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Politico
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Bending, breaking, yielding
Presented by The American Council of Life Insurers With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Good Sunday afternoon. Happy Mother's Day. It's Adam Wren. Get in touch. DRIVING THE DAY President Donald Trump campaigned as a leader who would 'never give in,' 'never give up,' 'never back down,' not to mention one who promised to 'NEVER QUIT,' 'NEVER BEND,' 'NEVER BREAK,' and 'NEVER YIELD.' And yet in recent days, Trump and his administration officials have done nearly all of those things on any number of issues, foreign and domestic. Abroad, amid a historic conflagration between India and Pakistan, Vice President JD Vance said on Fox News just days ago the conflict was 'fundamentally none of our business.' Yet less than 24 hours later, Vance and Secretary of State (and national security adviser) Marco Rubio found themselves enmeshed in the kind of American interventionism of which MAGA has expressed skepticism and even disdain. Call it a bend — one that took place, of course, amid a nuclear threat. 'What drove Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio into action was evidence that the Pakistani and Indian Air Forces had begun to engage in serious dogfights, and that Pakistan had sent 300 to 400 drones into Indian territory to probe its air defenses,' the NYT's David Sanger, Julian Barnes and Maggie Haberman write. 'But the most significant causes for concern came late Friday, when explosions hit the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the garrison city adjacent to Islamabad.' Across the globe, Trump is now frustrated with his own efforts at ending the Russia-Ukraine war, something he promised to do 'on day one,' though he now says he was joking, as WSJ's Josh Dawsey and Alex Ward write. Yielding: Closer to home, in his Oval Office meeting on Tuesday with Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said in response to Trump's effort to make the nation the 51st state that, 'As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale.' Trump yielded, saying 'that's true.' Backing down: The same day, Trump withdrew the nomination of Ed Martin, a longtime champion of accused Jan. 6 rioters, to be the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. He backed down. Bending: On Friday, Trump again all but backed down on his ''TINY' tax increase for the RICH,' conceding that 'Republicans should probably not do it, but I'm OK if they do!!!' Certainly a bend, if not a break. Now … Trump faces a question of whether to bend, break or yield on one of his signature campaign promises: No taxes on tips. The early version of the tax bill released by House Republicans on Friday — and due for a committee vote on Tuesday — did not include the proposal at all. (More on that below.) WHAT ELSE IS ON THE HORIZON … Expect to hear a whole lot about this: ABC's Jonathan Karl and Katherine Faulders have the buzziest article of the morning: President Trump is poised to accept a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar as a kind of Air Force One in what looks to be the most valuable foreign gift to the U.S. ever. It will be available for use by President Trump 'until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation,' ABC reports. Is that legal? The 'White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library,' per ABC. The gift is expected to be announced in the coming week, as Trump visits the Middle East. Speaking of … Trip preview: Tomorrow, the president embarks on a four-day trip, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. But don't expect it to be heavy on geopolitics, write WaPo's Michael Birnbaum and Matt Viser: Trump's focus is on business deals. SUNDAY BEST … — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, on air safety and America's air traffic control system, on NBC's 'Meet the Press': 'The lights are blinking, the sirens are turning … because what you see in Newark is gonna happen in other places across the country.' — Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova on Trump's Truth Social post that it's a 'potentially great day' for Russia and Ukraine, on ABC's 'This Week': 'Any day potentially could be a great day. And we have heard loud and clear from President Trump that ceasefires should be full and unconditional. ... Nobody wants peace more than Ukraine. The question of the day is whether Russia wants it, because today, 108 Shahed drones again hit residential areas in Kyiv Oblast.' … On Trump and Zelenskyy's relationship: 'We will focus on the future. And sometimes friends can disagree. But that's [a] disagreement among friends. We all have the same goals of sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, as we have heard from our leadership and your leadership.' — Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, on NBC's 'Meet the Press': 'The killing needs to stop. And I think the 30-day ceasefire is something that Putin needs to accept. Look, a longstanding peace in that part of the world between Ukraine and Russia … is going to be good for Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and the United States. And we wouldn't be in this position if we'd had a strong leader previously.' — Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on whether she'd run for president again, on NBC's 'Meet the Press': 'I am focused on my job right now. I'm third in leadership in the Senate, and we have a lot to do, and that means making sure people have got their Medicaid, their Social Security and taking on these Trump tariffs that are hurting the American people and our economy and not helping small businesses. I want a better America, and I just don't think that's how we're going to get there with this president.' TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week's must-read opinion pieces. 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. THE TRADE WAR: The second day of talks between top Chinese and U.S. officials is underway in Geneva, where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in an effort to decrease tensions between the two economic powers. The readout from Day One: Yesterday, the group met for around eight hours. Neither side commented on 'the substance of the discussions nor signalled any specific progress towards reducing steep trade barriers,' as Reuters reports. But President Trump took to Truth Social to declare that a 'total reset' of the U.S.-China relationship had been negotiated 'in a friendly, but constructive, manner.' He did not offer specifics. What Trump is thinking: 'Trump has opened the door for lower tariffs. He said in recent days that they couldn't get much higher than the current 145%, so that it was likely they would eventually come down,' writes WSJ's Brian Schwartz. 'And Friday, he suggested lowering tariffs to 80%. … Some administration officials viewed Trump's 80% idea as a public message to encourage Bessent to try to get closer to completing an arrangement that would lower China's tariff rate to around 80%.' Are Trump's tariffs making money? That's the big question behind a useful new interactive project from POLITICO. As of May 8, the U.S. has generated $46.6 billion this year from tariffs, according to Treasury Department data. That's 46.3% more than the same time last year, but massively short of the amount of money that would be needed to replace the revenue generated by income taxes ($2.4 trillion in 2024), as Trump administration officials argue is possible. 2. RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST: Yesterday, 'Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, 'without preconditions,'' report AP's Samya Kullab and Joanna Kozlowska. This morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 'responded cautiously,' NYT's Andrew Kramer reports: He called the interest in talks a 'positive sign,' but insists on an immediate ceasefire as a precondition. Why now? 'The back and forth … came after the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Poland visited Kyiv and announced a Monday deadline for Russia to accept a 30-day cease-fire or face additional sanctions,' per the Times. 'The European leaders, who spoke by phone from Kyiv on Saturday with President Trump, said that the United States would also impose sanctions on Russia if Mr. Putin did not agree to a truce.' Related read: 'Russia and North Korea Turn Their War Alliance Into a Propaganda Tool,' by WSJ's Dasl Yoon and Jane Lytvynenko 3. PLAN OF A TAX: House Republicans are likely to release the final details of their tax bill tomorrow afternoon ahead of a Tuesday debate and vote by the Ways and Means Committee. But based on the partial text — the so-called 'skinny' version of the bill — released on Friday evening, we're getting a good sense of some of the potential political upsides and downsides. The political upsides: 'The first public version of Republicans' long-awaited tax bill aims to put more money in Americans' pockets quickly in early 2026,' WSJ's Richard Rubin writes. It would up the standard deduction for individuals (currently $15,000) by $1,000, and for married couples ($30,000) by $2,000. The maximum child tax credit would increase to $2,500 from $2,000. The timing: 'Those changes would mean that many taxpayers who don't change their withholding would see larger-than-expected refunds in spring 2026,' which is obviously convenient timing ahead of the midterm elections. The political downside: This plan would 'cost nearly $5 trillion, according to a new estimate from Congress's nonpartisan tax scorekeeper,' as POLITICO's Benjamin Guggenheim reports. That price tag 'far exceeds what is permitted by the budget resolution Republicans adopted earlier this year,' which allows for up to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, contingent on $2 trillion in accompanying spending offsets. Seem like important omissions: This version of the tax bill does not include Trump's promise to eliminate taxes on tips … nor the higher 'state and local tax deduction prized by blue state Republicans in swing districts' … nor does it make any 'mention of the expensive business provisions that Republicans want to restore.' 4. 2028 WATCH: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) headlined a town hall in Pennsylvania's Bucks County yesterday, a move that has prompted speculation that he could be interested in a future presidential bid. But the headlines that emerged from his swing through the swing state were less about his own political future than the present-day challenges of the Democratic Party … The Fetterman angle: 'Gallego said Republicans are trying to pull John Fetterman to the right and argued Democrats should keep the Pennsylvania senator in their corner as he faces mounting questions over his health and shifting political persona,' POLITICO's Holly Otterbein reports. ''There needs to be space for Fetterman and for other senators in our caucus,' he said in an interview Saturday. 'He still is a senator that fights for working-class people. We may not be 100 percent in agreement a lot of times in a lot of areas, but we don't have to be.'' The party's problems: 'What happened [in] the last election is that we got so pure, and we kept so pure that we started kicking people out of the tent,' Gallego said, per CBS News' Anne Bryson. 'It ends up there aren't enough people in the tent to win elections. … We did this to ourselves.' As for his own future: 'Gallego said he's focused on his first term as a senator and being a good father as his wife is pregnant with a boy due next month,' WaPo's Sabrina Rodriguez writes. 'But he acknowledged he has not ruled out running for president and has fielded calls from some influential Democrats asking him to consider it. 'Babies get older,' Gallego said.' 5. IN A BOX TO THE LEFT: Some Democrats are desperately pushing to move on from former President Joe Biden after their devastating 2024 election losses, but as the party works to rebrand, Biden's public emergence remains 'an unavoidable subject' for many, POLITICO's Brakkton Booker reports: 'The former president's allies are bracing for the potential release of audio of Biden's interview with Robert Hur … That's in addition to an upcoming book by two high-profile journalists that promises to shed light on Biden's decision to run for reelection … For many Democrats, both events are dredging up past problems — not just around Biden's age, but also inflation and the party's handling of cultural issues.' Tell me how you really feel: 'It's time for Joe Biden to go away with all due respect and let the next generation of Democrats take the mantle,' says Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha. 'Every time he appears on a show or says something, it's just another week or a month that we have to defend him and remind everybody that we got beat by Donald Trump, again.' Adds Andrew Heaton, a Georgia-based Democratic strategist: 'The last thing we want is anything that's going to feed it to the naysayers who are going to point to see: 'once again, it was a big cover up in the party.' 6. SPEAKING UP: Rümeysa Öztürk made her first public comments yesterday after her release on Friday from federal custody. In a news conference at Boston's Logan airport, the Turkish grad student at Tufts — whose authorship of an op-ed critical of the university's response to the war in Gaza led to the Trump administration detaining her and revoking her visa — struck a hopeful tone, GBH News' Sarah Betancourt reports. 'America is the greatest democracy in the world, and I believe in those values that we share. I have faith in the American system of justice,' said Öztürk. What's next: 'Even with her release, Öztürk's immigration removal case will continue, as will the habeas case disputing her arrest,' Betancourt writes. First in Playbook — Elsewhere in the free speech fight: In a letter first shared with Playbook this morning, more than 300 nonprofits are joining together to push back on the attacks on Harvard University's tax-exempt status. 'No president, whether this one or a future one, should have the power to punish private nonprofit organizations because he disagrees with them, the signatories, which include the likes of American Oversight, PEN America and . 'If just one president weaponizes the government and abuses this power, no American's political views will be protected from government retribution from that moment forward. Just as Americans must be free to attend places of worship and to vote, they must also be free to express their views.' Read the full letter 7. AN OPENING FOR DEMS: 'Trump Is Reaching Into Parents' Lives. Can Democrats Capitalize?' by NYT's Katie Glueck: 'The prices of strollers and car seats are skyrocketing as companies race to adjust to President Trump's tariff policies. Federal support for a major campaign to promote safe infant sleep habits appears to have been cut. Measles outbreaks are terrifying parents of young children, even as the nation's health secretary undermines vaccines. The Trump administration's policies are reaching ever deeper into the lives of American families, transforming routine and apolitical parts of some parents' days — trips to the pediatrician, conversations at swim classes, chatter on online baby gear forums — into scenes of anxiety and anger. For a Democratic Party still searching for its strongest message amid the upheavals of the second Trump term, the politics of parenting offer a telling test case: Can Democrats persuade voters that this White House is making their lives harder?' 8. MUSK READ: 'Elon Musk's regulatory troubles have begun to melt away in Trump's second term,' by NBC News' David Ingram: 'In the past few months, Trump's Justice Department has dropped a case against Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, and his Labor Department has canceled a planned civil rights review of his automaker, Tesla. … And in more than 40 other federal agency matters, regulators have taken no public action on their investigations for several months or more — raising questions about whether those cases may have become dormant.' 9. WHAT EMBASSY ROW IS READING: 'To Dominate the Arctic, Trump Needs Ice-Breaking Ships. Finland Wants to Help,' by WSJ's Daniel Michaels: 'Icebreakers are purpose-built, which drives up costs. Only a few are produced worldwide annually, and they can last half a century. … Finland learned to make icebreakers out of necessity because much of its trade with the West is via the Baltic Sea — one of the world's busiest waterways but the only crowded one that routinely ices up.' TALK OF THE TOWN D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is the latest political leader to see their popularity rebound dramatically in the Trump 2.0 era, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Former Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) … Resident Commissioner Pablo Hernández Rivera (D-Puerto Rico) … Justin Vail … Karen Skelton … David Castagnetti … Sarah Schmidt … Bethany Little … Angie Alfonso-Royals … José Cunningham … Matt VanHyfte of the House Energy and Commerce GOP … GMMB's Danny Jester … Logan Gibson of Booz Allen Hamilton … Patrick Kane of MPA … Microsoft's Fred Humphries … retired Gen. John Kelly … former Reps. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) and David Young (R-Iowa) … Alex Dease … Michael Pregent … POLITICO's Allison Davis, Haley Siddall and Parker Collins … State Department's Chris Landberg … Alden Schacher … Altana's Daniel Nasaw … Andrew Binns … Alex Wagner … George Hadijski … Cami Connor … Jo Ling Kent … Time's Olivia Waxman … DAGA's Emily Trifone … Austin Stevens of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's office … Bloomberg's Tonya Riley … Brian Walsh of UnitedHealth Group … Julie Trute of Liberty Mutual … Chris Gustafson … Austin Cantrell … Ian Gray … Alex Lange of Trident GMG 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 and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The week the 2026 midterms began
Presented by The American Council of Life Insurers With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Good Saturday morning. It's Adam Wren. Get in touch. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that 'India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE' ending the most significant conflagration between the nuclear neighbors in decades. 'Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!' VP JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio 'engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and Asim Malik,' Rubio said in a statement. India's foreign minister contradicted Rubio, according to the NYT, saying the two nations negotiated the ceasefire apart from the U.S. DRIVING THE DAY Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced yesterday evening that she was ruling out a Senate bid, saying she 'won't fight for a team that refuses to win, that protects its weakest players, and that undermines the very people it's supposed to serve.' A few days earlier, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he would do the same. Greene, who had previously said she was weighing a Senate and gubernatorial bid in addition to keeping her House seat, did not take a bid for governor off the table. Almost immediately, national and Georgia Democrats began licking their chops about an MTG gubernatorial campaign. Even before the announcement, Democrats saw the swing state as their best pickup option. Their thinking: An MTG campaign throws a wrench in a primary between sitting AG Chris Carr and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is expected to get in any week. Kemp is term-limited — his brand of GOP politics is literally off the ballot. Democratic contenders include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and state Sen. Jason Esteves, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'Marjorie Taylor Greene just ruined the RGA's weekend,' Kevin Donohoe, a spokesperson with DGA, told Playbook. 'Georgia Republicans were already staring down a nasty yearlong primary that would leave whoever emerged as the nominee badly damaged and out of touch with voters. Now with Marjorie Taylor Greene hovering above it all, things have gone from bad to worse.' The Republican Governors Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the same time this week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced his campaign team ahead of what threatens to be a brutal primary with AG Ken Paxton. Elsewhere, Future Forward, the super PAC that raised $900 million for Kamala Harris last year, resurfaced with a conference and an agenda that read, 'The best way to stop Donald Trump at the federal level is to win control of the House of Representatives in 2026.' Taken together, the moves were some of the first dominoes to fall ahead of the 2026 midterms — and come the week the starting gun for those races sounded. THE LANDSCAPE: Republicans' prospects next November are top of mind for Trump, who posted on Truth Social a number of endorsements yesterday. That's not to mention his contention that a 'TINY' tax hike for the 'rich' could cost his party, posting, 'Republicans should probably not do it, but I'm OK if they do!!!' CAMPAIGNER-IN-CHIEF: All of that is the mood music playing beneath our colleague Rachael Bade's newsy column this morning looking at how Trump's 'midterm obsession is also hovering over Capitol Hill as GOP lawmakers try to write his sprawling domestic policy agenda into law.' 'On issue after issue, Trump appears to sympathize with swing-district moderates — the 'majority makers' whose races will decide the majority,' Rachael writes. 'Trump and his aides have pushed back on steep cuts to Medicaid in part because the politics stink. They've given a wide berth to blue-state Republicans who are pushing to raise the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes — a policy Trump signed in 2017 that helped sink him in suburban districts a year later.' Part of it, Rachel notes, is Trump's 'love of the game.' But for a president who has weathered all manner of investigations and two impeachments, there's something more realpolitik: He is 'deeply motivated by his desire to avoid suffering through dozens of new investigations and a third potential impeachment,' she writes. ON OFFENSE: As one Trump adviser put it, Trump is finally playing the long game. 'We think we can have four years,' this person told Rachael, capturing the attitude inside Trump's political shop. 'We reject the defeatist attitude of operating from the perspective that this is our only shot and we only got two years.' FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: DNC Chair Ken Martin named New York state Sen. James Skoufis, his former rival in the chair race, to the DNC's 'People's Cabinet,' with a focus on engaging and energizing young, rural, union and red state voters. 'While the Trump administration stacks his cabinet with billionaire donors and Fox News hosts, Democrats are holding them accountable for their attacks on working families with real champions for the people,' Martin said in a statement. 'Senator Skoufis is a strong, emerging voice on issues that reach important parts of our coalition — from young voters to former Republicans who are sickened by what their party has become — and we look forward to amplifying his leadership as part of our People's Cabinet.' 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. IMMIGRATION FILES: As the Trump administration continues to search for ways to deny due process rights to immigrants, Trump and top officials are seriously considering suspending habeas corpus, CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Samantha Waldenberg and Tierney Sneed report. That would essentially allow the administration to sidestep the courts in rapidly pursuing deportations, a rare step used only during wartime or invasion — despite U.S. intelligence evidence showing that the presence of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua doesn't constitute an invasion, and judges rejecting that idea, contrary to officials' claims. Suspending habeas corpus, as Stephen Miller floated, would likely require congressional approval and certainly face legal challenges. Slippery slope: Judges are warning that the Trump administration's efforts to deny immigrants due process 'could easily expand to other groups, including Americans,' POLITICO's Kyle Cheney reports. A growing number of jurists have framed this fight as existential for Americans' fundamental rights, as well as those of immigrants. The crackdown continues: Trump told DHS last night to add 20,000 more deportation officers, which 'would lead to an enormous expansion of immigration enforcement,' though it's uncertain where the money to more than quadruple that force would come from, NYT's Hamed Aleaziz reports. Nonetheless, the Trump administration is planning to selectively restart refugee admissions only for white South Africans, roughly 60 of whom will be brought to the U.S. on Monday, per WaPo's Teo Armus. It's an extraordinary effort to prioritize people Trump says have suffered anti-white discrimination, though U.N. data show no South Africans met its refugee criteria last year, and the U.S. system remains closed to people fleeing war. The latest flashpoint: ICE arrested Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka, charging him with trespassing as he protested an immigration detention site, POLITICO's Ry Rivard, Daniel Han and Josh Gerstein report from Newark. Their account from the scene contradicts some Republican claims about Baraka's behavior. He was later released. (Politically, this is a fight that both Trump and Baraka, who's running for governor, might like to have.) Today, DHS' Tricia McLaughlin claimed to CNN's Victor Blackwell that 'we actually have body-camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body-slamming a female ICE officer' — and she said arrests of members might follow. More from the courts: A federal judge said a Trump executive order aiming to choke off federal funding to sanctuary cities could be legitimate if the money is directly connected to those policies — but would be unconstitutional if it targeted other funds, per Reuters' Nate Raymond. 2. THE DISMANTLING OF GOVERNMENT: A federal judge yesterday blocked sweeping layoffs across much of the government, though it's only a two-week pause, per the AP. She found that the reductions in force likely require seeking the consent of Congress, though the president does have the authority to transform the executive branch. Major departments affected include Agriculture, Energy, Labor, Interior, State, Treasury and the VA. The cuts continue: The White House fired three Democratic commissioners on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, essentially paralyzing the independent consumer watchdog agency as Trump seeks to take it apart, Consumer Reports' Lauren Kirchner scooped. Advocates said the move was illegal and jeopardized the bipartisan agency's lifesaving work. Meanwhile, new acting FEMA leader David Richardson issued a brash declaration to staff that he would temporarily take over every decision at the agency, including on spending, and 'run right over' anyone who opposed him, Reuters' Leah Douglas and Nathan Layne scooped. That sparked fears that disaster aid could be dramatically slowed. In the DOGE house: NYT's David Fahrenthold and Jeremy Singer-Vine find that $220 million of the money that the Department of Government Efficiency claims to have saved has actually been resurrected — 'zombie contracts.' Federal spending and deficits are actually up this year overall, WaPo's Jacob Bogage notes. 3. SHOCKER: 'Trump Promised to End Two Wars Quickly. In Private, He Admits He's Frustrated,' by WSJ's Josh Dawsey and Alex Ward: 'When President Trump spoke to a room of top donors at his Florida club last week, he described ending Russia's war in Ukraine as a growing frustration that keeps him up at night … Russian President Vladimir Putin was particularly tough to negotiate with, and wanted 'the whole thing,' Trump said, referring to Ukraine … The war in Gaza was also notably challenging, Trump told the crowd. … Trump is finding solving the world's problems more difficult than he had thought.' 4. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: An early draft of the House Ways and Means reconciliation bill text includes some notable efforts to bolster the Child Tax Credit and increase the standard deduction for couples, per the WSJ. Those could both benefit average Americans, running counter to objections that the legislation overall primarily helps the wealthy, and give people quick payouts by early next year. It does not include raising taxes on the highest earners. But some of the most controversial provisions — like the state and local tax deduction, clean energy tax credits, and ending taxes on tips or overtime pay — haven't been ironed out yet. Clock's ticking: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the 'X-date' by which the U.S. must raise the debt ceiling or risk default will likely come in August, urging lawmakers to increase the limit by mid-July, per CNN. That amounts to a clearer deadline for the reconciliation bill. 5. GOP VS. CIVIL SOCIETY: Republicans may also use the reconciliation bill to take aim at institutions disfavored by Trump. One idea would skyrocket taxes on university endowments, which could seriously hurt wealthy schools that have lately been targeted by the president, Bloomberg's Nancy Cook and Erik Wasson report. Another would slap a major investment income tax on private foundations, like Gates and Rockefeller, as Republicans have increasingly criticized some of these large philanthropic organizations, POLITICO's Benjamin Guggenheim reports. Fighting back: An array of politically diverse major foundations are working together to try to resist any potential effort to strip their tax-exempt status, WSJ's Juliet Chung and Emily Glazer scooped. 6. THE COMING FIGHT IN CONGRESS: 'CBO: Letting Affordable Care Act subsidies expire would lead to millions losing coverage,' by POLITICO's Ben Leonard: 'The new findings by the nonpartisan congressional scorekeeper … determined that making the so-called enhanced premium tax credits permanent would cost more than $350 billion over a decade. The flip side, however, is that [not doing so] would result in close to 4 million fewer people having health insurance.' 7. FOR YOUR RADAR: 'Pentagon considers shifting Greenland to US Northern Command, sparking concerns over Trump's ambitions for the territory,' by CNN's Katie Bo Lillis and Natasha Bertrand: 'Trump administration officials are weighing a change that would shift responsibility for US security interests in Greenland to the military command that oversees America's homeland defense, underscoring the president's focus on the strategically important territory that he has repeatedly said he wants to acquire … On its face, the idea of putting Greenland under NORTHCOM authority makes some logical sense given it is part of the North American continent, though politically and culturally, it is associated with Europe.' 8. PETE HEGSETH'S WAR: The Pentagon issued a new memo ordering a purge of all library books touching on diversity or gender issues, per the AP. Military leaders have less than two weeks to execute this 'broadest and most detailed directive so far.' 9. ANOTHER TOUGH JOHN FETTERMAN STORY: 'An isolated John Fetterman clashes with colleagues and staff as he skips his Senate duties,' by NBC's Allan Smith, Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V: 'In the run-up to the vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., knew her party had a problem … [Fetterman] was open to confirming President Donald Trump's embattled pick … So she reached out to set up a time [to talk]. … But Fetterman refused … [T]hose familiar with Fetterman say he has often neglected the duties of his job since being elected, rarely making appearances for noncampaign events in his home state, regularly missing committee hearings, bill mark-ups and votes.' The response: 'In a comment for this article, Fetterman did not address missing so many committee hearings but said of votes last year: 'Everything in 2024 was about the election.'' CLICKER — 'The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics,' edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies GREAT WEEKEND READS: — 'Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College,' by N.Y. Mag's James Walsh: 'ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project.' — 'Rise of the Crypto Keepers,' by Jacob Silverman in The Nation: 'The promoters of scam currency spent more money than any other group in 2024. They're now realizing a massive return on investment in Donald Trump's White House.' — 'Lawyers Are Quoting $1 Million in Fees to Get Pardons to Trump,' by Bloomberg's Ava Benny-Morrison and Bill Allison: 'One pardon recipient recalls the president telling him, 'You're cleaner than a baby's bottom.'' — 'Jim Banks: A Trade Warrior After Trump's Own Heart,' by RealClearPolitics' Philip Wegmann: — 'Inside the life of a 24/7 streamer: 'What more do you want?'' by WaPo's Drew Harwell in Austin: 'A lonely young woman in Texas has streamed every second of her life for three years and counting. Is this life, or a performance of one?' — 'How the Most Remote Community in America Gets Its Mail,' by The Atlantic's Sarah Yager: 'Transporting letters and packages to the village of Supai requires a feat of logistics, horsemanship, and carefully placed hooves.' TALK OF THE TOWN OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Global Situation Room's 10th-anniversary celebration at the American Psychological Association rooftop: Isabel Casillas Guzman, Brett Bruen, Emma Belcher, Beth Nardi, Cameron Hume, Phil Lewis, Pierre Mejlak, Jane Plitt, Julian Ramirez, Marc Ross, John Simon, Andy Van Pachtenbeke, Kate Ackley, Kimberly Adams, Francesca Chambers and Stephanie Dhue. TRANSITION — Rob Silvers is now co-chair of the national security practice and a partner at Ropes & Gray. He previously was undersecretary for policy at DHS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) … Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) … Howard Ou … Punchbowl's Andrew Desiderio … Daniel Watson … Jonathan Powell of the Motion Picture Association … Bloomberg's Craig Gordon and Jorja Siemons … N.Y. Mag's Gabe Debenedetti … Stan Greenberg of Greenberg Research … POLITICO's Mike Lee, Christine Mui and Ariel Wittenberg … Finch Fulton … American Forest and Paper Association's Fara Sonderling … Doug Farrar … CNN's Jeremy Herb … Chris Tuttle … WaPo's Vineet Khosla … Gary Goldberg of Dentons … Clarence Tong … Andrew Card … Mercatus Center's Veronique de Rugy … Brad Bannon … Maggie Karchmer of Wiley Rein … Rachel Drian … Adam Janofsky … Tim Powderly of Apple … Ian O'Keefe … Grant Cummings … former Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) … Terry Holt … former Rep. Steve Gunderson (R-Wis.) … Meredith Dodson of the Coalition on Human Needs … Melissa Frankel THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): MSNBC 'The Weekend': Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear … Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) … Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka … Mitch Landrieu. Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett … Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) … Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) … Maria Corina Machado … Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano. CNN 'State of the Union': Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick … Chris Sununu and Rahm Emanuel. Panel: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Brad Todd, Xochitl Hinojosa and Kristen Soltis Anderson. CBS 'Face the Nation': Scott Kirby … New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham … Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) … Cardinal Blase Cupich … British Ambassador Peter Mandelson … Sam Rose. NBC 'Meet the Press': Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy … Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Matt Gorman, Sahil Kapur, Carol Lee and Neera Tanden. NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) … Mitch Landrieu … Tim Carney. Panel: Tamara Keith, Megan McArdle, Margaret Talev and Ian Swanson. 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 and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Corrections: Yesterday's Playbook misspelled Samira Gharaei's and Robert Allbritton's names. It also misstated for whom a book party was being held. It was for Keith McNally.
Politico
09-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Playbook PM: Setting the table for Switzerland
Presented by The American Council of Life Insurers THE CATCH-UP BREAKING: 'Judge orders immediate release of Rumeysa Ozturk, Tufts student detained by ICE,' by POLITICO's Liz Crampton and Kyle Cheney: 'U.S. District Judge William Sessions III ruled that Ozturk had been unlawfully detained in March for little more than authoring an op-ed critical of Israel in her school newspaper.' THE TRADE-OFF CONTINUES: It's a big weekend for U.S.-China relations as the two sides prepare for a high-level meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss President Donald Trump's trade war. The latest turn of the screw: Trump took to Truth Social this morning to signal that he may be open to dropping the steep 145 percent tariffs he's levied against China. '80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.,' the president wrote, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who Trump has given the reins on China negotiations. Baby steps: While an 80% tariff would still be 'prohibitively high for most companies' doing business between the two countries, Trump's post 'could signal movement that would ease fears among consumers, businesses and the markets,' POLITICO's Megan Messerly reports. 'Perhaps more importantly, the Friday morning post signals that the president has given Bessent his proxy to negotiate a lowering of the tariffs on his behalf.' Who's on the guest list: Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to send his top public-security aide to meet with Bessent and USTR Jamieson Greer in Geneva, WSJ's Lingling Wei and Brian Schwartz scoop. Wang Xiaohong, one of Xi's top lieutenants, is 'the point person' to discuss Washington's concerns about fentanyl trafficking from China. The view from Beijing: It's clear 'Chinese officials have grown increasingly alarmed about tariffs' impact on the economy and the risk of isolation as China's trading partners have started negotiating deals with Washington,' Reuters' Antoni Slodkowski and Laurie Chen report in a look at why China decided to meet. Managing expectations: 'In Geneva, Beijing appears to have modest expectations,' per Reuters. 'Internally, China has downgraded the talks from a higher level to merely a meeting, reflecting its view that the discussions will be mostly about finding out Washington's demands and red lines after weeks of contradictory messages by Trump and other senior U.S. officials.' MIXED MESSAGES: House Republicans remain locked in disagreements over tax provisions. President Donald Trump's mixed message probably isn't helping. Where we're at: House Republicans are huddling to hash out an agreement over spending cuts for their megabill that would also fulfill the president's tax demands. The group was already stalled by infighting before Speaker Mike Johnson announced a half-trillion reduction in the bill last night. Though the tighter budget may placate the more than two dozen fiscal hawks seeking cost-cutting measures, it will also make it that much harder to include the cuts Trump is pushing. To complicate matters further, it's less clear what exactly Trump wants in the bill. The president declared in a post on Truth Social this morning that Republicans 'should probably not' boost taxes on the nation's wealthiest people — though in the same post said, 'I'm OK if they do!!!' So, what now? The GOP seems no closer to an agreement on provisions than earlier this week. While raising the top income tax rate could give the Ways and Means Committee breathing room for more additions, tensions are still high around exactly what to cut and expand. What to watch: House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) is set to meet with Trump today to discuss the impasse. Johnson is also expected to phone Trump to discuss the megabill today. More from POLITICO's Benjamin Guggenheim Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@ 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. THEY WENT TO JARED: Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and former chief Middle East negotiator, seems to be informally back on the job counseling administration officials on their negotiations in the region, CNN's Alayna Treene and Kristen Holmes report. As Trump prepares for a trip to the Middle East next week, Kushner is unlikely to join but remains 'heavily involved in discussions with Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, about signing agreements that would normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.' What else is on the horizon: The White House has said Trump's goal on the trip is to secure 'economic agreements' with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. 'But Kushner and other Trump advisers have also been privately plotting the more ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords, the treaties negotiated during Trump's first term between several Arab Nations and Israel.' Still, sources say Kushner 'does not have, nor want, a formal role in Trump's second term' despite being a 'crucial player behind the scenes.' 2. INDIA-PAKISTAN LATEST: Tensions are escalating between Pakistan and India following India's Wednesday morning airstrikes targeting the Pakistani-controlled side of Kashmir. Reports of 'nonstop barrages' on the Kashmiri border and beyond emerged overnight with both nations issuing differing accounts in the press. 'The details of the conflict remain blurry in part because each side is not only spreading its own spin, but also blocking the other's,'NYT's Anupreeta Das reports. 'Pakistan has banned Indian news sites for years. Now India has cut off most of its own access to Pakistani news sources.' The growing hostility is also putting the Chinese military supply to Pakistan to the test, resulting in what is essentially a proxy war with the West,CNN's Nectar Gan, Simone McCarthy and Brad Lendon report: 'Over the past five years, China has supplied 81% of Pakistan's imported weapons … With Pakistan armed largely by China and India sourcing more than half of its weapons from the US and its allies, any conflict between the two neighbors could effectively be a showdown between Chinese and Western military technologies.' 3. KEEPING HIS OPTIONS OPEN: 'With a trip to Pennsylvania, Sen. Ruben Gallego enters the 2028 conversation,' by NBC's Megan Lebowitz and Sahil Kapur: 'Gallego is set to attend a town hall Saturday in Bucks County, a key swing area outside Philadelphia that Donald Trump flipped by a few hundred votes last year. … It's the type of move that will fuel speculation about Gallego as a presidential contender … And while he said his message in Pennsylvania will focus on more immediate matters, like preserving Medicaid and pushing back against Trump's tariffs, Gallego didn't close the door on the possibility down the road.' 4. IMMIGRATION FILES: Though much ink has been spilled on the federal price tag on Trump's sweeping deportation push,Bloomberg's Dylan Sloan and Michael Smith report how the wealthy executives of for-profit prison companies are poised to bring in millions due to the policy. The nation's largest company, GEO Group Inc., will reopen a 1,000-bed detainment center that will serve a 'modern-day Ellis Island in reverse – for some of the millions of immigrants the Trump administration has vowed to deport.' Meanwhile, GEO Group Inc. founder George Zoley's 'personal fortune has grown by $50 million since Donald Trump was reelected in November' and 'reached a new milestone: $304 million.' A snapshot of the upheaval: 'A girl recovering from a rare brain tumor celebrated her 11th birthday Sunday, hundreds of miles away from everything she's known — her friends at school, her community at church, her home,'NBC's Nicole Acevedo reports. Though the child is a U.S. citizen, she was one of four U.S. citizen children sent to Mexico from Texas this year after authorities deported her undocumented parents. Hoping to find a way to resume medical treatment in the U.S., the girl's family will meet with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus later today to urge 'legislators to advocate for their return under humanitarian parole.' 5. SURVEY SAYS, PART I: The White House is continuing to ramp up threats to cut federal funding to universities unless the institutions acquiesce to their policy demands. But a new AP-NORC poll finds that a majority of the electorate disagrees with Trump's approach to higher education, with the rising cost of college tuition outweighing many of the hot-button political issues. More on the numbers: 6. SURVEY SAYS, PART II: A new poll of D.C. area residents conducted by WaPo and George Mason University shows that over '4 in 10 D.C. area residents who live in households that experienced a federal worker or contractor layoff, firing or being put on leave say they could not pay all their bills on time as a result,' WaPo's Olivia George, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin report. Meanwhile, more than one in five residents say 'they are seriously considering moving away in the next 12 months.' The potential demographic shift in the district coincides with the effects of post-pandemic slowdown and federal government cuts, which have left the local economy 'teetering on the edge of a painful slump,' per the WaPo team. 7. MR. ADAMS HEADS TO WASHINGTON: NYC Mayor Eric Adams will meet with Trump face-to-face later today ahead of a deadline for DOJ to provide documents in its case against the embattled mayor, POLITICO's Emily Ngo reports. 'The court papers to be unsealed are expected to shed light on the prosecution into a mayor accused of taking bribes from Turkish officials. … They were initially due on the public docket last Friday, but the DOJ failed to file them.' TALK OF THE TOWN Camryn Kinsey says she 'feels better' after fainting on-air during a Fox News program last night. Gavin Newsom is taking his anti-tariff message to Fox News with a new ad airing this weekend. IN MEMORIAM — 'David Souter, Supreme Court justice favoring judicial restraint, dies at 85,' by WaPo's Ann Marimow: 'Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, the intellectual New Englander who disappointed Republicans and delighted liberals by slowing a conservative transformation of the high court, died May 8 at his home in New Hampshire. He was 85. The high court announced his death but did not cite a cause. Justice Souter, who supplied a key vote to uphold abortion rights in his early years on the court, was a little-known New Hampshire judge dubbed the 'stealth candidate' when President George H.W. Bush nominated him in 1990 to replace justice William J. Brennan Jr., then the anchor of an eroding liberal majority.' OUT AND ABOUT — The Atlantic Council's annual Distinguished Leadership Awards yesterday evening at the Waldorf honored Judy Collins, Victor Pinchuk, Croatian PM Andrej Plenković, retired Gen. John 'Jay' Raymond and Stephen Hadley. SPOTTED: Mac Thornberry, David Rubenstein, Adrienne Arsht, John F.W. Rogers, Frederick Kempe, Jenna Ben-Yehuda, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, Rama Yade, Melanie Chen, George Chopivsky, Capricia Marshall, John Herbst, retired Gen. James Jones, Omani Ambassador Talal Alrahbi, Albanian Ambassador Ervin Bushati, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Montenegrin Ambassador Jovan Mirković, Lithuanian Ambassador Audra Plepytė, Portuguese Ambassador Francisco Duarte Lopes, Michael Andersson, Karan Bhatia, Helima Croft, Sean Fitzpatrick, Kellyanne Conway, Sherri Goodman, Wolfgang Ischinger, Melanne Verveer, Katy Balls, Theresa Hitchens, Laura Kelly, Naeim Khanjani, Almar Latour, Diego Munhoz, Vivian Salama and Susan Sadigova. — Franco Nuschese hosted a book party for Laurence Leamer's new book, 'Warhol's Muses' ($32), at Cafe Milano yesterday. SPOTTED: Pat Harrison, Rob Brunner, Marilyn Thompson, Tom LoBianco, Janet Donovan, Howard Mortman, Roxanne Roberts, Robert Devaney, Vesna Leamer, Ted Johnson, Chris Murray, Kevin Chaffee, Juliegrace Brufke, Judith Beermann, Maura Judkis and Kevin Cirilli. Pic — Puck kicked off a power breakfast series yesterday in the Lincoln Library at the Waldorf Astoria, where Leigh Ann Caldwell interviewed Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.). SPOTTED: Jon Kelly, Liz Gough, Abby Livingston, Nancy Baker, Victoria Espinel, Mary Streett, Matt Gorman, Maryam Mujica, Lila Nieves-Lee, Tina Anthony, Michael Falcone, Rachel Harris, Mariel Sáez, Molly Edwards Connor, Matt Mowers, JP Fielder, Angela Krasnick, Jeff Marootian, Tyler Grimm, Ian McHenry, T.W. Arrighi, Lee Slater, Kevin Walling, Amy Garland, Annie Clark, Anne MacMillan, Hazim Nada, Amanda Anderson and Torrey Shearer. — Cornerstone Government Affairs held a spring happy hour for the Democratic Women Communicators Network, with Adrienne Elrod as featured speaker and Kirsten West as host. SPOTTED: Marneé Banks, Chelsea Koski, Kristen Orthman, Sarah Schakow, Leslie Wertheimer, Stephanie Nye, Brianna Frias, Evelyn Chang and Kemi Giwa. — The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation hosted its 15th annual Great Ladies Luncheon yesterday at the Ritz Carlton West. The event featured a symposium showcasing ADDF's research on Alzheimers followed by a salad lunch and fashion show sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue featuring spring looks by Toccin. SPOTTED: Andrea Mitchell, Judy Woodruff, Elise and Marc Lefkowitz, Charlie Lefkowitz Crowley, Kristin Rae Cecchi, Mark Roithmayr, Howard Fillit and Alex and Michael Toccin. TRANSITION — Jeremy Nighohossian is now a senior fellow and economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute focusing on health care policy. He previously worked at FTI Consulting, specializing in antitrust and health care policy. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The audacity of pope
Presented by The American Council of Life Insurers With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Good morning. It's Friday. This is Zack Stanton, thrilled that the new pope likely also calls it 'pop' rather than 'soda.' Get in touch. YOUR MORNING LISTEN: Bret Baier is having a moment. The anchor of Fox News' 'Special Report' hosts the rare TV news show whose influence is exploding. In recent months, he has interviewed top Trump administration officials — including Elon Musk, Scott Bessent and JD Vance — as well as foreign leaders who want to make their case to his massive right-of-center audience. For today's episode of 'Playbook Deep Dive,' Baier sat down with POLITICO's Dasha Burns to talk about his unique position in Trump's Washington. A few highlights: On whether Trump played a role in the loss of trust in the media: 'Of course, yeah, he kind of broke the system, and maybe that was part of his MO, what he wanted to do. But middle America didn't trust what they were getting from a lot of media.' On whether Eric and Donald Trump Jr. should get scrutinized like Hunter Biden did: 'One-hundred percent. And if you're going to play it one way, you've got to play it another way. And you've gotta cover all of those things. I think there are real questions about how that works, what access looks like.' Much more in the full episode: Apple Podcasts … Spotify … YouTube DRIVING THE DAY THE AUDACITY OF POPE: It takes a lot to bigfoot a news cycle that Donald Trump has set out to dominate. But that's precisely what happened yesterday, as the president's hopes to get as much coverage as possible around his nascent trade deal with the UK (more on that in a moment) went up in smoke — literally: white smoke billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, heralding the election of a new pope. Red, white smoke and blue: That alone would be enough to merit the world's attention. Then came the announcement that landed like a haymaker: This pope is an American. Instantly, Robert Francis Prevost — henceforth known as Pope Leo XIV — became a subject of immense fascination, with Catholics around the country rallying to lay claim to him. Chicagoans rejoiced in the selection of one of their own, sparking endless memes and a brief debate over whether his loyalties were to the Cubs or White Sox (the latter, per the Sun-Times). He has Black Creole lineage, as the New Orleans Times-Picayune proudly reported. He attended Villanova ('Can he stream Big East games in Vatican City?' asked a subhead in the Philly Inquirer). On and on it went. America's first vs. America First: And, just as quickly, the conversation turned to politics. This being an American pope, his record — and, especially, his purported account on X, whose authenticity POLITICO has not been able to independently verify — was plumbed for signs of his political beliefs. He tweeted a National Catholic Reporter op-ed swiping at Vice President JD Vance, reposted a criticism of Trump's Oval Office meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and urged action on climate change. He's an Illinois voter who has cast ballots in several Republican primaries over the last 15 years, all before Trump's first presidency. Far-right activist (and informal Trump adviser) Laura Loomer has labeled him a 'Marxist.' Steve Bannon has already declared him the 'anti-Trump pope' and 'worst pick for MAGA Catholics.' The sacred and the profane: There are two realities worth acknowledging here. First … The views of this pope (or any pope) do not map neatly on America's two-party system divide. Believe it or not, the fluctuations of electoral politics are not the top of mind for the pontiff, who is entrusted to lead an institution that has been around nearly eight times longer than the U.S. has existed. ('The keys entrusted to the successor of Peter are his for only a speck in time, and as steward, the pope is not answerable to the here and now,' as Pope Benedict XVI said.) Second … And yet, because Leo is American, his selection and his papacy cannot help but be seen as political, both in the U.S. and around the world. That's an opportunity as well as a potential liability. The opportunity: 'Leo's American citizenship is likely to give him a certain cache with the president — and, should he so choose, the authority to offer critiques from a worldview that the Argentine Francis lacked,' POLITICO's Megan Messerly, Rachael Bade and Eli Stokols write. The liability: 'The elevation of Leo also comes at an pivotal moment for the Catholic Church, whose leadership is drifting leftward even as people in the U.S. who regularly attend Mass have been drifting to the right,' Megan, Rachael and Eli write. 'Recent years have seen an increasing embrace of traditional Catholicism … who prefer traditional Latin mass and reject what they perceived as a movement toward modernism in the Church.' Would it risk alienating parts of his flock if he's seen as too political? And yet: With the exception of the most terminally online among us who are determined to see Leo as a partisan leader rather than, say, primarily a moral one, the prevailing mood about the new papacy among the nation's Catholics is, at least for the moment, ebullience. 'Onward into history,' WSJ's Peggy Noonan marvelled in a brisk, joyful piece about the selection. 'One of our countrymen has been raised high, a Midwestern boy, a Chicago kid raised to the throne of Peter. Did you ever think you'd see a Yank there? Really?' THE STORY HE UPSTAGED: In the Oval Office yesterday, Trump had U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on speakerphone to unveil not so much a trade deal as a framework for one. POLITICO's Megan Messerly and team have the readout on the agreement — and on the long road ahead as the U.S. tries to seal literally dozens of bilateral trade deals with other nations over the next few months. What to know: Under the agreement, all imports from the U.K. will be subject to a 10 percent tariff. Britain will be allowed to export 100,000 cars to the U.S. at that rate, rather than the current 25 percent tariff on autos. The tariff on British steel will be zeroed out. In exchange, the U.K. will drop 'its tariffs on U.S. beef, ethanol, sports equipment and other products, and [buy] $10 billion of Boeing airplanes,' per NYT's Ana Swanson and Jonathan Swan. New poll: 'There's a fundamental challenge facing the nascent trade deal the United States and United Kingdom just unveiled: neither country trusts the man behind it,' POLITICO's Daniel Desrochers writes this morning. 'A wide majority of American and British adults support their governments reaching a deal, according to a POLITICO-Public First poll conducted last month, but less than one-third of respondents in the U.K. and 44 percent of Americans said they believed Trump would abide by it.' How we got here: A team of my colleagues in the U.K. has a vivid read on how Britain got to the 'front of the queue' in the trade talks. (Hint: It involved 'a months-long buttering-up of the president,' culminating in an unscheduled Wednesday-night phone call by Trump to Starmer.) And as such … there are real questions about how replicable the U.K. model is. The deal 'was limited in scope and included niche issues regarding the U.K., meaning it didn't offer other nations a clear road map to follow,' WSJ's Alex Leary, Lingling Wei and Paul Vieira report. 'Many other deals weren't seen as likely to come together so easily. The U.K. was low-hanging fruit, given the U.S. enjoys a goods trade surplus with the country, unlike with China.' Speaking of … This weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will travel to Switzerland to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in an attempt to de-escalate tensions between the two global powers. (Unlike with the UK, in these talks, 'Trump's negotiating position will be the weaker one,' Michael Schuman writes in The Atlantic.) Stay tuned. CONGRESS A TAXING SITUATION: Today, House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) will head to the White House to meet with President Trump as the tax portion of the GOP megabill is at risk of unraveling, POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill and Benjamin Guggenheim scooped. The big news: Behind closed doors, Speaker Mike Johnson announced yesterday that he's scaling down his ambitions for the package, as Meredith and Benjamin reported. He'll be seeking $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and $4 trillion in tax cuts — down from $2 trillion and $4.5 trillion, respectively. Problem incoming: At this new size, it will 'present a huge challenge to House Republicans and their ability to include all of their priorities — not to mention the priorities of President Donald Trump,' my colleagues write. What's getting cut? A whole lot, by the sound of it. 'On the chopping block could be a litany of Trump demands, including a permanent extension of the tax cuts passed during his first term, as well as second-term campaign promises to provide tax relief to seniors while also exempting taxes on tips and overtime earnings,' POLITICO's Ben Leonard, Benjamin and Meredith write this morning. 'Those provisions could end up getting enacted only temporarily, according to four Republican lawmakers, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.' A curveball: Yesterday, Trump put higher taxes for the super-wealthy back on the table, proposing a new 39.6 percent tax bracket on individuals who make at least $2.5 million a year (or couples who pull in $5 million annually), Bloomberg's Eric Wasson reports. If enacted, that could give Republicans 'more wiggle room to make Trump's 2017 tax cuts for households permanent and enact some of his campaign pledges.' But voting to raise anyone's taxes may be a tough pill for Republicans to swallow. Trying to get votes: Johnson said yesterday that he's considering raising the state and local tax deduction cap from $10,000 to $30,000 in an effort to get blue-state Republicans in swing districts on board, Bloomberg's Billy House, Emily Birnbaum and Erik Wasson write. But not succeeding: Four New York Republicans dismis65sed Johnson's proposal as woefully insufficient, NBC's Sahil Kapur reports. (Among them, notably, is Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is thought to be considering a bid for governor.) Risking a revolt: 'Conservative Ralph Norman [(R-S.C.)] said that if moderates get a $30,000 SALT cap then they need to agree to even deeper spending cuts such as to Medicaid,' Bloomberg notes. And that, in turn, is likely to alienate even more moderates. Follow the latest today at Inside Congress Live THE MAGA REVOLUTION IN AND OUT: The series of high-profile Trump administration shake-ups continues, as the president last night fired Carla Hayden from the apolitical role of librarian of Congress, per POLITICO's Nick Wu, Lisa Kashinsky and Katherine Tully-McManus. Conservatives had targeted her to be purged for promoting books they disliked. The Fox News presidency: Trump also selected Jeanine Pirro as the acting U.S. attorney for D.C., ABC's Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin report. The Fox News host, a former DA who pushed false claims about the 2020 election on TV, will replace lightning rod Ed Martin, whose nomination couldn't get through the Senate. But Martin got a plum new perch at the Justice Department as director of a 'weaponization working group,' associate deputy AG and pardon attorney. Another name to know: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is tapping David Richardson to take over FEMA on an interim basis after she canned acting leader Cameron Hamilton, WSJ's Michelle Hackman and Tarini Parti report. BILL OF HEALTH: Another of Trump's new replacement choices, Casey Means for surgeon general, is facing more scrutiny over her record. The L.A. Times' Jenny Jarvie reports that Means dropped out of her surgical residency due to anxiety and stress. … After HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised Means' non-traditional background and said she was top of her class at Stanford, CNN's Daniel Dale fact-checked that Stanford doesn't rank its med students. Up next: Trump's major announcement coming Monday, which he previously teased as 'truly earth-shattering,' will be a 'most favored nation' drug-pricing policy, CBS' Jennifer Jacobs and Alexander Tin report. LAW AND ORDERS: A new federal investigation is examining New York AG Letitia James and allegations of falsifying paperwork, per the Guardian's Hugo Lowell. James' lawyer says she made a simple mistake and that Trump is targeting her out of retaliation. MORE SLASHING: NOAA is shuttering a 45-year-old major disaster database, which 'will make it next to impossible for the public to track the cost of extreme weather and climate events' in the future, CNN's Andrew Freedman scooped. … The National Science Foundation's 37 divisions are being closed, with layoffs coming, Science's Jeffrey Mervis scooped. E-RING READING: After getting the Supreme Court's green light, the Pentagon will begin to boot thousands of transgender service members from the military next month, Reuters' Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali scooped. … Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's campaign to erase curricula that acknowledge negative aspects of U.S. history has upended classes at West Point, leading to canceled courses, purged books and scrubbed lessons, per NYT's Greg Jaffe. BEST OF THE REST FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Tough news cycle for Fetterman: An internal survey shows that a plurality of Democratic voters in Pittsburgh now view Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) unfavorably, POLITICO's Holly Otterbein reports. Other public polls have shown Fetterman much stronger with Pennsylvania Dems, but this one 'has shocked some Democrats in the state.' 2026 WATCH: Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) officially jumped into the race to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein. He quickly sought to frame himself as a staunch Trump ally. But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp plans to meet with Trump to align on the best candidate for the race — possibly Reps. Mike Collins or Brian Jack, or Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Axios' Marc Caputo and Alex Isenstadt scooped. Race for the states: Ohio Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel is new to his role, but he's already weighing a gubernatorial bid, he told NBC's Henry Gomez. … Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) says his decision about running for governor will come down to whether he thinks he can win the general election, not pressure from Trump, POLITICO's Emily Ngo reports. HEADING TO SCOTUS: The fates of more than half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans are now in the hands of the Supreme Court, after the Trump administration appealed to the justices to be allowed to revoke their humanitarian parole en masse, per NBC. REDISTRICTING ROUNDUP: A federal court yesterday said Alabama's 2023 congressional map illegally, purposefully limited Black voters' political power, per Heather Gann. That could keep the current, court-ordered redraw in place, which allowed Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures to flip a seat last year. THE WEEKEND AHEAD TV TONIGHT — PBS' 'Washington Week': Susan Glasser, Asma Khalid, David Sanger and Nancy Youssef. SUNDAY SO FAR … NBC 'Meet the Press': Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy … Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Matt Gorman, Sahil Kapur, Carol Lee and Neera Tanden. MSNBC 'The Weekend': Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear … Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka. Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) … Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) … Maria Corina Machado … Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano. NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). Panel: Tamara Keith, Megan McArdle, Margaret Talev and Ian Swanson. FOX 'Fox News Sunday': Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Panel: Francesca Chambers, Josh Kraushaar, Marc Thiessen and Juan Williams. CBS 'Face the Nation': New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. CNN 'State of the Union': Chris Sununu and Rahm Emanuel. Panel: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Brad Todd, Xochitl Hinojosa and Kristen Soltis Anderson. TALK OF THE TOWN Donald Norcross is now back home after rehab, his office announced. Bill Gates slammed the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, singling out Elon Musk's role. 'The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one,' he told the Financial Times. Ivanka Trump made her first big appearance since her father returned to office, promoting her produce company Planet Harvest. Curtis Yarvin, whose once-fringe anti-government writing helped shape the New Right and many MAGA ideas, compared DOGE to incels and 'an orchestra of chimpanzees trying to perform Wagner.' Melania Trump celebrated Barbara Bush with a new postage stamp. IN MEMORIAM — 'Kenneth Walker Dies at 73; His Journalism Bared Apartheid's Brutality,' by NYT's Sam Roberts: He was 'an Emmy Award-winning journalist whose reporting for the ABC News program 'Nightline' helped bring the brutality of South Africa's racist apartheid system to the attention of the American public, propelling it onto the agenda of U.S. policymakers … Mr. Walker was a reporter for The Washington Star … for 'Nightline' … and for NPR.' — 'Joseph Nye, Political Scientist Who Extolled 'Soft Power,' Dies at 88,' by NYT's Trip Gabriel: 'He coined the term, arguing that a country's global influence can't be built on military might alone. Diplomats around the world paid heed. … Sometimes considered the dean of American political science, Mr. Nye led the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and held senior jobs in the Carter and Clinton administrations.' OUT AND ABOUT — Axel Springer's Mathias Döpfner was honored by The America Abroad Media awards held last night at the Fairmont hotel. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) introduced Döpfner, calling him a 'uniquely authentic truth-teller.' Other honorees included Ziad Doueiri, Iran International's Samira Gharae, Gelareh Hon, Marzia Hussaini and Mehdi Parpanchi, and Moira Forbes. SPOTTED: James Jeffrey, Ed and Marie Royce, Jason and Yeganeh Rezaian, Jan Bayer, Robert Albritton, Chris and Jennifer Isham, Anita Kumar, Zak Hudak, Elliot Ackerman, Aaron Lobel, French Ambassador Laurent Bili, Danita Johnson, Morgan Ortagus, Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Esin Erkan, Jim Jeffrey, Joel Rayburn, Sara Bloomfield, Brett Ratner, Antoun Sehnaoui, Egyptian Ambassador Motaz Zahran, Azerbaijani Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Sherry Phillips, Elliot and Lea Ackerman, Sofia and Michael Haft, and Karim Sadjadpour. — The Daily Wire hosted a happy hour at Butterworth's last night, after announcing a new D.C. office and greater presence in the city. SPOTTED: Sonny Nelson, Kaelan Dorr, Brock Belcher, Brent Scher, Raheem Kassam, Russell Dye, Ryan Tillman, Matt Foldi, Michael Abboud, Maggie Abboud, Corinne Day, Mary Margaret Olohan, Shelby Talcott, Dave Hookstead, Bradley Bishop, Caleb Robinson, Greg Price, Bryn Jeffers, Josh Christenson, Gabe Kaminsky, Tim Rice, Roma Daravi, CJ Pearson, Bradley Jaye, Taylor Rogers, Kieghan Nangle, Olivia Wales and Terry Schilling. — EMILYs List held its annual national gala in D.C. on Wednesday night, marking its 40th anniversary. SPOTTED: Deb Haaland, Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Laphonza Butler, Barbara Mikulski, Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.), Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Mich.), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.), Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Gabby Giffords, Donna Edwards, Ellen Malcolm, Stephanie Schriock and Jessica Mackler. — Trust for the National Mall hosted its annual 'America's Ball For The Mall: The Road to 250' on Wednesday in a tent on the Mall, where it launched the 'Our Monumental Moment' campaign to raise $250 million in honor of America's 250th anniversary. The black-tie gala honored Commanders owner Josh Harris and America250 Chair Rosie Rios with the Trust's History, Heroes & Hope Awards, hosted by emcee Pamela Brown and co-chairs Georgette 'Gigi' Dixon, Stacy Kerr and CR Wooters, and Katie and Robby Zirkelbach. SPOTTED: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito ( Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Yamada, Larry Hogan, Wolf Blitzer, David Rubenstein, Ted Decker, Mark Clouse, Chip and Sally Akridge, Catherine Townsend, Bruce Broussard, Kellyanne Conway, Renee Fleming and Mark Ein. — SPOTTED at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute Gala on Wednesday evening, which honored Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Dominican President Luis Abinader: Mary Ann Gomez Orta, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Jose Mallea, Daniel Garza and Daniel Diaz-Balart. — SPOTTED at a party for Graydon Carter's new book, 'When the Going Was Good' ($32), hosted by Keith McNally at Lucy Mercer at Minetta Tavern on Wednesday night: Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), Richard E. Grant, Antonia Hitchens, Kaitlan Collins, Phil Rucker, Kara Swisher and Amanda Katz, Robert Costa, Brooke Singman, Chris Isham, Shawn McCreesh, Maureen Dowd, Isabel Gouveia and Mana Afsari. MEDIA MOVE — Gemma Fox is joining Time as editorial director of news. She previously was deputy U.S. editor at The Times of London. The announcement TRANSITIONS — Evan Meyers and Tessa Berner are joining the Ingram Group as members. Meyers previously was deputy executive counsel for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Berner previously was director of finance data at the RNC. … Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria is now a senior adviser in Kuala Lumpur at The Asia Group. She previously was executive director of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. … K&L Gates has added Marne Marotta and David Skillman as partners in its public policy and law practice. They previously were at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, and are Hill alums. … … Robert Blair is joining WestExec Advisors as a principal. He most recently led U.S. government affairs at Microsoft focused on national security and emerging technology issues, and is a Trump Commerce and White House alum. … Alan Estevez is now a senior adviser at Covington & Burling. He previously was undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security. … Riley Cagle is joining the Consumer Brands Association as manager of product policy. He previously managed the grassroots advocacy program and state advocacy teams at the American Industrial Hygiene Association. WEDDINGS — Andrew Smith, who recently started as health policy adviser for Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), and Anna Newton, a professional staff member for the Senate Appropriations Committee, got married in Leesburg, Virginia, on April 12. Pic — Joseph Richardson Sprott, social media manager at the Truth Initiative, and Claire S. Gould, digital director of Al Gore's The Climate Reality Project, got married recently at Nina May. Pic, via Sam Hurd … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT's Ezra Klein … Fox News' Dana Perino and Garrett Tenney … John McEntee … Justin Miller … Joel Kaplan … Parker Poling … Dhara Nayyar … NBC's Peter Nicholas … Third Way's Jon Cowan … Mark Leibovich … Taylor Andreae … POLITICO's Victoria Guida, Chris ReShore, Madi Alexander and James Romoser … Fabion Seaton … Ashley Schapitl … David Perera … Chris Ullman of Ullman Communications … Lauren Decot … Jason Linde … David Gergen … former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt … John Ashcroft … Kent Knutson … former Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) … Krystal Knight … Nihal Krishan … Theo LeCompte … Jonah Wendt … BGR Group's Anna Reese Couhig … Will Judson of Rep. Nathaniel Moran's (R-Texas) office … Stu Sandler 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 and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Yesterday's Playbook misgendered Toby Douthat. She is a woman.
Politico
08-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
An American pope
Presented by The American Council of Life Insurers THE CATCH-UP ANOTHER AMERICAN EXPORT: The papal conclave has chosen Robert Prevost to be the next pope — making history as the first American-born pope in the history of the church. Prevost will take the name Pope Leo XIV. Knowing the new pope: A helpful NYT profile of Prevost, who was at the time considered something of a long shot, writes that he's a 'Chicago-born polyglot who is viewed as a churchman who transcends borders. He served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order. He now holds one of the most influential Vatican posts.' His supporters pitched him 'as a balanced alternative' between Pope Francis' 'inclusive agenda or return to a conservative doctrinal path.' More details from AP: 'Francis brought Prevost, 69, to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. As a result, Prevost [had] a prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals have.' But they note that 'there has long been a taboo against a U.S. pope, given the geopolitical power already wielded by the United States in the secular sphere.' Worth noting: Trump endorsed a different American for the post, New York's Timothy Dolan, who has a penchant to make headlines. We have to wonder when the first Truth Social missive will come for Prevost — who directly called out VP JD Vance earlier this year. THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: One down … 89 to go? President Donald Trump this morning announced the framework for his trade deal with the United Kingdom — marking the first such agreement the White House has struck since 'Liberation Day.' The administration noted in early April its intention to hammer out 90 deals in 90 days. You've gotta start somewhere! Details, details: The nitty-gritty isn't entirely clear at this point, but Trump said the 'final details are being written in the coming weeks,' adding that the deal would provide new market access in the U.K. for American agriculture, chemicals, machinery and other industrial products, POLITICO's Doug Palmer and Ari Hawkins report. 'In exchange, the Trump administration agreed to lower its 25 percent additional tariff on auto and auto parts to 10 percent for the first 100,000 cars entering the U.S., and to eliminate a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum tariffs, according to the U.K.' Meanwhile, in Europe: The EU 'announced a plan to ramp up the pressure on the United States in hopes of prodding the Trump administration toward serious trade negotiations,' NYT's Jeanna Smialek reports. 'Officials laid out 95 billion euros, or $107 billion, worth of goods that they could target with higher tariffs in retaliation to the duties that the United States has announced or imposed. They also said that the bloc would start a World Trade Organization dispute against the United States on both across-the-board tariffs and on duties on cars and car parts.' THOM TILLIS GETS RESULTS: Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this morning that he'll withdraw Ed Martin's nomination to be D.C.'s top federal prosecutor after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) noted his opposition to Martin's appointment given his comments about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and his work on behalf of alleged rioters. 'We have somebody else that will be great,' Trump said. 'We have somebody else who we'll be announcing.' But Trump also suggested that Martin could find another slot in the administration. More from POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs Companion reading: Michael Schaffer's latest Capital City column: 'The Administration That Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioters Is Trying to Jail a Guy Over a Protest Banner' Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@ 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. BIDEN'S REEMERGENCE: Former President Joe Biden sat down with ABC's 'The View' this morning, giving his first (American) post-presidency interview to a largely friendly panel that has welcomed him on many occasions over the years. The questions weren't all softballs, though: Perhaps the most notable moment — or admission — came when Biden was asked if he 'feels responsible' for Trump's return to power. 'Yes, I do, because, look, I was in charge and he won, so I take responsibility,' Biden said. More from POLITICO's Brakkton Booker What else he said: Biden also pushed back against the stream of books and reporting that are emerging in the months since he left office that further question his cognitive decline and fitness to serve as president. 'Are the sources wrong?' the panel asked. 'They are wrong. There's nothing to sustain that,' Biden said. Former first lady Jill Biden also chimed in to her husband's defense. 'The people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us.' Biden said he remains in touch with former VP Kamala Harris 'frequently,' and that the two spoke yesterday. He also indicated that she has sought his opinion on what political direction she should take next. 'I'm not going to tell you what it is,' he said. 2. ANOTHER EXPLOSIVE FETTERMAN STORY: On the day before N.Y. Magazine published a deeply reported piece detailing Sen. John Fetterman's struggles with mental health, the Pennsylvania Democrat was in a meeting with members of a teachers union, where things 'quickly devolved,' AP's Marc Levy reports. 'Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why 'everybody is mad at me,' 'why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do' and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred. Difficult details: 'As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman's behavior, according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting.' 3. MEGABILL LATEST: Tensions over Republicans' spending megabill remain, but there's signs that the conference could be moving toward some resolutions as it tees up a set of contentious hearings to finalize key pieces of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' Tax season: The House Ways and Means Committee is planning to open up consideration of its portion of the megabill on Tuesday at 2 p.m., POLITICO's Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill report. 'A House Republican cautioned that the timing could change, especially since the committee is still negotiating over a push by some GOP lawmakers to raise the cap on the state and local tax deduction.' Buckle in: The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is expected to clear $880 billion in savings for Republicans' megabill, has noticed a markup for its portion of the legislation — also for Tuesday at 2 p.m., per POLITICO's Ben Leonard. This projects to be a knockdown, dragout fight. Dems are expected to offer up a raft of unlikely amendments, particularly related to Medicaid. A GOP spokesperson for the panel said the markup will be continuous with no breaks and could run more than 24 hours. To wit: Speaker Mike Johnson and E&C Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) told reporters today that Medicaid negotiations are ongoing, POLITICO's Robert King, Meredith and Ben note. In search of spending cuts: House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) issued a fresh warning this morning that Republicans may have to scale back their plans for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts if they don't come up with more spending cuts than they have so far, which could force a bunch of the tax policies to become temporary, POLITICO's Brian Faler reports. The farm team: House Republicans want to add $60 billion in farm bill programs to the agriculture portion of the megabill. 'But they'll have to convince several centrist holdouts to vote for a controversial proposal that pushes some food aid costs onto states in order to do it,' POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill reports. 4. ANOTHER FEMA FIGHT: Trump this morning fired acting FEMA chief Cameron Hamilton, 'leaving the nation's disaster agency without a top official three weeks before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season and as Congress scrutinizes FEMA's proposed budget for fiscal 2026,' POLITICO's E&E News' Thomas Frank reports. The backdrop: The firing comes as a group of bipartisan members in the House is drafting a sweeping bill to overhaul FEMA — and in some cases expand its services — as a way to combat Trump's threats to shrink or abolish the agency altogether, POLITICO's E&E News' Thomas Frank reports. The bill 'would remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and make it an independent agency reporting directly to the president.' 5. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: Even though Elon Musk has stepped back from his federal government work, his DOGE team is 'poised to roll out software to speed layoffs across the U.S. government,' Reuters' Alexandra Alper reports. DOGE's impact is also being felt across the FAA. As Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rolls out a plan to 'replace old communications and tracking equipment with a modern system,' he's doing so 'without key career FAA leaders, who are departing en masse in personnel cuts' led by Musk's team, WaPo's Ian Duncan, Lori Aratani, Hannah Natanson and Daniel Gilbert report. 6. WAR IN UKRAINE: Russia is 'undertaking a major factory expansion in remote Siberia to ramp up production of a powerful explosive used in artillery shells and other munitions in the war in Ukraine,' Reuters' Maria Tsvetkova, Polina Nikolskaya, Anton Zverev and Ryan McNeill report through a review of publicly available state documents and satellite imagery. Reuters also reports that officials from Moscow and Washington have 'held discussions about the U.S. helping to revive Russian gas sales to the continent.' Meanwhile in Kyiv: Ukrainian lawmakers today 'overwhelmingly voted to ratify a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal signed on April 30 in a show of support for a closer relationship with Washington, even as a Russian-declared ceasefire failed to halt fighting in Moscow's three-year-old war on Ukraine,' WaPo's Isobel Koshiw, Kostiantyn Khudov and Natalia Abbakumova report. Dance of the superpowers: 'Putin and Xi Rebuke U.S. and Vow to Strengthen Ties,' by NYT's Paul Sonne and David Pierson 7. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: 'Small-time Trump coin buyers have seen their investments collapse,' by WaPo's Drew Harwell and Jeremy Merrill: 'At least 67,000 new or small-time crypto investors … have bet on Trump's meme coin, pouring $15 million into the volatile venture endorsed by Trump and benefiting his personal wealth, a Washington Post analysis found. But virtually all of them bought near the coin's peak, just before the inauguration, and 80 percent of them have seen the value of their holdings nosedive, The Post's analysis shows. One buyer who spent $10,000 has already lost, on paper, more than $8,000.' TALK OF THE TOWN IN MEMORIAM — 'John S. Foster Jr., Pentagon scientist who developed warheads, dies at 102,' by WaPo's Harrison Smith: 'John S. Foster Jr., a physicist who helped develop the U.S. nuclear arsenal and shaped national security in the Johnson and Nixon administrations, guiding billions of dollars in research and development as a top Defense Department official, died April 25 at his home in Santa Barbara, California. He was 102.' PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'Most D.C. residents favor using city funds on a new NFL stadium, poll finds,' by WaPo's Nicki Jhabvala, Jenny Gathright, Emily Guskin and Scott Clement OUT AND ABOUT — GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik and Head of Global Government Affairs Roger Martella hosted an opening party last night in its offices in the National Safety Deposit Company Building. National Interest's Steve Clemons moderated a conversation with CEO Scott Strazik, Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) and S&P Global's Daniel Yergin. SPOTTED: Heather Reams, Geoff Pyatt, Jeremy Harrell, Lisa Epifani, Landon Darentz, Marty Durbin, Peter Greenberger, David Hill, Billy Pizer, Matt Sonnesyn, Joseph Majkut, Jason Grumet, Lyndsey Merrill, Meg Platt, Matt Armstrong, Justin Siberell, Melissa Mueller, Catrina Rorke, Ryan Costello, Carol Berrigan and Garrett Mueller. — The Travel Technology Association yesterday hosted its inaugural Start-Up Summit and second annual 'Policy & Innovation Showcase' on the Hill, honoring Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) with the 'Innovation Leadership Award.' SPOTTED: Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Jeremy Marcus, Michael Dunn, Jaxson Dealy, Kim Graber, Laura Chadwick, Brandon Palumbo, Becky Foley, Meg Kane, Eben Peck, Lara Tennyson, Caitlin Brosseau, Emmett O'Keefe, Margaret Kim, Nathan Rotman, Monica Glassman, Kyle Kraft, Tomasz Pawliszyn, Eric Napoli, Branda Fan, Cara Whitehill, Brad Williamson, Andrea O'Neal, Tommy Kaelin, Elizabeth Frazee and Greg Barnes. MEDIA MOVE — Aaron Blake is joining CNN as a senior reporter. He previously was a senior reporter at WaPo. The announcement TRANSITION — Annaleigh Mills is now data and insights director at ROKK Solutions. She previously was research manager with APCO's AI & Intelligence division. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Caroline Simmons, the mayor of Stamford, Connecticut, and Art Linares, CEO of Rodeo Cannabis Co., on April 28 welcomed Lily Elizabeth Linares, who joins Teddy (6), Jack (4) and William (3). Pic 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 and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
