| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out steep demands for a full ceasefire. | Alexander Kazakov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images | TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE: The White House said President Donald Trump made progress toward achieving a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine during a more than two-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, but Moscow laid out steep demands for a full pause. “The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire,” the U.S. readout of the call said, “as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.” The White House also said Trump and Putin talked about the Middle East and improving U.S.-Russia relations overall, which “has huge upside.” More from POLITICO’s Eli Stokols Russia’s readout: The Kremlin said Putin agreed to a monthlong halt to targeting energy infrastructure, while negotiations toward maritime and full ceasefires take place. Moscow said a prisoner exchange will take place tomorrow. What Russia wants for a full ceasefire: Bloomberg had scooped this morning that Putin wants an end to all arms shipments to Ukraine, as a prerequisite to agreeing to the pause in its war on Ukraine. At a minimum, Russia would demand a halt to weapons from the U.S. Indeed, “stopping the rearmament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” was specifically mentioned in Russia’s readout, which called for “the complete cessation of foreign military aid and intelligence sharing.” That could be very difficult for Europe and Ukraine to accept. European leaders fear that it would produce a scenario in which Russia rearms to attack Ukraine again after the ceasefire ends, while Ukraine can’t prepare a defense. Public pressure on Trump: The latest Gallup poll shows political downside for Trump in his recent moves to limit support for Ukraine. The share of Americans who think the U.S. is doing too little to help Ukraine has leapt to 46 percent, the highest ever since Gallup started asking in August 2022. That’s mainly due to significant increases from Democrats and independents. Thirty percent of Americans say the U.S. is doing too much, down 7 points from December. In the dark: The State Department has axed a contract that funded the Conflict Observatory, a Yale/MITRE initiative tracking and gathering documentation of alleged Russian war crimes, WaPo’s John Hudson reports. The work included a database of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children thought to have been abducted by Russia. That has stopped evidence from being shared with prosecutors at the International Criminal Court and elsewhere. Lawmakers sounded a siren that the data may have been permanently deleted, hampering efforts to find the kids. CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS WATCH: In an unusual, short statement today, Chief Justice John Roberts warned that “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” per POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney. “It’s the most intense public conflict between Trump and Roberts since 2018,” and it follows Trump’s call this morning for federal judge James Boasberg to be impeached because he had temporarily blocked a Trump order. Rather than make a legal argument about his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without due process, Trump touted his election victory and said he was doing what voters wanted. But legal experts tell Reuters’ Luc Cohen, Tom Hals and Jack Queen that on the actual merits, the administration “has likely exceeded its authority” — though it could still win at the Supreme Court. A recent ICE filing continued to claim that the administration had not flouted Boasberg’s directive because the planes he demanded to be turned around were already in the air when his written order came, per CBS’ Jake Rosen. More questions about the deportees: The Trump administration has insisted the Venezuelans it sent to El Salvador were violent gang members. It has not provided evidence. But stories continue to raise questions about the veracity of some designations — and whether ordinary undocumented migrants were swept up, many likely because of tattoos. Family members of two Venezuelans tell ABC’s Laura Romero that’s the case, along with four more to WaPo’s Silvia Foster-Frau and two more to the Miami Herald’s Syra Ortiz Blanes, Verónica Egui Brito and Claire Healy. Now they fear their loved ones may have been sent to a Salvadoran mega-prison accused of human rights violations. The administration didn’t respond for comment. Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Comcast invests billions each year in maintaining and expanding our network capabilities to deliver a superior experience each and every day for millions of people. We've invested $80B in our network and infrastructure in the last 10 years. Connecting people now and into the future. Learn more. | | | | | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. HOUTHIS LATEST: “Yemen’s Houthis won’t ‘dial down’ under US pressure or Iranian appeals,” by Reuters’ Maha El Dahan, Parisa Hafezi and Mohammed Ghobari: “Iran had delivered a verbal message to the Houthi envoy in Tehran on Friday to cool tensions and … Iran’s foreign minister asked Oman, which has mediated with the Houthis, to convey a similar message to the group when he visited Muscat on Sunday. … But but but: “‘There will be no talk of any dialling down of operations before ending the aid blockade in Gaza. Iran is not interfering in our decision but what is happening is that it mediates sometimes but it cannot dictate things,’ [Houthi foreign minister Jamal] Amer said … ‘Now we see that Yemen is at war with the U.S. and that means that we have a right to defend ourselves with all possible means, so escalation is likely.’” 2. TRADE WARS: With reciprocal tariffs slated to be unveiled April 2, the Trump administration is scrambling to figure out what exactly the plan is. WSJ’s Gavin Bade, Josh Dawsey and Vipal Monga scooped that officials considered — but on Friday decided against — making things simpler by sorting the world into three tiers of countries to get different levels of tariffs. Now the focus is on the “gargantuan task” of developing customized levies for every trading partner, which will fall to USTR. Notably, the U.S. is likely to factor in other countries’ internal value-added taxes. The impact: Massive tariffs could usher in a conclusion to the era of fast fashion and cheap clothes, Axios’ Felix Salmon reports. Meanwhile, China is fairly insulated from domestic pain over its tariffs on U.S. pork because the country has already made a major shift away from it, WaPo’s Christian Shepherd reports from Beijing. The big picture: What do economists make of Trump officials’ recent assertions that short-term economic pain, even a recession, will be worth it for long-term gain? NYT’s Ben Casselman reports that many of them agree with the idea in theory, but few are willing to say that Trump’s specific policies can achieve his goals. Economists agree more with the idea of cutting spending and deficits — but the Department of Government Efficiency isn’t meaningfully achieving that so far. Notable detail in the latest knives-out-for-Howard-Lutnick story, from CNN’s Kayla Tausche and Jeremy Herb: The Commerce secretary has privately “told friends he’s ‘not thrilled’ with Trump’s impulsive approach to repeatedly ratchet up tariffs instead of leveraging them for future concessions.” 3. LONG NIGHT AT DOJ: “Trump’s promise to release JFK files sets off all-night scramble by DOJ’s National Security Division,” by ABC’s Mike Levine, Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin: “Less than half an hour after that announcement, the Justice Department’s office that handles foreign surveillance requests and other intelligence-related operations began to shift resources to focus on the task … Attorneys from across the division were up throughout the night … Only prosecutors with an impending arrest or other imminent work did not have to help.” 4. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Can congressional Republicans use the “current policy baseline” to massively diminish the deficit impact of extending the 2017 tax cuts? Senate Budget GOP members are due to start meeting with the parliamentarian’s office early next month to find out, Punchbowl’s Samantha Handler, Laura Weiss and Andrew Desiderio report. Elizabeth MacDonough won’t provide an official decision, but informal guidance could be telling. A $4.5 trillion price tag hangs in the balance.
| | | | Cut through policy complexity and turn intelligence into action with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant—a new suite of tools designed to save you time and demonstrate your impact more easily than ever—available only to Pro subscribers. Save hours, uncover critical insights instantly, and stay ahead of the next big shift. Power your strategy today—learn more. | | | | | 5. DEEP FREEZE: As huge cuts to foreign aid threaten health programs for vulnerable people around the world, Bill Gates has personally warned administration officials that his Gates Foundation can’t make up the difference, Reuters’ Jennifer Rigby and Jonathan Landay scooped. He urged the U.S. to keep funding groups like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. More cuts and fallout: Trump’s $400 million cuts to Columbia University as punishment for its handling of antisemitism has ended or imperiled dozens of research projects, from cancer to long Covid to a landmark, quarter-century diabetes study, NYT’s Joseph Goldstein reports. More from NOTUS … The slashing of the IRS has abruptly ended some major tax audits, which could “cost the government tens of billions of dollars in revenue,” as enforcement shifts more to technology, WSJ’s Richard Rubin and Ashlea Ebeling report. … The funding freeze for the federal refugee program has left some Afghan refugees in the U.S. facing massive financial strain and the fear of evictions, AP’s Tiffany Stanley reports from Laurel, Maryland. 6. FOR YOUR RADAR: “IRS whistleblowers who investigated Hunter Biden — and were ostracized — are promoted at Treasury Department,” by the N.Y. Post’s Miranda Devine: Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler “will start work this week as senior advisers to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, guiding reform of the tax agency for 12 months, after which they will transition to senior IRS leadership roles to execute the plans.” 7. SCHUMER IN THE HOT SEAT: Facing a wave of Democratic criticism for helping pass the GOP continuing resolution to keep the government open, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer defended himself as still the “best leader for the Senate” in appearances on “CBS Mornings” and ABC’s “The View.” While noting that his conference included many strong communicators — calling out Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) by name — Schumer emphasized that “I am the best at winning Senate seats.” Important backup: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who kicked off a minor storm last week when he refused to say whether he had confidence in Schumer, gave him that vote of support in response to reporters’ questions today. He said the two Brooklynites talked yesterday and got on the same page about fighting Medicaid cuts. But Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said on a new episode of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast that he disagreed with Schumer’s move: “That pain is coming anyway and I think we gave up our leverage.” 8. 2026 WATCH: Michigan Republican Tudor Dixon, who lost the 2022 gubernatorial race, announced that she’s considering running for Senate or again for governor.
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Learn more about how Comcast is investing in essential infrastructure powering our lives. | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: “Awful Washington Traffic Has Brought Back ‘Organized Hitchhiking.’ Just Don’t Talk Politics,” by WSJ’s Corrie Driebusch in Woodbridge, Virginia: “After a pandemic lull, traffic is now worsening by the day thanks to President Trump’s call for government employees to return to the office five days a week. … Slugging is an obvious answer.” PLAYBOOK GARDENING SECTION: WaPo’s Maura Judkis dives deep into the question of what happened to the Oval Office Swedish ivy that has sat on a White House mantle for decades but disappeared last month. Turns out it’s not technically Swedish, not technically ivy, not just one plant and possibly doesn’t date back to the Kennedy administration — and it’s been taken to a White House greenhouse. MEDIA MOVES — MSNBC has named Robert Zeliger as the new EP of “The Weekend” from 7 to 10 a.m. and Joy Fowlin as the new EP of “The Weekend: Primetime” from 6 to 9 p.m. Zeliger most recently was a senior managing producer for “The ReidOut.” Fowlin most recently has been EP of “José Díaz-Balart Reports.” TRANSITIONS — Austin Bryniarski is now government relations coordinator at the National Family Farm Coalition. He previously was legislative director for Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.). … Loyaan Egal is now a partner at Morgan Lewis’ telecom, media and technology practice. He previously was special adviser to the FCC chair and is a DOJ alum. … … Geoff Burgan is now comms director for New York AG Letitia James. He previously was comms director for CHIPS for America at the Commerce Department. More from City & State … Andrew Loposser and Jake Salmons recently launched Assembly Strategies, a firm focused on delivering innovative strategies for GOP campaigns. Loposser previously was chief of staff to a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. Salmons previously was a legislative aide in the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate. 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. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
