Across TVs, phones and projectors, the biggest World Cup ever is set to reach its epic conclusion with a final for the ages — capping a summer of electrifying fanaticism in North America over a shared global love of the game. But for many Latino communities, the tournament culminates with a split screen and a challenging reality: U.S. Latinos are celebrating. They’re also terrified. The entirely Hispanic Argentina-Spain final punctuates a six-week sprint that puts Latino culture front and center, even if some Latinos are at odds on who exactly they should support. It’s in the Telemundo announcers, who’ve captured the hearts of those Americans who can’t understand a word they’re saying other than “GOOAAALLLL!” But they relish the energy, and have driven skyrocketing ratings for Peacock and Telemundo. Look no further than Telemundo’s ad with Owen Wilson for evidence of their breakthrough. It’s the block parties. It’s the fans of fellow tournament hosts Mexico, who have shown up kitted out in Mexican national team gear to completely unrelated games. It’s the fans who’ve shelled out hundreds to thousands for a chance to be at one of these games. (The final is poised to be the single most expensive U.S. sporting event ever.) It’s even celebrities like Colombian singer Shakira — who’s become the undisputed musical face of the tournament. But while one swipe on social media might reveal an elysian Latino pride over the cup, the next turns to a surge of ICE activity that’s resulted in the deaths this week of two Latino immigrants — Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine — which are weighing heavily on their communities. The deaths have rekindled a firestorm of controversy over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics and crackdown. ICE this month is on track to have its biggest wave of arrests in a single month since the second Trump administration began, per WaPo. The increased attention on ICE activity rocked many Latino families this week with quiet fear, as the administration continues its policy of carrying out vehicle stops at Trump’s direction. It’s left enclaves like Houston’s Magnolia Park in a cloud of grief and anger, as NYT’s Jazmine Ulloa captures on the ground. While ICE has largely managed to stay out of the spotlight when it comes to the cup itself, there’s an undercutting backdrop of immigration targeting that’s inseparable from the visibility of America’s fastest growing minority. That dissonance of Latinos’ dual realities will be plainly obvious in New Jersey, where the final two teams will face off for the trophy. Less than 10 miles from MetLife Stadium sits Delaney Hall, the now-notorious immigration detention facility that’s seen protests and hunger strikes and become a fixation of Democratic resistance to the administration’s mass detention policy. And surrounding both are thriving enclaves of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban and Mexican communities who now find themselves at the nexus of it all. “We have some of the most diehard soccer fans,” said Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), whose district is 40 percent Latino and sits in between the New York/New Jersey Stadium and Delaney Hall. “And so you have these two things simultaneously. You have this incredibly difficult, painful environment for so many Latinos, and you also have in our backyard the epicenter of soccer.” While Latinos in districts like Menendez’s have massive FIFA fan zones where they can gather for the final, Menendez told Playbook he expects many Latino families may not show up out of fear over leaving their homes. “It’s hard and it’s painful because you want to celebrate the joys in life, you want to celebrate culture and this rich mosaic and fabric that exists here,” Menendez told Playbook. “And you don’t hear those stories, right? You see these games, you see this excitement and enthusiasm — but it's also coupled with people who can't partake in it.” Happy Friday afternoon. This is Ali Bianco. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Send me your thoughts at abianco@politico.com.
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1. WAR REPORT: The U.S. is targeting critical infrastructure in Iran as the airstrike campaign escalates, with Iran hitting similar infrastructure targets in Kuwait and continuing the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, per Reuters. On the hill, Republicans are pushing ahead with the party-line package for extra military funding for the war effort, though it falls short of the hundreds of billions Trump requested, WSJ’s Maya Davis and colleagues write. The House Budget Committee has advanced the budget framework, but it’s far from certain that it can clear the chamber — especially before the August recess. Damage control: “Israel and its backers try to save its reputation in the U.S.,” by POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi and Daniella Cheslow: “The pro-Israel response, while largely uncoordinated, includes outreach to lawmakers, targeted campaign spending and a likely U.S. visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this month.” 2. DARLINE OF THE SENATE: Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) — the younger sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham — is considering a run for the full next term in the seat, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott scooped. She was appointed to serve the rest of term, and has already joined with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to co-sponsor her brother’s Russia sanctions bill. But all eyes will be on whether Trump weighs in with his preference for who should take the seat. “If Darline Graham runs, she’ll have to juggle Senate duties with a lightning-quick Aug. 11 Republican primary, and a potential runoff two weeks later if no candidate wins a majority.” For your radar: Lindsey Graham’s office announced that funeral arrangements have been scheduled for Tuesday, July 28 in Washington, and Wednesday, July 29 in South Carolina. 3. THE 2026-2028 CROSS-SECTION: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is flexing his campaign cash muscles, pouring $3.3 million into an effort to help Democrats secure a legislative trifecta in their statehouse, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky reports. “Shapiro’s cash infusion is bankrolling what the Pennsylvania Democratic Party is calling the ‘biggest coordinated midterm effort’ in the state’s history … The coordinated campaign is the latest step in the aggressive down-ticket push Shapiro is mounting in the midterms that will serve as a critical test of his coattails and of his political acumen ahead of a potential presidential run.” 4. WHAT’S IN A NAME: Barack Obama’s image and support among the Democratic Party is so potent that he’s appeared in ads nearly 4,000 times associated with Rep. Haley Stevens in the contentious Michigan Senate primary — despite the fact that the former president has issued no endorsement in the race, CNN’s David Wright reports. The ad featuring Obama praising Stevens’ work as chief of staff for the US Auto Rescue Task Force has run across the state as Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed try to court Black voters. But some operatives argue it could mislead voters.
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5. FED UP: This week brought a positive trend of economic data for Fed Chair Kevin Warsh between a cooling inflation report and wholesale prices declining. But with the Fed again set to meet on interest rates at the end of the month, the direction the central bank takes will depend on if that trend holds, NYT’s Colby Smith writes. The risks to the waiting game remain, as the war with Iran remains unpredictable. As for consumers’ pocketbooks, even as the price of oil falls, significantly lower gas prices may not materialize until much later, per WSJ. 6. THE EPSTEIN SAGA: “Alan Dershowitz cancels on House Oversight ahead of planned Epstein interview,” by POLITICO’s Chris Marquette: “Alan Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School who worked to craft the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, will not appear before the House Oversight Committee for his scheduled transcribed interview Monday … Lawyers for Dershowitz told the Oversight panel that he would not show up as planned, and the committee has reached out to Dershowitz’s team to put another meeting on the schedule.” 7. ACROSS THE POND: “How Andy Burnham, ‘King of the North,’ Conquered U.K. Politics,” by NYT’s Michael Shear: “On Friday, [Andy Burnham] became the leader of the Labour Party, and on Monday, King Charles III will formally ask him to become the country’s 59th prime minister. … As an ambitious young member of Parliament, he quickly rose through the ranks even as he lost two bids to become Labour Party leader. He was a junior minister under Tony Blair and a member of [PM] Gordon Brown’s cabinet before growing disillusioned with London … Now, he will replace Keir Starmer, one of the most unpopular British leaders in modern history. It is not clear how Mr. Burnham intends to overcome the challenges that doomed his predecessor”
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OUT AND ABOUT — The Center for New Liberalism hosted its annual New Liberal Action Summit at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre. SPOTTED: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Reps. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Josh Harder (D-Calif.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), Brad Schnieder (D-Ill.), and Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Fmr. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Fmr. Mayor Michael Nutter, Francis Fukuyama, Rini Sampath, Greg Schultz, Nat Purser, Baillee Brown, Natalie Wynn, Richard Kahlenberg, Rachel Canter, Tobin Stone, Colin Mortimer, Corrinne Jeffries, Paul Weinstein Jr., Ben Ritz, Stu Malec, Jordan Weissman and Mary Guenther. — As part of its Summer Series 2026, Across the Aisle hosted a dinner conversation with former Senator Joe Manchin and 53rd Speaker of the House John Boehner for young people interested in pursuing a career in public service. SPOTTED: Becky Tallent, Laura Dove, Joel Wood, John Criscuolo, Tinna Jackson, Kevin Sayegh and Iyanla Kollock. — The Women's Congressional Staff Foundation hosted their 9th annual awards ceremony and reception, honoring its 13 summer 2026 scholarship recipients, Leadership Impact Awardees Lorissa Bounds and Emily Crerand, and Congressional Champion Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.). SPOTTED: Heather Obernolte, Lorissa Bounds, Sara Lonardo, Brittany Martinez, Michelle Dimarob, Rasheedah Thomas, Shelly Marc, Eliza Ramirez, Kelsey Moran, Marian Martin, Desiree Mowry Cole, Julia Richardson, Harmony Barbera, Rina Shah, Meghan Sullivan, Julianna Garcia, Jen Daulby, Vaseema Nooruddin, Elise Pickering, Jeanne Kuehl, Debra Dixon and Lauren Doepke. — The Center for New Liberalism hosted its annual New Liberal Action Summit at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre. SPOTTED: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Reps. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Josh Harder (D-Calif.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Mary Landrieu, Michael Nutter, Francis Fukuyama, Rini Sampath, Greg Schultz, Nat Purser, Baillee Brown, Natalie Wynn, Richard Kahlenberg, Rachel Canter, Tobin Stone, Colin Mortimer, Corrine Jeffries, Paul Weinstein Jr., Ben Ritz, Stu Malec, Jordan Weissmann and Mary Guenther. — The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies hosted its 2026 Future of Black Communities Summit yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Washington. SPOTTED: Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Monica Mitchell, Paul Thornell, Chanelle Hardy, Rey Ramsey, Michele Jawando, Otis Rolley, Navin Girishankar, Nicol Turner Lee, Erica Green, Algernon Austin, Jonathan Cox, Jheanelle Wilkins, LesLeigh Ford, Dominique Harrison, Jasper Hendricks III, Kristen Brown, Kimberly Hulsey, Jenn Jones, Joshua Miller, Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Troy Perry, Jena Roscoe, Erica Smiley, Jamila Taylor and Kendra Brown. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross. |
