| | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | Presented by ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA | | 
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is the latest member of House Republican leadership to endorse Donald Trump. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | DONALD TRUMP received a stream of endorsements this morning, burnishing his frontrunner status with the support of a handful of congressional Republicans. The most notable endorsement came from House Majority Whip TOM EMMER, locking up the support of the major players in House GOP leadership after Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE’s endorsement yesterday and Speaker MIKE JOHNSON’s months ago. Emmer’s embrace also comes just months after Trump explicitly derailed his bid to become House speaker following KEVIN McCARTHY’s ouster. Trump at the time called Emmer “totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters.” “Democrats have made clear they will use every tool in their arsenal to try to keep JOE BIDEN and his failed policies in power. We cannot let them,” Emmer said in a statement. “It’s time for Republicans to unite behind our party’s clear frontrunner, which is why I’m proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President.” More from Olivia Beavers In addition to Emmer, the rest of the Minnesota Republican congressional delegation threw their official support behind Trump. “It is time for Republicans to come together in support of a leader who has what it takes to get our country back on track,” Reps. MICHELLE FISCHBACH, BRAD FINSTAD and PETE STAUBER said in a statement. Over in the other chamber: Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) endorsed Trump in a statement released on X. “I endorse President Trump and I look forward to working with him to win back the White House and the Senate,” Cotton writes. POLICY POSITIONS — Trump pens an op-ed for the Des Moines Register thrashing President Biden’s handling of immigration and the border: “On my first day back in office, I will terminate every open borders policy of the Biden administration and immediately restore the full set of strong Trump border policies. Then, we will begin a record-setting deportation operation.” Interestingly, Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS also has an op-ed out for the Des Moines Register this morning on the topic of immigration, offering his own plan: “On day one of my presidency, I will declare a national emergency and shut down all illegal entries. Phony asylum claims aimed at bypassing proper immigration processes will no longer be entertained. I will end the abuse of parole authority being used to usher in thousands of illegal immigrants monthly. And I will fully empower Border Patrol and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport those with no legitimate right to be here.” He continues, taking Trump head-on: “I will build the wall and I will make Mexico pay for it. Donald Trump promised this, and not only failed to deliver on this promise, but has now backed away from the promise altogether.” YOWZA — Trump’s campaign is not holding back in directly attacking ERIN PERRINE, one of Trump’s former campaign aides, who has been supporting DeSantis and previously worked with Never Back Down, the super PAC backing the Florida governor. @TrumpWarRoom on X: “Look at this grifter @ErinMPerrine trying to use her previous Trump association to get on TV. She chose to side with DeSanctimonious and nothing can ever wash that foul stench of shit off her. MAGA disowns her and anyone else that associates/works with her. TRAITOR!” Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA: America is facing a demographic tipping point.
This year, more Americans will turn age 65 than ever before. Millions are turning to protected lifetime income to secure greater financial certainty throughout retirement.
A new regulation proposed by the Department of Labor is out of step with this reality. It would limit access for people who need it most. Stand with us. Protect retirement for all. | | | |  | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Nikki Haley's latest fundraising figures show that her rise is continuing as the Iowa caucuses quickly approach. | Getty Images | 1. HALEY’S COMMIT: NIKKI HALEY’s rise ahead of the Iowa caucuses is continuing, with the former South Carolina governor raking in “$24 million during the October-December fourth quarter of fundraising,” Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser reports. “The haul, shared first with Fox News on Wednesday, is more than double the $11 million raised in the third quarter and more than triple the $7.3 million brought in during the second quarter.” The campaign told Fox News that it currently has $14.5 million in cash on hand. The context: While it’s unclear at this point what the Trump campaign’s fourth quarter totals are, “Trump hauled in a whopping $45.5 million during the third quarter across his multiple fundraising committees, with over $37.5 million in his campaign coffers as of the end of September,” Fox News notes. 2. PART OF THE CLUB: Club For Growth, the influential conservative anti-tax group, is jumping into the crowded Senate GOP primary in Ohio, throwing its support behind BERNIE MORENO, our colleague Ally Mutnick scoops. Given that the organization generally doesn’t endorse unless its super PAC plans to spend, Moreno could get some much-coveted firepower on the air against state Sen. MATT DOLAN and Ohio Secretary of State FRANK LaROSE ahead of the March primary. “In a statement shared first with POLITICO, the Club touted Moreno’s business experience and his support for Blockchain technology. It also noted he had been endorsed by Trump.” 3. THE ECONOMY: As 2023 came to a close, there was a prevailing sense that inflation was tapering off. But whether that trend will continue into the new year is another question entirely, NYT’s Jeanna Smialek writes: “As forecasters try to guess what will happen next, many are looking closely at where the recent slowdown has come from. The details suggest that a combination of weaker goods prices — things like apparel and used cars — and moderating costs for services including travel has helped to drive the cooldown, even as rent increases take time to fade. Taken together, the trends suggest that more disinflation could be in store, but they also hint that a few lingering risks loom.” Related read: “U.S. job openings fell to fresh 2-year low in November,” by CNN’s Bryan Mena 4. DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK: In 2019, it appeared that former minister MARK HARRIS was headed for a seat in Congress after knocking off incumbent North Carolina Rep. ROBERT PITTENGER in a primary and appearing to defeat Democrat DAN McCREADY in the general election. But an election fraud scandal wrested the seat away from him. Now, he’s running for North Carolina’s new 8th congressional district, and The Assembly’s Tim Funk has a deep dive on the latest bid from Harris: “In four hours of interviews with The Assembly, Harris, now 57, said he’s running again because he feels called to serve and ‘to use the gifts and talents God has given me to stand up and speak up’ on issues front-and-center with conservatives. But he also appears to be nursing a grudge about losing the seat he felt he won, and an unflagging ambition to make sure there’s a happy ending this time.”
| | | | A message from ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA:   Middle-income families need access and options for guaranteed lifetime income from annuities. Learn how a DOL proposal would take that certainty away. | | | 5. MAYORKAS SPEAKS: DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS took Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT to task in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today, skewering the Republican for his busing of migrants. “We have one governor, in the state of Texas, who is refusing to cooperate with other governors and other local officials,” Mayorkas said. “And it’s a remarkable failure of governance to refuse to cooperate with one’s fellow local and state officials.” Mayorkas also said he “most certainly will” cooperate with House Republicans’ impeachment proceedings against him and vowed to “continue to do my work, as well.” More from Andrew Howard 6. GATEWAY DRUG: “A right-wing tale of Michigan election fraud had it all – except proof,” by WaPo’s Sarah Ellison: “For Gateway Pundit, which is run out of its founder’s home and whose small staff produces stories that help set the agenda for Donald Trump’s most ardent followers, the August story provided weeks of headlines that radiated across right-wing media and were repeatedly amplified by pro-Trump influencers. That’s despite the fact that it was published nearly three years after the election — and after Meisch’s staff had thwarted any fraud. The outlet’s emphasis on long-debunked fraud claims helps explain why election denial has proved so durable, despite the many efforts to halt the spread of disinformation and impose consequences on those who persist in it.” 7. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Iran says at least 103 people killed, 141 wounded in blasts at ceremony honoring slain general,” by AP’s Jon Gambrell: “Two explosions minutes apart Wednesday in Iran targeted a commemoration for a prominent general slain in a U.S. drone strike in 2020, killing at least 103 people and wounding at least 141 others as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.” 8. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: “Republican congressman violates federal law with botched cryptocurrency disclosures,” by Raw Story’s Alexandria Jacobson: “Rep. MIKE COLLINS (R-GA) reported two purchases of Ethereum cryptocurrency, each valued between $1,001 to $15,000. He made the purchases on Oct. 9 and Nov. 5, but he did not publicly report them until Dec. 22 — well past the disclosure deadline required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act.”
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | Mayra Flores doesn’t seem to be the cook that she portrays to be. Kristi Noem isn’t too keen on the idea of Nikki Haley as Donald Trump’s VP. Daniel Cameron has a new job with an organization that fights “woke” capitalism and corporations. MEDIA MOVE — Grace Maalouf is joining POLITICO as deputy head of news. She previously was an editor for the International desk at The New York Times and is a HuffPost alum. Read the announcement TRANSITION — John Northington Jr. is joining K&L Gates as a government affairs adviser. He most recently was senior director of federal affairs for a boutique lobbying firm in Houston. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Bill Ruch, principal at Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, and Mirela Missova, senior counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, on Thursday welcomed Joseph “Joey” Emil Ruch. 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 editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton, producer Andrew Howard 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 | | | | |
