| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Good Monday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, writing for you today on Memorial Day. Your author will be pausing to remember the hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women who fought alongside my grandparents’ generation and gave their lives for European freedom. We won’t forget. Memorial Day forecast: “After a chance of an early-morning stray shower, skies brighten to partly to mostly sunny,” per the Capital Weather Gang. “Highs warm into the low to mid-70s with light winds. Use your sunglasses and sunblock … Nice day!” In today’s Playbook … — Trump flips out on Putin … but will anything change for Ukraine? — Another day, another tariff pause: Trump’s trade war with Europe gets postponed. — Fight! Fight! Fight! Senate Republicans gear up for budget battle.
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President Donald Trump’s attitude toward Russian President Putin appears to be flipping. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo | THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD: Donald Trump will give the traditional Memorial Day presidential address at Arlington National Cemetery this morning in honor of America’s war dead. The president will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at 11 a.m., paying tribute to the fallen heroes of past wars in what should be a rare moment of unity for a divided nation. ‘Vladimir, stop!’: But it’s another, painfully current war occupying the president’s mind this holiday weekend. Russia has spent the weekend absolutely hammering Ukraine’s cities with scores of missiles and drone strikes, killing civilians as they slept in their beds and making a mockery of the idea that President Vladimir Putin is seriously engaging with Trump’s push for peace. This is a big moment: Because it really looks now like Trump’s attitude toward Putin is starting to flip. Playbook noted the first shifts in tone a week ago, but last night we saw Trump visibly angry when asked for an update as he boarded Air Force One. “I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump growled back. “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him. But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don’t like it at all … Something happened to this guy.” He repeated variations on the line several times to make sure we got the message. And Trump wasn’t done. “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after. “He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.” There was even an implicit threat: “I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right,” Trump said of Putin. “But if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” Obligatory history lesson: It goes without saying that Trump’s characterization of Putin as a decent guy who’s recently undergone some sort of dramatic change will come as a surprise to the people of Ukraine, given his troops have been bombing them for the past three-and-a-half years and kidnapping their children. It will also raise eyebrows in Salisbury, England, where his agents conducted a chemical weapons attack in 2018 … And in Crimea, which he illegally annexed in 2014 … And in Georgia, which he illegally invaded in 2008 … And in the Millenium Hotel in London, where his agents poisoned Alexander Litvinenko with radiation in 2006. And so on.
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®: The House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act is positive for homeownership and the middle class, with strong bipartisan voter backing. Key provisions—like lower tax rates, SALT relief, and incentives for small businesses and community investment—make housing more affordable and strengthen communities and the American Dream. While this bill brings real benefits, more bipartisan action is needed to reduce housing costs. Learn more. | | | | But here’s why it matters: What we’re seeing here from the president is another step toward a genuine shift in approach. For how else to rationalize a complete 180? Either Trump admits he got it all wrong, or he decides he was right but Putin has changed. Trump being Trump, he’s picking the latter. Trump also being Trump: He still felt the need to “both-sides” things yesterday, complaining about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — “Everything out of his mouth causes problems” — and explaining how this war never would have happened if yadda yadda yadda. But this visible anger toward Putin is new. Trump clearly suspects he’s being taken for a fool. The question is — what is he going to do about it? Unfortunately … When a reporter asked the president precisely this question yesterday evening, all we got back was deflection. “We’ll see what we’re gonna do about it,” Trump replied, aggressively. “What, am I gonna tell you? You’re the fake news, aren’t you? You’re totally fake. Any more questions?” He didn’t exactly sound like a man with a plan — though asked later if he was considering sanctions, Trump said “absolutely.” So what happens next … is anyone’s guess. Trump’s readout of his call with Putin a week ago made it sound like he was already backing away from peace talks — and it’s pretty clear what the pro-Ukraine wing of the GOP wants him to do next. “It is a time for honesty,” Rep. Don Bacon said on X. “Peace talks are having zero effect on Putin … The U.S. & Allies must arm Ukraine to the teeth, sanction Russia to the max, & confiscate the $300B in overseas Russian assets.” Might we see movement in the week ahead? Also worth watching this week: Further progress on the Trump administration’s talks with Iran. Officials have been making positive noises for the past week or so, and yesterday Trump suggested we may hear something official in the next 48 hours. “We've had some very, very good talks with Iran,” the president said. “And I don't know if I'll be telling you anything good or bad over the next two days, but I have a feeling I might be telling you something good. We've had some real progress, serious progress.” Axios’ Barak Ravid writes it up. And lest we forget: The reports coming out of Gaza are still utterly bleak. Trump said the U.S. has been talking to both sides, and that “we want to see if we can stop that whole situation as quickly as possible.” But it’s far from clear how that might actually happen, with Israel stating it aims to control 75 percent of the entire strip in the coming weeks. In memoriam: The funeral of 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky, one of the young Israeli Embassy officials shot dead in downtown D.C. last week, was held in Israel yesterday. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, attended the ceremony and gave one of the eulogies. The NYT has a poignant write-up.
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The House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act supports the middle class with broad voter support for provisions that boost housing affordability, community investment, and small businesses. Learn more. | | | | IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID TRADING PLACES: As the famous saying goes, there are only three things certain in life — death, taxes, and Donald Trump rolling back his threatened tariffs. The EU and the U.S. will begin new trade talks “rapidly” after Trump announced his severe 50 percent tariffs on imported goods from the bloc would be punted from this coming Sunday — when they were due to take effect — to July 9. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen secured the delay in a call yesterday with Trump, eliciting a relatively chipper Truth Social post. More from POLITICO’s Ali Bianco and Ari Hawkins Fastest U-turn yet: Remember, it was only Friday that Trump announced these higher levies in the first place — meaning they were only ever in play for just over 48 hours. (If you managed to get away for an extended holiday weekend, you’ll have missed the entire episode.) Trump’s supporters will say the mere threat got von der Leyen to the negotiating table … Trump’s critics will say that all he ever does is threaten and then fold. Either way: Stock futures jumped on the news, and investors will now be pinning their hopes on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to find a way through the detail. “We’re all putting a lot of faith in the secretary because he’s earned it,” one European official told CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Jeremy Herb. The news comes as Europe is starting to see more worrisome shipping congestion fueled by the U.S.-China trade war, which could trickle to the rest of the world, Bloomberg’s Brendan Murray reports. Trump finally responds to Dave Chapelle: “I’m not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I’m not looking to make socks,” Trump told reporters last night as he expounded his vision for an American manufacturing renaissance. “We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships.” (Of course, Republicans are in the process of undoing one government-backed manufacturing boom already underway, in clean energy.) More from Reuters The other continent to watch: Navigating Trump’s tariffs — and the alternative prospect of getting closer to China — will be a big topic of discussion at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit kicking off today, Bloomberg’s Anisah Shukry and colleagues preview. Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba said yesterday that he hopes to land a U.S. trade deal at the G7 meeting next month, per Semafor. FED UP: Buoyed — and perhaps emboldened — by last week’s Supreme Court decision indicating Trump can’t legally fire him, Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered some striking comments about democracy during a Princeton speech yesterday. “Our great universities are the envy of the world and a crucial national asset,” Powell told the audience. “When you look back in 50 years, you will want to know that you have done whatever it takes to preserve and strengthen our democracy.” Whatever could he mean? Read his full remarks
| | | | 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. | | | | | ON THE HILL RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: As the Republican megabill heads for the Senate, Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump aren’t singing from the same hymnal on next steps. Johnson’s signal to senators is clear: This thing was so hard to pass the first time that you better not muck it up. “I have a very delicate balance here,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union” in a nod to his fractious conference in a closely divided chamber. “It’s best not to meddle with it too much.” But hours later, Trump told reporters that he expected the Senate to make changes ranging from “minor” to “fairly significant.” And “in some cases, those changes maybe are something I’d agree with, to be honest.” Johnson must have been thrilled. More from NBC Speaking of ‘fairly significant’: Exactly as happened in the House, we’ll likely see both hardliners and moderates pull the bill in competing directions in the Senate. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on “State of the Union” that he believes the GOP won’t have enough votes to pass the bill without deeper spending cuts and a smaller hit to the deficit; Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) reiterated on “Fox News Sunday” that he’s a hard no on the inclusion of the debt ceiling increase. The big political question: Assuming the bill finally passes in some form, which party stands to benefit come the midterms? WaPo’s Dan Balz writes that vulnerable House Republicans are taking a significant risk in making major cuts to the social safety net just as Trump’s tariffs threaten to raise prices. But their 2017 tax bill didn’t play a starring role in the following year’s midterms — and the Democrats, even with history on their side as the party out of power, “are a party in disarray.”
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The House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act is positive for homeownership and the middle class. Learn more. | | | | BEST OF THE REST BLEEDING CUTS: If Memorial Day marks the start of summer swimming season, officials are concerned this year that the CDC’s axing of a team that tracks drowning deaths could leave the public in the dark, POLITICO’s Sophie Gardner reports. Their work helped guide officials to identify concerning patterns and figure out risk factors. A collaboration to help vulnerable children learn to swim has ended, and officials expect that water safety grants to states will be cut too. STORMY WEATHER: When acting FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton was fired a day after telling Congress he didn’t back Trump’s slashing of the disaster relief agency, many observers assumed cause and effect. But Reuters’ Nathan Layne and Ted Hesson report that his ouster was actually already in the works by then — because Hamilton, a Trump loyalist, was being “too nice” to the agency and too nuanced in not supporting its outright dismantlement. CAPITULATION CORNER: “Trump Allies Look to Benefit From Pro Bono Promises by Elite Law Firms,” by NYT’s Jessica Silver-Greenberg: “Veterans, in particular, are reaching out to large firms like Skadden, Kirkland & Ellis, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison … Some veterans have viewed the deals as an open invitation to ask for free legal work. … Just two months after striking the deals with Mr. Trump, law firms are in uncharted territory. They are trying to make good on their pro bono commitments to Mr. Trump while not giving up their autonomy to choose cases or alienating their staff, who want to work on legal issues that broadly serve the public’s interest.” THE END OF IDEALISM: “US military shifts messaging in Africa, telling allies to prepare to stand more on their own,” by AP’s Sam Metz and Monika Pronczuk in Tan Tan, Morocco: “[M]ostly gone now is language that emphasizes ideas the U.S. once argued set it apart from Russia and China. Messaging about the interwoven work of defense, diplomacy and development once formed the core of Washington’s security pitch. In their place now are calls for helping allies build capacity to manage their own security.” SMART STORY: “Inside the identity crisis in anti-woke media,” by Semafor’s Ben Smith and Maxwell Tani: “That loose group, rooted in part in a letter published in Harper’s Magazine in 2020, includes HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the digital show Breaking Points, opinion outlets like Quillette, UnHerd and Persuasion, the Jewish online magazine Tablet, and podcasts like Blocked & Reported and The Fifth Column. Now, they are reckoning with a president who has embraced their positions on many of their favored issues — in particular, the traditional boundaries of sex and gender, the role of affirmative action, and the left-wing slant of American academia — but who is pursuing their goals with the illiberal tactics they’d abhorred.”
| | | | 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 | | George Santos said he’s given up on seeking a pardon from Donald Trump, decrying the “bunch of guard dogs” in the process. “I’ve accepted my fate and don’t want to talk about it anymore…” Joe Biden, home in Delaware, is browsing without buying at Jos. A. Bank but purchasing essentials at Walgreens, The Telegraph’s Rob Crilly writes in a sceney piece from Greenville. Dan Goldman went into the lions’ den in Indianapolis to cheer on the New York Knicks. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — D.C. has seen 13 homicides in 13 days, “an unusually high rate,” WaPo’s Martin Weil reports. Police said the latest killing, last night, appeared to be a stray bullet from outside that hit a man in his Columbia Heights apartment. TRANSITION — Baillee Brown is now head of government and external affairs at Inclusive Abundance. She previously was chief of staff for Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) … Keenan Austin Reed … Brenda Cruz … Jackie Padilla … Jennifer Rizzo … Vox’s Noel King … Andrew Beilein … Mike Harney … NBC’s Tom Ranzweiler … Matt Keelen … Miriam Cash … ClearPath’s Chris Tomassi … Morgan Jacobs … Allison Davis Tuck … Hana Vizcarra … Dina Ellis Rochkind … former Reps. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) and Rich Nugent (R-Fla.) … Katie Wise … Jonathan Dach … Adam Rapfogel … POLITICO’s Aurora Calderone, Jiselle Lee, Rebecca Haase, Steven Stiles and Thejaswini Somegowda … Margo Tercek … Declan Graham of Rep. Joe Morelle’s (D-N.Y.) office … Yul Edwards of Thorn Run Partners 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 National Association of REALTORS®: The House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act is positive for homeownership and the middle class. A recent survey commissioned by the National Association of REALTORS® shows strong, bipartisan voter support for key provisions in the bill that make housing more affordable. From extending lower tax rates and SALT relief to incentives for small businesses and community investment, this bill delivers real benefits that will strengthen the American Dream and help build resilient communities. However, there is still more bipartisan work to be done to bring down the cost of housing. Learn more. | | | | | | | | 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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