| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On the Playbook Podcast this morning, Jack and Dasha discuss the schisms opening up in the MAGA movement this week — and why Donald Trump is just addicted to trade wars.
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| Good Tuesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. THE NEW DEM BUZZ: James Talarico, the viral Democratic Texas state representative and seminarian, has become the latest member of a rarified group of Democrats to record an interview with podcasting behemoth Joe Rogan, Playbook’s Adam Wren scoops this morning. The sitdown, expected to be released today, could prove a career-maker for Talarico, who is based near Rogan in the Austin suburbs and is seriously weighing a darkhorse U.S. Senate bid. Rogan invited Talarico on the podcast after seeing one of his viral political videos about the Ten Commandments, according to a person familiar with the matter. A campaign would place Talarico on a collision course with Colin Allred, whose recently announced second Senate bid is making some of his fellow Democrats anxious over whether he's the right person to face either Republican Sen. John Cornyn or MAGA favorite AG Ken Paxton — both of whom are embroiled in a messy primary. It’s already shaping up to be one of the races to watch in 2026. In today’s Playbook … — Trump breaks with Vladimir Putin — and MAGA — on Ukraine. — Another day, another trade deadline? — And revealed: The advice Kamala Harris should have taken.
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President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will “send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily” to Ukraine. | Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP | UKRAINE U-TURN: Trump last night overruled his skeptical Pentagon chiefs and restored U.S. weapons shipments to Kyiv in a dramatic shift of position on the Ukraine war. The president told White House reporters that the Ukrainian people “have to be able to defend themselves” after “getting hit very hard” by recent Russian onslaughts. “We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily,” Trump said. It’s a big moment for the president: A rare display of support for Kyiv; a rare show of animosity toward Putin; and a rare break with the MAGA faithful — his second in as many days. And it’s not just talk: Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed in a statement shortly before 11 p.m. that “additional defensive weapons” are indeed being sent to Ukraine, stressing the order was taken “at President Trump’s direction.” It comes exactly a week after POLITICO first revealed vital military shipments to Ukraine had been unexpectedly halted by Pentagon chiefs. The WSJ reports the shipments will be discussed by the National Security Council today, while POLITICO’s Paul McLeary says Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg will dig deeper with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Rome later this week. This is one Trump U-turn that really matters, both at home and abroad. It tells us much about the fractious court of Trump; about the increasingly bewildered MAGA movement; and about the course of the war itself. First — Inside the Trump administration. This is a big power move by the president, with Trump reasserting his authority over influential Ukraine-skeptics in the Pentagon who’ve been working tirelessly to maneuver U.S. military focus away from Europe. Chief among them are Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, the architect of the original halt in weapons shipments, and his boss Pete Hegseth, who as defense secretary signed the decision off. Both will feel more than a little bruised today. It’s especially painful for Hegseth, who was already damaged goods in the eyes of the White House following a series of public missteps. The warning signs were there when reports first emerged that much of the Trump administration — including Marco Rubio’s State Department — had been blindsided by his decision. Then NBC revealed the stated reason behind the halt in shipments was flimsy, at best. Things got even worse last night when the WSJ reported how Trump told Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call last Friday that he had not actually signed the decision off. Ouch: These briefings do not get out by accident; Hegseth has been left high and dry. And it seems unlikely his long-term career prospects have improved.
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WeDeliverForAmerica.org. | | | | Second — On the war itself. Some in Europe feared the decision to suspend shipments would prove to be the beginning of the end of U.S. military support for Ukraine. Last night’s reversal is a significant step in the opposite direction; perhaps one of the first truly pro-Ukraine moves Trump has ever taken. No wonder Zelenskyy was elated after their call last week. “This was probably the best conversation in all this time,” Zelenskyy said afterward. (Let’s hope he remembered to say thank you.) Headed rapidly in the other direction is Trump’s once-treasured relationship with Putin. Having returned to the White House making warm noises about the Russian president and vowing to end the war on Day One,Trump has since been made to look pretty foolish — and it seems his patience has run thin. “I'm disappointed, frankly, that President Putin hasn’t stopped [the war],” Trump said last night, unprompted. “I'm not happy about it.” He’s made the point repeatedly over recent days. Third — In MAGA world. Anger over last night’s U-turn is already starting to flow. Trump’s repeated pledges to end America’s involvement in overseas wars were a big part of his appeal to the MAGA base, and so his decision to start rearming Ukraine — even with purely defensive weapons — is not landing well. At all. Just check out the replies to posts like this — from a one-million-followers-plus X account — when the news first broke last night. You can expect MAGA anger to swell throughout the day. This last point takes on a greater salience when you consider where Trump’s base is currently at. Because this decision follows 24 hours of absolute MAGA outrage at the Trump administration’s announcement on Monday evening that it will not be releasing any more information on the Jeffrey Epstein case; that there never in fact was a “client list” or a bunch of famous people being blackmailed — and that the case is essentially now closed. That announcement has devastated MAGA supporters who have long been convinced the U.S. government is protecting powerful pals of Epstein. Among those who must be fuming today are guys like Dan Bongino, the former MAGA podcaster who spent years demanding the truth about the so-called Epstein List ... And VP JD Vance, the former GOP senator who used to regularly throw bones to the Epstein conspiracy crowd … And Kash Patel, the former Trump aide who used to go on MAGA-friendly podcasts to rant about the Epstein List. Whatever happened to those guys, anyway? Awks: It’s honestly hard to overstate the level of MAGA rage, given these avowed truth-seekers are literally the Deep State now. For evidence of how much all this is rattling the Trump community, check out this post on Truth Socia l by the president himself yesterday, suddenly throwing firm support behind Patel and Bongino without actually referencing why. (It’s also worth checking out the brutal replies when Bongino reposted it on X.) But but but: No one is feeling the heat more than AG Pam Bondi, who blithely vowed a few months ago she would get to the truth, promising a tranche of new information. She even handed out binders supposedly packed with fresh Epstein intel to MAGA influencers … but there was little or no new information inside. “Blondi [sic] should be fired,” MAGA influencer Laura Loomer tells my Playbook colleague Dasha Burns, via text. “I think she’s trying to protect herself from her own horrible record … Blondi lied to the public.” Regrets, I’ve had a few: “It’s a massive mess that has caused a lot of frustration,” one senior Trump administration official admits to Dasha. “The problem was those binders. Every decision they’ve made since that day has compounded the problem. It’s been one thing after another … Overpromising and underdelivering.” The big unknown is how much damage this fracturing of the base could do to Republicans. The chief concern would likely be a loss of enthusiasm; a sense of cynicism among supporters; a depression of core voter turnout in 2026. Or who knows? Maybe a disgruntled ex-MAGA fan will start a third party and scoop some of these disgruntled voters up, costing Republicans key battlegrounds next year. Speak of the devil: “What’s the time?” Elon Musk wrote on X yesterday, posting a picture of an Epstein countdown clock. “Oh look, it’s no-one-has-been-arrested-o’clock again!” He’s had 73,000 reposts, and counting.
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We're American companies, making American products, with American workers, in America's hometowns. We're proud of what we do and how we do it. WeDeliverForAmerica.org. | | | | TRADING PLACES TRADE WARS REV BACK UP: Trump will chair a Cabinet meeting at 11 a.m., but until then all eyes will be on the stock markets, which took a significant turn for the worse yesterday after Trump poured fresh fuel onto his trade-war fires. By the end of the day, Trump had issued new threats of tariffs (in near-identical letters) to 14 countries — essentially previewing a “Liberation Day” redux of 25 percent levies or higher, as WaPo runs down. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia and South Africa were among the most significant to be hit. Tough talk or TACO? As we know, the deadline to strike trade deals with all these nations was meant to be tomorrow … until the administration suddenly bumped it back to Aug. 1, only the latest such shift since the start of April. (Trump made the new date official with an executive order yesterday.) The president was asked last night if Aug. 1 was definitely a firm date. “I would say firm — but not 100 percent firm,” he replied. Head-spinning stuff: Of course, some Trump allies have argued these shifting threats are a valuable negotiating tactic that give the U.S. real leverage. Critics say they’ve contributed to months of economic chaos that have made it harder for businesses to plan. And it’s undoubtedly true that there are precious few deals, even preliminary ones, to speak of as yet. Nonetheless, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC yesterday that there’d be “several announcements in the next 48 hours.” The latest negotiations: Europe is closest to an agreement, Reuters reports, with the EU scrambling to get a deal to hold its tariff rate to 10 percent — including carveouts for aircraft and alcohol, Bloomberg’s Alberto Nardelli and Jorge Valero scooped. Europe is also trying to make progress on Trump’s auto and metal tariffs, but its officials are less optimistic about quick progress there. Shitting BRICS: Meanwhile, Trump’s threats are pushing the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and more) closer together, as they expand trade with each other — one of the many ripple effects of how U.S. protectionism is redrawing the global economic map, NYT’s Ana Ionova reports. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fired back at Trump yesterday, per Reuters: “The world has changed. We don’t want an emperor.”
| | | | Playbook, the unofficial guide to official Washington, 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. | | | | | NEWS FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL First in Playbook — Where Harris went wrong: Before we get to 2026, here’s a little more from 2024. The Kamala Harris campaign was presented with a series of memos in its final stages setting out a clear strategy for winning over independent and “soft” Republican votes — but chose a strikingly different path, a new book out today on the 2024 campaign reveals. The confidential documents, written in the final weeks of the campaign by Dem official Maria Comella, warned the current strategy was not working. “It doesn’t give reason to vote for Harris,” she said in one of a series of memos to campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon. Comella encouraged Harris to appeal to Republicans by differentiating herself from President Joe Biden and acknowledging where the Democratic Party had been wrong, such as “missing the mark” on urban crime, transitioning too quickly to electric cars and neglecting border security. And there’s more: The memos urged Harris to get herself onto the Joe Rogan podcast, and warned her not to make Jan.6 the final focus of her campaign with a speech at the Ellipse. (So much, as they say, for that.) So could Harris have won with a different strategy? Read them for yourself and see what you think: memo one … memo two … memo three … memo four … The book, “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, is out today. And now to 2026: Democrats are trying to make hay of the GOP’s megabill, with the DCCC launching social media ads that hammer 35 incumbents for the law’s impact on rural hospitals, Roll Call’s Daniela Altimari scooped. But Republicans argue that they’ll be able to parry Democratic attacks by slicing and dicing the bill in messaging to highlight its popular components, NBC’s Sahil Kapur and colleagues report. First in Playbook — Ad it up: Climate Power is launching a six-figure ad buy arguing that Trump has failed to bring down prices. Paying homage to a famous Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie attack ad against Spiro Agnew, it simply features an unseen voice laughing — so hard it coughs — at Trump’s pledge to tackle inflation. It’s running nationally and in D.C., with a heavy emphasis on Fox. Watch it here Race for the Senate: Independent Dan Osborn is making his second straight Senate bid in Nebraska, now challenging GOP incumbent Pete Ricketts, POLITICO’s Brakkton Booker and Jordain Carney report. He came unexpectedly close to beating Sen. Deb Fischer last year. Race for the House: Former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) is considering mounting a comeback bid against Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Axios’ Hans Nichols scooped. (Lawler, who beat Maloney in 2022, laughed off the prospect.) … Taylor Wettach jumped into the Democratic primary to unseat Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), The Gazette scooped. He’s a trade and national security lawyer who resigned from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett when it cut a deal with Trump. … GOP Iowa state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl announced a congressional bid as Republican incumbent Randy Feenstra considers running for governor, per The Gazette. Not jumping in: Kentucky state Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe won’t run for an open congressional seat that Democrats are trying to make competitive, the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Austin Horn reports. She’d been seen as a leading GOP contender. Feeling special: In next week’s Democratic primary for an Arizona congressional special election, Adelita Grijalva looks to be the frontrunner, Roll Call’s Daniela Altimari reports … And with Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) leaving Congress this month, the race to replace him is heating up: State Rep. Jody Barrett became the newest Republican to enter, while state Rep. Bo Mitchell is the first Democrat to mount a long-shot bid, The Tennessean’s Kelly Puente reports. Cash dash: Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) raised more than $2.4 million in the second quarter for her Senate campaign, having been in the race for two months, according to figures exclusively shared with Playbook. … Georgia AG Chris Carr pulled in $1.25 million for his GOP gubernatorial bid, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein.
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We deliver $324 billion for the U.S. economy and support 4.2 million jobs nationwide. WeDeliverForAmerica.org. | | | | BEST OF THE REST MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Speaker Mike Johnson at 11:45 a.m., and then with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other senators at 4 p.m., POLITICO’s Jordain Carney scooped. That follows his confab with Trump last night, when Netanyahu announced that he’d nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. SIREN: “Document Casts Doubt on White House’s Claims About Deported Venezuelans,” by NYT’s Alan Feuer: “[L]awyers for the Venezuelan men produced a document indicating that the government of El Salvador recently told the United Nations that it, in fact, bears no legal responsibility for the men. … It seems to undermine a position that lawyers for the Justice Department and top Trump officials have taken time and again in front of Judge [James] Boasberg.” IN THE DOGE HOUSE: The VA announced a significant backtrack on plans to cut up to 83,000 jobs, per Federal News Network. Instead, the agency said it’ll shed 30,000 this fiscal year from attrition/retirements, a hiring freeze and buyouts. It’s a notable shift amid an outcry about the Department of Government Efficiency’s least politically palatable layoffs — though Democrats are still up in arms. THAT WAS FAST: A federal judge rapidly blocked part of the GOP’s new signature law that yanks Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, granting a two-week temporary restraining order, per CBS. THE TAXMAN GOETH: “I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit,” by NYT’s David Fahrenthold: “The I.R.S. said on Monday that churches and other houses of worship can endorse political candidates to their congregations, carving out an exemption in a decades-old ban on political activity by tax-exempt nonprofits. … [E]xperts in nonprofit law said [it] might sharply increase politicking in churches, even though it mainly seemed to formalize what already seemed to be the agency’s unspoken policy.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Texas reality check: “Climate change makes deadly floods more likely — but Washington is responding with cuts,” by POLITICO’s Zack Colman and colleagues: “Other communities around the country may find themselves just as exposed for the next catastrophe, emergency managers and scientists warned — pointing to the soaring toll of climate change and the Trump administration’s steep cuts to weather and disaster spending.” More flooding fallout: As the death toll in Texas reached 104, the White House continued to insist that the administration and its cuts shouldn’t be blamed. But press secretary Karoline Leavitt did open the door to changing plans to abolish FEMA, saying it’s “a policy discussion that will continue,” per POLITICO’s Irie Sentner. And it turns out that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was vacationing in Greece when disaster struck — though his office says he flew home ASAP, The Texas Tribune’s Owen Dahlkamp and Gabby Birenbaum report. MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Mike Waltz will have his confirmation hearing to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. on July 15 or 16, Axios’ Hans Nichols scooped. … Kevin O’Connor, who was Biden’s physician, asked to delay his House Oversight deposition a few weeks, per AP’s Matt Brown and Michelle Price.
| | | | Curious how policy pros are staying ahead? Meet our Policy Intelligence Assistant—only available with a POLITICO Pro subscription. It combines POLITICO’s trusted reporting with advanced AI to deliver sharper insights, faster answers, and two powerful new report builders that help you turn intelligence into action. Ready to experience it for yourself? Sign up for a demo and get 30 days free—no strings attached. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | John Hoffman has been discharged from the ICU after being nearly assassinated in Minnesota, and is now going to a rehab center. Daniella Diaz earned an MFA in nonfiction creative writing on top of covering Congress. NEWS YOU CAN USE — The TSA is planning to announce it’ll end its requirement that non-PreCheck passengers take their shoes off at airport security screenings, after almost two decades, per the Gate Access newsletter. WHAT THE PRESIDENT WILL LOVE — The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners will vote today on whether to rename a four-mile portion of road “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard,” per the AP. It goes from the airport to Mar-a-Lago. ISLANDS IN THE STREAM — Trump Media has started streaming with the new platform Truth+, which will also allow the featured Newsmax to reach international audiences, per Reuters. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Charlotte Rock is now VP of health care policy at the General Catalyst Institute. She previously was senior health policy adviser for the Senate Finance Committee. MEDIA MOVES — Major news from POLITICO towers, where Cally Baute has landed a big promotion to chief commercial officer. She previously was EVP and general manager. “She is a partner, an advisor, a confidant and a problem solver,” CEO Goli Sheikholeslami said in a memo announcing the move. “She has helped shape POLITICO, and POLITICO has in turn shaped her into one of the most respected commercial leaders in media.” … … Eva Pilgrim will be the next anchor of CBS’ “Inside Edition,” the fourth in its history. She previously was a co-anchor of ABC’s “GMA3” and senior national correspondent. More from The Hollywood Reporter … Robbie Gramer is now a national security reporter at the WSJ. He previously was a national security reporter at POLITICO. … Miranda Nazzaro is joining FedScoop to cover technology in the federal government. She previously was a technology reporter at The Hill. TRANSITIONS — Hudson Institute is adding to its research staff with David Feith and Michael Solon as senior fellows and Nathan Simington as a visiting fellow. Feith most recently was special assistant to the president and senior director for technology and national security on the NSC. Solon has been at U.S. Policy Strategies and is a Hill GOP veteran. Simington previously was an FCC commissioner. … Andre Beliveau is now senior policy adviser for Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). He previously was senior manager of energy policy for the Commonwealth Foundation. … Skylar Rubin is now digital media director for Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.). She previously was associate director of marketing and engagement at BGR Group. … … Nvidia is adding David Shahoulian and Flynn Rico-Johnson to its government affairs team. Shahoulian previously was director of government affairs at Intel Corp. Rico-Johnson most recently was a policy adviser for FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. … House Oversight Dems are staffing up under new ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) with Robert Edmonson as staff director, Andrew Bower as deputy staff director, Sara Guerrero as comms director, Wintta Woldemariam as chief counsel, Emily Burns as policy director, Mark Stephenson as director of legislation, Elisa LaNier as director of operations and chief clerk and Ethan Van Ness as senior adviser. Patrick Swymer will become chief of staff in Garcia’s personal office. ENGAGED — Kylie Fronczak, a director at Lot Sixteen, and Hugh Atkinson, legislative adviser at the Air Force, got engaged at the National Portrait Gallery on Saturday. They met while in undergrad at GW. Pic, via Stefan Agregado WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Christopher Jones, chief government relations officer and counsel at the National Grocers Association, and Alexandra Jones, senior manager of international operations and policy at Boeing, recently welcomed Oliver Benson Jones. He joins big sister Caroline. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. John Mannion (D-N.Y.) … Marianne Williamson … Andrew Kauders of Cogent Strategies … Stef Feldman … Andy Flick of Cornerstone Government Affairs … Arlie Ziskend … Amanda Coyne of Sen. Dan Sullivan’s (R-Alaska) office … Erik Huey … Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies, recovering well from heart transplant surgery … Nick Simpson … Eve Samborn McCool of Assemble … Dan Rosenthal of Albright Stonebridge Group … POLITICO’s Sean McMinn and Michael Hunley … Reuters’ Steve Holland … Howard Gutman of the Gutman Group … Kelley Hudak … Geoff Garin of Hart Research … Kirk McPike … NYT’s Lara Jakes … Noah Yantis … former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) … Bill Hinkle … David Greengrass of House Judiciary … Ron Kampeas … Mill’s Molly Spaeth … Robert Henline … Jim Miklaszewski … Anna Quindlen 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misstated Chuck Schumer’s title. He is Senate minority leader.
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