| | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine and Rachel Umansky-Castro | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Negotiators meeting to work out an agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. | AP | ALMOST THERE?: Negotiators meeting to work out an agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine emerged from the second day of high-level negotiations in Berlin with some signs of optimism for the U.S.-led efforts to end the war. Progress report: U.S. officials are backing so-called Article 5-like guarantees for Ukraine, offering the strongest and most-explicit security pledge that President Donald Trump’s administration has put forward — but one that comes with an implicit ultimatum: “Take it now or the next iteration won’t be as generous,” POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz and Eli Stokols report. “Those guarantees will not be on the table forever,” a senior U.S. official told POLITICO. “Those guarantees are on the table right now if there’s a conclusion that’s reached in a good way.” The U.S. officials expect that Russia would accept the arrangement and allow Ukraine to join the European Union — though it could prove to be an “overly optimistic assessment, given the Kremlin’s refusal to give ground in peace talks so far,” Felicia and Eli write. The big question: Moscow has yet to weigh in on the latest details of the peace plan, and it’s unclear when U.S. officials are planning to present it to the Kremlin — though U.S. officials said they would wait until after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responds to the proposal. What they’re saying: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters today that the “legal and material security guarantees that the U.S. has put on the table here in Berlin are remarkable.” Rustem Umerov, one of Zelenskyy’s top lieutenants, said on X that the “Ukrainian-U.S. negotiations have been constructive and productive, with real progress achieved.” Umerov said he was “enormously grateful” to Trump and the U.S. delegation. He also cautioned against “noise and anonymous speculation in the media” and not to “fall for rumors and provocations” — though he didn’t specify what he was referring to. What’s next: U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are attending a dinner with negotiators today — to which Trump is planning to dial in. U.S. officials are also planning to convene working groups, likely in Miami this weekend, where military officials will pore over maps to solve the remaining territorial issues, per Felicia and Eli. “We believe that we have probably solved for … 90 percent of the issues between Ukraine and Russia, but there’s some more things that have to be worked out,” one U.S. official told POLITICO. Peace on earth? Asked whether negotiations could be over by Christmas, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said trying to predict a potential time frame for a peace deal was a “thankless task.” Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. | Kevin Wolf/AP | 1. TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON REINER KILLING: As Americans woke up this morning following a weekend of shocking and violent attacks around the world, Trump stoked the flames of political rhetoric with an eye-popping post on Truth Social. Trump suggested without evidence that the killing of Rob Reiner — the actor, director and prominent Democratic donor and progressive champion — and his wife Michele was “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.” Trump claimed that Riener had a “raging obsession” with him, writing “his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!” Reiner and his wife were found dead in their Los Angeles home yesterday of apparent knife wounds. Their son, Nick, was arrested this morning by Los Angeles authorities in connection to their deaths and is being held on a $4 million bail, per the AP. While a slew of tributes poured in overnight and into this morning from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, several in Trump’s own party have condemned his latest post as out-of-line:
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on X: “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called the murders “a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” in a post on X, writing the situation “should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”
- Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) on X: “This statement is wrong. Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.”
- Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis on X: “A man and his wife were murdered last night. This is NOT the appropriate response. The Right uniformly condemned political and celebratory responses to Charlie Kirk’s death. This is a horrible example from Trump (and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life) and should be condemned by everyone with any decency.”
2. BROWN UNIVERSITY LATEST: Law enforcement officials have resumed the search for the person who shot and killed two Brown University students and injured nine others on campus Saturday, per AP. While a person of interest was detained in connection with the attack, officials later released the person citing evidence pointing elsewhere. Despite the ongoing manhunt, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told residents this morning there were no additional threats since the attack, per CNN: “We don’t believe that there is an imminent threat to public safety here in the city of Providence, and there is, in fact, an enhanced police presence throughout the city,” Smiley said. 3. SCARY STUFF: Federal officials announced this morning that they arrested four alleged members of what they said was a pro-Palestinan extremist group who were suspected of planning a series of coordinated bombing attacks across Southern California on New Year's Eve, AP’s Julie Watson and Christopher Weber report. “Officials did not describe a motive but said they are members of an offshoot of a pro-Palestinian group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front. Each faces charges including conspiracy and possession of a destructive device, court documents show.”
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| | | | 4. NO DAY BUT TODAY: It’s the final day for Americans to enroll in health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act before the start of 2026, and the GOP’s intraparty battle over the soon-to-expire ACA subsidies is going nowhere. Speaker Mike Johnson’s last-ditch plan to offer a vote this week on an amendment that would extend the expiring subsidies appears to be on thin ice. A handful of moderate lawmakers have disagreed over the language and are presenting the House Rules Committee with an alternative. Though the lawmakers expect their version of a two-year extension “to be rejected,” they’d “effectively be free agents” and could potentially sign on to a separate Democratic discharge petition, Punchbowl reports. 5. TRAIL MIX: Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) announced today that he will seek reelection, ending months of speculation about whether he would join other GOP incumbents leaving Congress, The Detroit News’ Melissa Nann Burke reports. Speaking at a Hope College event, Huizenga cited “unfinished business.” “Ultimately, at the end of the day, I felt like I would be able to contribute to finding some solutions to some pretty significant problems that we have to tackle yet,” Huizenga said. The decision keeps an incumbent in place for a competitive seat that both parties were watching closely for word from Huizenga. Primary colors: Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the No. 2 House Democrat, is facing a primary challenge from Jonathan Paz, a progressive organizer and former Waltham city councilor, POLITICO’s Kelly Garrity reports. In a launch video, Paz said Democratic leaders were “failing us,” arguing the party needs new leadership to better confront Trump and address affordability and concerns. “They’re not stopping Trump. They’re not making life more affordable. They’re not building a party for the working class,” Paz said. Going to California: Democrats are facing a governor’s race with a crowded field and no clear frontrunner, which raises concerns that a split vote could allow two Republicans to advance under the state’s two-primary system, POLITICO’s Melanie Mason writes. With former VP Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) out and no party heavyweight stepping in to guide the race, endorsements and fundraising are stalled. 6. FOR YOUR RADAR: “U.S. Soldiers Killed in Syria Identified as Iowa National Guard Sergeants,” by NYT’s Christina Morales and colleagues: “The two Iowa National Guard soldiers who were killed by a gunman in Syria on Saturday were Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar … The gunman also killed an American civilian contractor who was working as an interpreter and has not been named by officials yet. … All the soldiers involved were assigned to the 113th Cavalry Regiment, a part of the 34th Infantry Division.” 7. CUTTING DEEP: “Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera,” by ProPublica’s Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy: “[A] cast of Trump’s lesser-known political appointees and DOGE operatives cut programs in ways that guaranteed widespread harm and death in some of the world’s most desperate situations, according to an examination by ProPublica based on previously unreported episodes inside the government as well on-the-ground reporting in South Sudan. In some cases, they abandoned vital operations by clicking through a spreadsheet or ignoring requests in their inboxes. The abrupt moves left aid workers and communities with no time to find other sources of funding, food or medicine.” 8. FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK: “Jared Kushner Drops Plan to Build a Trump Hotel in Serbia,” by WSJ’s Eliot Brown and Deborah Acosta: “Jared Kushner pulled out of a planned Trump-branded development in Belgrade after the project sparked protests and the indictment of a senior Serbian politician. On Monday, a special prosecutor indicted a cabinet minister and three other officials over the project, a planned trio of towers in a central Belgrade site once bombed by NATO. … It was an abrupt end to an increasingly controversial project that Kushner — now both a public figure and a prolific dealmaker — has worked on for more than two years.”
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | TRANSITIONS — Dan Martini is now head of U.S. federal government relations at FEMA. He previously worked at Bank of America. … Charles Cogar is now senior director of federal affairs in Holland & Hart’s D.C. office. He previously worked for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). ENGAGED — Joseph Cipollone, a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and Kiersten Pels, national press secretary at the Republican National Committee, got engaged on Friday in Georgetown. The couple first met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend who worked on Capitol Hill. WEEKEND WEDDING — Andrew Barnhill, a chief policy officer for IQVIA, and George Bogden, a senior counsel on trade for Continental Strategy, got married on Saturday at Duke University in an evening black-tie ceremony featuring opera music and eucharist for the guests. The wedding aesthetic drew from the couple’s distinct roots: orchids from George’s Hawaiian upbringing met the southern blue and white formality of Andrew's home in the Carolinas. The couple is heading to Japan for their honeymoon. Pic, via Chad Biggs Event Planning … Another pic … SPOTTED: Rhett Wilson, Sean Joyce, Gordon Holzberg, Zach Pagovski, Jeff Hauser, Nandini Selvam, Jesse Hassinger, Akilah Ensley, Robert Bork III, Ben Daus, Jimmy Loomis, David Robertson, Julia Boseman, Ro Chari, Chris Holzen, Savva Kuzmenko, Chris Wichmann, Thomas Broadbent, Dakota Cary, Christian Hertenstein and Kevin Hu. 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. Correction: Friday’s Playbook PM incorrectly referred to Rahmanullah Lakanwal. He is an Afghan national who applied for asylum and submitted an application through the Special Immigrant Visa program but did not complete the process. | | | | 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 politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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