| | | |  | | By Victoria Guida | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good morning and hello from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I’m Victoria Guida, writing to you from the Federal Reserve’s annual conference at Grand Teton National Park. Get in touch. But first … There’s nothing quite like a Friday news dump. And yesterday’s was a doozy: The Justice Department released the audio and transcripts from Ghislaine Maxwell’s interview with Deputy AG Todd Blanche. The topline: Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker who is seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump, told DOJ “that she never witnessed the president ‘in any inappropriate setting’ with girls introduced to him by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein,” POLITICO’s Erica Orden, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. The top takeaways:
- On Trump: “I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting,” Maxwell said. “I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”
- On the reported birthday card Trump wrote for Epstein: Maxwell said she couldn’t recall specifics. “It’s been so long,” Maxwell said when asked to recall the names of contributors to the book. “I want to tell you, but I don’t remember.”
- On former President Bill Clinton: “He never. Absolutely never went. … I don’t believe there’s any way that he would’ve gone to the island, had I not been there. Because I don’t believe he had an independent friendship, if you will, with Epstein,” she said.
- On Prince Andrew: Maxwell disputed that Prince Andrew, one of the highest-profile men who is accused of having participated in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, ever met Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who sued Prince Andrew, alleging Epstein and Maxwell trafficked her to Prince Andrew when she was a minor. The two were famously photographed alongside Maxwell in an image that became one of the most indelible from the Epstein saga. In the interview with Blanche, Maxwell said she believes the photograph is fake. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations against him.
- On HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Maxwell said she accompanied Epstein and Kennedy on a “dinosaur bone hunting” trip to the Dakotas several decades ago. She said she was not aware whether or not Kennedy received a massage from any of Epstein’s masseuses on the trip, but she never witnessed anything untoward. “I never saw anything inappropriate with Mr. Kennedy,” she said.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Fed Chair Jerome Powell walks with Kazuo Ueda, Christine Lagarde and Andrew Bailey during a break at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium outside Jackson Lake Lodge on Friday, Aug. 22. | Amber Baesler/AP Photo | DISPATCH FROM JACKSON HOLE: The stunning mountain vista is as lovely as ever, but the mood here is more somber than in years past, with the institution facing relentless attacks from the Trump administration. Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave his keynote speech yesterday morning, as he always does at this symposium, but even as he spoke the onslaught continued: President Trump told reporters he would fire Fed board member Lisa Cook if she does not resign (she has faced allegations of criminal mortgage fraud from housing finance regulator Bill Pulte). The prize the president is seeking: another seat on the Fed board to fill in his quest for dramatically lower interest rates. The vibe here in response amid all this is: keep calm and carry on. The official discussion centered on wonkier topics like lower fertility rates, fewer workers moving across state lines (with implications for the job market) and artificial intelligence. Still, questions about the Fed’s future aren’t lurking far. The tension rose to the surface most visibly before Powell began his speech: He received a lengthy standing ovation from an audience that included European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, in an overt show of solidarity with the beleaguered Fed chief. Another element that might bolster his spirits: Powell has received a number of fan letters from the public this year, a person familiar with the matter tells Playbook. For his part, Powell acknowledged the pressure only in the subtlest of ways in his remarks, saying Fed officials would make interest rate decisions “based solely” on data — i.e. not because of you, Mr. President. “We will never deviate from that approach,” he added. In one sign of the times, Azoria CEO James Fishback, a former Department of Government Efficiency adviser, also stopped by the lodge, where he said he was escorted out after confronting Cook. He told Playbook he was served with a criminal trespass notice after questioning her about the fraud allegations. Fishback, who was not an official attendee, said that he’d earlier had cordial conversations with multiple Fed officials, including San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly. The symposium here is an unusual one, and it is quite small — a little more than 100 people attend, most of them top Fed officials, foreign central bankers and economists, along with several journalists (Wall Street isn’t invited). Some administration officials also typically attend, and in a small sign of bridge-building, two White House officials, both from the Council of Economic Advisers, are attending this year: CEA Vice Chair Pierre Yared and chief economist Aaron Hedlund. Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke also notably chose to come. He told Playbook he did so because it was Powell’s final Jackson Hole as chair and because the Fed was making changes to its policy framework document, which outlines how it approaches inflation and the job market (the document was first written in 2012, during his time as chair). It was another visible gesture of respect for Powell from the conference.
| | | The mornings are filled with economic policy minutiae, aired out in the rustic meeting rooms in Jackson Lake Lodge, while attendees go on hikes in the afternoon. The result is a much more relaxed and friendly feel than your normal conference, especially because some people bring their significant others and children. (Powell’s wife, filmmaker Elissa Leonard, has been a fixture in recent years.) Of course, most interesting to financial markets was Powell’s cautious indication that a mid-September rate cut is likely, citing concerns that the labor market is weakening. The Fed will get more inflation and jobs data before its rate-setting meeting next month, so it’s not entirely guaranteed. But if it happens, optically Powell will face questions about whether he’s caving to Trump’s broadsides. This dynamic has long been brewing, as your Playbook author wrote in May, but it’s worth noting the Fed has been signaling all year that rate cuts were likely at some point in 2025. Still, White House adviser Peter Navarro took a victory lap on the fact that Powell said his judgment, for now, was that tariffs were unlikely to lead to sustained inflation. “Today was a historic day in Federal Reserve policy,” he told Playbook by phone, while your author was mid-hike. “Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell finally and grudgingly acknowledged what the Trump administration has been saying all along: that tariffs do not cause inflation and in the event that they might, it’s a one-step process. … It’s simply a structural move up in the price level.” Ultimately, what really matters is whether the Fed’s moves end up being the best possible for the U.S., with the information available. The economy is facing both rising prices and slowing growth — two problems the central bank isn’t designed to fight simultaneously — and Powell is beginning to make the choice that the risk to the job market is the scarier one.
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From 2019-2023, Universal Orlando generated $44 billion in economic impact for the nation. Learn more. | | | | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. HOW IT’S PLAYING: The drop of Maxwell’s testimony is landing with relief among MAGA world and Trump allies, who welcomed the news that Maxwell said she never witnessed Trump “in any inappropriate setting” with young girls, POLITICO’s Aaron Pellish and Adam Wren write. “In an interview following the release of the transcripts, Laura Loomer, the activist and MAGA influencer, said she believes Maxwell’s testimony proves that Trump ‘has always been an honorable person’ and the release of the transcript will ease any division among his supporters.” More from Loomer: “I’m hoping that, you know, these transcripts will quell a lot of the nasty, salacious lies and rumors that were spread by bad actors online who are trying to use Pam Blondie’s shortcomings as a way to attack President Trump,” she told POLITICO, using a derisive nickname for AG Pam Bondi. Over on the Hill: DOJ turned over the first batch of Epstein files to the House Oversight Committee yesterday afternoon, per POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs. The documents “represent only a portion of what DOJ has in its possession and it’s not immediately clear what sort of information lawmakers currently have available to them. The documents are expected to have heavy redactions. The Oversight Committee now plans to review the materials, with both Democrats and Republicans having access.” 2. THE TRUMP TAKEOVER: Having already exerted his presidential power to take over law enforcement in Los Angeles and D.C., Trump seems to have his next targets in mind: Trump said he’s considering sending the National Guard to Chicago or New York, POLITICO’s Aaron Pellish writes. On Chicago: “We’re going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess,” Trump said. “We’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough.” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the idea “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.” On San Francisco: Trump also floated a similar fate for the City by the Bay, the San Francisco Standard’s Max Harrison-Caldwell writes. “We could clean that up too,” he said. It comes even as SF had “seemed to be turning a corner in the national consciousness,” NYT’s Kellen Browning and Heather Knight write. “Crime was falling, and a moderate new mayor was celebrating progress toward a downtown recovery.” Mayor Trump: Back in D.C., Trump capped his week by “touring a new White House gift shop, reviewing marble samples for a renovation project at the Kennedy Center and taking credit for Washington’s drop in crime,” POLITICO’s Eli Stokols writes. “Trump’s interest in municipal matters and hands-on approach to specific projects hearkens back to his career as a Manhattan property developer and even his years as the star of The Apprentice, supervising a number of projects with a production crew in tow.” 3. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The redistricting race: Now that Texas Republicans have officially approved new congressional maps that they hope will secure five additional GOP seats in next year’s midterms, attention turns to California, where Democrats in the state have raced to respond in kind. POLITICO’s Melanie Mason, Jeremy White, Shia Kapos, Dustin Gardiner and Aaron Pellish spoke with nearly 50 people involved with the California effort, putting together the most-comprehensive picture of a “showdown propelled not by painstaking deliberations but by its own self-generating momentum and the opportunity for a rudderless Democratic Party to remake itself as a political street brawler.” How it happened: “What initially felt improbable was, by mid-August, inevitable. Data experts and members of Congress spent their House recess in marathon Zoom sessions drawing dozens and dozens of revisions to new district lines. In Sacramento, [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom’s team built out a campaign apparatus for the daunting and expensive task of selling the partisan map to voters.” In summary: “It got very real, very fast,” Newsom told our colleagues. 4. MORE ON THE BOLTON RAID: The FBI raided John Bolton’s Maryland home and D.C. office, part of a “high-profile probe of allegations that he sent ‘highly sensitive’ classified documents to his family from a private email server while working in the White House,” the NY Post’s Caitlin Doornbos reports. “Federal investigators went to Bolton’s house in Bethesda, Md., at 7 a.m. in an investigation ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel … Agents later went to Bolton’s office in downtown DC, but did not enter until a judge signed a warrant for that location late Friday morning.” Trump told reporters Bolton is “not a smart guy, but he could be a very unpatriotic guy. … We’re going to find out.” Bolton has not been arrested or charged.
| | | | The California Agenda-- Don't miss POLITICO's inaugural California policy summit in Sacramento. Join us in-person or virtually to explore policyy debates around tech, energy, health care and more. Hear from Sen. Alex Padilla (D), Katie Porter, GOP gubernatorial candidates and more! Register to watch. | | | | | 5. STATE CAPITALISM WATCH: “Trump, Intel Agree to 10% U.S. Stake as President Promises More Deals,” by WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar and colleagues: “Under the terms of the agreement, $8.9 billion in grants that had been awarded to Intel from the 2022 Chips Act, but not yet paid, will be converted to equity, the two sides said Friday. The government could get more stock depending on what happens to Intel’s chip manufacturing business. The deal is a remarkable turnaround. Just over two weeks ago, Trump called for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to be fired for his ties to China. After meeting Tan and talking about the business last week, Trump became a fan and saw an opportunity to deepen their partnership, he said Friday.” 6. THE FIRING LINE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency delivered an intelligence report on the damage that U.S. forces inflicted to Iran’s nuclear sites that angered Trump, AP’s Konstantin Toropin and colleagues report. “Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency … Hegseth also fired Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, who is chief of the Navy Reserve, as well as Rear Adm. Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversees Naval Special Warfare Command, another U.S. official said. No reasons were given for their firings. … Taken together, the moves could chill dissent and send a signal against reaching conclusions at odds with Trump’s interests.” 7. PLAYING THE CLASSICS: As the world awaits movement toward a ceasefire, Trump delivered a “new — and familiar — deadline for the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to move forward with a peace process or face possible U.S. retaliation, saying that within ‘two weeks’ he’ll make his determination,” WSJ’s Annie Linskey and Alex Ward write. What Trump said: “I think I’ll know the attitude of Russia, and frankly Ukraine,” Trump said yesterday, “and then we’ll make a decision about what we’re going to do.” If a peace deal fails to materialize in the allotted time, “Trump said he could enact ‘massive sanctions’ or ‘massive tariffs’ or he might do nothing and ‘say it’s your fight.’ Trump said he would determine his next steps depending on who he believes is at fault for delaying progress.” 8. GLORY AND GOR: Sergio Gor, who has played a critical role in deciding who does and doesn’t get jobs in the Trump administration, appears to be set for an overseas diplomatic posting. “Trump announced in a social media post on Friday afternoon that he was appointing Gor, who runs the Presidential Personnel Office, to serve as ambassador to India and as special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs,” POLITICO’s Eli Stokols and colleagues write. “Sergio’s role as Director of Presidential Personnel has been essential to delivering on the unprecedented Mandate that we received from the American People,” Trump wrote. Gor will remain in his post until confirmed by the Senate. Loomer looming: A person close to the White House said Gor’s departure could increase the influence of Laura Loomer. In a series of postings after the news broke, Loomer appeared to be somewhat subtly boosting herself to take over Gor’s post in the White House, emphasizing that whoever takes the role needs to be good at vetting. Loomer told POLITICO it would be an “honor” to serve in the administration if offered the position. 9. NORTHERN NEIGHBORS: Canada is “scrapping some retaliatory tariffs, a major concession aimed at cooling trade tensions with the United States,” POLITICO’s Zi-Ann Lum reports. “We have the best deal of anyone in the world right now,” PM Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa, noting that the average U.S. tariff rate on Canadian goods is 5.6 percent, the lowest among America’s trading partners. “Today, the Government of Canada is harmonizing its tariffs with the U.S.” The move “marks a sharp turn from Carney’s ‘elbows up’ mantra, which cast him as a bulwark against Trump’s ‘unjustified’ trade war. Carney defended his concession Friday, arguing it strengthens Canada’s hand in negotiations with the White House.”
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Tom Stiglich- Creators | GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “Has a Breakthrough Happened in the Agonizing Saga of Austin Tice?” by James Harkin for POLITICO Magazine: “New information about the freelance journalist’s captivity challenges the narrative that he is still alive.” — “What I Witnessed as I Photographed the Disappearances and the Homecomings of My Countrymen,” by Adriana Loureiro Fernández for ProPublica: “Over the past four months, a photojournalist documented the lives of five families whose sons had been imprisoned in El Salvador, including their long-awaited reunions. CECOT left a mark on the men, their loved ones and Venezuela.” — “DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family,” by ProPublica’s Avi Asher-Schapiro and Christopher Bing: “Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U.S.-funded nonprofit.” — “What U.S. Aid Cuts Mean for the Women of Afghanistan,” by Elise Blanchard for Time: “With many care centers shuttered and supplies dwindling, many pregnant women in rural Afghanistan fear they or their babies won’t survive delivery.” — “Josh Shapiro’s Quiet Campaign of Influence at Penn,” by The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Ben Binday: “How the Pennsylvania governor shaped the university’s response to allegations of antisemitism.” — “Who Killed the Narrative Podcast?” by Eric Benson for Rolling Stone: “When a new longform medium sprung up in the mid-2010s, journalists flocked to it. Then almost as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.” — “How Sydney Sweeney Became the Most Talked-About Woman in Hollywood,” by Allie Jones for WSJ: “The 27-year-old actress has charted an enviable career path by outworking her peers and throwing her name behind everything from blockbuster rom-coms to soap made from her own bathwater — and yes, those jeans.”
| | | | Don’t just keep up with policy shifts — set the pace. POLITICO Pro’s Policy Intelligence Assistant combines unmatched reporting with advanced AI to deliver sharper insights, faster answers, and two powerful report builders that turn intelligence into impact. Try it free for 30 days. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, announced that the 2026 World Cup final draw will take place at the Kennedy Center. David Lammy received a formal warning for fishing without a license with JD Vance. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Kailey Leinz, co-host of Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Jack Hamrick, co-founder of the startup Foraged, welcomed a baby boy on Aug. 21. Everyone is healthy and Kailey will return to Balance of Power in early 2026. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Stephen Miller (4-0) … Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer … Kari Lake … Reps. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.) and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) … Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow … NBC’s Julie Tsirkin … WaPo’s Annah Backstrom Aschbrenner … Mike Memoli … Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski (4-0) … Ameer Patel of Voto Latino … Brian Walsh … Bradley Singer of WME … Richard Chalkey … POLITICO’s Caitlin Oprysko, Irie Sentner, Madina Touré and Rob Bialkowski … Miriam Sapiro … Herald Group’s Todd Van Etten and Malyia Kelley … John Hall … Jenna Alsayegh of USTelecom … Tom Nowlan … Ian Jefferies of the Association of American Railroads … Rob Bluey … Jesse Connolly of Rep. Chellie Pingree’s (D-Maine) office … Brunswick Group’s Patti Solis Doyle … Indicator’s Craig Silverman … Bryer Davis of Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-Ga.) office … Jessica Ketner … David Wickenden of AARP … former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam … Alexi McCammond … former California Gov. Pete Wilson (92) … Merla Zollinger of the American Cleaning Institute THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) … Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.). Sunday panel: Olivia Beavers, Josh Kraushaar, Kevin Roberts and Juan Williams. Legal panel: Jonathan Turley and Tom Dupree. NBC “Meet the Press”: VP JD Vance … Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov … Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Panel: Monica Alba, Matt Gorman, Heidi Heitkamp and Amna Nawaz. CNN “State of the Union”: Rahm Emanuel … House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Panel: Xochitl Hinojosa, Brad Todd, Jonah Goldberg and Karen Finney. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) … Doug Jones … Jonathan Rauch. Panel: James Hohmann, Emily Brooks, John Tamny and Tal Kopan. CBS “Face the Nation”: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore … Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) … Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) … Catherine Russell … Mohamed El-Erian. ABC “This Week”: Retired Gen. David Petraeus … Chris Christie … Sarah Isgur. Panel: Donna Brazile, Reince Priebus, Rachael Bade and Ramesh Ponnuru. MSNBC “The Weekend”: Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) … Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) … Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) … Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt … Amanda Seales. Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) … acting New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba … Christine Lagarde … John Solomon. 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 how long Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) has served in Congress. He was first elected in 1994.
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