| | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
President Donald Trump told reporters he was “disappointed” by Elon Musk's recent attacks against Republicans' megabill. | AP | Donald Trump finally laid into Elon Musk in the president’s first public comments since the billionaire tech mogul and onetime right-hand man opened up an onslaught on Republicans’ megabill to jumpstart Trump’s domestic agenda. What Trump said: As Trump welcomed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for a meeting at the White House, the president said he was “surprised” and “disappointed” by Musk’s recent string of attacks. “Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know if we will anymore.” He later said he was “very disappointed in Elon,” and noted that he has “helped Elon a lot.” More from POLITICO’s Aaron Pellish The fresh comments from Trump come as Musk has unloaded scores of posts on X sharply and directly decrying the House-passed reconciliation bill that the Senate is considering primarily over concerns about spiking debt. Musk continued his assault today before Trump began speaking, digging up one of Trump’s old tweets from 2012 slamming Congress over the deficit: “I couldn’t agree more!” Musk wrote. Quoting another account that unearthed even more old Trump tweets, Musk said: “Where is this guy today??” Then, Musk began responding in real time to Trump’s barbs from the Oval Office. What Trump said: Trump told reporters that “Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anyone” and “had no problem with it.” Musk’s response: Not so, Musk said, echoing a complaint of Democrats (and even some Republicans who are questioning it in hindsight): “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” What’s really going to set Trump off: Trump made a point to emphasize that he “would have won Pennsylvania” even if Musk hadn’t endorsed and financially backed him. But Musk doesn’t see it that way: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” he wrote. “Such ingratitude.” Summarizing his stance: “In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way,” Musk wrote, linking to a clip of Trump speaking about him in the Oval. Over in the Capitol: Trump wasn’t the only one with Musk on the mind this morning. Speaker Mike Johnson said this morning that he is trying to tamp down Musk’s onslaught, appealing directly to the billionaire tech mogul. “Elon is a good friend. We texted late last night,” Johnson said earlier in an appearance on Bloomberg TV, noting that he planned to speak to Musk today. “He seems pretty dug in right now, and I can’t quite understand the motivation behind it.” When asked if Musk was working to save electric vehicle incentives from falling out of the bill, Johnson declined to answer but said he’ll let people draw their own conclusions. Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®: Homeownership is the leading way Americans build wealth—but a 4.7 million-unit housing shortage is putting that at risk, especially for the middle class. The National Association of Realtors® has a plan. With smart tax reforms that support homeownership and community investment, paired with other targeted policy changes, we can increase housing supply and restore the American Dream. See the plan at FLYIN.Realtor. | | | | | | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. TRUMP AND XI CONNECT: Trump said in a post on Truth Social this morning that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping for an hour and a half to discuss trade between the mega-economies in light of recent simmering tensions. The topline: Trump said in his post that the talk, which marks the first direct contact between the two leaders since Trump returned to office, had a “very positive conclusion for both Countries.” He added that there should “no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products,” referencing China’s previous vow to restart the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets, which has cropped up as a point of contention for both sides amid the trade negotiations. The next steps: Representatives from each nation will be “meeting shortly” at a TBD location, Trump said, noting that the U.S. delegation would be led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and USTR Jamieson Greer. What wasn’t talked about: Trump said the two did not discuss anything related to Russia’s war in Ukraine nor Iran nuclear negotiations. “During the conversation, President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated,” Trump wrote. “As Presidents of two Great Nations, this is something that we both look forward to doing.” The post also notably did not mention fentanyl, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and colleagues report. The view from Beijing: “The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a readout, said the call came at Trump’s request and suggested that while China had taken the Geneva agreement seriously, the U.S. needs to evaluate the negative actions it has since taken toward China,” our colleagues note. Mood music: The conversation also comes as a new report released this morning showed that the U.S. trade deficit “marked a record-breaking decline in April, as a barrage of steep new tariffs muted the rush of imports that had preceded the new trade barriers,” WSJ’s Matt Grossman reports. “The figures show a strong initial effect from the big step-up in tariffs the White House enacted in early April, but the path forward is less clear. Companies had hustled to bring goods onshore before the tariffs hit, so April's data reflects, in part, a normalization.” 2. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Senate Republicans are now “eyeing possible Medicare provisions to help offset the cost of their megabill as they try to appease budget hawks who want more spending cuts embedded in the legislation,” POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and colleagues report. Despite the precarious political gambit that messing with Medicare presents on both sides of the Capitol, the Senate GOP is pushing ahead with the idea and some Republicans believe Trump is “on board with touching the program as long as it’s limited to ‘waste, fraud and abuse.’” SALT on the table: Johnson also said this morning that he’s fighting to keep the $40,000 cap on state and local deductions, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated is likely to change in the Senate version. “I am certainly trying to hold to that number,” Johnson said. “I hope they tolerate it.” Johnson said “he has told senators that the SALT provision is key to the bill winning approval when it comes back for a final vote in the House later this summer given dueling priorities within the slim Republican majority,” per Bloomberg. Quote of the day: “I told my friends I am crossing the Grand Canyon on a piece of dental floss,” Johnson said. 3. SCOTUS WATCH: In a unanimous decision this morning, the Supreme Court “sided with a straight woman who claimed she faced bias in the workplace after she was passed over for positions that went to gay colleagues,” WaPo’s Justin Jouvenal reports, noting that the ruling “will make it easier for members of majority groups to prove job discrimination claims.” The details: “The justices unanimously struck down a standard used in nearly half the nation’s federal circuits that required people who are White, male or not gay to meet a higher bar to prove workplace bias in certain cases than do individuals whose minority communities have traditionally faced discrimination. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who wrote the opinion for the court, agreed with Marlean Ames, who argued that it was unconstitutional to have different standards for different groups of people.” Another unanimous decision: The justices also made it harder to sue gun manufacturers when their weapons are frequently used in crimes, ruling unanimously that “claims in a lawsuit the Mexican government brought against seven major American gun makers were too tenuous to try to hold the companies liable for guns eventually being used in murders and robberies,” POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports.
| | | | 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. | | | | | 4. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya recently made a promise to fully utilize the fiscal 2025 budget for the agency before the fiscal year ends — a vow made during a meeting with more than a dozen organizations focused on medical breakthroughs for disease treatment and cures, POLITICO’s Erin Schumaker and your author report. Those 15 organizations are sending a letter to Bhattacharya today, thanking him for the meeting and making public his commitment, which has not been previously reported. “Delays threaten to stall momentum and diminish opportunities for urgently needed breakthroughs. Your commitment to appropriately obligating these funds is a vital step forward — and we thank you,” the letter says. Read the full letter, with the list of signatories The response: “Director Bhattacharya is prioritizing high-impact, high-urgency science,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement to POLITICO. “Rather than wasting taxpayer dollars on DEI and gender ideology research like the previous administration did, we’re making sure every dollar supports research that delivers real value to the American people, focuses directly on their health, and supports our efforts to end the chronic disease epidemic.” The letter comes as Bhattacharya fields questions about the NIH budget. Researchers and staffers are worried that if grantmaking and grant distributions continue to be delayed, grants won't go out and the 2025 budget won't get spent. And the clock is ticking: The fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Bhattacharya is scheduled to testify about the NIH 2026 budget before a Senate Appropriations subpanel on Tuesday. NIH staff has also been critical of Bhattacharya’s efforts thus far. Two weeks ago, members of the NIH fellows union walked out of a town hall Bhattacharya held in protest of cuts to programs, layoffs and funding uncertainty. Meanwhile, the White House is proposing a roughly 40 percent cut to the NIH budget for 2026. Former NIH directors say even a much smaller cut, like 20 percent, could deal a devastating blow to the agency. The issue also came up at HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s hearings last month. Kennedy was asked if he would commit to spending HHS funds appropriated by Congress and said he would — though in practice, HHS has not done so. 5. DCA CRASH FALLOUT: The Transportation Department embarked on a multimillion-dollar investigation into DEI following Trump’s unfounded claims that such initiatives played a role in the deadly aerial crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier this year. “The FAA’s parent agency agreed in March to spend as much as $2.1 million on an investigation into DEI policies and their impact on recent safety incidents,” The Atlantic’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reports. “To conduct that investigation, the Trump administration has turned to Alex Spiro, a former prosecutor and a prominent defense attorney who has represented Elon Musk, among other billionaires and celebrities.” Inside the probe: The investigation is expected to wrap up soon, Stanley-Becker reports. “Contrary to what Trump may hope, it’s not expected to find that programs aimed at ensuring representation for women and people of color are responsible for this year’s string of aviation disasters, including the January crash at Reagan airport, which killed 67 people and prompted Trump’s tirade against DEI.” 6. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Israel has “recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack,” AP’s Melanie Lidman reports. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai were recovered and returned to Israel. “Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday meanwhile killed at least 13 people, including three local journalists who were in the courtyard of a hospital, according to health officials in the territory. The military said it targeted a militant in that strike.” 7. WOWZA: “Mar-a-Lago Bump: Feds Pay $13 Million in Rent to Trump Neighbors,” by Bloomberg’s Jack Fitzpatrick: “The Trump administration is renting three houses near Mar-a-Lago for $13.3 million, a sum greater than half of the properties’ estimated market value and a steep markup from the rates it paid in the same Palm Beach neighborhood five years ago. The General Services Administration in February signed four-year leases for two of the homes and a five-year lease for the third, all within two blocks of President Donald Trump‘s Florida resort, according to GSA records. Administration officials declined to say how the properties will be used, or answer questions about the rental agreements.” 8. A NEW YORK MINUTE: Following a debate that saw Andrew Cuomo further cement himself as the frontrunner in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary, two influential Empire State Democrats are finally getting off the sidelines to endorse candidates running against him. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, arguably one of the most influential Dems in the nation, endorsed fellow Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as her first choice this morning, POLITICO’s Emily Ngo reports. And Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, who holds great influence among Caribbean New Yorkers, is endorsing Adrienne Adams as her top pick, Emily scoops.
| | | | 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 | | Tim Wu, one of former President Joe Biden’s top antitrust officials, in a since-deleted post called Karine Jean-Pierre “kinda dumb.” Ro Khanna said Jimmy Gomez and Rashida Tlaib are among the biggest cursers in Congress on “The Adam Friedland Show.” CULINARY CORNER — Congressional Democrats have signed a pledge to boycott a host of D.C. hotspots (and fundraising locales) over labor disputes, including — gasp — Le Diplomate, per Axios’ Andrew Solender and Cuneyt Dil. Others include Osteria Mozza, The Occidental, Rasika, Modena and Bombay Club. OUT AND ABOUT — The Republican Asian American Staff Association hosted a launch celebration at Amazon’s D.C. office last night featuring Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Vince Fong (R-Calif.). SPOTTED: Christopher Zhen, Jinwook Hwang, James Min, Saat Alety, Stephanie Penn, Neal Patel, Clayton Fong, Shine Lee, Jaliya Nagahawatte, Linette Choi, Ken Farnaso, Charlie Gann, Ayush Nallapally, Daniel Chung, Haley Tran, Miguel Mendoza and Nate Blake. — Ford Motor Company hosted a reception Wednesday night as part of its fly-in to press members from both parties to preserve the IRA’s battery production tax incentives in the reconciliation bill. SPOTTED: Reps. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) and Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Chris Smith, Matthew Godlewski, Tony Reinhart and Jessica Carter. TRANSITIONS — Melissa Burnison is now clerk for the Senate Appropriations Energy-Water Subcommittee. She previously was VP for federal legislative affairs at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and is an Energy Department alum. … Josh Korn is now head of public policy at Whatnot. He previously was tech policy head at Netflix. … Christiana Nulty (née Reasor) has joined Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office as health policy adviser. She previously was director of federal affairs at Genentech and is a Jerry Moran and Lynn Jenkins alum. 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.
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