| | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Good Saturday morning. Adam Wren here in rainy Detroit, where I arrived in time to report on the fallout of the trade war, but missed the Tigers’ home opener romp over the Chicago White Sox. Drop me a line: awren@politico.com. SPOTTED: Alex Ovechkin was at Cafe Milano last night after the Caps’ 5-3 victory to celebrate his 894th goal, which tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, with family and teammates. Pic
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
The reaction to these still early days of market turmoil among Trump supporters doesn’t match the hyperventilating across various networks. | AP | Welcome to the front lines of Donald Trump’s new and disorienting trade war, which has disappeared $6.6 trillion in value from the stock market this week in the name of ushering in a new “Golden Age.” Here in the Rust Belt, though, there’s a sense of suspended animation about the unfolding tariffs. Three days post-Liberation Day, at 12:01 a.m. this morning, Trump’s new 10 percent baseline tariffs on nearly all nations and nearly all imported goods took effect. Meanwhile, the first outlines of a bipartisan opposition to the sweeping tariffs are emerging: On the Hill, a bipartisan group is working on legislation that would wrest control back of tariff policy from the president. But first: So far, here in Michigan, a battleground state Trump won by 1.4 percentage points — a bit over 80,000 votes — the most visible sign of the trade war are black and white billboards that read: “TARIFFS ARE A TAX.” The billboards, paid for by the Canadian government, are now in 12 states and in Washington. Michigan is a crucial midterm state for both parties, with four statewide seats open and possibly three very competitive House seats. Put quite simply: How this state responds to Trump’s trade war couldn’t matter more ahead of the 2026 midterms. At a Friday Lenten fish fry sponsored by the Knights of Columbus in Grosse Ile, an island of 10,000 between Canada and Michigan that broke 60-40 for Trump in November, Playbook spoke with retired auto workers over some cod and pierogies at Sacred Heart Catholic Church — as they sat just below a map with a bedazzled and glittery GULF OF AMERICA printed in large text so you couldn’t miss it — about how they see the tariffs playing out. By and large, the reaction to these still early days of market turmoil among Trump supporters doesn’t match the hyperventilating in the CNBC (and Fox Business) studios. “We’ve been through all kinds of recessions -— up and down — in the stock market,” said 78-year-old Glenn Forshee, a retired Grosse Ile executive engineer from then-Chrysler who backed Trump in November. “We’ve seen all this before.” “Something has to change,” said Eldon Abraham, 79, a retired Ford worker from Saline and a Trump voter who admitted he was concerned about his retirement account “for the short term.” “We’ve been sending out products for 40 years, and losing all of our manufacturing. We don’t make dirty castings anymore. We don’t make forgings anymore. It’s necessary that we start bringing them back.”
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Learn more. | | | | AND/BUT: There are already tangible effects of the trade war here. Automaker Stellantis temporarily laid off 900 workers, including those at nearby Warren and Sterling Heights stamping plants, due to “new automotive sector tariffs.” But amid it all, there’s a slow burn quality to the household-level reaction to the tariffs. In the first full year, the tariffs are expected to deliver a $30 billion hit to consumers, according to the Greater Detroit-based Anderson Economic Group. Scott Lincicome, the vice president of general economics and the free-market oriented Stiefel Trade Policy Center at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Playbook this morning that “you know that the taxes are coming, and you know that companies can’t absorb all of them, and you know that they are going to try their hardest to pass them on, so you are basically waiting for price hike announcements.” THE GREAT IRONY: A president arguably elected because of the cost of groceries may have just taken action that could spike the prices — not even 100 days into his term: “Groceries are going to be a great area to watch,” Lincicome said. (He has a good thread on what consumer price hikes to expect when. TLDR: Get ready for pricier berries, which are highly perishable and have no domestic alternative at the moment, making them exposed to more immediate price increases.) Some companies, he said, will even use the trade war as an excuse to raise prices. Michigan state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, a Democrat who represents manufacturing-rich Downriver, a region of metropolitan Detroit, texted Playbook this morning that despite supporting targeted tariffs, and despite the UAW’s Shawn Fain backing tariffs on auto imports, he is “not optimistic” about how all this plays out. He said he’s heard from some constituents about their retirement accounts, but noted that many are retired union workers with pensions who aren’t dialing up their accounts on their phone minute by minute. Though Camilleri acknowledged “Metro Detroit has been hit the hardest by NAFTA and the USCMA,” he said “what we’re seeing from Trump is not a strategic industrial plan — it’s a chaotic tariff policy that will mostly raise prices of everyday goods and groceries.” Back in Washington, Republicans skeptical of Trump’s approach are signing onto the “Trade Review Act of 2025,” introduced Thursday by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), which the Wall Street Journal notes now has seven Republican co-sponsors, including Sen. Todd Young of Indiana. The bill would allow Congress to strike tariffs with a simple majority vote. “I think it’s fair to say that just a lot of my constituents are uncertain about where this is headed, which is natural,” Young told the Journal. “We’ve never seen this before, right?…And it’s unclear exactly how it’s all going to flush out.”
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| | | | MORE TARIFF READS … — Survey says: “Americans Were Souring on Trump’s Economic Plans Even Before Tariff Bloodbath,” by WSJ’s Aaron Zitner: “Tepid support for tariffs through the past year has become disapproval, with 54% of voters opposing Trump’s levies on imported goods, 12 points more than those who support his plans. Three quarters of voters say that tariffs will raise prices on the things they buy, up from 68% who said so in January. The Journal survey was conducted from March 27 through April 1.” — Legal challenges loom: “Trump now faces one legal challenge to his historic tariffs — and even more lawsuits could be on the way,” POLITICO’s Doug Palmer writes. “A nonprofit legal group, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in northern Florida Thursday night, arguing Trump’s use of a national emergency law to justify the 20 percent tariffs that Trump imposed on China earlier this year is illegal. … Lawyers and representatives for various business groups are mulling similar challenges.” — The view from Capitol Hill: Despite general anxiety from Republicans over the tariffs, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson are thus far standing behind Trump’s moves. The support is evidence of the “blunt political reality” that the two leaders face, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill write. “They need Trump and MAGA-aligned lawmakers to get the GOP’s legislative agenda through their chambers, and there are few advantages to breaking with him.” — The view from our northern neighbors: “Canada says its friendship with the US is ‘over.’ Now what?” by POLITICO’s Mike Blanchfield: Canadian PM Mark Carney “said it was a ‘tragedy,’ but that the ‘new reality’ would force Canada to do two things: renegotiate the terms of its relationship with the U.S., and lead the creation of a ‘like-minded’ new world order of countries that excluded the U.S.” — Fed up: “The notion that the Federal Reserve will rush in to rescue investors in a crisis has comforted investors for decades. But in the big market downturn induced by President Trump’s tariffs, no Fed rescue is in sight,” NYT’s Jeff Sommer writes. “Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, made that clear on Friday. The tariffs are much ‘larger than expected,’ he said, and their immense scale makes it especially important for the central bank to understand their economic effects before taking action.”
| | | | Policy moves fast—stay ahead with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant. Effortlessly search POLITICO's archive of 1M+ news articles, analysis documents, and legislative text. Track legislation, showcase your impact, and generate custom reports in seconds. Designed for POLITICO Pro subscribers, this tool helps you make faster, smarter decisions. Start exploring now. | | | | | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: RIPE FOR RECRUITMENT: After Tuesday’s special elections, Democrats are seeing a surge of interest in running for office — and the party is gearing up to push deeper into red territory on the campaign trail next year, POLITICO’s Ally Mutnick, Nicholas Wu and Holly Otterbein report. Three Senate candidates rolled out their bids this week and party recruiters are “reporting an uptick in interest from candidates in tough-to-win territory.” Among the areas of interest: an Iowa district held by GOP Rep. Zach Nunn (which is certain to feel the effects of Trump’s tariffs); two prospective bids in Pennsylvania and Michigan by candidates who lost or left jobs thanks to the Trump administration, giving them a powerful story on the campaign trail; a pair of former representatives considering comeback bids for battleground districts in the Rust Belt; and at least two districts in Virginia, held by GOP Reps. Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans, that Dems believe are increasingly in play thanks to backlash to Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting frenzy. A new way forward?: The renewed excitement from Dems also comes as Barack Obama delivered a scathing speech hitting back against Trump this week at Hamilton College, which the former president intended as a model “approach for Democrats to follow,” Obama confidants tell The New Republic’s Greg Sargent, adding that he “sees the eggs-versus-democracy debate as a false choice for the party.” 2. SENATE MOVES ON BUDGET: The Senate voted 51-48 to adopt the budget blueprint for Trump’s one “one big, beautiful bill” in the wee hours of the morning. In the end, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted with all Democrats against the bill. “What comes next is anyone’s guess,” POLITICO’s Jordain Carney, Jennifer Scholtes and Katherine Tully-McManus write. “Now the budget plan needs approval in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose three Republicans without having the entire effort unravel. House fiscal hawks are displeased with the Senate’s framework and are threatening revolt.” What they’re saying: “‘We’re not going to do this for a third time,’ Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said with a deep breath after he was asked about the House threatening to change the budget plan. ‘I assume it will pass.’ Asked what he would say to House Republicans, Majority Leader John Thune added: ‘The more this drags on — the sooner we get to reconciliation the better.’” 3. TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK: The Trump administration yesterday decided to extend the deadline for TikTok to find a deal to save its business in the U.S., with Trump granting another 75-day delay in enforcing a ban, writing in a Truth Social post that he was eager to work with China to figure out a long-term solution. But a divestment deal was actually finalized with the White House earlier this week before Trump’s tariff rollout “flipped the Chinese government’s position on the issue,” the Washington Examiner’s Christian Datoc reports. The details: Sources tell the Examiner that VP JD Vance had struck a deal “between American investors and TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance” on Wednesday, but Beijing flipped upon the tariff drop and said “no sale could be agreed to ahead of trade negotiations.” The deal “would have spun off TikTok’s U.S. presence into a separate company with majority American ownership and operations, though the names of the would-be investors were not revealed.” 4. SCOTUS WATCH: In a win for Trump, the Supreme Court is allowing the administration to cancel $65 million in education grants targeted as part of Trump’s pledge to eliminate so-called diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports. “In a 5-4 ruling Friday, the justices granted the administration’s request to terminate the grants while litigation over the issue proceeds. The high court’s action lifted an order a federal judge in Boston issued last month blocking the administration from terminating the grants for teacher-training programs in eight Democratic-led states that sued to restore the grants. Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices dissented from the high court’s ruling.” 5. DROPPING DEFENSE: Trump’s decision to fire Gen. Timothy Haugh, a four-star general who served as head of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, shocked lawmakers and national security veterans, who described the unexpected action as a “chilling” one that would “damage America’s cyber defenses and ‘roll out the red carpet’ for attacks on critical networks by foreign adversaries,” POLITICO’s Maggie Miller and Amy Mackinnon report. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle “are furious at the firings, which they say severely undermine the nation’s national security efforts.” The cuts keep coming: “Several top career U.S. diplomats are being forced out of their positions at the State Department ahead of expected staffing cuts to the diplomatic corps,” POLITICO’s Robbie Gramer, Eric Bazail-Eimil, Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman report for NatSecDaily. “More cuts at the National Security Council are also expected in the coming days, according to two people familiar with the matter, including the firing of NSC officials overseeing multilateral affairs and international organizations.” Related read: “Loomer’s Role in Firings Shows Rising Sway of Fringe Figures on Trump,” by NYT’s Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Ken Bensinger 6. MUSK READ: “Inside Elon Musk’s Shock-and-Awe Months in the White House,” by WSJ’s Josh Dawsey, Annie Linskey, Brian Schwartz and Dana Mattioli: “Through it all, Musk has retained his status as among the most influential advisers in Trump’s White House … After an early March cabinet meeting, where several cabinet secretaries aired grievances about Musk, the president pulled aside chief of staff Susie Wiles and told her to improve relations between the agencies and the man he empowered to cut them. Wiles needed to manage Musk, Trump said, making it clear that he backed Musk’s government-cutting zeal but sympathized with complaints from his cabinet. Wiles now has two long meetings a week with Musk, people briefed on the meetings said.” 7. IMMIGRATION FILES: “Maryland man illegally deported to El Salvador must be returned to US, judge rules,” by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney: “A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring a Maryland man back to the U.S. by midnight Monday after concluding that he was unlawfully deported to his home country of El Salvador despite an immigration court order that he not be sent there. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued the order Friday requiring the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia following an extraordinary hearing during which the government flatly admitted that he’d been deported in violation of federal law. ‘This was an illegal act,’ Xinis told a Justice Department lawyer. ‘Congress said you can’t do it, and you did it anyway.’” Related read: “As Trump cracks down on immigration, U.S. citizens are among those snared,” by WaPo’s María Luisa Paúl 8. THE VIEW FROM KYIV: “Ukrainians Are Wary of U.S. Minerals Deal,” by NYT’s Kim Barker and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn: “In the central Ukrainian region of Kirovohrad, one of the country’s leading mining areas, reactions to the proposed deal are a mix of wary hopefulness, fatalism and anger. After years of trying to resist Russian influence and align with the West, many here reflexively view American investment positively, and are willing to use their natural resources to support the country’s most important ordeal, fending off Russia. And yet, there are signs of growing skepticism about the terms and whether the United States, and specifically the Trump administration, can be trusted.” Yowza: DHS this week erroneously sent an email to Ukrainians legally living in the U.S. under a humanitarian program “telling them their status had been revoked and they had seven days to leave the country or the ‘federal government will find you,’” Reuters’ Kristina Cooke reports. 9. WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: “Prosecutors seek 7 years in prison for disgraced ex-US Rep. George Santos in federal fraud case,” by AP’s Philip Marcelo: “The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York argued in a court filing Friday that a significant sentence was warranted because the New York Republican’s ‘unparalleled crimes’ had ‘made a mockery’ of the country’s election system. ‘From his creation of a wholly fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos’s unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enabled him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives,’ the office wrote.”
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| | | | CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies
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Matt Davies-NY Newsday | GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “The Partnership: The Secret History of the War in Ukraine,” by NYT’s Adam Entous: “This is the untold story of America’s hidden role in Ukrainian military operations against Russia’s invading armies.” — “Trump, Bad Bunny and Puerto Rico’s Perennially Broken Power Grid,” by Gloria Gonzalez for POLITICO Magazine in San Juan: “Puerto Rico has the least reliable energy system of any place in the U.S. Despite billions of federal dollars available for repairs, it’s still in shambles.” — “She Devoted Her Life to Serving the U.S. Then DOGE Targeted Her,” by NYT’s Eli Saslow: “A veteran who returned from Iraq injured and transformed, Joy Marver is now facing a crisis at home.” — “The Senate’s Age of Irrelevance,” by The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick: “Elon Musk’s DOGE and Trump’s executive orders are pushing Congress’s upper chamber from ineffectiveness to obsolescence. Will John Thune, the new Majority Leader, let them?” — “A Charlotte Regulator Gets DOGE’d,” by The Assembly’s Michael Graff: “Jack Cobb, a lifelong Republican with decades of blue-chip legal experience, decided to move into consumer protection last year. Then Elon Musk took a chainsaw to his agency.” — “A trans girl was banned from her track team. Now she’s competing with the boys,” by WaPo’s Karina Elwood: “After President Donald Trump banned transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports, a Virginia high-schooler joined the boys’ team.”
| | | | California's tech industry is shaping national politics like never before. We’re launching California Decoded to unpack how the state is defining tech policy and politics within its borders and beyond. Sign up now to get it free for a limited time. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK I: BOOK CLUB: Steve Ricchetti, former President Joe Biden’s longtime adviser, is strongly considering writing a book about his time in politics, two people who have discussed the matter with him told POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman. The book, for which he’s already talked to talent agency CAA, would be a history of his service with three Democratic presidents, with a particular focus on Biden’s presidency. It won’t be a tell-all, but instead would be about how decisions were made, the impact of Biden’s legislative agenda and what happened in the 2020 campaign. Ricchetti, who has been considering writing a book for a decade, is planning to write it with a historian. In addition to the book, he's planning to set up a public affairs consulting firm and do paid speeches through a speakers bureau at CAA. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK II: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday urged those in the market for cars to “buy American” because of the tariffs on foreign-made cars. But he hasn’t taken his own advice. On Friday, a Range Rover believed to belong to him was parked in the driveway at his Washington residence, according to a picture obtained by Daniel. A neighbor said they’ve seen the car parked in the driveway for months. Range Rover is a primarily British car whose parent company is Indian firm Tata Motors. A person familiar with the matter said Bessent also owns and loves American cars as well, including SUVs. A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment. TRANSITION — Marc Palazzo is joining NextDecade as SVP of policy and corporate affairs. He previously was VP of external relations at South Bow Corporation. … Jonathan Holloway will be president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation effective in October. He currently is the president of Rutgers University. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: WaPo’s Annie Gowen … Matt Gertz of Media Matters … Mary Katharine Ham … CNN’s Dan Berman … POLITICO’s Maya Kaufman … Jacqueline Usyk … UAW’s Eric Heggie … PBS’ Sam Lane and Yasmeen Alamiri … Jesse Rifkin … NYT’s Jill Rayfield … Shea Miller … Josh Culling of Dezenhall Resources … Sarah Horvitz … former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler … former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky … former Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.), Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) and Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) … Terry Szuplat … Adham Sahloul … Luke and Brian Principato … Benjamin Rosenbaum … Rory Heslington of Autos Drive America … Adam Rubenstein … Heather Hopkins of Amazon Web Services … Miles Lichtman … Melissa Shuffield … Teri Galvez … Oni Chaytor … Microsoft’s Howard Wachtel THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): CBS “Face the Nation”: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick … Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso … Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) … NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte … Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). NBC “Meet the Press”: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) … Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Panel: Leigh Ann Caldwell, Lanhee Chen, Garrett Haake and Neera Tanden. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: AG Pam Bondi … Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) … Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). Panel: Kevin Roberts, Marie Harf, Stef Kight and Josh Kraushaar. ABC “This Week”: NEC Director Kevin Hassett … Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) … Larry Summers … Chris Christie. Panel: Donna Brazile and Reince Priebus. CNN “State of the Union”: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins … Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Panel: Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.), Jamal Simmons and David Urban. MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki”: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) … Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) … Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II … Miguel Cardona. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) … Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) … Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.). Panel: Domenico Montanaro, Margaret Talev, Michael Warren and Julia Manchester. Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Peter Navarro … Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) … Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) … Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas). 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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