| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard | Presented by the National Retail Federation | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | Good Monday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, a little bewildered by this whole March Madness business — but still very much here for sporting moments like that. So good. HOW DEMOCRACY DIES: “Turkey took a sharp turn toward full autocracy on Sunday when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was jailed amid a major crackdown on the opposition, POLITICO’s Elçin Poyrazlar reports. “İmamoğlu, a highly popular secularist widely seen as the most likely next president to succeed the Islamist Erdoğan, responded with an impassioned call for mass demonstrations to save democracy in the NATO heavyweight of 86 million.” ICYMI: Donald Trump has lavished praise on Erdoğan for years, POLITICO’s Jamie Dettmer notes. In today’s Playbook … — White House cranks up its war on the justice system — U.S.-Russia love-in hits new heights — Congress is back … and it’s a dollop of misery all round
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
The Trump administration will urge a three-member appeals panel to overturn Judge James Boasberg’s temporary restraining order today. | Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images | BOA CONSTRICTOR? Donald Trump’s escalating battle with the judiciary hits the appeals court today for a high-stakes hearing over the president’s use of wartime powers to deport foreign migrants. The Trump administration will urge a three-member appeals panel to overturn Judge James Boasberg’s temporary restraining order blocking use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport planeloads of migrants without due process. Justice Department lawyers will also demand Boasberg be thrown off the case following a ferocious weeklong effort to publicly discredit him … led by the president himself. The hearing starts in Washington at 1:30 p.m. Time to pay attention: Yes, there’s been a lot of court cases the past few weeks. But today’s hearing is more than just another (important) step toward what will likely become one of many Supreme Court battles over the extent of Trump’s powers. Crucially, it’s also an early test of the president’s ability to browbeat the entire U.S. justice system into line. POLITICO’s legal guru Josh Gerstein emails in: “This is a big test for the Trump team’s in-your-face approach to all of the litigation it now faces: coupling confrontational court filings with an all-out fusillade on both cable news and social media against judges who’ve blocked administration policies.” And as Josh notes, that approach hasn’t sat well with Boasberg, who at a hearing last Friday expressed dismay at “intemperate and disrespectful language I’m not used to hearing from the United States.” Also unimpressed: Judge J. Michael Luttig, the former D.C. appeals court judge and conservative legal titan, who has a blistering polemic in the NYT. “Boasberg doesn’t want to assume the role of president,” he writes. “The president wants to assume the role of judge.” What we’re watching for today: “All eyes are going to be on the two Republican appointees” on the panel, Josh notes: George W. Bush appointee Karen Henderson and Trump appointee Justin Walker. (The third judge is Patricia Millett, a Barack Obama appointee.) “Will they embrace Trump’s expansive view of executive power,” Josh asks, “or will they show concern about what Boasberg has called the ‘very frightening’ possibility of almost any migrant being rapidly expelled to a third country based solely on the say-so of the executive branch?” Worth remembering: Boasberg has only blocked deportations which rely on the wartime 1798 act. Another planeload of Venezuelans — including, allegedly, members of the Tren de Aragua gang — was deported last night using conventional means, per NewsNation’s Kevin Bohn. Tactical genius: One problem for Team Trump today, Josh reckons, is that all these D.C. judges know each other pretty well. So is publicly berating one of their number really the smartest way to get him dismissed? “Boasberg has a strong reputation among his colleagues,” Josh writes. “One judge told me last week that Trump’s casting of Boasberg as a ‘radical left lunatic’ is not only absurd, but likely counterproductive: ‘It’s a really bizarre way to do business. If [Trump] thinks he can intimidate judges, it’s not going to be a successful strategy.’” But this is Trump … and he’s not gonna stop. Posting on Truth Social well after midnight (again), Trump described Boasberg as “conflicted” as he raged against his own treatment by the judiciary. Earlier in the day, Trump described Boasberg as a “constitutional disaster” who “doesn’t mind if criminals come into our country.” The president also linked to an online article yesterday suggesting judges blocking his agenda could be guilty of sedition or treason. Off-topic: To be fair, the world’s most powerful man also wrote a 152-word message yesterday moaning about an unflattering portrait of himself in the Colorado State Capitol. ... And another complaining about movie star George Clooney. … And another attacking NYT and New Yorker journalists. … So maybe take it all with a pinch of salt? Presumably, there was nothing decent on TV. Or … maybe take it seriously: The truth is this is all part of a larger strategy to sway the justice system in Trump’s favor, without outright defying the courts. We’ve all seen the attempts to intimidate judges; the bending of laws and constitutional norms; the culls of longstanding Justice Department and FBI personnel. And the most recent phenomenon — the aggressive targeting of law firms who’ve taken up cases against Trump. It’s here the president is already getting real results. Case in point: The WSJ reports the D.C. legal world is in meltdown over law firm Paul Weiss’ decision to cut a deal with the Trump administration last Friday after being targeted with a series of aggressive executive orders. In a memo to staff yesterday — republished on legal journo David Lat’s Substack — Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp insisted the firm had no choice but to settle, or face financial ruin as clients fled the controversy. Karp also insisted the agreement with the White House had been misinterpreted, and that his firm has not compromised its “core values and fundamental principles.” Even so: The panic in the industry is evident. “Several law-firm chairs and senior partners said they were working to calm clients and employees,” the WSJ’s Erin Mulvaney, Emily Glazer and Josh Dawsey report. “Some firm leaders said their clients — and their fellow partners — were split on whether they would rather their firms take a deal if targeted, or fight it out in court …. Corporate lawyers with a connection to the Trump administration have been tapped to open communication lines with the White House … Several firms were seeking to engage lobbyists.” It’s worth reiterating — yet again — that we’re barely two months into all this. Where does it end? The next court battle: It’s certainly clear who the administration is going after next: protesters who target EV giant Tesla as a proxy for Elon Musk. There’s a day of mass action planned Saturday, and the administration sounds keen to make an example out of some of those involved. Yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi rebuked firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) for saying Musk needs to be “taken down” on Saturday. “She needs to tread very carefully,” Bondi told Fox News. Also worth watching for: Trump’s reaction to today’s court hearing. Per the White House schedule, he’ll be speaking alongside Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry today at 2 p.m., and then at a White House event to celebrate Greek Independence Day at 3 p.m.
| | | | A message from the National Retail Federation: NRF supports plans by the administration and Congress to expand the American economy through tax reform, deregulation and new sources of affordable energy. But trade policy issues are creating uncertainty and causing consumers to hold back on spending. High tariffs on imported goods will raise the price of products and slow economic growth. We need trade policies that protect American families, workers and small businesses. Tariffs should always be strategic and a tool of last resort. Learn more. | | | | WAR AND PEACE DESERT DIPLOMACY: U.S. and Russian officials will meet for peace talks in Saudi Arabia today as America moves farther away from its once-unshakable alliance with Europe. The technical-level negotiations will focus on land, shipping and energy resources, with the Trump administration still hopeful about striking a peace deal within weeks. "I think that you're going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress," Trump’s always-optimistic envoy Steve Witkoff said yesterday. But but but: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sounds less convinced: "We are only at the beginning of this path," he told Russian state TV. The sense of Vladimir Putin slow-walking this whole process is hard to shake off. Beyond the Wit of man: Today’s negotiations follow five hours of talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Riyadh on Sunday night — and Ukraine’s European allies will be somewhat reassured that those conversations did at least happen first. But they will be utterly taken aback — even in the current climate — by Witkoff’s extraordinary weekend interview with Tucker Carlson, in which America’s top overseas envoy heaped personal praise on Putin and threw shade at Europe’s efforts to prop up Ukraine. Quote of the day: “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy,” Witkoff said of the murderous dictator who invaded Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014 and the rest of Ukraine in 2022. Asked about his meeting with Putin in Moscow last week, Witkoff added: “I liked him. I thought he was straight up with me.” In the next breath: Witkoff belittled the efforts of Britain and France to provide peacekeeping troops for Ukraine as “simplistic” and “a combination of a posture and a pose.” He added: “I think there’s this notion … [that] we’ve all got to be like Winston Churchill, [or] the Russians are gonna march across Europe. I think that’s preposterous.” Yeah, nah: “I don’t trust Putin,” U.K. Prime Minister Starmer Keir Starmer tells the NYT in an interview onboard a British nuclear submarine. French President Emmanuel Macron will host Starmer and fellow Western leaders in Paris this week to formalise the peacekeeping plan. Indeed, it’s comments like Witkoff’s which have convinced European leaders that America — the bedrock of European security for 80 years — can no longer be relied upon for protection. To that end, leaders are said (per the FT) to be preparing a long-term plan for European security without the U.S., which will be presented to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ahead of the next NATO summit in June. European nations are also looking to abandon their dependence on U.S. military hardware, as WaPo’s Ellen Francis and colleagues report. And there’s more: The most immediate point of military friction between America and Europe is over Trump’s stated aim to take over Greenland, which (as you presumably know by now) is a self-governing territory within Denmark — an EU nation and longtime U.S. military ally. The leaders of Greenland and Denmark both hit out yesterday after it was announced high-ranking U.S. officials including national security adviser Mike Waltz and Vice President JD Vance’s wife Usha will make trips to the island this week. More from the NYT
| | | | A message from the National Retail Federation:  
Trade policy impacts businesses and consumers. Register to learn more. | | | | | | | | Policy moves fast—stay ahead with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant. Effortlessly search POLITICO's archive of 1M+ news articles, analysis documents, and legislative text. Track legislation, showcase your impact, and generate custom reports in seconds. Designed for POLITICO Pro subscribers, this tool helps you make faster, smarter decisions. Start exploring now. | | | | | ON THE HILL LOOK WHO’S BACK: Lawmakers of both parties return to Washington today after 10 glorious days of being yelled at by the American public in their home districts. In theory, we’ll all be following Senate floor votes on the nominations of John Phelan as Navy secretary and Christopher Landau as deputy secretary of State at 5:30 p.m. But the real action will actually come when gaggles of intrepid Hill reporters pounce upon the returning members and grill them on the biggest controversies their parties face. Top of the hit list … will be Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who — while in no danger of actually losing his position — must face the wrath of his Democratic colleagues who’ve spent the past week listening to grassroots supporters raging about his decision to support the GOP spending plan. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday, Schumer insisted his decision had prevented a far greater disaster. Mood music: But progressive hopes about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) possibly primarying Schumer have grown in the wake of her record-setting tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “The old guard isn’t cutting it,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said at a rally yesterday in Bakersfield, California, per POLITICO’s Melanie Mason and Nicole Norman. Asked about Schumer, Khanna complained that the Senate minority leader “didn’t get any concessions” for keeping the government open. A new MoveOn memo warns Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that the base is furious with congressional Democrats for not doing more to fight Trump, POLITICO’s Holly Otterbein scoops. Republicans face the Trump cycle: There was plenty of GOP town hall misery last week too, of course, and we can expect Republican lawmakers to face tough journo questions today about Trump’s extraordinary war on the judicial branch — particularly as far-right chatter about impeaching judges ramps up. What they ought to be focused on: With three weeks in D.C. until the Passover/Easter recess, Republicans need to crack on with complicated talks over tax policy, spending cuts and the looming reconciliation bill. The first step is agreeing to a budget resolution, but there are still huge divides to resolve. Republicans’ “legislative agenda is going nowhere fast” amid House/Senate disagreements, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill report, and “nearly every key decision remains unsettled.” X marks the spot: The Bipartisan Policy Center is out with the first public estimation of the “X-date” by which the U.S. must raise its debt ceiling or risk default — somewhere from mid-July to early October, it predicts, per POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes. That offers a little more breathing room than the worst fears of a date in May. The CBO will release its forecast Wednesday.
| | | | A message from the National Retail Federation:  
Trade policy impacts businesses and consumers. Register to learn more. | | | | BEST OF THE REST SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a Louisiana redistricting case at 10 a.m., with significant outcomes for the future of the Voting Rights Act and the midterms,” USA Today’s Maureen Groppe previews. Coming Wednesday: The justices will hear a conservative challenge to the Universal Service Fund, which helps millions of low-income Americans get subsidized phone and internet access, CNN’s John Fritze previews. OH CANADA: Canadians will have a snap election April 28, PM Mark Carney announced yesterday. The framing is all about Trump, who has transformed the country’s political landscape and given Carney’s Liberals a decent chance of success. POLITICO’s Mickey Djuric has more from Ottawa. Check out Carney’s anti-Trump campaign vid … with Mike Myers. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in China to try to smooth the path for a Trump-Xi Jinping meeting, per the WSJ. OVERBOARD: “How Trump’s regulatory freeze is disrupting the US fishing industry,” by Reuters’ Valerie Volcovici, Leah Douglas and Gloria Dickie: “From the Atlantic to Alaska, fishermen say overfishing and fleet delays are shaking up a $320 billion industry.”
| | | | California's tech industry is shaping national politics like never before. We’re launching California Decoded to unpack how the state is defining tech policy and politics within its borders and beyond. Sign up now to get it free for a limited time. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Nikki Glaser said comedians now have real fear of being targeted by the government for their jokes. Joe and Jill Biden went to the opening night of “Othello” on Broadway with Karine Jean-Pierre. Tiger Woods confirmed he’s dating Vanessa Trump. IN MEMORIAM — “Mia Love, Utah’s history-making former congresswoman, dies at 49,” by The Salt Lake Tribune’s Robert Gehrke: “Mia Love, the child of Haitian immigrants who went on to become a City Council member, mayor and the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died Sunday after a three-year-long battle with brain cancer. … After leaving Congress, Love became a contributor on CNN and an occasional host on the popular afternoon talk show ‘The View.’” OUT AND ABOUT — At the Kennedy Center last night, Conan O’Brien was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which David Letterman presented to him. Many of the comedians roasted Trump and his takeover of the Kennedy Center. SPOTTED: Adam Sandler, Stephen Colbert, Will Ferrell, Tracy Morgan, Andy Richter, Sarah Silverman, John Mulaney, Nikki Glaser, Reggie Watts, Kumail Nanjiani, Bill Burr, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Allison Lutnick, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Liz Johnson, Elliot Berke, Suhail Khan, Cappy and Janie McGarr, Jenn Pellegrino, Carol Melton, Heather Podesta and Stephen Kessler, Derek Gianino, Tammy Haddad, Reema Dodin, Jake Tapper, Erik Smith and Edith Gregson, John McCarthy, Mark Paustenbach, Tracy Sefl and Brian Walsh. TRANSITIONS — Johanny Adames is now chief of staff for Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.). She previously was press secretary for the Department of Education, and is a Latino Victory Project and Planned Parenthood alum. … Abigail (Marone) Jackson is now deputy comms director at the RNC. She most recently was deputy chief of staff and comms director for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and is a Trump 2020 campaign alum. … … Alec Varsamis has been appointed deputy comms director at USDA. He most recently was a crisis and issues senior consultant at Edelman, and is an alum of Trump’s first-term USDA. … Ryan Dierker is joining Rising Tide Associates as director of government affairs. He previously was legislative director/senior adviser to Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), and is a Roy Blunt alum. … Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions has added Juan Ayala as director of comms, Noah Slayer as digital associate, Max Boubin as policy coordinator and Madison Petty as executive assistant to the president. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Indiana Gov. Mike Braun … Su-Lin Nichols … Mark Spengler … Matt Gorman of Targeted Victory … Ted Chiodo … CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan … Eugene Kang … Chandler Goule of the National Wheat Growers Association … Rod O’Connor … Evan Feinberg of Stand Together … Robert Hoffman … NBC’s Dareh Gregorian … Molly Wilkinson of American Airlines … Sarah Gilmore of the Retail Industry Leaders Association … Stephens’ Vu Ritchie … former Reps. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) (6-0) and Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) … Aharon Friedman … Hannah Sherman … Staci Maiers … Bloomberg’s Aaron Rutkoff … Jeanette Manfra … Josh Cohen … Bob Crowe … Erin Murphy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies … Elise Sidamon-Eristoff … NewsNation’s Bree Tracey … POLITICO’s Rachel Sieracke … Kirami Ba 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.
| | | | A message from the National Retail Federation: The administration's trade policy announcements are creating high levels of uncertainty and are affecting consumer confidence and the affordability of everyday goods. The White House is expected to announce new reciprocal tariffs on our nation's trading partners that will impact retail business operations, employees and consumers. Retailers source domestically whenever possible, but most rely on a mix of domestic and imported products and manufacturing components so they can offer customers a variety of items at affordable prices. Small businesses buy and sell imported products to meet the demands of their customers, and higher prices on imported goods will unfairly burden American families, workers and Main Street businesses. We need pro-growth trade policies that support businesses and consumers. 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
