| | | |  | | 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 litany of foreign affairs crises Donald Trump is embroiled in — plus, the most jaw-dropping jewelry heist ever?
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| Good Monday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, unable to stop reading the story of four Parisian thieves who broke into the Louvre in broad daylight yesterday and bagged armfuls of priceless historic jewelry. And yes, of course they escaped on scooters through the narrow streets of Paris. However this one ends, you just know we’ll be watching the Netflix series come 2026. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — WANTED: $50 million to help Dems win back red America. “Run For Something, a progressive candidate recruitment organization, is pitching major donors on a $50 million, five-year effort to expand Democrats’ footprint outside the Blue Wall,” POLITICO’s Elena Schneider scoops this morning. The juice: The Run for Something memo “paints a dire picture for Democrats if they don’t invest in red-leaning states,” Elena reports, with co-founder Amanda Litman calling for a focus far beyond the usual Michigan-Wisconsin-Pennsylvania axis. Litman wants Dems to “double down” in Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio and Georgia, while “reinvesting in long-abandoned states like Utah, Nebraska, Iowa, Idaho, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.” Wait. Idaho? “Based on population growth and demographic changes in these states, ‘these are going to open up more opportunities’ for Democrats,” Litman says. She adds: “We should, of course, continue fighting for Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but if we … don’t start building political infrastructure elsewhere, we will reach a point in 2032 where we’re starting at zero.” What zero looks like: The group is planning to endorse “values-aligned” independent candidates for the first time in 2026, the memo reveals — a recognition that in some areas the “Democratic brand isn’t just bruised, but toxic.” In today’s Playbook … — It’s a new week … but Trump is still immersed in overseas crises. — The truth behind the president’s latest Ukraine blowup. — Shutdown Day 20: And today, the nuclear stockpile takes a hit. What could go wrong?
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President Donald Trump walks onto Air Force One on Friday, Oct. 17. | Luis M. Alvarez/AP Photo | ALL POLITICS IS … GLOBAL? Last week was all Gaza, Argentina, Venezuela, Russia and Ukraine. And President Donald Trump will kick off this week with yet more foreign affairs, as Australian PM Anthony Albanese arrives at the White House. The $239 billion AUKUS defense deal, Australia’s rare earth minerals and U.S. tariffs on metal imports are all on the agenda for Albanese’s first Trump bilat. And that’s just the start: The press questions in the Oval Office at 11:15 a.m. will focus on even bigger overseas crises — another blazing row over Ukraine; fresh violence in the Middle East; and Trump’s latest deadly feud in Latin America. It’s yet another day when this “America First” president’s focus will be a whole lot more global than most MAGA fans might prefer. FIRST — WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT: The biggest U.S. military news of the weekend, however, did not take place overseas. The U.S. Marine Corps launched an investigation last night after a live artillery shell exploded over one of California’s biggest highways, during military exercises being observed by VP JD Vance and his team. Yikes: Shrapnel from the artillery shell actually struck a Californian highway patrol vehicle and motorcycle, per the NYT scoop — though thankfully the road was closed, and no one was hurt. The NYT says the vehicles were part of Vance’s own protective security detail. Told you so: Before the drills had even started last week, Californian Gov. Gavin Newsom had “strongly objected to the firing of munitions over Interstate 5 for safety reasons,” AP reports, eventually closing a 17-mile stretch of the road. The White House responded with typical aggression on Saturday, attacking “Newscum” on social media and dismissing “safety concerns” — a response that now appears to have aged like fine milk. Predictably, Newsom had a few things to say on social media last night. We’ll see if Trump wades in today. DEJA VU: A more consequential row was laid bare in yesterday’s must-read FT scoop revealing the latest blow-up between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a rewind to that notorious Oval Office meltdown from February 2025. It seems last Friday’s summit descended into another “shouting match,” per the FT, with Trump “cursing all the time,” echoing Vladimir Putin’s talking points and even suggesting Zelenskyy hand over the entire Donbas region to Russia. At least this time Trump liked his jacket. No denials: Reuters has some of the same detail, as do POLITICO’s Joe Stanley-Smith and Veronika Melkozerova. An EU diplomat tells POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook that the meeting was not “as bleak as reported,” but admits: “With a single phone call, Putin appears to have changed President Trump’s mind on Ukraine once again.” Oh dear: European officials had been privately joking that Trump’s sudden pro-Ukraine pivot last month would only be good news if they could prevent him from speaking to anybody else with a different point of view. It turns out this was … kind of actually true. (Trump spoke to Putin for two hours on Thursday.) “Four days ago, we were discussing Tomahawk missiles,” the EU diplomat notes. “Now, the focus is on Ukraine making territorial concessions.” In better news: By the end of the meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump was back on his old position that the war should be frozen along current frontlines. “You leave it the way it is right now,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One last night. “They can negotiate something later on down the line.” Of course, it’s only been three-and-a-half weeks since Trump stated that Ukraine “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.” With friends like these: Euro leaders are predictably unnerved by the latest volte-face, and have invited Zelenskyy for talks in Brussels later this week, per Brussels Playbook. “None of us should put pressure on Zelenskyy when it comes to territorial concessions,” Polish PM Donald Tusk wrote pointedly. “Appeasement never was a road to a just and lasting peace.”
| | | | 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. | | | | MEANWHILE IN GAZA: The re-eruption of violence over the weekend has left Trump’s other big peace-making gambit on a knife edge. Negotiators-in-chief Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were due back in the region last night, with Vance suggesting he could join them as soon as tomorrow. “We’re trying to figure it out,” the VP told reporters yesterday. “Somebody from the administration is certainly going to be over there in the next few days. It might be me.” Peace holds: Trump insisted last night that the ceasefire is holding for now, despite an outbreak of violence that saw two IDF soldiers killed and Israel briefly resume airstrikes in Gaza. The president described Hamas as “rambunctious” but — crucially — suggested “the leadership isn't involved” in recent violence. Vance also played the skirmishes down, stating there would always be “fits and starts” in any lasting peace. But there’s clearly still a huge amount of work to be done. Not least in the West Bank … where horrific videos of apparent settler violence against Palestinians were flooding social media yesterday. In better news, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports aid trucks will be allowed back into Gaza from today after pressure from the Trump administration. AND NOW ALL EYES ON … LATIN AMERICA: Having taken out a series of Venezuelan ships in the Caribbean, Trump now finds himself embroiled in a deadly row with Colombia — another flashback to the early weeks of his second term. Trump said last night he will slap new trade tariffs on Colombia today, per Reuters, and has cut all remaining aid to the country after an escalating war of words with leftist President Gustavo Petro, who objected to U.S. airstrikes on a Colombian vessel. AND IF THAT’S NOT ENOUGH FOREIGN AFFAIRS FOR YOU … Don’t forget Trump heads off to Asia at the end of this week for a multifaceted trip which may involve pit stops in Japan, South Korea and Malaysia — and should include his first face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping since 2019. Plus Trump now also has to squeeze in a summit in Budapest with Putin at some point over the next couple of weeks. Surprise summit?: Somewhat improbably, CNN has even floated the idea of an impromptu summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un during the Asia trip. But meeting Kim, Xi and Putin inside two weeks feels like a bit of a stretch, even for Donald Trump.
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| | | | SHUTDOWN STANDSTILL NUCLEAR OPTION: It’s day 20 of the federal government shutdown — and today, the federal agency responsible for overseeing America’s nuclear stockpile will furlough the vast majority of its staff, per the Department of Energy. Yes, really: About 1,400 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration will receive furlough notices today, while fewer than 400 remain in work to safeguard the stockpile, per CNN. Energy Secretary Chris Wright will discuss the impact on a trip to Nevada today. It’s the first time the agency has furloughed staff during a shutdown, and looks like part of a wider effort to heap pressure on holdout Senate Dems. The House already “did its job” and voted to fund the government, Speaker Mike Johnson told ABC’s “This Week” yesterday. Straight back at you: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told YouTuber Mike Varshavski that Johnson, in fact, is the key to ending the shutdown. “The real roadblock here is Johnson,” Schumer said. “What’s the way out of it? Trump. … When Trump backs Johnson, Johnson usually backs off. And Trump is seeing how bad it is for him politically.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Countdown to Nov. 1: One potential inflection point? The open enrollment deadline looming at the end of the month. The group Keep Americans Covered is launching a seven-figure ad campaign today, marking advocates’ last major push to get Obamacare tax credits passed before open enrollment ends. The ad will run in D.C., Alaska, Maine, North Carolina, West Virginia, Idaho, South Dakota, Utah, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Watch the ad Meanwhile in Congress: Troop pay is currently the animating issue on Capitol Hill,our Inside Congress colleagues write today. The Senate is due to consider legislation that would allow members of the military and other federal workers to receive pay — though it’s unclear how much support the effort will garner. But some lawmakers, including several Republicans, don’t like the White House’s current use of executive power to approve pay without congressional oversight, POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes and Meredith Lee Hill report. Rose-colored glasses: Trump is expected to host Senate Republicans for lunch at the Rose Garden tomorrow as a show of thanks for their unity during the shutdown, Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio reports.
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➡️ Sign up for West Wing Playbook | | | | | TRAIL MIX FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Trump jumps into 2026 mix: Trump is scheduled to attend a fundraiser and golf tournament next month to support Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) reelection bid, marking his first in-person appearance of the 2026 midterm campaign cycle, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols scoops this morning. “Billed as the third annual ‘Trump-Graham Classic’ golf tournament, the event will support a Trump leadership PAC, the Republican National Committee reelection effort as well as Graham’s campaign, which has already amassed the largest war chest of any Republican senator up for reelection next year.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Whitmer’s whirlwind weekend: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer today will attend a fundraiser in Miami for the Florida Democratic Party, capping a four-day, three-state trip aimed at “gearing up for the 2026 midterms by taking her winning, get-stuff-done strategies to the hardest places in the country for Democrats to compete and win,” a Whitmer political aide tells Playbook’s Adam Wren. Whitmer’s trip was focused on helping Democrats compete in tough places. Whitmer met with local leaders in Florida’s GOP-aligned 27th Congressional District. She traveled to Wisconsin on Friday to meet with Democratic voters in Jefferson County (which Trump won by more than 16 points in 2024) and hosted training in Madison for over 70 local elected officials, future candidates and campaign staff on how to campaign in electorally difficult areas. Whitmer also campaigned in New Jersey, headlining a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill in Bergen County. THE MAINE PROBLEM: DNC Chair Ken Martin told CNN’s Dana Bash that the slate of uncovered Reddit posts from Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner shouldn’t force him out of the race. “I don’t think they’re disqualifying, but certainly they’re not right, and I’m glad that he apologized for them,” Martin told CNN on Sunday. “They’re indefensible, they’re hurtful and they’re offensive.” | | | | A message from The Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance:  
| | | | BEST OF THE REST COMEY AS YOU ARE: Former FBI chief James Comey’s lawyers are due to file their first substantive motions in the case against him today. Comey’s lawyers will seek to dismiss the case “on grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution, as well as on the grounds that the Trump-appointed prosecutor who brought the case, Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully installed as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,” POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report. Federal prosecutors have in turn signaled they “may seek to boot Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s lead defense attorney, because of his alleged involvement in disclosures to the media shortly after Trump fired Comey as FBI director.” IMMIGRATION FILES: Representatives from Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will testify this morning in front of a Chicago federal judge over agents’ use of force in enforcement operations as a part of Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz, per CBS Chicago's Sabrina Franza. WATCH THIS SPACE: The fallout from POLITICO’s exclusive reporting on the trove of bigoted messages between members of the Young Republicans is likely to continue this week as the episode deepens a sharp rift among state groups across the country, “further fracturing an organization that has been beset with internal discord and infighting for years,” POLITICO’s Jacob Wendler reports. BRACING FOR THE SPOTLIGHT: “Utah County Prepares for Trial of Charlie Kirk Murder Suspect,” by WSJ’s Rachel Wolfe: “Utah County is grappling with a multimillion-dollar murder trial after it was thrust into the national spotlight as the scene of one of the most high-profile assassinations in recent history. Officials say they have spent the past few weeks scrambling to come up with an estimated $5 million — equivalent to 3.3% of the county’s $150 million general operating fund — that the projected yearslong hearing will require.” MEDIAWATCH: “Epoch Times Reporter Resigns After Publication Signs Pentagon Rules,” by NYT’s Ken Bensinger: “The reporter, Andrew Thornebrooke, submitted his resignation in writing on Friday. Although he did not have an active Pentagon press pass, he regularly covered issues related to the Defense Department.” A NAME TO KNOW: Bolivia yesterday elected 58-year-old centrist Rodrigo Paz as president, “ending two decades of socialist rule after he pledged to strengthen ties with the U.S. and develop the nation’s vast mineral wealth,” WSJ’s Ryan Dubé reports. GLASS CEILING GAZING: “Would Japan’s First Female Prime Minister Advance Women’s Rights?” by NYT’s Javier Hernández and River Akira Davis: “On Tuesday, the country is poised for a milestone: Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line conservative lawmaker who idolizes Margaret Thatcher, is expected to be named Japan’s next prime minister during an extraordinary session of Parliament. She would be the first woman to serve in that role and the first woman at the top of Japanese government in centuries.” | | | | 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. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | KNOWING KATHERINE BOYLE: “The Tech Right Gets Its Own Phyllis Schlafly,” by NYT’s Julia Black: “For most of her career, Ms. Boyle — religious, Republican and not unlike a 21st-century Phyllis Schlafly — was an outlier in the tech world. But today, as Silicon Valley undergoes a generational shift to the right, many of her once-contrarian views are making their way into the mainstream. Thanks in part to her longstanding friendship with Vice President JD Vance, she has also become one of the tech world’s most reliable conduits to the Trump administration.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Media move: Marisa Schultz will be national politics editor at the New York Post, based in D.C. She previously worked at the Washington Examiner and is a Fox News and Detroit News alum. TRANSITIONS — Swing Left has added Zack Malitz as managing director, Michelle Finocchi as chief marketing and experience officer, Gautham Arumilli as head of technology and Holly Taines as head of development. … High Lantern Group has added Alexis Diaz as COO and Lindsay Singleton as managing director. Diaz previously worked at Keystone Strategy. Singleton previously worked at ROKK Solutions. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: CIA Director John Ratcliffe … Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) … Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) … former VP Kamala Harris … Arthel Neville … Greg Lowman of Fidelity … John Grandy … Michael Vazquez of the Maiden Group … Ann Gerhart … AARP’s Khelan Bhatia … Anneke Green … POLITICO’s Jean Chemnick and Saqib Rahim … Eliza Relman … Hanna van Loon of the American Conservation Coalition … Lamia Rezgui … Ramón Correa of Rep. Kweisi Mfume’s (D-Md.) office … Katherine DePalma … Tom Kahn of American University … Chuck McCutcheon … former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis … Pablo Manríquez … NYT’s Matt Apuzzo … Ali Isse of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) office … Christie Boyden … Fender Guitars’ Aarash Darroodi 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: Americans want to watch sports, not #BigPharma's ads. And yet, industry spending on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements surged 14% since the summer. Why? Big Pharma knows it has a captive audience as Americans hunker down to watch their favorite teams this football season. Luckily, Washington is taking action. The Trump administration, FDA, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have taken critical steps to hold Big Pharma accountable for inundating Americans with harmful - and often intentionally misleading - ads. Bottom line? Americans want lower costs, NOT more ads from Big Pharma. Enough is enough. Read 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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