicly, instead passing them along in smaller meetings or through trusted confidants.' Buried in the BBB: A 'retaliatory measure on foreign governments tucked into President Trump's tax bill has investors on edge,' WSJ's Richard Rubin and colleagues report. 'The proposed change would give the U.S. power to impose new taxes of up to 20% on foreigners with U.S. investments, hitting governments, individuals and companies with U.S. outposts. It's being called a 'revenge tax' because it's specifically designed to apply only in cases where other countries are deemed to be imposing unfair or discriminatory taxes against U.S. companies.' 9. SPLIT SCREEN: 'Inside the split between MAGA and the Federalist Society,' by POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs and Daniel Barnes: 'The president's allies had been sowing discontent with [Leonard] Leo's operation long before Trump publicly turned on his onetime adviser. Frustration had been growing among Trump and MAGA loyalists as a series of court rulings have hampered elements of Trump's second term agenda … and by judges Trump installed on the bench during his first term with Leo and the Federalist Society's guidance. Now conflict is openly breaking out among the constellation of conservative judicial leaders that used to operate alongside one another.' CLICKER — 'The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics,' edited by Matt Wuerker — 18 funnies GREAT WEEKEND READS: — 'Does Trump Actually Think He's God?' by POLITICO Magazine's Michael Kruse: 'The president's messianic rhetoric has soared since the assassination attempt.' — 'The New Dark Age,' by The Atlantic's Adam Serwer: 'The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself.' — 'The Techno-Futuristic Philosophy Behind Elon Musk's Mania,' by Matthew Purdy for the NYT: 'From the White House to Mars, the tech billionaire has his sights set on the long term.' — ''The Federal Government Is Gone': Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States,' by ProPublica's Hannah Allam: 'Some state efforts are robust, others are fledgling and yet other states are still formalizing strategies for addressing extremism.' — 'Adam Friedland Could Be the Millennial Jon Stewart. But Does He Want That?' by GQ's Kieran Press-Reynolds: '[I]n the wake of an election that podcasters helped swing in Donald Trump's favor, he's fielding interview offers from politicians desperate to connect with disaffected young voters any way they can.' — 'Jordon Hudson, Kash Patel and MJ's fax machine: Pablo Torre's 'terminal content brain' battles the algorithm,' by The Athletic's Zak Keefer TALK OF THE TOWN Joe Biden publicly spoke about his cancer diagnosis for the first time since it was revealed. 'The expectation is we're going to be able to beat this. There's no — it's not in any organ, my bones are strong, it hadn't penetrated,' he told reporters, per WaPo's Dylan Wells. One of Barron Trump's NYU friends tells NewsNation that he has a girlfriend and comes off as 'pretty apolitical.' TOP TALKER — Michael Schaffer pens his latest Capital City column on Trump's proposed National Garden of American Heroes, which he wants to feature 250 life-sized statues in time for the nation's 250th birthday next year. The big problem? Artists, curators and critics who have reviewed the idea say 'America doesn't have enough quality sculptors or museum-caliber foundries to make this happen on Trump's speedy timeline.' The other hang-up: 'The fine print forbids 'abstract or modernist' statues, and the biggest collection of artisans and fabricators working in Trump's preferred old-school realist style turns out to be in China, not the U.S.' THE ARTS TAKEOVER CONTINUES — Trump said in a post on Truth Social yesterday afternoon that he was firing Kim Sajet as director of the National Portrait Gallery. 'She is a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position,' Trump wrote, promising that he would name a replacement 'shortly.' Trump is also targeting the Smithsonian in his budget request, which 'proposed a 12 percent reduction of the institution's budget and excluded funding for its Anacostia Community Museum and its forthcoming National Museum of the American Latino,' per WaPo. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'Trump administration OKs expedited disposal of Greater Washington federal properties,' by the Washington Business Journal's Ben Peters TRANSITIONS — Elisabeth Conklin is now legislative director for Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.). She previously was a senior professional staff member on the House Small Business Committee. … Julia Schechter is now senior manager of policy comms at Snap. She previously was a PR manager at Apple. WEDDING — Justin Papp and Eloisa Melendez, via NYT: '[He's] now a Congress reporter at CQ Roll Call … [She] is the lead manager of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care at the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood … On May 16, their five-year anniversary, Lauren Papp, the groom's sister, who became a temporary officiant in the District of Columbia, officiated on the couple's rooftop … In January, they plan to celebrate with family and friends in the mountains above Medellín.' HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jennifer Berlin … Charlie Meisch ... Debra DeShong … NPR's Deirdre Walsh … Julie Moos of The Forward … Clark Judge ... Elizabeth Dos Santos of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart's (R-Fla.) office … Matt Berman … Amy Pfeiffer of Sen. Andy Kim's (D-N.J.) office … Michael O'Connor of Williams & Connolly … Marilyn Tavenner … CNN's Sara Sidner … former Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) … Dan Pino … former Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) (92) … Al From … DCI Group's Maegan Rosenberg … Erik Telford … Sara Carter … HSGAC's Allison Tinsey … Newsbusters' P.J. Gladnick … Susana Castillo of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office … Brad Bosserman … Bert Kaufman … Keith Fernandez … Jen Bristol of the Solar Energy Industries Association … Ali Noorani … POLITICO's Haseb Alim … Phil Elwood THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): POLITICO 'The Conversation with Dasha Burns': CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz. NBC 'Meet the Press': Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). Panel: Lanhee Chen, Jeh Johnson, Jonathan Martin and Kelly O'Donnell. CNN 'State of the Union': OMB Director Russ Vought … House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Panel: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Scott Jennings, Jamal Simmons and Shermichael Singleton. FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) … Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) … Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Panel: Marie Harf, Guy Benson, Horace Cooper and Meridith McGraw. Sunday Special: Modern Warrior Live. ABC 'This Week': NEC Director Kevin Hassett … Cindy McCain. Trump family business panel: Evan Osnos and Chris Christie. Panel: Donna Brazile, Reince Priebus and Astead Herndon. Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': DHS Secretary Kristi Noem … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) … Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) … Brad Gerstner. Panel: Peter Schweizer and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.). NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) … Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) … Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. Panel: Amie Parnes, David Drucker, Jessica Taylor and Tia Mitchell. CBS 'Face the Nation': Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … FDA Commissioner Marty Makary … Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) … Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) … Michael Roth. MSNBC 'The Weekend': Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) … Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) … James Carville … Karen Hao. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
4 days ago
- Business
- Politico
What Michigan tells us about 2026
Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Happy Friday morning. This is Adam Wren. Tough loss by my Pacers to the Knicks last night in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals. As Indianapolis' own Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, So it goes. Get in touch. YOUR NEW MUST-LISTEN: Playbook's own Dasha Burns has already established herself as an indispensable read on Donald Trump's Washington. On Sunday, she'll also become an indispensable listen: Her new podcast, 'The Conversation,' debuts. The first guest is a big one: Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Exclusive: Ahead of the launch, we have a first listen for Playbook readers from their conversation. Hear why he thinks Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and other Republican critics of the Medicaid changes in the House GOP's reconciliation bill are off base. Listen and watch on YouTube … Subscribe to the podcast … More from POLITICO's Gregory Svirnovskiy In today's Playbook … — We get the 2026 readout from Michigan … and have a first look at the speeches Tim Walz and Wes Moore will give in South Carolina, with an eye toward 2028. — Elon Musk gears up for his final joint presser with Trump today at 1:30 p.m. — The White House could flesh out Trump's FY 2026 'skinny' budget proposal as soon as today. DRIVING THE DAY VIEW FROM A BATTLEGROUND: At 5 p.m., Trump will cap off his week by speaking in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, where he is expected to talk up Japanese-owned Nippon Steel's deal to purchase U.S. Steel — a prospect candidate Trump inveighed against even as President Trump is eager to accept in order to take the win on protecting U.S. jobs in a key swing state. The backstory: 'Inside the GOP pressure campaign to flip Trump on Nippon Steel,' by POLITICO's Ari Hawkins and Meredith Lee Hill Speaking of battlegrounds: It's no coincidence that the midterms-obsessed Trump is headed to Pennsylvania. But your Playbook authors spent the week in a different pivotal battleground: Michigan, where the quaintness of Mackinac Island (the fudge shops, the ban on cars, the horse-drawn carriages) belied the fierceness of the politicking unfolding at the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, the bipartisan Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce confab. And politick they did. In the 2026 cycle, Michigan will elect a new governor (a race with competitive primaries in both parties), a new U.S. senator (ditto) and decide multiple competitive House seats. ('It's going to be Super Bowl year for Michigan politics,' Rep. Bill Huizenga, the west Michigan Republican considering a Senate bid, told us.) And in light of all of it … we're struck by a few key 2026 takeaways and pieces of hard news from the countless conversations we've had with insiders this week … THE DEMS' INSIDE FIGHT: Democrats are gearing up for another potentially brutal intraparty fight brewing in their Senate primary. And Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) is privately warning candidates and party officials that there's a real risk it could become a costly 'proxy battle' between AIPAC and the pro-Palestinian 'Uncommitted' movement. 'I want both of them to work to make sure it doesn't,' Dingell told us, ostensibly referring to candidates Rep. Haley Stevens, who many Washington Democrats are backing, and Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive favorite with the backing of Bernie Sanders. A replay? 'I do think that if AIPAC comes in and goes negative on [El-Sayed's] campaign, they're going to alienate a broad swath of Arab and Muslim voters who already demonstrated in 2024 that they're extremely frustrated with AIPAC coming in and dictating elections for them,' said a person involved in the race. AIPAC's view: 'The past two election cycles have clearly demonstrated that pro-Israel candidates overwhelmingly prevail over anti-Israel detractors,' Marshall Wittmann, a spokesperson for AIPAC, said in a statement to Playbook. 'A Pro-Israel position is both good policy and good politics.' He did not respond to follow-up questions about whether that candidate was Stevens or how much AIPAC planned to spend in the race. The current standing: In a public poll released this week by the Detroit Regional Chamber, Stevens leads the primary field at 34 percent, El-Sayed is at 22 percent, and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow is around 14 percent, with nearly 30 percent undecided. VIEW FROM THE MIDDLE: If you want to get a good sense of what on-the-ground politics looks like in the battle for control of the U.S. House, there are few places better to gauge public opinion than Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet's district, which is smack dab in the middle of the partisan voter index — the median congressional district nationally on the midterm map. It's a seat Trump won by 2 points in 2024, while McDonald Rivet carried it by 7. Washington's view vs. voters' views: McDonald Rivet emphasized to us that even while a lot of the conversation in Washington can be driven by the latest palace intrigue or court battles with the administration, what really matters to voters in seats like hers is much simpler. 'When I'm talking to folks at the grocery store, prices are still incredibly high,' she said, noting that about 80 percent of her district makes under $50,000 a year. 'There is a lot of concern about availability of health care, the cuts to Medicaid. … Most of people in my district hate all politicians — just sort of fed up with the system — which I also think is an indicator of what's happening across the country.' THE WHITMER ANGLE: For all the grief Gov. Gretchen Whitmer received for her high-profile meetings with Trump, she is not only no worse for wear in her home state, she is polling at her peak. In Michigan, even some of the most stridently anti-Trump voices in the Democratic Party are applauding the end results of how she's handled Trump. A representative take from our convos: 'In a second Trump presidency, she has navigated how to be a governor effectively,' McMorrow told us. She acknowledges that there would be a political upside nationally to Whitmer aggressively resisting working with Trump. But: 'If she does that, she hurts the residents of Michigan.' Instead, Whitmer's approach has yielded tangible benefits in Michigan — not just politically, but also on policy matters, winning a new mission for Selfridge Air National Guard Base and federal support for the fight against invasive carp, a major environmental issue in the state. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: ALSO IN THE 2028 CONVERSATION: Much further south, ambitious Democrats are turning their eyes — and itineraries — toward South Carolina for tonight's Blue Palmetto Dinner and Rep. Jim Clyburn's World Famous Fish Fry. Two big 2028 Democrats are making the trip: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Playbook obtained excerpts from their speeches. What Walz will say: 'If we're being honest with ourselves, we're in this mess because our party lost its way, too. … Here's the thing: None of us can afford to shy away right now from the hard conversations we need to have. Because we have to come to terms with the fact that the Democratic Party — the party of the working class — lost the working class. Not only that — we lost them to a billionaire … who gives tax cuts to other billionaires. … I hear some version of this all the time on the road: 'I don't know if Trump is right about what he's doing, but he's willing to bust things up and give it a try.' And what about us? Well, Democrats have no shortage of good ideas. But when we get into power, we haven't been able to get stuff done. At least not stuff that people can actually see and feel in their lives.' What Moore will say: 'I don't come from a family that's used to writing bills or laws. I come from a family that's used to suffering the consequences of them. My North Star isn't the party line. It's the people. And I've been listening to what they have to say, all across Maryland. Democrats and Republicans … Urban and rural … Young and old …They have not just been our inspirations, but our guides. … Now is the time for us to be impatient. Let's not just talk about an alternative. Let's not just study an alternative. Let's deliver an alternative. Right now, Republicans in Congress are slashing budgets and firing federal workers … The people need to believe there's a better way.' THE MAGA REVOLUTION WHAT TACOS? Yes, Trump's tariffs were blocked for all of a day, and Elon Musk is leaving (along with James Burnham, Steve Davis and Katie Miller, per ABC) without saving much money. But don't read too much into this week's Trump setbacks. The generational Trump project is very much here to stay, upending the federal government and transforming millions of lives around the world. We may know more at 1:30 p.m., when Trump and Musk are set to hold a press conference. 'This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,' Trump posted on Truth Social. First in Playbook: Oregon AG Dan Rayfield, who brought the briefly successful case against Trump's tariffs, tells POLITICO's Joe Schatz that he thinks 'the Trump administration is entirely short-sighted' in relying on emergency powers to impose them. The suddenly feverish court fight could be headed to the Supreme Court … but a federal appellate court already temporarily paused the ruling that Trump's tariffs violated the law, per WaPo. That will allow the 'Liberation Day' penalties to snap back into place while judges consider the matter on the merits. Some legal experts think Trump will lose if this gets to the Supreme Court — but the president would also have other avenues to impose tariffs. Court in the act: Stephen Miller, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and other top Trump officials responded to their initial loss by attacking judges even more than usual, per the NYT. And Trump himself issued a Truth Social post approaching novella length, which not only defended his tariffs, but also engaged in some soul-searching about why even conservative judges have ruled against him. He blamed the advice of 'sleazebag' Leonard Leo and said, 'I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society.' More from POLITICO's Gregory Svirnovskiy and Josh Gerstein The economic fallout: The flurry of judicial rulings this week may give foreign countries a leg up in their trade talks with the U.S. Filipino and EU officials, for instance, tell POLITICO's Ari Hawkins and colleagues they're likelier to stand their ground now. But the other result of the tariff chaos is prolonged business uncertainty, which could hurt the economy, per POLITICO's Sam Sutton and colleagues. Reuters' Sayantani Ghosh and colleagues tallied the total cost to businesses of Trump's tariffs: $34 billion already. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: Even without Musk, further severe DOGE-fueled cuts to the federal workforce are still in the offing, especially by political appointees at agencies, POLITICO's Robin Bravender and colleagues detail. The Office of Personnel Management put out new hiring guidance yesterday that notably bars departments from hiring people for their race or gender, Axios' Emily Peck scooped. It also includes new essay questions about the Constitution and executive orders that have already sparked fears about politicizing the nonpartisan civil service, Bloomberg's Gregory Korte reports. And Trump tapped Paul Ingrassia as the new leader of the Office of Special Counsel (more on his background here). State of play: The State Department rolled out a sweeping reorganization plan — the biggest since the Cold War — including laying off 3,400 staffers and cutting or changing 300 offices, Fox News' Diana Stancy scooped. Notably, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is taking a sledgehammer to human rights work while elevating conservative priorities, POLITICO's Robbie Gramer scooped, and closing the Afghan refugee resettlement office despite U.S. veterans' protests, per Bloomberg. More big changes: The Labor Department is suspending its Job Corps program, Fox News' Brooke Singman scooped. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) quickly condemned the move. FROM 30,000 FEET: 'Trump's Flurry of Pardons Signals a Wholesale Effort to Redefine Crime,' by NYT's Glenn Thrush: 'Trump is employing the vast power of his office to redefine criminality to suit his needs — using pardons to inoculate criminals he happens to like, downplaying corruption and fraud as crimes, and seeking to stigmatize political opponents by labeling them criminals.' BEST OF THE REST PUTTING SOME MEAT ON THE BONES: The White House may flesh out Trump's fiscal year 2026 'skinny' budget proposal with the full — or at least more — details as soon as today, Roll Call's Paul Krawzak and Aidan Quigley report. House Appropriations subcommittees will start marking numbers up next week, when the long-anticipated rescissions package will also arrive in Congress. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: House Ways & Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) will speak at the Reagan National Economic Forum at 10 a.m. Eastern, as House Republicans work to get their Senate counterparts on board with the megabill. But Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough still looms — and some controversial provisions could be axed under her budgetary rules, POLITICO's Jordain Carney and colleagues lay out: The 'current policy baseline' accounting gimmick will be an especially big one to watch, while items from Planned Parenthood defunding to limiting judges' contempt powers could be on the chopping block. How it's playing: Wall Street has freaked out about a foreign investment tax provision that finance types worry will damage an already turbulent economy, FT's Kate Duguid and colleagues report. … A new nonpartisan report finds that concern about the reconciliation bill's rollback of clean-energy tax credits, among other factors, has helped ax or postpone $14 billion in investments this year, per the AP. … Focus groups of older Trump voters show that many of his supporters remain fiercely loyal to him and will brook no dissent from congressional Republicans: They want a rubber stamp, NYT's Annie Karni reports. MORE ON THE HILL: The House Dem race for Oversight ranking member kicked off with bids yesterday by Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Stephen Lynch (Mass.) and Kweisi Mfume (Md.), POLITICO's Nick Wu and Hailey Fuchs report. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (Texas) is eyeing a run too. This could be a generational and ideological contest for Democrats. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT: 'Federal Authorities Probe Effort to Impersonate White House Chief of Staff,' by WSJ's Josh Dawsey: 'In recent weeks, senators, governors, top U.S. business executives and other well-known figures have received text messages and phone calls from a person who claimed to be the chief of staff … But the messages weren't from [Susie] Wiles — and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the White House are trying to figure out who is behind the effort and what the goal is … FBI officials have told the White House they don't believe a foreign nation is involved … Government officials think the impersonator used artificial intelligence to imitate Wiles's voice.' MIDDLE EAST LATEST: The White House said Steve Witkoff's new proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release in the Israel-Hamas war was quickly OKed by Israel. But Axios' Barak Ravid reports that U.S. officials are not so sure about Hamas' reception of it, with some in the militant group wary that Israel will just end the ceasefire. 'Hamas wanted much stronger guarantees from the U.S. that Israel wouldn't walk away again.' The full text of the proposal, via The Times of Israel Meanwhile: 'Saudi warned Iran to reach nuclear deal with Trump or risk Israeli strike,' by Reuters' Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi NOTABLE NAME: Harvard's Corporation is adding prominent conservative lawyer Kannon Shanmugam, The Crimson's Grace Yoon reports. SCHOOL DAZE: 'Behind Trump's long campaign to target Chinese student visas,' by POLITICO's Myah Ward and Jake Traylor: 'The president's aides and allies view the visa revocations as the initial step in clamping down on Chinese influence in the U.S., with [a] White House official suggesting it could lead to a wider exclusion of international students from the country.' How will it actually play out? 'A massive headache' to review hundreds of thousands of Chinese students' records, one State Department official tells POLITICO's Felicia Schwartz and colleagues. Big questions remain about how the policy will be implemented — and whether it will effectively bar all Chinese students from coming to U.S. colleges. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: New Hampshire Republican Walter McFarlane III met with the NRSC yesterday morning as he explores a possible Senate bid. He ran for the House last year, losing in the primary. THE WEEKEND AHEAD FOR PETE'S SAKE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is heading to Singapore for a significant moment on the world stage as he seeks to reassure the U.S.' Asian allies. His remarks will take place tomorrow in Singapore — or at 8:35 p.m. tonight for D.C. watchers. TV TONIGHT — PBS' 'Washington Week': Peter Baker, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Stephen Hayes. SUNDAY SO FAR … NBC 'Meet the Press': Speaker Mike Johnson … Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). Panel: Lanhee Chen, Jeh Johnson, Jonathan Martin and Kelly O'Donnell. CNN 'State of the Union': House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Panel: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Scott Jennings, Jamal Simmons and Shermichael Singleton. Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': DHS Secretary Kristi Noem … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) … Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) … Ed Martin … Brad Gerstner. NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) … Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) … Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. Panel: Amie Parnes, David Drucker, Jessica Taylor and Tia Mitchell. CBS 'Face the Nation': Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) … FDA Commissioner Marty Makary … Michael Roth. MSNBC 'The Weekend': Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) … Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) … James Carville. TALK OF THE TOWN Greg Steube is introducing legislation to block federal funding for WMATA until they rebrand as WMAGA and the Trump Train. (He insists this is about serious transit accountability.) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn't drink alcohol, but he took a shot at the White House — of raw milk. Lester Holt has his last day as anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' today, as he switches to focus more on 'Dateline.' Nicolle Wallace is launching a podcast, 'The Best People,' from MSNBC next week. Early interviews will include Jason Bateman and Sarah Jessica Parker. Mike Tobin of Fox News made it to the summit of Mount Everest, where he did 22 pushups in recognition of veteran/first responder suicide. IN MEMORIAM — 'Bernie Kerik, former NYPD Commissioner known as 'America's Cop' after 9/11, dead at 69,' by the N.Y. Post's Miranda Devine and colleagues: 'In 2003, following the US invasion of Iraq, then-President George W. Bush named Kerik to head up a provisional police force in the post-war Middle Eastern nation. … Bush nominated Kerik to head the US Department of Homeland Security in 2004, but the ex-commissioner withdrew his nomination while admitting he had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny … Kerik served four years in federal prison before he was pardoned by Trump.' PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'Days after gunshots and death, Capital Jewish Museum reopens with purpose,' by WaPo's Kyle Swenson: 'Beatrice Gurwitz, the museum's executive director, told The Washington Post that reopening the location was not just about getting back to business as usual but also about honoring the magnitude of what happened. … Attendees arriving at the reopening ceremony were greeted by multiple photographs of [Yaron] Lischinsky and [Sarah Lynn] Milgrim.' OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the Herald Group's alliances and coalitions reception last night: Bill Miller, acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood, Steve Moore, Michelle Nyman, Katelyn Bledsoe, Heather Browning, Maria Ghazal, Ben Rajadurai, James Erwin, Karla Jones, Chris Gray, Michi Iljazi, Suhail Khan, Ben Cantrell, Josselin Castillo, Tirzah Duren, Tim Lee, Elizabeth Hicks and Kyle Wingfield. — SPOTTED at the U.S. Council for International Business' 80th-anniversary reception at Ferrero's D.C. offices last night: Whitney Baird, Austrian Ambassador Petra Schneebauer, Luxembourg Ambassador Nicole Bintner-Bakshian, John Neuffer, Gerald Kunde, Dorothy Attwood, Eric Loeb and Rick Johnston. — Eileen O'Connor, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, Julia Ioffe, Kathy O'Hearn and Yevghenia Albats hosted a party for Jill Dougherty's new book, 'My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin' ($32.95), on Wednesday night on the top floor of McDermott Will & Emery HQ. SPOTTED: Wolf Blitzer, David Sanger, Alex Marquardt, Kevin Bohn, Edith Chapin, Kelli Arena, David Ensor, Brian Hale, Mary Jordan, Kevin Sullivan, Kate Sullivan, Scott Simon, Daniel Yergin, Angela Stent, John Beyrle, Serge Schmemann, Melanne Verveer and Natasha Lebedeva. — SPOTTED at FGS Global's NYC spring media party at the Lobster Club in Midtown on Wednesday night: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jacqueline Corba, Martin Arnold, David Benoit, Dade Hayes, Micah Maidenberg, Lachlan Cartwright, Max Tani, Michael Grynbaum, Jocelyn Noveck, Romaine Bostick, Pippa Stevens, Brooke Masters, Mike Feldman, Winnie Lerner, Paul Holmes, Cat Rakowski, Adam Blickstein and Elan Bird. TRANSITIONS — Gautam Raghavan is now a partner in the nonprofit and social impact practice at True Search. He previously was director of presidential personnel in the Biden White House. … Molly Fromm is now VP and general counsel at the Nickles Group. She previously was general counsel and parliamentarian for House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.). … Alyssa Penna is now director of federal policy at United States of Care. She most recently was an analyst at CMS' Office of Legislation. … … Jenna Sumar and Kevin Lowery are launching a creative studio, Collection Media. Sumar previously was chief official videographer for the Biden White House. Lowery previously was creative director at Weymouth Watson and is a Stacey Abrams alum. … Cambridge Global Advisors has added Patrick Lechleitner, Elaine Duke, Katie Tobin, Ryan Scudder, Paul Thomas, Tim Devine and Morgan Ryan. … Cindy Dyer is now chief program officer at the McCain Institute. She most recently was U.S. ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons. WEEKEND WEDDING — Tanner Hishta, an analyst at the Defense Department, and Matthew Bishop, government relations manager at Austal USA, got married this weekend at Pohick Episcopal Church, with a reception at Army Navy Country Club. They met working on Capitol Hill in 2018. Pic … SPOTTED: John Hishta, Noah Yantis, Zach Weidlich, Matt Reed, Emma Cunningham, Mary Collins Howell, Katie Peake, Julia March, Nicholas March, Allison Brown, Scott Mason, Molly Vinesett, Miriam Fry, Jordan Howard and Elizabeth Bentler. BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): J. Miles Coleman at Sabato's Crystal Ball HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NBC's Frank Thorp … Reema Dodin … Holly Page … Miryam Lipper … Thomas Cluderay … NYT's Michelle Cottle and Kirsten Danis … Stratton Kirton … Loren Duggan … Ashe Schow … Lauren Nevin … Nicholas Ballasy … CNN's Eric Levenson … Victoria Buchanan … POLITICO's Maggie Miller, Pratyusha Sankuratri, James Bambara and Nicholas King … Rob Noel … Lisa Stark … Novartis' Nicole Longo … Jeff Freeland … Ashley Bender Spirn … Rusty Pickens … former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) … Chris Gowen … Holland & Knight's Scott Mason, celebrating with a rodeo and Darius Rucker show at the H&K partners meeting in San Antonio … Jenna Lee … Stephen Shapanka … Steve Kramer Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook: Trump's weird weekend
Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Good Tuesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, stuffed full of marionberry cobbler after a weekend on the magnificent Oregon coast. SO HOW WAS YOUR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND? Not as weird as Donald Trump's, I'll wager. Sometimes, it's helpful to take a step back and just … note what happened. On Saturday — as is traditional — the president delivered the annual commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Except most presidents would not don a baseball cap emblazoned with a political slogan and then veer off for the best part of an hour with a campaign-style rally speech attacking 'drag shows' and 'critical race theory,' complaining about their treatment by law enforcement and offering musings on — checks notes — 'trophy wives' to the watching cadets. On Sunday — less traditional, though becoming commonplace — Trump abruptly canned the 50 percent tariffs he'd announced barely 48 hours earlier on one of America's closest allies, the European Union. (The two sides now have six weeks to cut a deal.) A few hours later, Trump was tearing into Russian President Vladimir Putin for killing civilians in Ukraine, insisting that 'something has happened' to send his former friend 'CRAZY' … while ignoring the fact Putin has been doing exactly this for the past three years. Then on Monday — back to tradition — the president delivered a solemn Memorial Day tribute to the fallen at Arlington National Ceremony … except most presidents maybe don't get quite as political as he did. And they certainly don't precede the occasion with a 174-word ALL-CAPS social media post which starts 'HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY …' and takes in 'MENTALLY INSANE' migrants, 'WARPED RADICAL' Democrats and 'USA HATING' judges, among others. Finally, Trump wrapped the long weekend … by pardoning former Sheriff Scott Jenkins, of Virginia, who was facing 10 years in prison after being convicted by a jury of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes. (Jenkins blames a Joe Biden-appointed judge for his plight, and it seems the current president agrees.) Despite the jaw-dropping nature of this move, it will barely register in the context of the past six months of American politics. It's easy to get numb to all this stuff: But if we're going to (rightly) hammer much of the media for failing to cover Biden's decline when it was hiding in plain sight, it's probably also incumbent on us to keep on pointing out that weekends like this are, in a different way, also unimaginably far from traditional presidential behavior. Equally, Trump has (very publicly) acted like this for years — and won reelection without softening his edges. And for plenty of his supporters, this bewildering, careening, no-holds-barred approach to the presidency is entirely the point. It's certainly a spectacle. In today's Playbook … — The world holds its breath for Trump's next moves on Ukraine, Iran and Gaza. — Trade talks with Europe start in earnest after Trump's weekend whirlwind. — Dems try to drag themselves back into the game. Could Michigan be the place it all starts? DRIVING THE DAY THE SOUND OF SILENCE: There's nothing on Trump's public schedule today. The House and the Senate are out all week. People are only just trickling back to work in D.C. after the holiday weekend, battling through the lines last night at Dulles and National (pic). Beyond Trump's social media feed — which may erupt with news, or at least vitriol, periodically through the day — all the biggest things to watch for are in the realm of foreign affairs. ON UKRAINE: The world is waiting to see where Trump goes next after his angry attacks on Putin at the weekend. (Moscow yesterday dubbed Trump 'emotional,' per Semafor, which is unlikely to help.) The WSJ's Annie Linskey, Alex Ward and Josh Dawsey report Trump is now 'eyeing' new sanctions on Russia later this week, but has yet to make a final decision. 'Trump is also tiring of the peace negotiations and is considering abandoning them all together if a final push doesn't work,' the Journal's team reports. It could be the biggest thing to watch in the days ahead. But the big unanswered question remains: What does walking away actually mean? Walk away from peace talks — or walk away from Ukraine altogether? If they haven't already, things may come to a head when Trump meets Western allies at the annual NATO summit in The Hague next month. (The NYT's Steven Erlanger has a helpful preview.) NATO boss Mark Rutte rolled the pitch yesterday, predicting the summit will see all NATO members sign up to the president's astonishing stretch target of spending 5 percent of GDP on defense. Trump would surely see that as a massive win. ON IRAN: Various Trump administration officials have hinted for the past couple of weeks that the U.S. is on the verge of a new nuclear deal with Iran — and Trump himself said Sunday that he could have positive news 'over the next two days.' So keep a close eye out for that through the day. Another big unanswered question: How different will Trump's deal be to the Barack Obama-era agreement he scrapped? And how much has been gained by the hiatus? ON GAZA: The picture here is very confused, with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff attacking Hamas yesterday for a 'disappointing' response to his latest peace proposal, Axios' Barak Ravid reports. (Hamas actually claimed it accepted a peace deal — Israel and the U.S. say it has not.) The U.S. remains still locked in negotiations with both sides, but there's little sign of positive news. 'Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces are proceeding with an operation to displace all 2 million Palestinians in Gaza to a 'humanitarian zone' and flatten most of the enclave,' Ravid writes. And you know this already: But the stories coming out of the strip are harrowing. AND ON THE 51ST STATE: Fans of 'The Crown' can soak up scenes of pomp and ceremony north of the border today, with King Charles III in Ottawa for the formal opening of parliament. It's the first time since 1977 that a British monarch has visited Canada for the 'Speech from the Throne' (yes, of course they have a throne), and it's being seen as a stern reminder to a certain would-be-king down here in D.C. that Canada is a Commonwealth country with a very different history — and constitution — to the United States. Will Trump respond? The palace intrigue: So how did new Canadian PM Mark Carney bag a royal visit at such a sensitive time? Well — the fact his brother works as a courtier in Kensington Palace probably didn't hurt, per POLITICO's Annabelle Dickson and colleagues. TRADING PLACES SUCKS TO BE EU: Trade talks between the U.S. and EU should take on a fresh urgency this week after Trump's flash announcement of — and flash backtrack on — severe new tariffs for the bloc. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said he's in 'constant contact' with American officials after calls yesterday with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and USTR Jamieson Greer. But the mood music is not good: Europe is preparing countermeasures even as it hopes both sides will cut a deal to slash levies, POLITICO's Gregory Svirnovskiy reports, with one EU official deriding the latest developments as 'self-sabotaging drivel.' With the new July 9 deadline already looming, the Americans and Europeans retain deep disagreements over trade policy, NYT's Jeanna Smialek reports. Some small businesses in the U.S. are already staring down a difficult tariff-fueled choice: raise prices or swallow the financial hit, NBC's Kayla Steinberg reports. And this won't help: Bloomberg's Melissa Shin details how the GOP's draft reconciliation bill takes aim at nations like France and other U.S. allies who have imposed 'digital services taxes,' which Republicans view as unfair. New British Ambassador Peter Mandelson will look to build bridges with a call at the Atlantic Council at 9 a.m. to 'Make Alliances Great Again,' urging stronger economic security, deeper tech co-development and expanded European militaries as a bulwark against Chinese tech dominance. Speaking of which: China's next five-year plan for its economy may run counter to U.S. hopes for a rebalancing of trade patterns between the two nations, Bloomberg reports. President Xi Jinping's administration is weighing a 'made in China' blueprint that emphasizes homegrown manufacturing of technologies like semiconductor chips. On the other hand, a big new NYT report from across the Asia-Pacific notes China's soft underbelly in the ongoing talks with the U.S. — the threat of losing vast numbers of jobs if tariffs are reinstalled. OUT OF THE WILDERNESS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: As Democrats search for a way back to power, those in southern states say the party has to get better at connecting with working-class voters on the economy and the border, POLITICO's Liz Crampton reports. — One potential model: Though Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer drew ire from many national Democrats for her recent Oval Office appearance and willingness to work with Trump where their interests overlap, a new polling memo from Impact Research shows her with a healthy 63 percent job approval rating among Michigan voters. Read the memo The talk of Mackinac: Whitmer's pragmatic approach to Trump is sure to be one of the buzziest topics of conversation today as the annual Mackinac Policy Conference gets underway in Michigan. Playbook's Zack Stanton and Adam Wren will be on the Island this week to take in the scene as Dems' path forward in the battleground state takes center stage. Among the storylines they're watching: The brewing marquee Senate primary (Rep. Haley Stevens vs. state Sen. Mallory McMorrow vs. Bernie-endorsed Abdul El-Sayed vs. former state House Speaker Joe Tate), which offers a major test for the direction of the Democratic Party … and the machinations of the gubernatorial race, in which longtime Democratic Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's switch to run statewide as an independent will likely help him garner more support as the Democratic Party's national image continues to suffer. Shadow dance: Indeed, with the party out of power in Washington and still in a state of post-election disarray, Democrats are struggling to cut through at a national level. But POLITICO Magazine's Bill Scher has a fun thought experiment: What if the party created a U.K.-style 'shadow Cabinet' to lead different messaging and coordinate a response to Trump? Think Mary Barra for Energy, Jon Stewart for VA, Gisele Fetterman for DHS, Ben Stein for SBA, Samantha Power for State and more. Back in the real world … It will be a series of hard-fought primaries — starting next month and running through to 2028 — that will be pivotal to the party's direction. New Jersey's gubernatorial primary is now just two weeks away, and POLITICO's Daniel Han taps into a contradiction from frontrunner Rep. Mikie Sherrill. She's framing her bid as a change candidacy, but she has fundamentally embraced incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy's agenda and 'is running the most traditional machine campaign possible.' Five other candidates have splintered the opposition. Two weeks later … Comes the NYC mayoral primary, where the only question is whether anyone can stop Andrew Cuomo. The left's last best hope is that an endorsement by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez transforms the dynamic — but time for her to back Zohran Mamdani or Brad Lander is running short, N.Y. Mag's David Freedlander reports. As for 2026: One of the most prominent Democrats in the country, Kamala Harris, is expected to decide about a California gubernatorial bid this summer. State Republicans are now hoping she runs, POLITICO's Jeremy White reports, viewing her as saddled with baggage and an opportunity to energize their voters. Another Democratic contender, Antonio Villaraigosa, has shifted away from his history of climate advocacy to take in significant oil-industry money, the L.A. Times' Seema Mehta and Laura Nelson report. … And for your radar: Former The Hill reporter Hanna Trudo has decided against a progressive congressional bid in New Hampshire. And as for 2028: Rahm Emanuel continues to make noises about running for president, saying he wants to move Democrats to the center with economically populist — not 'woke' — messaging, WSJ's John McCormick reports. A bid for Illinois governor is also not off the table. BEST OF THE REST IMMIGRATION FILES: Since the start of the year, more than 10,000 would-be immigrants (almost all Venezuelans) have reversed course and gotten boats from Panama to Colombia, NYT's Annie Correal reports (from on board one such vessel). Their willingness to undertake a potentially life-threatening journey — for the second time — highlights just how far Trump has transformed the border debate in a few short months. THE DEPORTATION DOLLAR: WSJ's Elizabeth Findell and colleagues have an illuminating breakdown of how many different companies profit from just one person's deportation. And AP's Joshua Goodman dives into the complicated South Florida politics of the growing crackdown on Cuban immigrants. SCHOOL TIES: Trump keeps escalating his fight against Harvard. His latest Truth Social salvo — one of several fired at the Ivy League uni over the holiday weekend — saw the president floating the idea of redirecting $3 billion in frozen federal grants to trade schools. It's not yet clear how serious the idea is, or how he'd accomplish it. But we're bound to hear more soon enough. INCOMING: FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced the bureau is reopening or ramping up three investigations into topics that have long been hot on the right: the 2021 pipe bombs planted near the DNC and RNC; POLITICO's 2022 mega-scoop disclosing the Supreme Court draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade; and the bag of cocaine discovered at the White House in 2023. More from CBS ANOTHER INSTITUTION UNDER ATTACK: 'GOP declares war on GAO,' by POLITICO's Jennifer Scholtes and colleagues: 'The independent Government Accountability Office has served Congress as the nation's chief investigator of wrongdoing at federal agencies for more than a century. Now it's under assault. The typically uncontroversial, under-the-radar agency is fighting to retain power against attempts by Republicans in the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill to undercut its legal conclusions and independence — an onslaught that has been fast and furious.' ALL THAT GLITTERS: With the super-rich having amassed a greater share of America's wealth than during the Gilded Age, The New Yorker's Evan Osnos takes a scalpel to concerns about oligarchy and corruption under Trump. The article includes this startling claim, which takes pay-to-play to a whole new level: People can secure individual conversations with Trump by donating $5 million to his super PAC MAGA Inc. BUT BUT BUT: Some of the crypto billionaires who bought a ton of Trump memecoins to bag a seat at last week's controversial dinner at Trump's golf club were not exactly impressed with what they got. Some said they found Trump's speech 'inspiring,' per this glorious color write-up in Wired, but others complained about the brevity of his speech, the lack of direct access to Trump and even the quality of the meal. SPEAKING OF CRYPTO: 'Trump media group plans to raise $3bn to spend on cryptocurrencies,' by FT's Antoine Gara and colleagues: 'Trump Media & Technology Group, which is behind the Truth Social app and controlled by the president's family, aims to raise $2bn in fresh equity and another $1bn via a convertible bond … TMTG's capital raising could be announced ahead of a big meeting of crypto investors and advocates in Las Vegas this week.' TALK OF THE TOWN IN MEMORIAM — 'Charles B. Rangel, Longtime Harlem Congressman, Dies at 94,' by NYT's Sam Roberts: He 'became the first Black chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, only to relinquish that position when he was censured for an ethics violation … A mainstay of Harlem's Democratic old guard, Mr. Rangel was first elected to Congress in 1970 … Mr. Rangel retired in 2016 after winning a 23rd term despite the ethics allegation — making him the ninth-longest continuously serving member of the House in American history. In 2000, he was instrumental in persuading Hillary Clinton to enter electoral politics.' SCENE SETTER — 'Members Only: A New Trump Club, Ned's Club and the Enduring Old Guard,' by NYT's Elisabeth Bumiller: 'In a 2025 Washington firebombed by political and ideological differences, [Executive Branch, Ned's Club, Metropolitan Club and Cosmos Club] are growing, have wait lists or both. While they have varied levels of snobbery and exclusivity, Executive Branch is an outlier because of the price [up to $500,000] of its access to the White House and its enrichment of the Trump family. But all four clubs reflect the sorting of the city's establishment into separate corners at a turbulent time.' TRANSITIONS — Sarah Flaim is now head of congressional affairs at Forterra. She most recently was a managing director at DCI Group, and is a Hill alum. … Jared Henderson is now a director of government affairs at Growth Energy. He previously was senior policy adviser for Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.). WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Andy Flick, a principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs and a Kamala Harris alum, and David Ochsman, a VP at Compass, got married in a small ceremony Friday in Montgomery County, Maryland. They met in D.C. 14 years ago at a cocktail party. Pic — Melissa Byars, an assistant solicitor in South Carolina's 11th Circuit Solicitor's Office, and Johnathan Moon, an attorney with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, got married on the lawn at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island on Saturday. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) officiated. The couple met in law school at the University of South Carolina. Pic … SPOTTED: Reps. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) and William Timmons (R-S.C.), Ellen Weaver, Matt Orr, Kevin Walling and Alex Stroman, Hope Walker Rossi, Megan McKinley and Malcolm McMillan, Van Hipp, Matt Moore, Frances Scott, Angela McCallum and Phillip Habib. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Alma Adams (D-N.C.) … David Plouffe … NYT's Campbell Robertson and Noam Scheiber … former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) … Andrew Harnik … former Reps. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) … Benny Johnson … POLITICO's Cy Zaneski … Devan Barber … Kat Dimenstein of General Atomics … Andrew Overton … Rasheedah Thomas Ballou of Emerald Digital Solutions … Drew Cole … Brigid Schulte of New America … PhRMA's Andrew Powaleny … Kelsey Baron … Jenny Sheffield Drucker … Donni Turner of Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-Colo.) office … Thalia Assuras … Cynthia McFadden … Stefanie Weishaupt Prelesnik Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
