The art of the Iran deal

Presented by Meta: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington.

Jun 12, 2026 View in browser   By Eli Okun Presented by  THE CATCH-UP A woman walks past an anti-American mural on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy, now a museum, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) | Vahid Salemi/AP LET’S MAKE A DEAL: Not for the first time in three and a half months of the Iran war, a peace agreement appears within reach — but sniping and disagreements could still derail the final stages of this first big diplomatic accord. The positive signs for peace: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a U.S.-Iran deal “has never been closer,” echoing President Donald Trump’s optimistic sentiments when he called off major strikes yesterday. Both sides are making plans for a possible signing with VP JD Vance on hand, which could happen as soon as Sunday (Trump’s 80th birthday) in Geneva ahead of next week’s G7 summit nearby in the French Alps, Bloomberg’s Fiona MacDonald scooped. The deal would continue the ceasefire for another two months. The stumbling blocks: Trump fumed today after reports of the details of the memorandum of understanding appeared in various outlets. He wrote on Truth Social that those were not the terms agreed to, without getting into any details, and lambasted the Iranians: “Very dishonorable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith,” he wrote. “They better get their act together, and FAST!” Vance, too, sought to tamp down criticism of the emerging deal, writing on X that “the Iranians are not receiving any cash” and that the country would access economic benefits only if it complies with the terms of the agreement. The administration’s pushback comes after drafts and accounts of the text were published, including in hard-line Iranian state media outlets. Reuters’ Parisa Hafezi and colleagues report that the memorandum seems to include many of the principal demands Tehran had made — chiefly, the unfreezing of Iranian assets and the lifting of sanctions in exchange for Iran finally opening up the Strait of Hormuz. Nuclear talks would come afterward. It remains unclear whether the memorandum would address the destruction of enriched uranium: One top U.S. official says it will, while other drafts omit the key Washington priority. “Performance-based deal” is the phrase of the day from the U.S. side, insisting that Iran deliver results to get more relief. Whether the deal addresses Lebanon, where Israel’s war against Hezbollah has largely continued, also remains to be seen. Several thousand people have died, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. But if it comes together, the deal could provide massive relief to the global economy, which has buckled as Iran choked off maritime traffic and a key source of oil through the strait. The war’s intense inflationary pressure in the U.S. and even deeper economic pain in much of the world might ease with a reopening. Dwindling oil supplies in many countries have led to growing fears of shortages, not just high prices. But Energy Secretary Chris Wright said today that 7 million barrels are still getting through the strait each day, per Bloomberg. That number is somewhat higher than expected, but still just half of the pre-war volume. Whether Trump could really stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon — his stated goal of the war, and one that remains distant — would be left for the next phase of negotiations. CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen scooped that last month, the U.S. came very close to launching a risky ground operation to seize Iranian uranium, but Trump ultimately called it off. Is this time really different? The conflicting accounts of the text from the U.S. and Iran — while neither country has released the details — leave plenty of room for things to go awry. Read more from POLITICO’s Emilio Perez Ibarguen But Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif declared today that “a final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached and Pakistan is now working closely with both sides to finalize the next steps. Peace has never been this close as it is now.” Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.   A message from Meta: America’s Workforce Academy: Paid training, a job and a path to America's future. For 250 years, America has delivered the world’s greatest inventions because Americans built them. The AI revolution will bring historic opportunity. America's Workforce Academy, built by Meta, will train the electricians, welders, crew leaders, plumbers, fiber installers and more who will bring it about by offering paid training, with a job upon completion. Because the future is for everyone. Explore the program.   5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. WEAPONIZATION WATCH: Federal judge Leonie Brinkema today extended her block on Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” saying she would keep the ruling in place despite acting AG Todd Blanche telling Congress they were junking the idea, per POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein. But Brinkema said she may agree the case is moot if Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent within the next week formally declare, under penalty of perjury, that they will not create the fund. She noted Trump’s own unhappiness over the fund being canceled as reason for caution. 2. RACE CALL: More than a week after the primary election, the tight GOP contest in New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District has officially been called for Rosie Pino, per AP’s Mike Catalini. The Clifton City council member will take on freshman Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou in a district that rocketed to the right in 2024, voting for Trump — but this year looks like a reach goal for Republicans. 3. DEMOCRACY WATCH: The FBI yesterday raided offices and appeared at staffers’ homes of the voting rights group Ohio Organizing Collaborative, MS NOW’s Carol Leonnig and colleagues scooped. One board member for the organization, which works on voter registration, pro-democracy work and anti-gerrymanding advocacy, said agents asked about voter fraud with “straight-up intimidation tactics,” amid the Trump administration’s broader push to promote false claims of widespread fraud. The FBI didn’t respond for comment. 4. WHAT’S IN STORE FOR NATO: A U.S. document shows a significant planned pullback in military contributions to NATO, slashing fighter jets, an aircraft carrier, aerial refueling tanker jets and more, NYT’s Christopher Schuetze and Eric Schmitt report. The drawdown “would limit NATO’s ability to launch long-range strikes and conduct surveillance,” as it reflects the Trump administration’s desire to cut its support for the alliance. The U.S. pivot away from Europe leaves NATO working to figure out how it’ll continue to defend itself at the same level through other means, AP’s Lorne Cook reports. 5. DIAMONDS AND COAL: A major new effort to create the U.S.’ first new coal-fired power plant in more than a decade is in the hands of little-known TerraSpark and Alex Phillips, POLITICO’s Zack Colman and colleagues report. The big West Virginia project, which has already gotten $18.5 million for a study, is being led by figures with greater ties to GOP politics and 2020 election conspiracy theories than to the energy world. But TerraSpark and DOE said the contract was awarded in a competitive process sans favoritism.   A message from Meta:   TALK OF THE TOWN WHAT TO READ BEFORE TONIGHT’S GAME — “What’s really at stake between the US and Paraguay,” by POLITICO’s Sasha Issenberg: “The Trump administration has deployed assiduous, patient diplomacy with Paraguay, enlivened by its newly aligned interests in making the country a hub for U.S.-backed data center projects.” PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “This Lawyer Spent Years Fighting His $100 D.C. Speeding Ticket,” by NOTUS’ Martin Austermuhle: “Matt Ricciardi got the citation tossed out by the D.C. Court of Appeals. His victory could benefit other drivers.” OUT AND ABOUT — The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, GlobalWIN and the Foundation for Art & Preservation in Embassies hosted an “Art and Conversation” event last night celebrating America’s 250th anniversary and the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery’s current exhibition, “Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad.” SPOTTED: Helen Milby, Sumi Somaskanda, Anne Helmreich, Ashleigh de la Torre, Cybele Bjorklund, Eden Rafshoon, Caitlin Berry, Angeli Chawla, Rhea Combs, April Boyd, Ali O’Donnell, Teki Akuetteh, Laurie McKay, Ruth Schipper, Cait O’Connor, Dorothee Schneider, Craig Metz, Caroline Paris-Behr and Catherine Valentine. POLITICO MOVES — Mark Satter is joining POLITICO’s defense team. He currently works at CQ Roll Call. … Joey Fox is joining POLITICO as a New Jersey reporter. He previously worked at the New Jersey Globe. TRANSITIONS — Bethany Holden is now press secretary for the Senate Commerce Committee. She previously worked for Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas). … Jon Treichler is joining Think Big as director of public affairs. He previously has worked at Sunwater Capital. 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook PM mistakenly included some guests on a spotted list for an Insured Retirement Institute event.   Follow us on X Eli Okun @eliokun Ali Bianco @_alibianco Irie Sentner @iriesentner   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Canada Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters Follow us

Inside the US’ World Cup power play

Presented by Meta: The unofficial guide to official Washington.

Jun 12, 2026 View in browser   By Sophia Cai Presented by  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner Good Friday morning, it’s Sophia Cai, your West Wing Playbook co-author dropping into your inbox this morning with the latest on the ground from my World Cup side-quest beat. Get in touch. In today’s Playbook … — The power brokers behind the first tri-hosted North American World Cup. — Why Trump caved on the FISA fight and another round of Iran strikes. — The Boldfaces: Marco Rubio, Gavin Newsom, Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama, Jay Clayton, Chuck Schumer, Pete Buttigieg, Chris Klomp, John Cornyn and more. DRIVING THE DAY MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — two potential 2028 rivals — will represent the country in Los Angeles today for the United States’ World Cup opener against Paraguay. But the power brokers of global soccer are gathered here in Mexico City. FIFA flew the presidents of football federations from around the world to the Mexican capital for the tournament's opening match yesterday, putting them up at the five-star Four Seasons for Mexico’s World Cup opener at the legendary Estadio Azteca. The tournament set up: Mexico got the opener. The U.S. got the final draw and 75 percent of the matches. And Canada got the FIFA Congress. North America’s path to win the World Cup from the global soccer establishment was a long and complicated one, as your author reports in today’s newly relaunched POLITICO Magazine (subscribe here). And after a 16-year journey that ran through Qatar, DOJ raids, a global lobbying campaign and the Biden and Trump administrations, the World Cup is finally underway. The story starts — as not many do — with Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger and Barack Obama, all of whom backed a U.S. World Cup bid that arrived in Zurich in 2010 expecting victory. Instead, FIFA awarded the tournament to Qatar — shocking everyone. The vote helped trigger a chain of events that ultimately led to investigations by the Justice Department under Eric Holder and the dramatic 2015 raids that brought down much of FIFA's old guard. Out of the wreckage came the United Bid.Soccer federation presidents struck a deal in 2016 and 2017 to have the three countries — whose diplomatic relations were under Trumpian strain — bid together for the World Cup. The deal was struck between soccer power brokers in boozy hotel bars in Zurich, Hawaii and Aruba, and the details were hashed out in contractual fine print with American, Canadian and Mexican cities that raised their hands to host.   A message from Meta: America’s Workforce Academy: Paid training, a job and a path to America's future. America’s Workforce Academy, built by Meta, will give hundreds of thousands of Americans the skills to build our country's AI future. The program offers paid training in electrical, plumbing, fiber installation and many other trades, with a job upon completion. No experience necessary. No degree required. No cost to the participant. Because the future is for everyone. Learn more.   Rahm Emanuel was at the center of one memorable showdown in Chicago, where the then-mayor literally wrote handwritten caveats onto FIFA's bid documents. When he was told he couldn’t do that, Emanuel walked away from the process and torched the deal publicly. North American organizers embarked on a global election campaign to win the bid. They crisscrossed Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, pitching the tournament as a continental partnership at a moment when Trump was threatening NAFTA and feuding with U.S. neighbors. Meanwhile, Morocco was making inroads with its own bid in Europe by appealing to language, culture and colonial historical ties. France — whose architects, engineers and construction firms stood to benefit from Morocco’s need to build or renovate stadiums and transportation infrastructure — bolstered the effort. But the North Americans courted everyone from major powers to tiny countries like Latvia and Luxembourg, whose votes counted exactly the same. By the final weeks, campaign operatives were working from a London war room, dispatching teams around the world on red-eye flights in pursuit of undecided votes. Even in the final days before the June 2018 vote in Moscow, the campaign's leaders remained haunted by their loss to Qatar eight years earlier. Internal vote counts suggested the United Bid was headed for victory, but organizers worried federations could defect at the last minute and trigger a stampede away from the frontrunner. “You lose a couple dozen votes and all of a sudden it’s a tie game,” bid chair Carlos Cordeiro recalled. When the ballots were finally counted, the United Bid crushed Morocco 134 votes to 65, securing the first World Cup ever shared by three countries. On today’s Playbook Podcast: Megan Messerly and Myah Ward discuss Trump’s climbdown from the FISA fight and his threats against Iran.   A message from Meta:   THE DOWNLOAD SPY GAMES: Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will expire tonight — and remain dead for more than a week at least. What will that actually mean? The controversial spy tool is considered a key piece of the nation’s counterterrorism intelligence. Lawmakers aren’t certain about how much of that might be damaged (or not) by the lapse, since FISA can keep gathering information for current operations, NOTUS’ Avani Kalra and Kadia Goba report. But the end is — probably — in sight, after Trump announced he’ll tap Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the DNI nomination. The choice earned positive reactions from Hill Republicans and some Democrats, but top Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat Mark Warner (Va.) said Bill Pulte can’t be acting DNI at all as a condition for reauthorization. The panel will hold a confirmation hearing for Clayton on Wednesday. Clayton was chosen, in part, to “quell all the bitching” as one administration official told Dasha. And multiple senior Hill staffers speculated Trump may not have fully understood, or cared, the timeline Congress was facing. Trump has “always hated the ODNI role,” one told Dasha. How will Clayton navigate that? Back at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where many career prosecutors “begrudgingly accepted” Clayton, staffers feel fresh concern over who might replace him, POLITICO’s Erica Orden reports. WAR REPORT: All eyes are on movement toward a U.S.-Iran agreement today after Trump’s cancellation of attacks last night — three hours before they were due to begin, per NBC’s Mosheh Gains and Courtney Kube. Trump’s reversal came after officials from Qatar, the UAE and Pakistan beseeched him to stand down, Dasha and Felicia Schwartz scooped. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, was left out of the loop, per Axios’ Barak Ravid. The pullback appears to be a rapid abandonment of Trump’s missile diplomacy strategy, POLITICO’s Paul McLeary and colleagues report. THE FRONT PAGE SCHUMER PUFFS HIS CHEST: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told POLITICO’s Jordain Carney in a mini-redemption tour that some of his moves are paying off as the party’s fortunes improve. He’s gotten many of the candidates he wanted in key races, and Schumer contends that Dems’ shutdown fights better positioned them for the midterms. BIG FRIDAY READ: End the HIV epidemic by 2030? Trump’s first-term pledge — and efforts to achieve it — have been undermined by major funding cuts in his second, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly report in a must-read POLITICO Magazine feature. NIH and CDC leader Jay Bhattacharya insists they’re still shooting for 2030, and with medical breakthroughs, “I’m filled with hope.” But much of the rest of the public health world says DOGE, diversity bans and public health cuts imperiled the drive to end the epidemic. MAYOR PETE ON THE ROAD: Pete Buttigieg made an appearance at Rainbow PUSH Coalition HQ yesterday for the organization’s annual convention, the first since the death of founder Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. In a wide-ranging conversation, Buttigieg argued Democrats should push for structural changes, including ending partisan gerrymandering, overhauling campaign finance laws, restructuring the Supreme Court and eliminating the Electoral College, POLITICO’s Shia Kapos writes in. More travel intrigue: Buttigieg is backing Chris Jones to represent Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District and is expected to travel to Little Rock on June 19 to campaign for him, Playbook’s Adam Wren scoops. ACROSS THE POND: “The small-town voters deciding the UK’s future are demanding change, our focus group found,” by POLITICO’s Tim Ross: “Residents are deeply frustrated with politics — and some would rather burn the system down than back Labour candidate Andy Burnham to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer.” LISTEN TO THIS: For “The Conversation” this week, Dasha spoke with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin at POLITICO’s Energy Summit about the agency’s approach to climate change, energy prices and environmental regulation. He also argued EPA should not “get creative” with powers he says Congress hasn’t granted. “If Congress wants me to regulate the heck out of greenhouse gas emissions, change the law.” Listen and subscribe on Apple or Spotify   A message from Meta:   5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. REWRITING HISTORY: Trump is considering a congressional gambit to expunge the two impeachments from his first term, WSJ’s Annie Linskey and colleagues scooped. The idea is to push for a resolution after the midterms; Speaker Mike Johnson discussed it with Trump, Alan Dershowitz and Jay Sekulow. But it would likely be symbolic — and difficult to pull off. 2. HHS’ CHRIS KLOMP ERA: The department’s new day-to-day manager has focused on staffing up, improving morale and pushing forward MAHA policy ideas, POLITICO’s Carmen Paun reports. Supporters credit him with bringing stability under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., though one former official grumbles that Klomp is undermining Kennedy. 3. BILL OF HEALTH: Mark Shirley was chosen to lead the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, NOTUS’ Paige Winfield Cunningham scooped. Notably, the HHS official who selected him was … his daughter, Malia Shirley. Meanwhile, a new Trump administration policy suggests health insurers giving loans to people who can’t afford out-of-pocket procedures, NYT’s Reed Abelson reports. Critics decried the idea as a pathway to medical debt. 4. JOHN CORNYN UNCORKED: The Texas senator told NYT’s Carl Hulse that he understands his primary defeat and isn’t seeking revenge against Trump … but won’t be shy to speak his mind. “Freedom.” “Leverage.” “Cards to play.” Cornyn says Trump shouldn’t demand absolute loyalty, and he wants the IRS deal not to scrutinize Trump or his family undone: “I think it is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months.” 5. ACCOUNTABILITY WATCH: “The Trump Administration Keeps Ghosting Its Congressional Watchdog,” by NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery: “A growing number of federal agencies are either refusing to provide the Government Accountability Office access to information or ignoring the congressional watchdog altogether. … Officials at [a May] meeting cited the Office of Management and Budget, Housing and Urban Development, the Commerce Department, the Education Department and the Small Business Administration as particularly noncooperative.” THE WEEKEND AHEAD FRIDAY PROGRAMS … C-SPAN “Ceasefire”: Clifford May and Evelyn Farkas … Alex Vogel and Dan Kanninen. PBS “Washington Week”: special broadcast on “The Next 250 — Considering America’s Future,” with Tim Alberta, Idrees Kahloon, Ashley Parker, Peter Baker, Susan Glasser and Stephen Hayes. SUNDAY SO FAR … Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Senate Majority Leader John Thune … Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) … Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) … Adam Bry. NBC “Meet the Press”: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries … Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) … Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) … Steve Kornacki with new polling. Panel: Monica Alba, Mike Dubke, Jonathan Martin and Steve Ricchetti. CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) … Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) … Gary Cohn. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) … Mike Pence. Panel: Sabrina Siddiqui, Abe Greenwald and Michelle Price. MS NOW “Connect with Jacob Soboroff,” which premieres this weekend: Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) … Eddie Huang … Peppermint. CNN “State of the Union”: Stephen A. Smith. Panel: Scott Jennings, Brad Todd, Xochitl Hinojosa and Jamal Simmons. PBS “Compass Point”: Arkady Ostrovsky. TALK OF THE TOWN UP IN THE AIR — A delegation of prominent Republicans and Democrats from Michigan and the Midwest were delayed for more than an hour on a Delta flight from Washington to Detroit yesterday, Playbook’s Adam Wren reports. The reason the pilot gave angered them even more: There could be no traffic out of DCA because of an airshow rehearsal for the UFC event Sunday. Among those on the plane: Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.). Asked about the snafu, a White House spokesperson said: “There were planned, temporary airspace holds put in place while crews performed a rehearsal in relation to Sunday’s historic UFC Freedom 250 event.” The pilot informed the peeved passengers that if they wanted to register their frustration, they should call their congressperson. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — Trump yesterday threatened to “take back Washington and run it on a federal basis” if democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George wins the D.C. mayoral election, per the Washington Examiner. CENTER OF ATTENTION — The Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board voted yesterday to appeal a federal court ruling that demanded his name be removed from the building, CNN’s Betsy Klein reports. One source likened the meeting to “Veep,” saying Trump called in from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s phone and complained about the judge’s wife. HEADS UP — Large “86 47” numbers were seen in the National Mall grass — the numbers, of course, that led to James Comey’s criminal indictment for allegedly threatening Trump. The Park Police are investigating the “deranged vandalism,” the Interior Department said. More from ABC SCENE SETTER — “‘Vegas’ on the South Lawn: Trump Unveils the U.F.C. ‘Claw,’” by NYT’s Shawn McCreesh: “Jack Posobiec, the right-wing commentator best known for spreading the ‘Pizzagate’ paranoia, stood with a White House official next to the octagonal ring down in the nexus of the claw and looked around in awe. ‘It’s literally Vegas,’ Mr. Posobiec said excitedly. ‘Vegas is in D.C. now!’” OUT AND ABOUT — Meridian International Center hosted an event honoring UFC’s Dana White with the Meridian Global Leadership Award yesterday evening. SPOTTED: Anne White, Brian Rolapp, Mark Shapiro, Laura Sanko, John Ourand, David and Catherine Bohigian, Deborah Lehr, Cate Dillon, Victoria Roberts, Shannon Sprenger, Rob Placek, David Shaw, Rick Wade, Woody Johnson, Brad Knox, Sahra English, David Malpass, Lisa Shoemaker, Steve Morrissey, Georgian Ambassador Tamar Taliashvili, Serbian Ambassador Dragan Šutanovac, Ana Irene Delgado, Paolo Zampoli, Brendon Plack, Zach Leonsis, Nick Khan, Lawrence Epstein, Dean Garfield, Sally Roberts and Kaitlan Collins. — Disney hosted an advance screening of “Toy Story 5,” only the second in the country, yesterday at the National Air and Space Museum, with Woody, Jessie, Buzz and Mickey on hand. Disney and Starlight Children’s Foundation will also host a special screening at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. next week. SPOTTED: Eriq Gardner, David Shepardson, Rick Klein, Jackie Kucinich, Garrett Haake, Ed O’Keefe, Steve Chenevey, Mo Elleithee, Sara Fagen, John Lin, Tiffany Guarascio, Joel and Megan Miller, Mary McGinty, Giulia DiGuglielmo, Brendon Plack, Mehgan Perez-Acosta, Sabrina Siddiqui, David Jefferson, Susan Fox, Bill Bailey and Maria Kirby. — SPOTTED at a party for Hussain Abdul-Hussain’s new book, “The Arab Case for Israel” ($18.99), hosted by Morgan Ortagus and Antoun Sehnaoui at L’Avant-Garde last night: Josh and Ali Rogin, Michael Crowley, Andrew McKenna, Aishah Hasnie, Jessica Lycos and Kyle Kamrooz, Katherine Doyle, Justin Sayfie, Cliff May, Rob Satloff, Carine Hajjar, David Schenker and Oubai Shahbandar.  — The National Digital Roundtable and the Austrian Embassy hosted a breakfast panel yesterday morning on “The Future of News: Trust, Creators, and AI in a Changing Media Landscape,” moderated by Social Driver’s Anthony Shop and featuring Jenny Abamu, Katerina Eva Matsa, Tony P and Peter Cherukuri. SPOTTED: Michael Tribble, Adriana Brassart, Andreas Sandre, Ian Smith, Jack Fleming, Carly Elkins, Patricia Hernandez, Eva McKend, Annys Shin and Finja Draxler. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Former Federal Acquisition Service leader Josh Gruenbaum has left the administration, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch scooped, though he’ll remain a senior adviser to the Board of Peace. TRANSITIONS — Former DNI Avril Haines will be the next president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She most recently has been at Oxford and Columbia. More from the NYT … Bruce Andrews will be chief external affairs officer at Nvidia. He currently works at Covington & Burling, and is a Commerce Department alum. … … Christina Polizzi is joining Future Now as head of strategic comms. She previously worked at Climate Power. … Democracy Forward is adding Kate Connors as chief public affairs officer and Cari Simon and LaNita King as senior directors for community and engagement. WEEKEND WEDDING — Michelle Hackman, an immigration policy reporter at the WSJ, and Daniel Asher, a senior counsel at the Treasury Department, got married Sunday at Temple Israel of Great Neck on Long Island. The 450-person Persian Jewish celebration included a sushi bar at the pre-ceremony smorgasbord, a monogrammed dance floor and copious pink roses and peonies. The couple met on Hinge. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) … POLITICO’s Carrie Budoff Brown … Mayra Macías … Dag Vega … Bloomberg’s Kevin Sheekey … Alex Castellanos … Rabbi Levi Shemtov … Chris Lu … Lilia Dashevsky … Michael Finnegan … Joyce Kazadi ... Eli Zupnick ... FICO’s Dan Archer … Matt Wolking … former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham … Matt Mowers … former Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) … Peter Schechter … Mort Rosenblum … Julie Andreeff Jensen … Luis Miranda … Morgan Viña of National Security of America and Stealth Startup … Bryce Bozadjian … Abigail Ross Hopper 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misstated when the Supreme Court’s term ends. It ends in October.   A message from Meta: America’s Workforce Academy: Paid training, a job and a path to America's future. For 250 years, America has delivered the world’s greatest inventions because Americans built them. The AI revolution will bring historic opportunity. America's Workforce Academy, built by Meta, will train the electricians, welders, crew leaders, plumbers, fiber installers and more who will bring it about by offering paid training, with a job upon completion. Because the future is for everyone. Explore the program.     Follow us on X Jack Blanchard @Jack_Blanchard_ Dasha Burns @DashaBurns Adam Wren @adamwren   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Canada Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us