| | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump spoke over the phone today about a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. | Pool photo by Mikhail Metzel | President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up a closely watched call to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine after more than two hours of talking. Despite fairly rosy readouts from both sides, there isn’t a clear sense that a resolution is close. The call began just after 11 a.m. and ended just after 1 p.m. Over the course of the call, Putin assured Trump that Russia was ready to work toward a potential ceasefire, but Putin said both countries “would need to find compromises to suit all parties,” per the AP. The view from Russia: Putin signaled there was no major breakthrough, but described the call as “very informative and very frank.” He did not expound on any details of the discussion. “At the same time, I would like to note that, in general, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis,” Putin said. After the call wrapped, Trump lauded the conversation as “excellent” in an expansive Truth Social post. “I believe it went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump wrote. “The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of. The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent. If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.” Trump went on to say that Russia wants to do “largescale TRADE” with the U.S. after the conflict ends and that Ukraine could also be a “beneficiary.” He also noted that he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders about his discussion with Putin, and even floated the Vatican (with newly installed Pope Leo XIV) as a site for negotiations. The next you’ll hear from Trump: The president is set to appear at an unrelated White House Rose Garden event at 3 p.m. where he’ll surely face plenty of questions about this morning’s calls. The pre-spins: Despite Putin’s stated intention to work toward an end to the war, there was a sense of skepticism that the talks today would do much to actually move the needle toward a resolution. Ending the war would require “rather painstaking and, perhaps, prolonged work,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said earlier today, per Russian state media. More from NYT’s Anton Troianovski Growing frustration: VP JD Vance, meanwhile, told reporters before the call that the U.S was “more than open to walking away” from negotiations if significant progress isn’t made, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols writes. “The United States is not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes,” Vance said. Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
House Speaker Mike Johnson arrives for a House Budget Committee markup of a budget reconciliation bill on Capitol Hill, on May 18, 2025. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Though the House’s GOP megabill finally cleared the Budget Committee over the weekend, leaders are still racing the clock this week as they try to balance the precarious line between granting concessions to the hard-liners while maintaining moderate support. Here’s the latest state of play:
- The White House wades in: As the intraparty sparring continues, White House staff have reportedly invited some of the megabill holdouts to meetings tomorrow on Capitol Hill, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman reports. But Trump himself isn’t yet whipping support for the bill, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly reports. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted this morning that the president is “willing to pick up the phone when he’s asked to.”
- Major division over Medicaid: As conservatives push for major changes to Medicaid payments, House Republican leadership, moderates and the White House are all still resisting that effort, POLITICO’s Ben Leonard and Meredith Lee Hill report. “Medicaid work requirements, though, are expected to be phased in two years, addressing the hard-liners’ push to speed up the previously planned 2029 implementation. The draft bill, however, includes multiple waivers of those provisions that states can pursue, and those waivers are not expected to substantially change.”
- Undecided on SALT caps: State and local tax deductions continue to be a major sticking point for a key bloc of lawmakers. As of this morning, one GOP staffer noted that leadership is still “not decided yet” on whether to raise the $30,000 SALT deduction cap, per Punchbowl.
- Holdouts remain vocal: Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) both said in lengthy posts on X that they aren’t bought into the bill yet, citing issues such as Medicaid expansion, clean energy provisions and more.
2. THE LATEST ON BIDEN’S DIAGNOSIS: Former President Joe Biden this morning delivered his first public comments following yesterday’s disclosure that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support,” Biden wrote in a post on X alongside a selfie with former first lady Jill Biden and their cat, Willow. Meanwhile: Vance nodded at accusations from Republican spheres that Biden staffers were culpable in shielding the public from the diagnosis, or at the very least, the president’s declining health. “We really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job,” Vance told reporters this morning. “I don't think that he was in good enough health. In some ways, I blame him less than I blame the people around him.” 3. JUST VANCE: The VP opted against a visit to Israel tomorrow as the country continues to expand its military operations in Gaza, Axios’ Barak Ravid scoops. Though Vance has cited “logistical” reasons for canceling the trip, a U.S. official suggested he canceled to avoid any suggestion the White House endorsed Israel’s expanding ground operations “at a time when the U.S. is pushing for a ceasefire and hostage deal.” This morning, Leavitt reiterated in her briefing that the administration was dedicated to ending the Middle East conflict as well as the war in Russia and Ukraine. “The president wants these conflicts to end not just to save money, but to save lives,” Leavitt said. Leavitt also told reporters that Vance passed along a letter from Trump during his visit today with Pope Leo XIV, inviting him to the White House. “The Chicago-born pope took the letter and put it on his desk and was heard saying ‘at some point,’ in the video footage of the meeting provided by Vatican Media,” AP’s Nicole Winfield and Jacquelyn Martin report from Rome. A statement from the Vatican said there was “an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved.” Vance also gifted Leo a personalized Chicago Bears jersey. Another glossy takeout on Vance: “The Talented Mr. Vance,” by The Atlantic’s George Packer: “J.D. Vance could have brought the country’s conflicting strands together. Instead, he took a divisive path to the peak of power.” 4. IN A BOX TO THE LEFT: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has been facing a slew of harsh headlines, as his current and former staff express growing concerns over his mental and physical health. Now, Bloomberg’s Jonathan Tamari reports that Fetterman has routinely skipped out on meetings with colleagues and “didn’t attend a single committee hearing in 2025 until this month.” Though some tie Fetterman’s absences to his 2022 stroke, an “internal review shows his work habits predate his health problems. Previous public offices foreshadowed some of the concerns now weighing on him.” Fetterman “is now so detached from his job that most of Pennsylvania’s Democratic House delegation has almost no contact with him.”
| | | | Did you know Playbook goes beyond the newsletter—with powerhouse new co-hosts at the mic? Tune in to The Playbook Podcast every weekday for exclusive intel and sharp analysis on Trump’s Washington, straight from Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns. Start listening now. | | | | | 5. NOT GOING GREEN: “US plans to cancel 7 conditional commitments for green projects,” by Semafor’s Tim McDonnell: “$8.45 billion isn’t as deep of a cut as one might have expected, especially since most of the projects were already dead. … But it’s revealing that the administration would let these projects — most of which are in sectors where the US is already far behind China — fall by the wayside, rather than take steps to prop them up.” 6. STEEL STANDING: Nippon Steel “plans to invest $14 billion in U.S. Steel’s operations including up to $4 billion in a new steel mill if the Trump administration green lights its bid,” Reuters’ Alexandra Alper and Jarrett Renshaw scoop. “The companies face a May 21 deadline for the completion of a fresh national security review of their proposed tie-up, which was blocked by Biden on national security grounds … It is unclear if the billions in new investment will be enough to sway Trump, though two other sources said his administration sought the increased investment.” 7. FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK: “Judge deals blow to Arizona case over 2020 Republican electors,” by WaPo’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Patrick Marley: “An Arizona judge has ordered state prosecutors to send back to a grand jury a case in which Republicans were charged last year for their alleged roles in trying to overturn the 2020 election, potentially jeopardizing the high-profile indictments. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam J. Myers sided with the Republicans and found that prosecutors failed to provide the grand jury with the text of an 1887 federal law that is central to the Republicans’ defense.” 8. MEDIAWATCH: Wendy McMahon is stepping down from her role as CBS News president amid an ongoing clash between the network and the White House, NYT’s Michael Grynbaum reports. Tensions between McMahon and CBS’ parent company, Paramount, have been running high after the network agreed to settle a lawsuit from Trump that accused “60 Minutes” of “deceptively editing” a 2024 interview with Kamala Harris. “Within CBS News, some journalists expected Ms. McMahon to be gone within months. But the timing of her announcement, less than 24 hours after Sunday’s season finale of ‘60 Minutes,’ still raised eyebrows.” 9. KNOWING KARA SWISHER: “How Kara Swisher Scaled Even Higher,” by NYT’s Jessica Testa and Benjamin Mullin: “Swisher's reach in the media world goes far beyond Vox Media. She is finalizing a deal for a documentary series about cheating death, produced with EverWonder Studio, probably for CNN, where she said she already earns around $250,000 annually as a contributor. She is working on a book about mortality and future tech. There is a potential TV show based on her memoir and another possible series about tech moguls. She also serves as a consultant on a D.C. version of the series ‘The L Word.’”
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | MEDIA MOVE — Noah Bierman is now deputy editor of The Washington Post’s new campaigns and democracy team. He previously was a White House editor at POLITICO TRANSITION — Mayank Bishnoi is now counsel at Texas Instruments, leading its global regulatory policy. He previously was chief of compliance and regulatory affairs at the Commerce Department. BONUS BIRTHDAY: Ben Ritz of the Progressive Policy Institute 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 and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Friday’s Playbook PM incorrectly referred to Devin Nunes.
| | | | A message from the Alzheimer's Association:  
The Alzheimer's Association is working with bipartisan lawmakers to make meaningful policy changes. More work remains. | | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment