| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On today’s Playbook Podcast: Jack and Dasha discuss Donald Trump’s prospects of brokering peace in the Middle East; another bleak day of political violence in America; and why the president's childish trolling of Joe Biden is actually part of a serious political strategy.
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| Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, wishing I could start each morning like Stephen Miller with an inspiring speech to my wife about crushing my enemies. For now, I’ll just be making some toast. TODAY’S MUST-READ: Kick off your morning with this agenda-setting scoop from POLITICO’s Sophia Cai, who revealed a White House memo last night preparing the ground for mass firings across the federal government in the event of a shutdown. The memo confirms the worst fears of Democrats concerned that failing to keep the government open will only allow Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought even greater control over federal spending. Democratic leaders were split on the scale of the threat last night. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed the memo as an “attempt at intimidation,” insisting any “unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back.” But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared to be taking the threat seriously in an X post addressed to federal workers in Virginia ahead of the commonwealth’s looming gubernatorial election. “Their goal is to ruin your life,” he said. Reminder: The government shutdown is now just six days away. And Capitol Hill is getting ready, Fox News’ Chad Pergram writes. Congressional staffers will still be paid, but nonessential staffers won’t report for work and other activities on the Hill will cease. “Restaurants and barber shops likely close. Garbage won’t be collected” from Hill offices, he reports. Democrats are due to gather for last-minute talks tomorrow at 4 p.m. In today’s Playbook … — Inside Trump’s Middle East peace play. — The political violence blame game feels like it’ll never end. — Moments of truth loom for James Comey and Lisa Cook.
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President Donald Trump speaks to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 23. | Angelina Katsanis/AP | PUSH FOR PEACE: Trump welcomes an old pal back to the White House this morning, with peace in the Middle East top of the president’s mind. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will arrive in the Oval Office at 11 a.m. to renew a friendship that ran deep during Trump’s first term. Bilateral trade, military hardware and the war in Ukraine will all be on the agenda — but it’s Trump’s new Gaza peace plan that is the biggest story in town. Catch-up: Erdoğan was in the room on Tuesday as Trump convened eight leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority nations in New York to lay out his vision for peace. And this was no glossy fantasy about “the riviera of the Middle East,” per scoopy reporting yesterday from my POLITICO colleagues. Instead, the U.S. unveiled a serious 21-point postwar plan that was met with cautious approval around the table. Crucially, as POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and colleagues scooped, Trump assured Arab nations that there will be no Israeli annexation of the West Bank — a widespread fear among Israel’s neighbors given recent settler incursions and comments from members of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Trump’s assurances were sufficient to win positive words from around the table. Regional buy-in will be crucial if a lasting peace is to be achieved. This is a big deal: Trump has talked a lot about peace over the past eight months. Now, for the first time, he has a real plan — and heavyweight help. As the Times of Israel reported, one of the key architects is former British PM Tony Blair, a highly experienced Middle East negotiator — though hardly an uncontroversial figure in the Arab world — who was drafted in via his friendship with Jared Kushner. Blair and Kushner visited the White House last month to talk through the proposals with Trump. The details: The plan involves a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza once a ceasefire has been agreed and all hostages released, per Axios. Gaza would be governed without any involvement from Hamas and maintained with a security force that would include Palestinians, but also soldiers and funding from Arab and Muslim neighbors. The Palestinian Authority would reportedly have a role to play. The Turkish view: Erdoğan’s take will be an interesting one. Remember, he and Trump are close. Trump has been happy to dismiss GOP concerns about Erdoğan’s anti-democratic tendencies and friendship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin — and may yet help him back into the F-35 fighter jet program, from which Turkey was booted in 2019. But the two men are miles apart on the Middle East. “I don't see Hamas as a terrorist organization — on the contrary, I see it as a resistance group,” Erdoğan told Fox News’ Bret Baier this week. “Netanyahu … has killed tens of thousands with this genocide.” But even Erdoğan has described these U.S.-led talks as “fruitful.” His words will be watched closely today. And then for the hard part: Netanyahu will be back at the White House on Monday for his fourth visit this year. Can Trump sell him on the peace plan? Their relationship has blown hot and cold over the years, and Netanyahu’s shock attack on Hamas negotiators in Qatar this month sparked intense frustration within the White House — and revealed the limitations of Trump’s reach. Plenty of observers see little prospect of Netanyahu agreeing to any kind of compromise. And yet: “I think [the peace plan] addresses Israeli concerns and, as well, the concerns of all the neighbors in the region," Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said yesterday. “We’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough.” Today’s talks with the Turkish president are likely just the warm-up for the main event. NOW READ THIS: POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi is essential reading in her latest Compass column on why President Joe Biden failed with Gaza. “From the start, the Biden team approached the conflict as if America was weak instead of strong,” she writes. “The most powerful country in the world constrained itself. This was due to multiple factors, including Biden’s deep commitment to Israel; worries about how the war would affect Democrats’ election prospects; and a belief that Israel would do what it wanted, even if the U.S. went so far as to cut off its weapons supply.” Read it and weep: “We did not act like a superpower,” Andrew Miller, a State Department official who dealt with the region under Biden, tells Nahal. “Instead of beginning from the proposition that these were problems we could solve, we persuaded ourselves that there was little we could do to move our regional ally, Israel.” Top-ed: Jon Finer and Philip Gordon, two Biden administration alums, write for POLITICO Magazine: “It’s Time to Impose Conditions on Aid to Israel”
| | | | A message from Solana Policy Institute: The next generation of U.S. financial infrastructure is open-source and blockchain-based—built by developers creating transparent systems that empower consumer choice. As Congress crafts digital asset legislation, we must preserve historical protections for open-source developers. The future of American financial innovation depends on protecting those building it today. Learn more. | | | | AFTER CHARLIE KIRK THE LATEST FROM DALLAS: Another day, another moment of deeply depressing political violence in America. FBI Special Agent R. Joseph Rothrock has confirmed the FBI is treating the shooting of the ICE field office in Dallas yesterday as “an act of targeted violence,” per NYT’s J. David Goodman and colleagues. The latest: “Three detainees were shot … one person is dead and two others are in critical condition, confirmed by DHS … No ICE officers were hurt,” per NBC News. DHS corrected an earlier report it made Wednesday, when it said two of the victims had died. The suspected shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Pattern of behavior: This was at least the fourth instance of violence or a threat at an ICE or CBP facility in Texas this year, per CNN. Blame game: As you no doubt saw, the incident had — within minutes — sparked a familiar back-and-forth across the airwaves and social media about the motivation of the shooter, and whether one side should carry the blame. Once again, FBI chief Kash Patel dropped an early clue on social media, with a picture of a bullet casing inscribed with the words “anti-ICE.” There’s not much more to go on as yet, per the NYT’s profile of the suspected killer. But MAGA world has seen enough: Trump blamed “Deranged Radical Leftists.” VP JD Vance blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller blamed the entire Democratic Party, which he told Fox News “is not a political party, it is a domestic, extremist organization.” Newsom hit back on X that Miller’s “language incites violence and terrorism.” And on it goes. TRUMP’S NEXT STEP: The president said he’ll be signing another executive order this week “to dismantle these Domestic Terrorism Networks,” and we’ll have to wait and see just what that means. As POLITICO’s Myah Ward reports, the first order Trump signed in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, targeting antifa, carries little legal weight. But aides believe the EO “serves as both a messaging and prioritization tool for the White House, and sends a signal that Trump will devote resources to investigating the broad anti-fascist ideology,” Myah reports. In the meantime, Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization continues to post astonishing numbers in the wake of his death. “In the past 2 weeks, TPUSA has received 121,000+ requests from high school and college students nationwide to start a chapter or get involved with an existing chapter,” the organization said on X. Last night in Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin spoke at a Turning Point rally, which “illustrated how Turning Point USA and Republicans are seeking to both commemorate Kirk and mobilize young conservatives ahead of the midterms,” POLITICO’s Juan Perez Jr. reports from Blacksburg. Also posting astonishing numbers: Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, for one night at least. Kimmel’s return episode drew 6.2 million viewers, nearly four times his usual audience, even as over 20 percent of ABC affiliates boycotted the show, NYT’s John Koblin reports.
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| | | | LAWFARE LATEST THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING: Federal prosecutors are expected to go before a grand jury and seek an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey in the coming days, MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig scooped last night — less than a week after the president of the United States publicly urged his AG, Pam Bondi, to go after him. Even by Trump’s standards, it’s a stunning breach of presidential protocol and legal norms. Why now? Dilanian and Leonnig report that “at least one element of the indictment — if it goes forward — will accuse Comey of lying to Congress in his testimony on Sept. 30, 2020, about whether he authorized a leak of information. The five-year statute of limitations on that charge would lapse Tuesday.” That comes despite the reality that prosecutors and investigators have already determined “there was insufficient evidence to charge him,” ABC’s Katherine Faulders and colleagues report, citing “sources with direct knowledge of the probe.” Earlier this week, “prosecutors presented Lindsey Halligan — Trump’s former personal attorney, whom he recently appointed to lead the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia — with a detailed memo recommending that she decline to bring perjury and obstruction charges against Comey.” And there’s more: Trump has “pushed Bondi repeatedly in private in recent days to bring charges against Comey, even as she has expressed reservations about the case,” WSJ’s Sadie Gurman and Josh Dawsey report. Reminder: Trump’s jaw-dropping message to Bondi on Truth Social at the weekend also demanded to know why criminal charges have yet to be brought against two more political enemies — Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York AG Letitia James. And guess what? The DOJ’s case against James is now moving forward, “in an effort led by senior Justice Department official Ed Martin,” Bloomberg’s Chris Strohm reports. (Last week, U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert resigned “amid pressure to bring charges against James” despite his determination “there wasn’t enough evidence to support charges,” per Bloomberg.) NEXT IN THE FIRING LINE: Trump’s bid to win influence over the Federal Reserve by firing Lisa Cook from the board of governors is coming to a head. After the administration made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, Cook is due to submit her response by 4 p.m. today, via Abbe Lowell — the go-to lawyer for those targeted by Trump. The government will then respond. We could get a ruling from the high court anytime after that. And the stakes are high: “Officials are increasingly worried that if the Supreme Court allows for Cook’s removal, even temporarily, it will give the president the green light to begin picking off the central bank’s most senior officials one by one,” FT’s Claire Jones and colleagues reported earlier this week. Some analysts believe the case could trigger a significant market reaction. The big picture: Cook’s case is but one example of Trump’s efforts “to concentrate unrivaled power in the executive branch,” POLITICO’s legal ace Kyle Cheney writes, which “has forced courts to wrestle — often on emergency timelines — with issues no court has ever addressed.” Where things go from here: “The results of these cases could empower Trump to assert his will more aggressively than any president in history, but just as significantly, they are guaranteed to leave a legal legacy that will shape the way future presidents can wield the power of their office,” Kyle writes. “And Trump still has three years to poke, prod and stress test the system of government in ways that have thrilled his supporters and stoked existential dread about the unraveling of the republic from his critics.” FOR YOUR RADAR: “Federal Judge Declines to Reinstate Government Watchdogs Fired by Trump,” by NYT’s Chris Cameron
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| | | | BEST OF THE REST TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK: Trump is expected to sign a deal forcing the sale of TikTok today, NBC’s Julie Tsirkin and colleagues report. The sale will move TikTok’s majority ownership from a Chinese-based company to a group of American investors — among them Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and the family of Rupert Murdoch — and comply with the 2024 law that forced the app to be sold. “ByteDance, TikTok's current China-based owner, will hold less than 20% of the stock of the new company,” NBC reports. EPSTEIN LATEST: The White House and top GOP lawmakers are working to block a prospective floor vote in the House next week on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, CNN’s Annie Grayer and colleagues report. The GOP members who have signed on are privately being pressured to back out. Semafor’s Burgess Everett writes that despite the pressure, the Republicans backing the petition are “standing strong.” Must-read: “Inside the White House Struggle to Tame the Epstein Crisis,” by WSJ’s Josh Dawsey and colleagues: “Trump … told aides he couldn’t understand why people were so obsessed with the deceased financier and sex offender, according to people familiar with his comments. People don’t understand that Palm Beach in the 90s was a different time, he groused.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Partners in crime: Big-city mayors believe crime is a very real problem, and many would welcome Trump’s help — just not the deployment of the National Guard. That’s the topline of a new survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in which “nearly six in 10 mayors called juvenile crime ‘serious or very serious,’” POLITICO’s Liz Crampton writes. What mayors want: “When asked an open-ended question about which federal partnerships would be helpful, not a single mayor named the National Guard. Instead, about three-quarters called for increased support from federal agencies, including the FBI, that track drug trafficking, conduct investigations of high-level crimes and trace guns.” FLOOD WATCH: In the chaos of this summer’s deadly July floods in Texas, acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson was unreachable for about 24 hours despite being “required by law to be accessible during emergencies,” WaPo’s Brianna Sacks reports. It created a major logistical hurdle: Weeks earlier, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “instituted a policy requiring her approval for any expenditure over $100,000. That meant, in order to deploy resources to Texas, FEMA officials needed Richardson to get those requests in front of Noem — fast.” MORE QUESTIONS FOR HOMAN: Former consulting clients of White House border czar Tom Homan have sought lucrative migrant detention-related contracts with the administration. And though federal regulations advise those who’ve recently consulted for companies competing for government business not to involve themselves in the contracting process — and despite Homan’s assurances that he would recuse himself from that process — in June, “it became clear that wasn’t the case,” Bloomberg’s Fola Akinnibi and colleagues report. “Now, tens of billions of dollars in immigration detention contracts could be issued through that same contracting process.” DATE FOR YOUR DIARY: Trump is adding a stop in Japan to his trip to Asia late next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting, Reuters’ Trevor Hunnicutt and Yukiko Toyoda scoop. The visit presents an opportunity to hash out details on the tariff deal and for Trump to meet PM Shigeru Ishiba’s successor.
| | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Dan Scavino and Erin Elmore got engaged at the White House. THAT WAS FAST — One day after an anonymous group of artists installed a statue on the National Mall of Trump and Epstein holding hands, the National Park Service removed it. STAY CLASSY — Trump unveiled a new hallway of presidential portraits featuring him and previous presidents in black and white. The one exception: Joe Biden. In his place is a photograph of an autopen, WaPo’s Matt Viser reports. WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Taylor Budowich plans to leave the administration at the end of the month and return to the private sector, Axios’ Alex Isenstadt scooped. ADMIN ADDITIONS — Ben Carson, former HUD secretary, is joining the Agriculture Department as a nutrition, health care and housing adviser focused on the MAHA agenda, per POLITICO’s Grace Yarrow. … Anthony Letai, a medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, will be the next head of the National Cancer Institute, CNN’s Adam Cancryn scooped. OUT AND ABOUT — Semafor held its “Next 3 Billion” summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday night at the New York Marriott Marquis. SPOTTED: Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Massad Boulos, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mark Suzman, Austin Demby, Iván Duque, David Miliband, Patrick Muyaya, Josephine Teo, Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Bosun Tijani, Justin Smith, Ben Smith, Kristina Rosales, Avril Benoît, Yinka Adegoke, Alexis Akwagyiram, Amna Nawaz, Margaret Carlson, Christopher Kulukundis, Merry Walker, Mohamed Muse Hassan, Stefania Piffanelli, Lauretta Charlton, Badr Jafar, Fabio Bertoni, Garry Pierre-Pierre and James Pollard. — The Lowe’s Foundation hosted a skilled trades workforce development forum yesterday at Ned’s Club, focused on solving America’s labor shortage with a fireside chat and panel discussions followed by a networking reception. SPOTTED: Margi Vagell, Jana Barresi, Reg Henderson, Courtney Reyes, Ed Egee, Tara Hogan Charles, Marek Laco, Matt Lee, Dane Linn, Michael Long, Malloy McDaniel, Ramola Musante, Greg Polk, Phillip Wallace, Tres Bailey and Rontel Batie. TRANSITIONS — John McLaughlin is joining Mike Cox’s Michigan gubernatorial campaign team. He is a longtime pollster and strategic adviser to President Donald Trump. … Cole Bornefeld is now director of correspondence for the Office of VP JD Vance. He previously worked for Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). Kristina Spencer has joined the Office of the Vice President as deputy counsel for ethics. She previously worked at DHS. … … Andrew Light is joining DGA Group as a senior adviser. He previously worked in the Energy Department and State Department. … Philip Brown is joining Cooley as special counsel in the product compliance and litigation practice. He previously worked in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. … Vivek Chandrasekhar has joined Perkins Coie as a partner in the firm’s tax and environment, energy and resources practice. He previously worked in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy. ENGAGED — Casey Clemmons, chief of staff at West Point Thoroughbreds, and Bailey Romans, senior client success manager at Indigov, got engaged on Aug. 8 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The couple met as staffers on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2015. Pic, via Gabie Hart of Nowadays Film … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Paula Reid, CNN’s chief legal correspondent, and Jason Kolsevich, a corporate consultant, welcomed Skylar Dorothy on Sept. 5. She came in at 8 lbs and 20 inches. Pics, via People HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) … Jeff Roe … Jack Howard … Tim Hogan … former Defense Secretary Robert Gates … NPR’s Tamara Keith … Brian Beutler … NBC’s Ryan Reilly … Dave Peluso … POLITICO’s Bob King and Lesley Clark … Kiley Smith … Ed Newberry of IronNet … George Hornedo … Chrissy Harbin … Washington Examiner’s Madeline Fry Schultz … Missy Owens of General Motors … Rita Norton … Kirsten West of Cornerstone Government Affairs … Carmiel Arbit … Messina Group’s Jack Davis … Arnold & Porter’s Mickayla Stogsdill … Emily Threadgill … John Lauinger … Steptoe & Johnson’s Darryl Nirenberg … Vivyan Tran … former Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) … Gary Carpentier … April Greener … Ginevra Lamborghini … Brittney Peterson … Mallory Ward … Carson Keaton of Sen. Dan Sullivan’s (R-Alaska) office … DCCC’s Kevin Briggs … Dave Mohel … Sloane Skinner Carlough 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 Solana Policy Institute: The next generation of U.S. financial infrastructure is open-source and blockchain-based—built by software developers creating transparent systems that empower consumer choice. As Congress crafts digital asset legislation, we must preserve historical protections for open-source software developers.
America's welcoming approach to software development enabled our leadership in groundbreaking technologies. But regulatory uncertainty is driving talent overseas. Our share of all global open-source developers dropped by more than 50 percent from 2015-2025, weakening our competitive edge. To maintain our status as the "crypto capital of the world," Congress must protect the builders and service providers who build and power it.
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