| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
President Donald Trump announced a huge shift in U.S. policy toward Syria. | Alex Brandon/AP | POTUS ABROAD: President Donald Trump announced today that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Syria, as he promoted major Saudi investment pledges and laid out a new vision for American foreign policy: more realpolitik, less values-based intervention. “Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said in reference to Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman, also citing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as having helped secure the Syria sanctions reprieve. More from POLITICO’s Eli Stokols Road to Damascus: This is most immediately a huge shift in Syria policy and a major boon for new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom Trump plans to greet tomorrow, per Axios’ Barak Ravid. The White House framed it simply as a moment to “say hello,” but it’s nonetheless a striking encounter with a man who’s still on the U.S. terrorist list — and the first meeting between U.S. and Syrian leaders since 2000. The U.S. sanctions have weighed heavily on the Syrian economy, threatening al-Sharaa’s ability to rebuild the country since the rebel leader ousted the Bashar Assad regime five months ago. More from Riyadh: Trump said Saudi Arabia had agreed to $600 billion in investments in the U.S., with roughly half of those deals signed on this trip, though details are scarce for now, per Reuters. (Bloomberg reports that MBS’ ultra-costly domestic spending plans could make it harder to deliver.) The U.S. will also sell $142 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia, which the White House trumpeted as the largest such arms cooperation deal ever struck. The Trump administration is also working on a deal for Saudi Arabia to access more AI semiconductor chips, Bloomberg’s Mackenzie Hawkins, Annmarie Hordern and Matthew Martin report. The ideological shift: As Trump laid out in his speech, this Middle East trip epitomizes a sharply new isolationist and transactional direction for the U.S. “Far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins,” Trump said. It was a striking comment coming in front of MBS, who the CIA has concluded ordered the assassination of WaPo columnist Jamal Khashoggi. “The so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built,” Trump added, saying he would focus instead on promoting American interests. (At the same time, WaPo digs into his potential personal conflicts of interest.) Other notable moments: Trump encouraged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel — but added that “you’ll do it in your own time.” Continuing to cast himself as the consummate dealmaker, Trump also encouraged Iran to take his “olive branch” and negotiate a nuclear deal, or face “maximum pressure.” More Middle East fallout: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced he’ll place a hold on all Justice Department political nominations — his first-ever blanket blockade — in protest of Trump saying he would accept a luxury jet gifted by Qatar, Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio scooped. … Axios’ Barak Ravid has the backstory of how Hamas freed American hostage Edan Alexander: The Palestinian militant group first reached out to pro-Trump activist Bishara Bahbah to set up a back channel with the U.S. that led to Alexander’s release, in hopes of gaining favor with Trump. INFLATION NATION: For the third month in a row, inflation data came in lower than economists expected for April — another sign that Trump’s trade wars aren’t pushing prices up, at least not yet. The 2.3 percent annual rate was the lowest level of inflation since 2021 and close to the Fed’s 2 percent target, per POLITICO’s Sam Sutton. The Consumer Price Index “contained only scant evidence that Trump’s tariffs have meaningfully driven up the cost of living.” Consumer products didn’t see large jumps from the levies on China, Canada, Mexico and more, and the price of eggs declined; instead, housing remained the principal driver of inflation. But but but: Core inflation remained flat at 2.8 percent annually, and the monthly increase ticked up to 0.2 percent. Economists still anticipate tariffs will drive inflation higher in the future. More tariff fallout: In the wake of the U.S.-China trade agreement, China has lifted its pause on Boeing deliveries, Bloomberg reports. Still, Chinese President Xi Jinping today made a veiled critique of Trump’s “bullying and tyranny,” WaPo’s Lily Kuo reports, and Beijing sees the deal as a major win for Xi, WSJ’s Chun Han Wong and Jason Douglas report. Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
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Learn more at VaporTechnology.org. | | | | | | 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Ahead of this afternoon’s crucial committee markups, the latest cost forecast from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation shows that House Republicans’ tax cuts would total $3.7 trillion, POLITICO’s Brian Faler reports. That’s a boon for GOP leaders, since it comes in under their $4 trillion target with some room to spare — perhaps for negotiations on the state and local tax deduction. In particular, new tax breaks Trump proposed would cost less than some experts expected. The overall cost would still vastly outstrip the savings from spending cuts. More key numbers: Meanwhile, the latest CBO assessment of the House Agriculture bill text shows that it would save up to $300 billion over a decade, powered by SNAP cuts, POLITICO’s Grace Yarrow reports. Its original target was $230 billion, so the panel could now have the space to include $60 billion in farm bill programs. Trouble brewing: Speaker Mike Johnson may need that extra Ways and Means money to make SALT changes. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) warned POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill that the bill would be “dead on arrival” if it comes to the House floor in its current form. LaLota, who wants a much larger SALT boost, said Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) had acted in “bad faith.” Huge stakes: The Ways and Means bill text would cripple America’s green-energy revolution, just as the Inflation Reduction Act’s historic climate investments have begun to take root, NYT’s Brad Plumer and Harry Stevens report. Slashing the tax credits would yield savings of hundreds of billions of dollars. It would also damage the mostly Republican districts where clean-energy projects were planned — and “could reshape the nation’s power grids,” producing higher carbon emissions. 2. SCHOOL DAZE: The Trump administration slapped another major penalty on Harvard, barring an additional $450 million in grants and contracts because of the school’s handling of discrimination against Jews and white people, per The Harvard Crimson’s Dhruv Patel and Grace Yoon. The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced the move today, citing a recent report on antisemitism. “The group did not mention — and appeared unconcerned by — findings of discrimination and isolation in a parallel Harvard task force report on anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian bias,” the Crimson notes. 3. UKRAINE LATEST: Special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg will head to Turkey on Thursday for talks about the war in Ukraine, Reuters’ Erin Banco, Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk scooped. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to attend too, per the White House pool. Now the big question mark is Russia: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’ll go to Istanbul only if Russian President Vladimir Putin does too. 4. ADD IT UP: “Trump administration cut $2.7 billion in NIH research funding through March, Senate committee minority report says,” by CNN’s Jacqueline Howard: “That figure [from the Senate HELP Dems] is much higher than some separate estimates that previously suggested targeted grant terminations have affected more than $1.8 billion in NIH funding. … [It says] some of the canceled NIH grants were intended to support not only cancer research but Alzheimer’s disease research, cardiovascular disease studies, diabetes science and infectious disease clinical trials.” 5. 2026 WATCH: In Alabama, Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s decision about whether to run for governor is keeping fellow Republicans on tenterhooks, NOTUS’ Torrence Banks reports. Tuberville hasn’t decided yet. If his Senate seat comes open, possible GOP contenders include former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and AG Steve Marshall. (Former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones hasn’t closed the door either.) Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and former Rep. Mo Brooks sound less interested. If Tuberville does run for governor, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate may switch his focus from the governor’s race to the lieutenant governor’s. Look who’s back: Democrat Amish Shah, who narrowly lost to Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) last fall, is making another go at unseating him, per the Arizona Republic. … Former Rep. Dave Trott, who was a Republican in Congress as recently as Trump’s first term, is weighing another run for his old Michigan seat — which will be newly open — as a Democrat or independent, The Detroit News’ Melissa Nann Burke reports. 6. TALKER: “Biden aides discussed wheelchair use if he were re-elected, new book says,” by Axios’ Alex Thompson, adapted from his new book with Jake Tapper, “Original Sin”: “Joe Biden’s physical deterioration was so severe in 2023 and 2024 that advisers privately discussed the possibility he’d need to use a wheelchair if he won re-election … The discussions reflected the extent of the president’s declining health — particularly the significant degeneration of his spine … The conversations also reveal the White House’s determination to conceal the reality of Biden’s condition, at the risk of his own health.” A Biden spokesperson said the worsening of his spine was “far from ‘severe’” and “evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity.” From another excerpt, in The New Yorker: “What the public saw of his functioning was concerning. What was going on in private was worse. While Biden on a day-in, day-out basis could certainly make decisions and assert wisdom and act as President, there were several significant issues that complicated his Presidency: a limit to the hours in which he could reliably function and an increasing number of moments when he seemed to freeze up, lose his train of thought, forget the names of top aides, or momentarily not remember friends he’d known for decades. Not to mention impairments to his ability to communicate.”
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Learn more at VaporTechnology.org. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | JD Vance went to Walter Reed “for routine check-ups.” IN MEMORIAM — “Christopher ‘Kit’ Bond, former Missouri governor and senator, has died. He was 86,” by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Michael Sorkin: His “career at the top of Missouri politics saw him rise from state auditor to governor to four-term U.S. senator … In the Senate, Bond left no doubt that he saw himself as Missouri’s unofficial King of Pork … Bond helped build the modern-day Missouri Republican Party into a formidable and often-feared political operation.” BOOK CLUB — Run for Something’s Amanda Litman is out today with a new book, “When We’re in Charge,” from Crooked Media’s book imprint with Zando. It’s focused on how millennials and Gen Z can become the next generation of leaders. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a party last night for Ed Luce’s new book, “Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet” ($35), hosted by Susan Glasser and Peter Baker: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Niamh King, Ian and Ginny Brzezinski, Steve and Ann Hadley, Toby Gati, Stuart Eizenstat, Andrea Mitchell, Dan Fried, Sally Quinn, Elisabeth Bumiller and Steve Weisman, Sarah Margon, Marcus Brauchli, Peter Spiegel, Danielle and David Frum, Indira Lakshmanan and Dermot Tatlow, Heidi Crebo-Rediker and Doug Rediker, Jane Mayer and Bill Hamilton, George Conway, Rachel and Phil Gordon, Evan Osnos, Tyler Pager, Shawn McCreesh, Jonathan Martin, Adrienne Arsht, Rafe Sagalyn, and Melanne and Phil Verveer. TRANSITIONS — Thomas Aiello has rejoined National Taxpayers Union as senior director of government affairs. He most recently was a director at the DCI Group. … Ben Napier is joining Andreessen Horowitz team as government affairs partner, leading engagement with House Republicans, per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, Max Cohen and Mica Soellner. He previously was floor director for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. … Reservoir Communications Group has added Casey Stavropoulos as EVP and Nicky Vogt Osborne as VP. Stavropoulos previously was at JPMorgan Chase. Vogt Osborne previously was at Moody’s. … … TSG Advocates is adding Brian Darling, Beau Rothschild and Kaitlyn Roberts, per Florida Politics’ Drew Wilson. Darling previously was at Navigators Global and Liberty Government Affairs. Rothschild previously was at Porter Wright Morris and Arthur. Roberts most recently was a corporate adviser at Aramco. … Teisha Garrett is joining the Democracy Security Project as managing director. She previously was VP at Civitech. … Ben Monticello is now legislative director for Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.). He previously was senior legislative assistant for Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.). WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Nick Manetto, a principal and lead of the federal policy team at Faegre Drinker, and Carrie Manetto welcomed Lea Paige Manetto on April 23. She came in at 6 lbs, 15 oz and 19 inches, and joins six big siblings. Pic … Another pic 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. | | | | 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 | | | |
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