| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine, Ali Bianco and Rachel Umansky-Castro PLAYBOOK PLEA: We know you’re used to us telling you what’s important — now it’s your turn. We want to hear from our Playbook readers about the issues that matter to them. Please take a few minutes and fill out this survey. It’s a chance to shape the first thing you read every day. On today’s Playbook Podcast: Jack and Dasha discuss Donald Trump’s plan to resume nuclear weapons testing … and whether he might just end the government shutdown when he returns to D.C.
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| Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, primed for my very first American Halloween. There are pumpkins on the porch. The kids’ costumes are ready (a schoolgirl witch and her black cat, since you ask). The forecast looks glorious for Friday. But please tell me parents don’t have to dress up as well? Come on man. Get in touch. HOT ON THE LEFT: Rep. Jasmine Crockett is “seriously weighing” a Senate bid in Texas, she tells Dasha in this week’s episode of “The Conversation.” Crockett reveals she will “spend a lot of money” on polling and has already had “multiple conversations” with a possible campaign chief — but first wants to see if she’d be up against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, or one of his Republican challengers Ken Paxton or Rep. Wesley Hunt. In it to win it: “I don’t think that there’s a Democrat that can take out Cornyn,” Crockett said. “For me, I would be making a very last-minute decision because it’s not just about winning the primary. You gotta win the general.” Donald Trump — who attacks Crockett endlessly in interviews and on social media — will be paying close attention. Watch the full clip here In today’s Playbook … — Trump hails an “amazing” summit with President Xi Jinping. But will everyone agree? — The National Guard is staying in D.C. throughout the winter — and maybe beyond. — And the “real” Bill de Blasio finally stands up.
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
President Donald Trump said he had “an amazing meeting” with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo | BACK TO REALITY: Trump lands back in D.C. this afternoon as his six-day tour of Asia comes to an end. A trip peppered with vague but enormous-sounding investment deals and long, rambling campaign speeches reached its climax last night — a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. How it played out: The two leaders sat down at a South Korean air base near the city of Gimhae, shortly after 10 p.m. Eastern, for their first meeting since 2019. They spoke for an hour and 40 minutes. In the room with Trump were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, USTR Jamieson Greer, chief of staff Susie Wiles and U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue. Normally it takes days, if not weeks, for reporters to figure out how these summits played out. Not with this president. Within an hour of the meeting wrapping up Trump was standing at the back of Air Force One, gleefully briefing the press. And the White House streamed the whole thing on YouTube for the world to hear. Trump was as understated as ever. “It was an amazing meeting,” he said. “From zero to 10 (with 10 being the best) the meeting was a 12.” More details here from POLITICO’s Sophia Cai, who’s on the plane. What they agreed, per Trump:
- Tariffs on China will be cut by 10 percent immediately, from 57 percent to 47 percent, after Xi promised to clamp down on the fentanyl trade.
- Trump’s threat of an additional 100 percent tariff from Nov. 1 has been dropped, after China paused its new controls on rare earth minerals — but only for a year.
- “Tremendous amounts” of U.S. soybeans and other farm products will be purchased by China “immediately,” per the U.S. president.
- A broader U.S.-China trade deal should be signed “pretty soon,” Trump predicted.
- Trump will travel to China in April for further talks with Xi. The Chinese premier has agreed to a return trip to the U.S. further down the line.
- China will “talk to Nvidia and others” about buying more high-tech computer chips from the U.S., Trump said — and “that’s a good thing.”
- China may also purchase oil and gas from Alaska, Trump added in a long Truth Social Post this morning.
- The two men spoke at length on Ukraine, but with no serious discussion of reducing Chinese spending on Russian oil. “We didn’t really discuss the oil,” Trump said. “We discussed working together to see if we can get that war finished.”
- And Taiwan just “never came up,” per Trump.
A few quick thoughts: As ever, the rhetoric is strong but the detail is … somewhat lacking. The two sides’ quid pro quo on tariffs, soybeans, fentanyl and rare earths is positive and broadly as expected, taking us closer to where we were before. But alarm bells will be ringing among GOP hawks over any significant increase in chips sales to China — and Trump was hazy about what had been agreed. “I said, that’s really up to you and Nvidia,” Trump said. “We’re sort of the …referee.” And on Ukraine, vague promises of help from Xi are not going to end the war, nor push back Vladimir Putin’s invading army. Chinese imports of Russian oil are ultimately propping up Putin’s economy, and Trump had vowed to try and make some progress … but to no avail. “There’s not a lot more they can do,” Trump shrugged. “They’ve been buying oil from Russia for a long time. It takes care of a big part of China.” As for TikTok? Neither Trump nor the reporters questioning him brought it up. So we’ll have to wait and see.
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Learn more at optum.com/stories. | | | | The other big news from Trump last night came via a Truth Social post shortly before the summit began. Writing at 9:04 p.m. ET, Trump announced plans to restart U.S. nuclear weapons tests. “The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” he wrote. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries testing programs [sic], I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.” That’s potentially a very big deal. The U.S. has not exploded a nuclear weapon since 1992, when a 5 kiloton bomb was detonated beneath the Nevada desert, somewhere north of Las Vegas. (Here’s the video.) After that, the U.S. began negotiating a global treaty that banned nuclear weapons testing — and has adhered to its terms ever since (even though the treaty was never ratified). Russia and China have adhered to those terms, too. Indeed, no country has conducted a full nuclear weapons test since the 1990s, with the glaring exception of North Korea — and even Pyongyang announced a moratorium in 2018. So what did Trump mean by restarting tests “on an equal basis” exactly? Judging by his answers on AF1, the president has been triggered by recent nuclear-capable weapon tests carried out by Russia and North Korea — not quite the same as setting off an actual nuclear bomb. “They seem to all be nuclear testing,” Trump told reporters. “We don’t do testing — we halted it years ago. But with others doing testing, it’s appropriate that we do also.” ICYMI: Putin has been saber-rattling with new weapons since his latest falling-out with Trump earlier this month. Last Saturday, Russia tested the world’s first nuclear-powered missile, capable of flying 8,500 miles. Then on Tuesday, it tested a 125-mph nuclear-powered underwater drone designed to trigger radioactive tsunamis, per NYT. And Kim Jong Un also tested strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads on Tuesday, per NYT. Voices in Trump world have been pushing for nuclear testing to resume for some time. The president’s former national security adviser Robert O’Brien made the case in a Foreign Affairs article last year. And the prospect was also raised in Project 2025, which said the next president should “indicate a willingness to conduct nuclear tests in response to adversary nuclear developments if necessary.” (H/T the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.) And lo, it came to pass. WELCOME HOME: Trump is due back into D.C. at around 3 p.m. and will head straight to a Halloween party at the White House. But the real horror show (sorry, sorry) is down the road at the Capitol, where the government shutdown has now entered its 30th day. Could Trump help break the deadlock now he’s back in D.C.? They may not need him. The vibe is shifting, by all accounts, with the pressures of Nov. 1 finally bearing down on the two parties (ACA prices for Republicans and SNAP funding for Dems.) Senate Majority Leader John Thune said yesterday he expects to engage “pretty soon” with a group of rank-and-file Senate Democrats about ending the shutdown, per POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill. “They’re looking for an off-ramp,” Thune said. Semafor writes we may finally see movement next week. More here from POLITICO’s Inside Congress While we’re waiting for that … Multiple states are trying to backfill SNAP funding where they can, per AP. And Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has pulled together a letter signed by 20 other state governors urging the Trump administration to step in.
| | | | A message from Optum: Optum Rx supports 62 million Americans with transparent real-time pricing and personalized care, showing up when it matters most. Learn more at optum.com/stories. | | | | THE MAGA CRACKDOWN PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION: The military will patrol the streets of D.C. for a while longer — court fights notwithstanding — after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth extended the National Guard’s orders through February, CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Haley Britzky scooped. Thousands of troops have been in the capital for more than two months now. Get your Guard up: But Trump may have to wait a while longer to send troops into Chicago, with the Supreme Court yesterday asking both sides to file more information by mid-November, per the Chicago Tribune. In the meantime, the Pentagon has ordered all states’ National Guards to train some 23,500 troops as “quick reaction forces” which know how to do “riot control,” the Guardian’s Aaron Glantz scooped. ICE ICE BABY: Amid escalating tensions over aggressive federal immigration operations in Chicago, Border Patrol head Gregory Bovino will not have to make daily appearances before a judge — after an appeals court paused the requirement, per the Chicago Sun-Times. Bovino’s force is now making more arrests than ICE in the Chicago operation, CBS’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez scooped. The latest flashpoints: Illinois Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh was slapped with two federal charges accusing her of assaulting or impeding an ICE officer during intense Chicago-area protests, per MSNBC. The progressive star and influencer, whose videos of the confrontations have gone viral, decried the prosecution as “political.” She could face several years in prison if convicted. And today, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is writing to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to request that immigration raids not be conducted around Halloween celebrations this weekend, warning of “traumatized children.” The letter, obtained by POLITICO’s Shia Kapos
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➡️ Subscribe to West Wing Playbook | | | | | TRAIL MIX A TRUCE IN OHIO? Late last night, Ohio Republicans made Democrats a redistricting offer that stops short of the most extreme redraw possible — and state House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn plans to support the agreement, a source familiar tells Playbook. The upshot would be a map that has 10 GOP-friendly congressional seats, plus three which lean Democratic (including Rep. Emilia Sykes) and two that are toss-ups — those held by Democratic Reps. Greg Landsman and Marcy Kaptur, whose district gets redder. The current configuration delivered 10 GOP seats and five Democratic in 2024. The deal means Dems stave off a potential 13-2 map, while Republicans would avoid the prospect of a voter referendum. The redistricting commission meets at 4 p.m. They don’t love you like I love you: Both Virginia Democrats and Louisiana Republicans made new moves yesterday advancing potential gerrymandering plans, AP’s David Lieb and colleagues report. And in Maryland, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated that he hasn’t given up on a deeper gerrymander attempt despite Annapolis opposition, per NOTUS. FIVE DAYS TO GO: The latest NYC mayoral poll, from Quinnipiac, shows Zohran Mamdani with a smaller but still substantial lead of 10 points over Andrew Cuomo. Trying to gather late momentum, Cuomo picked up endorsements yesterday from Michael Bloomberg, who’s already been spending big for him, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and even Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.). Mamdani, meanwhile, got the backing of unlikely bedfellows Bill Kristol and United Bodegas of America. Mystery solved: No one had a worse day than The Times of London. Semafor’s Max Tani and Brendan Ruberry have the backstory of how the newspaper misquoted Bill de Blasio: A reporter got the wrong email address for the former NYC mayor, and instead emailed Long Island wine importer Bill DeBlasio. “I never once said I was the mayor,” DeBlasio told Semafor Wednesday evening. “He never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.” The Virginia race: Democrat Abigail Spanberger is making a play to reduce her party’s terrible rural margins, hoping to create a blueprint for Dems with a focus on economic issues and farm struggles, POLITICO’s Samuel Benson reports. But Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears will deploy a negative ad seeking to drag Spanberger down over transgender issues, National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg scooped. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Endorsement roundup: Michigan Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow notched her first Senate endorsement from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Playbook's Adam Wren reports. Heinrich, who’s also backed Graham Platner in Maine, said McMorrow has “the kind of forward-looking message that Democrats are all-too-often lacking.” And in the Minnesota Senate race, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig landed the backing of Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), saying “we don’t have time for political theater — we need experienced, principled leaders.” NOW READ THIS: Alex Thomas has a great POLITICO Magazine profile of Saikat Chakrabarti, the congressional candidate not only working to unseat Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but coordinating with others across the country to create a left-populist uprising. “Imagine if we go after Hakeem Jeffries as our first thing,” he says.
| | | BEST OF THE REST MAHA TV: Casey Means will have her confirmation hearing to be surgeon general before the Senate HELP Committee at 11 a.m. (She’ll appear virtually — she’s more than 40 weeks pregnant.) It’s a big moment for the prominent MAHA influencer, who will urge the U.S. to move away from “overmedicalization,” as ABC previewed. But she could face tough questions about her unconventional medical résumé and “past statements pushing medical conspiracies and debunked pseudoscience,” National Journal’s Nancy Vu writes. MAGA IN MOURNING: At Ole Miss last night, VP JD Vance and Erika Kirk paid tribute to the late Charlie Kirk, taking his place at a Turning Point USA event to laud his belief in — and replicate — political debate. It was a demonstration of the power of Kirk’s movement, and Vance’s place as a champion of it, in the conservative firmament. Students lined up hours in advance, and some in the crowd of several thousand went back and forth with Vance over immigration, Israel and the role of Christian values in the U.S. More from Fox News ANOTHER ONE: The Pentagon has launched another deadly strike against a Pacific Ocean boat that it accused of trafficking drugs, killing four people, per NBC. This is the 14th such attack. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the vessel was run by a Designated Terrorist Organization, though as in the other cases DOD has provided little transparency. FOR PETE’S SAKE: Three-star general Joe McGee is out at the Pentagon after clashes with Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and colleagues scooped. … Hegseth is set to announce a transformation of the U.S. arms sales system, in an effort to speed things up, POLITICO’s Joe Gould and Paul McLeary scooped. … And the U.S. plans to scale back the presence of American troops in Romania, news that prompted a rare public rebuke from top Hill Republicans, per Reuters. FED UP: The Fed’s decision to lower interest rates by a quarter-point yesterday was widely anticipated. Much less expected were pointed comments from Chair Jerome Powell that the country should not assume another cut is coming December: “Far from it” that such a move is assured, he said. Markets fell on his comments, which indicated disagreements among Fed policymakers over the right course for the economy, Bloomberg’s Enda Curran writes. JAW-DROPPER: “Binance Boosted Trump Family’s Crypto Company Ahead of Pardon for Its Billionaire Founder,” by WSJ’s Angus Berwick and colleagues in Abu Dhabi TRADING PLACES: The Senate yesterday offered another rebuke of Trump’s tariffs — this time a 50-46 vote to undo his Canada levies, though it’s again expected to die in the House, per CNN. The next anti-tariff vote is midday today. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) also proposed a bill to block coffee tariffs, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller scooped. NOMINATION ROULETTE: Ryan Baasch of the National Economic Council will be tapped as an FTC commissioner, Bloomberg’s Josh Sisco and Leah Nylen report. … Bryce McFerran has withdrawn as a nominee for a top Export-Import Bank post after WaPo dug into his connections to Russian oligarchs. LAURA LOOMER GETS RESULTS: “US lifts sanctions on Putin ally ‘Bosnian Bear,’” by POLITICO’s Jacob Wendler: “The sanctions on Milorad Dodik, an ultranationalist Serbian politician, had attracted criticism from MAGA firebrands.” HOT ON THE RIGHT: “Senate Republicans release subpoenas sought by Jack Smith during Trump probe,” by POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs BARI WEISS IN ACTION: The new CBS News editor-in-chief and president Tom Cibrowski are remaking “CBS Saturday Morning” and ousting Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson and Brian Applegate, along with a couple of streaming shows, the N.Y. Post’s Alexandra Steigrad scooped. BUCKING THE TREND: In a surprise, pro-European liberal Rob Jetten could become the next Dutch PM after voters in the Netherlands dealt a setback to far-right Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, POLITICO’s Elena Giordano and colleagues report.
| | | | 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 | | Lamar Cook, a staffer for Maura Healey, was arrested on cocaine-trafficking and gun charges (and then fired from his job). He pleaded not guilty. Robert De Niro stars in the launch video for Defiance, a new group for Americans to resist Donald Trump’s “presidential abuses of power.” Hakeem Jeffries, JD Vance, Chuck Schumer and Trump are the subjects of the White House’s new Halloween costume memes. NOW LIVE — The “Playbook Canada” podcast: POLITICO’s Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric take you inside the stories driving the news in Ottawa and beyond — plus rapid-fire 200-second interviews with the people shaping Canadian politics. The first episode features Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand on Canada’s role on the world stage. Listen now and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts OUT AND ABOUT — Don McGahn was honored as the 2025 Republican Lawyer of the Year at a Republican National Lawyers Association reception last night at America’s Square, with White House counsel Dave Warrington as a special guest. SPOTTED: Shannon McGahn, Speaker Mike Johnson, Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Gineen Bresso, Charlie Spies, Trey Trainor, Caroline Hunter and Lee Goodman. — Franco Nuschese hosted a party for Jonathan Karl’s new book, “Retribution,” at Cafe Milano on Tuesday night, including Karl’s family from South Dakota and friends. SPOTTED: Maria Karl, Anna Karl, Emily Karl, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rick Klein, Martha Raddatz, Bob Woodward, Robert Allbritton, Margaret Carlson, Jonathan Martin, Kevin O’Leary, Jeff Zeleny, Donna Brazile, Mike Allen, Christine Brennan, Sally Quinn, David Chalian, David Sanger and Wolf Blitzer. — SPOTTED at the Global Leadership Awards Gala for the International Student House of Washington, DC last night, honoring Rafat and Shaista Mahmood and chaired by Everett and Janet Eissenstat, Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Yamada, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Katherine Wilkens and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) and Tiia Karlén: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Takehiro Shimada, Azerbaijani Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Kuwaiti Ambassador Al-Zain Al-Sabah, Liechtensteiner Ambassador Georg Sparber, Uzbek Ambassador Furqat Sidikov, Egyptian Ambassador Motaz Zahran, Pakistani Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Bahraini Ambassador Shaikh Abdulla Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Singaporean Ambassador Lui Tuck Yew, James and Janet Blanchard, John and Betty Ann Tanner, Susan Wild and Walter and Didi Cutler. — NOTUS hosted a reception and roundtable dinner at Florería Atlántico last night to celebrate the launch of its opinion vertical NOTUS Perspectives. SPOTTED: Robert Allbritton, Philippe Reines, Candi Wolff, JP Fielder, Jonathan Butcher, Farah Pandith, Miriam Vogel, Brittany Martinez, Greg Allen, Neera Tanden, Alex Vogel, Evelyn Farkas, Jeff Nussbaum, Arielle Elliott, Richard Just, Kate Meissner and Justin Peligri. TRANSITIONS — George Pulizzi is now manager of federal government affairs at Marathon Petroleum. He previously worked for Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and is a Nancy Mace and Chevron alum. … Topher Spiro is rejoining the Center for American Progress as a senior fellow overseeing the health policy team. He previously worked at OMB in the Biden White House. … … The Searchlight Institute is adding Blas Nuñez-Neto as senior fellow for immigration and border reform, Luke Bassett as director of the Energy Security Project and Ahmad Ali as director of comms. Nuñez-Neto previously worked in the Biden White House and is a DHS alum. Bassett previously worked for the Biden Treasury Department and is a Joe Manchin alum. Ali previously worked for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and is an Ed Markey alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) … Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Emily Randall (D-Wash.) … Maggie Haberman … NBC’s Andrea Mitchell … U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra … Ivanka Trump … Mitch Glazier of the Recording Industry Association of America … Robert Caro … Mitch Stewart of 270 Strategies … American Petroleum Institute’s Rebecca Schieber Brown … David Krone … Punchbowl’s Ally Mutnick … POLITICO’s Bill Mahoney, Sophia Socarras and Annabelle Dickson … Scott Fay … Mahiyah Sampson of Rep. Frank Pallone’s (D-N.J.) office … Latham & Watkins’ Paul Rosen … Ian Millhiser … former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) … former Reps. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) and Joe Heck (R-Nev.) … Nu Wexler of Four Corners Public Affairs … Dentons’ James Richardson … Michael Petricone … Londyn Marshall of the DSCC … Cat Duffy of the National Health Law Program … Ian Whitson of Ridgeline Advocacy Group … Nancy Zdunkewicz … Lauren Zelt of Protecting American Consumers Together … Laurence Leamer … Lizette Alvarez 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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