| | | |  | | By Ali Bianco | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Throughout his whirlwind tour across Asia, President Donald Trump has received the king treatment. | Ng Han Guan/AP | BOWING DOWN: Throughout his whirlwind tour across Asia, President Donald Trump has received the king treatment. He’s flown through Malaysia, Japan and South Korea — some of the countries hit hardest by his sweeping tariff agenda. All have largely bent the knee with multimillion-dollar investments to get on Trump’s good side and stem the tariff fallout on their local economies. All that glitters: In South Korea, many of the opportunities for Trump were golden, “often quite literally,” WSJ’s Alexander Ward and colleagues write. Trump received a lavish gold crown from President Lee Jae Myung, who donned a golden tie. There were gold-laden desserts, and a golden golf ball — all nodding not-so-subtly to Trump’s declarations of a “golden age.” But rolling out the red — nay, gold — carpet for Trump set the tone for South Korea to avoid more punishing tariffs: Trump announced early this morning that their trade deal is “pretty much finalized” after months of back and forth. POLITICO’s Ari Hawkins reports that the two countries concluded some details on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit — specifically on Seoul’s $350 billion investment pledge that has been a sticking point. The details: Part of the investment will be paid in installments under $20 billion per year, while another portion goes toward the U.S. shipbuilding industry. That seals the deal for two massive investments in the U.S. from some of Asia’s economic powerhouses, with Japan’s investment of $550 billion signed in September, per Bloomberg. It brings their across-the-board tariffs down to 15 percent rather than 25 percent, though a separate 25 percent duty on auto parts remains. Also on Trump’s mind is what he didn’t get to do. He repeatedly publicly pushed for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which never materialized. But Trump took up the prospect of bringing his peacemaker persona to the Korean peninsula, NYT’s Erica Green and colleagues report. “I know you’re officially at war, but we will see what we can do to get that all straightened out,” Trump told Lee. “It’s common sense that that should work out, and I feel certain that it will. It may take a little time, you’ll have to have a little patience, but I feel absolutely certain that it will.” The main event: Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to kick off overnight. It’s the bilateral that all sides have been anticipating as trade tensions have flared between the world’s two biggest economies, with administration officials saying they’re looking to turn the corner. Negotiators outlined a preliminary truce over the weekend, with Beijing backing down from its sweeping export restrictions on rare earth minerals and Trump staying his 100 percent tariffs. Ahead of the meeting, Xi is showing up with increased swagger. It’s a legitimizing moment for his coercive tactics to get the U.S. to the table and emerge with an upper hand. “Trump, by contrast, will arrive in South Korea with Washington hobbled by a month-long government shutdown,” WaPo’s Katrina Northrop and Cate Cadell write, “a split-screen moment that is probably feeding Xi’s sense of leverage and China’s narrative that the United States’ dominance is faltering.” It’s a delicate dance for Trump, who is trying to project “strength against America’s top adversary without triggering another economic shock at home,” POLITICO’s Megan Messerly reports (for Pros!). “Administration officials are voicing confidence that Trump and Xi will step back from the brink of a second trade war when they meet Thursday morning local time in South Korea, but even a small misstep could send markets spiraling.” A sign of what’s to come: China bought at least two cargoes of U.S. soybeans — which may be part of a wider settlement that would ease one of the biggest pain points of the trade brinksmanship, Bloomberg’s Hallie Gu and Alfred Cang report. Also on the agenda: Trump is anticipating lowering the tariffs he imposed on China to stem the flow of fentanyl, while also speaking with Xi about Nvidia’s flagship Blackwell AI chip, per Bloomberg. Of course, none of this erases the ongoing concern of Chinese military aggression. Though Xi is hoping for some movement on Taiwan — an idea Trump seemed to dismiss speaking with reporters overnight — Trump has spent the week pushing U.S. allies in the region to boost their military spending to counter China, WSJ’s Alex Ward and colleagues write. Even once Trump returns to Washington tomorrow, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will continue his stretch across the region to encourage allied spending. AND BEFORE ALL THAT: The Federal Reserve is due to release its latest rate-cut decision at 2 p.m., when the central bank is widely expected to slash rates by a quarter of a percentage point for the second time in a row. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will address the press at 2:30 p.m. NYT’s Colby Smith has a helpful breakdown of what to watch. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Send me tips and thoughts to abianco@politico.com.
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Zohran Mamdani hosted a group of influencers for an exclusive news conference. | Seth Wenig/AP | 1. 2025 WATCH: We’re less than a week out from Election Day. California’s Prop-50 ballot measure to redraw the state’s maps ahead of the midterms looks to be on a glide-path to pass next week, according to a new poll showing 56 percent of likely voters plan to support the measure, POLITICO’s Juliann Ventura reports. And there’s plenty of in-depth looks at the state of play for the major 2025 races … In the Garden State: GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli is casting himself as a MAGAified candidate for his third run at the governor’s mansion, betting he can turn out Trump supporters without Trump on the ballot. NYT’s Nick Corasaniti dives into how Ciattarelli has integrated MAGA into the policies he’s been campaigning on for years. Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, meanwhile, has been running a middle-of-the-road campaign, pushing forward a moderate vision that will butt up against other more progressive candidates across the country in “a Rorschach test for the Democratic Party,” NYT’s Tracey Tully writes. Across the Potomac: Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger is staying laser focused on the economy in the final stretch of her campaign, even after an avalanche of October surprises in the form of a government shutdown, the Jay Jones text scandal and a last-minute redistricting push by the state’s Democratic lawmakers, NBC’s Adam Edelman reports from Norfolk. Despite temptations to focus her campaign on lambasting Trump’s actions, Spanberger has stayed sharply on message, skewering Trump as detrimental to the cost of life for Virginians, POLITICO’s Erin Doherty and Brakkton Booker write. Live from New York: Zohran Mamdani hosted a group of influencers for an exclusive news conference, doubling down on his campaign’s social media reach in the final sprint to election day, NBC’s Allan Smith reports. … Andrew Cuomo tried to launch a podcasting career to restore his name and political profile, but NYT’s Nicholas Fandos writes how things didn’t go the way Cuomo hoped. … Meanwhile, Time’s Molly Ball is out with a must-read on departing Mayor Eric Adams, and his almost-Shakespearean rise and fall from the height of Democratic politics. Down-ballot digest: “In Mississippi, Democrats Hope New Maps Lead to Statehouse Wins,” by NYT’s David Chen: “The state will hold seven special elections on Nov. 4 for seats in the Mississippi legislature, prompted by redistricting ordered by the courts to give Black voters more representation. If Democrats flip two seats in the Senate, they would break the Republican supermajority in Jackson, the state capital.” 2. 2026 WATCH: “Trump Advisers Consider Las Vegas for Rare Midterm Political Convention,” by WSJ’s Alex Leary: “Trump has told aides that the convention will be a forum to highlight Republican congressional candidates and incumbents, as well as his own record as president, the people said. … The president’s advisers are weighing other locations for the convention, including Texas and Washington, D.C. … Trump won Nevada in 2024 — the first time a Republican presidential candidate carried the crucial battleground state in two decades — by harnessing voters’ negative view of the economy.” 3. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: SNAP benefits are all-but guaranteed to lapse for the first time as Senate Republicans prepare to block a bill by Democrats to keep the food aid flowing, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill report. They just need one senator to object to passing it by unanimous consent, and without intervention the benefits will run out come Nov. 1. Behind the scenes: Nearly one month in, there is finally some movement on a potential off-ramp, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicating a new urgency fueling talks among bipartisan rank-and-file members, Jordain and Meredith scoop. GOP senators, Speaker Mike Johnson and other House GOP members are convinced that some centrist Dems are getting ready to make a deal. Democrats haven’t signaled that publicly, but GOP leaders are ramping up internal talks about preparing a new stopgap that could punt funding to around Jan. 21 or later — and privately saying to Dems that Trump will meet with them on ACA subsidies as soon as next week (if the government opens). The pressure cooker: Some Americans are also already being faced with soaring health care costs ahead of Nov. 1. CNN’s Tami Luhby breaks down the 26 percent hike on premiums and other doubling costs consumers are facing in their window-shopping for ACA coverage. Hill staffers were also notified today that they won’t get their Oct. 31 paycheck, Axios’ Andrew Solender reports. On Dems’ minds today: Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva has now been waiting 36 days to be sworn in to office, setting a new record that any member of Congress has had to wait following a special election, Axios’ Jessica Boehm reports. 4. WAR AND PEACE: The Israeli military said this morning that it will uphold the ceasefire in Gaza, after airstrikes in the war-torn strip killed over 100 people, including 46 children, as both Israel and Hamas traded blame over violations of the fragile peace deal, Reuters’ Jana Choukeir and colleagues report. The airstrikes came down late last night after an attack by Palestinian militants killed one soldier, in the deadliest night of the conflict since the ceasefire was announced. The latest from Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country tested an atomic-powered torpedo drone with nuclear capabilities, the second trial of a potential nuclear weapons system as tensions continue over the war in Ukraine, per Bloomberg. The boat blowup: Trump’s push to wipe out boats in the Caribbean allegedly carrying narcotics has gained a new regional ally in Trinidad and Tobago, whose PM threw support behind Trump and prompted Venezuela to revoke its energy deals with the small country, Bloomberg’s Jim Wyss writes.
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➡️ Subscribe to West Wing Playbook | | | | | 5. VAX NOT: “RFK Jr.’s top vaccine adviser says he answers to no one,” by POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner and Sophie Gardner: “Martin Kulldorff wants to rebuild Americans’ declining trust in vaccines even if that means limiting access to some shots in the process. Kulldorff, who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel, spoke exclusively to POLITICO about how he sees his role and the task Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime skeptic of vaccine safety, has given him. That is, he said, to scrutinize the vaccine guidance the government gives to Americans with a skeptical eye.” 6. LAW AND ORDER: A federal judge disqualified the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, ruling that Trump’s appointee Bill Essayli “is not lawfully serving as acting United States Attorney” and “cannot continue to perform any role” under that post, NYT’s Danny Hakim reports. It creates more uncertainty at yet another U.S. attorney office. Left unclear is Essayli’s role — he was allowed to revert to first assistant U.S. attorney. … DOJ placed on leave two federal prosecutors who filed a legal brief describing the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters,” ABC’s Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin report. Walking in Memphis: While many major Democratic-run cities faced with Trump’s deployment of troops have mounted significant resistance, Memphis is not one of them, with many residents welcoming the troops to bring down crime, WSJ’s Cameron McWhirter writes. Mayor Paul Young is “embracing elements of the effort he thinks could help his beleaguered city, while also working to blunt aspects he finds problematic. The troops, for instance, aren’t carrying rifles or traveling in armored vehicles.” Immigration files: ICE has been struggling to reach its goal of hiring 10,000 qualified agents for deportations, with border czar Tom Homan telling Axios’ Brittany Gibson that it’s a challenge to grow the 6,000-person force with a “high fail rate” on physical fitness. That comes amid ICE’s leadership shakeup, as border patrol takes the tactics it tested in California this summer and expands them into interior cities, LA Times’ Andrea Castillo and Rachel Uranga write. Big read: “We checked DHS’s videos of chaos and protests. Here’s what they leave out,” by WaPo’s Drew Harwell and Joyce Sohyun Lee: “Trump administration videos purporting to show the triumph of recent immigration operations used footage that was months old or recorded thousands of miles away, an analysis found.” 7. TECH CORNER: Nvidia became the first $5 trillion valued company this morning — just months after it broke the $4 trillion record, per AP’s Michelle Chapman. It’s all part of the massive investment into AI and the fervor over the tech company’s chips that have shot its stocks up. “In comparison, Nvidia’s value is greater than the GDP of India, Japan and the United Kingdom.” Trump praised Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as an “incredible guy” during his speech at a dinner with CEOs at the APEC gathering — as Huang increasingly has Trump’s ear and Nvidia cements its role in Trump’s economic plans, WaPo’s Eva Dou and Cat Zakrzewski write. Just yesterday, Huang heaped praise on Trump at Nvidia’s annual conference in D.C. 8. MEDIAWATCH: Paramount began sweeping layoffs this morning two months after its merger with SkyDance Media, with 1,000 notified this morning and 1,000 more to come soon, WaPo’s Scott Nover reports. David Ellison, who heads SkyDance, said in an email that the layoffs will be “addressing redundancies” and eliminating roles that are “no longer aligned with our evolving priorities.” But he didn’t say which specific divisions would be impacted. Inside the briefing room: “When This Reporter Comes Calling, the White House Insults Go Flying,” by NYT’s Erik Wemple: “Journalists court criticism when they fail to ask subjects of their reporting for comment. Shirish Dáte, a White House reporter for the progressive news site HuffPost, appears to have the opposite problem: He gets clobbered when he does reach out. Top Trump officials, Mr. Dáte said, tend to reply with insults, often bundled with praise for their boss.”
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Optum is redefining pharmacy care, providing real-time pricing, personalized support, and over $1 billion in savings last year alone. Learn more at optum.com/redefineRX. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | JD Vance will join Erika Kirk at a Turning Point USA event at Ole Miss tonight. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Democracy Defenders PAC is set to hold a fundraiser tonight headlined by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, following another fundraiser that the group hosted last week with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro that raised almost $300,000 for this election cycle. TRANSITIONS — Brett Horton is joining the American Hotel & Lodging Association as chief advocacy officer. He previously worked for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. … Kelsey Hayes and Isabella Capanna are joining Burr & Forman’s construction and government contracts practice as a partner and an associate, respectively. Hayes joins from Holland & Knight and Capanna joins from Amentum. 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.
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