| | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Happy Saturday. This is Adam Wren. How about those Indiana Pacers? Get in touch. President Donald Trump is delivering the commencement address at West Point this morning.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
The dispute over the book’s reporting is the latest pushback from Joe Biden aides and allies. | Alex Brandon, File/AP | BIDEN WORLD STRIKES BACK: After a blitzkrieg of a book rollout that saw Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s “Original Sin” ($32) dominate the news cycle this week with its clinical autopsy of Joe Biden’s decision to run for reelection, some in Biden world are hitting back, offering fresh complaints about the reporting process and their own fact checks — even into the holiday weekend. New this morning: When Biden’s reelection campaign needed video of him taking off-the-cuff questions from voters, they turned to a staged town hall in Delaware in April 2024 that they planned to use for a campaign commercial — an episode that went so poorly, people in the campaign determined the town hall yielded unusable material, according to Tapper and Thompson. The pair write that at the closed-press event, even amid supporters and campaign staff that had the full list of questions, “Biden had trouble. The campaign ultimately decided that the footage wasn’t usable.” Biden team’s pushback: Three versions of test ads obtained by Playbook and published here for the first time tell a slightly more complicated story. While all three are highly edited and feature jump cuts of Biden’s remarks, the footage also shows the candidate engaging with members of the audience. Playbook viewed dated documents related to the town hall’s planning and a painting in the gym to confirm the date and location. Watch the ads: One is called “Greatest Nation” focusing on democracy; another is titled “They’ve Tried” on the Affordable Care Act; a third, directed at veterans, is called “Defend Us All.” None ever aired. Why was that? Though Tapper and Thompson report that it was because the footage “wasn’t usable,” Biden advisers argue that the footage didn’t make it on air simply because of timing. A Biden spokesperson tells Playbook that the campaign tested the ads with focus groups but did not deploy them before the president dropped out of the race following his disastrous June 2024 debate. Asked about the Biden advisers’ claims, Tapper disputed the contention. In a quotation supplied to Playbook by Tapper, an unnamed Biden adviser said: “While the campaign was able to selectively utilize portions of the footage to craft ads that were eventually tested on focus groups, the consensus from senior and mid level campaign staff present for the event and those privy to the editing process was that the footage was not up to par and would require crafty editorial support. The campaign’s leadership would not have needed to wait nearly four months to (not) release the ads created with the footage if it reflected the picture of confidence they suggest.” Playbook has been unable to independently verify the identity of the unnamed Biden adviser supplied by Tapper. The big picture: The dispute over the book’s reporting is the latest pushback from Biden aides and allies against what they are keen to depict as a slapdash fact-checking process by Tapper and Thompson. Rufus Gifford, a Biden campaign official, shared video of Biden talking with George Clooney at a moment that the president allegedly did not recognize him — though the video doesn’t seem to definitively prove Gifford’s argument.
| | | | A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Congress Can Connect Americans to Alzheimer's Solutions: This is the most hopeful time in the history of Alzheimer's. Breakthrough research — made possible by bipartisan support in Congress — has led to the first FDA-approved treatments, earlier detection, improved diagnosis, and better support for caregivers. With over 7 million Americans living with this fatal disease, and their nearly 12 million caregivers, Congress must accelerate, not stop, progress. Congress, it's up to you. | | | | About their fact-checking: Tapper and Thompson have made a point of publicly noting that they paid for their book to be fact-checked — a step that many nonfiction books skip — and that Fergus McIntosh, the head research editor at The New Yorker, led that process. The New Yorker has a stringent and storied process for vetting materials before publication, and, indeed, McIntosh fact-checked both the book and the excerpt from the book that the magazine published last week. Playbook has learned that McIntosh told at least one person that he was more limited in the facts he could check in the book versus the excerpt, which is common. McIntosh declined to speak on the record. Biden world zeroes in: McIntosh’s role in fact-checking was raised as an issue in a statement Biden’s spokesperson gave The New Yorker, but which the magazine didn’t publish in its entirety. From that statement: “[T]he New Yorker employee who reached out to fact-check this excerpt also apparently reviewed the book and offered suggestions to the authors as they wrote it,” the statement from the Biden spox read. “It's remarkable that neither this fact checker, nor the authors, reached out to fact check the actual book with us, and only the New Yorker is holding them to the high editorial standards that readers of the book should get in the first place.” In other words, the unnamed Biden spokesperson claims that the first time a Biden aide heard from the independently hired fact-checker was for the magazine excerpt, not for the book. The New Yorker did not respond to a request for comment. The Rorschach test: Like some of the book’s buzziest anecdotes — including that Biden didn’t recognize Clooney — the town hall anecdote is a matter of perception. Thompson reports that some people say ads from the town hall weren’t used because the lighting was bad; the lighting looks serviceable in the ads. Others told Thompson that Biden’s performance at the event was poor; Biden, indeed, sounds raspy and old. The response: In a statement to Playbook, a spokesperson for Tapper and Thompson said: “Jake and Alex stand by their reporting in ‘Original Sin.’ The Biden team is repeating the same obfuscatory tactics used during their time in the White House, and news outlets continuing to rely on the very same unattributed and unverified voices raises serious credibility questions.” The spokesperson didn’t want to be named. Tapper declined to identify his source who appraised the Biden town hall. Related read: “The Week That Derailed Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency,” by WSJ’s Annie Linskey and colleagues
| | | | A message from the Alzheimer's Association: False claims are spreading — including the dangerous myth that the NIH has focused Alzheimer's research only on one target called beta Amyloid. Publicly verifiable facts prove this is untrue. Let's move past the confusion, and continue strong bipartisan support for life-saving research. | | | | 5 MINUTES WITH Welcome to the inaugural edition of “5 Minutes With,” a new Playbook weekend segment featuring a quick chat with a newsmaker. Chasten Buttigieg is backstage in the greenroom in his hometown at the City Opera House in Traverse City, Michigan, ready to take his turn as the star of the family. In a few minutes, he’ll take the stage with his husband Pete Buttigieg, the former Transportation secretary, where the two will ask each other audience-submitted questions about life and parenting at an event to launch Chasten’s new children’s book, “Papa’s Coming Home” ($19.99), about a family with a father — who looks an awful lot like Pete — who goes on a business trip and then returns home. “I think people deserve joy right now, too,” Chasten says. “Everything feels dark. I get it. I read the news too. I’m a pretty dialed-in person. I’m worried too. But I also think if we tell ourselves that we’re not allowed to laugh, or we’re not allowed to go to a book talk, or we’re not allowed to read funny books to our kids, that’s how they win.” What’s it like to have Papa home, now that Pete is no longer commuting to D.C. for his work in the Cabinet? “I try to say this lovingly to D.C.: It’s very hard to exist in D.C. It was very hard to be there as a public person.” He added: “I’m really proud of my husband, and I’m really proud of how he is finding a way to lead in this moment. But I also love having him home. I love watching him be a dad, and he had to forgo a lot of those things for the first four years. It’s nice to get to see him kind of play catch-up right now.” Pete pops into the green room, back from a town hall in Iowa. The two walk out on stage. After some opening remarks, Pete asks Chasten the first question. “Will you run for president in the next election?” Pete asks. The audience dissolves into clapping and laughter.
| | | | Playbook isn’t just a newsletter — it’s a podcast, too. With new co-hosts who bring unmatched Trump world reporting and analysis, The Playbook Podcast dives deeper into the power plays shaping Washington. Get the insider edge—start listening now. | | | | | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. FRIDAY NIGHT MASSACRE: The White House began a major slashing of what will be hundreds of positions from the NSC, Axios’ Marc Caputo and Alex Isenstadt scooped. The major restructuring under acting national security adviser Marco Rubio will shrink the staff, which Trump officials accuse of being filled with the “deep state,” and move people to the State and Defense Departments. It’s a big change from the NSC’s previous bottom-up structure that emphasized staff recommendations and expertise — or amounted to slow-moving, excessive bureaucracy, in the eyes of critics. 2. CLIMATE FILES: “Documents Show E.P.A. Wants to Erase Greenhouse Gas Limits on Power Plants,” by NYT’s Lisa Friedman: “In its proposed regulation, the agency argued that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels ‘do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution’ or to climate change … But in the United States, the power sector was the second biggest source of greenhouse gases … The proposed regulation is part of a broader attack by the Trump administration on the established science that greenhouse gases threaten human health and the environment.” 3. IMMIGRATION FILES: For the third time, the Trump administration has been ordered to return an immigrant mistakenly deported, per Reuters. In this case, a gay Guatemalan with the initials O.C.G. was sent to Mexico — where he said he’d previously been raped and kidnapped — despite fears for his safety, which ICE neglected to ask about. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said it was a “horror” and that the man had been wrongly denied due process. Of course, in the previous two such cases, Trump officials have refused to cooperate with court orders to facilitate wrongly deported people’s return. O.C.G. is now in Guatemala, per POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein. Murphy’s law: Rubio also escalated the administration’s fight with Murphy in a separate case where he has prevented the U.S. from sending migrants to third-party countries without due process, saying the judge had disrupted U.S. diplomacy with Libya, South Sudan, and Djibouti, Kyle and Josh write. The crackdown: ICE is now moving to arrest immigrants at scheduled hearings at courthouses, in a dramatic step to fast-track deportations and bypass judges, WaPo’s Arelis Hernández and Maria Sacchetti scooped. Trump’s expedited removal effort was blocked by courts in his first term, but for now it’s unfolding across the country. Advocates say it will place the lives of people with legitimate asylum claims at risk. Meanwhile, despite FEMA saying that nongovernmental migrant shelters on the border may be breaking the law, ICE keeps releasing people to them, AP’s Valerie Gonzalez and Elliot Spagat report. And CBS’ Jennifer Jacobs and Nicole Sganga report on the price tag for border czar Tom Homan’s security detail: $1 million a month. 4. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: At the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Government Efficiency’s sweeping staff cuts have triggered recriminations over a possible slowing of fossil fuel production, POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre reports. DOGE embed Stephanie Holmes ordered staffers to stop stepping in for details in open positions, but Interior career staffer Michael Nedd told civil servants to ignore that, as the department braces for huge layoffs in the coming weeks. DOGE in the courts: Chief Justice John Roberts paused a lower-court ruling against DOGE, saying the office did not have to start complying with Freedom of Information Act requests and make Amy Gleason available for a deposition for now, per NBC. That’s a temporary loss for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Meanwhile, the administration went to an appellate court yesterday to try to undo a federal judge’s ruling that has blocked mass layoffs at roughly 20 agencies without Congress’ consent, per Reuters. 5. I FOUGHT BIG LAW: Yet another Trump effort to retaliate against prominent law firms has been struck down by the courts. A federal judge blocked the executive order against Jenner & Block, saying the political targeting was unconstitutional, per the WSJ. Meanwhile, Paul Weiss — which was the first firm to strike a deal with Trump rather than fight his retribution — saw four top lawyers leave to start their own firm, per the WSJ. Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips and Jeannie Rhee are out the door. 6. HOLD UP: “Senate Judiciary leaders spar over US attorney nominees,” by POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs: “Leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee is sparring over ranking member Dick Durbin’s decision to block the swift confirmation of a U.S. attorney nominee — and his warning that he could do the same for others. … [He] likened his tactics to those deployed by Vice President JD Vance, back when he was a Republican senator … But committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is accusing Durbin of ‘playing politics’ with the issue, and arguing that Vance did not, in fact, set a new precedent.” 7. PETE HEGSETH’S WARS: “Defense Secretary Hegseth, bedeviled by leaks, orders more restrictions on press at Pentagon,” by AP’s David Bauder: “Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort — areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the world’s most powerful military. … The Pentagon Press Association expressed skepticism that operational concerns were at play — and linked the move to previous actions by Hegseth’s office that impede journalists and their coverage.” 8. WHAT YOU MISSED IN THE RECONCILIATION BILL: As Republicans’ megabill heads to the Senate, reporters are digging into some consequential, less discussed provisions. Throughout the bill, the GOP has stripped benefits — Child Tax Credit, Obamacare subsidies and more — from both legal and undocumented immigrants to save $80 billion, POLITICO’s Brian Faler reports. The bill would create the first ever federal school voucher program, NYT’s Sarah Mervosh and Dana Goldstein report. It would also block transgender Medicaid recipients of any age, not just minors, from getting gender transition-related medical care, WaPo’s Fenit Nirappil and Casey Parks report. Venezuela victory: The bill was also almost derailed by Richard Grenell’s announcement of a two-month Chevron oil deal in Venezuela, Axios’ Marc Caputo revealed. Florida GOP Reps. Carlos Gimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart and Maria Elvira Salazar threatened to revolt, and Rubio was “apoplectic,” too. Then Trump killed the deal. Rubio and Grenell, one of Trump’s floating envoys, “have butted heads” repeatedly, WaPo’s Karen DeYoung and colleagues report. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. plans to give Chevron a license for only minimal upkeep of its operations in Venezuela. 9. MAN OF STEEL: “Trump approves ‘planned partnership’ between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel,” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Anya Litvak: “Trump heralded the deal that would keep U.S. Steel in America and its headquarters in Pittsburgh … The language of ‘partnership’ as opposed to ‘acquisition’ harkens back to Trump’s comments earlier this year when he sought to reframe the relationship between Nippon and U.S. Steel. … Nippon, for its part, has not wavered from the structure of the original deal.”
| | | | A message from the Alzheimer's Association:  
The Alzheimer's Association is working with bipartisan lawmakers to make meaningful policy changes. More work remains. | | | | CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 15 funnies
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M.Wuerker - Politico | GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “Escape from Khartoum,” by The New Yorker’s Nicolas Niarchos: “A family of nine’s desperate attempt to find safety in Sudan.” — “The Mother Who Never Stopped Believing Her Son Was Still There,” by The Atlantic’s Sarah Zhang: “For decades, Eve Baer remained convinced that her son, unresponsive after a severe brain injury, was still conscious. Science eventually proved her right.” — “How Trump Defeated Columbia,” by N.Y. Mag’s Nick Summers: “The inside story of an unconditional surrender.” — “My Father Prosecuted History’s Crimes. Then He Died in One,” by the NYT Magazine’s Joseph Bernstein: “He was a Nazi hunter — and was killed in the Lockerbie bombing. What does it mean to seek justice for his death?” — “A Kansas family farm, barely getting by, grapples with Trump’s cuts,” by WaPo’s Annie Gowen and Ricky Carioti in Leavenworth: “For many, the pride they felt when the president spoke of his love for farmers in his March 6 address to Congress has given way to a growing sense of helplessness, frustration and anger.” — “The Trump Family’s Money-Making Machine,” by Bloomberg’s Max Abelson and Annie Massa: “Since he kicked off his campaign, Trump’s empire has landed billions of dollars of deals at home and abroad.” — “R.F.K., Jr., Anthony Fauci, and the Revolt Against Expertise,” by The New Yorker’s Daniel Immerwahr: “It used to be progressives who distrusted the experts. What happened?” — “Doug Wilson Has Spent Decades Pushing for a Christian Theocracy. In Trump’s DC, the New Right Is Listening,” by POLITICO Magazine’s Ian Ward: “Doug Wilson has built a theocratic regime in Moscow, Idaho, where men rule and biblical teachings guide everything. Now he’s taking the model national, with a receptive crowd in the GOP.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Joe Biden said he’s “feeling great” in his first public comments since revealing his cancer diagnosis. Michael Anton’s old menswear writings don’t exactly fit the MAGA fashion trends, Derek Guy writes in POLITICO Magazine. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Pentagon lost contact with Army helicopter on flight that caused jets to nix landings at DC airport,” by AP’s Tara Copp: “Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, the head of Army aviation, told the AP in an exclusive interview that the controllers lost contact with the Black Hawk because a temporary control tower antenna was not set up in a location where it would be able to maintain contact with the helicopter as it flew low and rounded the Pentagon to land. … [It] has now been moved to the roof of the Pentagon.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a President of Rock and Roll concert at Westover Beer Garden last night: Matt Duss, Michael Tomasky, Christina Sevilla, John Neffinger, Peter Nicoll, Ilyse Hogue, Adam Green, Molly Ball and David Kihara, Chris Fowler and Brian Komar. TRANSITION — Scott Weathers is now associate director of government affairs at Americans for Responsible Innovation. He previously was energy and environment policy adviser for Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) … Kasie Hunt (4-0) … former Reps. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) … National Endowment for Democracy’s Damon Wilson … Nick Baumann … Rory Cooper of Teneo … NPR’s Tom Bowman (7-0) … Mark Bescher of Legacy Public Policy … Signal Group’s Chelsea Koski … Ben Mullany … former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland … Rana Abtar … POLITICO’s Sophie Blaylock and Isa Domínguez … Giulia DiGuglielmo of Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) office … Ryan Dukeman … Dan Horning THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) … Alex Thompson … Speaker Mike Johnson. Panel: Michael Allen, Meghan Hays, Doug Heye and Mario Parker. Sunday special: Gary Sinise. CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) … Speaker Mike Johnson. CBS “Face the Nation”: Speaker Mike Johnson … Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) … Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) … Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) … Cindy McCain … Jack McCain. Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures,” guest-hosted by Jackie DeAngelis: Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) … U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker … Michael Faulkender … CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz … FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Special feature: FBI Director Kash Patel and Dan Bongino. MSNBC “The Weekend”: Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) … Jaime Harrison … Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) … Wendy Sherman. Panel: Mara Karlin, Luke Coffey and Robert Edsel. NBC “Meet the Press,” with a special edition on America’s mental health crisis: Vivek Murthy … Patrick Kennedy … Arthur Brooks. Panel: Nedra Glover Tawwab, Lori Gottlieb and Jean Twenge. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | A message from the Alzheimer's Association: Congress Can Connect Americans to Alzheimer's Research, an Investment in America's Fiscal Health
As the most expensive disease in the nation, untreated Alzheimer's is a major driver of rising federal and state spending, adding to America's long-term debt.
The bipartisan path forward is clear: Sustained NIH investment in Alzheimer's and dementia research. This commitment accelerates innovation, leading to effective treatments, early detection and prevention strategies, and reduced long-term costs for families, Medicare and Medicaid.
Supporting NIH research is not just compassionate policy; it is a smart fiscal strategy with strong bipartisan backing in Congress and overwhelming support among the American public.
Together, let's create a future free from Alzheimer's and all other dementia.
Congress: Invest in research today, ensure a healthier and more fiscally sustainable tomorrow. | | | | | | | | Follow us on X | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Canada Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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