| | | |  | | By Ali Bianco and Rachel Umansky-Castro | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
President Donald Trump hurled a host of posts on the Jeffrey Epstein story on Truth Social this morning. | Evan Vucci/AP | FACING THE MUSIC: With the shutdown now firmly in the rear view, President Donald Trump is stuck between a rock and a hard place — battling the surprisingly sticky matter of the files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a growing concern from voters on cost of living. On both issues, Trump appears to be washing his hands by messaging it as the Democrats’ problem. The push and pull between the discourse that’s taking over the beltway this week with the reemergence of the Epstein controversy, and the cross-country reality for many Americans raising red flags over the economy, hits at both ends of the core MAGA coalition. It’s a unique combination that only risks amplifying concerns over a stray from the populist, pocketbook rhetoric that propelled Trump’s 2024 victory, NYT’s Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Tyler Pager write. What he’s saying: Trump hurled a host of posts on the Epstein story on Truth Social this morning, claiming Democrats are “doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein Hoax again.” Epstein “was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem,” Trump wrote. He also announced that he’s directing AG Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to multiple high-profile Democrats — including former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, POLITICO’s Greg Svirnovskiy reports. Representatives for Clinton, Summers and the investment firm in which Hoffman serves as a partner did not immediately reply to requests for comment from POLITICO. “This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” Trump wrote. (Laura Loomer was a fan of that framing.) How it’s playing: But Trump’s incessant focus on Epstein is anathema to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Once one of Trump’s most loyal Hill defenders, Greene has recently become something of a thorn in Trump’s side. And the president is veering off course, Greene told POLITICO’s Alex Gangitano in an exclusive interview. His insistence on stopping the Epstein files release is keeping him from addressing affordability concerns. “It’s insanely the wrong direction to go,” Greene told Alex. “The five-alarm fire is health care and affordability for Americans. And that’s where the focus should be.” And yet, some of the president’s most loyal followers, after being largely silent, are falling in line behind him. Prominent MAGA influencers — many of whom have been and still are calling for the full release of the Epstein files — coalesced around denouncing the files’ redactions, accusing Democrats of spinning a false web around the emails they released, NYT’s Ken Bensinger reports. But Trump’s problem isn’t necessarily the MAGA base he bolstered — it's around the edges, where just four in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files, per October polling from Reuters/Ipsos. The split in the greater GOP is only poised to become more obvious next week when the House votes on the discharge petition brought by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). With the party preparing for mass defections, Trump blasted the “weak” “soft” and “foolish” Republicans who are pushing for the files’ release. Those threats, so far, haven’t deterred GOP members. Trump blasting the Epstein scandal as a Democrat “hoax” is also colliding with his rhetoric around the mounting polls revealing the importance of affordability and cost-of-living issues for voters. Trump has repeatedly argued that he’s overseeing the “greatest economy” the U.S. has ever had, while dismissing polls as “fake.” He carried that messaging forward on Truth Social this morning: “Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB.” The numbers tell a different story: The most recent Reuters/Ipsos polling finds Democrats and Republicans tied on who has a better approach to the economy — after months of a GOP advantage, as CNN’s Aaron Blake notes. And as Trump publicly champions the GOP as the “party of affordability” while pinning problems on Democrats, his administration is taking steps behind the scenes to stem the backlash from people feeling the pinch. There’s been an avalanche of ideas to change the narrative, NYT’s Alan Rappeport writes. Trump also privately polled top business leaders at his White House dinner this week on how to address affordability concerns, NY Post’s Charles Gasparino scoops. “His people are worried as well particularly about affordability but they won’t tell him,” one CEO told the Post. And of course, all of this has 2026 implications. “I don’t see how we win the midterms on the course that we’ve been set on so far,” Greene told POLITICO. And the fallout may not just land on Trump — it may extend to VP JD Vance, Trump’s heir apparent. Vance told Fox News last night that he’ll talk with Trump about 2028 next year. “We’re going to do everything that we can to win the midterms. And then after that, I’m going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it,” Vance said. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. 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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) departs the U.S. Capitol after the Senate passed a continuing resolution to end a government shutdown on Nov. 10, 2025. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. ON THE HILL: Republicans are scrambling to come up with a health care plan as the Obamacare subsidies near their year-end expiration date and fears grow that looming premium spikes could damage them heading into midterms, CNN’s Sarah Ferris and Adam Cancryn report. Democrats are watching closely, confident that GOP divisions will leave Republicans vulnerable and hand Democrats a political advantage in next year’s elections. The Schumer schism: A growing number of House Democrats are openly urging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step aside, arguing that he has lost his grip on the moment after the funding deal angered much of the caucus, Axios’ Andrew Solender reports. First in Playbook — Shutdown hindsight: Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and former Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) defended the eight Democratic caucus senators who broke ranks to broker the government funding deal this week on tonight’s episode of C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” with Playbook’s Dasha Burns. “Folks are going to criticize these eight senators, but ultimately they brought this to the attention of the American people,” Jones said. “The biggest deficit we got in Capitol Hill right now is one of trust.” Stivers said his advice to the eight senators “is that America needs patriots not partisans right now. Do the best you can.” Watch the clip 2. SNAP BACK: The Trump administration plans to require all SNAP recipients to reapply for benefits in what Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calls an effort to ensure help goes only to those “literally are vulnerable and they can’t survive without it,” POLITICO’s Grace Yarrow reports. 3. DOD ON ARRIVAL: Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, “has succeeded in the rarest of feats: uniting a dysfunctional Washington against him,” POLITICO’s Joe Gould and colleagues write. “Some of President Donald Trump’s strongest supporters are accusing him of icing them out of the Pentagon’s most consequential decisions. Foreign allies are privately bemoaning the Defense Department’s third-most senior leader for disregarding their views. And Senate Republicans are publicly admonishing his leadership.” 4. TRADING SPACES: The U.S. and Switzerland have “essentially” reached a deal to cut tariffs on Swiss goods from 39 percent to 15 percent, ending a monthlong trade dispute, Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove and colleagues write. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said it will bring $200 billion in Swiss investment to American industries, including pharmaceuticals and gold smelting. And details of the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement were released: it includes “a $150 billion Korean investment in the American shipbuilding sector and an additional $200 billion earmarked for industrial sectors,” Reuters’ Ju-min Park and Kanishka Singh report.
| | | | POLITICO Policy Outlook: Combating Financial Cybercrime: From identity theft to phishing scams, financial cybercrimes have skyrocketed in recent years. But catching perpetrators and preventing future scams remains a challenge. Join Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) for discussions on the latest strategies for confronting these crimes and empowering consumers. Register to attend or watch online. | | | | | 5. WEAPONIZATION WATCH: The Justice Department is in settlement talks with Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn and former senior White House lawyer Stefan Passantino over claims that they were politically targeted, marking a “shift from the Justice Department’s position during the Biden administration, when government lawyers successfully fought both cases,” per Bloomberg’s Zoe Tillman. … Meanwhile, FHFA Director Bill Pulte has leaned on his family’s home-building legacy to bolster his image while publicly scrutinizing Democratic officials’ mortgage dealings, NYT’s Matthew Goldstein and colleagues report. 6. WAR AND PEACE: The Trump administration plans to deport some Ukrainians who have final removal orders to their war-torn homeland, WaPo’s Maria Sacchetti and colleagues report. Despite Ukraine’s history of not complying with U.S. efforts to remove immigrants, that position “may be changing as Ukraine strains to fend off Russian attacks, recruit soldiers and retain support from the U.S. government,” WaPo writes. … Ukraine also struck Russia’s Novorossiysk with drones and missiles, pausing oil exports, which affected about “2.2 million barrels per day, or 2% of global supply,” per Reuters. 7. ROCKING THE BOAT: The Trump administration has revived tactics from the Afghanistan drone wars in its counter-drug operations, using MQ-9 Reapers to strike alleged narcotraffickers on boats, per CNN’s Zachary Cohen. The military labels these targets “enemy KIA,” but lawmakers and experts question the legal basis for strikes against unknown individuals. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that “only 29% of Americans support using the U.S. military to kill suspected drug traffickers without a judge or court being involved,”Reuters’ Jason Lange and Matt Spetalnick report. 8. THE TIES THAT BIND: “Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts,” by ProPublica’s Justin Elliott and colleagues: “[DHS Secretary Kristi Noem] has hailed the more than $200 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign as a crucial tool to stem illegal immigration. Her agency invoked the ‘national emergency’ at the border as it awarded contracts for the campaign … The Department of Homeland Security has kept at least one beneficiary of the nine-figure ad deal a secret, records and interviews show: a Republican consulting firm with long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and her senior aides at DHS. … “No firm has closer ties to Noem’s political operation than the Strategy Group. It played a central role in her 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial campaign. Corey Lewandowski, her top adviser at DHS, has worked extensively with the firm. And the company’s CEO is married to Noem’s chief spokesperson at DHS, Tricia McLaughlin. … Asked about the Strategy Group’s work for DHS, McLaughlin, the agency spokesperson, said in an interview, ‘We don’t have visibility into why they were chosen.’ … In a written statement, DHS said, ‘DHS has no involvement with the selection of subcontractors.’” Related read: “Howard Lutnick’s Sons Score Record Year as Cantor Denies Trump Conflicts,” by Bloomberg’s Todd Gillespie: “Cantor is now controlled by Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, the sons of Howard Lutnick … The firm is on track to post revenue in 2025 of upwards of $2.5 billion, an all-time high and a jump of more than a quarter on last year. … The executives bristle at suggestions that their new connections in Washington are contributing to that success.”
| | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | TOP TALKER: “Olivia Nuzzi loved him.” That’s the lede of NYT’s Jacob Bernstein’s rollicking new feature out today on Nuzzi and the release of her forthcoming book: “She loved the politician, even though she was a political reporter and he was then a presidential candidate she had written about. She loved his eyes, ‘blue as the flame.’ She loved that ‘the sight of something as trivial as a rose’ could move him to tears. She loved his insatiable appetites and his ‘particular complications and particular darkness.’ “But she said ‘I love you’ only after he said it first. He called her ‘Livvy’ and wrote her poems. He said he wanted her to have his baby. He promised to take a bullet for her. This is what Nuzzi writes in her book, ‘American Canto,’ never naming the politician who readers will deduce is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” There’s plenty of other revelations in the piece — including Nuzzi’s claim that she advised him on his 2024 campaign and that she hasn’t spoken to him in a year. Kennedy Jr. did not respond to NYT’s request for comment. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “When federal pay stalled, a furloughed worker organized meals for others,” by WaPo’s Clarence Williams: “For the past few weeks, [Simone] Randolph, 36, has been packing meals every morning with staff and volunteers from international food aid group World Central Kitchen. She estimates that by her last delivery on Friday, she will have given out over 3,000 meals.” WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Andrew Eck, managing partner at DiRoma Eck & Co. and a Trump Treasury and House Financial Services Committee alum, and Heather MacKenzie Eck welcomed Ainsley Quinn Eck on Thursday. She joins big sister Pippa. 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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