| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talk to the press. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo | TRADE WHIPLASH: President Donald Trump’s trade policy just took another sharp turn, as Trump announced on Truth Social that he was jacking China tariffs higher to 125 percent but issuing a 90-day pause for many of the “Liberation Day” tariffs that had begun to squeeze other countries around the world today. At first blush, it appears to be a major about-face for Trump after several days of market meltdown and recession/inflation fears rising in the U.S. Stock markets were euphoric, leaping higher on the news that Trump was backing down from a huge portion of his trade war for now. As of 2 p.m., the Dow was up 7.1 percent, the S&P 500 8.3 percent and the Nasdaq 10.3 percent. On the other hand: Trump said he’ll maintain an original baseline tariff level of 10 percent in place for all countries, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn reports. And with the increasingly high duties on China, this is still a much more significant protectionist trade regime than the world experienced before Trump took office. The reframe: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that this was all a “successful negotiating strategy. … No one creates leverage for himself like President Trump.” Added press secretary Karoline Leavitt, “Many of you in the media clearly missed ‘The Art of the Deal.’” (The U.S. has yet to strike any deals with other countries.) Just yesterday, Leavitt said Trump would not delay the tariffs. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed the change in reverent tones: “Scott Bessent and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency,” he posted on X. Everyone except China: This newest iteration of Trump’s trade policy looks closer to a tit-for-tat trade war against the world’s second-largest economy. China announced earlier today that it would ramp up its levies on all U.S. exports to 84 percent beginning tomorrow, per Bloomberg. U.S.-China trade could soon be crushed by the escalating duties on both sides, and China has more tools it could use against American companies, WSJ’s Lingling Wei reports. More retaliation: The EU had also announced tariffs earlier on $23 billion of American goods, with the first round slated to take effect Tuesday, per the AP. These were in response to Trump’s last round of tariffs, on steel and aluminum. Canadian retaliation against American autos also began today. Let’s make a deal: Trump’s new approach comes as many countries had sought to negotiate. Bessent said Vietnamese negotiators were arriving in D.C. today, and India is among the countries that have reached out about talks. USTR Jamieson Greer said he’s talked with officials in Ecuador, Mexico, South Korea and the EU. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter had a phone call with Trump today: “Looking forward to working out solutions in the very near future,” she wrote on X afterward. MEANWHILE ON THE HILL: Trump’s tariffs popped up in the unrelated House contretemps over the budget resolution, as Republicans moved to block a Democratic resolution that would have forced a vote to block the tariffs, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and Daniel Desrochers report. House GOP leaders added the language to the budget rule, which would allow Speaker Mike Johnson to keep the disapproval measure off the House floor until September. Rules of engagement: The House Rules Committee approved the rule for the budget resolution today, and leaders want to try to pass both the rule and the budget blueprint on the floor today, per Meredith and POLITICO’s Chris Marquette. “I think we can do it,” Johnson told reporters. Administration officials, along with House leaders, are applying intense pressure to flip members. “The leadership feels like the tide has turned” in their favor, Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman reports. But but but: Johnson will need to flip fiscal-hawk holdouts who sound pretty dug in. Reps. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said they’ll vote no. “Stop making up math,” Roy said. “Stop lying to the American people that you can just magically put something on a board and say, ‘Oh, it all pays for itself.’ It doesn’t.” Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), one of several others with grave concerns, said, “I also want to be tall and good-looking. Somehow, magic doesn’t seem to appear,” per WSJ’s Richard Rubin and Olivia Beavers. THE LATEST IN COURT: “U.S. judges in Texas, New York block DOJ from removing plaintiffs in Alien Enemies Act deportation case,” by CBS’ Jacob Rosen and Melissa Quinn … “Appeals court clears way for Trump to restart mass firings of probationary workers,” by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Universal Epic Universe, the most technologically advanced theme park Comcast has built in the United States, is creating more American jobs and stimulating economic growth across the nation. Learn more about Comcast's multibillion dollar investment in the U.S. with the upcoming opening of Epic Universe. | | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. TRAIL MIX: Former Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) announced that he’ll run for Senate, telling POLITICO’s Nick Wu that he plans to hammer Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) for not standing up to Trump. Nickel could be a significant player in the Democratic primary, though the party is still waiting to see whether former Gov. Roy Cooper will run. Notably, Nickel’s launch video leads with an attack on Tillis for not voting against tariffs. Race for the House: Mike Sacks became the fourth Democrat to jump into the race against Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), POLITICO’s Emily Ngo reports in New York Playbook. The lawyer and former TV reporter’s campaign pledge? To “unfuck the country.” 2025 watch: Sean Spiller has been lagging in the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial primary, but he recently vaulted into the top polling tier thanks in part to $35 million from Working New Jersey, a super PAC tied to his own New Jersey Education Association, NYT’s Tracey Tully reports. The teachers union head’s “unconventional strategy” has relied heavily on the super PAC’s publicity as he raises little money on his own and has limited campaign staff; Spiller didn’t address conflict-of-interest questions directly. 2. HEADING FOR THE EXITS: The solicitor general’s office is expected to lose at least half of its 16 assistant lawyers, an unusual exodus that could raise questions about the Trump administration’s ability to win arguments at the Supreme Court, WaPo’s Ann Marimow reports. At least some of the departures were motivated by discomfort with the Trump Justice Department’s approach. 3. CLIMATE FILES: “Trump moves to hobble major US climate change study,” by POLITICO’s Zack Colman: “The Trump administration is canceling funding for the U.S. Global Change Research Program … [It’s] a potentially fatal blow to the National Climate Assessment, the study that Congress mandated under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 be issued every four years to ensure the government understands the threats that rising temperatures pose and what is driving climate changes. The report is the U.S. government’s most comprehensive look at climate change and serves as a crucial guide to state and community efforts to prepare for the effects.” 4. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: Kari Lake is being detailed for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, to the State Department, WaPo’s Sarah Ellison and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez report. The move could help Lake dismantle the agency, in line with the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts, though it’s a shift from her original plans to transform the news VOA delivers in authoritarian countries. More changes: The Labor Department gave employees another opportunity to take “deferred resignations” ahead of mass layoffs, Bloomberg Law’s Rebecca Rainey scooped. The fallout: Though Jeremy Lewin, who’s taking apart USAID, has reversed his decision to end emergency food aid to several countries, the cuts remain in effect for Afghanistan and Yemen, and the status for half a dozen more is uncertain, AP’s Samy Magdy, Riazat Butt and Ellen Knickmeyer report. Massive numbers of people in the two war-torn nations could be at risk of death if food and other aid from the U.S. vanishes. … The firing of just one probationary NOAA employee may have imperiled many salmon hatcheries in Washington state, NYT’s Austyn Gaffney reports. … But the Social Security Administration reversed course on its cuts to phone services, per Axios’ Emily Peck. 5. DEMOCRACY WATCH: “Trump is dismantling election security networks. State officials are alarmed,” by CNN’s Bob Ortega: Key parts of “an information-sharing and analysis network of hundreds of federal, state and local election, cybersecurity and law-enforcement officials … are being systematically dismantled by the Trump administration … leaving election offices across the country scrambling to protect against future threats. … [T]he administration’s actions have deeply alarmed state officials, who warn the next round of national elections will be seriously imperiled by the cuts.” 6. BEYOND THE BELTWAY: “States seek lifeline to protect Obamacare’s federal subsidies,” by POLITICO’s Kelly Hooper: “California, Colorado, Maryland, Washington and others are all scrambling to avoid a fiscal cliff that could sharply increase health care costs for their residents. … The Hail Mary efforts, ranging from repurposing a state reinsurance program to having the legislature pony up millions of dollars in new spending, come as the prospects of Congress extending Obamacare subsidies grow increasingly dim.” 7. LOOMERED: Far-right activist Laura Loomer is now targeting Col. Earl Matthews, the nominee for Pentagon general counsel, POLITICO’s Amy Mackinnon, Joe Gould and Daniel Lippman report. Loomer, who already helped get NSC staffers fired, is tarring Matthews as disloyal to Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Matthews says that’s “ridiculous.”
| | | | A message from Comcast:  
From 2019-2023, Universal Orlando generated $44 billion in economic impact for the nation. Learn more. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | OUT AND ABOUT — The First Five Years Fund, Independent Restaurant Coalition and MomsFirst hosted a “Child Care Means Business” event yesterday in Hart. The chefs and restaurant owners who prepared the food included Johanna Hellrigl, Caroline Glover and Sunny Baweja. SPOTTED: Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sarah Rittling, Erika Polmar and Molly Day. — Members of the Patriotic Millionaires hosted a “Taxation & Libations” reception on the Wild Days rooftop at the Eaton Hotel yesterday evening, following their spring meeting and a day of lobbying. The reception also marked the public debut of TAXPAC, led by executive director Jodie Rubenstein, which will engage in races across the country. SPOTTED: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Morris Pearl, Erica Payne and Gene Haigh, and Fatima Goss Graves. MEDIA MOVES — CNN is adding Matt Zapotosky as senior director for White House and Capitol Hill reporting and Kate Irby as a supervising editor for the White House. Zapotosky previously was deputy metro editor at WaPo. Irby previously was a Congress editor at POLITICO. TRANSITIONS — Ben LaBolt is returning to Bully Pulpit International as president. He previously was comms director in the Biden White House. More from PRWeek … Emily Fehsenfeld is now speechwriter for Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. She previously was deputy comms director and deputy operations director for Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.). … … Shiva Goel is now a partner in Wiley’s telecom, media and technology practice. He previously was a senior adviser for spectrum policy at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and is an FCC alum. … Beth Easter is joining Heidrick & Struggles as an analyst. She previously was associate for development events at the American Enterprise Institute. … Dana Stangel-Plowe is now chief program officer at the North American Values Institute. She previously was chief program officer and managing director of education at the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Alison Venable, government relations counsel at APCO International, and Troy Fabian, billing administrator at De Melo LLC, welcomed Cecilia Kathryn Fabian on Thursday. BONUS BIRTHDAY: Eagle Energy’s Todd Foley Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
