Current Affairs Of Pakistan & World: Trump and Zelenskyy’s Vatican diplomacy

Trump and Zelenskyy’s Vatican diplomacy

Apr 26, 2025

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Happy Saturday. It’s Adam Wren in the air to Washington. Get in touch.

WHCD TEASER: The White House Correspondents’ Dinner festivities unfolded at a fever pitch across Washington ahead of tonight’s main event. We have the full readout below, but first, some scenes from the revelry: MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler and network PR chief Richard Hudock holding court at Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons Georgetown. Nearby, Jake Tapper chatting with Chuck Todd, Virginia Moseley and Tom Nides. … Protestors shouting outside the CAA + Condé Nast party in Georgetown. … At the British Embassy party, new British Ambassador Peter Mandelson talking with The War Room’s Natalie Winters. … “It’s the Thanksgiving dinner nobody really wanted to go to,” one longtime political reporter told Playbook last night. “But once everyone was together, they were glad they came.” Much more below

POLITICO EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of Canada’s Monday election, a new POLITICO/Focaldata poll of Canadian voters gives PM Mark Carney’s Liberal Party the edge — and reveals just how much President Donald Trump’s badgering of America’s northern neighbor has upended a race that was widely considered to be a shoo-in for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives just a few months ago.

The Trump factor: Three-quarters of Canadian voters dislike Trump, the survey finds, and 39 percent of voters told pollsters that Trump was a top concern in the election — second only to the cost of living. About half of voters now consider the U.S. to be a hostile power. More from POLITICO’s Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Sue Allan

DRIVING THE DAY

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

This was President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first encounter since their disastrous meeting at the White House in February. | Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

In his death, Pope Francis brought together more than 200,000 mourners — with delegations from over 150 countries — including a cast of world leaders who laid aside their temporal differences to remember him.

Before Francis’ funeral Mass in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City today, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a “very productive discussion” on the sidelines, according to White House communications director Steven Cheung.

It marked the world leaders’ first encounter since their disastrous meeting at the White House in February.

Zelenskyy’s office released a striking image for the history books of him and Trump sitting knee-to-knee in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Zelenskyy’s spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said the meeting lasted about 15 minutes, our own Megan Messerly, who is traveling with the president, and Veronika Melkozerova report. “The leaders agreed to continue the talks. The teams are working to organize a follow-up meeting,” perhaps just after the funeral, Nykyforov said. (Trump sent a post-meeting Truth Social mostly focused on attacking NYT’s Peter Baker for his analysis of a “notably one-sided” peace deal, but tacked on some criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying “maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war.”)

In life, Francis bore the weight of the war — particularly repatriating the 19,000 Ukrainian kids who have been deported to Russia, according to Joe Donnelly, the most recent U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, who spoke with Playbook today from Rome, where he had just attended the funeral.

“I think that Pope Francis would have been filled with hope, and would hope that the result that came out of that meeting would be a good one for Ukraine and the world,” Donnelly told Playbook of the image of Zelenskyy and Trump meeting.

Donnelly told us that, during his time as ambassador, he worked with special envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi “almost nonstop to bring the Ukrainian children home who were taken by Russia and also to try to get peace talks started, and one of the things that Cardinal Zuppi and I worked so hard on was to try to get the parties engaged in peace talks.”

Donnelly said, “Our dream was that the Vatican would be the perfect place for it — and look what happened today.”

Beneath an azure sky today, the sun shining over St. Peter’s Square, and amid the sound of Gregorian chants and Latin litanies, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re eulogized Fancis, who will be buried at Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, as “a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone.”

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Donnelly told us he marveled at how many young people were among the mourners — “a crowd that the pope would’ve been so happy to see because it was people from all over the world, and it was folks he cared the most about: those who didn’t have much materially, but had the biggest possible heart spiritually.”

Francis, Donnelly said, would be remembered far beyond the Catholic faith. “I think his legacy will be that the people of the world loved him in every corner, in every place,” he said. “That people of every faith loved him, and if you talk about a goodwill ambassador for the Catholic Church, it’s hard to imagine anybody who’s ever been better.”

In that spirit, Francis also brought together — at least in the same setting — Trump and former President Joe Biden for the first time since an Inauguration Day tea. The Bidens sat four rows directly behind Trump and first lady Melania Trump, according to Megan, who traveled to Rome as pooler.

Most of the service unfolded in Latin, but a brief reading from the book of Acts was delivered in English: “Truly, I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him …”

Donnelly told us that “President Trump made a wise choice” in deciding to go.

Trump’s explanation for why he decided to go to the funeral was, in his telling, “simple,” Megan writes in. “The president told us mid-flight on Air Force One yesterday that he had decided to fly to Rome ‘out of respect’ — before quickly pivoting to talk about how he won the Catholic vote. ‘We did well with the Catholic vote, and our relationship is very good so therefore I think it’s appropriate,’ he said, in one of his characteristically winding answers — and also a key tell.

“The funeral was also, clearly, an opportunity for Trump to present himself on the world stage as he steers the country down an increasingly isolationist path,” Megan tells us. In addition to meeting Zelenskyy briefly before the service, he spent some of the service chit-chatting with Estonian President Alar Karis — and Finnish President Alexander Stubb appeared to offer him his water at one point. He also spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a couple of minutes before the service started.

“The trip across the world appeared to underscore that for as much as America tries to withdraw from the world stage,” Messerly told us, “it is still very clearly on it.”

Donnelly, who recalled Francis’ simple way of living — his only earthly possessions were some books and records, he loved the tango, and he was quick with candy for the ambassador’s toddler granddaughter — spoke of Francis’ warm but nuanced affection for the U.S.

“He’d say, ‘I love America.’ And then he’d laugh. And the laugh was kind of like: It’s a challenging place for me.”

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9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US

1. IMMIGRATION FILES: Is this the next due process flashpoint after Kilmar Abrego Garcia? A conservative, Trump-appointed federal judge said in a sharp warning yesterday that the U.S. seemed to have deported a 2-year-old U.S. citizen with “no meaningful process,” despite her father’s protests, POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein scooped. The government said the girl’s mother, who was deported, wanted to take the child with her.

The refugees Trump wants: Despite blocking almost all refugees from coming to the U.S., Trump is considering making an exception for Christian Afghans (along with white South Africans), POLITICO’s Jake Traylor and Myah Ward scooped. Christian groups are pushing the White House to save hundreds from deportation.

Behind yesterday’s shocking stories: Kyle and Josh detail how the administration ended up backing off of axing many foreign students’ immigration records en masse: They capitulated to the reality that it “was almost certainly illegal” after weeks of court losses. Officials nonetheless still said they could try to terminate that status — and visas — in the future, NYT’s Zach Montague and Hamed Aleaziz report. Meanwhile, the arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping shepherd an undocumented immigrant to safety is similar to a 2018 case, which ultimately ended in dropped federal charges, POLITICO’s Kelly Garrity reports.

2. DISMANTLING GOVERNMENT: The Department of Government Efficiency has demanded a 41 percent funding cut at AmeriCorps, slashing nearly $400 million, WaPo’s Tobi Raji reports. Most full-time staffers are being axed. … The Federal Election Commission is getting close to being effectively shuttered, NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal reports. Republican Commissioner Allen Dickerson is due to resign next week, leaving the FEC without quorum to enforce the law. … OMB plans to defund the Social Security Advisory Board, Reuters’ Nathan Layne scooped.

The pushback: The Treasury IG is now investigating DOGE and the White House’s work to obtain confidential taxpayer information, amid reporting that the government is seeking to use it to create an immigration enforcement master database, ProPublica’s William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Christopher Bing and Andy Kroll report.

3. PARDON ME: “Trump Pardons Executive Whose Family Sought to Publicize Ashley Biden’s Diary,” by NYT’s Ken Vogel and Andrew Duehren: “The pardon of the executive, Paul Walczak … came less than two weeks after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution, for tax crimes that prosecutors said were used to finance a lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a yacht. Mr. Walczak’s mother, Elizabeth Fago, who was also involved in the health care industry in Florida, is a longtime Republican donor and fund-raiser who played a role in a surreptitious effort to help Mr. Trump by undermining Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the 2020 presidential election.”

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4. MORE ON UKRAINE: After special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin yesterday, Trump declared that Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal.” Trump urged them to begin direct, high-level talks for the first time in years, per Reuters. But Kyiv, meanwhile, is working on a counteroffer to the U.S. proposal for peace, NYT’s Michael Schwirtz and Adam Entous report. Notably, Ukraine doesn’t include retaking all the land Russia occupied or joining NATO. But the proposal does include planks Russia won’t like: European security forces in Ukraine to protect the country, no limits on the Ukrainian military and using frozen Russian money for rebuilding. More from Reuters on the competing plans

5. TRADING PLACES: “Trump Administration Lays Out Roadmap to Streamline Tariff Talks,” by WSJ’s Gavin Bade: “U.S. officials plan to conduct staggered trade negotiations using a new template that sets common terms for many of the talks … [It] lays out broad categories for negotiation: tariffs and quotas; non-tariff barriers to trade, such as regulations on U.S. goods; digital trade; rules of origin for products; and economic security and other commercial issues … Within those categories, U.S. officials would spell out demands for individual nations.”

Come retribution: It turns out top Customs and Border Protection trade official George Bogden was ousted after a photo of him at Miles Taylor’s wedding in 2019 made the rounds, WaPo’s Jeff Stein and Marianne LeVine report.

6. FOR PETE’S SAKE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is staffing back up with DOGE member Justin Fulcher as a senior adviser, Bloomberg’s Courtney McBride reports. Sean Parnell, Col. Ricky Buria and Patrick Weaver also gained that title. At the same time, Hegseth sacked members of the Defense Policy Board, the Defense Science Board and other advisory boards, WSJ’s Michael Gordon reports. Under fire in recent weeks, Hegseth has focused on showing Trump publicly that he’ll fight against criticism, NBC’s Gordon Lubold, Katherine Doyle, Carol Lee and Courtney Kube report. But it keeps coming: Their sources describe Hegseth lately as “erratic,” “insecure,” “difficult and prickly.”

7. JUDICIARY SQUARE: For now, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order targeting collective bargaining rights of federal employees across dozens of agencies, per the AP. … Massachusetts led 19 states in suing over the Education Department’s threat to freeze funding for states that didn’t comply with federal anti-diversity efforts, per the AP.

8. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Attorney General Bondi rescinds Biden-era protections for journalists in leak investigations,” by CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Jake Tapper: “The Justice Department will again allow federal investigators to pursue communications from media outlets in the course of government leak investigations, rescinding a Biden-era policy … The [Merrick] Garland policy was widely considered a win for the protection of the free press.”

9. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: House Republicans’ plans for spending cuts in their big reconciliation bill are starting to roll out. Last night, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) laid out a plan to change federal employees’ pension benefits, including with higher premiums, per Bloomberg’s Billy House and Erik Wasson. The House Financial Services Committee’s bill text includes lowering the CFPB funding cap to 5 percent, per Punchbowl’s Brendan Petersen.

And from Russ Vought: Trump’s proposed budget, coming as early as next week, calls for “draconian cuts that would entirely eliminate some federal programs and fray the nation’s social safety net,” NYT’s Alan Rappeport and Tony Romm report. Billions of dollars in requested cuts from OMB, which would hit anti-poverty programs especially hard, “aim to formalize Mr. Trump’s disruptive reorganization of the federal government.” The budget is ultimately up to Congress.

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A new national survey shows overwhelming support for pro-housing policies in TCJA. Learn More.

CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies

A political cartoon is pictured.

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GREAT WEEKEND READS:

— “How the War Over Trans Athletes Tore a Volleyball Team Apart,” by the NYT Magazine’s Jason Zengerle: “Blaire Fleming was a little-known college player. Then she suddenly became a symbol of injustice — to both sides of the controversy.”

— “The Mexican President Who’s Facing Off with Trump,” by The New Yorker’s Stephania Taladrid: “Can Claudia Sheinbaum manage the demands from D.C. — and her own country’s fragile democracy?”

— “The Architect,” by Bloomberg Businessweek’s Max Chafkin: “Behind Trump’s imperial presidency (and Elon), there’s Russell Vought.”

— “The Scramble to Save Rural Health Care From DOGE,” by The Atlantic’s Stephanie McCrummen: “Can an Alabama health clinic survive Musk’s ‘chainsaw for bureaucracy’?”

— “The New Soros,” by N.Y. Mag’s Simon van Zuylen-Wood: “With Trump on the rampage, Alex Soros takes control of his father’s empire. What will he do with his influence?”

— “21 Years Later, Deported Back to a ‘Home’ He Barely Knew,” by NYT’s Luis Ferré-Sadurní in Kingston: “Two decades had passed since Nascimento Blair was last in Jamaica, his homeland. Much had changed, including Mr. Blair himself.”

— “Runaway Tren,” by The American Prospect’s Maureen Tkacik: “How a Colorado slumlord’s psyop turned into a brand-new ‘forever war’ on Venezuela.”

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TALK OF THE TOWN

Chasten Buttigieg will sit down with Kara Swisher to talk about his new children’s book, “Papa’s Coming Home,” at Union Stage with East City Bookshop on May 20.

IN MEMORIAM — “Alabama native and first Black US Secretary of Labor dead at 77: ‘True hometown hero,’” by AL.com’s Patrick Darrington: “[Alexis] Herman, a native of Mobile, served as the labor secretary in President Bill Clinton’s administration in 1997 until 2001. … In 1977, under former President Jimmy Carter, Herman became the youngest person ever to serve as the director of the Women’s Bureau … In 1992, at age 45, she was appointed one of two deputy directors of President-elect Clinton’s transition team, following her role as chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention.”

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Kennedy Center’s events scheduled for LGBTQ+ pride celebration canceled, organizers say,” by AP’s Ashraf Khalil

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the Daily Mail/Brunswick party with the British Embassy, where guests enjoyed a dangerously good range of (newly tariffed) single malt whiskies in the rolling gardens of the British ambassador’s residence: Butterworth’s investor Raheem Kassam looking dapper with a fine pocket square ... VA Secretary Doug Collins, Sean Spicer, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, Katie Davies, Henry Timms, Katy Balls, Matt Gorman, Alex Pfeiffer, Matt McDonald, Zach Halaschak, Kate Andrews, Helen Milby, Mark Stone, Tal Naim, Maureen Callahan, Kennedy, Jana Hocking, Alison Hennessy, Wills Robinson, Matt London, Kelly Laco, Chelsea Ritschel, Barclay Crawford, Michael Brear, Laura Collins, Jen Smith, Victoria Bischoff, Richard Ellis, Nikki Schwab, Nick Allen, Charlie Spiering, Geoff Earle, Jon Raasch, Connor Boyd, Mark Rykken, Luke Carron, Jon Levine, Ben Domenech, Savannah Chrisley … and the entire crowd serenading long-serving British Embassy spokesman Ed Roman with a hearty (OK, drunken) rendition of Happy Birthday, with Lord Mandelson leading on the mic.

— SPOTTED at the Motion Picture Association reception last night at its headquarters: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Moroccan Ambassador Youssef Amrani, Peruvian Ambassador Alfredo Ferrero, Swiss Ambassador Ralf Heckner, Slovenian Ambassador Iztok Mirošic, Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Austrian Ambassador Petra Schneebauer, Czech Ambassador Miloslav Stašek, Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Yamada, Leigh Ann Caldwell, David Chalian, Sara Cook, Christina Sevilla, Steve Rochlin, Abby Livingston, Neil Grace, Carl Hulse, Vladimir Duthiers, Joe Flint, Kasie Hunt, Carl Hulse, Kelly O’Donnell, Anna Palmer, Karen Travers, Courtney Subramanian, Roy Schwartz, Tamara Buchwald, Heather Podesta, Meridith McGraw, Ted Johnson, Ali Vitali, Susan Fox, Alexa Verveer, Sena Fitzmaurice, Andrew Reinsdorf, Gail MacKinnon, John Mercurio, Hap Rigby and Greg Saphier.

— SPOTTED at the party hosted by Qatari Ambassador Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani and Washingtonian CEO Catherine Merrill at the Four Seasons: CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, Wilbur Ross, David Sacks, Bernard Kerik, Omeed Malik, Kevin O’Leary, Matt Swift, Hamad Al-Muftah, Reps. William Timmons (R-S.C.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Julián Castro, Mark Ein, Heather Podesta, Anna Palmer, Josh Dawsey, Gareth Banner, Legend Brumbaugh, Evelyn Farkas, Bill Anaya, Erin Egan, Teresa Carlson, Maryam Mujica, Vinoda Basnayake, Molly Ball, Michael Birnbaum, Kenneth Vogel, Nicholas Wu, Haley Bull, Rachel Schilke, Cami Mondeaux, Laura Weiss, Tony P, Adrian Fenty, Josh Norman and Nahal Toosi.

— UTA hosted its eighth annual pre-WHCD reception at Osteria Mozza last night. Guests dined on a swanky charcuterie spread at a packed reception and milled around the restaurant’s circular bar. SPOTTED: Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bill de Blasio, Jen Psaki, Dana Bash, Oliver Darcy, Vladimir Duthiers, Jacqui Heinrich, Omar Jimenez, Amanda Katz, Abby Phillip, Shomari Stone, Kara Swisher, Jake Tapper, Ali Vitali, Melanie Zanona, Brian Tyler Cohen, Molly Jong-Fast, Johnny Harris, Ari Melber, Michael Steele, Alex Borstein, Michael Chiklis, Gina Belafonte, Jason Isaacs, Dean Norris, Spencer Garrett, Bobby Flay, Kevin O’Leary, Bill Nye, Joanna Coles, Debra OConnell, Jay Sures, Marc Paskin, Ryan Hayden, Jerry Silbowitz, Rene Jones, David Evenchick, Julian Jacobs, Michele James, Adam Leibner, Andrew Feinberg, Peter Goldberg, Donna Sharp, Pilar Queen, J.B. Fitzgerald, Charlotte Perman, Fin Gómez and Sarah March-Gómez, and Todd Plotkin.

— The Creative Coalition hosted its 24th Annual Right to Bear Arts gala and dinner last night at the Madison Hotel. The event featured a slew of celebrity delegates and included a special musical performance by the TCC Jam Band. The event came after a day of Hill and White House meetings where delegates advocated for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Jason Isaacs, on the differences in this year’s WHCD vs. prior years: “You can feel it,” Isaacs told Playbook. “It’s a place where so many people have recently lost their jobs, so there’s that level of insecurity and pain in the air. And then even in the room, we saw with the Republicans that we were in with today, they’re uncertain about what orders are going to come to them. … So there are people who are privately very sympathetic, and they are waiting to see who they need to be publicly to maintain their careers.”

SPOTTED: D.C. shadow Sen. Paul Strauss, Robin Bronk, Tim Daly, Michael Chiklis, Gina Belafonte, Ian Armitage, Alan Ruck, Rachel Bloom, Alex Borstein, Pauline Chalamet, Rachael Harris, Marg Helgenberger, Sonequa Martin-Green, Rebecca Wisocky, Lorraine Toussaint, Josh Meyer, Sean Giambrone and Dean Norris.

— SPOTTED at Crooked Media’s cocktail reception yesterday evening at Cafe Riggs, where guests enjoyed cocktails such as the “Coastal Elite” and “Hush Money”: Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Ari Schwartz, Tommy Vietor, Dan Pfeiffer, Shaniqua McClendon, Reid Cherlin, Elijah Cone, Adriene Hill, Eugene Daniels, Peter Hamby, Joanna Coles, Bill Nye, Jason Rezaian, Rachael Bade, Kate Bedingfield, Amanda Litman, Brian Tyler Cohen, Ashley Parker, Mehdi Hasan, Suzanne Lambert, Tony P, Shawna Thomas, Abby Livingston, Heather Podesta, Brendan Buck, Nick Wu, Reese Gorman, Liam Quinn, Todd Zwillich and Matt Berg.

— SPOTTED at the CAA/Condé Nast party at City Tavern last night: Debra OConnell, Tom Cibrowski, Rebecca Blumenstein, Roger Lynch, Rebecca Kutler, KC Sullivan, Bill Nye, Aisha Bowe, Wolf Blitzer, Amanda Wills, Phil Rucker, Meghan Rafferty, Simone Swink, Matt Friend, Cecilia Vega, Jonathan Karl, Mary Bruce, Rachel Scott, Weijia Jiang, Garrett Haake, Jacob Soboroff, Jessica Dean, Natasha Bertrand, Alayna Treene, Michael Steele, Kevin O’Leary, Phil Mattingly, Andrea Mitchell, Hamish McKenzie, Catherine Valentine, Marc Adelman, Melanie Zanona, Yamiche Alcindor, Mark Kassen, Vlad Duthiers, Shawna Thomas, Molly Jong-Fast, Emilio Madrid, Omar Jimenez, Kylie Atwood, Evan Osnos, Robert Costa, Jake Sherman, Jim Sciutto, Sara Sidner, John Berman, Ashley Parker, Brianna Keilar, Mosheh Oinounou, Chris Caputo, Kasie Hunt, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, Meredith Kopit Levien, Ari Melber, Boris Sanchez, Susanna Quinn, David Chalian, Shaq Brewster, David Ignatius, Selina Wang, Julie Tsirkin, John McCarthy, Jonathan Greenberger, Bryan Lourd, Rachel Adler, Jeff Jacobs, Judee Ann Williams, Christine Lancman, Kyle Margolis, Alan Berger, Michael Glantz, Mark McGrath, Mollie Glick, David Larabell and Craig Gering.

— SPOTTED at the Australian Embassy’s gala last night, hosted by Ambassador Kevin Rudd and DC Magazine publisher Jessica Powers: Tom Cibrowski, Hugo Rojo, Jennifer Griffin, Greg Myre, Nick Kalman, Sarakshi Rai, Nick Schifrin, Felicia Schwartz, Meridith McGraw, Jon Decker, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and Julián Castro.

— The Washington AI Network hosted its second annual WHCD “TGAIFriday Lunch” at the House at 1229, where Meta and Booz Allen unveiled “Space Llama,” an AI-powered tech stack for the International Space Station. Tammy Haddad interviewed Justin Fanelli and Zane Price. SPOTTED: Costa Rican Ambassador Catalina Crespo, David Ginsberg, Donnie Fowler, Jon Kelly, Mike Allen, Ina Fried, Jonathan Karl, Jack Hidary, Teresa Carlson, Didem Nisanci, Maryam Mujica, Arun Gupta, Reema Dodin, Caitlyn Stephenson, Alexandre Durand, Tom Carles, Miriam Vogel, Lara Tennyson, Sarah Hudgins, Adam Branch, Andrea Saul, Nkechi Nneji, Govind Shivkumar, Helen Milby, John Rizzo, Olivia Igbokwe, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Senay Bulbul, Susan Li, Austin Carson, Steven Overly, Sumi Somaskanda, Tiffany Moore, Elizabeth Falcone, Fin Gómez, James Perry Adams, Ali Hattamer, Ted Johnson, Cuneyt Dil, Julissa Marenco, Sara Fischer, Jonathan Clifford, Gilles Bauer, Sabrina Singh, Lisa Allen, Laurie McKay and April Ryan.

— The Progressive Policy Institute is hosting a “New Directions for Democrats” gathering in Denver this weekend. It kicked off with a reception hosted by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis at his residence at the Boettcher Mansion, followed by a dinner and discussion at the Grant-Humphreys Mansion. SPOTTED: Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Reps. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Lou Correa (D-Calif.) and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), Doug Jones, Tim Ryan, Ed Perlmutter and Jason Altmire.

TRANSITIONS — Elaine Dalpiaz is now VP for government affairs and policy at the National Alliance for Caregiving. She previously was VP for health systems policy and strategic partnerships at First Focus on Children and is an AARP and Hill alum. … Madeline Valdez is now scheduler and executive assistant for Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.). She previously was an advance associate in the Office of acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: First lady Melania Trump … Suzy George … Nicole Elkon … POLITICO’s Emily Schultheis and Abhinanda Bhattacharyya … AKPD Message and Media’s Larry Grisolano … Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ Karas Gross … Nick Penniman … Dan Meyer … NPR’s Domenico Montanaro and Ben Fishel … John Leganski … U.S. News and World Report’s Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder … Ebbie Yazdani … Rich Feuer Anderson’s Jared Sawyer … Shana Teehan … Paulina Firozi … Chris Curry … Jonathan Rauch … NBCUniversal’s Phil Tahtakran … Meagan McCanna … Jessica Schneider … Colin Wilhelm … Jackson Richman … NYT’s Russell Goldman … former Reps. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) and Rod Blum (R-Iowa) (7-0) … Carter Reese of Bullpen Strategy Group … Stagwell’s Jay Leveton … Luke Frans … Alex Morgan of the Progressive Turnout Project … Vlad Gorshkov

THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here):

NBC “Meet the Press”: Secretary of State Marco Rubio … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Panel: Lanhee Chen, Amna Nawaz, Ryan Nobles and Jen Psaki.

CNN “State of the Union”: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins … Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Panel: Jaime Herrera Beutler, Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Karen Finney and David Urban.

ABC “This Week”: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Jake Sullivan. Panel: Donna Brazile and Reince Priebus.

CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) … Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov … Gary Cohn.

FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) … Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). Panel: Annie Linskey, Julia Manchester, Juan Williams and Cal Thomas. Sunday special: Dana Perino.

NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) … Jonathan Adler. Panel: Shadi Hamid, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Jessica Taylor and John Tamny.

MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki”: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.).

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Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.

Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misspelled Jane Meyer’s name.

A message from The National Association of REALTORS^®:

A new survey shows Americans overwhelmingly back key real estate provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—policies that expand homeownership and drive our economy. A whopping 91% support preserving homeowner tax incentives like the mortgage interest deduction. 83% back the 20% tax break for small businesses and independent contractors. And 61% want to see SALT deduction limits increased.

Homeownership is the main way Americans build wealth, with a homeowner's net worth 40 times that of a renter. But with a 4.7 million home shortage, millions of middle-class Americans are locked out of the American Dream.

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