| | | |  | | By Ali Bianco | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Trump posted to Truth Social two of the dozen or so letters that he’s sending to major trading partners. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP | A BIG DAY AT 1600 PENN: President Donald Trump has a stacked day today of sending trade letters, signing executive orders in the Oval Office at 4 p.m. and then hosting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu this evening at the White House for the third time since returning to office. Expect to hear more about all of it — plus the latest on the response to the deadly flooding in Texas — during White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press briefing, which just kicked off. Watch live First up, the letters: Trump posted to Truth Social two of the dozen or so letters that he’s sending to major trading partners as he extends the deadline to reach deals to Aug. 1. Turning up the heat on Japan and South Korea, the letters invite world leaders to “participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States” and threaten a 25-percent tariff escalation should the countries attempt retaliation. Read the letters to Japan and South Korea … More from POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and Daniel Desrochers The caveat: If these countries choose to “open your heretofore closed Trading Markets” and eliminate their tariffs, “we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” Trump writes. In other words, it’s all open to negotiation anyway. Here we go again: Stocks dropped following Trump’s postings, per CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald. Trump and the world: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this morning that he will meet with his Chinese counterpart “in the next couple of weeks” to advance trade talks, Bloomberg’s Akayla Gardner reports. “I think there are things for us to do together if the Chinese want to do it,” Bessent said on CNBC. “So we will discuss whether we are able to move beyond trade into other areas.” Mr. Worldwide: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is jetting off to Asia to talk trade and global security as the tariff deadline grows closer. He flies to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, tomorrow and will attend the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, per the State Department. Keeping mum: The BRICS nations, which are wrapping up their summit in Rio de Janeiro today, largely aren’t engaging with Trump’s overnight threat to slap extra tariffs for “anti-American policies,” Bloomberg’s Simone Iglesias and Mirette Magdy write. “Several officials from different nations said that it’s not possible to second-guess what Trump will do, since his social-media post may be a specific threat or more rhetoric. Wait and see is the only option for the group’s approach, they said.” Waiting for a breakthrough: The EU is still trying to pull through a deal (or the semblance of one) before July 9, with a European Commission spokesperson saying today that “political and technical level contact between the EU and U.S. continues,” per WSJ’s Edith Hancock. There’s been progress on an agreement in principle, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had a “good exchange” with Trump over the phone yesterday. Over at Blair House: Netanyahu landed in D.C. early this morning and has a packed day of meetings that Trump is hoping will help push a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza across the finish line this week. Netanyahu is set to meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff at 3 p.m., Rubio at 4:30 p.m. and will cap the day with a White House dinner with Trump around 6:30 p.m. On the agenda: The latest Gaza ceasefire proposal, which comes after two short-lived agreements failed to secure an end to the war, would build in negotiations to end the war, a detail that will be essential for Hamas as conversations continue this week. The two leaders could also discuss talks with Iran. Trump said last night that he’s working with Israel on a “permanent deal.” More from NYT’s Aaron Boxerman That’s not all: “Israel is hoping that the outcome of its conflict with Iran will also pave the way for new diplomatic opportunities in the region. … Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet, said he expected Trump's meeting with the Israeli leader would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalising ties with Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia,” Reuters’ Andrea Shalal and Alexander Cornwell report. Behind the scenes: The White House recently reviewed a proposal for a $2 billion plan from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to build camps called “Humanitarian Transit Areas” inside — or even outside — Gaza to house displaced Palestinians and to replace “Hamas' control over the population in Gaza," Reuters’ Jonathan Landay and Aram Roston scooped this morning. Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Get in touch at abianco@politico.com.
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WeDeliverForAmerica.org. | | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. DEVELOPING STORY: “Man killed after shooting at a US Border Patrol facility in southern Texas,” from AP: “A 27-year-old man was killed Monday after opening fire at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, authorities said. Ryan Louis Mosqueda had an assault rifle and was carrying a utility vest when federal agents returned fire on Monday morning, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez told reporters Monday morning. … Law enforcement said afterward they found a second rifle, more ammunition and backpacks that the suspect had brought. Rodriguez said Mosqueda’s motive is currently unknown.” 2. THE LATEST IN TEXAS: Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian summer camp in Texas, confirmed this morning that they tragically lost 27 campers and counselors in the flash floods over the weekend, AP’s Jim Vertuno and John Seewer report. Search and rescue crews are still searching through the overflowed Guadalupe River in central Texas for victims, with the latest estimates putting casualties of at least 89 people, per AP. Over 1,000 volunteers are rummaging through the hardest-hit areas of Kerr County. On the ground: “The entire state is grieving at a level that is difficult to describe,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on “Fox & Friends” this morning from Kerrville, Texas. “But there's no doubt afterwards we're going to have to have a serious retrospective … And look, the fact that you have girls asleep in their cabins when the floodwaters are rising, something went wrong there. We've got to fix that and have a better system of warning to get kids out of harm's way.” The threat is ongoing: The National Weather Service is advising that flash flooding could continue, with some areas of central Texas potentially getting up to 10 inches of rain today, WSJ’s Jennifer Hiller and colleagues write. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also warned to navigate roads with extreme caution today. How it happened: “Children’s camps in Texas were located in areas known to be at high risk of flooding,” by CNN’s Renée Rigdon and Angela Fritz: “Several of the camps along the Guadalupe River and its tributaries sustained damage early July 4. Many of them are in areas known to flood. … Ten minutes north on the South Fork is Camp La Junta, a boys camp. Some of Camp La Junta’s property also coincides with areas known to flood, though several of its buildings are located in the lower-risk zone.” 3. IMMIGRATION FILES: In the latest of its sweeping cuts to temporary protections for immigrants, the Trump administration is ending the legal status of about 76,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans on TPS. Immigrants without another status come September will be vulnerable for deportation. More from CBS’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez On the realignment: “Is the Hispanic Red Wave for Donald Trump Starting to Crash?” by The New Yorker’s Rachel Monroe: “In the Rio Grande Valley, bordering Mexico, ICE raids have emptied construction sites and restaurants. Recently turned Republicans are beginning to have doubts.”
| | | | Did you know Playbook goes beyond the newsletter—with powerhouse new co-hosts at the mic? Tune in to The Playbook Podcast every weekday for exclusive intel and sharp analysis on Trump’s Washington, straight from Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns. Start listening now. | | | | | 4. TRAIL MIX: Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) is exploring a potential run for the North Carolina Senate seat soon to be vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), POLITICO’s Nick Wu and Jordain Carney report. But a Davis Senate run would in turn open up his swingy House district, a prime pickup opportunity for Republicans next year. … And former Rep. Jesse Jackson is exploring a comeback bid for Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District, per POLITICO’s Shia Kapos. Jackson’s been out of Congress for a decade and spent two years in prison over campaign finance violations. The new campaign move: Democrats hosting town halls and meeting with voters are getting a resounding message to break decorum more often, as anger among the Democratic base grows against the Trump administration, Axios’ Andrew Solender writes. A stunning quote: “Some of [the grassroots] have suggested … what we really need to do is be willing to get shot,” a House Democrat told Axios. “Our own base is telling us that what we're doing is not good enough ... [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public.” 5. SCHOOL TIES: Back in March, Trump called for “more action against universities,” and then federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania and San Jose State University was scrapped amid the White House’s targeting of transgender athletes, according to an email chain exclusively reported by NOTUS’ Mark Alfred. “The internal communications detail a push fueled by a desire to get media attention, as senior officials rushed to coordinate with various federal agencies, the DOGE teams within them and Fox News to deliver on the president’s wish. The emails also show that the administration targeted San Jose State in a previously unreported effort to punish the campus — even before the Title IX investigation into it had concluded.” 6. MUSK READ: Elon Musk’s posts about forming his own “America Party” rage on (interspersed between posts on Tesla and the Epstein files), and it’s wreaking havoc on his business. Shares of Tesla fell by 8 percent following Musk’s posts about his intentions over the weekend, Bloomberg’s Craig Trudell reports. “If that move were to hold, it would be the biggest drop since Musk’s initial falling out with Donald Trump over the president’s tax bill in early June.” 7. VAX POPULI: “U.S. measles cases reach 33-year record high as outbreaks spread,” by WaPo’s Lena Sun: “The milestone marks a public health reversal in defeating a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease as the anti-vaccine movement gains strength. … Authorities said at least 155 people have been hospitalized and three people have died of measles-related complications this year. … About 92 percent of measles cases in 2025 were in people who were either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, according to the CDC.”
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We're American companies, making American products, with American workers, in America's hometowns. We're proud of what we do and how we do it. WeDeliverForAmerica.org. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | TALK OF THIS TOWN: Michael Schaffer pens his latest Capital City column for POLITICO Mag: “An Elderly Lawmaker’s Staff Keeps Walking Back Things She Tells Reporters. Should They Keep Quoting Her?” A bite: “For people interested in how Washington works, it’s an increasingly common issue in our era of gerontocracy: Just how are you supposed to interact with an elected official who might not be all there? It’s an ongoing private conversation among reporters, animated by a sense that the watchdogs haven’t been zealous enough — but featuring no real agreement on how to handle these moments.” MEDIA MOVES — The Daily Wire is bringing on Gen Z commentator Isabel Brown to host her D.C.-based podcast, “The Isabel Brown Show,” on the platform. TRANSITIONS — Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is bringing on five new partners: Jim Flood, Aaron Cummings, Evan Chuck, Anne Elise Herold Li and Paul Keller. Scott Douglas is also joining as policy director. All previously were at Crowell & Moring. … Henry Liu is now a partner and co-chair of the global Antitrust and Competition Law Practice Group at Covington. He previously was director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission. … … Colin Moneymaker is now social secretary at the British embassy. He previously was a consultant for Haddad Media and the Washington AI Network. … James Burnham has rejoined the law firm King Street Legal. Burnham was previously the general counsel for DOGE. 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 editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Thursday’s Playbook PM misstated which network Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on that day. It was Fox Business Network.
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