| | | |  | | 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 the rapidly accelerating pace of Donald Trump’s second term — and why Vietnamese noodles are the very best thing about fall in D.C.
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| Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. Get in touch. ZOHRAN TV: Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, POLITICO's Senior Politics editor Sally Goldenberg will co-moderate the New York City Mayoral General Election Debate, in conjunction with NBC 4 New York/WNBC and Telemundo 47/WNJU. Watch live on POLITICO's homepage as Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa take the stage at Rockefeller Center — and stay plugged into our live blog for real time analysis and reporting. Audience of one: Frontrunner Mamdani warmed up for the debate yesterday with his first sit-down interview on Fox News, where he apologized to the NYPD for past comments about the police and directly addressed President Trump — speaking straight to camera — as he vowed to lower the cost of living in his city. In today’s Playbook … — Donald Trump is only moving faster as his presidency enters a new phase. — Shutdown Day 16. Only Trump can break the deadlock.
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— Will India really stop buying oil from Vladimir Putin?
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
President Donald Trump speaks during a White House Faith Office luncheon in the State Dining Room at the White House on July 14. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | SCREAM IF YOU WANT TO GO FASTER: We’re about to hit the nine-month mark of Donald Trump’s second term as president. And while the start was an absolute whirlwind — readers may recall “days of thunder,” “flooding the zone” and all of that — you need to brace yourselves. Because Trump is only accelerating as we head toward the end of his first year. Across every major policy area he cares about, the president and his team are amping up the pace and pushing the boundaries beyond what many thought possible. Trump’s astonishing first 100 days can now be seen not as the policy blitz of a president keen to get his radical work done early — but as laying the ground for something far bigger to come. Consider just three of his most controversial policy areas. FIRST — RETRIBUTION: We now know the lack of early activity pursuing Trump’s enemies was not by the president's design — witness the frustration dripping from Trump’s (accidentally published) DM to AG Pam Bondi last month. Since that memo, of course, Trump’s DOJ has indicted both former FBI chief James Comey and New York AG Letitia James — with former NSA John Bolton reportedly the next Trump critic to face federal charges soon. And Trump is going faster. Yesterday, he listed yet more targets, including former special counsel Jack Smith and former FBI counsel Andrew Weissmann (who just appeared together at an event in London); former Deputy AG Lisa Monaco; and Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff. “I hope they’re looking at all of these people,” Trump said, standing alongside Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. “I’m, in theory, chief law enforcement officer … I don't have to leave it up to them. But I choose to — at this moment at least." Trump’s team is feeling bullish, a White House official tells Dasha. “There's no law that restricts the President of the United States from talking about accountability he wants to see,” they said. “It's unprecedented, but it's not illegal for him to talk about what the Department of Justice is doing.” And so there’s more to come: Trump’s next move will be to harness the Internal Revenue Service, WSJ’s Brian Schwartz and colleagues scooped last night, with plans to pursue criminal charges against groups funding left-wing causes. “A senior IRS official involved in the effort has drawn up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors,” the WSJ reports. This looks like weaponization going into overdrive. Already going viral: Trump critics were last night sharing this video of VP JD Vance, while still a senator, warning this type of IRS activity would mean “we don’t live in a free country any more.” SECOND — TROOPS ON THE STREETS: As Playbook has noted, Trump’s military incursions into Los Angeles and D.C. initially looked like isolated cases. Not any more. We’ve since seen troops federalized and sent to Portland, Chicago and Memphis — and only the latter at the mayor’s request. It seems unlikely that adverse court rulings will hold Trump back for long. “We're just at the start,” Trump said yesterday. “We're going to go into other cities that we're not talking about, purposely. We're getting ready to go in.” Coming attractions: Trump said Chicago is about to face a “surge” of federal action to tackle high levels of crime, and named San Francisco as next on his list. He’s been eyeing Boston and Baltimore for a while. And just imagine the clash that’s coming in New York City if Mamdani wins on Nov. 4. THIRD — WAR AND PEACE: We saw little military activity abroad during Trump’s early months — in fact, the main shift was Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s rhetoric about withdrawing troops from Europe. But since the summer Trump has moved with lightning pace, successfully pressuring Israel and Hamas into a ceasefire and — dramatically — bombing targets in Iran. The next phase could be messier: The president appears to be pushing regime change in Venezuela, and yesterday confirmed a big NYT scoop that he’s authorised CIA activity in the country. And after deadly strikes on six Venezuelan ships in the Caribbean he says were drug smugglers, Trump is now considering mainland targets. “We are certainly looking at land [strikes] now,” Trump said. “We’ve got the sea very well under control.” | | | | A message from Evernorth Health Services: Controversy around GLP-1s and how much pharmaceutical companies want Americans to pay for them continues to rise. Which is why we offer a benefit that ensures members pay no more than $200/month out of pocket for certain GLP-1s for weight loss. That's not a middleman. That's an advocate.
See how Express Scripts Pharmacy Benefit Services is advocating to make GLP-1s more affordable for millions here. | | | | AND THAT’S NOT ALL: In so many other MAGA-friendly policy areas, Trump is rapidly increasing the pace. IMMIGRATION: ICE’s deportation agenda has ramped up through the year— but the massive increase in funding within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has not yet filtered through to activity on the ground. That means a huge increase in ICE capability is still to come. A severe clampdown on H1 visas is also looming. And the NYT reported last night that “a radical overhaul of the U.S. refugee system” is being considered that would “slash the program to its bare bones while giving preference to English speakers, white South Africans and Europeans who oppose migration.” CUTTING GOVERNMENT: While the DOGE days were pure drama, Trump’s new approach — led by budget chief Russ Vought — may yet prove more effective. Trump and Vought are leveraging the government shutdown to push through massive cuts, with Vought revealing yesterday he wants “north of 10,000” layoffs. Trump will unveil a fresh list tomorrow of Democrat-friendly programs he intends to terminate. A federal judge’s blocking order is only temporary, for now. TARIFFS: Six months on from “Liberation Day,” Trump’s protectionism has become so normalized that new U.S. tariffs now create barely a ripple in the markets and are rarely front page news. Trump says he’s using tariffs as a key foreign policy and economic lever, and that the U.S. is now in a trade war with China — with a new 100 percent tariff coming down the track. One group feeling left behind? Farmers. POLITICO’s Myah Ward and Grace Yarrow have a must-read story this morning on how Trump’s promised bailout for farmers impacted by his tariffs has yet to materialize – with next year’s planting season looming. REDISTRICTING: Texas is in the bag — but there’s much more to come, with GOP gerrymandering efforts underway in Indiana, Missouri and Kansas. And this may all be a precursor to the big prize: a massive redistricting of southern red states, if the Supreme Court weakens or strikes down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as seems likely following yesterday’s session. The consequences for next year’s midterm elections could be profound. OVERHAULING D.C.: More than two months after Trump’s federal takeover, there’s no sign of the National Guard leaving Washington’s streets. Billions more dollars are headed our way for what the president calls “beautification.” Trump’s overhaul of the White House is in overdrive, as he told donors to his vast new ballroom at an East Room event last night. And a so-called “Arc de Trump” is in the works just off the National Mall. Who knows what else is coming? Through it all, Trump’s public appearances are keeping pace. The president has done something like five-and-a-half hours of public speaking this week alone, including seven Q&A sessions with members of the press ... And it’s only Thursday morning. (And yes, he’ll be inviting press back into the Oval Office for another announcement at 3 p.m. this afternoon.) Taken together, the picture after nine months is of a president only growing in confidence and an administration energized to keep pushing further, stronger, faster in every direction. “I think we've pretty much kept up the same 24/7 pace of work since January,” the same White House official tells Dasha. “The president's showing zero signs of slowing down." And there are still 39 months to go. A final thought: Amidst all the rapid-fire policymaking, it’s worth noting that one of the biggest technological revolutions in the history of mankind is happening right now, at breakneck speed — and yet for the most part Trump mentions AI only in passing. “We're dominating with AI, which seems to be the new big thing,” Trump said vaguely yesterday. “That's the new internet, that's the new … whatever.” He didn’t exactly sound like a man with a detailed plan. And that could come back to bite him, POLITICO’s Yasmin Khorram writes this morning. “If companies use AI as a reason to cut headcount, Trump’s embrace of the new technology could backfire on the president at a time when the U.S. economy is on shaky ground and measures of consumer confidence are falling.” Example: Employment in the information sector has fallen by more than 160,000 jobs since the end of 2022, when the first version of ChatGPT was released, Yasmin notes. “As more industries begin adopting AI technologies, they could start seeing job cuts similar to those in the tech industry. That could spell danger for the Trump administration.” | | | | A message from Evernorth Health Services: Controversy around GLP-1s and how much pharmaceutical companies want Americans to pay for them continues to rise. Which is why we offer a benefit that ensures members pay no more than $200/month out of pocket for certain GLP-1s for weight loss. That's not a middleman. That's an advocate.
See how Express Scripts Pharmacy Benefit Services is advocating to make GLP-1s more affordable for millions here. | | | | MEANWHILE ON THE HILL SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: The Senate failed again yesterday to pass the GOP bill to reopen the government, and there’s little reason to expect anyone to budge in the next vote at 11 a.m. today. A new approach? In an interview with MSNBC’s Ali Vitali airing early this morning — his first with the network since becoming Senate majority leader — John Thune says he has told Democrats he can guarantee them a vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies. Thune will also try a new tactic this afternoon, teeing up a 1:30 p.m. procedural vote on a full-year Defense spending bill. Key Democrats are leaning toward playing hardball and voting no, Axios’ Stephen Neukam reports. And a new demand? Though the White House’s mass firings of federal workers were intended, in part, to push Democrats to end the shutdown, some Dems now say the administration will have to commit to undoing the layoffs before earning their votes, POLITICO’s Nick Wu and Mia McCarthy report. Read more from our Inside Congress colleagues Helpfully for Democrats, a federal judge temporarily blocked the reductions in force yesterday, ruling they were illegal, partisan, harmful and unrelated to performance. Notably, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) plans to ask Trump to undo Treasury layoffs, Bloomberg’s Emily Flitter and Caitlin Reilly report. Winning? In a CNN town hall last night, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) projected confidence: “Republicans are catching on,” Sanders said. “They’re playing a losing hand. They are going to come to the table finally.” Nope! Ultimately, “neither side is likely to move until Donald Trump gets more involved,” Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott report — and the White House says Democrats can keep dreaming if they think he’ll give in to their health care demands. The outside view: Trump is “probably not very intimidated” by Democrats, Newt Gingrich said at a launch event for upNEXT at Ned’s Club last night, Playbook’s Bethany Irvine emails in. “And so the idea that he’s going to cave — I mean, it’s silly.” From the other side, Joe Manchin urged Trump to get more involved: “If he can sit down with Hamas and the Israelis but won’t sit down with Democrats and Republicans, we got a problem,” Manchin said. “Bring us together. I think people are dying for that.” No shutdown here: Truth is, Trump is “all but ignoring the federal shutdown for parts of the government he favors,” WaPo’s Jacob Bogage and colleagues report. “We got the people that we want paid, paid,” the president said yesterday. He signed a memo granting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth power to shift money around to pay troops, which Democrats say is probably illegal, per the NYT, while FBI Director Kash Patel said bureau agents would also still get paid, CBS’ Kaia Hubbard and Joe Walsh report. | | | | As the shutdown fight deepens, stay on top of every twist with POLITICO’s essential newsletters.
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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 | | | | | TRAIL MIX CASH DASH: Midnight was the deadline for House and Senate candidates to file third-quarter fundraising reports, and so a steady stream of telltale indicators rolled in all night in key Congressional races. Among the notable takeaways: - At the top: Mike Johnson raised $13.1 million, and the speaker’s office said his fundraising this year is at a record clip.
- Senate GOP primaries: In Kentucky, Rep. Andy Barr has three times more money than Nate Morris and Daniel Cameron combined, per POLITICO’s Erin Doherty. … Texas AG Ken Paxton outraised Sen. John Cornyn for their direct campaign accounts, $1.3 million to $910,000, though Cornyn’s joint fundraising committees brought his total up to $3.4 million, per POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky. … Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy narrowly pulled in more money from donors than his opponents did, bringing in $1.3 million, with $9.5 million in the bank for his campaign committee, per POLITICO’s Jessica Piper.
- Crucial races: The Republicans competing to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) combined didn’t come close to his haul, Erin reports. … Democrat Sherrod Brown’s comeback bid in Ohio more than doubled GOP Sen. Jon Husted’s haul, per The Plain Dealer’s Jeremy Pelzer.
- Maine squeeze: In the first day of her Senate campaign, Maine Gov. Janet Mills pulled in about $1 million. Democratic primary opponent Graham Platner said he raked in about $500,000 since Mills entered the race. More from the Portland Press Herald
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| | | | BEST OF THE REST ALL EYES ON MODI: Ahead of tomorrow’s high-stakes meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, the big question today is whether Trump has made a crucial breakthrough in New Delhi. Trump said yesterday that Indian PM Narendra Modi has “assured” him India will stop buying Russian oil, a move Trump framed as a key step toward isolating Moscow and ending the war in Ukraine, POLITICO’s Irie Sentner and Megan Messerly report. All eyes are on India, which has not yet confirmed Trump’s comment. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: The Gaza ceasefire has — just about — held another day, and the U.S. is projecting confidence that it’ll last, even as things look fragile on the ground. The Americans are eager to move quickly to the next phase of negotiations, but Israel warned the U.S. that it’ll be held up if Hamas doesn’t do a better job of getting dead hostages’ bodies back. Charging ahead: Top U.S. officials nonetheless say these are just “hiccups,” despite Israel’s threat of restarting fighting, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols reports. “We have it under control," the White House official quoted above tells Dasha. "Israel knows they can't do anything without the president's blessing. And Hamas is looking for the bodies.” Indeed, the U.S. is now looking forward to which countries might send troops for a postwar stabilization force in Gaza, POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and Paul McLeary scooped. Indonesia, Azerbaijan and Pakistan are the top of the list. DEMOCRACY IN DARKNESS: Nearly the entire Pentagon press corps handed in their badges and walked out of the Defense Department yesterday, refusing to sign restrictive new demands by Hegseth to limit their reporting, per the AP. Hegseth, who has “systematically choked off the flow of information,” says the rules are “common-sense.” SCHOOL DAZE: Brown University became the second top university to reject the Trump administration’s “compact” offering financial benefits in exchange for committing to Trump priorities, per The Brown Daily Herald’s Cate Latimer. THE GROUP CHAT HEARD ’ROUND THE WORLD: Despite a bipartisan outcry, VP JD Vance on “The Charlie Kirk Show” again downplayed the leaked group chat full of bigoted messages among young Republican leaders, saying they were just “offensive jokes.” But Democrats were outraged, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom urging a congressional probe of the groups these rising GOP stars led and New York Democrats trying to link the messages to Empire State Republicans writ large, POLITICO’s Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo report. Meanwhile, on the Hill: Rep. Dave Taylor (R-Ohio) called the Capitol Police to open an investigation after what appeared to be an American flag with a swastika was seen on a wall in his office, POLITICO’s Samuel Benson scooped. It’s not clear where it came from. CARRYING THE TORCH: Vance will lead an event on Turning Point USA’s campus tour, joining the organization at the University of Mississippi on Oct. 29, alongside Erika Kirk, Axios’ Tal Axelrod writes. Eric and Lara Trump will also participate in the tour on Nov. 5 at Auburn University, as MAGA leaders work to keep Charlie Kirk’s work going.
| | | | 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 | | JB Pritzker won $1.4 million in gambling in 2024. Yes, really. Zohran Mamdani aired a “Survivor”-themed ad, with former castaways voting Andrew Cuomo off the island. Jim Justice held a sixth birthday party for the legendary Babydog, including cake pops in the shape of bulldogs. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — An ice sculpture went up on the Mall yesterday near the Capitol, showing the word “DEMOCRACY” as it melted away in protest of the Trump administration’s actions, WaPo’s Joe Heim reports. FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK — Two 15-year-olds who pleaded guilty to crimes from the night that Edward “Big Balls” Coristine was assaulted were sentenced to probation, no jail time, per WaPo. That triggered an instant outcry from Republicans, from Trump down. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the upNEXT LeaderForce Forum at Ned’s Club yesterday, launching the new media and community platform from Peter Cherukuri: Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Barbara Humpton, Sudip Parikh, Omar Vargas, Nazak Nikakhtar, Arun Gupta, Gerry Petrella, Teresa Carlson, Joe Manchin, Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist, Steve Case, Bruce Andrews, Cameron Arcand, Joe Bartlett, Emily Benavides, Belgian Ambassador Frédéric Bernard, Leah Bitounis, Renae Black, Gregory Bowman, Mary Brady, Michael Cole, Caleb Conaway, Dante Disparte, John Fredericks, Fin Gómez, Joshua Huminski, Chuck Johnson, Niamh King, Jonathan Kott, Alena Kudzko, Paul Lekas, Mauro Moretto, Al Puchala, Jim Steiner, Farah Stockman, Mark Weinberger, Jeff Ziarko and Kathy “Coach” Kemper. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Joyce Kazadi is joining Coinbase as Democratic policy lead. She most recently worked for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and is a Kamala Harris and Barbara Lee alum. MEDIA MOVE — Astead Herndon is joining Vox as host of a new weekly video podcast and editorial director, per Status’ Natalie Korach. He previously has been a reporter and host of “The Run-Up” podcast at the NYT. TRANSITIONS — Matt Corridoni is now comms director for Majority Democrats. He most recently has worked at VoteVets, where he’ll remain a consultant through the 2025 cycle, and is a Harris campaign and Jake Auchincloss alum. … Sarah Corcoran has launched the government relations practice Corcoran Strategies Group specializing in mental health, health and social services policy. She previously worked at Guide Consulting Services. … Israel Policy Forum is creating a new policy council comprising Michael Ratney, Nimrod Novik, Farah Bdour, Ibrahim Dalalsha, Elisa Ewers, Garrett Nada and Neri Zilber. ENGAGED — Joe Pappalardo, senior digital strategist at Moore Digital, proposed to Caroline Downey, columnist and video personality at National Review, on Saturday in Central Park. They met at a March for Life after-party hosted by Hillsdale alums. Pic, by Dave Waitforit Romero … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Alex Hogan, a correspondent for Fox News, and Harrison Tull, an associate partner at HMAN Group, welcomed Helena James last week. Instapics HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) … Foreign Policy’s Ravi Agrawal … Tyler Evans … Sarah Bedford of the Washington Examiner … Beatrice Peterson … Michael Pratt of the National Pharmaceutical Council … Jim Courtovich … Rodell Mollineau of Rokk Solutions … Jenny Hopkinson … Alex Macfarlane of SKDK … Daniel Henke of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance … Phil Bianchi of JPMorgan Chase … Connor McNutt of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) office … Adeline Sandridge … Ben Coffey Clark of Bully Pulpit International … former Reps. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) and Dave Trott (R-Mich.) … POLITICO’s Kelly Hooper and Miea Hicks … former SEC Chair Christopher Cox … Sarah Mysiewicz of Senate HELP … former North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple … Deloitte’s Kristen McGrath Dugan … Bobbe Bridge … Vikram Prasad 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 Evernorth Health Services: Lowering costs. Improving patient access. Supporting long-term health. Express Scripts Pharmacy Benefit Services is making it all possible through better GLP-1 benefits. Benefits delivering better care for millions by ensuring members pay no more than $200/month out of pocket for certain GLP-1s for weight loss. And it's not just their patients who are benefiting from this first-of-its-kind offer. They're helping to lower costs for health plans, unions, government agencies, public sector organizations, and more. Savings that allow them to expand access to more patients without breaking their budgets. 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