| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Members of the press await Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's arrival. | Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP | PIVOTAL POINT: President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will momentarily kick off a press spray in the Oval Office, ahead of a bilateral meeting and then a broader gathering with the bevy of European leaders who’ve just landed in Washington. The stakes are high for Russia’s war on Ukraine and the latter’s future as a nation, especially after Trump’s February blow-up at Zelenskyy and his summit last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump’s approach: As the president seeks a ceasefire or full end to the war, he wants to get Ukraine and Europe to agree to a trilateral U.S.-Russia-Ukraine meeting as the next step, as soon as this week, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols, Jake Traylor and Veronika Melkozerova report. The White House sees an opening to drive real progress toward both sides laying down their arms. Zelenskyy’s approach: Europe has long feared that Trump might give away the farm, striking a deal that stops the war but rewards Putin’s aggression without guaranteeing Ukraine’s safety. But our colleagues report that Zelenskyy may come to today’s meetings willing to make a serious concession: One Ukrainian source says he’d likely OK freezing the war where the battle lines currently stand, though he’s not willing to acquiesce to Putin’s demand that Ukraine give up additional territory Russia hasn’t yet occupied. European officials hope their presence will change the dynamic from February. Ukraine’s other questions may include what concessions Russia will make and and what level of specific security guarantees Trump is willing to support. But but but: Another Ukrainian official says they still fear that Trump is siding with Putin’s framework: “We should expect another clusterfuck meeting in the Oval Office.” Europe’s approach: After their emergency trip to Washington, EU leaders will gather virtually tomorrow to debrief and figure out next steps, POLITICO’s Seb Starcevic reports. The backdrop: Ukrainian officials said new Russian attacks overnight killed another 10 people, including children, per Reuters. Those strikes reflected Putin’s lack of seriousness about stopping the war and intent to undermine today’s talks, Kyiv said. Pressure on Russia “must be joint pressure – from the United States and Europe,” Zelenskyy wrote later on X, calling for enduring peace. “We must stop the killings.” The suit makes the man: Zelenskyy’s lack of a suit in February became an issue among some MAGA critics of Ukraine — and the White House asked Kyiv whether he’ll wear one today, Axios’ Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo report. Zelenskyy has previously said that he wouldn’t wear a suit and tie until the war ends. Veronika and Seb report that today, Zelenskyy will wear a military-style “suit” but not a traditional one, as his post on X indicates. Top-ed: “India’s oil lobby is funding Putin’s war machine — that has to stop,” by Peter Navarro in the FT Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Comcast is focused on connecting millions of Americans now and into the future. With $80B invested to expand broadband infrastructure in the U.S., Comcast is actively supporting the goal of bringing broadband to everyone, including rural communities across the country. Learn more. | | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. THE D.C. CRACKDOWN: Since federal officials began their operation Thursday to tackle crime, immigration enforcement and homelessness in D.C., authorities have now made more than 380 arrests and seized 59 firearms, according to a White House official. That includes 69 arrests last night, when there were nearly 2,000 participants in operations across the city, though National Guard members are not making arrests. More than 160 arrests, or about 42 percent of the total, have been of undocumented immigrants, and the White House says multiple were “known gang members” or facing assault, kidnapping and drug smuggling charges. The politics: “Trump Wants to Fight Democrats on Crime. They’re Treading Cautiously,” by NYT’s Jess Bidgood and Lisa Lerer: “[Trump] appears to be laying the groundwork for Republicans to once again weaponize the issue in the midterm elections. … Among Democrats, there is widespread agreement that Mr. Trump is stoking fear for political gain and exaggerating statistics to justify a power grab. But there is also recognition that the party must acknowledge that concerns about public safety continue to resonate not just with Mr. Trump’s supporters, but with their own.” 2. THEY’RE IN: Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) made it official today, launching a comeback bid against Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), per The Plain Dealer’s Jeremy Pelzer. Though it’s an uphill attempt, Brown is kicking off with his usual worker-focused message, hitting Republicans on affordability and Medicaid cuts. The Cook Political Report’s Jessica Taylor shifted the race’s rating to be more competitive, though still leaning Republican. … In Pennsylvania, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity kicked off a GOP gubernatorial challenge to incumbent Democrat Josh Shapiro, Fox News’ Deirdre Heavey scooped. The Republican establishment’s top pick, Garrity is going after Shapiro on energy, education and the economy. They’re back: Texas state House Democrats have officially returned to Austin, providing a quorum that Republicans will use to push through a steep partisan gerrymander, per POLITICO’s Liz Crampton. The new GOP map is expected to net the party five congressional seats. But if California Democrats succeed in going tit for tat, their gerrymander could actually be “potentially more impactful overall,” because it could give Dems five seats and improve the chances of vulnerable incumbents, Sabato’s Crystal Ball’s Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman write. Out of the wilderness: Iowa state Auditor Rob Sand faces long odds to flip the governor’s mansion to Democrats, but his appeals to bipartisanship and patriotism vibes — like singing “America the Beautiful” at events — could give Dems “a potential template” in red states, WSJ’s John McCormick reports from Des Moines. In even more conservative House districts, Democrats are turning to candidates with strong local ties, like North Carolina farmer Jamie Ager, to try to claw back rural ground, AP’s Joey Cappelletti reports from Fairview. 3. DEMOCRACY WATCH: Trump this morning said he wants the country to get rid of mail-in ballots and “Seriously Controversial” voting machines, citing false conspiracy theories about election fraud that he has promulgated for years. He said incorrectly that the U.S. is the only country to use mail voting, as CNN’s Daniel Dale breaks down. And Trump announced that he’ll be “signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,” though there aren’t details yet on what that will entail. Speaking of false claims about 2020: Newsmax reached a $67 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation about the company rigging the 2020 election that ran on the network, per Deadline. That will stave off a trial that was set to begin this year, though Newsmax doesn’t seem to have apologized.
| | | | 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. | | | | | 4. QUOTE OF THE DAY: The New Yorker’s Ruth Marcus is out with a big profile of AG Pam Bondi, whose aggressive approach has brought the traditionally independent Justice Department much closer to the White House agenda than ever before, including going after his political enemies. “You have one client, and you have to represent that one client. If you don’t want to do that, then it’s just not the place for you,” chief of staff Chad Mizelle says. Marcus asks whether the client is the U.S. or the president. “I don’t see a difference between those,” he contests. More lawfare reads: “Trump uses FBI and Justice Department to escalate his long-standing feud with Adam Schiff,” by CNN’s Jeremy Herb … “The Trump ally fighting for criminal investigations of Obama, Biden and Clinton,” by NBC’s David Rohde 5. SCHOOL DAZE: A sea change at the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has seen federal priorities do a 180 on interpreting the law — from investigating discrimination against minority and transgender students to investigating discrimination that gives them a boost, WaPo’s Laura Meckler reports. At the same time, staff cuts have worsened backlogs, saddling lawyers with more cases, closing fewer of them and dismissing more complaints. On the other side of the cuts: For civil servants who worked in the niche specialty of education research, seeking to understand best practices in schools, the employment future is bleak after mass layoffs at the Education Department, WSJ’s Matt Barnum reports. The field is small and heavily dependent on the federal government, leading some former staffers to seek new careers altogether. 6. WHAT’S THE HOLDUP? “Court Split Leaves Trump’s Civil Fraud Appeal Stuck in Slow Lane,” by WSJ’s Corinne Ramey: “The New York court weighing President Trump’s appeal of a roughly $500 million civil-fraud judgment typically acts swiftly and unanimously … A five-justice panel has yet to render a decision nearly a year after taking up the case, leaving him and his business in limbo. Behind the scenes, members of the panel have been divided, and three of them have been writing opinions, according to people familiar with the matter. It couldn’t be determined how they are split.” 7. KNOWING ALEXANDRE DE MORAES: “The judge who refuses to bend to Trump’s will,” by WaPo’s Terrence McCoy and Marina Dias in Brasília, Brazil: “As a justice on Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court, he has clashed with … luminaries of the global right. Now his opponent is none other than [Trump]. … Moraes’s rules of engagement … have governed his conduct throughout a career marked by high-stakes battles with powerful politicians and businessmen: Never give in. Always escalate. … [Friends and colleagues] defended Moraes, saying his hard-line measures had helped preserve Brazilian democracy at a time when authoritarianism is rising across the globe. But others said he had become too powerful.”
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We extended our network to over 1.25 million new homes and businesses just in the last year and are on track to do the same this year. Learn more. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | John Fetterman, Raphael Warnock, Bernie Sanders and Tom Cotton are the members of Congress who made the most money recently from writing books, NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal reports. Kat Cammack welcomed a baby girl, Augusta Dair, and is “speedily recovering” now “after a very long & tough labor.” REBRANDED — As it spins off from NBC, MSNBC will rebrand to MS NOW, or My Source News Opinion World, per Axios. Its publicly traded parent company is called Versant. They’ll also lose the peacock logo and NBC brand, which will remain at NBCUniversal. CNBC will keep its name but change its logo. IN MEMORIAM — “Jules Witcover, political columnist who relished the horse race, dies at 98,” by WaPo’s Bart Barnes: “He was one of the best-sourced political reporters of his generation, known for a long-running column he wrote with Baltimore Sun colleague Jack Germond.” MEDIA MOVES — Roberta Rampton is joining the AP as White House news editor. She previously was White House editor at NPR and is a Reuters alum. … Nolan McCaskill is now a U.S. political correspondent at Reuters, covering Congress. He most recently was a state politics reporter at The Dallas Morning News. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Gabriella Bucci, VP of comms at AxAdvocacy and an RNC alum, and Zach Imel, data director at the RNC, welcomed Archibald “Archie” Williams Imel on Saturday evening. He came in at 9 lbs, 10 oz. Pic 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. Clarification: Friday’s Playbook PM was updated to more accurately describe the action taken by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. He called a second special session of the Texas legislature on Friday.
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