| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump talked for an hour this morning. | Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo | UKRAINE LATEST: A day after his lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump held a corresponding call this morning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to try to usher the war in Ukraine toward a ceasefire. Trump called the conversation “very good” and said they’re “very much on track” to get Kyiv and Moscow on the same page. The early reaction from Ukraine was similar: One official called it “indeed not bad,” and said “the whole tone of the conversation was that we have to move on,” POLITICO’s Eli Stokols reports. Up next: National security adviser Mike Waltz said the U.S. and Russia will have technical talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, “in the coming days” to hammer out the partial ceasefire for energy infrastructure, following a call with his Russian counterpart today. But but but: Experts tell Reuters’ Mark Trevelyan that they see this week’s developments as a win for Russia. Putin successfully ushered the U.S. and Russia toward closer ties while only offering limited concessions in the war — and refusing to commit to a full ceasefire. Meanwhile on the ground: Russia and Ukraine said today that they’ve swapped hundreds of prisoners of war. But both countries accused each other of already breaking the limited ceasefire in strikes overnight, per the WSJ. “Putin’s words are very much at odds with reality,” Zelenskyy claimed. Special envoy Steve Witkoff tried to calm the waters, telling Bloomberg that Russia’s latest attacks on energy infrastructure were likely planned before Putin’s order yesterday to stand down — even though they continued for hours afterward. “I tend to believe that President Putin is operating in good faith,” Witkoff said. Meanwhile in Washington: Working groups across U.S. national security agencies formed by Joe Biden to stop Russian sabotage attacks have been paused, Reuters’ Erin Banco and Mari Saito scooped. It’s not clear if this is a coordinated decision or a decentralized deprioritization. TRUMP VS. THE COURTS: Federal judge Jeb Boasberg gave the Trump administration one extra day to provide more answers about the weekend deportations it undertook despite his order to the contrary, or invoke the state secrets privilege, per CBS’ Scott MacFarlane. Both Boasberg and the Justice Department warned each other in stark terms today. “As the Supreme Court has made crystal clear, the proper recourse for a party subject to an injunction it believes is legally flawed — and is indeed later shown to be so flawed — is appellate review, not disobedience,” Boasberg said, nodding to Trump’s calls for his impeachment and Chief Justice John Roberts’ warning against such talk. He said that if he found the government “deliberately flouted” his order, he’d consider “consequences,” per NBC. The clash began when Boasberg temporarily blocked Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members without due process. In a filing this morning before Boasberg’s original noon deadline, DOJ asked the judge to pause his demand for more information. “Continuing to beat a dead horse solely for the sake of prying from the Government legally immaterial facts and wholly within a sphere of core functions of the Executive Branch is both purposeless and frustrating to the consideration of the actual legal issues at stake in this case,” they wrote, per NBC. DOJ criticized Boasberg’s “digressive micromanagement” and said the case should wait until an appellate court weighs in. Constitutional crisis watch: The administration maintains it hasn’t flouted and wouldn’t flout a judicial order. But legal experts tell NYT’s Adam Liptak that it’s no longer even a question whether Trump is undercutting the separation of powers. “‘Constitutional crisis’ doesn’t capture the gravity of the situation,” Columbia law professor Jamal Greene said. How it’s playing: Privately, House GOP leaders view Trump’s call for judicial impeachments — and far-right members’ efforts to follow through — as a distraction that would never succeed and could hurt Republicans politically, POLITICO’s Rachael Bade and Meredith Lee Hill report. Speaker Mike Johnson in the end will have to decide “how hard to push.” The latest NBC poll, conducted before the Boasberg brouhaha, finds that a 43 percent plurality of voters think the president and executive branch have too much power, while a 49 percent plurality say the Supreme Court and judicial branch have the right amount. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Comcast invests billions each year in maintaining and expanding our network capabilities to deliver a superior experience each and every day for millions of people. We've invested $80B in our network and infrastructure in the last 10 years. Connecting people now and into the future. Learn more. | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. MAHMOUD KHALIL LATEST: A federal judge said today that the case of detained Columbia University student and activist should be moved from Louisiana to New Jersey, per the WSJ. Khalil’s lawyers had advocated for the case to be transferred to New York or New Jersey. Judge Jesse Furman also continued to prevent Khalil from being deported for now while the legal fight proceeds, as he said he doesn’t have jurisdiction to decide on the merits. Back at Columbia: The university is close to giving in to Trump’s series of demands for campus changes to get back $400 million in funding, WSJ’s Douglas Belkin and Liz Essley Whyte scooped. The board hasn’t reached a final decision yet, but “Columbia’s acquiescence would represent a significant moment in the growing battle between Trump and elite universities.” Even if it gives in, though, the restoration of grants and contracts isn’t assured yet. The deadline is tomorrow. 2. TRADE WARS: The massive wave of reciprocal tariffs that the U.S. plans to impose April 2 will likely affect most imports, totaling trillions of dollars, WaPo’s Jeff Stein and David Lynch report. That would be more than twice the size of the trade levies Trump has already slapped on Canada, China and Mexico, with the potential to rattle the economy and bring the U.S. back to a level of tariffs not seen for nearly a century. He could also face legal challenges, as many experts believe he’d need congressional approval for the tariffs. As the administration debates which legal authority to use, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and USTR Jamieson Greer are some of the voices most focused on ensuring Trump’s plan can win in court. 3. THE RETRIBUTION PRESIDENCY: “With Orders, Investigations and Innuendo, Trump and G.O.P. Aim to Cripple the Left,” by NYT’s Ken Vogel and Shane Goldmacher: It’s “a series of highly partisan official actions that, if successful, will threaten to hobble Democrats’ ability to compete in elections for years to come. … [I]nside the administration, there are moves to coordinate and expand the assault. A small group of White House officials has been working to identify targets and vulnerabilities inside the Democratic ecosystem, taking stock of previous efforts to investigate them … [U]sing the levers of government to target the opposition has long been considered an abuse of power, sometimes leading to prosecution.”
| | | | Cut through policy complexity and turn intelligence into action with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant—a new suite of tools designed to save you time and demonstrate your impact more easily than ever—available only to Pro subscribers. Save hours, uncover critical insights instantly, and stay ahead of the next big shift. Power your strategy today—learn more. | | | | | 4. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: The U.S. Institute of Peace has sued the Trump administration over the Department of Government Efficiency’s moves to physically take over its building and ax its leaders, per NBC. The first federal court hearing was set for 2 p.m. today. The Daily Caller’s Thomas English reports USIP staffers removed locks and disabled internet and phone lines to try to stop the takeover. Meanwhile, Pete Marocco, having taken apart USAID, told staffers he’s now leaving the aid agency and going to the State Department, per ABC’s Ben Siegel, Lucien Bruggeman and Will Steakin. More cuts: A top IRS lawyer warned the administration last month that if they laid off thousands of probationary employees and cited performance issues, they’d be committing “fraud,” ProPublica’s Andy Kroll reports: Those civil servants’ firings had not actually taken into account their performance. The IRS did it anyway. … At NOAA, the firing, court-mandated rehiring and placement on administrative leave of hundreds of probationary employees has “added a new layer of confusion,” as the fate of programs that had to be halted remains unclear, NBC’s Evan Bush reports. … Some Hill Republicans want to save the bipartisan Community Development Financial Institutions Fund after Trump moved to slash it, per POLITICO’s Katherine Hapgood. Related reads: “‘We’ve vanished’: U.S. aid cuts leave health workers around the world reeling,” by Stat’s Andrew Joseph … “Federal workers think Trump won’t improve their agencies. Even his voters,” by WaPo’s Olivia George, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin 5. THE ART OF THE DEAL: “War-Torn Congo Has a Deal for Trump: Kick Out Rebels, Get Minerals,” by WSJ’s Benoit Faucon, Nicholas Bariyo and Alex Ward: “In a Feb. 8 letter to Trump, Félix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, offered mining opportunities for the U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund, an entity Trump had launched a few days earlier. … In exchange, Tshisekedi asked Trump for a ‘formal security pact’ to help his army defeat M23, a Rwandan-backed rebel group … The Congolese letter didn’t specify what kind of military backing it wants from the U.S. … The offer comes at the same time Tshisekedi is in negotiations with Erik Prince.” 6. 2026 WATCH: Democrats are ramping up pressure on former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to run for Senate, NOTUS’ Calen Razor reports. Many in the party see him as the best bet to flip GOP Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat, which would be essential to their uphill battle to retake the Senate. Cooper hasn’t decided yet. 7. BEYOND THE BELTWAY: “‘I knew that threats would increase’: Clashes over abortion clinic safety intensify after Trump’s pardons,” by POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and Amanda Friedman: “Abortion rights supporters across the country are scrambling to strengthen protections for clinics in response to moves by the Trump administration that they believe will put providers and patients in danger. Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills in Illinois, Michigan, New York and elsewhere to restrict demonstrations outside of clinics, increase criminal penalties for people who harass doctors and patients, or allocate more funds for abortion providers to buy security cameras, bulletproof glass and other protections.”
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Learn more about how Comcast is investing in essential infrastructure powering our lives. | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Kari Lake confronted Ruben Gallego at Ned’s Club, per The Bulwark’s Adrian Carrasquillo, asking, “How does it feel to be bought and paid for by the cartels?” Barbara Boxer’s early career in a congressional district office is the inspiration for a new Fox comedy series with Ken Jeong. TRANSITIONS — Pete Maysmith has been named the next president of the League of Conservation Voters and League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. He currently is their SVP of campaigns. … Jennifer Schuch-Page has rejoined The Asia Group as a managing principal. She most recently was managing director for global bilateral climate action and senior adviser for the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate at the State Department. … … Tom Mancinelli is now head of federal strategy and policy at the defense tech startup Antares. He most recently was acting undersecretary of the Navy. … Jeff Last is now senior health policy adviser for the Senate HELP Committee. He previously was health policy adviser for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). … Samuel Oswald is now U.S. policy adviser at Glencore. He previously was a policy and government affairs specialist at Eni. 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. | | | | 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 | | | |
