| | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Rachel Umansky-Castro
|  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will meet with Donald Trump in just a few hours to discuss support for Ukraine. | Jose Luis Magana/AP | BREAKING: “U.S. strikes 8th alleged drug vessel, this time on the Pacific side,” per CBS: “The U.S. struck another alleged drug vessel Tuesday night, this time on the Pacific side of South America, according to two U.S. officials. In what is the eighth known U.S. attack on a boat since Sept. 2, two to three individuals aboard the vessel were killed. The other seven strikes targeted vessels in the Caribbean.” RUTTE CANAL: President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte are set to meet in just a few hours to discuss support for Ukraine as Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine are in an indefinite holding pattern, with leaders signaling that any talks right now would not be fruitful after Trump’s proposed second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on ice. The view from the Kremlin: Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Trump’s comments on “wasted time” yesterday, telling reporters today that neither Trump nor Putin “wants to waste time” and any meeting would require extensive preparation. Peskov also slammed alleged misinformation surrounding the meeting, adding that most of the “gossip and speculation” on the talks “doesn’t correspond to reality.” And Rutte also side-stepped questions about the delays. The NATO leader sounded optimistic coming out of his meeting on Capitol Hill today, telling reporters that Trump is “the only one who can get this done.” He said NATO would back the president’s “clear vision on bringing this war to a durable and lasting end,” per NYT’s Robert Jimison. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, was already skeptical of any Putin-Trump summit. Despite fears that it will allow for Russia to regroup, the Ukrainian leader agreed today that Trump's proposal that a ceasefire to begin at current frontlines was “a good compromise,” though he’s doubtful Putin will back the deal, per Reuters. And attacks continue on the ground. Russia launched another series of aerial attacks on Ukraine overnight, striking a power plant, a kindergarten and other civilian areas and killing at least six, per ABC. Harrowing photos and footage posted online shows some of the aftermath, including video of “emergency workers carrying young children from a burning kindergarten” in Kharkiv, NYT’s Maria Varenikova reports. Zelenskyy confirmed that “seven people were injured in the nursery strike” and denounced the move as “Russia’s spit in the face of anyone who insists on a peaceful solution” to the war, POLITICO Europe’s Veronika Melkozerova reports from Kyiv. Zelenskyy added the assault showed the Kremlin “clearly doesn’t feel enough pressure to stop prolonging the war.” Spy games: “Europe’s spies are learning to trust each other — thanks to Trump,” by POLITICO’s Antoaneta Roussi in Brussels: “Intelligence agencies across Europe are burying decades of distrust and starting to build a shared intelligence operation to counter Russian aggression — a move accelerated by the new American capriciousness in supporting its traditional allies. … The push for deeper intelligence cooperation accelerated sharply after the Trump administration abruptly halted the sharing of battlefield intelligence with Kyiv last March.” Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | As the shutdown fight deepens, stay on top of every twist with POLITICO’s essential newsletters.
Inside Congress delivers the reporting and analysis you need on negotiations, votes, and power dynamics driving Washington’s next move.
➡️ Subscribe to Inside Congress
West Wing Playbook covers how Trump’s Washington is navigating the shutdown — and what it means for the people running government day to day.
➡️ Subscribe to West Wing Playbook | | | | | | | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray speaks in the Senate chamber at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) | AP | 1. ANYBODY HAVE A MAP?: Indiana Senate Republicans insist that they don’t have the votes to push through a new congressional map in the chamber, but the White House is still demanding for a special session on redistricting in Indiana as Trump continues the administration’s redistricting push across the country, POLITICO’s Adam Wren reports. A spokesperson for state Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray said that the “votes aren’t there for redistricting.” Still, the White House is confident it has the numbers, and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun seems inclined to call a special session, which he could do as early as next week. The administration “conducted a dial-in poll of lawmakers that revealed the majority of Senate Republicans backed mid-cycle redistricting,” and the belief is “that Bray and his leadership team represent the majority of no-votes.” The White House “has a private whip count from individual calls, expects it will have the votes as it already does in the House, and it expects it to be put up for a vote,” a source close to the White House said. Carolina in my mind: North Carolina Republicans passed a new congressional map to carve out another GOP seat in the state for next year’s midterms — marking the seventh new red-leaning seat created nationwide since 2024, POLITICO’s Andrew Howard reports. The new map targets Democratic Rep. Don Davis’ district, which Trump narrowly carried in 2024. Under the new construction, the district would have voted for Trump by roughly 11 points. From the old guard: Former President Barack Obama’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering in Democrats’ redistricting fight “is a reflection of the deep anxieties he harbors about Trump’s second term” and the future of the party, WaPo’s Yasmeen Abutaleb and Liz Goodwin report. “The ex-president has grown especially worried that some lawmakers and voters are not confronting Trump with the same urgency they showed during his first term — and that major institutions, including universities and law firms, have too often capitulated to Trump’s demands.” 2. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: The Senate is expected to hold its 12th (likely unsuccessful) vote on the House-passed bill to reopen the government today — though an ongoing floor protest from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) could upend the timing. Merkley is well into his 19th hour of a filibuster on the Senate floor in a move that Merkley says is “to protest Trump dragging us further into authoritarianism.” The 68-year-old Merkley started speaking yesterday at 6:24 p.m., and has spent his hours lambasting the president for sending military forces into U.S. cities, “weaponizing” the Justice Department and warning the U.S. faces “the biggest threat” since the Civil War, per NBC. 3. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: VP JD Vance met with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu today as the White House works to shore up the fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Despite reports that the White House is concerned with Netanyahu’s commitment to the truce terms, Vance insisted to reporters he was there to monitor the plan’s execution, not to babysit, per NYT’s Tyler Pager and Aaron Boxerman. “It’s not about monitoring in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler,” Vance said. “It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work, a lot of good people who are doing that work, and it’s important for the principals in the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do.” Speaking alongside Vance, Netanyahu lauded Israel’s relationship with the U.S. under Trump as a “partnership like never before,” NBC’s Chantal Da Silva reports. “I’ve been around for quite a while, worked with many U.S. administrations. I appreciate the partnerships and support we’ve had, but this is something entirely different,” Netanyahu said. 4. BEATING THE DRUM: Trump’s declaration of an “armed conflict” with drug traffickers and U.S. attacks on boats from Venezuela has stirred up concerns about the U.S. launching an all-out military operation in the region. And some in Washington feel Trump won’t stop until he topples Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, WaPo’s Karen DeYoung and colleagues report. Trump authorized the CIA to launch covert operations in the country last week, “authorizing aggressive agency action against the Venezuelan government and associated drug traffickers.” And while the document “does not explicitly order the CIA to overthrow Maduro” sources familiar say “it authorizes steps that could lead to that outcome.”
| | | | A message from The Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance: This football season, Americans want to watch their favorite teams - not #BigPharma's ads. Despite regulators cracking down on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, industry spending on DTC ads surged this September. Instead of taking meaningful steps to slash prices for Americans, Big Pharma is spending millions to push their products. Read more about how Big Pharma is doubling down on ads nobody wants to see. | | | | 5. WELL THAT WAS FAST: Graham Platner has covered-up his tattoo that originally depicted a Nazi-style skull-and-crossbones with another piece, after telling POLITICO that he had plans to remove it. Platner told AP’s Kimberlee Kruesi and Patrick Whittle in an interview that he decided to just cover over the image with something else because his options in rural Maine were limited. “Going to a tattoo removal place is going to take a while,” Platner told AP. “I wanted this thing off my body.” So what is it now? “Platner didn’t offer details about the new tattoo, but offered to send the AP a photo later Wednesday.” 6. TRAIL MIX: Former Sen. John Sununu formally entered the race to reclaim the seat he held for a single term before outgoing Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) ousted him in 2008, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky reports. His entry “likely gives Republicans their best chance of flipping the seat after his brother, former Gov. Chris Sununu, rejected the party’s recruitment efforts for another cycle,” Lisa writes. Still, the former senator’s pushback against Trump will likely muddy his path to securing an endorsement or the GOP nomination. NRSC Chair Tim Scott has already offered his backing. “John Sununu’s deep roots and passion for the Granite State make him built to win,” Scott wrote on X this morning. California dreamin’: Democratic California state Sen. Scott Wiener tells NYT's Heather Knight that he’s no longer waiting for Nancy Pelosi to announce her intentions for 2026, despite his previous pledges to hold off until the former speaker officially announced her retirement. “The world changes,” Wiener told NYT. “I made a decision that it makes sense for me to get into the race now because I’m passionate about San Francisco having the best possible representation.” Progressives in the Golden State, though, are eying San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan as a contender to replace Pelosi, our California Playbook colleagues report. 2028 watch: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is keynoting a major New Hampshire Democrats’ fundraising dinner on Nov. 14, the state party said Wednesday. Booker's latest visit to New Hampshire will come two days after Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) headlines a town hall there hosted by prominent state Democrats, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky writes in. They're the latest potential 2028 candidates to trek to what’s historically been the first-in-the-nation primary state: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear have all swung through in recent months. 7. YOUR PAYMENT IS DUE: The DNC paid out $1.6 million of debt from Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign last month — bringing the total sunk into the campaign costs to more than $20 million, Axios’ Alex Thompson reports. “Harris spent an unprecedented $1.5 billion during her 107-day campaign” and Democratic officials aren’t clear how much is left to cover. The DNC had about $12 million cash on hand at the end of September. Though the committee typically covers campaign costs, it could leave them exposed in the immediate future. “The DNC also was on the hook for more than $20 million in debt after Barack Obama's reelection in 2012,” and didn't fully pay off the debt until 2015. 8. CHURCH MEETS STATE: “Pete Hegseth Is the Pentagon’s Holy Warrior,” by The Atlantic’s Missy Ryan: “In an administration that is already heavy-handed in invoking Christian ideas and imagery in government work, [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth] has gone further than anyone else. … [H]e has made Christianity a conspicuous part of his official duties. He leads regular Pentagon prayer sessions, posts often on social media about his faith … and describes the military’s mission in explicitly biblical terms. … The men and women who have volunteered to serve are noticing the difference.”
| | | | POLITICO’s Global Security briefing connects the policies, deals, and industrial shifts shaping the global defense landscape. From Washington to Brussels, we follow who’s funding what, what’s being built, and how power moves across continents. Subscribe now for the free preview. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | NOMINATION STATION — The White House has nominated Republican operative Jordan Wiggins to be executive director of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, known as “America250,” POLITICO’s Sophia Cai scoops. “Wiggins managed Vice President JD Vance’s successful 2022 Senate campaign in Ohio and later served as chief operating officer for Never Back Down, the super PAC that supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential bid.” OUT AND ABOUT — The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Penn Quarter yesterday held the 2025 New Liberal Action Summit, where the Center for New Liberalism gathered lawmakers, strategists and policy thinkers from across the country and the globe. SPOTTED: Reps. Josh Harder (D-Calif.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), April McClain Delaney (D-Md.), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) and George Whitesides (D-Calif.), Michael Nutter, Francis Fukuyama, Will Marshall, Claire Ainsley, Tobin Stone, Colin Mortimer, Jeremiah Johnson, Matt Corridoni, Rohan Patel, Ben Ritz, Joseph Politano, Ed Gresser, Jolie LiBert, Stu Malec, Pete Brodnitz, Richard Kahlenberg, Michael Mandel, Ian O’Keefe, Curtis Valentine, David Yankovich, Art Eggleton, Shikha Dalmia and Doug Jones. — Blue Star Families held their annual celebration event at Union Station last night, where Disney’s Jessica Moore announced expanding its longstanding relationship with Blue Star Families through a $2.5 million donation to help strengthen military families across the country. During the event, Ted Leonsis was honored with the “Connie J. Milstein Philanthropic Award” and Purple Patch’s Patrice Cleary took home the “Best Dish Award.” SPOTTED: David Isom, Brianna Keilar, Harvey Grant, George William Casey Jr., David Allvin, Steven Nordhaus, Kathy Roth-Douquet, Carlos Del Toro, Stephen Simmons, Ed Rothstein, Jonathan Stubbs, Marcus Evans, A.J. Jones and Spike Mendelsohn. — Mayer Brown held its third-annual “Women of Washington” event at its K Street office last night, featuring a discussion led by Grace Shie with Candi Wolff, Kristen Silverberg and Alissa Starzak. SPOTTED: Amber Thomson, Kelly Miller, Annette Weerth, Catherine Lyons, Briana Walsh and Erica McCollum. BONUS BIRTHDAY: American Chemistry Council’s Naysa Woomer 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 Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance:  
| | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment