| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine
| | | It’s Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. It’s been a long night. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: Terror arrived in downtown D.C. last night as a young Jewish couple who worked at the Israeli Embassy were murdered at the Capital Jewish Museum. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were shot at close range as they left an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee shortly after 9 p.m. Their alleged assailant, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, from Chicago, chanted “free, free Palestine” as he was taken away by police. Shocked witnesses said the suspected killer entered the building after carrying out the killings and asked for police to be called. POLITICO’s Gregory Svirnovskiy has more.
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AG Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on the scene after two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum. | Rod Lamkey Jr./AP Photo | ‘Acts of terrorism’: Senior political figures, including AG Pam Bondi, rushed to the scene for an emergency news conference just before midnight. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the “horrific incident” would “frighten a lot of people,” but added: “We will not tolerate this violence or hate in our city. We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism.” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!” ‘A beautiful couple’: “The couple gunned down in the name of ‘Free Palestine’ was a young couple that was about to be engaged,” Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter told the gathered press. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple who came to enjoy an evening in Washington’s cultural center.” The attacker: This video shared by Jewish Insider shows a man being arrested and chanting “free, free Palestine” as he is taken away. Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, said the suspect is now being interviewed by Washington police in conjunction with the agency’s counterterrorism team. “Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence,” he said on X. The context: “After the deadly Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli military began a campaign in Gaza has devastated the enclave,” setting off a “wave of pro-Palestinian protests, including at Israeli embassies and at American college and university campuses,” the NYT write-up notes. “The Israeli Embassy in Washington has been a particular focus for protesters.” Expect plenty more reaction in the hours ahead. In today’s Playbook … — House Republicans are on the verge of passing their “big, beautiful” spending bill in a major victory for Donald Trump. — Trump heads for dinner with 200-plus crypto bros who spent big on his personal memecoin. — And it’s a big day for RFK Jr. as he unveils his MAHA Commission report at the White House.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Speaker Mike Johnson is in line for a famous win as House Republicans are set to pass President Donald Trump's megabill. | Jason Andrew for POLITICO | MAGIC JOHNSON: A triumphant Speaker Mike Johnson will head off for the holiday weekend today having delivered on his boldest promise — the (imminent) passage of a “big, beautiful” tax-and-spend bill by Memorial Day. After another dramatic evening of backroom deals and through-the-night debates, Johnson and the GOP conference are set to win a showdown vote on the floor of the House this morning. (Follow along for the latest with our Inside Congress colleagues.) The bill next heads to the Senate for further revision. Let’s be clear: This is a huge win for Johnson and of course for Trump, both of whom threw their weight behind this single-bill approach back in January despite concerns the GOP was too fractured to agree on an all-encompassing piece of legislation. Johnson’s tactical gamble — not to mention his challenging Memorial Day deadline — has paid off. It’s another feather in the cap for a speaker who is proving quietly masterful at congressional politics, regularly cajoling and shoe-horning his warring factions into line despite the narrowest of margins. But as with every knife-edge vote like this one … Johnson in the end required the great clunking fist of Trump to help break the deadlock. And somehow the outcome felt inevitable once the president had visited the Hill this week to give it straight to both sides. “Don’t fuck with Medicaid,” Trump bluntly told the GOP fiscal hard-liners on Tuesday, while with his next breath belittling the moderate SALT Republicans threatening to hold out for ever-bigger tax breaks. Trump remains the unchallengeable king of his party, and there was never much doubt they’d eventually fall into line. How the night panned out: Those poor souls on the House Rules Committee finally adjourned at 8:50 p.m. last night — more than 19 hours after their hearing kicked off — when the GOP leadership belatedly produced its updated version of the bill. As expected, there were key concessions made to either side of the GOP conference, regarding deadlocked issues such as the timing of Medicaid cuts and the size of the tax break offered to earners in wealthier states. Oh, and somebody — really, who knows who it could have been? — also changed the name of the $1,000 “MAGA Accounts” designed to give newborn babies a head start to … “Trump Accounts.” Because of course they did. The bill then progressed to the floor of the House for an all-night debate, with members falling asleep on every side and a snack room set up in an antechamber to help fuel them through the night. Some collected firewood to keep warm (yes, really). House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries mounted a last-minute stall on the final vote — with tensions flaring at one point — Johnson is in line for a famous victory.
| | | | 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. | | | | Important reminder: This bill still has some way to go, and there’s a widespread expectation that more revisions are coming once the bill hits the Senate. That means Johnson will have it all to do again this summer when the tweaked bill gets batted back. Ideally, the whole thing will be passed into law before the nation literally runs out of money in three months’ time. But the direction of travel now looks clear … and it seems all but certain Trump is going to get his tax-and-spend priorities over the finish line. And that means Republicans will soon be able to laud tangible victories as the midterm elections loom closer: tax cuts for working families, no tax on tips, more money for national defense and a massive, potentially game-changing cash injection for Trump’s deportation and border-control project. But but but: The Dems spy opportunities here, too, chiefly over the cuts to Medicaid, which have been brought forward several years under eleventh-hour changes demanded by GOP fiscal hawks. Estimates show millions of people are going to start losing their cover from the end of 2026 — after the midterms are safely out of the way, but still front of mind for plenty of voters come 2028. Trump, term-limited as he is, won’t care much about that … VP JD Vance must be thrilled. The more immediate problem for Trump … is the ongoing effect of this bill on the U.S. bond markets, which had another ugly day yesterday as traders realized that yes, this thing is probably going to pass. After all, the “big, beautiful bill” slaps another couple trillion dollars onto America’s gaping budget deficit over the next decade, and neither party seems remotely interested in trying to close the gap. GOP holdout Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) made his feelings on the situation crystal clear.
| | | | 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. | | | | MEANWHILE IN THE WHITE HOUSE COINING IT IN: As jaw-dropping presidential activity goes, this one takes some beating. Tonight, Trump will host more than 200 wealthy crypto bros for a private “dinner with the president” as a special reward for their $400 million investment in his personal memecoin. Trump will head to his D.C.-area golf club at 7 p.m. as the star guest at what the distressingly garish official website describes as “the most exclusive invitation in the world.” Black tie is preferred, the invite says, but not obligatory. Good to know. And there’s more: The 25 biggest investors will also be invited to a small VIP reception with the president ahead of tonight’s gala dinner. A quick glance at the website leaves no doubt that these events have been explicitly designed to sell as much $TRUMP crypto as possible. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) described “the Trump coin scam” as “the most brazenly corrupt thing a president has ever done.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has called it an “unprecedented pay-to-play scheme to provide access to the presidency to the highest bidder.” But to be clear: These memecoins are sold on exchange markets; that money does not go to Trump directly. And the invitations for the dinner state Trump is “appearing as a guest and not soliciting any funds for it.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt — who, helpfully, has a press briefing at 1 p.m. today — has said Trump is “abiding by all conflict-of-interest laws.” So … that’s alright then? Erm, no: About 80 percent of $TRUMP coins are held by Trump Organization affiliates, and so in theory if their value soars those holdings should become more valuable. And per NBC News, the 220 “winning” investors at tonight’s dinner have collectively spent an extraordinary $394 million between them, with several spending more than $10 million a head. Bloomberg reckons many of them are likely based overseas. POLITICO’s Declan Harty has more detail on who’ll be there. Needless to say … It’s hard to think of anything remotely comparable in the annals of recent presidential history. Bill Clinton letting political donors sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom? Hunter Biden trying to sell his paintings? None if it comes close to a $400 million personal crypto scheme with the president’s face slapped on it. Speaking of $400 million … by strange coincidence, that’s also the value of the free jumbo jet which the Trump administration accepted yesterday as a gift from Qatar. Vast sums of taxpayers’ cash will now be spent making the jet suitably presidential for Trump to fly around in, per POLITICO’s Paul McLeary and Joe Gould, before the whole thing presumably gets passed on to his presidential library for perpetuity in 2028. Trump insists it’s simply a gift to the nation — a modern day Statue of Liberty, if you will — but it’s pretty clear who the chief beneficiary is. As we’ve noted before, even some of his most loyal allies think the whole thing stinks. The political impact: Trump has pushed the boundaries of what’s possible for a president in pretty much every direction since Jan. 20, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by any of this. But will voters care? Will minds be changed? Trump’s calculation is that the howls of complaint are all just white noise to people out in the real world, and that ultimately his supporters will shrug this stuff off. He may be right. Equally, on a day his party agreed to lop hundreds of billions of dollars off Medicaid, the messaging opportunity for his opponents — free jet for him; no health care for you — doesn’t require a genius to figure out. And even Tucker Carlson was talking about “corruption” on his MAGA-focused talk show this week.
| | | | 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. | | | | | BIG DAY FOR MAHA A MAHA MOMENT: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be alongside Trump at the White House this afternoon to release his closely watched “Make America Healthy Again” report. Commissioned via an executive order from Trump, the report is expected to feature major elements of Kennedy’s MAHA platform, including chronic disease, childrens’ health and vaccine skepticism. The event is set to kick off in the East Room at 3:45 p.m. What to expect: The final version of the MAHA commission report is likely to harshly criticize food chemicals, lobbyists and vaccines, WSJ’s Natalie Andrews, Liz Essley Whyte and Josh Dawsey scoop. More specifically, the report is expected to explore the health impacts of two common weedkillers on children, though it “stops short of calling them unsafe.” The report will also call for more “study of the U.S. childhood-vaccine schedule” and “larger clinical trials of childhood vaccines against placebos.” Still, farmers around the country — and the lawmakers who represent them — have had major concerns in recent days that the report will blame childhood diseases on common pesticides and food dyes, thus spurring tougher regulations, POLITICO’s Carmen Paun, Danny Nguyen and others report. Tighter regulations, these lawmakers say, “could cut profits and cost jobs.” Kennedy’s well-known opposition to pesticides and ultra-processed ingredients “are reminiscent of European-style rules many GOP members despise.” And the ripple effects have already trickled down to K Street, where farm and food lobbyists are “blowing up lawmakers’ phones and ratcheting up spending” as they work to “push back on the charges they fear his report will level.” But Kennedy says they needn’t worry. The secretary urged GOP lawmakers at a Senate Appropriations hearing this week that they shouldn’t be concerned about any policies in the report that would hurt farmers back home. “There’s not a single word in them that should worry the American farmer,” Kennedy said. “We are not going to do anything to jeopardize that business model.” Which rather begs the question: Does that mean MAHA fans are going to be left disappointed? Keep your eye out for an RFK backlash if so.
| | | | A message from the Alzheimer's Association:  
The Alzheimer's Association is working with bipartisan lawmakers to make meaningful policy changes. More work remains. | | | | BEST OF THE REST TRUMP’S PRIVATE THOUGHTS ON PUTIN: In public, Trump has repeatedly said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace in Ukraine. But in private conversations with a number of European leaders this week, Trump voiced a different belief: Putin “isn’t ready to end the Ukraine war because he thinks he is winning,” WSJ’s Bojan Pancevski and Laurence Norman report. That statement didn’t exactly surprise European leaders, but it was the first time they heard it from Trump. Despite the president’s admission, the European leaders — including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — were unsuccessful in pushing Trump toward enacting additional sanctions on the Kremlin. For the Europeans, “it helped underscore that it was now largely up to them to support Ukraine.” THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: In a Truth Social post last night, Trump said he is considering taking mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public, POLITICO’s Victoria Guida writes. Such a move would likely require action from Congress, but some Republicans are warm to the idea, having argued that Fannie and Freddie distort the housing market due to their government backing. Up next: Trump said he will consult with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte. NAMING AND SHAMING: For years, Trump has suggested his political opponents should be criminally investigated or prosecuted — whether or not they’ve done anything that has violated the law. Now, Ed Martin, the head of the DOJ’s “weaponization” group, “plans to use his authority to expose and discredit those he believes to be guilty, even if he cannot find sufficient evidence to prosecute them,” NYT’s Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer write. How Martin sees it: In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Martin claimed that the role of a prosecutor “is not just to find the right guy to prosecute,” but also to publicize their purported wrongdoing in public. He intends, per Thrush and Feuer, “to subject the president’s accusers to humiliations and inconveniences comparable to what Mr. Trump endured, to right perceived wrongs.” A WARNING SHOT: The DOJ and interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba received a tongue-lashing from U.S. Magistrate Judge André Espinosa yesterday for their handling (and retraction) of the case against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on a trespassing charge stemming from a May 9 protest at an ICE facility, POLITICO’s Ry Rivard reports. Baraka’s arrest was “severe” and “hasty,” Espinosa said, calling the dismissal of charges an “embarrassing” spectacle that “suggests a worrisome misstep.” Even so … the DOJ is pressing ahead with a case from the same protest against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who was charged with two counts of assault.
| | | | 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 | | Terry Sullivan of Firehouse Strategies made it to the summit of Mount Everest. Pic Todd Young celebrated the Indiana Pacers’ stunning turnaround win against the New York Knicks. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — What should Washingtonians expect from the Army’s 250th birthday celebration next month (which also happens to be Trump’s 79th birthday)? “More than two dozen tanks, 34 horses, 50 helicopters and thousands of troops — many in period costume from past wars — will be part of the sweeping military celebration,” WaPo’s Olivia George reports. “[T]he National Mall will host a day-long festival, fireworks will decorate the sky and thousands of troops traveling to participate will sleep in downtown buildings. Officials estimate 200,000 people — about five times the capacity of Nationals Park — will attend.” OUT AND ABOUT — MSNBC and Nick Schmit hosted an event last night at Ned’s Club celebrating the publication of veteran journalist Jonathan Capehart’s new book, “Yet Here I Am: Lessons From a Black Man's Search for Home” ($27). The evening featured a conversation and Q&A with Capehart, moderated by Eugene Daniels. Guests sipped cocktails and gathered for an intimate discussion on identity, belonging, and the power of personal narrative. SPOTTED: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Alejandro Mayorkas, Terry and Dorothy McAuliffe, United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, Monaco Ambassador Maguy Maccario Doyle, Kirk and Crystal Wagar, Dwight Bush, Margaret Capehart, Alicia Menendez, Eugene Robinson, Elena Allbritton, Chris and Kathleen Matthews, Michele Norris, Adrienne Elrod, Michael Steele, Jeremy and Robyn Bash, Symone Sanders Townsend, Jennifer Griffin, Karen Finney, Ankush Khardori, Kim Sajet, Anthony Coley, Eun Yang, Katharine Weymouth, Joyce Brayboy, Stephanie Cutter, Elizabeth Thorp, Tessa Gould, Kimball Stroud, Robert Zeliger and Shalanda Young. — SPOTTED last night at an advanced screening of the docuseries “Earnhardt” hosted by Amazon MGM Studios and the Motion Picture Association: Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Charlie Rivkin, Steve Hartell, Ken Clifford, Ben Brown, Craig Bruney, Noah Malale, Matt Newman, Ellen Schrantz, Charles Wright, Hap Rigby and John Gibson. — The Flex Association hosted its annual spring reception last night at Junction, honoring Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) with their inaugural Flex Innovator Awards. SPOTTED: Krysta Juris, Arian Beckwith, Kaitlyn Kelly, Brian Rogers, Brad Mannion, Chris Munson, Kristin Sharp, Robert Jackson, Courtney Temple, Julius West, Jamie Pascal, Allison Cullen, Bryan Alphin, Mike Glymph, Kaycie Goral and Ben Tugendstein. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Jared Bernstein is now a senior fellow for economic policy at the Center for American Progress. He previously was the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. TRANSITIONS — Jett Thompson is now director of government relations at Metrea. He previously was deputy chief of staff for Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), and is a Sam Johnson and Mike Bishop alum. … David Sours is now a director of federal government affairs at Philip Morris International. He previously was with Rep. Buddy Carter’s (R-Ga.) office and is a Phil Gingrey, Jody Hice and Drew Ferguson alum. … Levi Lall is now counsel at the DOJ's office of legal policy. He previously was counsel for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet. ENGAGED — Sean Doody, social media producer for C-SPAN, and Kate Dowling, attorney-adviser for the U.S. Secret Service, got engaged on Saturday overlooking Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The couple says it was love at first swipe. Pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Rayna Farrell, principal VP and global head of corporate affairs at Bechtel and a Business Roundtable alum, and Adam Farrell, operations manager at Bering Straits Native Corporation, welcomed Caroline Valenti Farrell on Friday. She joins big brothers Jay and Beau. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) … Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) … POLITICO’s Bianca Robles, Jonathan Wright and Mashal Zafar … Airbnb’s Jay Carney Michael Wilner … Anthony Reyes … Treasury’s Jillian Lane Wyant … Invariant’s Drew Griffin … Jimmy Ryan … Kerry Rom of Speaker Mike Johnson’s office … Johnny Srsich … Jennifer Garson … RAGA’s Johnny Koremenos … Jim Popkin … Alex Dilley … NP Strategy’s Tom McMahon … Oren Cass … Bobby Mattina … Jon Jukuri of the National Conference of State Legislatures … Anne Brady Perron … former Reps. Richard Baker (R-La.) Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) … John Michael Gonzalez … Matt Butler ... Bryan Petrich … Lauryn Higgins ... Brandon MacGillis ... Gene Fynes … Julie Orsini of Prosek Partners … Joe Pompeo … Jon Ward … Richard Keil ... Ron Nehring … Peter Bhatia … Clare Krusing … Brian Weeks 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 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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