| | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | Happy Saturday. We made it through the month of January, which proved a terribly long year. Drop me a line: awren@politico.com. A WILD FRIDAY IN TRUMP’S WASHINGTON — We’re all familiar with the concept of the “Friday news dump,” where powerful entities save their most unsavory news for when it’s least likely to be noticed. After the firehose of the past two weeks, we’re not sure that’s what accounts for what transpired under President Donald Trump in the PM hours yesterday, but what happened is remarkable nonetheless: — Jan. 6 prosecutors fired: Trump’s acting U.S. attorney in Washington “abruptly fired dozens of prosecutors who worked on criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol,” Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report. “It’s the latest extraordinary purge of officials Donald Trump has deemed adversarial to his interests.” It came alongside similar moves inside the FBI. — California water unleashed: The Army Corps of Engineers released billions of gallons of water from two California dams at Trump’s behest — “the latest chapter in an ongoing feud between Trump and state authorities that has been turbo-charged by the Los Angeles fires” — Camille von Kaenel and Annie Snider report. It’s unclear the water will come anywhere close to LA. — Pentagon press sidelined: A DOD official last night evicted NBC News, The New York Times, National Public Radio and POLITICO from their Pentagon workspaces as part of a new “Annual Media Rotation Program,” NBC’s Amanda Terkel reports. The Pentagon Press Association said it was “greatly troubled by this unprecedented move by DOD to single out highly professional media who have covered the Pentagon for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations.” — Tariffs threatened: And in a development that will impact virtually every American, press secretary Karoline Leavitt yesterday renewed Trump’s threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, as well as a 10 percent levy on China, starting today. More on that below. THIS JUST IN — Rohit Chopra has been removed as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Katy O'Donnell reports, “ending a three-year tenure where he angered the nation’s banks and technology giants by taking on everything from ‘junk fees’ to Big Tech’s role in consumer payments.” Chopra’s farewell letter NEW CORRIDORS COLUMN — “The GOP’s Reluctant Cutter-in-Chief,” by Rachael Bade: “For all his bluster about ‘government efficiency’ these days, Donald Trump has never been comfortable as a scissor-happy, cost-cutting deficit warrior. … This week, his aversion to austerity showed its face again — and it portends strife ahead for the GOP.”
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As you read this, the 448 voting members of the DNC are gathered at their winter meeting at National Harbor in Maryland, voting for their first new leader in the second Donald Trump era. | AP | DEMS IN ARRAY — Top Democrats are coming together in a show of support for whomever is elected the next chair of the Democratic National Committee today, pledging to raise money for the party apparatus, Playbook has learned from a person granted anonymity to describe the plan. It’s a shock-and-awe list of national Democratic leaders and potential 2028 presidential aspirants, including: former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Kamala Harris, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. More are expected to join in the coming days. It’s the party’s biggest post-Trump organizing move — meant to ensure the work of the DNC continues with the resources and support it will need in the coming year. It comes at a crucial time when the party finds itself in the kind of wilderness it hasn’t seen since 2004. It’s also, the person familiar said, a sign the leaders view the DNC as “the backbone of Democrats’ efforts across the country — supporting voter registration and protection efforts, maintaining voter files, funding on-the-ground organizers, and so much more. This work will be critical in the coming days, months and years.” WHY NOW: As you read this, the 448 voting members of the DNC are gathered at their winter meeting at National Harbor in Maryland, voting for their first new leader in the second Trump era. The race has not only tightened in recent days but also come into sharper focus about what the results could mean for the future of the party, with bold-faced Democratic names locking into and endorsing in the race. “If I thought this shit was over with, I wouldn’t go to the meeting this weekend,” Donna Brazile, who has twice served as acting DNC chair, told Schneider and Booker. “I’d go home to New Orleans and watch the Super Bowl.” Brazile added, “Deals are being made, compromises are being sought and everybody’s trying to game the other.” Our colleagues Elena Schneider and Brakkton Booker write in an essential curtain raiser this morning that two clear frontrunners have emerged: Ken Martin, who leads Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. HERE’S THE STATE OF PLAY: The winner needs a majority of the 448 voters. Martin, the presumed frontrunner by virtue of relationships built over his years-long presidency of the Association of State Democratic Parties, announced last night that he has over 200 public DNC member endorsements — still short of the magic number of 225. He has the backing of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. Wikler, meanwhile, has said he has at least 183 DNC members supporting him. Jeffries’ support has already flipped several members from Martin’s camp, according to a Wikler aide. What’s notable: Three key Democratic leaders have backed him in recent days and are more or less betting against the favorite. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in supporting Wikler. In a major development our Chief Playbook Correspondent Eugene Daniels scooped yesterday, Harris spoke with Martin, Wikler and former Social Security Administrator and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — who could threaten to be a spoiler if there are multiple ballots — for about 15 to 20 minutes each yesterday. Harris, Eugene reports, is not expected to endorse but told each candidate she expects “to work closely with the winning candidate as soon as they are elected.” The conversations are the latest signal that Harris is positioning herself as the leader of the party. And whoever emerges as the winner will have the financial backing of the party’s biggest stars — and the credibility that comes from knowing that leading Democrats are largely united in seeing a strong DNC as crucial to their prospects of finding their way out of the wilderness. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen. Todd Young, the influential and independent-minded Indiana Republican, tells me he will back Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. “Bobby Kennedy’s unique leadership on healthy lifestyle choices will benefit countless Americans, and he understands the critical importance of rebuilding trust in our public health institutions,” Young told POLITICO in a statement. “I’ve also received assurances from him that strong pro-life policies will continue to be reinstituted at HHS under his leadership. We spoke extensively about the importance of supporting innovation in health care to both bring down costs and improve treatment. I look forward to working with him to make positive changes for the American people.”
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President Donald Trump is expected to enforce impose tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico today. | Yuri Gripas/ABACA | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. THE TARIFF SHERIFF: After months of threats on the campaign trail and repeated promises from inside the Oval Office, today is the day Trump is threatening to impose a new round of new tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China. While it’s unclear whether the levies will go into effect immediately, Trump reiterated from the White House yesterday that there’s nothing the nations can do to stave off the price increases. Here’s how it’s playing: A scramble to the North … Canadian lawmakers met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump border czar Tom Homan yesterday as they pushed Trump for more time, Mickey Djuric, Mike Blanchfield, Doug Palmer and Ari Hawkins report: “But Canada is also making clear things won’t be nearly so chummy if Trump follows through with his tariff threats. [Canadian PM Justin] Trudeau insists Canada is ready to respond. ‘We won’t relent until tariffs are removed,” he said. “Everything is on the table.’ And uncertainty on the border … Business leaders on the Texas-Mexico border are anxiously awaiting more details as they fear the crackdown will upend decades of collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the local economy, The El Paso Times’ Vic Kolenc reports: “‘It's uncertainty that is hurting us as a region because no one can make plans until we have clarity on what are the rules,’ [said] Alan Russell, co-founder and CEO of El Paso's Tecma Group of Companies, which manages 90 maquiladoras, or factories, in Mexico for companies in the U.S.” 2. FOREIGN AID IN JEOPARDY: Despite the Trump administration’s announcement that American-backed global aid groups would be allowed to continue operations as usual, the latest stop-work orders have not been lifted, leaving workers facing unimaginable decisions, ProPublica’s Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester report in a moving investigation. A “matter of days” in Sudan … “On Friday morning, the staffers at a half dozen U.S.-funded medical facilities in Sudan who care for severely malnourished children had a choice to make: Defy President Donald Trump’s order to immediately stop their operations or let up to 100 babies and toddlers die. They chose the children. … Trump’s order also meant they would stop receiving new, previously approved funds to cover salaries, IV bags and other supplies. They said it’s a matter of days, not weeks, before they run out.” Uncertain future for USAID … Meanwhile, there are real doubts about whether the U.S. Agency for International Development will continue as a standalone agency, Robbie Gramer, Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman report: “Two incoming Trump administration officials familiar with the matter said the president’s team is exploring subsuming the agency into the State Department. Five others close to the administration said they weren’t aware of specific plans but that USAID’s independence is definitely not guaranteed.” 3. GOING DARK PART I: Elon Musk's aides now in charge of the Office of Personnel Management have banned long-time civil servants from getting into computer systems that hold the private information of millions of federal workers and revoking other forms of access for senior employees, Reuters’ Tim Reid scoops: “Officials affected by the move can still log on and access functions such as email but can no longer see the massive datasets that cover every facet of the federal workforce. …’We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems,’ one of the officials said. ‘That is creating great concern.’” 4. GOING DARK PART II: “Public health information pulled offline in response to Trump orders” by Sophie Gardner: “Large amounts of public information about HIV and the health of teens, transgender and LGBTQ+ people abruptly disappeared late Friday from the website of the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention … The CDC’s data directory, usually found at cdc.data.gov, was also pulled offline, with a message saying that it would be back online after it completed steps to comply with an executive order aimed at what the Trump administration calls ‘gender ideology and extremism.’ … The data purge drew outrage from health scientists, many of whom frequently rely on CDC data for research.” 5. BLURRED LINES: For years, DHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement has supervised and shepherded unaccompanied minors who crossed the border alone — keeping them out of the punitive system of Immigration and Customs. But Trump’s new pick to head up ORR has “has advocates and experts worried the separation between the agencies is once again breaking down,” ProPublica’s Annie Waldman and Mica Rosenberg report: Mellissa Harper is “a veteran immigration enforcement officer at ICE” who “led the family unit in 2018, when the administration implemented its ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy and separated thousands of migrant children from their parents.” 6. STATE OF THE UNIONS: Trump made another move yesterday to reform the over two million-strong federal workforce, signing an executive order that nullifies any collective bargaining agreement reached in the final days of the Biden administration. Fox News’ Brooke Singman scooped Trump’s plan to sign the memo, which prohibits "agencies from making new collective bargaining agreements during the final 30 days of a president’s term” and described the “last-minute, lame-duck” agreements negotiated by Biden as a way “to prevent President Trump from implementing his promises to the American people.” 7. BRACE YOURSELVES: “‘There will be many casualties’: Panama girds for war as Trump’s team teases a deal,” by Ben Schreckinger: “Interviews with 10 current and former officials in Panama and Washington ahead of Marco Rubio’s first foreign trip as Trump’s chief diplomat, as well as four days on the ground in Panama City, suggest there remains room to strike a deal that reaffirms American preeminence here … They also point to a high risk of miscommunication and escalation as Trump’s aggression collides with an affronted Panamanian elite.” 8. DCA CRASH AFTERMATH: The FAA is tightening its restrictions on helicopter flights near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Wednesday’s deadly collision between a regional plane and Army chopper, Oriana Pawlyk reports. The DOT announced yesterday that two routes the Black Hawk involved in the crash is believed to have used are now “off-limits to helicopters unless they are operated by law enforcement, medical providers, or military aircraft conducting ‘active’ air defense” until the NTSB has completed their investigation into the collision. 9. WELCOME HOME: In Gaza …“Hamas releases U.S. hostage Keith Siegel,” by WaPo’s Claire Parker, Joanna Slater, Ellen Francis and Alon Rom: “[American Keith] Siegel, 65, and two other male Israeli hostages — Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Yarden Bibas, 35 — were freed after 15 months in captivity in tightly choreographed morning handover ceremonies at two sites in Gaza that were more orderly than earlier releases.” In Venezuela … “Venezuela Releases Six Americans to Trump Official Seeking Deportation Deal,” by WSJ’s Kejal Vyas, Vera Bergengruen and Patricia Garip: “The release of the Americans was announced by special envoy Richard Grenell on X, where he posted a photo with the men smiling aboard a U.S. Air Force jet.… Some nine other U.S. citizens remain detained in Venezuela, some facing charges of terrorism and espionage.”
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| | | CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies
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Bill Bramhall - NY Daily News | GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “Goodbye, ‘Resistance.’ The Era of Hyperpolitics Is Over,” by NYT Magazine’s Ross Barkan: “Where has the anti-Trump energy gone?” — “How ‘Sour Raspberry Gummy Bear’ — and Other Chinese Vapes — Made Fools of American Lawmakers,” by Marc Novicoff for POLITICO Mag: “Everyone seems to agree candy-flavored vapes are bad for kids. So why can’t lawmakers find a way to block their sale?” — “A Witness in Assad’s Dungeons,” by The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson: “Mazen al-Hamada fled Syria to reveal the regime’s crimes. Then, mysteriously, he went back.” — “I Saw What New, Young Post-MAGA Trump Supporters Look Like,” by NY Mag’s Brock Colyar: “Among the young, confident, and casually cruel Trumpers who, after conquering Washington, have their sights set on America.” — “Greenland’s Prime Minister Wants the Nightmare to End,” by The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich: “Watching Trump from the future 51st state.” — “What Happened When America Emptied Its Youth Prisons,” by James Forman Jr. for NYT Magazine: “Lessons from a radical 20-year experiment and a quiet triumph of public policy.” — “Citizenship by Birthright? By Bloodline? Migration Is Complicating Both,” by NYT’s Emma Bubola: “In a world where people are more mobile than ever, nations are struggling to recalibrate who can be a citizen.”
| | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Elon Musk donated a total of $288 million to Trump and other Republicans last year. Scott Bessent bought a $12.5 million mansion in Georgetown, per WSJ’s E.B. Solomont. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) … Marc Elias of Elias Law Group … Ken Klippenstein … Adrian Carrasquillo (4-0), celebrating in Puerto Rico … Fred Barnes … ABC’s Jordyn Phelps … Crossroads Strategies’ Mat Lapinski … Rachel Walker … Matt Moon of Narrative Strategies … David Barnhart … Aria Kovalovich … Natalie Cucchiara of Lot Sixteen … Michael Frias … Tara McGowan … Jason Russell … Meaghan Burdick of 14th Street Strategies … CBS’ Alana Anyse … NBC’s Catherine Kim … Chase Adams of the National Pork Producers Council … AIPAC’s Tara Brown … Bloomberg’s Michelle Jamrisko … Gray Barrett … Gavin Wilde … Jake Siewert … BGR Group’s Anna Sullivan … TKG Strategies’ James Kimmey … Miguel Ayala … Alexa Kissinger … Ali Dukakis … POLITICO’s Gabrielle Harrington, Lara Priluck, Sean Jennings, Annie Allen and Taylor Joiner THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): NBC “Meet the Press”: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem … Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) … Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). Panel: Stephanie Murphy, Ryan Nobles, Kelly O’Donnell and Marc Short. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy … Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Panel: Juan Williams, Mary Katharine Ham, Josh Kraushaar and Josh Holmes. Sunday special: Cornel West and Robert George. CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) … Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.). Panel: Dave Weigel, Molly Ball, Megan McArdle and Tia Mitchell. MSNBC “The Weekend”: Mark Zaid … Tasha Adams. CNN “State of the Union”: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy … Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Panel: Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Jaime Herrera Beutler, Bakari Sellers and Brad Todd. MSNBC “The Sunday Show”: Kelley Robinson. CNN “Inside Politics Sunday”: Panel: Olivia Beavers, Jeff Mason, Jasmine Wright and Jeff Zeleny. MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki”: Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) … Chris Hayes. 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.
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