| | | | |  | | By Christopher Cadelago | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | | 
The Southern California fires have decimated areas with a footprint larger than several major American cities. | Jae C. Hong/AP Photo | TRIAL BY FIRE — Firefighters across Los Angeles were racing to douse the wildfires that have claimed the lives of at least 16 people and destroyed more than 12,000 homes and businesses amid a return of menacing winds that pushed the flames into more communities. The Southern California fires have decimated areas with a footprint larger than several major American cities — a scale that’s almost unimaginable. Less than a week after it started, the devastation is projected to be among the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history. The massive cost to recover has been front of mind for political figures in California and Washington. Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM worked over the weekend on an executive order for the fire areas to suspend the state’s environmental laws and its strict rules for building along the coast, with an eye to accelerating the rebuild. And long before any comprehensive assessment, President JOE BIDEN moved quickly last week to sign disaster declarations and commit the federal government to reimbursing all of the disaster costs for six months. The rush to assist is aimed at helping fire victims swiftly, of course, but it also reflects the dread in California about what President-elect DONALD TRUMP’s return to the White House will mean for the recovery effort. Trump has repeatedly warned Newsom that if he doesn’t submit to his demands on water delivery and forest management, he will withhold federal dollars. “If he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires, and if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems,” Trump said in September, during a visit to one of his coastal properties less than 50 miles from the largest flames and smoke. The NYT headline: “L.A. Was Prepared for Serious Fires. But It Wasn’t Ready for Four” Trump has re-upped his conditions since the fires started, along with hurling insults at the ambitious Democratic governor, whom he calls “Newscum,” and criticizing his stewardship of the blue state. It all begs a momentous question days before the president-elect takes power again: Will Trump deliver for Los Angeles? “We had support from the president of the United States, Joe Biden, with 100 percent reimbursement, all the resources you could hope for, imagine, constant communication,” Newsom said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today. “I’d like to extend that to the president-elect.” Related: “‘Half the Country’s Thinking Magically’: California Fire Victims Grapple with the Political Paralysis Over Climate Change,” by David Siders It won’t be Newsom’s first round with Trump, who, according to former aides, previously refused to give California wildfire aid until he was told how many people there voted for him. Newsom himself called Trump “very threatening” after their past standoffs. Overnight, Trump was blaming “incompetent pols” for the fires’ endurance. “I would not be surprised if Trump demands concessions for distributing disaster aid as if they were citizens of a foreign country and not Americans,” KEVIN CARROLL, senior counsel to then-Homeland Security Secretary JOHN KELLY during Trump’s first term, told POLITICO late last week for a story about the Trump-Newsom dynamic. “Newsom has to do whatever is best for the citizens of California. Flattery often works with Trump. It’s a tough position he’s in.” A Trump official told Playbook that he would, indeed, deliver federal assistance for the state in times of need.
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Learn more about how others are building with open source AI. | | | Newsom has already appealed to Trump to visit Los Angeles and meet with the first responders, firefighters and “Americans” affected by the catastrophe. Yesterday, Los Angeles County Supervisor KATHRYN BARGER, one of the region’s few Republican officials, extended another invite to Trump, reminding him of the help he provided in 2018 after the fire in Malibu and surrounding areas west of Los Angeles and telling reporters that “engaging the White House” was a first step to secure rapid federal resources. But even before he can touch down at LAX, Trump’s presence is being felt in other ways — none of them appreciated by California Democratic leaders. He joined with ELON MUSK and others on Musk’s X platform in attacks on the state just as the fires first spread. Musk has continued in the pile-on. Newsom late yesterday launched a website to counter the torrent of claims that have poured in from the likes of Fox News and Sen. MIKE LEE (R-Utah) since Trump and Musk first teed off. Related: “Skyrocketing misinformation is forcing public officials to adopt a new playbook when tragedies hit their communities,” WSJ’s Scott Calvert and Joshua Chaffin write. “I don’t know what he’s referring to when he talks about the Delta smelt in reservoirs. The reservoirs are completely full, the state reservoirs here in Southern California,” Newsom said in the NBC interview with Jacob Soboroff. “That mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us. Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month. I’m very familiar with them. Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.” Related: “Did Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass really cut the fire department budget? The answer gets tricky,” by the L.A. Times’ David Zahniser While there are legitimate and troubling early reports about fire hydrants running dry and a Pacific Palisades reservoir being offline and empty when the firestorm erupted, elected officials, first responders and residents are lamenting the explosion of lies and half-truths about the fires. “I am blown away. I would have never expected a fire to create these kinds of false narratives,” said DOUG HERMAN, a longtime Democratic strategist in Los Angeles. He said Trump’s fanning of the flames — before he’s ultimately called upon to deliver for California — was perfectly in character. “Smart elected officials will push back on the misinformation he started,” Herman said, “and deal with him hand-in-glove on the recovery.” Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop me a line at ccadelago@politico.com. SUNDAY BEST … — VP-elect JD VANCE on Jan. 6 pardons, on “Fox News Sunday”: “If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6, and you had MERRICK GARLAND’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned. And there’s a little bit of a gray area there. But we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law, and there are a lot of people we think in the wake of Jan. 6 who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that.” — Sen. JAMES LANKFORD (R-Okla.) on TULSI GABBARD’s nomination for DNI, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “Yes, I am [going to vote for her]. And [her reversal on Section 702] was a very important piece for me.” — Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.) on Trump’s controversial nominees, on “Fox News Sunday”: “[Gabbard] has changed her position on that, or clarified her position, to satisfy me that that 702 provision is extremely important. … She said that she believes that Syria under that [BASHAR ASSAD] regime is a terrorist nation, and that there were deep, deep problems in Syria that could endanger — that were not favorable to us. And so she’s explained, I think, a lot of some of the misinformation that’s been out there. … [ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. said] he’s not anti-vaccination, he just is anti — he wants to have it science-based. … I came away from that meeting really very positively impressed.” — National security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN on Israel-Hamas cease-fire negotiations, on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “We are very, very close. And yet being very close still means we’re far … [Biden] is likely in the near term to engage with Prime Minister [BENJAMIN] NETANYAHU. … There is a possibility that this comes together. There’s also a possibility, as has happened so many times before, that Hamas in particular remains intransigent.” TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
- “Trump, the Public, and the Press,” by Norman Pearlstine in the Columbia Journalism Review
- “Trump’s FCC and FTC Chairs Say I Run a Censorship ‘Cartel.’ Here’s the Truth,” by Steven Brill in POLITICO Magazine
- “Understanding DOGE as Procurement Capture,” by Anil Dash
- “The Internet Is Worse Than a Brainwashing Machine,” by The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel and Mike Caulfield
- “The Global Outrage Machine Skips the Uyghurs,” by The Atlantic’s Michael Schuman
- “Michael Anton: Worthy Heir to George Kennan,” by The American Conservative’s Curt Mills
- “California’s Fires Show How Climate Will Destabilize Our Politics and Daily Life,” by Doomsday Scenario’s Garrett Graff
- “Republicans Saved Democracy Once. Will They Do It Again?” by Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Joseph Wright and Erica Frantz in POLITICO Magazine
- “‘Now Is the Time of Monsters,’” by NYT’s Ezra Klein
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| | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | | 
At Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Donald Trump is working to get everybody in the party on board with a welcoming atmosphere focused on unity. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. A GRAIN OF SALT: Blue-state House Republicans came away optimistic from early meetings with Trump at Mar-a-Lago this weekend about raising the state and local tax deduction limit, Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill report. Trump told them to work out a “fair number” for an increase. That “momentum towards consensus on the SALT deduction is a big step forward for Republicans” as they start to iron out plans for a major party-line bill to be passed through reconciliation. And Trump is working to get everybody in the party on board with a welcoming atmosphere focused on unity, including at a dinner Friday with the House Freedom Caucus, Meredith, Gary Fineout and Kimberly Leonard report. But without a firm, specific commitment on SALT, there’s a long way to go. Plenty of other Republicans oppose the change, which would amount to a tax break primarily benefiting the wealthy in high-tax states. Another concern for the bill: If it includes a debt-ceiling increase, some fiscal conservatives might be unwilling to vote for it, they tell CNN’s Sarah Ferris and Manu Raju. Though nobody has explicitly drawn a line in the sand yet, plenty of hawks are signaling they oppose including the debt limit or would need to see major pay-fors/other concessions. 2. BIDEN’S FAREWELL GIFT: Though he scrapped his trip to the Vatican, Biden yesterday awarded POPE FRANCIS the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction, the first person to get that addition to the nation’s highest civilian honor under the Biden administration, per NPR’s Juliana Kim. Coming from the country’s second Catholic president, the White House statement praised Francis as “a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world,” citing his advocacy for peace, environmental protection and helping the poor. The two men had a phone call yesterday. 3. COMING THIS WEEK: “More than a dozen states have passed new laws that led to restrictions on pornography. Now, the Supreme Court will weigh in,” by CNN’s Isabelle Chapman, Casey Tolan and Allison Morrow: “[Age-verification] laws, which have been pushed by allies of President-elect Donald Trump, have led some of the largest adult sites, including Pornhub, to block users from specific states, rather than paying millions for ID-checking services. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the new laws, setting up a battle over free speech, censorship and how to protect kids online. The case could end up eroding landmark precedents protecting pornography.” 4. 2026 WATCH: Though we’re still waiting on Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS’ pick to replace Secretary of State-designate MARCO RUBIO in the Senate, Rep. CORY MILLS (R-Fla.) announced yesterday that he’s planning to jump into the race for 2026, Gary Fineout reports from Orlando. That’s when the seat will first go before voters. Mills, a veteran who has often focused on foreign policy, was an early Florida backer of Trump over DeSantis in the presidential primary. And his announcement “means that DeSantis’ pick will not be guaranteed an easy path to reelection.” 5. IN THE DOGEHOUSE: “Inside Elon Musk’s Plan for DOGE to Slash Government Costs,” by NYT’s Teddy Schleifer and Madeleine Ngo: “An unpaid group of billionaires, tech executives and some disciples of PETER THIEL, a powerful Republican donor, are preparing to take up unofficial positions in the U.S. government in the name of cost-cutting. … The goal is for most major agencies to eventually have two DOGE representatives … Many of the executives involved are expecting to do six-month voluntary stints inside the federal government before returning to their high-paying jobs. … “After some consideration by top officials, DOGE itself is now unlikely to incorporate as an organized outside entity or nonprofit. Instead, it is likely to exist as more of a brand for an interlinked group of aspirational leaders who are on joint group chats and share a loyalty to Musk or [VIVEK] RAMASWAMY.” BRAD SMITH and STEVE DAVIS are leading the effort.
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | 6. MR. SMITH GOES FROM WASHINGTON: Special counsel JACK SMITH officially resigned Friday, after Trump’s election helped deflate his two federal criminal cases against the president-elect, per WaPo’s Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck. That news arrived buried in a Justice Department filing’s footnote yesterday, and it’s unclear when and whether even part of his final report will be made public. “It was the undignified end of a painful process — for Smith and the nation,” Kyle Cheney writes, “one that began with Trump at the nadir of his influence and ended with him surging back to the White House, crushing the criminal cases that once seemed certain to land him in prison.” 7. XAVIER BECERRA EXIT INTERVIEW: “‘I can’t go toe to toe with social media.’ Top U.S. health official reflects, regrets,” by WaPo’s Dan Diamond: “Sitting in his office at HHS headquarters, America’s top health official identified a culprit [for the decline in trust in public health agencies]: a media climate that he says drowns out reliable information. False claims about vaccines run rampant online; government health experts at news conferences barely make a dent compared with influencers who have huge followings. … “The Biden administration helped administer hundreds of millions of coronavirus vaccine shots. It oversaw record-high enrollment through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It rolled out new initiatives decades in the making to lower drug prices. But the bundle of health policies wasn’t enough to sway the electorate.” 8. IMMIGRATION FILES: Incoming border czar TOM HOMAN is trying to cool some conservative hype for the Trump administration’s mass deportations. In private, he’s told GOP members of Congress that because of resource constraints, the Trump team will focus first on sending away the 1 to 2 million undocumented immigrants who are already up for removal, CNN’s Annie Grayer reports. That’s a far cry from Trump’s rhetoric about potentially deporting 20 million people, but Homan says the work has to be done in stages and made possible by more funding from Congress. In fact, by focusing first on undocumented immigrants with criminal records and lowering expectations for big neighborhood sweeps, Homan “has taken up a surprising mantle for a longtime immigration hard-liner,” WSJ’s Michelle Hackman and Tarini Parti write: “the realist in the room.” 9. HOW TRUMP WON: “Despite Trump’s Attacks, Republicans Made Big Gains in Mail Voting,” by NYT’s Nick Corasaniti: “Republicans made almost universal gains in mail voting during the 2024 election, eroding a key Democratic advantage in nearly every state that tracks party registration, according to a data analysis by The New York Times. The Republican rise in the use of mail voting was almost always accompanied by a drop in registered Democrats casting a mail ballot, allowing Republicans to make significant inroads in battleground states like Pennsylvania, red states like Florida and blue states like Connecticut.”
| | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Bob Woodward says James Comer’s new book lies about him. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s family business was sued by a Florida state agency. Steve Bannon is all in against Elon Musk. Scott Bessent will sell his hedge fund share if confirmed. Jean Chrétien slammed Donald Trump’s Canada rhetoric. Sarah McBride would like to clarify a few questions about her usual order at the Taco Bell/KFC in Wilmington. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Phylicia Woods will be director of government affairs at Hologic. She previously was director of government affairs and alliance development at Grail. NEW NOMINEES — Trump announced several new picks for top administration roles yesterday, including some deputy administrators who will lead agencies’ day-to-day operations if confirmed: Steven Bradbury as deputy Transportation secretary, Katharine MacGregor as deputy Interior secretary, David Fotouhi as deputy EPA administrator, James Danly as deputy Energy secretary, Casey Mulligan as chief counsel for advocacy at the Small Business Administration, and Paul Lawrence as deputy VA secretary. MEDIA MOVE — Ben Pershing is joining CNN’s Washington bureau as supervising editor. He previously was politics editor at the WSJ. TRANSITIONS — Sara Murray is joining FTI Consulting’s cybersecurity practice as a managing director, working on investigations for corporate clients. She previously was a CNN correspondent. … Caroline Hakes is now comms director for New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte. She most recently was deputy campaign manager for Ayotte and is a Greg Abbott and Targeted Victory alum. … … The First Five Years Fund is adding Abby Holland as government affairs manager, Melissa Edwards as director of operations and chief of staff, and Holly Evans as a policy and research analyst. Holland previously was senior legislative assistant for Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.). Edwards previously was executive director of operations for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Lara Seligman, a national security reporter for the WSJ and a POLITICO alum, and Andy Baskin, an associate at ArentFox Schiff, on Wednesday welcomed Leah Marion Baskin, who joins big brother Max. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jeff Bezos (61) … Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.) … Christiane Amanpour … U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Nathalie Rayes … Ryan Murphy of the House Ways and Means GOP … Sarah Karlin-Smith … American Society of Landscape Architects’ Torey Carter-Conneen … CAP’s Sam Hananel … Danny O’Brien of Qcells North America. … Anne Mosle … Doug Thornell of SKDK … Stephanie Taylor of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Progressive Change Institute … Sarah Swanson … The Jewish Majority’s Jonathan Schulman … Madeline Osburn … Basil Smikle … John Aloysius Farrell … Jami LaRue … Alicia Porile … Michael B. Williams … Howard Stern … Robin Goodstein of Careerstone Group … POLITICO’s Dylan Pesce Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com 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. Corrections: Yesterday’s Playbook misidentified the publication where an article by Lucy Sheriff appeared. It is in New York magazine. It also misspelled Mark Zuckerberg’s name.
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