| | | |  | | By Adam Wren with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On today’s Playbook Podcast, Adam Wren and Dasha Burns talk about President Donald Trump sending the National Guard to patrol the streets of D.C., the messaging balancing act for Democrats and the level-setting ahead of Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin.
| 
| Good Tuesday morning, especially to all the Swifties out there. I’m Adam Wren. Have tips, news, questions or comments? Send them my way. In today’s Playbook … — After Trump’s crackdown on Washington, potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates have largely avoided taking the bait — yet still lack a focused, overarching attack in return. — First in Playbook: The White House’s latest move ahead of the Trump-Putin summit? Tempering expectations, Playbook’s Dasha Burns reports. — The latest consumer price index inflation numbers drop at 8:30 a.m. as concerns grow on Wall Street about the reliability of the government’s data.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
President Donald Trump’s show of force in D.C. seems designed — at least in part — to force Democrats into a debate. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | THE DAY AFTER: It was, President Donald Trump insisted, yet another “Liberation Day”: He was deploying 800 troops from the National Guard to patrol the streets of Washington and seizing control of the city’s police department for up to 30 days. “Extending the takeover beyond mid-September would require Congress to act,” our Inside Congress colleagues write. “It’s unclear whether Trump even wants that, and Democrats — who have long championed political autonomy for the District — could seek to block any such move, which would have to contend with a potential filibuster in the Senate.” On the streets of Washington, it was less clear who was being liberated, and from what. Downtown, Mayor Muriel Bowser described Trump’s moves as “unsettling and unprecedented,” while later allowing that “the fact that we have more law enforcement presence in neighborhoods … you know, that may be positive.” On Capitol Hill, Councilmember Charles Allen — who last year faced a recall petition over the spike in carjackings in Ward 6 — warned that “National Guard soldiers are trained for warfare & natural disasters, not for community policing.” At the Wharf, federal officers strolled through the serene evening scene as diners enjoyed the outdoor seating along the waterfront. In Georgetown, under the Whitehurst Freeway, a 50-year-old homeless man named Al told WaPo that outreach workers from the city arrived on Monday and told him to vacate the area by Wednesday. “Aware of Trump’s push to remove the unsheltered from D.C. streets, Al had a simple response: ‘And go where?’” Near Dupont Circle, a few hundred demonstrators marched in the street in protest of Trump’s move. Inside the White House’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, Trump “portrayed a sweeping vision of law enforcement on the streets of Washington, declaring that federal agents, D.C. police and the National Guard would use physical force to intimidate lawbreakers,” WaPo’s Michael Birnbaum and Perry Stein report. “They fight back until you knock the hell out of them, because it’s the only language they understand,” Trump said.
| | | | A message from AARP: Social Security Turns 90 on August 14
90 years ago, our country made a promise to provide hardworking Americans with a way to earn a foundation for financial security in retirement. Social Security is one of the most successful and popular initiatives in American history, helping generations of older Americans live with dignity after a lifetime of hard work. AARP celebrates Social Security's legacy while fighting to protect and strengthen it for generations to come. Learn more. | | | | THE MESSAGE AND THE BAIT: Nationally, Trump’s gambit seems designed — at least in part — to force Democrats into a debate about why crime is not actually as bad as the president argues. Democrats, for their part, are walking a careful tightrope, one that is surrounded by peril: Lean too far one way, and Democrats risk falling into a “well, actually…” trap, responding to Trump with crime statistics similar to the way they responded to complaints about inflation, citing statistics that it was “coming down” even as voters didn’t feel that. It is Trump’s “go-to parlor trick to torque up the base, change subjects and bait Democrats to argue that crime and homelessness are not problems when many living in those communities and beyond, believe they are,” longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod told Playbook late last night. “So the challenge is to call it out for what it is without dismissing the legitimate concerns people have.” “He wants to battle Democrats on his own terms, and when he’s politically weak, he tries to change the terrain,” added Mike Nellis, a Democratic digital consultant. Thus far, Democrats have largely resisted taking the bait. Whether they’ll continue to be able to is an open question. There’s no comprehensive nor overarching case from Democrats on the Trump incursion into Washington’s local control. Still, there are four common threads in the Democratic responses we’ve seen the last 24 hours: 1) Trump’s moves are significant. “It is a legitimately important thing that he’s taking power in this way,” said former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. … Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called it “deeply dangerous.” … “I have talked about the fact that the Nazis in Germany in the ’30s tore down a constitutional republic in just 53 days,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, per the Chicago Tribune. “It does not take much, frankly, and we have a president who seems hell-bent on doing just that.” … Added Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz: “The road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting.” 2) Trump’s moves are a distraction — from the Jeffrey Epstein files, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Medicaid cuts or the recent anemic jobs numbers. … “I hesitate to use a word like ‘distraction,’ even though distraction is part of his goal,” said Buttigieg. … It’s an “attempted distraction from Trump’s other scandals,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. … “Now, he’s activating the DC Guard to distract from his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education and immigration — just to name a few blunders,” tweeted former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). … Pritzker: “By the way, where are the Epstein files?” 3) Trump’s moves belie the statistics. “Crime is down in most major cities — including Washington, DC — in spite of Donald Trump, not because of him,” per a statement from the Democratic Mayors Association. “While there is still more work to be done, Mayors need a federal partner who works with them, not against them.” 4) Trump’s moves portend similar action in other cities. California Gov. Gavin Newsom argued that Trump “will gaslight his way into militarizing any city he wants in America.” … Trump “has absolutely no right and no legal ability to send troops into the city of Chicago,” said Pritzker, while later adding that Trump “doesn’t follow the law.” … Buttigieg argued it could happen “maybe in the community you live.”
| | | | A message from AARP:  
Americans earn their Social Security through a lifetime of hard work. Let's keep it strong. Learn more. | | | | The range of responses from would-be leaders of the Democratic Party only serve to underscore the asymmetry between the two parties right now: Democrats grasping for their own calibrated messages at a time when the congressional GOP is closing ranks around Trump’s moves, as POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs and Meredith Lee Hill report. Indeed, many potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates remained silent on the matter Tuesday, either making the determination that it was an over-the-top distraction unworthy of a response or that it wasn’t their battle to fight at this moment in time. Among those who did respond, very few of the messages we heard sought to take ground, as Third Way’s Matt Bennett pointed out to Playbook. That’s one thing if you’re Muriel Bowser, who “is doing the best she can in an impossible situation,” says Bennett. “She can’t afford to get Trump riled up, or he could do something even crazier.” But it’s quite another for everyone else. “National Democrats should be attacking much more aggressively,” Bennett tells Playbook. “They should point out, among other things: Republicans have literally defunded the police in D.C. by stealing more than a billion dollars from the city; Trump is dismantling the FBI and putting corrupt, unqualified lickspittles at the top of our federal law enforcement. And red states have higher murder rates than blue ones.” But it’ll still be a heavy lift to get everyone singing from the same hymnal. “You ask how the party is navigating [this] as if it is some coordinated operation,” Axelrod noted. “It decidedly is not.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | TRUMP VS. WORLD FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The expectations game: Ahead of Friday’s summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, White House officials are doing something decidedly un-Trumpian: tempering expectations, Playbook’s Dasha Burns reports this morning. What they’re saying: “The goal, a White House official said, is for Trump to simply take the measure of Putin, find out if the Russian leader is serious and work toward a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” Dasha writes. “This is all about ‘trusting Trump’s instincts,’ said a White House official who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s thinking. … ‘After they talk, Trump will be able to gauge how serious Putin is about peace,’ said a second White House official. This meeting is ‘the beginning of a new phase.’” Meanwhile, Russia has high hopes: “Moscow sees an opening to reset relations with Washington, with Kremlin officials hinting at the potential for deals with the U.S. on infrastructure and energy in the Arctic and beyond, as Russia’s state media plays up what it bills as a looming entente between two equal great powers,” WSJ’s Yaroslav Trofimov reports. Speaking Trump’s language: “Neocons and other warmongers won’t be smiling” when Trump and Putin meet, said senior Putin aide Kirill Dmitriev, per the Journal. “The Putin-Trump dialogue will bring hope, peace and global security.” How Europe is preparing: European leaders are scrambling for another meeting with Trump ahead of the Putin summit, fearful that he will cut a deal with Russia “that undermines Ukraine and puts the continent’s security at risk,“ WSJ’s Bojan Pancevski and Alexander Ward report. The goal for their meeting with Trump is to “reiterate what Europe sees as red lines that could prevent Europe and Ukraine from accepting a cease-fire deal and to press Trump to put additional pressure on the Russian president if he isn’t negotiating in good faith, [European] officials said.” What Europe wants: “Europe’s red lines include stressing that a cease-fire must be the first step in a deal; that any territorial exchanges must be reciprocal and based on current front lines; and that a long-term security guarantee for Ukraine is fundamental.” BACKING OFF BEIJING: Just hours before a pause on tariffs against Chinese imports was set to expire, Trump signed an executive order yesterday that delayed the tariffs for another 90 days, CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger and Eamon Javers report. The new deadline for potential tariff hikes is now Nov. 10. The delay sets the stage “for broader negotiations between the world’s two biggest economies,” POLITICO's Ari Hawkins and colleagues report, and comes as the administration “is increasingly seeking to fold non-tariff-related trade disputes into trade negotiations.” THE EVERYTHING TOOL: For Trump, tariffs have become something of a diplomatic tool — a “cudgel to try to get other countries to do as he wishes on matters that are entirely separate from trade, and to punish them when they do not,” NYT’s Edward Wong and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report. “He has used or threatened them on everything from armed conflict to deportations to legal proceedings tied to his political grievances. Case in point: Brazil. Despite Trump’s harsh tariffs on the South American country, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “isn’t budging” after the White House “tied the levies in part to the prosecution of former Brazilian president and far-right Trump acolyte Jair Bolsonaro,” POLITICO’s Megan Messerly reports this morning. The punitive tariff, in fact, appears to be further bolstering Brazil’s alliances with China and Russia and in “recent days,” Lula has spoken by phone both with Indian PM Narendra Modi and Putin “to discuss boosting ties.”
| | | | A message from AARP:  
AARP will never stop fighting to protect and strengthen Social Security for all generations. Learn more. | | | | BEST OF THE REST DAMN LIES AND STATISTICS: Trump announced last night that he will nominate Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, following the unceremonious ousting of Erika McEntarfer, POLITICO’s Sam Sutton and Nick Niedzwiadek report. In doing so, Trump — who claimed without evidence that McEntarfer had rigged labor market data for partisan reasons — has elevated an economist with a decidedly political bent. “Antoni … has been highly critical of the agency’s work going back to the presidential campaign — amplifying its missteps and portraying its reports as out-of-step with Americans’ perceptions about the state of the economy,” Sam and Nick write. “In an appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast earlier this month, Antoni said the absence of a MAGA Republican atop BLS is ‘part of the reason why we continue to have all of these different data problems.’” COMING ATTRACTIONS: Trump’s announcement comes less than 24 hours before BLS releases its monthly inflation report at 8:30 a.m. Wall Street’s major indices closed yesterday with losses as investors brace for a potentially damaging report that experts predict will show an uptick in inflation in July, per The Hill’s Sylvan Lane. Perhaps more concerning for the long term: On Wall Street and throughout the economy, there are “mounting concerns over the quality of inflation and employment reports following budget and staffing cuts that have led to the suspension of data collection for portions of the CPI basket in some areas across the country,” reports Reuters’ Lucia Mutikani. Those concerns have only grown since Trump fired McEntarfer after the July jobs report. SCHOOL DAZE: After months of tense legal battles, a massive settlement may be on the horizon between Harvard and the White House that would see the academic institution “agree to spend $500 million in exchange for the restoration of billions of dollars in federal research funding,” NYT’s Alan Blinder, Michael Schmidt and Michael Bender report. Though Trump and Harvard officials have yet to formally ink a deal, negotiators for both parties have made "significant progress” in the past week, with Harvard agreeing to “make commitments to continue its efforts to combat antisemitism on campus.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — New in town: Two-time Paralympic gold medalist basketball player and Democratic Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek is announcing a run for U.S. Senate. He joins a crowded Democratic field featuring state Rep. J.D. Scholten, state Sen. Zach Wahls and Nathan Sage. Watch his launch video
| | | | 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 | | TRANSITIONS — Elliott Echols is now SVP at Frontline Government Relations. He previously was national political director at the RNC. … Mollie Timmons is now a senior adviser for public affairs at Commerce’s NTIA. She previously was comms manager at the American Petroleum Institute and is a Morgan Griffith and Rob Portman alum. … Alyssa Pettus is now SVP for external affairs and comms at the Export-Import Bank. She previously was comms director for the House Select Committee on China and is a Leidos and Richard Shelby alum. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jonathan Greenberger, EVP at POLITICO, and Logan Pettigrew, director of litigation and regulatory at AppLovin Corp., recently welcomed Carter. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Playbook’s own Kyle Blaine … George Soros (95) … HuffPost’s Dave Jamieson … Brian Devine … Google’s Brianna Puccini Duff and Nick Meads … Matt Sparks … Casey Nelson Hood of the House Republican whip’s office … Liz Hipple … Justin Folsom of Southern Co. … Brandi Travis … POLITICO’s Joe Gould, Heather Richards, Rachel Myers and Scott Stephens … Angela Kuefler of Global Strategy Group … CBS’ Jericka Duncan … Toby Burke … Uber’s Tony West (6-0) … Kelley McCormick … Doris Truong … Lauren LaBruna of “The Megyn Kelly Show” … WaPo’s Karen Attiah … Melanie Sheppard … former FHA Administrator Nicole Nason … Tristan Fitzpatrick … former Rep. Connie Mack IV (R-Fla.) … Lesley Fulop Byers … Pfizer’s Stephen Claeys (6-0) … Thurgood Marshall Jr. … WilmerHale’s Bill McLucas … BBB National Programs’ Eric Reicin … Mike Kelleher … BGR Group’s Remy Brim … Cole Fiala of National Geographic 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 AARP: Social Security is one of the most successful and popular initiatives in American history.
· Nearly all Americans (96%) consider Social Security important, with broad agreement across party lines: 98% Democrats, 95% Republicans and 93% of Independents all say the same.
· More than two-thirds of Americans (67%) view Social Security as more important to retirees today than five years ago.
· Nearly two in three (65%) retired Americans say they rely substantially on Social Security, while another 21 percent say they rely on it somewhat. In 2020, 63% of retired Americans said they relied substantially on Social Security, jumping from 58% in both 2015 and 2010—all according to AARP research.
Congress: Keep America's promise—protect and strengthen Social Security for older Americans today and our kids and grandkids tomorrow. 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 | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment