| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | Presented by American Advancement | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On today’s Playbook Podcast: Jack and Dasha discuss the Trump administration’s unprecedented response to the killing of Charlie Kirk; and its last-minute dash to reshape the Federal Reserve ahead of this week’s crucial interest rate decision.
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| Good Monday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. Get in touch. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: President Donald Trump cranked the pressure back up on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser over what he said was a refusal to play ball on his immigration agenda, threatening a further incursion into D.C. under the guise of a national emergency. Posted at 12.54 a.m.: “Under pressure from the Radical Left Democrats, Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has presided over this violent criminal takeover of our Capital for years, has informed the Federal Government that the Metropolitan Police Department will no longer cooperate with ICE in removing and relocating dangerous illegal aliens. If I allowed this to happen, CRIME would come roaring back. To the people and businesses of Washington, D.C., DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!” In today’s Playbook … — Washington watches and waits for the response to Charlie Kirk’s death. — Trump’s race against time as Fed board prepares to meet. — Ukraine top of mind as Trump prepares for U.K. trip.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
People hold candles and sing during a memorial and prayer vigil for Charlie Kirk at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 14, 2025, in Washington. | Rod Lamkey Jr./AP | IT’S A NEW WEEK: But the fallout from the killing of Charlie Kirk shows no sign of abating. The shooting hangs over D.C. like the darkest storm cloud; it dominates every political conversation, private and public; it has enveloped social media like few events of recent years. It will be a long time yet before the storm subsides. This is as true in the White House as anywhere, and maybe more so. Rarely have we seen an administration respond in such a deeply personal way to an incident of this kind. Within hours of the shooting, Trump had ordered flags across the nation to be hung at half-staff and later announced Kirk is to posthumously receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom. On Thursday, VP JD Vance pulled out of Sept. 11 memorial events to fly to Utah to help bring his friend’s body home to Arizona. Full house: The scene last night at the full-to-capacity Kennedy Center was extraordinary. Many of the Trump administration’s most senior figures turned out to address the prayer vigil; among them press secretary Karoline Leavitt, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., DNI Tulsi Gabbard; Speaker Mike Jonhson too. Today Vance will take the extraordinary step of guest-hosting Kirk’s own podcast, live on the Rumble platform at 12 p.m. — just the latest in a string of unprecedented steps. There will be further memorial events in Congress. And Trump will fly on Air Force One to Kirk’s funeral in Arizona this coming weekend. In part, it speaks to the influence of Kirk and his reach and significance within the modern conservative movement. It speaks, too, to the gut-punch manner of his killing, the sickening show of brutality, the sense of an assault on democracy itself. But it also speaks to Kirk’s closeness to this administration. And it’s this that will be the critical factor in the days and weeks ahead. Because the MAGA base is furious and demanding action. Given people working inside the White House are feeling this moment as deeply as anyone outside of Kirk’s own family, the policy response will likely be significant. Dems are fearful. Partly for their safety — public events are being canceled or scaled back by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and Johnson has acknowledged a broader security rethink for members of Congress is likely coming. But Dems are also fretting about how the White House will respond, when it’s ready to do so. We’re still learning about the suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, and what his motives may have been. Beyond the social media cacophony, officials have offered up a few details. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Robinson’s ideology “was very different” to his conservative family and noted that the suspect lived with a “boyfriend who is transitioning from male to female.” That was enough for plenty on the right to feel their suspicions had been confirmed. Equally, people who understand internet meme culture far better than your Playbook author have posted widely shared videos exploring in detail what the surreal inscriptions on those bullet cartridges might tell us about the shooter and the online rabbit holes they may have fallen down. But again — hard evidence has yet to come. The picture will hopefully become a lot clearer tomorrow, when charges against Robinson are due to be filed. Cox suggested investigators who have spent the past few days interviewing the suspect’s family and friends will unveil further strands of information at that point. So really, we don’t have long to wait. But Trump is not hanging around. “The radicals on the left are the problem,” Trump had already told Fox News back on Friday morning. Then, on Saturday to NBC News: “I’d like to see [the nation] heal … but we’re dealing with a radical left group of lunatics, and they don’t play fair.” And again last night: “If you look at the problem, the problem is on the left … When you look at the agitators, you look at the scum that speaks so badly of our country, the American flag burning all over the place, that’s the left. That’s not the right.” Clearly, this is not unifying rhetoric. But there’s no real sense of what he has planned. Asked by reporters whether he intends to investigate specific left-wing groups, Trump replied: “We’ll see. We’ll be announcing. They’re already under investigation … A lot of the people that you would traditionally say are on the left, they’re already under investigation.” We got a slightly clearer picture from Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles toward the end of last week. She suggested the response to Kirk’s killing may be wrapped into some sort of anti-crime clampdown already in the works, during an interview for Scott Jennings’ radio show. “We are working, we were actually already working, spurred as much by the Ukrainian woman [Iryna Zarutska] as by Charlie’s tragic passing, [on] a more comprehensive plan on violence in America, the importance of free speech and civil speech, the ways that you can address these, they can only be called hate groups, that may breed this kind of behavior.” Or try this: Trump’s policy chief Stephen Miller has also touched on this several times the past few days, in his own inimitable way. “The last message Charlie Kirk gave to me before he joined his creator in heaven was he said that we have to dismantle and take on the radical left organizations in this country that are fomenting violence,” he told Fox News. “We are gonna do that.” Plenty of those in MAGA world will be cheering all this on. But it’s got Dems spooked. Check out this viral X thread from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who warned that “something dark” may be coming and that he fears “a dizzying campaign to shut down political opposition groups and lock up or harass its leaders.” Plenty of Dems share these concerns, although they’re not all saying so out loud. We’ll likely be waiting a while yet. Trump is making some sort of Oval Office announcement at 4 p.m. today, but there’s no suggestion it’ll be on this topic. The president then departs on a state visit to the U.K. tomorrow and won’t be back until the end of the week. And then Kirk’s funeral is Sunday at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. That in itself will be quite a moment. After that, more concrete policy proposals may come into view.
| | | | A message from American Advancement: Democrats have a three-part plan for 2026: take back Congress, stop Trump's momentum, and erase his agenda. If Republicans lose the majority, President Trump's historic achievements vanish. Extending premium tax credits helps working families afford health care—and it's how Republicans keep promises that earned their majority. Republicans must protect these credits to protect the majority and the MAGA agenda. The choice is clear: defend our families, defend our future and defend our majority. Learn more. | | | | ON THE ECONOMY RACE AGAINST TIME: The Trump administration is still battling to reshape the all-important Federal Reserve board before this week’s crucial interest rate-setting meeting gets underway. The Trump administration renewed its request yesterday for the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. to fire Governor Lisa Cook — calling her defense “meritless,” CNN’s Auzinea Bacon reports. Cook’s legal team asked the court to reject the bid to oust her on Saturday, citing documents revealed by Reuters that listed her disputed Atlanta property as a “vacation home.” Meanwhile in Congress: The Senate is expected to vote this afternoon on a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination for Stephen Miran, a staunch Trump ally, to fill a separate vacant seat on the board of governors. Once that vote wraps up, the Senate can vote to confirm him shortly after — setting Miran up to join the Fed meeting mere hours later. And the clock is ticking. The two-day meeting starts tomorrow morning, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell due to announce the bank’s decision on Wednesday afternoon. For investors, it’s already less of a question of if the Fed will cut rates, but rather by how much. Markets expect a quarter point reduction — and maybe even a half point, with multiple cuts through the rest of the year, per Bloomberg’s Michael MacKenzie and colleagues. MEANWHILE IN MADRID: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are in Spain for the second day of talks with Chinese officials meant to bridge the two countries’ trade relationship and discuss the fate of TikTok. This Wednesday is the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok or risk seeing it shut down — but the Trump administration is already preparing to extend it again, Reuters’ David Shepardson and Jarrett Renshaw report.
| | | | A message from American Advancement:  
| | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD A WEEK OF DIPLOMACY: As Trump prepares to visit the U.K. tomorrow, he’s flipped the script on the gang of European nations demanding tougher sanctions on Russia. “Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don’t want them to buy oil,” Trump told reporters last night, expanding on this Truth Social post from the weekend. “I’m willing to do sanctions, but they’re going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I’m doing. … I’m ready to move ahead, but they have to do it. I think they will.” Incoming: Eyebrows were also raised last night by the president’s refusal to rule out further air strikes against Venezuela following the targeting of two alleged drug-smuggling boats last week. Could an attempt to remove President Nicolás Maduro even be on the cards? “We will see what happens,” Trump said. “It's not an option or a non-option. We’ll see … He had an election that was wrong. It was almost as corrupt as our election in 2020, you know that?” Over in the U.K.: Trump’s state visit to Britain will involve the ultimate show of pomp and circumstance at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, courtesy of King Charles and Queen Camilla, per CNBC’s Leonie Kidd. But the U.K. is also preparing its biggest security operation since the king’s coronation in 2023, “deploying drones, snipers, mounted police and boat teams in the River Thames,” NYT’s Lizzie Dearden reports. Coming attractions: Trump will meet with British PM Keir Starmer for bilateral talks on Thursday — less than a week after Starmer dismissed British Ambassador Peter Mandelson over his historic ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Don’t count on the two leaders to stand together for the usual post-summit presser: “The prospect of a joint news briefing in which Trump and Starmer are repeatedly asked about Epstein is giving UK government officials nightmares,” per Bloomberg. ZOOMING IN: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Israel for further talks today before he departs to join Trump in the U.K. Rubio already met with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu by the Western Wall for talks on the war and the remaining hostages, Reuters’ Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Simon Lewis report. On the ground the Israeli bombardment continues, with the military hitting 30 residential buildings in Gaza City yesterday alone.
| | | | Introducing Global Security: POLITICO’s weekly briefing on the policies, regulatory battles and industrial shifts shaping defense and security across continents. We connect what happens in Washington, Brussels and beyond to what gets funded, what gets built and who benefits. Subscribe now to access the free preview edition. | | | | | TRAIL MIX REDISTRICTING RODEO: A new poll from a GOP-aligned firm obtained by POLITICO’s Melanie Mason shows Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bid to redraw California’s congressional maps is ahead but sits below 50 percent among voters, and there may be room for Republicans to drag the effort down. The survey, conducted by the “Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab” committee affiliated with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, found that 48 percent of Californians back Democrats’ plans and 41 percent are opposed. “With almost a third of voters either undecided or soft in their support or opposition, there are plenty of ‘persuadable’ voters for us to defeat this ballot measure,” Jessica Millan Patterson, the group’s chair wrote in a memo. Next up? Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is pushing for South Carolina to enter the redistricting fray. And a “far-right faction of the S.C. Legislature says it will introduce legislation to redraw the lines to give the GOP near-guaranteed control of all of the state’s congressional seats,” the Post and Courier’s Marilyn Thompson and Macon Atkinson report. But Republican legislative leaders are wary of diving back into an issue “that landed them in a long-running federal lawsuit over alleged racial gerrymandering of the 2020 congressional maps.” EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul finally endorsed Zohran Mamdani in an NYT op-ed yesterday, marking a coming together for two divergent Democrats, NYT’s Emma Fitzsimmons and Nicholas Fandos write. “She is a moderate who recently declared herself a lover of capitalism, vowed not to raise taxes and supports Israel. He is a democratic socialist who wants higher taxes on the richest New Yorkers and is highly critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.” It also ups the pressure on New York’s Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who have both met with Mamdani but have yet to formally endorse his campaign.
| | | | A message from American Advancement:  
| | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — State of play in Alabama: A poll of likely voters for Alabama’s Republican Senate primary next May shows state AG Steve Marshall leading a crowded race. In the inaugural survey from Alabama Poll, Marshall takes 37 percent of the vote, followed by Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) with 16 percent, Jared Hudson at 7 percent and Rodney Walker at 1 percent. But 40 percent of voters are still undecided. The poll was conducted among 600 likely GOP primary voters in Alabama from Aug. 24-26. See the full poll POLL POSITION: “New poll reveals warning signs for Trump with Latino voters,” by POLITICO’s Andrew Howard: “Trump’s favorability is underwater by 20 points with the demographic, according to a poll obtained by POLITICO and commissioned by the liberal-leaning Latino voter group Somos Votantes. ” See the full poll FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Endorsement watch: New Politics is throwing its support behind James Talarico’s Texas Senate campaign and David Crowley’s Wisconsin gubernatorial bid. BEST OF THE REST SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: House GOP leaders may today unveil the text for a proposed stopgap deal that would fund the government through Nov. 20, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports. But the announcement could yet get delayed as lawmakers consider how to fund improvements to their own security in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing last week. But but but: Any funding deal would need GOP-wide support, plus the votes of a number of Dems. And the row about tying in an extension to Obamacare tax credits isn’t going away — with several Republicans warming to the idea. “Among all the troublemaking members House Republican leaders have to deal with, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) isn’t on their list of problem children. That might be changing,” POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith write this morning. More from POLITICO’s Inside Congress IN THE HOT SEAT: Also facing a big week is FBI Director Kash Patel, who will sit for two congressional hearings as his “leadership atop the nation’s premier law enforcement agency is under fire” following missteps in the investigation into Kirk’s killing, Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich reports. Though White House officials deny Patel is in danger, Trump allies are said to be circulating word that “contingency plans for Patel’s ouster are forming.” The scrutiny comes as former Missouri AG Andrew Bailey is sworn in to a new “power-sharing role” with Deputy Director Dan Bongino today. VAX NOT: “Fear over RFK Jr. vaccine panel’s looming decisions on childhood shots,” by POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner: “Vaccine advisers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected this week to consider softening or eliminating recommendations for some routine childhood immunizations … public health experts and vaccine advocates told POLITICO that if the ACIP chooses to weaken recommendations, it could further confuse Americans, help normalize policy decisions not grounded in science and amount to yet another blow against the U.S. public health system.” TUNE IN: Tomorrow, POLITICO is kicking off a new summit season with the AI & Tech summit at Union Station. The summit will feature live interviews with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), FCC Chair Brendan Carr and more. As technology rapidly evolves in the age of artificial intelligence, leaders will discuss the most pressing challenges facing the country and their road map for the future. Register to watch the livestream here
| | | | 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 | | IN MEMORIAM — “Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, a popular two-term Republican, dies at 79,” by AP’s Sophia Tareen: “Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, a popular two-term Republican credited with guiding the state into a period of greater financial stability in the 1990s, died Sunday, according to his family. He was 79. Edgar died from complications related to his treatment for pancreatic cancer … A former state legislator who was Illinois secretary of state for a decade, Edgar was elected governor in 1990. The moderate Republican easily won reelection, including winning heavily Democratic Cook County, where Chicago is located.” — “Mary Rose Oakar, pioneering Ohio congresswoman, dies at 85,” by Cleveland.com’s Sabrina Eaton: “Mary Rose Oakar, a pioneering lawmaker who spent 16 years fighting for women’s economic equality and breaking barriers in the male-dominated halls of Congress, died Saturday in Cleveland. She was 85. … Oakar became the first Democratic woman elected to Congress from Ohio. She served eight terms, representing Cleveland’s West Side from 1977 to 1993.” OUT AND ABOUT — Australian Ambassador Kevin Rudd and David Chalian welcomed guests to the ambassador’s residence for the second annual “Kangaroo Cup” yesterday afternoon, where guests enjoyed a live tennis tournament featuring government officials and members of the media, with Kevin Lamarque and Hans Nichols emerging as the victors. SPOTTED: Eric Sherling, Phil Rucker, Terry and Dorothy McAuliffe, Abigail Crutchfield, Audie Cornish, Brianna Keilar, Manu Raju, Jeff Zeleny, Jamie Gangel, Daniel Silva, Kristen Holmes, Kevin Liptak, Arlette Saenz, Katelyn Polantz, Eva McKend, Priscilla Alvarez, Sam Feist, Michael Wilner, Meridith McGraw, Seung Min Kim, Jon Decker, Ricky Gill, Christine Brennan, Astead Herndon, Shelby Talcott, Finn Gomez, Guy Griggs, Jed Royal, Patrick Newton, JP Fielder, Rachael Caines, Rodell Mollineau and Cody Sargent. TRANSITIONS — Sarah Hutchinson is now associate manager of government relations for YUM! Brands. She previously worked at the American Hotel and Lodging Association. … Charli Huddleston is joining Brunswick Group as an associate. She previously worked at Heritage Action. ENGAGED — Kathryn Crenshaw, a federal legislative representative at the National Association of Realtors, and Taylor Miller, a data scientist at GDIT, got engaged over the weekend at the Enid A. Haupt Garden, followed by a celebration with friends at Henceforth. The pair met in 2013 while at the University of Alabama. Pic, via Jon Fleming Photography … Another pic. WEEKEND WEDDING — Seth Waugh, a senior policy director at Dentons, and Caroline Cannon, a senior coordinator at Silverstein Properties, got married on Saturday at the Westmoor Club on Nantucket, where they first met. Pic … Another pic … SPOTTED: Andy Waugh, Andrew Mills, Tyler Houlton and Alli Papa, Jeff and Christine Patchen, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Justin Griffin, Alex and Tracey Schriver, Oliver and Ana Schwab, Cory and Sarah Fritz, Emily and John Jacobs, Gill and Molly Stevens, Hilary and John Bones, Cody and Logan Tucker, Alex and Justina Herrgott, Kaitlin and Matt Haskins, Nick and Mary Francis Schemmel, Blake Schindler, David Frash and Juliegrace Brufke. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Rob Flaherty, co-founder of Channel Zero Ventures and a Biden White House and Kamala Harris campaign alum, and Carla Frank, a Biden White House and Harris campaign alum, welcomed Arthur “Bear” Jampel Flaherty on Sept. 10. They celebrated with bagels from Call Your Mother and riptides from Millie’s. Pic … Another pic — Keith Urbahn, founding partner and president of Javelin, and Kerri Urbahn, legal editor and VP of Fox News Channel, welcomed Eleanor “Ellie” Rose Urbahn also on Sept. 10. She came in at 6 lbs, 2 oz. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) and Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) … The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker … Chris Lehmann … NPR’s David Folkenflik … NBC’s Ben Kamisar and Ryan Nobles … Adam Aigner-Treworgy … POLITICO’s Kathy Wolfe and Katie Lund … Tiffany Haverly of Humana … Elizabeth Meyer … Sandra Alcalá of Avōq … Chandler Smith Costello of P2 Public Affairs … Tony Mauro … Maggie Moore of Stand Up America … McKinsey’s Max Berley … Wayne King of Old North Strategies … Sara Fagen of Tunnl … Christian Pinkston … John McConnell … former Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) … Berkley Center’s Katie Thompson … Emma Banse of Rep. Don Bacon’s office 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 American Advancement: Democrats have a three-part plan for 2026: take back Congress, stop Trump's momentum, and erase his agenda. If Republicans lose the majority, President Trump's historic achievements vanish. Extending premium tax credits helps working families afford health care—and it's how Republicans keep promises that earned their majority. Republicans must protect these credits to protect the majority and the MAGA agenda. The choice is clear: defend our families, defend our future and defend our majority. 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 | | | |
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