| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good Monday morning, and happy Labor Day. This is Jack Blanchard. The weather is glorious — get out there and enjoy it. On the president’s mind last night: “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE” (4:42 p.m.) … Crime levels in D.C. (4:45 p.m.) … More crime levels in D.C. (6:40 p.m.) … Donna “dumb as a rock” Brazile (8:54 p.m.) … Inflation; windmills, tariffs, respect (9:13 p.m.) … Federal judges … More federal judges (9:24 p.m.) … Crime in Chicago (9:30 p.m.) … Tariffs again (9:42 p.m.) … “GOOD NIGHT!!!” (9:54 p.m.). On the president’s mind every night: Refurbing the White House, apparently. “He seems to wake up and say, what else needs to be improved? Every day, it’s something new,” a person familiar tells POLITICO’s Eli Stokols for this just-published feature on Donald Trump’s new gilded age. Erm, don’t you have a country to run? “There is now 24-karat gilded ornamentation in the Cabinet Room,” Stokols notes, “two massive flagpoles on the North and South Lawns, a paved patio over what had long been the Rose Garden’s grass lawn and plans to break ground this fall on a massive new $200 million ballroom that will completely alter the scale of the White House’s East Wing.” And there’s more: “Roughly a month ago,” Eli reveals, “Donald Trump demanded that better lighting be installed around the ceiling of the Cabinet Room ... Trump, who spent more than a decade conducting the business of his reality show ‘The Apprentice’ from a made-for-TV boardroom inside his eponymous Manhattan tower, wasn’t happy with the footage from a meeting and had brighter lights installed.” So isn’t this just the mother of all ego trips? Absolutely not, a White House official tells Eli. “He’s actually thinking about his legacy,” the aide explains. “He wants to leave a lasting impact, and leave things better off than they were.” In today’s Playbook … — An essential guide to the turbulent autumn in U.S. politics. — Why anti-Trump rallies are springing up all over the place for Labor Day. — Could Trump really approve compensation for the Jan. 6 rioters?
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President Donald Trump walks at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., on Saturday, Aug. 30. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP | AUGUST SLIPPED AWAY: September is upon us; as always, the summer flew by too soon. And the unofficial arrival of fall kicks off what will be a turbocharged season of politics here in D.C. The central theme is now crystal clear: a president hellbent on stretching his power to its limits. His titanic battles with every possible constraining force — political, economic, legal, democratic — will dominate the weeks ahead. With that in mind, here’s your essential Labor Day guide to the autumn months. BACK TO SCHOOL: Congress returns tomorrow from August recess, and there are numerous storms brewing. Top of the list is the imminent threat of a government shutdown, with a funding cliff edge looming at the end of September. The GOP does not have a plan to avoid a shutdown on Oct. 1. Dem leaders in the House and Senate are demanding bipartisan talks ASAP. Not helping those talks: Trump’s ongoing rescissions efforts. Last week, he rescinded almost $5 billion of foreign aid spending that Congress had already approved. Brace for more battles over rescissions in the weeks ahead. Crucially, Dems are reluctant to cut any spending deal with a president who doesn’t stick to congressionally agreed spending levels anyway. All of which means … “Democrats — eager to show the base that they’re taking the fight to the president — will almost certainly take the bait, making the prospects of a shutdown extremely high this fall,” POLITICO’s Rachael Bade writes this morning. But aides fear this could prove a losing strategy, turning off voters and handing Trump even more power. “[Republicans] don’t even care about the government being open,” one says. “You’ll probably just have to eventually fold and get nothing out of it.” More immediate fights loom — not least over the Jeffrey Epstein files, with Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pushing ahead tomorrow with a bipartisan discharge petition demanding the Justice Department release the files. They say they have the numbers to get it over the line. They also have a high-profile news conference planned for Wednesday featuring 10 Epstein survivors. Expect plenty of coverage as this whole saga reignites. Also looming: Proposals to ban members from profiting on stock trades … a big defense bill … GOP debate over a potential second reconciliation bill … and a highly controversial Trump-authorized plan to change the rules on confirmations, to diminish the power of senators and make it quicker and easier for the president to get his appointees over the line. Speaking of which: Some blockbuster hearings await, kicking off this week with Trump’s first pick for Federal Reserve governor, Stephen Miran. The president’s attempt to fire Biden-appointed Governor Lisa Cook has obviously turbocharged Miran’s hearing on Thursday — and if Trump is successful in ousting Cook and securing a majority on the Fed’s board, then she will need a replacement, too. And there’s more to come, including blockbuster confirmation hearings for Jim O’Neill, Trump’s pick to replace fired CDC boss Susan Monarez, and E.J. Antoni, his choice to replace ousted Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer. Those parts of the GOP feeling queasy about the attacks on Fed and BLS independence, plus HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine views, will have a chance to make a stand … if they have the guts.
| | | | A message from Booz Allen: Booz Allen is helping the Department of Homeland Security fight drug cartels at the border with advanced analytics. When American lives are at stake, our tech steps up. Learn more. | | | | AWAY FROM CONGRESS: Gerrymandering will remain another hot-button topic through the fall, with Trump pressing other red states to follow Texas’ redistricting lead. On Wednesday, attention will turn to Missouri, where a special session of the state legislature has been called, with the aim of creating one more Republican House seat. Ohio and Indiana could be next. It’s unclear as yet whether other blue states will follow California’s lead in trying to go tit-for-tat ahead of 2026, but watch this space. Speaking of the midterms … the drip-drip of candidate announcements will continue through the fall. Among the most high profile to watch will be Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who is considering taking on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in what remains a perennial Democratic target. Just as important are the announcements on who is not running; we’re expecting confirmation from Sen. Joni Ernst on Thursday that she won’t be going again in Iowa, another Dem target (albeit much more of a reach). And onto Friday, when we get the first monthly jobs report since McEntarfer’s ouster. Will the figures be rosier? Can we still trust them? This is the last jobs report before the Fed’s decision on Sept. 23 whether to cut interest rates, and expectations are high. There’s another potential cut looming on Oct. 29, too … Expect Trump to keep piling the pressure on Fed Chair Jay Powell all through the fall. Finally, this week … Trump is expected to send his immigration enforcement teams and perhaps the National Guard into Chicago; CBS reports Friday has been penciled in. (Trump was posting about crime in the city again last night.) Expect other Democratic-run cities to get similar treatment as the fall continues — Baltimore, Boston, San Francisco and New York City are among those to watch. The resistance from local leaders means things could yet turn ugly. And then next week … Trump’s 30-day takeover of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department is meant to draw to a close. But will it? In theory, the president needs congressional approval for an extension, which seems unlikely to get past a Dem filibuster. Trump insists he can do it unilaterally if he so chooses — perhaps by calling a national emergency — but it’s also unclear if he actually wants an extension. “DC IS NOW A CRIME FREE ZONE, IN JUST 12 DAYS!!!” he wrote on Truth Socia l yesterday. Also needing attention: Trump’s latest deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to make progress on peace in Ukraine passes today — although it’s far from clear if this deadline still exists in the president’s mind. In any event, the rapid-fire summit between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Trump was angling for is looking less and less likely, and at some point Trump will have to decide whether to take action. A Russian sanctions bill is still sitting in Congress, awaiting approval. Speaking of war: It’s the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York later this month, and normally the president would be expected to make a major speech. But these are not normal times, and Trump’s plans remain TBD for now. What we are expecting is for two of America's closest and oldest allies — Britain and France — to use the UNGA stage to recognize Palestinian statehood in response to Israel’s punishing grip on Gaza. How will the U.S. respond to that? More broadly on Gaza, Trump & Co. keep insisting a peace deal is only a few weeks away. WaPo’s extraordinary weekend report on vague commercial plans for a postwar Gaza — one with no Palestinians living in it — gives an indication of just how seismic this moment could be. The King and I: Trump will get a chance to discuss it all in person with British PM Keir Starmer when he embarks on a state visit to the U.K. on Sept. 17. But the real attraction for Trump will — as ever — be the pomp and ceremony afforded him by the Brits, with King Charles III and Prince William certain to play starring roles. The U.K. parliament is in recess while Trump is in town, which should help quell any left-wing dissent. Speaking of left-wing dissent … Government shutdown talks and strategy are likely to consume the Democratic Party through much of September, especially if a deal can’t be done. Some form of relief for Dems should come on Sept. 23, when former VP Kamala Harris publishes her memoir of last year’s failed presidential campaign. Some scores may be settled and expect plenty of headlines to be generated as she embarks on a major interview tour. It’s unclear if it will be at all helpful to the wider Dem cause. Election night: If the government stays open in October, then attention will increasingly turn toward elections on Nov. 4. — the pivotal electoral night of the year. In addition to the two big gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, we now have California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Democratic gerrymander on the ballot in the Golden State. Throw in New York’s unmissable mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani and all, and it should be a heck of a night. Less of a big deal in November: The annual U.N. climate change summit held in Brazil this year. Safe to say Trump won’t be attending. Expect the atmosphere to be akin to a wake. Trump may also skip the annual G20 leaders’ summit at the end of November, given his miserable relationship with its South African hosts. Worth watching all through the fall is the Supreme Court, which will likely be asked to rule on many more key cases of Trump’s authority — from his power to implement tariffs to the legality of his attempted takeover of the Federal Reserve. And two other big cases remain on the shadow docket, with decisions due at any time — one on transgender students’ use of bathrooms in public schools, the other on the power of ICE agents to carry out detentive stops without reasonable suspicion. And then the final major spending row of the year, which will likely be over health care, given a bunch of high-value ACA tax credits are due to expire on Dec. 31. Will Trump and the GOP let it happen? Dems (and some Republicans) want an extension, but the politics for the GOP look very tricky indeed. Either way, the year should go out with a bang. Roll on 2026!
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| | | | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. THE RESISTANCE: For Labor Day, significant protests against Trump and his most moneyed supporters are planned across the country today. May Day Strong and the AFL-CIO are organizing the several hundred “Workers Over Billionaires” demonstrations, including two this afternoon close to Trump Towers in NYC and Chicago, as USA Today previewed last week. In the D.C. area, where local anger against the administration has also centered on the federal law enforcement crackdown, there will be rallies in Alexandria and Silver Spring and a “D.C. Freedom Run” this morning from 14th and U Street NW, per Axios. The step back: These protests could be some of the most significant public expressions of mass discontent with Trump since the “No Kings” demonstrations drew out millions of Americans in June. But Democrats and other Trump opponents have sometimes struggled to marshal the kind of broad resistance that surged during Trump’s first term — even in D.C. under the federal takeover. 2. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: “U.S. Suspends Visas for Palestinian Passport Holders, Officials Say,” by NYT’s Edward Wong and colleagues: “The new policy goes beyond the restrictions announced by U.S. officials recently on visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza. … The more sweeping measures … would also prevent many Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Palestinian diaspora from entering the United States on various types of nonimmigrant visas … The new measures affect visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel, at least temporarily.” 3. THE NEWEST DEPORTATION FLASHPOINT: The U.S. returned hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan children to government custody rather than deporting them yesterday, after a judge temporarily blocked their removal, Reuters’ Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke report. Some of the children were pulled off planes they’d already entered, and one that may have already taken off but returned, in an echo — with a different outcome — of the Alien Enemies Act court fight earlier this year. The U.S. and Guatemala had struck a deal for the country to accept unaccompanied child deportees starting this weekend. Never back down: Stephen Miller said the judge was preventing the children from reuniting with parents in Guatemala because Democrats are “fully committed [to] the proposition of infinite child trafficking,” a baseless claim that POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney notes is “devoid of factual or legal relevance.” Legal advocates for the children argued in court that some of them feared for their safety if they returned to Guatemala and that deporting them so quickly would violate their legal protections. 4. TROUBLING HEALTH NEWS: Robert Mueller’s family said the former special counsel and FBI director was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2021, NYT’s Michael Schmidt and Nina Agrawal report. More recently, Mueller has had issues with speaking and mobility — so his family said he can’t testify before the House Oversight Committee tomorrow about Jeffrey Epstein, as the panel had requested. Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) also announced yesterday that his committee will meet with victims of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in private tomorrow, per ABC’s Lauren Peller, and that he’d asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for relevant information. Meanwhile in New Hampshire: Rudy Giuliani’s head of security said the former NYC mayor was hospitalized with serious injuries, among them a fractured thoracic vertebra, after a car accident in Manchester, WMUR-TV’s Imani Fleming reports. But Giuliani “is in great spirits,” his representative said.
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| | | | 5. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: Kicking off a big summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian PM Narendra Modi and other world leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed to present a vision of global alliances arrayed against American unpredictability and the U.S.-dominated world order, WaPo’s Christian Shepherd reports. Modi’s presence is a particular coup for Beijing. North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will likely join later this week. As Indian-U.S. relations continue to deteriorate — and New Delhi refuses to stop buying Russian oil — this is an opportunity for Modi to strengthen ties to the West’s most prominent enemies, Bloomberg notes. 6. SINEMATOGRAPHY: “Taxes, Psychedelics, Crypto: Kyrsten Sinema Sees Opportunity Under Trump,” by WSJ’s Eliza Collins and Richard Rubin: “Her salaries haven’t been disclosed but people aware of her projects estimate she is set to make well over a million dollars this year. … It isn’t abnormal for former lawmakers to pad their pockets after leaving Congress. But [Kyrsten] Sinema’s sheer number of projects is unusual — and so are her relationships with the party she never joined. … Since leaving office, the 49-year-old has pitched herself as a Republican whisperer, meeting with White House officials and helping clients navigate the Capitol.” Notable quotable: “After leaving office, Sinema donated $3 million from her campaign to fund a new AI center at [Arizona State University] but has been continuing to tap the remaining cash for flights, luxury hotels and music festival tickets. Government watchdogs have questioned her spending and said it could violate campaign finance law. ‘I don’t have anything to say about that,’ she said.” 7. DEMOCRACY WATCH: Last night on Truth Social, Trump called for Donna Brazile and Chris Christie to be fired as ABC News commentators — and floated the prospect of squeezing the network for more money than the $16 million settlement it already struck with him. He also repeatedly questioned federal judge Jia Cobb, apparently failing to understand that her assignment to the Lisa Cook firing case had been random and calling for the Joe Biden appointee’s recusal. 8. REWRITING HISTORY: “Already Pardoned by Trump, Jan. 6 Rioters Push for Compensation,” by NYT’s Alan Feuer: “In the past several weeks, the rioters and their lawyers have pushed the Trump administration to pay them restitution for what they believe were unfair prosecutions. On Thursday, one of the lawyers, Mark McCloskey, said during a public meeting on social media that he had recently met with top officials at the Justice Department and pitched them on a plan to create a special panel that would dole out financial damages to the rioters — much like the arrangement of a special master to award money to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.” 9. HAPPENING TODAY: “Crypto Coin Backed by Trumps Opens for Trading,” by Bloomberg’s Olga Kharif: “This Labor Day, while US markets are closed, crypto traders will have their first opportunity to buy and sell the tokens tied to a project endorsed by President Donald Trump and his family. WLFI, a governance token issued by World Liberty Financial and originally designed for voting on ideas to improve the protocol, will begin trading on Sept. 1. … The market debut will serve as a crucial test of how high the Trump name can drive the value of the 100 billion tokens linked to a one-year-old project.”
| | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | IN MEMORIAM — “Charles Bierbauer, former CNN correspondent, dies at 83,” by CNN’s Alison Main: “He joined CNN in 1981 to cover the Pentagon as a defense correspondent. He was then the network’s senior White House correspondent for nine years … He also served as the network’s senior Washington correspondent … The veteran journalist traveled with presidents to all 50 states and more than 30 nations, and he served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association from 1991 to 1992.” — “Colford, former media reporter, dies at 71,” by Talking Biz News’ Chris Roush: “[Paul] Colford covered the media industry for Newsday from September 1980 to August 2000. He then covered the industry for the [New York] Daily News from August 2000 to April 2007. After that, Colford worked for the Associated Press for a decade as its vice president and chief spokesman.” HAPPY LABOR DAY — Today’s the final day of the season for D.C.’s last outdoor public pools that are still open, including Banneker and Upshur, and for Northern Virginia’s five water parks. For the holiday, there are also parades in Kensington and Gaithersburg; a car show in Fairfax; a kids fest in Leesburg; and a Beyoncé celebration at Metrobar. Full rundown from NBC Washington TRANSITION — Lawren Geer is joining Servier as associate director of policy and public affairs. She previously was senior director of federal policy at the McManus Group. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Sophia Setterberg, senior director of public affairs for health care and life sciences at FTI Consulting, and Andrew Setterberg, deputy director for congressional affairs in the office of the undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering, welcomed Judah Setterberg on Aug. 10. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) … Xochitl Hinojosa … Yolanda Caraway … Sue Hensley of the National Restaurant Association … Dee Dee Myers … David Natonski … UnidosUS’ Susie Feliz … Tim Truman … C-SPAN’s Craig Caplan … Courtney Dorning … Chris Fleming of Red Horse Strategies … John Jones … Bloomberg’s Kate Davidson and Jessica Estepa … NBC’s Janelle Rodriguez and Priscilla Thompson … POLITICO’s Dustin Gardiner … Tess Holcom … Libby Liu … BGR’s Jonathan Mantz … Wayne Crews … Anjan Mukherjee … Lauren Blair Bianchi of JPMorgan Chase … former Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) … Tara Palmeri … Rokk Solutions’ Erickson Foster 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.
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