| | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco On today’s Playbook Podcast: Adam and POLITICO’s Eric Bazail-Eimil discuss the ceasefire in the Middle East, how Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff helped land the deal and where VP JD Vance is headed today.
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| Happy Friday. I’m Adam Wren. Get in touch. AND THE AWARD GOES TO … The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Read the full announcement here. THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR: President Donald Trump did not win the prize, despite forcefully lobbying for it this year. “Seven world leaders endorsed him for the prize, according to the White House. He punctuated that work this week by finalizing the first phase of a peace deal in Gaza, although it is widely assumed that the winner was selected weeks ago,” POLITICO’s Irie Sentner writes. On the schedule: Trump is due at Walter Reed for a “semiannual physical” at 10 a.m. If he hasn’t posted on Truth Social about the award by then, we may get a soundbite as he departs the White House. The president also has an unspecified announcement set for 5 p.m. (So does first lady Melania Trump, at 11 a.m.) In today’s Playbook … — How Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff helped secure a Middle East peace deal. — President Donald Trump targets yet another foe. Who’s next? — Vance is dropping into Indiana to spur Republicans to redraw the state’s maps. |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi meets with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, Oct. 9. | Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP | HE WENT TO JARED: Jared Kushner’s involvement this week in Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks, alongside envoy Steve Witkoff, has sparked chatter about his return to the administration on a more permanent basis — especially as the talks shape up to be a major win for President Donald Trump, Kushner’s father-in-law. But despite helping secure two of the signature foreign policy accomplishments across Trump’s two terms, Kushner has no immediate plans to return as Trump’s all-purpose fixer, U.S. and White House officials tell Playbook. Kushner and Witkoff’s efforts are, at this moment, an affirmation of Trump’s unconventional approach to international dealmaking. It’s also reflective of Trump’s broader, longstanding strategy of enmeshing members of the private sector and real estate world with his administration — an approach not so dissimilar to FDR’s dollar-a-year men. “The two most consistently underestimated people by the establishment media in both Trump terms have been Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff,” a Republican source close to the White House told Playbook. “Getting this deal done was the ultimate f--k-you from both of them to their detractors.” As MAGA gray beard and former White House adviser Steve Bannon told us Thursday: “This all came off of the archetype of the Abraham Accords, which is really much more about business and integration of the region, financially and economically and with a political surface to it.” “Jared has always been one of President Trump's key, if not his key adviser, on this whole thing forever, even though he wasn't actively involved,” Bannon told Playbook. “Remember, Jared spends a lot of time in the region because he knows these guys are all investors with him. So I think that this is, and it's not surprising, he could step in. He's also very close to Witkoff.” We’ll get to more on that shortly, but let’s first catch up on what Kushner and company have managed to accomplish, even as administration officials caution a lot could go wrong and things could change in the coming hours. As the talks teetered on the verge of stalling, Witkoff and Kushner “swept in to dictate key compromises, according to three people familiar with the diplomatic effort and an administration official,” POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and Dasha Burns report in a must-read account of how the deal came together. “There’s still just a lot of ways that this can go wrong, so we’re staying on top of the details to make sure everyone fulfills their obligations and that any misunderstandings are quickly discussed and adjudicated,” a senior U.S. official told reporters in a briefing as Kushner and Witkoff rode in a car just after leaving Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The emerging details: As the ceasefire continues taking hold, U.S. military officials are “preparing options to deploy as many as 200 U.S. troops to Israel to support stabilization in Gaza and the flow of humanitarian aid and security assistance into the enclave,” NBC’s Courtney Kube and colleagues report. “The U.S. troops will stay in Israel, where they will support logistics, transportation, engineering and planning, the officials said. ‘They will not be in Gaza. No U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza,’ one of the officials said.” The skeptical view: Tommy Vietor, who worked on former President Barack Obama’s National Security Council official and hosts “Pod Save America,” said that the Middle East is approaching the deal with “more cautious optimism” than Washington given the history of ceasefires not lasting. “What Trump just pulled off is the most significant given the scale and duration of the fighting since Oct. 7,” Vietor said, “but it’s far from a comprehensive Middle East peace deal that leads to the creation of a Palestinian state and gives both sides hope of a lasting peace.” On the ground: Witkoff and Kushner will remain in Israel over the weekend to make sure the first phase of the deal is implemented, Felicia and Dasha report — but don’t hold your breath for Kushner’s involvement in other assorted efforts in the administration. Kushner has focused much of his time on his private equity firm Affinity Partners, which as the NYT notes, is “almost entirely financed from overseas investors, and has taken money from government wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.” He has told people he intends to go back to being a private sounding board to Witkoff and whoever else needs him. (The Biden administration only occasionally sought him out as a resource, he has told others). Asked about whether further engagement from Kushner can be expected or if this was a “one and done” situation, a White House official told Dasha: “I think one and done, although he’s always up for helping where needed.” Kushner meanwhile, according to a senior administration official, has joked with Witkoff that he might return to his Florida mansion to find that his wife, Ivanka Trump, has changed the locks. | | | | A message from the National Retail Federation: Georgetown University and the National Retail Federation announced the launch of the NRF Business of Retail Initiative at the McDonough School of Business. NRF is endowing the National Retail Federation Chair in Retail Studies, the National Retail Federation Summit, two National Retail Federation MBA Fellows, and research grants. Learn more. | | | | LAW AND ORDER FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Trump’s targets: On Sept. 20, Trump posted a Truth Social (which was meant to be a private message to AG Pam Bondi) outlining the list of perceived enemies that he was seeking retribution against. “Now, less than three weeks later, two of them are under indictment: former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both have denied wrongdoing. And the many other targets Trump wants to see in jail are bracing for who will be next,” POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and colleagues write. Where Trump was somewhat hemmed in by his AGs during the first term, now Bondi’s DOJ appears ready to act on Trump’s demands. “When federal prosecutors have resisted, he has simply replaced them with more compliant lawyers, in some cases using legally questionable methods to install them quickly and circumvent Senate confirmation.” Who’s next: “The third person Trump named in his message to Bondi — Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — decried the new reality Thursday, shortly after James was indicted on two counts stemming from allegations of mortgage fraud,” Kyle and co. write. “Those of us on the president’s enemies list, and it is a long and growing list, will not be intimidated, we will not be deterred,” Schiff told reporters. TRUMP VS. JAMES: “The five-page indictment against James charges her with one count of bank fraud and one count of false statements to a financial institution for allegedly obtaining a loan for a home in Virginia that required her to use the property as a secondary residence. According to the indictment, she instead used the home as a rental investment property,” POLITICO’s Erica Orden and colleagues write. James denies any wrongdoing. Her case will come before a Biden-appointed judge. Her initial court appearance is set for Oct. 24. More on the James-Trump history from POLITICO’s Nick Reisman GUARD RAILS: A pair of federal courts delivered sharply diverging results in cases challenging Trump’s efforts to send National Guard troops into American cities, POLITICO’s Shia Kapos, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. “The dueling court hearings vividly illustrated the different approaches that judges have taken toward Trump’s domestic use of the military over the objections of local authorities. Some judges have said the president deserves extremely broad latitude in this area, while others have expressed skepticism and alarm about the claims of rampant violence and disorder that Trump has used to justify the deployments.” The Illinois ruling: A federal district judge in Chicago halted for at least two weeks the White House’s plan to deploy the guard in Illinois as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign. The judge found no credible evidence of a “rebellion” or threat justifying the move, per AP’s Christine Fernando and Sudhin Thananwala. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called the ruling a win for democracy. There is a hearing set for Oct. 22 to decide whether to extend the two weeks, per AP. In Oregon: A federal appeals court panel appears poised to permit Trump to deploy the guard in Oregon, our colleagues write. “The two Trump appointees on the appeals panel emphasized the extraordinary deference courts owe the president on matters related to the use of the military to protect federal property and personnel. SPEAKING OF OREGON: Oregon AG Dan Rayfield joined “The Conversation” with Playbook’s own Dasha Burns this week to talk about Trump’s targeting of Portland, which he said was “intentional” from the White House and meant to “draw extremes” and “polarize” the situation. “I would invite anybody to come to Oregon and I think it's pretty clear that there isn't an invasion going on in Oregon,” Rayfield told Dasha. “Is there a rebellion or a threat of a rebellion? There isn't a rebellion at all going on in Oregon, and sometimes I'll joke the only rebellion going on right now is when I try to feed my son a vegetable.” More from POLITICO’s Cheyanne Daniels … Watch the full episode on YouTube … Listen and subscribe Related read: “Portland's anti-ICE protests have become a magnet for MAGA influencers,” by NBC’s David Ingram and Jo Yurcaba in Portland A BIG BREAK: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who chairs the National Governors Association, told NYT’s J. David Goodman that while he backs Trump’s crackdown on crime and protection of ICE agents, the deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Illinois violated the idea of a “federalist system” and states rights, marking “the first time a Republican governor has questioned the interstate deployment of National Guard troops over a governor’s objections.” Stitt told NYT that “Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.” | | | | A message from the National Retail Federation:  
| | | | TRAIL MIX FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Just Vance: When VP JD Vance heads to Indiana today for a second time in three months to make the case to the state’s reluctant Republican senators on redistricting, he’ll be bringing with him a longtime friend and Hoosier powerbroker, according to sources familiar with the logistics: Sen. Jim Banks, the Indiana Republican whose family, like Vance's, hails from Breathitt County, Kentucky. Banks’ own political rise began as an Indiana state senator in 2010, and he has a fingertip feel for the Senate caucus. He also held a conference last month in suburban Indianapolis that largely focused on the need for Indiana lawmakers to redistrict, particularly in the wake of the death of Charlie Kirk, who in the final weeks of his life threatened primaries against holdout Hoosier lawmakers. CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN’: After Katie Porter’s meltdown interview, her campaign is rallying supporters to defend her after two viral videos derailed her standing, fueling bipartisan criticism of her temperament and judgment, POLITICO’s Juliann Ventura reports. “More than half a dozen groups and officials close to the former House member issued statements of support, framing Porter as a ‘fighter’ who can take on the ‘status quo.’ The defense came after POLITICO surfaced a video of Porter berating a staffer in 2021 and a separate clip went viral of Porter threatening to walk out of a television interview.” Look who’s back: And with Porter upending the pecking order in the gubernatorial race, Democratic megadonor and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer “just gave California 12 million reasons to believe he’s weighing a political comeback,” POLITICO’s Jeremy White reports. “The longtime megadonor and onetime presidential candidate sprang off the political sidelines and into a swirl of speculation on Thursday by announcing a massive ad buy in support of … Democrats’ ballot initiative to gerrymander California’s House maps.” The investment is prompting chatter about his potential interest in the governor’s race. 2025 WATCH: The heat is on in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, and GOP nominee Jack Ciattarelli is flooding a rally on the Jersey Shore tonight with a slate of Trump-world figures. But Trump’s notable absence further underscores Ciattarelli’s tough position as he tries to “fire up the GOP base without alienating moderates and independents in the typically Democratic stronghold,” POLITICO’s Madison Fernandez and Matt Friedman preview. … In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger on the debate stage last night passed up a chance to use one of the most high-profile moments of her run for governor to withdraw her endorsement for her party’s AG nominee for his use of violent rhetoric in a text message. | | | | Global Security is POLITICO’s new weekly briefing on the policies and industrial forces reshaping transatlantic defense. From Washington to Brussels and beyond, we track how decisions ripple across borders — redefining the future of security and industry. Sign up for the free preview edition. | | | | | BEST OF THE REST SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Speaker Mike Johnson is committed to the House’s indefinite recess time as a negotiating tactic, indicating yesterday that “he is committed to keeping the House out of session as long as it takes to pressure Senate Democrats” into action, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and Mia McCarthy report. Still, some GOP lawmakers — including California Rep. Kevin Kiley — aren’t on board with the strategy. “There is absolutely no reason for the House to be out of session — it’s embarrassing,” Kiley told our POLITICO colleagues. More in POLITICO’s Inside Congress ON DEFENSE: Though partisan gridlock has landed the government in a shutdown, in a rare show of unity, the Senate officially passed its $925 billion annual defense policy bill following a slew of late night votes yesterday, per POLITICO’s Connor O’Brien. JMART ABROAD: “The U.K.’s Conservative Meltdown Looks Awfully Familiar,” by POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin: “[W]hat I saw at the Conservative Party conference here this week was a party and country lagging behind its American cousins on the right — but quickly and ominously catching up. The Tories may be out of power, and in some polls sliding to a stunning fourth place, but their dismal straits offer lessons for both parties across the Atlantic as well as the mainstream parties in Europe’s two other dominant economies.” WEISS MOVES: Bari Weiss is already making her presence at CBS known. The newly installed editor-in-chief has secured a panel of three former secretaries of State: Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo and Antony Blinken, Semafor’s Max Tani reports. “The likely interview will be hosted by Norah O’Donnell, the former CBS Evening News anchor, and is expected to air in segments over several days.” WATCH THIS SPACE: As the government shutdown drags on, a small group of employees are being called back by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to assist in the publication of closely watched consumer price data for September, NYT’s Ben Casselman reports. Though the shutdown already delayed the release of last week’s monthly jobs report, the inflation report — originally scheduled for Oct. 15 — “will almost certainly be [out] in time for the Federal Reserve’s next meeting at the end of the month.” | | | | A message from the National Retail Federation:  
| | | | THE WEEKEND AHEAD TV TONIGHT — C-SPAN is debuting “Ceasefire” tonight at 7 p.m., hosted by Playbook's own Dasha Burns and featuring a duo of guests from each side of the political divide. On tonight’s episode: Mike Pence and Rahm Emanuel, and Sean Spicer and Faiz Shakir. Read the full announcement — PBS’ “Washington Week”: Nancy Cordes, David Ignatius, Jonathan Karl and David Sanger. SUNDAY SO FAR … CBS “Face the Nation”: VP JD Vance … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) … Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.). CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). Panel: Jamal Simmons and Scott Jennings. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Speaker Mike Johnson … Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears … Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Panel: Mark Bednar, Annie Linskey, Josh Kraushaar and Meghan Hays. Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: VP JD Vance … Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) … Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). Panel: Matt Taibbi and Mike Davis. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Panel: Megan McArdle, Margaret Talev, Brendan Pedersen and Sam Brodey. MSNBC “The Weekend”: Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) … Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.).
| | | | Want to know how policy pros stay ahead? Policy Intelligence Assistant — only with POLITICO Pro — merges trusted reporting with advanced AI to deliver deeper insights, faster answers, and powerful report builders that drive action. Get 30 days free. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Trump administration cuts $40M in D.C. security, anti-terrorism funds,” by WaPo’s Katie Shepherd and Meagan Flynn: “The dramatic funding cuts, which are being challenged in court, are expected to wallop the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency and other emergency response agencies in surrounding Virginia and Maryland counties.” OUT AND ABOUT — The Nestpoint Foundation hosted a “Celebrating American Exceptionalism” gala at the Kennedy Center last night, where MAGA Republicans gathered in black tie and enjoyed a VIP open bar before the program, which honored Harris Faulkner and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth heaped praise on Trump in his speech, POLITICO’s Diana Nerozzi writes in. Trump “breaks everybody’s brain and puts it back together again, creating opportunities, moving the Overton window in ways that were never possible before, and creating things that put ourselves and our allies first in pursuit of peace, because he’s willing to drop bombs on the heads of Houthis to keep shipping lanes open,” Hegseth said. SPOTTED: Megyn Kelly, Sean Spicer, Mike Cernovich, Alveda King, John Thomas, Henry Huang, Katie Pavlich, Ann Wilson, Stephen Moore, Tyler Kinch, Michael Murphy, John Wordin, Batya Ungar-Sargon, Lori Palatnik, Mary Margaret Olohan, Jonas Du, Vincent Natale, Justin Cleary, Bryan Talebi and CJ Pearson. — SPOTTED at CTA Innovation House on Capitol Hill yesterday evening for the Internet Infrastructure Coalition’s (i2Coalition) Internet Leadership Awards Ceremony 2025: Mike Masnick, Becky Burr, Jesse Friedman, James Webb, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Christian Dawson, Michael Petricone, Rachel Wolbers and Sasha Moss, Berin Szóka, Johanna Shelton. Patrick Gallaher, Ali Sternburg, Beth Bacon, Joseph Jerome, Tim Lordan, Elizabeth Frazee, James Bladel and Jennryn Wetzler TRANSITIONS — Yoli Navas is joining Newco Strategies as senior advocacy and innovation director. She most recently worked at Equis Research. … Andrea Ducas is VP of programs at the Peterson Center on Healthcare. She most recently worked at the Center for American Progress. … Anthony Camacho is now comms director for Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández (D-P.R.). He previously worked for Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: California Gov. Gavin Newsom … Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) … Fox Corp’s Brian Nick … NYT’s Adam Nagourney … Raj Shah … Natalie Montelongo of Pivotal Ventures … Alexandra LaManna … Matt Rohan of Wells Fargo … POLITICO’s Clea Benson, Laura DiAngelo and Sebastian Godoy … S-3 Group’s Michael Long … Brandon Neal … Jessica Powell of Invariant … Adnan Mohamed … Christina Harvey of Stand Up America … Guillermo Meneses … Michael Borden of Sidley Austin … former Reps. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) and Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) … Dirk Maurer … Seth Levey … Raquel Krähenbühl … Laurence Tribe … Caroline Wren … Tanveer Kathawalla … Erin O’Malley … Heather K. Sager of the American Association for Justice … Andrew Smith of House Armed Services … Rachael Taylor of HB Strategies … Noah Baker … State Department’s Spencer Anderson … Healy Baumgardner … Clarence Anthony of the National League of Cities 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 deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. | | | | A message from the National Retail Federation: The NRF Business of Retail Initiative will unite Georgetown University's academic excellence with NRF's industry leadership. This initiative will connect faculty and retail leaders to explore emerging trends, drive innovation and conduct top-tier research focused on forward-thinking solutions to modern issues. 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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