| | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri | Presented by |  | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | Former President DONALD TRUMP's advisers have been agonizing for days over a puzzle no one could solve for five years: How to get him to stay on script in front of rowdy supporters cheering him on. There are two months of pent-up tweets Trump could unleash at CPAC today, his first on-stage appearance since Jan. 6. The risk of havoc is higher than going on Fox, which he's done a few times. Here's what his aides have been trying to prevail upon Trump to do: — Train his fire on JOE BIDEN. Excerpts provided to Playbook has Trump declaring the beginning of the Biden administration "the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history." He'll call on his successor to open schools now and blast his immigration policies. — Highlight his own achievements. — Lay out what the next chapter of "America First" looks like, on issues like trade and China. — Unloading on a few enemies is fine in their view — but keep the list tight, preferably to Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.). — Essentially, heed Karl Rove's advice. Here's what they really do not want from Trump: — Talk about his belief that the election was stolen. — Gripe about how he thinks he was unfairly blamed for Jan. 6. ( Maggie Haberman reports that he's been "cautioned by advisers not to say anything that might make him a larger target for the various prosecutors considering or pursuing investigations related to him.") — Dwell on his beefs with MITCH MCCONNELL and KEVIN MCCARTHY (who went out of his way Saturday to heap praise on Trump for helping the GOP unexpectedly pick up seats in November). A Trump adviser said they got Trump to take a McConnell dig out of the script, but who knows what he'll say. Gauging his mood: Trump's adviser Jason Miller spent the day with him ahead of the speech, putting final touches on the script and trying to get him in the right mindset. For dinner, he had a one-on-one with RIC GRENELL, who spoke at CPAC on Saturday. Sign of what's to come? Sources tell me that there was a lot of nodding and agreement at a strategy meeting on Thursday between Trump and his closest aides on how to wield his power via endorsements and messaging. But some left the room feeling like their hair was on fire because, according to one of the aides, Trump was "all over the place." The speech is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. More CPAC headlines: WAPO: "A Day Before He Speaks, Conservative Gathering Is Mostly About Trump," … "Trump's baseless election claims march GOP into 'policy wasteland,'" by David Siders … NYT's Saturday recap: "A Day Before He Speaks, Conservative Gathering Is Mostly About Trump" … "CPAC puts a bullseye on China," by Gabby Orr and Nahal Toosi | | A message from Google: Google helps Black-owned businesses get found online. In the past year, U.S. searches for "black owned businesses" have increased 600%. To make it easier for these businesses to be found by customers, owners can add the new Black-owned business attribute to their Business Profile on Google. Learn more. | | | SUNDAY BEST … JEN PSAKI told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" that the White House has not yet reviewed Sen. BERNIE SANDERS' (I-Vt.) proposal to impose tax penalties on big companies that don't raise their minimum wage: "The president supports exactly what Sen. Sanders does, which is increasing the minimum wage for the American people for workers just trying to make ends meet. … We're gonna have to spend the next several days, or even weeks to figure out what the best path forward is." — Psaki on Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: "The United States has not historically sanctioned the leaders of countries where we have diplomatic relations — or even some countries where we don't have diplomatic relations. We understand that's a bar some are holding us to, but our objective here from the government, from the Biden administration is preventing this from ever happening again." — When asked when the White House would pull NEERA TANDEN'S nomination to OMB, Psaki said: "We're gonna keep fighting for her. We knew some of these fights would be difficult. And this is certainly one of them. But she's gonna have a number of continued engagements this week and we certainly hope we can get this one across the finish line." Sen. BILL CASSIDY (R-La.) on CNN's "State of the Union" on Trump and the future of the Republican Party: "Political organizations and campaigns are about winning. Over the last four years, we lost the House of Representatives, the Senate and the presidency. No president — that has not happened in a single four years under a president since Herbert Hoover. … If we idolize one person, we will lose. And that's kind of clear from the last election." Sen. MARK WARNER (D-Va.) on the Biden administration's Friday Syria strike on "Fox New Sunday": "I wish the Biden team would have given Congress greater knowledge and greater warning. We got a heads up about 15 minutes before the attack took place. I think it brings into question a whole new debate around the authorization of use of military force, something my friend Tim Kaine has been advocating for almost a decade." | | | | A message from Google:   Grow with Google has partnered with the U.S. Black Chambers to provide free digital training for Black-owned businesses nationwide. Learn more. | | | BIDEN'S SUNDAY — President JOE BIDEN and VP KAMALA HARRIS have nothing on their public schedules. TV TONIGHT — DONALD TRUMP will sit down with Fox News' Steve Hilton for an interview airing tonight at 9 p.m., after the former president's address at CPAC. — "60 Minutes" will air previously unreleased drone footage of the Iranian missile attack in January 2020 on an airbase in Iraq that injured many U.S. troops and almost led to war between the U.S. and Iran. Survivors will also describe the attack in the 8 p.m. report. | | | | DON'T MISS "THE RECAST": Power dynamics are changing. "Influence" is changing. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. "The Recast" is our new, twice-weekly newsletter that breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics, policy, and power in America. And POLITICO is recasting how we report on this crucial intersection, bringing you fresh insights, scoops and dispatches from across the country, and new voices that challenge "business as usual." Don't miss out on this important new newsletter, SUBSCRIBE NOW. Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Protesters defend themselves with makeshift shields during clashes with riot police in Yangon, Myanmar, on Sunday, Feb. 28. | Hkun Lat/Getty Images | CUOMO UNDER FIRE — "Cuomo Is Accused of Sexual Harassment by a 2nd Former Aide," by NYT's Jesse McKinley: "A second former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is accusing him of sexual harassment, saying that he asked her questions about her sex life, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men. "The aide, Charlotte Bennett, who was an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November, told The New York Times that the governor had harassed her late last spring, during the height of the state's fight against the coronavirus." — CUOMO is already being slammed for his pick of former federal judge BARBARA JONES to lead an "independent" review. POLITICO's Bill Mahoney reports : "Jones notably once worked with longtime Cuomo friend Steven Cohen at a Manhattan law firm. And Cuomo's long history of getting involved in 'independent' investigations conducted by people he appoints – including, for example, the aforementioned Moreland Commission – left everybody demanding that he have no role in selecting the investigator." Jones was also selected to lead another politically sensitive investigation into antisemitism on CUNY's campuses in 2016 by the public university, which Cuomo has a lot of control over by appointing board members. More from the Times on the pushback against Cuomo's choice of an investigator. THE WHITE HOUSE KHASHOGGI FALLOUT — "Biden says Saudi announcement to come Monday; White House plays down new steps," Reuters: "President Joe Biden on Saturday said his administration would make an announcement on Saudi Arabia on Monday, following a U.S. intelligence report that found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. "The Biden administration has faced some criticism, notably an editorial in the Washington Post, that the president should have been tougher on the crown prince, who was not sanctioned despite being blamed for approving Khashoggi's murder." The Washington Post editorial POLICY CORNER A POTENTIAL EVICTION NOTICE — "Justice Dept. to appeal judge's order on eviction moratorium," AP: "The Justice Department said Saturday it will appeal a judge's ruling that found the federal government's eviction moratorium was unconstitutional. "Prosecutors filed a notice in the case on Saturday evening, saying the government was appealing the matter the to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The appeal comes days after U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevented had overstepped its authority and that the moratorium was unlawful." SUNDAY READ — "How a Guatemalan asylum seeker who may lose both hands to Texas frostbite tests Biden's immigration policy," L.A. Times: "Each day hundreds of migrants like Douglas, mostly families from Central America, are crossing the river and being allowed into Texas and sent onward to their families to await court hearings — to the exasperation of tens of thousands of others at the border who in some cases have waited years to enter the United States the 'right way,' and been left stranded in Biden's first month. "Biden officials urge patience, saying that the more than 1,000 actions Trump took to restrict immigration cannot be undone quickly. But the situation is urgent for Douglas, who says he fears both losing his hands and being sent back to Guatemala to be killed. Yet it's not the first time the U.S. government has trapped him in policy limbo." | | | | A message from Google:   Google's Digital Coaches help Black and Latino business owners get the most from digital tools. Learn more. | | | PANDEMIC TRACKER: The U.S. reported 1,822 Covid-19 deaths and 71,000 new coronavirus cases Saturday. IT'S OFFICIAL — "FDA authorizes Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine, adding to the nation's arsenal against the pandemic," WaPo: "The Food and Drug Administration late Saturday granted emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus vaccine, providing the United States with a long-anticipated tool that adds firepower and flexibility to the nation's accelerating inoculation effort — but also presents new challenges. "Health authorities now have three effective vaccines , a singular scientific achievement that few would have predicted a year ago, when a pandemic emerged that has killed 2.5 million people worldwide, including more than 500,000 in the United States. It comes at a particularly fraught time, as Americans are whipsawed by encouraging developments, including sharp declines in nursing home deaths, and concerning news such as the emergence of potentially menacing variants." POLITICS WATCH CAWTHORN DEEP DIVE — "The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right," WaPo: "The story of Cawthorn's rise is, by any measure, an extraordinary accomplishment at a young age by a man who suffered a horrific injury. But an examination by The Post of how he ascended so quickly shows how even one of the most neophyte elected Republicans is adopting the Trump playbook, making false statements about his background, issuing baseless allegations about voter fraud and demonizing his political opponents." LEGALIZING MARIJUANA — "Virginia joins 15 other states in legalizing marijuana," by Mona Zhang: "The Virginia Legislature approved adult-use marijuana legalization today in a historic vote marking the first state in the Old South to embrace full legalization. "The House passed the measure in a 48-43 vote, and the Senate approved it in a 20-19 vote. Not a single Republican voted for the bill in either chamber." MEDIAWATCH TOP-ED — Maureen Dowd has a must-read pivoting off the ugly online backlash against WaPo's Seung Min Kim last week. Kim caught up with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and showed her a mean tweet written about her by Neera Tanden to get the senator's reaction. Tanden supporters unleashed a torrent of racist and sexist vitriol on Kim on Twitter. Dowd writes that the incident highlights a misperception that took hold on the left during the Trump years: that the mainstream media is on their team. "Some Washington reporters have been worried about this for some time, that the left would 'work the refs,' as one put it, and turn on the media and attack if they dared to report something that could endanger the Republic (a.k.a. hurt a Democrat). "But the role of the press in a functioning democracy is as watchdog, not partisan attack dog. Politicians have plenty of people spinning for them. They don't need the press doing that, too." | | | | FIND OUT THE LATEST WHISPERS FROM THE WEST WING : What's happening inside the West Wing, and what are the real conversations taking place behind-the-scenes in the halls of power? Who really has the ear of the president? What's going to happen across the executive branch next, and why? Transition Playbook chronicles the people, policies and emerging power centers of the Biden administration. Don't miss out. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | TRANSITION — Olivia Bercow is now comms director for Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). She most recently was comms director for Steve Bullock's Senate campaign and is also a Pete Buttigieg campaign alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Paul Krugman … Ira Forman ... WaPo's Sarah Ellison and Miki King ... Steven Chu ... Chris Keppler … NYT's Lisa Lerer … Porter DeLaney ... John Nagl ... POLITICO's Charlie Mahtesian and Danielle Sorcher … Andrea Riccio … Jay Morgan ... USA Today's Kelsey Bloom ... Christiana Purves ... Ken Blackwell ... E&E News' Pamela King ... Jessie Singleton Lazarus ... Pete Williams ... Jack Abramoff … Craig Anderson (3-0) … Heather Fluit … Brendan Kelly ... Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO of the NYT (5-0) … Adam Sieff … YouTube's Mark Lippert … Will May … Erica Goldman of Purple Strategies … Adrian Durbin … Amazon's Cara Hewitt ... Tom Hussain … Ned Ryun … Drew Ryun PLUS: LEAP DAY BIRTHDAYS! — Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) … Gabrielle Quintana Greenfield, outgoing DCCC battlefield director … former Rep. Bart Stupak (R-Mich.) … Enid Doggett of INSPR Media … John Dunbar of Bloomberg … Craig Kennedy … Bruce Potter ... Eugene Volokh Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? A surprise spotted at CPAC? Drop us a line at playbook@politico.com or individually: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza , Tara Palmeri. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross. | | A message from Google: Google's Digital Coaches program helps over 58,000 small businesses. Grow with Google Digital Coaches provide online workshops and hands-on guidance to help local Black and Latino small businesses gain skills to reach new customers and thrive online. The program just expanded to 20 markets across the country. Learn more. | | | | | | | 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 | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
