| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine, Ali Bianco and Rachel Umansky-Castro On today’s Playbook Podcast: Jack and Dasha discuss why Donald Trump finally made his move on Vladimir Putin; what it’s like to work in the White House with the demolition crews at the door … and why Nov. 1 remains the most important date in the shutdown calendar.
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| Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. QUITE THE SCENE at Cafe Milano last night, even by its own illustrious standards, as a busy Wednesday night dinner service somehow packed in two former presidents, multiple senior Cabinet members and a power-player list the length of your arm. Spotted among the throng of diners were former President Joe Biden … and former President Barack Obama … Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick … plus Energy Secretary Chris Wright, dining with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Tim Walsh, and their partners… and with numerous prominent lobbyists and D.C. big-hitters dotted around the room as well. So who said Georgetown was over? Did Obama and Biden hang out? We don’t know — legendary owner Franco Nuschese and maitre d’ Laurent Menoud directed traffic like conductors at an orchestra — but nobody Playbook spoke to last night saw them together. And of course, tensions between their camps have been well documented of late. Surely there was time for a quick gelato, at least? For old time’s sake? Drop me a line. In today’s Playbook … — The end is nigh for the East Wing. Do voters care? — Trump finally flips on Putin … Now get ready for Zelenskyy's victory lap. — Inside the Ingrassia meltdown on Capitol Hill.
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Oct. 22. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo | TRUMP’S WRECKING BALL: The diggers and the heavy machinery will be back at work at the White House this morning — and within a matter of days (per the NYT), the East Wing will be gone for good. D.C. is obsessed with this ballroom. The story makes the front pages of the Times and the Post today. The number of cable news minutes devoted to this topic have been unimaginably high. At every D.C. drinks party, conversation turns to demolition. It’s going to dominate more of the discourse through the day. WE HEAR YOU, KAROLINE LEAVITT: Presidents have refurbished the White House many times before. The taxpayer isn't paying. An events space would be kind of handy. We all read the press release back in July. AND WE HEAR YOU, JESSICA TARLOV: It’s Day 23 of a full government shutdown. Families are struggling with rising bills. A new trade war with China is a week away. And a very real war still rages in Ukraine … while peace in Gaza teeters on the brink. But the charges against Trump are clear: This is not an Obama-style HVAC refurb; or basketball hoops installed on a tennis court. He’s replacing the entire East Wing with something twice the size of the main White House structure. The ballroom’s capacity has increased from 650 to almost 1,000. The estimated cost is already up 50 percent to $300 million. He didn’t ask permission for the demolition — or explain the plan until too late. Indeed, for Trump critics it all smacks of the president’s infamous 1979 row with the Metropolitan Museum of Art — a mind-melding tale of false names, broken promises, and treasured artworks shattered into a million pieces on the New York sidewalk. (Re-read it all here if you’re not up to speed.) But for Trump himself, this is all just nonsense. Aides note he’s been proudly hawking his ballroom plans to anyone who’ll look at them — just watch him waving the artist’s impressions around the Oval Office yesterday. The East Wing was “very small” and unloved, in Trump’s eyes at least. The White House could use a ton of work. He’s raising the money privately. For Trump, this is a legacy project. You’ll have already made up your own mind. But does anyone outside the beltway care? Well, yes — and more than you might think. A survey of 2,000 Americans by Brit pollster YouGov found the project polls appallingly, with 50 percent disapproving vs. 33 percent in favor. The numbers for demolishing the East Wing are even worse. And as Playbook noted yesterday, this White House spin machine doesn’t crank into overdrive for any old bubble story. These are images people will remember. That’s not to say any of this will matter this time next year — or even this time next month. And for all the outrage from conservationists and White House historians, nobody thinks Trump is going to be reined in. The committee that must approve the ballroom plans is led by Trump’s allies. Republicans on the Hill haven’t said a peep. Which means the final days of the East Wing are upon us. And by next week, we’ll be obsessing over something else.
| | | | A message from The Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance: In September alone, drugmakers poured nearly $200 million into direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads - a 14% surge since this summer - even as the Trump administration condemned #BigPharma's "misleading" marketing practices. With the majority of voters calling for stricter limits on Big Pharma's ads, it's clear that people AND policymakers have had enough. The bottom line? Americans want affordable prescriptions, not more pharmaceutical commercials. Read more. | | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is huddling with EU leaders in Brussels this morning, and finally has something to smile about. After months of threats — and endless “two week” deadlines — Trump finally flipped on Vladimir Putin last night and slapped hard-hitting sanctions on Russian oil. The U.S. placed Rosneft and Lukoil on a black list, sanctioning Moscow’s top two oil companies in a move designed to squeeze the Russian economy and push Putin toward ending the conflict, POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and colleagues report. NATO is back! In what is surely a co-ordinated move, the EU in turn this morning announced its own set of sanctions on Russia — its 19th package since the full invasion — including a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports. Reports of the death of transatlantic diplomacy were greatly exaggerated, it seems. Actions have consequences: This all follows the abrupt cancellation on Monday of Trump’s Budapest peace summit with Putin — and really makes you wonder quite what happened on that ill-fated pre-summit phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergey Lavrov. “The president has said for months that at some point he’d have to do something if we didn’t make progress on the peace deal,” Rubio told the WSJ last night. “Today was the day he decided to do something.” View from the Treasury: Scott Bessent confirmed “Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war” was to blame, and warned of potentially more to come. Trump said simply that he “just felt it was time” for the sea change, complaining that positive conversations with Putin just “don’t go anywhere.” But before Zelenskyy gets carried away: Trump sounds much less eager to give Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles to hit deep into Russia. And after WSJ’s Lara Seligman and colleagues reported that the U.S. had given Ukraine the green light to use long-range missiles furnished by other allies, Trump flatly denied that was true: “The U.S. has nothing to do with those missiles.” And Rubio did say a Trump-Putin summit should still happen, further down the line. THEN ON TO ASIA: Trump’s mind will soon be turning to Asia, where he flies off tomorrow for a lengthy trip which is expected to include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping late next week. And Trump has indicated that he plans to raise China’s purchases of Russian oil with Xi, per Bloomberg. He also wants deals with China on trade, including soybeans and rare earths, and perhaps even on nukes, per Reuters. Free press update: WSJ reporters are still banned from taking part in the traveling pool as retaliation for the paper’s reporting on Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols reports. MEANWHILE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Rubio is traveling to Israel first, and at a tense moment for the fragile peace in Gaza. Rubio warned last night that the Knesset’s new vote to annex the West Bank could undermine and jeopardize the ceasefire, per Axios’ Barak Ravid.
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| | | | MEANWHILE ON THE HILL INSIDE THE GOP INGRASSIA MELTDOWN: Senate Republicans, including Rick Scott (Fla.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.), had been privately warning the White House for months about Paul Ingrassia’s controversial social media posts and questionable qualifications for the Office of Special Counsel,POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs and colleagues report. POLITICO’s bombshell reporting on texts that showed Ingrassia making racist and antisemitic remarks pushed Senate Republicans to “breaking point.” SHUTDOWN DAY 23: With no end to the government shutdown in sight, Senate Republicans will try a new tactic today, teeing up a vote on Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) bill to pay active-duty military members and federal employees required to work during the shutdown, per POLITICO’s Jordain Carney. Thune is also readying possible votes next week on paying air traffic controllers and the military, he told the Washington Examiner’s Ramsey Touchberry and David Sivak. Read more on the latest gambits from POLITICO’s Inside Congress The longer-term play: Republicans are increasingly split on how long the next stopgap should last, per Bloomberg. House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said they’re mulling a long-term CR running to December 2026. Some GOP leaders are considering a CR partway into the new year, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports. But House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said he’d want to keep any new CR even shorter, per the Washington Examiner’s Rachel Schilke and Lauren Green. In short — they don’t have a plan. Date for the calendar: Coming Nov. 1, some 25 states are set to pause SNAP benefits due to the shutdown, threatening food assistance for millions of vulnerable families, POLITICO’s Grace Yarrow reports. The food-aid cliff could increase pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown — though they don’t sound ready to give in, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports. Democrats are hoping another Nov. 1 moment – the beginning of ACA open enrolment and higher premiums for millions – will force Republicans to the table to negotiate.
| | | | Join POLITICO and FICO for a policy briefing that delves into the latest obstacles to preventing financial fraud, and the new technologies aimed at protecting consumers. Gain insights from government leaders and industry experts from Aspen Institute, Identity Theft Resource Center, Microsoft Security and more! Register to attend or watch online. | | | | | TRAIL MIX ABOUT LAST NIGHT: In the final NYC mayoral debate last night, Zohran Mamdani’s frontrunner status was evident as both Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa trained their attacks on him. Cuomo and Sliwa put Mamdani on the defensive, POLITICO’s Emily Ngo and colleagues report, but, NYT’s Nick Fandos writes, “seemed to struggle to land the kind of knockout blow that could shake up the race.. After the debate, Cuomo hung out courtside at the Knicks game with Mayor Eric Adams. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — New on the scene: Democrat Matt Rains today is launching a campaign in Montana’s potentially competitive 1st Congressional District. He’s been a rancher, an engineer, a photojournalist, an Army veteran and chief of staff for the Montana Farmers Union — and he’s leaning into affordability messaging against GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke. Rains lives just outside the district on a family ranch in Simms. His launch video RED-LIGHT REDISTRICT: California Democrats’ gerrymandering voter referendum looks to be in a strong position, with a new CBS poll finding it up 62 percent to 38 percent. Opponents are getting drowned out on the airwaves, AP’s Michael Blood reports, and Obama rallied volunteers on a call yesterday, per POLITICO’s Lindsey Holden. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Don’t mess: Sen. John Cornyn is launching his first major hit against Rep. Wesley Hunt in the Texas Senate primary, accusing him of missing votes in Congress and at the ballot box. Their micro-site and digital ad, backed by a five-figure spend, tars Hunt as “fake MAGA.” See them here On the Democratic side: Lightning-rod Rep. Jasmine Crockett said on “The Lurie Daniel Favors Show” that she’s “strongly” considering a Senate bid — though only if she can chart a plausible general-election path to victory. THE RACE TO NOVEMBER: A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill narrowly ahead in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, leading Jack Ciattarelli 50 percent to 45 percent. In Virginia, National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg reports that a “special prosecutor has been appointed in the investigation into Democratic Virginia attorney general nominee Jay Jones’s 2022 reckless driving case.” And Roll Call’s Daniela Altimari has a good rundown of the under-the-radar special congressional election in Houston, where changing maps due to gerrymandering have produced chaos and confusion for voters. THE STORY THAT WON’T DIE: “Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner admits using ‘indefensible’ antigay slurs in unearthed Reddit posts,” by The Advocate’s Christopher Wiggins FROM 30,000 FEET: “Democratic Donors Sit on Sidelines as Party Schism Persists,” by WSJ’s Eliza Collins and colleagues.
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| | | | BEST OF THE REST THE CRACKDOWN: The Bay Area is next in line for an immigration crackdown, with more than 100 federal agents due to arrive at a Coast Guard base in Alameda today, the S.F. Chronicle’s Matthias Gafni and colleagues scooped. Those Border Patrol operations could start as soon as this week, CBS’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez reports. This could be a precursor to an aggressive immigration enforcement push — and ultimately the deployment of troops on the streets; Democrats led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom decried the news. Around the country: A federal judge extended her National Guard restraining order in Chicago indefinitely — but all eyes are on the Supreme Court now, per the Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner. TRUMP VS. THE FARMERS: “The White House is looking to buy four times its typical quota of Argentine beef in an effort to lower consumer food prices — a move that risks alienating longtime farm-state allies of President Donald Trump,” POLITICO’s Grace Yarrow reports for POLITICO Pros. Indeed — farm-state Republican lawmakers and farmers are not happy, as CNN reports, especially after Trump responded so aggressively on Truth Social. It’s a rare split between the president and his core support, and definitely one to watch. DEMOCRACY WATCH: “Trump Empowers Election Deniers, Still Fixated on 2020 Grievances,” by NYT’s Alexandra Berzon and Nick Corasaniti: “In the past few months, Mr. Trump has elevated multiple proponents of his fraud claims into high-level administration jobs. Now, as government insiders, these activists could wield their newfound power to discredit future results or rekindle old claims to argue for a federal intrusion into locally administered voting systems.” DEMOCRACY IN DARKNESS: With almost the entire Pentagon press corps gone from the building because it wouldn’t sign Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new restrictions, the Defense Department announced a new suite of outlets and reporters who’ve taken their place, per WaPo. It’s largely composed of conservative, far-right and independent “new media” like the Gateway Pundit and Lindell TV. And as Hegseth’s clampdown on the flow of information extends to Congress, the Hill isn’t happy, NBC’s Jonathan Allen and colleagues report. MUSK VS. DUFFY: “Abandoned NASA nominee may find new life,” by POLITICO’s Chris Marquette and Audrey Decker: “Jared Isaacman’s bid to take the top job at NASA — once thought dead in the Senate — has found renewed life as Sen. Tim Sheehy and a handful of high-profile supporters seek to help the tech billionaire supplant the acting head of the space agency, Sean Duffy.” IMMIGRATION FILES: The Trump administration is rushing so quickly to beef up the ranks of ICE agents that some new recruits have started training before being fully vetted — and in some instances turned out to have criminal records or drug-test failures, NBC’s Julia Ainsley and Didi Martinez scooped. THE RESISTANCE: After this weekend’s massive “No Kings” protests, organizers are planning to carry the energy forward with a series of weekly actions, the Guardian’s Rachel Leingang reports. | | | | As the shutdown fight deepens, stay on top of every twist with POLITICO’s essential newsletters.
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➡️ Subscribe to West Wing Playbook | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | OUT AND ABOUT — The fall is in full swing in D.C., but the Italian Embassy had a decidedly winter chill last night as Ambassador Marco Peronaci and broadcast giant Comcast invited hundreds of revellers for a glitzy party to celebrate the forthcoming Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Milan. Guests enjoyed Aperol Spritz (of course) plus a Milanese twist on a Negroni (made with Franciacorta instead of gin, since you ask.) Cafe Milano — yes, them again — provided the fabulous trays of miniature desserts. The games kick off in February 2026 — just over 100 days from now — and Peronaci told the crowd Italy is campaigning for a revival of the ancient Greek tradition of an "Olympic Truce" — a global ceasefire while the games take place. “We must be champions of peace,” he told the audience. President Trump would surely approve. SPOTTED: Mike Cavanagh, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, Mark Lazarus, Gary Zenkel, Molly Solomon, Gene Sykes, Mike Tirico, Ilia Malinin, Thomas Smitham, Steve Clemons, Lance West, Jim Acosta, Peter Alexander, Chloe Arensberg, Rebecca Blumenstein, Christine Chen, Josh Dawsey, Alex Flemister, Jim Goyer, James Harris, Amy Hinojosa, Michael Jensen, Hallie Jackson, Jennifer Khoury, Jennifer Friedman, Madalene Mielke, Andrea Mitchell, Scott Mulhauser, Kelly O’Donnell, Rob Placek, Deirdre Ramsey, Charles Rivkin, Phil Rucker, Eric Schultz and Stefanie Williams. OTHER THINGS THE PRESIDENT WILL APPROVE OF: Eric Trump’s “Under Siege” debuted at No. 1 on the NYT bestsellers list … with Andrew Ross Sorkin’s “1929” in at No. 2. Charlie Kirk will posthumously receive the Media Research Center’s only Free Speech Award this year. KEEPING BUSY: Mike Haridopolos and other members of Congress are leading visitor tours through the Capitol during the shutdown. WHAT A WORLD: George Santos, out of prison, is thrilled to return to bottled water, a skin-care routine — and what he says are hard-earned lessons about honesty and the criminal justice system. Plus, he plans to name any future kids Donald and Marjorie. HISTORY LESSON — “Buried in France in 1840, a U.S. president’s daughter comes back home,” by WaPo’s Gregory Schneider: “Barbara VornDick was researching the fifth U.S. president’s daughter. It turned into a years-long odyssey … On Thursday, Oct. 23, under a grassy spot on the west side of the tomb, Eliza Monroe Hay will join [her family’s remains in Richmond] — home at last.” — SPOTTED at a celebration of the 20th anniversary of On Message last night, hosted by Brad Todd and Guy Harrison at the Salt Line: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy, Alex Castellanos, Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Dina Powell McCormick, Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Matt Gruda, Steve Hayes, Jonah Goldberg, Mark Isakowitz, Brian and Amy Thomas, Jessica Furst Johnson, Micah Yousefi, Blaise Hazelwood and Sarah Craig. — Arizona State University and New America hosted the 11th annual Future Security Forum yesterday with Security & Defence PLuS at New America’s D.C. office. SPOTTED: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Anne-Marie Slaughter, Peter Bergen, Michael Crow, Ian Langford, acting British Ambassador James Roscoe, Brett McGurk, Kyrsten Sinema, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Pakistani Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh. — SPOTTED last night at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s opening night of “The Wild Duck,” directed by Simon Godwin: David and Danielle Frum, Jane Harman, Abigail Harris, Emily Lenzner, Anita Antenucci, Salah Czapary, Melissa Moss, Amy Austin, Abbe Lowell and Tina Co Mather. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Democracy Forward is adding Catherine Carrol and Lauren Wetzler as senior legal advisers, Anna Deffebach as senior counsel and Michael Torcello as senior staff attorney. Carrol, Wetzler and Torcello all previously were at the Justice Department. Torcello previously clerked on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. TRANSITIONS — Former Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth will be the next president and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. … Evan Turnage is joining the Open Markets Institute to lead its newly launched Southern Justice Project, an effort to examine the effects of “corporate concentration and social control” in the South. He previously worked for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and is an Elizabeth Warren alum. … … Career Education Colleges and Universities has added Eric Gutshall as VP of government affairs, William Connor as director of government affairs and Julianna Rose Dow as social media manager. … Rosemary Trent is now executive director at EarthEcho International. She previously worked at Right to Play USA. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Hayden Haynes of Speaker Mike Johnson’s office … WSJ’s Ryan Barber … Simon Rosenberg … former Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) … Ken Feinberg … WaPo’s Lauren Morello … Allison Preiss … former Rep. Fred Keller (R-Pa.) … Kellyn Blossom … POLITICO’s Jackie Heinz and Finya Swai … Caleb Ecarma … The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell … Ani Chkhikvadze … Anne Filipic of Share Our Strength … Caroline Kitchens of TikTok … Elissa Tew of Rep. Aaron Bean’s (R-Fla.) office … Sanjay Gupta … Eliza Duckworth of JPMorgan Chase … Vikrum Aiyer … FGS Global’s Peter Benton-Sullivan … Annika Lichtenbaum … UNHCR’s Matthew Reynolds … Moe Vela … Eva Tell of Rokk Solutions … Martin Luther King III … NewsNation’s Tom Dempsey … Alexandra Kendrick of Fundraising Inc. … Pat Cleary … Bobby Burchfield … Jack Morrissey of the American Conservation Coalition … Matthew Barzun 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misidentified the host of the final NYC mayoral debate. Spectrum News NY1 was the host.
| | | | A message from The Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance: Big Pharma prioritizes marketing over medicine, spending more of its budget promoting expensive drugs than researching new, innovative medications. In September, the industry spent nearly $200 million on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising – a 14% increase since this summer. This surge in spending flies in the face of the Food and Drug Administration's sharp criticism of Big Pharma's "misleading ads" and the Trump administration's commitment to ensuring transparency in pharmaceutical advertising. It also ignores the vast majority of Americans who have called to restrict Big Pharma's DTC ads. The takeaway? Americans want lower costs, NOT more pharmaceutical ads. It's time for Big Pharma to listen. | | | | | | | | 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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