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Politico
07-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
Is the honeymoon over?
Presented by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Happy Friday. This is Zack Stanton. Thanks for reading. Get in touch. First up: A note from chief Playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels on his final day at POLITICO … 'For four years, I've had the honor of being on the Playbook team — working an insane schedule on a product that continues to both drive the news cycle and explain it to hundreds of thousands of people every single day. It has been exhausting, exhilarating and worth every single second. 'To the Playbook team: You are some of the most talented people I have ever met. I will miss being in the trenches with you. Take care of each other. Please keep my birthday on the list. 'To Playbook's readers: Thank you. It's been a privilege to write for you and be a part of your mornings. You all have such a hunger for insight and a deep understanding of politics, Washington and the powerful people in it that it challenges all of us as journalists to push ourselves to tell you something you didn't already know. It's been the joy of a lifetime to do that for all of these years. 'We live in a time of tremendous consequence for our country, and trying to help you all navigate it has stretched my imagination and capabilities more than I ever thought possible. I'll take all of those lessons with me on this next professional journey. Thank you for embracing me. I'll see you soon.' Keep reading for Eugene's final scoop for POLITICO — one on Kamala Harris' political future. DRIVING THE DAY TODAY: 8:30 a.m.: The February jobs report and unemployment rate are released. … 12:30 p.m.: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gives a speech on the economic outlook at the 2025 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum. … 2:30 p.m.: President Donald Trump signs executive orders. … 3 p.m.: Trump speaks at the White House's cryptocurrency summit, following his executive order yesterday to create a national strategic reserve of Bitcoin. … 5 p.m.: Trump leaves the White House. … 7:50 p.m.: Trump arrives at Mar-a-Lago. HONEYMOONS NEVER LAST FOREVER. Both President Trump and Elon Musk have been around enough to know that. The question is what comes after: A relationship built on shared goals and something deeper than fleeting passions, or a creeping realization that absent the momentum of the new and exciting, there's not much to keep the couple together. Nearly seven weeks into the presidency, the political marriage of Trump and Musk may well be facing such a moment of truth. The honeymoon phase is over. But the signs of what comes next suggest a partnership that could be far more sustainable than many observers once assumed. DOGE on a leash: In what is likely the most consequential scoop of the last 24 hours, my POLITICO colleagues Dasha Burns and Kyle Cheney report that the president convened a Cabinet meeting to tell his department heads, effectively: You are in charge of your departments; Musk is not. What Trump said: 'According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy,' Dasha and Kyle write. 'The president's message represents the first significant move to narrow Musk's mandate. According to Trump's new guidance, DOGE and its staff should play an advisory role — but Cabinet secretaries should make final decisions on personnel, policy and the pacing of implementation.' The next phase: In a Truth Social post yesterday, Trump wrote that from now on, federal workforce cuts will be done by 'the 'scalpel' rather than the 'hatchet.'' There's more to this story: I asked Dasha, POLITICO's indefatigable White House bureau chief, to tell us what Playbook readers need to know about these latest turns in the Trump-Musk relationship. Here's what she wrote in … The questions ahead: 'After six weeks of DOGE days filled with chaos and confusion, the president called this meeting to give some clarity. But his directive also raises questions. How do Cabinet secretaries handle accepting or rejecting recommendations from Musk? How much leeway will they have (or feel they have) to tell him to take a hike?' The end isn't near: 'There is no indication from my sources or from Trump's comments Thursday that Musk is going anywhere anytime soon. He still has the president's ear, and continues to receive his praise.' This was Trump's idea: 'The intervention-style meeting was President Trump's 'idea and his orchestration,' one of the sources familiar told me. Said another: 'The president felt it was important for everyone to know it's coming directly from him.' It's why Trump decided to bring everyone together behind closed doors.' What was behind it? 'The move could be part of a legal play, given the mounting lawsuits plaguing DOGE and the administration. But given the avalanche of litigation Trump has already faced, it's just as likely that politics are the motive. He's been receiving frustrated calls from agency heads and lawmakers. He wants people to feel heard. And DOGE has been triggering alarm bells every day since the inauguration.' (More on that in a moment.) One last thing: 'Exactly how much does this change things functionally? Musk's MO has been 'move fast and break things,' so I imagine we'll see one way or another pretty soon,' Dasha concludes. A few things we're wondering: How will Musk handle a Cabinet secretary spurning his wishes? Will he target them with pressure campaigns on X? Given the affinity MAGA supporters have for him, will Musk essentially do to Trump's Cabinet what Trump has done to Republicans for the last decade: presenting his preferences as an all-or-nothing loyalty test and demanding their obeisance? What worries Hill Republicans: Military veterans have been disproportionately affected by the massive slashes to the federal workforce, leading GOP lawmakers to unleash 'a rare tide of public pushback,' POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill and Jordain Carney report. Of particular concern: The potential for 80,000 more firings at the roughly 480,000-person Department of Veterans Affairs. That could present a major political liability, especially as the VA cancels hundreds of contracts that could damage safety at VA clinics and hospitals, NBC's Gretchen Morgenson and Laura Strickler report. Already, the VA's crisis hotline for struggling veterans is facing problems, with some responders warning of a 'lapse in the mission,' per CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. Musk's response: Musk, seemingly aware of the dawning political realities DOGE presents for Republicans on the Hill, is doing a bit of constituent work of his own. He gave his cellphone number to senators — but not to House members — 'and his team is setting up a dedicated phone line the lawmakers can call if they have further questions, complaints or suggestions about his work, and about jobs and agencies that should be spared,' AP's Lisa Mascaro and Chris Megerian report. If the Trump-Musk honeymoon is over, what now? There are a few ways to parse it. The somewhat facile observation here is that both men have been married three times and neither has a history of long-lasting meaningful personal partnerships. But there's another way to see it: Both men have been in successful and decades-long marriages to their own careers, which they've pursued with a single-minded devotion. Right now, their career goals are in alignment. But if DOGE continues to present political liabilities for Republicans on the Hill, it's not a leap to imagine things falling apart. (Thought bubble: If Republicans lose the House in 2026, what are the chances Trump blames it on Musk?) Here, something Trump himself once said might be instructive: 'I always felt that if you have to work at a relationship, that the relationship is not going to work.' THE DOGEPILE: Setting aside the political complexities of their alliance, the news about the real-life reverberations of the Trump-Musk sledgehammer approach to remaking government abounds … On food safety: A freeze on federal credit cards at the FDA has seriously slowed the Human Foods Program's work to keep the food supply safe, Consumer Reports' Lauren Kirchner writes. Staffers warn that without a change soon, all food testing could stop — and they likely won't be ready to handle an outbreak. On natural disasters: DOGE seeks to close volcano monitoring buildings in Alaska and Hawaii, per NOTUS' Anna Kramer. On intel agencies: 'Across the vast network of U.S. spy agencies, from the CIA's human operatives to the National Security Agency's codebreakers, job cuts and the frequently conflicting instructions to the workforce have deeply unsettled tens of thousands of intelligence personnel who are usually known for their stoicism, disdain for partisan politics and focus on the critical missions at hand,' write WaPo's Warren Strobel and Ellen Nakashima. 'Some former officials say they haven't seen such turmoil in decades, if ever.' On foreign aid: Foreign aid programs that lost money have been sent a new questionnaire asking if they align with Trump's values, the NYT reports. … The funding freeze is making it impossible for many faith-based charities to do their work — or even stay afloat, per WaPo. … Tens of millions of dollars in outstanding foreign aid must be paid by the end of Monday, a federal district court judge ruled yesterday, per WaPo. But 'the fate of hundreds of millions more in spending for lifesaving food and medicine has yet to be resolved.' The latest court cases: NLRB Chair Gwynne Wilcox must be reinstated, a federal district court judge ruled, slamming Trump's effort to remove her as an 'illegal act' and 'power grab,' per POLITICO. … Hampton Dellinger, the ousted head of the Office of Special Counsel, dropped his legal challenge to his firing by Trump, per NBC News. Extremely hardcore: DOGE workers have 'set up at least four separate rooms on the 6th floor' of the General Services Administration's office building 'for sleeping, complete with beds from IKEA, lamps and dressers,' POLITICO's Hannah Northey and Danny Nguyen scooped. Ethics experts said the arrangement could break agency rules. 'The agency is also considering spending about $25,000 to install a washer and dryer on the building's 6th floor, according to a Feb. 25 invoice obtained by POLITICO.' (Seems expensive.) IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID JOBS DAY: The February jobs report will come out this morning, but don't expect to see much impact yet from Trump's tariffs or mass firings of federal workers. Those are likelier to show up next month. Economists predict that the country will have added 160,000 jobs, picking up from a January marred by California wildfires and cold weather, and that the unemployment rate will remain at 4 percent, Bloomberg's Augusta Saraiva previews.. Trade wars: In the latest trade policy whiplash, Trump yesterday granted Canada and Mexico significant exemptions on many tariffs for another month. Nonetheless, the 25 percent levies remain in place for some goods, and businesses may have to do complicated work to figure out which, WSJ's Chao Deng reports. Stocks flashing red: By the end of the day, the chaos had left stock markets down by 1.8 percent. The Nasdaq confirmed that it's now in a correction, largely due to trade uncertainty, per Reuters, and the S&P 500 is heading for its worst week in two years. Early signs are that stocks may rise again today, though. The headline from NYT's David Sanger summed it up: 'Tariffs by Whim Keep Allies Off Balance, but Do the Same to Markets.' Not backing down: Ontario Premier Doug Ford still plans to slap 25 percent tariffs on electricity exports to the U.S. on Monday, per POLITICO's Catherine Morehouse. Inflation nation: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out a defense of Trump's protectionism in a speech yesterday. 'Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream,' he said, per POLITICO's Sam Sutton. IN THE WILDERNESS FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: At a pre-Oscars party last weekend, Kamala Harris was asked by another partygoer when she would make a decision about jumping into the California governor's race. She gave a definitive answer: by the end of the summer, Eugene and Chris Cadelago report this morning. The waiting game: For months, California Dems have waited for any sign that the former VP is closing in on a decision about whether to run to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, or instead make another bid for the White House. Freezing the field: For now, the mere prospect of Harris running for the state's top job has sent several would-be candidates looking for other offices. State AG Rob Bonta will seek reelection, telling POLITICO he won't run for governor in part because Harris is likely to clear the field if she runs. 2028 watch: Newsom's public opposition yesterday to transgender girls and women playing in female sports rattled through the Democratic Party as an early jolt to the 2028 presidential primary, POLITICO's Liz Crampton, Shia Kapos, Nick Wu, Holly Otterbein and Elena Schneider report. LGBTQ+ groups reacted angrily, and no other potential presidential contender immediately agreed with Newsom. 'If that's what he thinks is going to win him the presidential election, if he actually did say that in that way, then I'm really disappointed,' Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who has a trans daughter, said last night at a Harvard Institute of Politics event. But but but: Some moderates were relieved at a blue-state governor distancing himself from a politically unpopular position, making it easier for other Dems to do so. 'As someone who has never been a culture warrior and has primarily talked about the economic issues throughout my career, I think the main takeaway is that any time you're hit, you have to respond,' Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) told POLITICO's Rachael Bade for this week's episode of 'Playbook Deep Dive,' referencing the Dem response to Trump's infamous 'Kamala is for they/them' ad. Listen to their conversation on Apple Podcasts or Spotify The emerging Dem line: Axios' Stephen Neukam and Hans Nichols report that Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is leading an effort to get Senate Democrats all on the same message here: saying the issue should be left to states, while acknowledging both fairness concerns and the importance of not bullying trans girls. Dems' other struggle this week: In the wake of several Democrats disrupting Trump's congressional address, a 'very unhappy' House Dem leadership had a 'come to Jesus' meeting with a dozen of those lawmakers yesterday, Axios' Andrew Solender and Hans Nichols report. And after several Democrats sang alongside Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) as he was formally censured yesterday for his outburst, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said he'll introduce resolutions to have them booted from their committees, per Axios. BEST OF THE REST RETURN OF THE TRAVEL BANS: Trump may again completely block people from several countries from coming to the U.S. as soon as next week, with Reuters' Jonathan Landay, Ted Hesson and Humeyra Pamuk reporting that Afghanistan and Pakistan may be on the list. NYT's Charlie Savage and Edward Wong report that countries may be divided into 'red,' 'orange' and 'yellow' lists, with the red group — total ban — adding Afghanistan alongside many of the countries Trump blocked in his first term. UKRAINE LATEST: Special envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz plan to meet with Ukrainian officials next week in Saudi Arabia to start talking about a cease-fire framework, POLITICO's Eli Stokols, Gigi Ewing and Amanda Friedman report. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Ukraine still haven't signed their natural resources deal because Washington wants to link it to Kyiv committing to a quick path toward ending the war, Bloomberg's Alex Wickham, Alberto Nardelli and Jenny Leonard report. With friends like these: Trump confirmed that he seeks to undermine a fundamental aspect of NATO — collective self-defense — saying the U.S. would only come to the aid of alliance members that spend a higher percentage of their budget on defense, per Gigi. European leaders agreed yesterday to beef up military spending and work together if they can't depend on the U.S., per the AP. But Bloomberg has a reality check: If Russia actually did attack NATO and the U.S. stayed away, Europe could fend off Moscow only 'for weeks at best.' GETTING CLOSER: Lori Chavez-DeRemer's nomination as Labor secretary moved forward on a 66-30 procedural vote, indicating that the Republican former congresswoman's unusually labor-friendly stances may not derail her confirmation, per POLITICO's Nick Niedzwiadek. … The Senate Banking Committee sent ahead Jonathan McKernan's nomination as CFPB director in a 13-11 vote, per Roll Call. DEMOCRACY WATCH: A remarkable chilling effect has settled over parts of Washington, out of fear of retribution from the Trump administration and allies, NYT's Elisabeth Bumiller reports: 'People on both sides of the aisle who would normally be part of the public dialogue about the big issues of the day say they are intimidated by the prospect of online attacks from Mr. Trump and Elon Musk, concerned about harm to their companies and frightened for the safety of their families.' To that end: Trump signed an executive order seeking to punish Perkins Coie for its connections to the Steele dossier and Hillary Clinton campaign, barring it from most work with the federal government, WaPo's Perry Stein and Michael Birnbaum report. First Amendment files: Georgetown Law School Dean William Treanor slapped down acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Ed Martin's threat that its diversity practices are 'unacceptable,' per AP's Michael Kunzelman. Treanor said the government can't tell the (private Catholic) school what to teach. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Speaker Mike Johnson said he hopes to hold a vote Tuesday on a continuing resolution to keep the government open and hold current funding levels for the rest of the fiscal year, per Reuters. Notably, the stopgap is expected to include some narrow health care measures to prevent pay cuts for doctors treating patients on Medicare and extend telehealth provisions for people with Medicare, POLITICO's Ben Leonard reports. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Witkoff said the U.S. and Israel may take joint action against Hamas if it doesn't release all the remaining hostages, per the WSJ. Meanwhile, Rubio is launching a 'Catch and Revoke' review with AI of tens of thousands of foreign students' social media profiles to look for support of Hamas — and cancel visas in those cases, Axios' Marc Caputo scooped. The State Department has already done so for the first such student, who's now slated to be removed from the U.S., Fox News' Louis Casiano and Bill Melugin report. 2026 WATCH: Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage is considering challenging Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), the Bangor Daily News' Michael Shepherd reports. TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK: Trump said he'll 'probably' keep extending TikTok's reprieve from a federal ban if it's not sold by next month, per Bloomberg. NOT ON THE CLOCK: Trump indicated yesterday that he wasn't inclined to make changes to daylight saving time, given divided public opinion. More from The Hill WHAT PETE HEGSETH IS UP TO: 'War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge,' by AP's Tara Copp, Lolita Baldor and Kevin Vineys: 'In some cases, photos seemed to be flagged for removal simply because their file included the word 'gay,' including service members with that last name and an image of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay.' FUN ONE: What's it really like to be a member of Congress? To kick off POLITICO Magazine's 'Congress Issue,' 25 of them spilled to several of our colleagues about daily life, coping mechanisms, what they love and hate most about the institution, sex, drinking, dementia and more. Among the quotes that jumped out to us: Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.): 'There's no question that somewhere between six and a dozen of my colleagues are at a point where … they don't have the faculties to do their job.' Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) on whether Congress is really like the scandalous 'House of Cards': 'Absolutely. We're human beings, right? We're all sinners … Don't act like your shit doesn't stink.' Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.): 'I'd bring back the powdered wigs.' Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.): 'I think it's appropriate to talk about expanding the size of the House.' Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.): 'I feel like there's so much time wasted on pointless political theater.' THE WEEKEND AHEAD TV TONIGHT — PBS' 'Washington Week,' guest-moderated by Franklin Foer: Dan Balz, Eugene Daniels, Michelle Price and Kayla Tausche. SUNDAY SO FAR … Fox News 'Sunday Morning Futures': President Donald Trump. CBS 'Face the Nation': DHS Secretary Kristi Noem … Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) … Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman … Fiona Hill. NBC 'Meet the Press': Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick … Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) … Steve Kornacki. Panel: Courtney Kube, Jonathan Martin, Symone Sanders Townsend and Marc Short. MSNBC 'The Weekend': Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) … David Miliband … Judge Susan Crawford. NewsNation 'The Hill Sunday': Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) … Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) … Gene Sperling and David Stockman. Panel: Andrew Desiderio and Tia Mitchell. ABC 'This Week': Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Panel: Donna Brazile, Reince Priebus, Sarah Isgur and Faiz Shakir. CNN 'State of the Union': Panel: Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Ashley Allison and Brenda Gianiny. TALK OF THE TOWN JD Vance told a reporter that he's seen — and enjoyed — the memes of his photos. William F. Buckley is getting an official USPS stamp. Rosa DeLauro clapped back at criticisms of her appearance: 'I love my self-expression, and no anonymous troll hiding behind a cartoon picture is changing that.' Diego de la Vega, a Dreamer who was deputy comms director for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign, has self-deported to Colombia. Phil Goff, New Zealand's top envoy to the U.K., was ousted over comments about Donald Trump. Trump has inquired about potentially moving the Declaration of Independence into the Oval Office, The Atlantic's Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer report. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: In addition to Bradley Bondi, Ed Martin deputy Alicia Long is mounting a bid for a top role at the D.C. Bar Association, NBC's Allan Smith and Ryan Reilly report. AND THE AWARD GOES TO: The Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting were announced for a series from Reuters' Peter Eisler, Ned Parker, Aram Roston and Joseph Tanfani on Trump's 'politics of menace' and a series from NJ Advance Media's Spencer Kent and Riley Yates on far-right politics in New Jersey. Our POLITICO colleagues Jessie Blaeser, Kelsey Tamborrino, Benjamin Storrow, Zack Colman, David Ferris, Timothy Cama and Christine Mui received the honorable mention for their 'Biden's Billions' coverage. Read all the work here, including other finalists OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's keynote address yesterday at a sold-out edition of the Economic Club of New York's signature luncheon series: Larry Kudlow, Bob Steel, Gregg Lemkau, Dina Powell McCormick, Tony Sayegh, John Catsimatidis, Steve Schwarzman, Jason Miller, Monica Crowley, Jon Huntsman, Charlie Glazer, Ken Mehlman, Annmarie Hordern, Miranda Devine, Mario Gabelli, Mark Gallogly, Jerry Speyer, Ed Cox, Lynn Martin, Ben Smith, Raheem Kassam, Wayne Berman, John Carney, Byron Trott, Bill Rudin, Brad Bailey, Ravenel Curry, Barbara Van Allen, Ron Sylvestri and Brad Jacobs. — Elissa Dodge and Philippa Levenberg celebrated Sable Strategy's two-year anniversary and recognition on Inc. Magazine's Best in Business list. SPOTTED: Karen Hanretty, Kara Hauck, Lara Aulestia, Tetiana Anderson, Jennifer Baskerville, Sarah Smith, Nathalie Zenni, Angel Riley, Anne Forristal Luke, Laura Cilmi, Audrae Erickson and Jessie Niewold. MEDIA MOVE — Reed Galen is joining 24sight News on Substack to write 'This Land,' a regular column 'on the people of America, reported from the ground, across the nation, in a John Steinbeck style.' He is a co-founder of the Lincoln Project. TRANSITIONS — Brien Lorenze is the new executive director of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. He most recently was a senior adviser in the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. … Kate Constantini is now comms director for House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.). She previously was director of comms at With Honor. … Preston Maddock is now a senior director at Amplifire Strategies. He previously was a senior director at Wavelength Strategy, and is a DSCC and Sherrod Brown alum. … … Margaret Boatner will be VP of national security policy at the Aerospace Industries Association. She most recently was deputy assistant secretary of the Army for strategy and acquisition reform. … Max Castroparedes has launched Pax American Strategies, an advisory firm that provides political intelligence and strategic advice to asset managers, merchant banks, political campaigns and sovereign wealth funds. He is a Trump DHS and Foundation for the Defense of Democracies alum. … Kevin Vernimb is now a marketing director at Rokk Solutions. He previously was manager of brand marketing at Marriott International. ENGAGED — Alex Levine, an incoming associate at Sidley Austin and a law student at Georgetown, proposed to Sara Zakaria, a comms specialist at NeighborWorks America and an Amy Klobuchar alum, surrounded by family in Dublin on Sunday. The couple met through a mutual friend. Pic WEDDING — J. Baylor Myers, VP of corporate development at BitGo and a Trump Treasury alum, and Dakota Char-Lee, a paralegal in San Francisco, got married Feb. 22 in Columbus, Ohio. They met at Oasis Restaurant in Pleasanton, California, in 2022. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) … Guy Benson (4-0) … former Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar … Kristan King Nevins … Josh Holly … Mike Watson … Noreen Nielsen … Focal Point Strategy Group's Ryan Thomas … Savannah Behrmann … Carol Danko … Elad Strohmayer … Alan Neuhauser … Matt Higginson … former Reps. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) and Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) … Anne Farris Rosen … Myron Belkind … Nate Evans … Matt Handverger … NBC's Matt Glassman … Mark Schuermann … Anthony Bellotti … Sam Markstein of the Republican Jewish Coalition … American Conservation Coalition's Zack Abnet … Jordan Colvin … Gretchen Opper … Raymond Rodriguez … Joe Fadness of Michael Best Strategies … SKDK's Jacob Long … Eliza VanZoeren … BCW's Katie Nerantzis Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
06-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
Trump's tariff two-step
Presented by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce THE CATCH-UP IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green has formally been censured for his outbursts during President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress. The House voted 224-198 this morning to admonish the lawmaker for his actions, with 10 Democrats joining all Republicans in voting for the punishment. Quite the scene: 'Typically a censured member is immediately made to stand in the well of the House to formally receive punishment. But Green and more than a dozen colleagues stood in the well singing 'We Shall Overcome' after the vote, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson to put the House in recess instead,' POLITICO's Nick Wu and Ben Jacobs write. TARIFFS, ANDS OR BUTS: Trump appears to be retreating even further on his punitive tariffs, announcing today that he is delaying the 25 percent levies on Mexico until next month for all imports that fall under the existing USMCA trade deal. However, Trump made no mention of whether his tariffs on Canada will also be delayed. What Trump said: 'This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President [Claudia] Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!' What it means: 'The tariffs on Mexican goods would, in theory, go back into force the same day the White House says it plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners, based off a calculation of the trade barriers each foreign country imposes on U.S. goods,' POLITICO's Ari Hawkins writes. The (live) view from Wall Street: 'Dow drops more than 400 points, S&P 500 hits lowest since early November on trade policy fatigue,' by CNBC's Alex Harring and Pia Singh The backstory: On Monday, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Sheinbaum both tried to get Trump on the phone to talk him down on tariffs. No dice. So both dispatched deputies to bend the ears of Trump's top aides, to no avail. Trump went ahead with the 25% tariffs on Tuesday, 'making clear the fatal flaw in the negotiating process: Only Trump speaks for Trump, and the president wanted to move forward,' WSJ's Vipal Monga, Santiago Pérez and Gavin Bade report in a behind-the-scenes look on how the saga unfolded. A WHOLE LOTTA LAYOFFS: In the latest sign of how significant Trump's shakeup has been for the economy since taking office again, layoffs from U.S. employers 'jumped to levels not seen since the last two recessions amid mass federal government job cuts, canceled contracts and fears of trade wars,' Reuters reports. The raw numbers: 'Global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said on Thursday that planned job cuts vaulted 245% to 172,017 last month, the highest level since July 2020, when the economy was in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the highest February total since the Great Recession 16 years ago.' Meanwhile: The Labor Department noticed today that applications for jobless benefits 'fell last week as the labor market remains sturdy ahead of an expected purge of federal government employees,' per AP's Matt Ott. 'The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 to 221,000 for the week ending March 1, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's significantly fewer than the 236,000 new applications analysts expected.' Related read: 'The Recession Trade Is Back on Wall Street,' by WSJ's Sam Goldfarb: 'Investors entered 2025 optimistic that an already strong U.S. economy could get an extra boost from an administration pushing market-friendly tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks. Instead, trade tensions and signs of slowing growth have driven major indexes lower in recent weeks.' THE DOGE WAGS THE TAIL: In remarkable comments that illustrate the level of command that Elon Musk's DOGE operation has already exerted across the government, acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Leland Dudek told a group this week that DOGE is essentially in charge of the SSA, WaPo's Lisa Rein, Jeff Stein and Hannah Natanson report. 'Things are currently operating in a way I have never seen in government before,' Dudek said. The details: 'In a meeting Tuesday with his senior staff and about 50 legal-aid attorneys and other advocates for the disabled and elderly,' Dudek 'referred to the tech billionaire's cost-cutting team as 'outsiders who are unfamiliar with nuances of SSA programs.'' He continued: ''DOGE people are learning and they will make mistakes, but we have to let them see what is going on at SSA,' Dudek told the group, according to the notes. 'I am relying on longtime career people to inform my work, but I am receiving decisions that are made without my input. I have to effectuate those decisions.'' The latest cuts: The gutting of the government has come to the CIA, NYT's Julian Barnes and Mark Mazzetti report. 'Some officers hired in the last two years have been summoned to a location away from the agency's headquarters in Langley, Va., and asked to surrender their credentials to security personnel,' though it's not clear how many officers are set to be fired and not all probationary employees will be impacted. NYT notes that there 'appeared to be fewer firings in key areas like collecting information on China and Mexican drug cartels.' Still, the cuts have 'devastated morale, and cut productivity this week.' ONE-WAY TICKET TO NOWHERE: Five Democratic senators are asking DOJ in a letter to AG Pam Bondi to open an investigation into whether Musk is using his perch in the Trump administration to get advertisers back onto his X platform, WSJ's Suzanne Vranica reports. TEST CASE: Musk's efforts to remake the federal government are also straining a rarely tested 50-year-old law meant to protect sensitive information on millions of Americans, POLITICO's Alfred Ng writes. 'At least a dozen lawsuits trying to stop the billionaire's Department of Government Efficiency from tapping into tax records, student loan accounts and other troves of personal data have invoked the Privacy Act of 1974 since January.' INTERESTING READ: 'Many Chinese See a Cultural Revolution in America,' by NYT's Li Yuan: 'People in China are expressing alarm at what seems to be an authoritarian turn in the United States, long their role model of democracy, that feels familiar.' Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@ 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. NATO NO MORE?: Trump is mulling a massive shift in America's participation in NATO — an alliance that he has often criticized since his first administration. Trump has 'discussed with aides the possibility of calibrating America's NATO engagement in a way that favors members of the alliance that spend a set percentage of their gross domestic product on defense,' NBC's Courtney Kube, Carol Lee and Julie Tsirkin report. 'As part of the potential policy shift, the U.S. might not defend a fellow NATO member that is attacked if the country doesn't meet the defense spending threshold, the officials said.' 2. UPENDING UKRAINE: The Trump administration is considering a plan to 'revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia,' which could potentially set them up for a 'fast-track to deportation,' Reuters' Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke report. FWIW, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a screenshot of the Reuters report, calling it 'fake news' from sources 'who have no idea what they are talking about.' She concluded: 'The truth: no decision has been made at this time.' Which, for the record, isn't an outright 'this is never happening.' We'll see. Cutting the link: Officials in Ukraine are worried that the Trump administration's pullback on military aid and intelligence sharing could lead Musk to cancel his Starlink internet service that many in the country have grown to rely on, WaPo's Serhiy Morgunov and Adam Taylor report. 'Front-line commanders are increasingly concerned that the military has grown too reliant on Starlink, a product of Musk's SpaceX, and it could become the latest pressure point for the White House as it pushes Ukraine to engage in peace talks with Russia and sign a deal giving the United States access to its minerals.' Across the pond: EU leaders today 'gathered at a specially convened meeting in Brussels to discuss how to bolster both Europe's own defenses and its support for Ukraine amid enormously high stakes,' NYT's Jeanna Smialek reports. 'They must figure out how to accomplish these aims without further alienating their tempestuous allies in Washington. At the same time, they are struggling to keep a united front even among their own member countries as Hungary strikes a critical note toward Ukraine. Officials heading into the meeting expressed a new sense of urgency as they pledged to push for a strong peace for Ukraine and a more independent future for European defense.' 3. NEWSOM OPENS A NEW DEMOCRATIC DIVIDE: On his new podcast, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Democrats were in the wrong in allowing transgender athletes to participate in female college and youth sports, POLITICO's Christopher Cadelago writes. 'It is an issue of fairness — it's deeply unfair,' Newsom said in the debut episode of 'This is Gavin Newsom' during a conversation with MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk. 'I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.' The statement stunned some Newsom supporters who've long viewed the former San Francisco mayor as a pioneering ally for LGBTQ+ rights who in the past has displayed an independent streak to defend them. Newsom's comments quickly prompted California Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna, to decry his position. What else?: Newsom also agreed that the most politically destructive attack ads from Trump's campaign were those that hit Kamala Harris over her support for providing taxpayer-funded gender transition-related medical care for detained immigrants and federal prisoners. 'She didn't even react to it, which was even more devastating,' Newsom said, adding: 'Then you had the video [of Harris] as a validator. Brutal. … It was a great ad.' 4. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Hamas today shrugged at Trump's demand for the remaining hostages to be released immediately and 'reiterated that it will only free the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,' AP's Samy Magdy reports. 'The militant group accused Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to back out of the ceasefire agreement they reached in January. … Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said the 'best path to free the remaining Israeli hostages' is through negotiations on that phase, which were supposed to begin in early February.' Elsewhere: The White House is 'considering a plan to stop and inspect Iranian oil tankers at sea under an international accord aimed at countering the spread of weapons of mass destruction,' Reuters' Jonathan Saul and Jarrett Renshaw report. 5. CAUGHT UP ON CAMPUS: 'As Trump Goes After Universities, Students Are Now on the Chopping Block,' by NYT's Stephanie Saul: 'In the early weeks of the Trump administration's push to slash funding that colleges and universities rely on, grants and contracts had been cut and, in a few cases, researchers had been laid off. In recent days, the fiscal pain has come to students. … Since taking office, the Trump administration has issued orders that threaten to broadly undercut the financial foundation of university based research, including deep reductions in overhead cost reimbursements through the National Institutes of Health. Court challenges have paused some of the cuts, but universities are bracing for uncertainty.' Related read: 'Facing Trump's threats, Columbia investigates students critical of Israel,' by AP's Jake Offenhartz 6. WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS: 'Who Paid for Trump's Transition to Power? The Donors Are Still Unknown,' by NYT's Ken Bensinger: 'After six weeks in office, President Trump has not disclosed the names of the donors who paid for his transition planning, despite a public pledge to do so. … A spokesperson for the General Services Administration, which works closely with presidential transitions, said in a statement that 'the Trump-Vance Transition Team is not required to publicly disclose transition-related donations since they did not accept the services and funds outlined in' the memorandum of understanding that the agency offered the transition last fall.' 7. SOCIAL WORK: WaPo's Drew Harwell and Sarah Ellison chronicle the recent shift in strategy to 'transform the traditional White House press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, disseminating messages directly to Americans through the memes, TikToks and podcasts where millions now get their news,' carrying on a piece of the Trump campaign's success. 'Trump's allies are now pushing a parallel information universe of social media feeds and right-wing firebrands to sell the country on his expansionist approach to presidential power. For the Trump team, that has involved aggressively confronting critics … not just to 'reframe the narrative' but to drown them out, said Kaelan Dorr, a deputy assistant to the president who runs the digital team.' TALK OF THE TOWN MEDIA MOVE — Scott Matthews is joining MSNBC as SVP of newsgathering based in New York. He previously was VP and news director at WABC-TV. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Dan Jacobson is launching Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC, a new law firm to represent companies and organizations impacted by the Trump administration's moves on federal funding. He previously was general counsel in the Biden administration's OMB. TRANSITIONS — Jenny Yang is now a partner at Outten & Golden. She previously was deputy assistant to President Joe Biden for racial justice and equity, and is a former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chair. … Cornerstone Government Affairs is adding Terry Van Doren, Colleen Kaveney Moss and Andy Flick to its federal government relations team. Van Doren previously was senior policy adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Moss previously was managing director for industrial policy and advocacy at ClearPath. Flick previously was special assistant to the president and senior adviser for congressional affairs and strategic outreach in VP Kamala Harris' office. … … Groundwork Collaborative is adding Emily DiVito as senior adviser for economic policy, J.W. Mason as a senior fellow, and Akhil Rajan, Alejandro Molina, Andrés Arguello, Chad Maisel and Michael Negron as policy fellows. DiVito most recently was at the Roosevelt Institute. Mason is an associate professor at John Jay College. The inaugural class of policy fellows were all most recently working across the Biden administration. … David Francis will be VP of global growth strategy and government affairs at Jetr Global Sports + Entertainment. He previously was senior adviser for government affairs at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Yesterday's Playbook PM misstated the network on which CIA Director John Ratcliffe spoke that morning. It was Fox Business Network.
Politico
06-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
School's out forever
Presented by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, wishing R.I.P. to the great Roy Ayers. DRIVING THE DAY DOGE DAY AFTERNOON: It's not quite a mission to Mars, but a big day lies ahead for Elon Musk's project to slice and dice the federal government. A long-trailed plan to abolish the Department for Education has been finalized and will likely be signed by Donald Trump as early as today, the Wall Street Journal scooped last night. It comes with a major court judgement looming this afternoon over Musk's efforts to cancel tens of billions of dollars' worth of foreign aid, hours after the administration secured a significant court victory over the firing of an independent watchdog leading the fightback against DOGE. With the Republican Party compliant and Democrats seemingly helpless, the courts still look like the only bulwark standing in Musk's way. We don't need no education: The biggest story of the day will surely be the closure of the Education Department, assuming Trump does indeed press the button. The shuttering of an entire federal department with an annual budget of $268 billion would represent the most significant play so far in the Trump administration's drive to reshape the Washington machine, handing a totemic and long sought-after scalp to small-state Republicans. There's been no formal comment from the White House so far. This is not new: Trump promised to kill the department while on the campaign trail last year, and has made repeated nods to the plan since returning to power. Wrestling exec-turned-Education Secretary Linda McMahon has already made clear to staff she plans to 'send education back to the states,' having set out her thinking to senators last month. Even so, none of this diminishes the fact it will be a big story when the moment comes. Law and order: A draft of Trump's executive order, as seen by the WSJ, directs McMahon to 'take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department' based on 'the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.' That final caveat is significant, given the department was created in 1980 via legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter. Lacking the 60 votes he'd need in the Senate to eliminate the department legislatively, Trump is looking to do it purely through executive order. Which means — as with most of DOGE's radical cost-cutting moves — it's likely to be challenged in the courts. Speaking of which: Musk's first major program of cuts — the near-destruction of USAID — faces its own moment of truth in a D.C. courtroom today. Judge Amir Ali has given the Trump administration an 11 a.m. deadline to set out a new timeline for delivering $2 billion in frozen payments to foreign aid contractors for work they have already carried out, following the administration's unexpected 5-4 defeat yesterday at the Supreme Court. An even more significant moment comes at 2 p.m. as Ali considers whether to extend the unfreeze to billions of dollars more in future USAID payments. Each of these judgements mark vital — if not final — moments in defining the new powers of the presidency. In the DOGE house: It wasn't just the Supreme Court doling out defeats to DOGE yesterday. A workers' board is reinstating — at least temporarily — almost 6,000 fired probationary workers from the Department of Agriculture, according to an order obtained by CNN. And a federal judge issued an injunction blocking cuts to National Institutes of Health payments, STAT News' Jonathan Wosen reports — 'a decision that suggests plaintiffs seeking to overturn the sweeping policy change are likely to eventually succeed.' We shall see. Hampton out: More significant than any of that, my ace POLITICO colleague Josh Gerstein texts in to say, was a separate D.C. court ruling last night which gave Trump the green light to fire one of the last remaining voices of resistance within the federal government: federal ethics watchdog Hampton Dellinger. Dellinger, a special counsel, was fired by Trump last month despite laws protecting his independence, but then swiftly reinstated by a lower court judge. Dellinger subsequently began legal action to reinstate thousands of probationary workers fired by DOGE. Those efforts will cease with his departure, given his replacement will be a Trump appointee. SCOTUS pocus: Dellinger's case — or others like it — could yet end up at the Supreme Court, and Josh reckons last night's D.C. court ruling 'flips the momentum' in Trump's favor. The president insists he has the right to fire at-will executive branch officials who were meant to be protected by laws preserving their independence. Will the conservative-dominated SCOTUS agree? If so, it marks a highly significant scaling-back of Congress's ability to impose any oversight upon the executive branch. But don't be too sure … Georgetown Law's Steve Vladeck writes in the Atlantic. He suggests that Trump's 5-4 Supreme Court defeat yesterday — albeit on a narrow issue around specific foreign aid payments — could prove highly significant: It is the second 5-4 SCOTUS ruling against Trump since he returned to power, and proves an unlikely majority does exist in certain circumstances to reign in Trump's excesses, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett both prepared to vote against the president's expansion of powers. Let's see if the theory holds when the biggest cases arrive. In the meantime … Congress ought to be the other main brake on an all-powerful presidency, but there are precious few signs of the GOP seeking to slow Trump down. Initial murmurings of Republican dissent against Musk have failed to ignite, as witnessed by the rapturous applause he received during Trump's joint address to Congress on Tuesday night. Musk met with GOP senators and representatives on the Hill yesterday to explain himself and — having handed out his cell phone number so they can pester him directly — escaped with barely a scratch. Inside the room: 'Musk defended himself to a room full of House Republicans on Wednesday night,' POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill and Jennifer Scholtes scooped, 'saying that he 'can't bat a thousand all the time.' But he also promised to work to correct mistakes amid the Department of Government Efficiency's slash-and-burn operation across the federal government.' Republicans largely seemed happy with his tone, although a broader debate is now swirling within the party about whether Congress should take a lead and codify DOGE's cuts into law. Axios' Stef Kight has more on that. BEYOND THE BELTWAY EUROPE, ALONE: EU leaders are gathering in Brussels this morning for an emergency summit on Ukraine and the future of the beleaguered Western alliance. The bloc's 27 national leaders will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss an $865 billion joint defense plan as the shockwaves of the Trump administration's sudden turn toward Russia reverberate. Keep an eye out for spiky comments from EU leaders on their way into the summit and at press conferences when it all wraps up. Mon dieu: French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a remarkable TV address last night, spelling out how Europe's security dynamic has now changed. 'I want to believe the U.S. will stay by our side. But we have to be ready if that isn't the case,' Macron said. 'Europe's future should not be decided in Washington or Moscow, and yes the threat from the east is returning. The innocence of these 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall is over.' What Europe is watching: This eight-minute speech about Trump by French Senator Claude Malhuret, which has gone totally viral on social media. He received a standing ovation from the French parliament. What Zelenskyy is reading: 'Four senior members of Donald Trump's entourage have held secret discussions with some of Kyiv's top political opponents to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just as Washington aligns with Moscow in seeking to lever the Ukrainian president out of his job,' POLITICO's Jamie Dettmer scoops. 'The discussions centered on whether Ukraine could hold quick presidential elections.' IMMIGRATION FILES: A U.S. military deportation flight slated for today has been canceled as the Trump administration pauses plans for military aircraft to remove undocumented migrants, WSJ's Shelby Holliday and Nancy Youssef scooped. That's just one of multiple ways the Trump administration is being forced to recalibrate as its immigration crackdown dreams run into financial and logistical constraints. The use of C-17 and C-130 aircraft has been deemed inefficient and costly, and similar concerns have arisen around using Guantánamo Bay to house detainees. For some officials, 'there is a growing recognition … that it was a political decision that is just not working,' NBC's Courtney Kube, Carol Lee, Julie Tsirkin and Julia Ainsley report. Working out the kinks: The Trump administration's struggles to implement mass deportations have fueled 'frustration' among top officials, NYT's Hamed Aleaziz and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report. Border crossings are down and arrests are up — but without corresponding deportations, 'the number of people waiting in ICE detention has surged, straining resources.' To that end: The administration is restarting the detention of children as part of reopening a Dilley, Texas, facility that will house migrant families to be deported, WaPo's Maria Sacchetti, Arelis Hernández and Douglas MacMillan report. And Mellissa Harper, the acting leader of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (which supervises unaccompanied migrant kids), was suddenly axed from the role because she'd 'failed to deliver on White House expectations,' Reuters' Ted Hesson reports. Still dreaming big: Visiting the southern border yesterday, VP JD Vance said Trump wants to build a full border wall by the end of his term, per the Washington Examiner. TRADE WARS: With massive tariffs now in place on goods imported from Canada, China and Mexico, a race is on among lobbying groups to see which industries might be able to wriggle out of them. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that American automakers will get a monthlong reprieve from the North America levies, per the AP, contrary to previous White House warnings that no exemptions would come. And Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Bloomberg's Jenny Leonard and Skylar Woodhouse that some agricultural items like potash and fertilizer could also be considered for carveouts — an especially urgent issue for farmers, as spring planting season is fast approaching and, per the American Farm Bureau, more than 80 percent of potash used in the U.S. comes from Canada. The big question: How much political risk is Trump willing to withstand? POLITICO's Megan Messerly, Daniel Desrochers and Ari Hawkins write that companies and consumers have been 'confused and flustered' by all the back and forth over tariffs. 'The self-inflicted economic uncertainty' reflects disagreements among Trump advisers as well as the conflict within Trump himself between a sincere love of tariffs and a keen eye on the stock market. But the confusion could also threaten the economy, as businesses hold back due to uncertainty, POLITICO's Sam Sutton writes. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Trump met yesterday with several former hostages held by Hamas, and warned afterward that the terrorist group must release its remaining detainees immediately or face 'HELL TO PAY.' More from NBC … Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, whom the Biden administration considered too far-right to engage with, was welcomed in D.C. yesterday, per the NYT. BACK TO THE HILL SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: A March 14 U.S. government shutdown is now just over a week away — and House Republicans' eyes are fixed firmly on the holdouts who oppose President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson's plan for a six-month continuing resolution. Trump's meeting with fiscal hawks yesterday at the White House convinced at least one hardliner, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), to express some openness to the idea, despite never having voted for a CR before, per POLITICO's Nick Wu and Meredith Lee Hill. But but but: With Democrats opposed, Johnson and his allies are running out of time. Heritage leaders Kevin Roberts and Ryan Walker penned a Fox News op-ed yesterday making the case for a clean CR, while Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) visited the House Republican Study Committee to deliver 'a wake-up call for what will actually be achievable,' POLITICO's Katherine Tully-McManus, Nick, Meredith and Ben Leonard report. Will any of it be enough? The bigger picture: Senior appropriators are actually getting close to a deal on topline government funding levels, POLITICO's Jennifer Scholtes, Mia McCarthy and Meredith Lee Hill report. 'It's imminent,' Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said last night. House GOP leadership is nonetheless barreling ahead with plans for a CR to keep funding levels the same through the end of the fiscal year. But if Johnson can't get the votes for that — and has to resort to a much shorter-term CR — these negotiations on updated funding levels could come into play. Medicaid raid: Hill Republicans meanwhile received an uncomfortable reality check about their reconciliation plans from the Congressional Budget Office. Its nonpartisan analysis said the House GOP's budget blueprint for $880 billion in savings simply cannot be done without cuts to Medicaid, Medicare or the Children's Health Insurance Program, per WaPo's Jacob Bogage. HAPPENING TODAY: The House plans to hold its censure vote against Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) today, per CNN's Sarah Ferris and Annie Grayer. Some Dems haven't ruled out voting for it, Axios' Andrew Solender and Hans Nichols report. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will hold his weekly news conference at 11 a.m. MEANWHILE IN THE SENATE: Lori Chavez-DeRemer's nomination as Labor secretary will come up for a procedural vote in the afternoon, as will the HALT Fentanyl Act, after a vote on Troy Edgar as deputy DHS secretary. Yesterday, senators voted 52-46 along party lines to confirm Todd Blanche as deputy AG, per the AP. BEST OF THE REST FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s early handling of the Texas measles outbreak has drawn concerns within the department — and even from some allies — over whether he's been too slow or casual in responding, POLITICO's Adam Cancryn, Sophie Gardner and Chelsea Cirruzzo report. (Case in point: As a deadly measles outbreak spread across Texas, Kennedy took time this weekend to mountaineer for leisure above California's Coachella Valley.) Some local Texas officials are frustrated Kennedy hasn't done more to state clearly that vaccination is the answer. ... Meanwhile, in 'an unusual arrangement,' Kennedy is getting protection from the U.S. Marshals, Reuters' Sarah Lynch scooped. EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams today becomes the latest surprise entrant in the city's mayoral race, POLITICO's Jeff Coltin reports. That could present a fresh challenge to incumbent Eric Adams and frontrunner Andrew Cuomo. Separately, a federal judge yesterday declined to intervene immediately in Adams' demand that the Trump administration give back an $80 million migrant grant it withdrew, per Jeff. MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Tech leaders including the CEOs of HP, Intel, IBM and Qualcomm may meet with Trump at the White House on Monday, Bloomberg's Ian King, Brody Ford and Mackenzie Hawkins report. CASH DASH: 'ActBlue, the Democratic Fund-Raising Powerhouse, Faces Internal Chaos,' by NYT's Reid Epstein and Shane Goldmacher: The organization 'has plunged into turmoil, with at least seven senior officials resigning late last month and a remaining lawyer suggesting he faced internal retaliation. … The exodus has set off deep concerns about ActBlue's future.' KNIVES OUT FOR KINGSLEY WILSON: The Pentagon deputy press secretary is the subject of stories from Mother Jones' Anna Merlan and Jewish Insider's Matthew Kassel, who report on her history of controversial online posts. They include spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories, calling for an end to immigration and urging to 'make Kosovo Serbia again.' Some Republican lawmakers have now denounced Wilson's posts and questioned the administration's vetting, POLITICO's Jack Detsch and Joe Gould report. NAME TO KNOW: 'Dealmaker Michael Grimes expected to lead new US sovereign wealth fund, sources say,' by Reuters' Milana Vinn and Alexandra Alper TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: Major cryptocurrency legislation that the industry likes already has bipartisan backing. But increasingly, internecine fighting within the crypto world could threaten its chances of passage, POLITICO's Victoria Guida writes. And Trump's plans for a cryptocurrency strategic reserve could gum up the works too, Semafor's Eleanor Mueller reports. IN THE WILDERNESS: 'Most voters think Dems don't have their act together, insider poll shows,' by POLITICO's Holly Otterbein, Lisa Kashinsky, Brakkton Booker and Myah Ward: 'A plurality of voters — 40 percent — said the Democratic Party doesn't have any strategy whatsoever for responding to Trump, according to the survey by the liberal firm Blueprint that was shared first with POLITICO. Another 24 percent said Democrats have a game plan, but it's a bad one.' TALK OF THE TOWN Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a run of 'Hamilton' at the Kennedy Center next year for the country's 250th anniversary due to Donald Trump's takeover. Hayden Haynes, chief of staff to Mike Johnson, was arrested for alleged drunk driving after Trump's address to Congress. Barack Obama and Steve Ballmer took in the Clippers-Pistons game. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: The White House has moved away from plans to issue an executive order taking control of local D.C. issues like crime and homelessness, WaPo's Emily Davies and Meagan Flynn report. … Bradley Bondi, whose sister is AG Pam Bondi, is mounting a bid for D.C. Bar Association president — which could be involved in complaints against Justice Department officials, NYT's Glenn Thrush and Adam Goldman report. HUNTER BIDEN BROKE: A pardon from his dad spared Hunter Biden from prison, but the former president's son remains saddled with debt and was forced out of a home he was renting by the recent Pacific Palisades fire, POLITICO's Josh Gerstein writes in. Biden detailed his grim financial situation in a court filing yesterday, saying that he has struggled to sell his paintings in recent months, moving only one in the past 14 months, compared with 27 in the prior two or three years. He reported 'significant' debts and lackluster sales of his memoir: just more than 4,200 copies during a one-year period that led up to the trial in Delaware last spring in which he was found guilty of lying about his drug addiction on a federal gun-purchase form. 'Given the positive feedback and reviews of my artwork and memoir, I was expecting to obtain paid speaking engagements and paid appearances, but that has not happened,' Biden wrote. Citing the financial burden of ongoing legal fees, he's asking a federal judge in LA to allow him to drop a lawsuit he filed in 2023 accusing former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler of hacking the contents of Biden's laptop. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the Invariant/Washingtonian party: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Wolf Blitzer, Josh Dawsey, Heather Podesta, Kellyanne Conway and Oriana Pawlyk. — SPOTTED at a NOTUS breakfast event yesterday morning with top political anchors discussing how to cover Trump 2.0: Bret Baier, Dasha Burns, Josh Dawsey, Major Garrett, Jonathan Karl, Ali Vitali, Jasmine Wright, Ugandan Ambassador Robie Kakonge, Mike Rancilio, Melissa Moss, Gloria Dittus, Reggie Greer, Francesca Craig, Kristin Wilson, Tim Grieve, Matt Fuller, Justin Peligri, Elise Foley, Bill Turenne, Tiffany Cianci, Brian Bartlett, Morgan Gress, Emily Mellencamp Smith and Katie Fitzwilliam. — SPOTTED at a reception celebrating the launch of the new Crypto Caucus by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.): Reps. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Brian Jack (R-Ga.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Herb Conaway (D-N.J.), John Joyce (R-Pa.) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Juan Suarez, Kara Calvert, Julia Krieger, Phil Elliott and Amrith Ramkumar. — SPOTTED at a fundraiser last night benefiting BOLD PAC, hosted at Capitol Counsel by Norberto Salinas: Reps. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Abby Jagoda, Albert Shen, Anais Carmona, Jaqui Serrano, Linda Pham, Cynthia Pullom, Daniel Jones, Robert Chiappetta, Emmanuel Tormes, Javier Palomarez and Lyndon Boozer. — SPOTTED at the Internet Works 'Middle Tech Mixer' at the Dentons townhouse on Capitol Hill, where guests had 'Middle Tech-quila margaritas': Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Caitlin Brosseau, Belinda Sirha, Matthew Jensen, Tim Lynch, Angela Hooks, Jasmine Vasquez, David Segal, Katelyn Wolfgang, Kate Sheerin, Courtney Duffy, Dan Black, Ashley McManus and Peter Chandler. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Jon Levine will be a political reporter at The Washington Free Beacon. He most recently has been a political reporter at the N.Y. Post. MEDIA MOVES — Tom Llamas will become the new anchor and managing editor of 'NBC Nightly News' this summer, the network announced. … Chris Cillizza is now a contributor to NewsNation. He previously was a contributor to Scripps, and is a CNN and WaPo alum. TRANSITIONS — Zev Karlin-Neumann is launching a boutique speechwriting and strategy firm, Just Write Communications. He previously was a senior adviser/speechwriter for Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and is a Susan Rice and Pete Buttigieg alum. … The Asia Group has added Christopher Johnstone as partner and chair of the Indo-Pacific defense and national security practice and Abraham Denmark as partner. Johnston previously has been senior adviser and Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is a Biden NSC alum. Denmark previously was senior adviser to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. … LSG is adding Teal Baker as managing director and Rachel Shell and Dayna Adelman as SVPs. … … Ben Lazarus is joining Patinkin Research Strategies as principal. He's a Democratic pollster and strategist who previously led the opinion research practice at TargetSmart. … Jennifer Trock is now a partner at Morgan Lewis. She previously was chair of the global aviation group at Baker McKenzie. … Ashkhen Kazaryan is now senior legal fellow at The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt. She previously was a senior fellow at Stand Together, and is a Meta alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Former CIA Director William Webster (101) … former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan (99) … David Urban … Brandon Chaderton … Jim Bourg … Anthony Foti … Elias Law Group's Jacqui Newman … John Stossel … Jonathan Day … David Bradley … Sandra Salstrom … Parker Brugge … Joe Perticone … Brooke Gladstone … NFL's Brendon Plack … Emily Leviner … Anna Kopperud Jordan … Chris Leavitt … Co-Equal's Karen Lightfoot … Katy Bayless … Tim Bergreen … NYT's Eileen Murphy … Saul Anuzis … former Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) … Pablo Chavez … Ari Spinoza … Albemarle's Alex Stroman … Kara Carscaden … Kim Moxley … Minah Malik Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Playbook PM: Deep in the heart
Presented by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce THE CATCH-UP It's a Texas-centric news day here in Washington. IN MEMORIAM: Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) has died at age 70, Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced this morning, per the Houston Chronicle's Abby Church and Peter Warren. Turner served as mayor of Houston from 2016–2024, and was elected to the House in November — filling the seat previously held by the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Turner was a proud Houston native, and spent more than 35 years representing his hometown in office. 'He grew up in Acres Homes as the sixth oldest of nine children. Turner graduated as valedictorian from Klein High School before attending the University of Houston and Harvard Law School,' the Chronicle writes. Sylvester attended last night's joint session. 'I can't believe it,' said Rep. Al Green, a fellow Texas Dem. 'We were on the floor together last night. You never know for whom the bell will toll next.' SPEAKING OF GREEN: Following Green's heckling disruptions during last night's joint session speech by President Donald Trump, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are looking to formally censure the congressman for his behavior, POLITICO's Ben Leonard and Meredith Lee Hill report. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced a censure resolution today. When read it by HuffPost's Arthur Delaney, Green had a frank reaction: 'My response is, 'Guilty,'' he said. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to comment on Green's behavior when asked by reporters today, per POLITICO's Nicholas Wu. 'We're going to keep the focus on the American people — that's where the focus should be,' Jeffries said. Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) was also eager to move on to other topics: 'Let's not talk about decorum when the plot is exposed and reiterated every single day.' ON THE BORDER: VP JD Vance will visit an immigration processing location in Eagle Pass, Texas, this afternoon as the Trump administration continues to tout its crackdown on illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border. Vance will be joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. A look at recent numbers from the U.S. Customs and Border Control shows that there continues to be a sharp decline of migrant encounters and drug seizures on the border, and statistics sit at near-historic lows, El Paso Times' Jeff Abbott reports. 'There were 4,871 encounters with migrants between ports of entry in West Texas and southern New Mexico in January 2025, according to data from CBP. This trend looks to have continued through February 2025, with agents averaging between 50 to 60 migrants per day, a spokesperson for the Border Patrol El Paso Sector said.' The decline continues a trend that began during the Biden administration. Vance's trip to the Lone Star State comes a day after a Texas refugee aid group sued the Trump administration for freezing federal funds used in the state's refugee resettlement programs, per The Texas Tribune's Uriel Garcia. Related read: 'Immigrant labor fuels US economy but Trump's crackdown mostly ignores it,' by AP's Tim Sullivan and Rebecca Boone. TRUMP ON THE WORLD STAGE — A head-spinning array of action from President Trump has left world leaders scrambling to respond on topics ranging from tariffs to intelligence-sharing to national sovereignty. Here's the latest: CANADA: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Trump spoke late this morning about the tit-for-tat tariffs being volleyed between Washington and Ottawa. Trudeau said he is not willing to lift Canada's retaliatory efforts against the U.S. goods so long as Trump continues with his 25 percent tariffs against imports from Canada, AP's Rob Gillies reports. In welcome news for the industrial midwest, Trump is considering potentially 'delaying tariffs on North American-built vehicles by 30 days,' Reuters' David Shepardson reports. 'Automakers have offered to boost U.S. auto investments but want certainty about tariff and environmental policies, the sources added, noting that Trump could on April 2 impose additional tariffs that could drastically impact U.S. auto production.' GREENLAND: Greenland PM Múte Bourup Egede is quickly biting back after Trump's proclaimed U.S. will acquire the country 'one way or the other' in last night's joint address. 'Kalaallit Nunaat is ours,' Edgede wrote in a Facebook post this morning, using the Greenlandic name for the island. 'The Americans and their leader must understand that. We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken. Our future will be decided by us in Greenland.' More from POLITICO's Amanda Friedman UKRAINE: 'The United States has paused major portions of its intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, squeezing the flow of vital information that Kyiv has used to repel invading Russian forces and strike back at select targets inside Russia,' WaPo's Warren Strobel, Siobhán O'Grady, Ellen Nakashima and Kostiantyn Khudov report. The halt comes just days after President Trump froze weapons deliveries to Ukraine and less than a week after Trump, Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got into an explosive discussion in the Oval Office. Why now? The Trump team is using the halt as a tool to push Ukraine to the negotiating table vis-a-vis Russia, POLITICO's Jack Detsch, Matt Honeycombe-Foster, Joe Gould and Paul McLeary report. 'President Trump is going to hold everyone accountable to drive peace around the world,' CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in an interview this morning on Fox News. GAZA: In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration has been holding direct closed-door talks with Hamas over the potential release of U.S. hostages held in Gaza and the 'the possibility of a broader deal to end the war,' Axios' Barak Ravid scoops. The U.S. has 'never before engaged directly with Hamas, which it designated a terrorist organization in 1997.' The conversations reportedly took place without buy-in from Israel, which 'learned about aspects of the talks through other channels,' Ravid writes. Hostage update: As of now, '59 hostages are still held by Hamas in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces have confirmed 35 of them are dead. Israeli intelligence believes 22 hostages are still alive, and the status of two others is unknown. … Among the remaining hostages are five Americans including one, 21-year-old Edan Alexander, who is believed to be alive.' CHINA: As Trump's ramps up his trade war against Beijing, the Chinese government released its annual economic plan, laying out an optimistic view of the nation's economy but giving 'scant indication of how the economy would get there without another surge in exports this year,' NYT's Alexandra Stevenson and Keith Bradsher report from Beijing. The report comes a day after the Chinese embassy in the U.S. warned it was ready to fight 'any type' of war in the wake of Trump's tariffs. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@ AFTERNOON WATCH — In his joint address to Congress last night, President Trump gave a red-meat speech that lauded his culture war victories, denigrated his political opponents, and, oh yeah, ran until 11 p.m. But for all the noise in the speech, many of the headlines this morning are about Democrats, who responded to the aggressive and partisan speech in kind. Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard breaks it all down with chief Playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels and Capitol bureau chief and senior Washington columnist Rachael Bade on the latest episode of Playbook Daily Briefing. Watch it now on YouTube HAPPENING SOON — 'Trump, Johnson press Republicans to back funding plan,' by Meredith Lee Hill: 'A group of House Freedom Caucus members and other budget hawks who are deeply skeptical of supporting short-term measures to fund the federal operations are heading to the White House Wednesday for a 2 p.m. meeting with Trump. The president is expected to push for Republicans to fall in line and vote for Johnson's continuing resolution to fund the government at current spending levels through the end of September.' 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. HOT ON THE HILL: Democratic mayors of four major cities are currently facing a barrage of questions from House Oversight Committee Republicans over their so-called 'sanctuary city' policies that help shield undocumented migrants from federal authorities. 'In his opening remarks for the much-anticipated hearing, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer sought to depict the four cities — Boston, New York City, Denver and Chicago — as rife with crime,' POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs reports. With 60 committee members allowed five minutes each for questioning, expect the hearing to drag on for quite some time. You sure about that? Comer also made a surprising remark vis-a-vis the administration's immigration crackdown. 'I don't think anyone's calling for mass deportation,' he said — despite the fact Trump has touted his desire for mass deportations many times. 2. SCOTUS WATCH: In a 5-4 ruling this morning, the Supreme Court 'rebuffed the Trump administration's request to lift a lower-court order that required the government to quickly pay nearly $2 billion that contractors and aid groups say they're owed for U.S.-backed foreign-aid projects,' POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's three liberals in the ruling. But but but: Though the ruling handed a (likely temporary) win to foreign aid programs, the court 'told U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order' un-freezing the money, AP's Mark Sherman reports. The justices said Ali must show 'due regard for the feasibility' of any future extensions and further 'clarify what obligations the government must fulfil to ensure compliance' with the order. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Samuel Alito described Ali's order as 'an act of judicial hubris.' So, what's next? As the battle over the order is expected to drag on in the lower courts, the ruling is a 'potentially short-lived victory' for contractors, Kyle and Josh write. Ali has scheduled a hearing tomorrow to reexamine the pause. 3. GEORGIA ON MY MIND: Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) took the first step towards a gubernatorial run today as she formally filed paperwork to launch an exploratory committee, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein reports. 'McBath, 64, is trying to build early momentum and scare off potential rivals in the wide-open race to succeed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who cannot seek a third term. Though the GOP race for the office is well underway, the Democratic field has been more muddled,' Bluestein writes. 'But McBath must strike a delicate balance in a state that Trump captured in November.' If successful, McBath would be the first Black woman elected governor in American history. Other Dems in the mix: 'Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves and former DeKalb chief executive Michael Thurmond are also weighing bids for governor. And two-time gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, who twice lost to Kemp, hasn't ruled out a third campaign.' 4. DEMOCRACY DIGEST: Election officials across the country who 'have grown to rely on the federal government's cybersecurity assistance fear that the Trump administration may permanently block that aid by Thursday,' as the administration cracks down on DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, NBC News' Kevin Collier reports. The review of CISA's efforts 'appears to be prompted by a false claim popular among Trump allies that the agency is engaged in policing disinformation and censoring conservatives.' 5. SCARY STUFF: 'U.S. Marshals have warned federal judges of unusually high threat levels as tech billionaire Elon Musk and other Trump administration allies ramp up efforts to discredit judges who stand in the way of White House efforts to slash federal jobs and programs,' Reuters' Peter Eisler, Mike Spector, Ned Parker and Nate Raymond report. 'Several judges said the U.S. Marshals Service, which provides judicial security, has informed them of a heightened threat environment over the past several weeks, either verbally or in writing. … Reuters interviews with 11 federal judges in multiple districts revealed mounting alarm over their physical security and, in some cases, a rise in violent threats in recent weeks.' 6. BIG CUTS COMING: 'Trump administration plans to cut 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs,' by AP's Stephen Groves: 'The VA's chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top level officials at the agency that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. … The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to 'resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.'' TALK OF THE TOWN TRANSITIONS — Rahul Rao is now a partner at White & Case LLP. He previously was deputy director at the FTC's Bureau of Competition. … Christopher Madaio is now senior adviser at The Institute for College Access & Success. He previously was director of the investigations group at the Education Department's Office of Federal Student Aid. … Nvidia is adding Sarah Weinstein and Angela Krasnick to its corporate comms team in D.C. Weinstein previously was director of public affairs at the Commerce Department and is a Jeanne Shaheen and Pete Aguilar alum. Krasnick most recently was director of digital platforms in the Biden White House. … … Jennie Chandra is now a partner at Convergence Strategies. She most recently was global head of government affairs at Conduent. … Sierra Robinson is now director of external affairs and comms at the National Credit Union Administration. She previously was a director of federal government affairs at CitiGroup and is a Mike Crapo alum. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
Politico
04-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
Playbook PM: Markets tumble ahead of Trump speech
Presented by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce THE CATCH-UP IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID: President Donald Trump wants his big speech tonight to a joint session of Congress to be a victory lap for his first several weeks in office. But so far today, there's no calm before the storm: He risks overshadowing his own address by launching a massive tariff war against America's biggest trading partners. The fall: Stock markets kept plunging today on news of the tariffs. On top of yesterday's losses, the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq were all down, with the latter heading for correction territory. The S&P 500 has now dropped below its Election Day level, erasing any Trump-related gains. The retaliation: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she'll unveil tariffs and other moves Sunday in a high-profile event in Mexico City's central square, per Bloomberg. And Canadian PM Justin Trudeau lashed out at Trump in Ottawa today, saying the American president is attacking allies economically while cozying up to a dictator, per POLITICO's Nick Taylor-Vaisey. 'We will not back down from a fight,' Trudeau warned. He accused Trump of seeking the 'total collapse of the Canadian economy' in order to annex Canada, and said Canadians would stop buying U.S. products. (Trump shot back to 'Governor Trudeau' that he'd go tit for tat on Canadian tariffs.) Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he'll add a 25 percent tax on electricity that goes to Michigan, Minnesota and New York, and end the exports completely if Trump adds more tariffs in April, per WSJ's Vipal Monga. The defense: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick emphasized on CNBC today that the tariffs are really about stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl — and may end if Canada, China and Mexico can show Trump progress on that front. On Truth Social, Trump touted the success he's already had in getting Mexico to be more aggressive against cartels, and he wrote that 'IF COMPANIES MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES, THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!!' The GOP fears: Trump has shown little political concern about the likelihood that tariffs will drive up prices for Americans, despite inflation being perhaps the chief reason he was elected. Speaker Mike Johnson backed him up wholeheartedly, saying that the U.S. is 'giving countries a dose of their own medicine,' per POLITICO's Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill. But other Republicans have shown signs of anxiety over his protectionism. Senate Majority Leader John Thune picked up Lutnick's messaging, saying he hoped Trump would lift the levies after quick clampdowns on fentanyl. His fellow agriculture-state Republicans say they're worried about retaliatory tariffs hitting producers, POLITICO's Daniel Desrochers and Grace Yarrow report. The Democratic hopes: The tariffs could also hand Democrats one of their most potent lines of attack against Trump's economic agenda. They've already started to label the tariffs as a tax on the working class. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, whose home state of Michigan will be especially affected by the trade war, delivers the Democratic response to Trump's address tonight. And in the wake of today's market struggles, 'Democrats hope to use his record against him — and finally seize some political momentum,' WaPo's Theo Meyer, Hannah Knowles and Marianna Sotomayor report. House Dem leaders urged members today to maintain decorum at the Trump speech and stick to their message about his effects on ordinary people, per NBC's Mel Zanona. What will Trump focus on? Most details about Trump's speech tonight haven't yet started to trickle out to the press, but prominent GOP guests are instructive. Trump has invited a teenage girls' volleyball player who was severely injured by a transgender female opponent, The Daily Caller's Reagan Reese scooped. First lady Melania Trump's box will include family members of the man killed during Trump's assassination attempt, family members of people killed by undocumented immigrants and former Russia detainee Marc Fogel, CNN's Betsy Klein reports. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) are bringing Hunter Biden IRS whistleblowers, per POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Trump intends to pressure House Freedom Caucus members to support a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open through the end of the fiscal year. Punchbowl's Jake Sherman and Mica Soellner report that he'll meet with the Republicans most wary of that plan, as House GOP leaders told their members today that Trump supports it. Meanwhile, House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said Democrats would oppose a yearlong CR, per NBC's Melanie Zanona. Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she was 'ready to pass a short term CR immediately,' per Semafor's Burgess Everett. Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@ 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. UKRAINE FALLOUT: As even the European far-right today condemned the U.S. decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine, Kyiv scrambled to figure out what's next. At emergency meetings, Ukrainian leaders worked to assess the impact of Trump's withdrawal, while trying to determine how they can still salvage ties with the U.S., NYT's Marc Santora reports. He finds 'sadness and disbelief' among Ukrainians at Trump's rapid reversal of support for — and antagonism toward — their country. Russian leaders continued to delight publicly today in Trump's adoption of many of their priorities and beliefs about the war, while VP JD Vance triggered outrage in the U.K. Nonetheless, Ukrainian officials said today that they can hold the front lines on the battlefield for now despite the American pause, per Reuters' Andrea Shalal and Max Hunder. And this morning, Vance — who triggered the Oval Office outburst last week — kept the door open to Ukraine, saying that the White House is still committed to signing a natural resources deal with Ukraine and 'we've heard some positive things,' per CBS' Alan He. In a lengthy X post this morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to get back on Trump's good side with a proposal for a limited truce in the war. He emphasized Ukraine's eagerness for peace, readiness to sign a minerals deal and gratitude to the U.S. Zelenskyy also nodded to 'Trump's strong leadership' and said Friday's meeting was 'regrettable … It is time to make things right.' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), for one, seemed pleased. 2. FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE: After Trump asked Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has agreed to act as a go-between for the U.S. and Iran in nuclear and other discussions, Bloomberg reports. Officials from the U.S. and Russia discussed working together on Iran at their Saudi Arabia meeting last month. 3. SCOTUS WATCH: Conservative and liberal Supreme Court justices today sounded ready to toss out Mexico's lawsuit against American gun manufacturers for making firearms that have unleashed cartel violence, Bloomberg's Greg Stohr reports. Justices indicated that they think a 2005 law prevents Mexico from bringing the suit, which would give the gun industry stronger liability. Latest ruling: A 5-4 conservative majority reined in the EPA, saying the agency had inappropriately restricted San Francisco from disposing of sewage in the Pacific Ocean, per CNN's John Fritze. Justice Amy Coney Barrett partially dissented with the three liberals. 4. THE PURGE: Some of the latest mass firings hit about 40 probationary employees in the Commerce Department's semiconductor chips office, per Reuters. That's a third of the people who oversee the industry subsidies. Meanwhile, some senior leaders with high-level security clearances who were fired across the government didn't get typical exit briefings, raising security concerns, Reuters' Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Landay scooped. Meanwhile, Elon Musk will meet with House Republicans tomorrow evening, NBC's Melanie Zanona scooped. 5. CAN'T TELL ME NOTHING: NRCC Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) urged House Republicans to stop holding in-person town halls, after voters angry with Trump's early moves have drawn negative headlines in recent weeks, per POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill. Some members said they'll still hold such events, but the move is reflective of previous cycles when either Democrats or Republicans suffered earfuls of blowback at town halls ahead of tough midterms. For his part, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote in The American Prospect today that he'll hold town halls in three Republican districts in California to blast the GOP for Department of Government Efficiency cuts and potential Medicaid changes. But but but: Town halls aside, NYT's Kellen Browning finds openness to Trump and some cautious optimism among voters in an Arizona swing district. In Phoenix and Scottsdale, some say they like Trump's early actions on immigration, cutting the government and projecting an image of strong leadership — or they're giving him room and time to achieve his goals. 6. TRUMP GETS RESULTS: 'After Trump threats, Hong Kong firm says it will sell stake in Panama Canal ports,' by WaPo's Mary Beth Sheridan: '[A]pparently responding to threats from President Donald Trump over what he called Chinese influence over the critical waterway … CK Hutchison said the sale was part of a bigger deal in which a consortium led by Blackrock Inc. would acquire an 80 percent interest in its units that owned, operated and developed 43 other ports in 23 countries.' 7. SCHOOL TIES: Trump declared on Truth Social this morning that he would end federal money for schools where students take part in 'illegal protests,' and would expel, jail and/or deport the demonstrators. Legal experts said that would be unconstitutional, since the First Amendment protects free speech, including that of protesters. More from the WSJ 8. THE REVOLVING DOOR: 'He Fought Claims of Harm From Infant Formula. Now He Regulates It,' by NYT's Christina Jewett: 'Kyle A. Diamantas joined the F.D.A. last month to lead the food division, leaving the law firm Jones Day … Mr. Diamantas's recent work included defending Abbott Laboratories in a lawsuit accusing the company of failing to adequately warn parents that its specialized formula for premature infants was associated with an elevated risk of a deadly bowel condition. Abbott lost the case and was ordered to pay $495 million. Abbott is appealing. … Mr. Diamantas did not respond to a request for comment.' 9. TALKER: 'Ethical Concerns Surround Sen. Joni Ernst's Relationships With Top Military Officials Who Lobbied Her Committee,' by ProPublica's Robert Faturechi: 'Earlier this year, the Air Force revealed that the general who oversaw its lobbying before Congress [Christopher Finerty] had inappropriate romantic relationships with five women … [O]ne of the women whose relationship with Finerty was scrutinized by the inspector general was Sen. Joni Ernst … Three other sources told ProPublica that around 2019 Ernst had a previous romantic relationship with a legislative affairs official for a different branch of the military, the Navy. … 'Ernst and the officials were not married at the time and Senate rules do not bar lawmakers from entering into romantic relationships with lobbyists or other legislative advocates. But ethics experts say such relationships can create a conflict of interest, and other lawmakers have been criticized for such behavior in the past.' Ernst's office declined to address the alleged relationships but excoriated ProPublica and said, 'Her votes and work in the Senate are guided by the voices of Iowans who elected her and her constitutional duty alone.' TALK OF THE TOWN MEDIA MOVES — Jackie Alemany is joining MSNBC as co-host of 'The Weekend' and a Washington correspondent. She most recently has covered the White House at WaPo, including winning a Pulitzer as part of a team, and is a CBS alum. More from Variety … Executive producer Zach Toombs and creative director Kevin Clancy, formerly with Scripps, Vice and Al Jazeera, have launched Evident, a nonprofit news organization focused on documentary journalism for the public good. The launch video TRANSITIONS — Former Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) has been named the new executive director of the Concord Coalition and will launch a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization, Concord Action, to advocate for addressing the national debt. … Alex Natsios is joining the Maiden Group as a partner. He previously was director of business development at Resonance Global. … Marissa Cloutier is joining K&L Gates as its first national security policy adviser. She previously was chief of the compliance and civil enforcement division at the State Department's directorate of defense trade controls. … … Kaitlin Kirshner Haskins is now director of public affairs at Microsoft. She most recently was director of public affairs and communications at Duke Energy. … Kelly Gibson is joining Bryson Gillette as SVP of paid media. She previously was founder of Stronger Than Communications. … Joshua Stein is joining the Software & Information Industry Association as technology policy analyst. He previously was a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
