| | | |  | | By Zack Stanton | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good morning. I’m Zack Stanton, here in the driver’s seat for the last time. As Ernie Harwell said when he signed off the airwaves, I might have been a small part of your life, but you have been a very large part of mine. Thanks for a memorable four-and-a-half years on the Playbook team. Get in touch.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before departing the White House on Friday. | Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP | Yesterday on Truth Social, the president of the United States shared … … a video purporting to be a segment on Fox News (it wasn’t) in which an A.I.-generated, deep-faked version of himself sat in the White House and promised that “every American will soon receive their own MedBed card” that will grant them access to new “MedBed hospitals.” (It appears that Trump’s post was deleted late this morning.) If you’re unfamiliar with the “MedBed” conspiracy theory, it’s a belief that there are certain hospital beds “loaded with futuristic technology” that can “reverse any disease, regenerate limbs, and de-age people,” McGill University Jonathan Jarry recently explained. “No one has an actual photo of them because, let’s be clear, they don’t exist.” (An offshoot of MedBed believers are QAnon devotees who insist the non-existent technology is being used to secretly keep John F. Kennedy Jr. alive.) … a post alleging, without any factual basis, that the FBI “secretly placed … 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during” the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during which they were “probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists.” He aimed his ire at Christopher Wray, accusing the then-FBI director of “LYING” and likening him to James Comey. Why now? “His comments stemmed from reports Friday in right-leaning media that appeared to conflate the FBI’s response to the Jan. 6 attack … with conspiracy theories that the bureau embedded undercover agents to ignite the attack in the first place,” as POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Irie Sentner write. FBI Director Kash Patel responded to the post last night, telling Fox News’ Brie Stimson that yes, agents were present on Jan. 6, but were there on “a crowd control mission after the riot was declared.” He went on to inveigh against “a corrupt leadership that lied to Congress and to the American people about what really happened” — channeling Trump’s fury at Wray without mentioning either man by name. … an announcement that he intends to send the U.S. military to Oregon to “protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.” In Portland, “protesters have camped on the sidewalks outside the ICE office for more than 115 days and nights, at times colliding chaotically with federal officers wearing camo or riot gear,” The Oregonian’s Zane Sparling reports. But in that time, the number of arrests has dwindled as the demonstration has shrunk: Of the 29 related arrests, 22 happened on or before July 4, when the protests were at their peak, The Oregonian’s Maxine Bernstein writes.
| | | | A message from Solana Policy Institute: The next generation of U.S. financial infrastructure is open-source and blockchain-based—built by developers creating transparent systems that empower consumer choice. As Congress crafts digital asset legislation, we must preserve historical protections for open-source developers. The future of American financial innovation depends on protecting those building it today. Learn more. | | | | So, why now? “The president’s fixation with Portland … has as much to do with what the city represents as the protests against ICE currently taking place,” POLITICO’s Myah Ward and Natalie Fertig report. “The White House views Portland as a useful example in its law-and-order campaign — a city Trump officials can elevate to push forward their message on everything from immigration to crime to far-left violence.” It’s a messaging opportunity, but also a test case “for a White House effort targeting left-wing protest groups,” WaPo’s Michael Birnbaum and colleagues report. In “linking his announcement to antifa, [Trump] appeared to equate protesters who oppose ICE to terrorists, and therefore justifying the move to seek stronger action against them.” There was a time when any one of those posts coming from the world’s single most powerful person would dominate news coverage for days. Now, it’s just a typical weekend. And those aren’t even the only stories vying for your attention. Consider the flood of important news sluicing through feeds. Just this week: Trump told women not to take Tylenol during pregnancy, linking it and vaccines to an increased risk of autism, despite the objections of scientists. … His budget office suggested it intends to use a coming government shutdown as a pretext for mass firings across the federal government. … He spoke to the U.N. … He met with Arab and Muslim leaders about a new 21-point plan for peace in the Middle East. … He announced a major change in U.S. policy in Russia’s war on Ukraine. … His FCC’s efforts to jawbone Disney into dropping late-night host Jimmy Kimmel failed. … His DOJ criminally charged former FBI Director James Comey just days after Trump publicly called on AG Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey among other political enemies. … His DOJ reportedly “instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft plans to investigate a group funded by George Soros,” per the Times. … He signed an executive order lending his approval to a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. … Plus about a dozen other gigantic stories, some of which you can read about below. Whether or not it’s intended to overwhelm, it can have that effect for even the most discerning reader of news. Amid a flood of so much information, it can be hard to stay afloat. “I didn’t mean to drown myself,” as Joseph Conrad once wrote. “I meant to swim till I sank, but that’s not the same thing.” A parting wish for your Sunday: Keep swimming.
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| | | | SUNDAY BEST … — Senate Majority Leader John Thune on the potential for a government shutdown, and the upcoming White House meeting, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “Totally up to the Democrats. The ball is in their court. … [W]hat the Democrats have done here is take the federal government as a hostage, and for that matter, by extension, the American people, to try and get a whole laundry list of things that they want, the special interest groups on the far left are pushing them to accomplish. … Chuck Schumer said a few months ago that ‘a government shutdown would be chaotic, harmful, and painful.’ He's right, and that's why we shouldn't do it.” — Speaker Mike Johnson on the extension of the health care subsidies that Democrats are pushing, on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: “The subsidies for Obamacare is an issue that, those would expire at the end of the year, there’s plenty of time for us to hash all that out. I’m not in favor of that, I think it's a bad policy. But that’s not an issue for right now. Right now, we just need a stopgap funding measure to keep the government open so we can have those debates.” — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the potential for a government shutdown, and the upcoming White House meeting, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “The meeting is a first step, but only a first step. We need a serious negotiation. Now, if the president at this meeting is going to rant, and just yell at Democrats, and talk about all his alleged grievances, and say this, that, and the other thing, we won't get anything done. But my hope is it'll be a serious negotiation.” — Vice President JD Vance on the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, on “Fox News Sunday”: “There will certainly be more indictments coming over the next three and half years of the Trump administration, but we’re always going to let the law drive this stuff and the facts of the case and not political motivations …. If you look at the Comey indictment, Martha, this was a grand jury indictment delivered in Alexandria, Virginia — not exactly a hotbed of Donald Trump's political support. There were three requested indictments. The grand jury returned to two of those three indictments, so I think they showed they were judicious and it showed clearly that there were a couple things that James Comey did wrong.” TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
- “Trump’s Youth Support Has Faded. These 11 Young Trump Voters Explain Why,” by NYT’s Katherine Miller, Kristen Soltis Anderson and Adrian Rivera
- “‘An eye for an eye’? Erika Kirk just did the remarkable,” by WaPo’s Jim Geraghty
- “The Indictment Against Comey Should Be Dismissed,” by the National Review’s Andrew McCarthy
- “Illiteracy is a policy choice,” by Kelsey Piper for The Argument
- “Harris’s Memoir Is Another Example of the Democrats’ Problem,” by the NYT’s Michelle Cottle, Carlos Lozada and Lydia Polgreen
- “A Most Profound Transgression,” by Paul Rosenzweig for the Atlantic
- “California Democrats aren’t just resisting; they’re governing,” by Karen Skelton for the LA Times
- “Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven’t Always Called It Autism,” by Roy Richard Grinker for the NYT
- “Lower Than Cowards,” by The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer
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Senate Democrats will hold a conference call tomorrow after the White House meeting. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP | 1. SHUTDOWN COUNTDOWN: Top congressional leaders from both parties are back on to meet with Trump tomorrow at the White House, just a day before the deadline for the government shutdown, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and Jordain Carney report. It comes after Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on Friday — the first conversation between the two in several weeks — during which, Schumer pushed Thune to get a meeting with Trump. The meeting is set for 2 p.m. A second vote on the stopgap funding bill expected on Tuesday. State of play: Speaker Mike Johnson and Thune are willing to discuss the expiring healthcare subsidies — Democrats’ current rallying cry — at a later date, and are expected to continue pushing the “clean CR” to keep negotiations moving forward. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said they’re “resolute” in avoiding a shutdown, but also want to address what they’re calling “the Republican healthcare crisis.” Strategy sessions: Johnson will hold a call with House Republicans tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. to talk about government funding before the White House meeting, per Meredith. House Democrats held a call on Friday, on which Jeffries said that Senate Dems are holding firm on their position, per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman. The Senate Democrats will hold a conference call tomorrow at 4 p.m., after the White House meeting, per Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio. What’s at stake: If the stopgap funding bill fails its second vote on Tuesday, the government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. The most salient outcome is the potential for OMB Director Russ Vought to get an open avenue for slash-and-burn cuts to federal funding and mass layoffs across the workforce, WaPo’s Jacob Bogage writes. Many federal workers are terrified about what Vought, without the check of Congress, could do — the loss of paychecks at best and the potential for thousands of jobs lost at worst, as captured by CNN, the NYT and WaPo this morning. Billions of dollars have already been scrapped from federal education, health, infrastructure, disaster aid and foreign aid programs under Vought’s recissions, AP’s Lisa Mascaro writes. To capture the human impact of these rescissions, look no further than Nicholas Kristof’s reported op-ed in the NYT: In Uganda, the evaporation of funding has disproportionally affected women and girls, who are dropping out of school, dying during childbirth or going untreated from health complications following sexual assault. 2. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: “Xi Is Chasing a Huge Concession From Trump: Opposing Taiwan Independence,” by WSJ’s Lingling Wei: “As President Trump has shown interest in striking an economic accord with China in the coming year, the people said, the Chinese leader is planning to press his American counterpart to formally state that the U.S. ‘opposes’ Taiwan’s independence. … Xi is no longer satisfied with the U.S. position adopted by the administration of President Joe Biden that Washington ‘does not support’ Taiwanese independence, the people said. … It would signal a shift in U.S. policy from a neutral position to one that actively aligns with Beijing against Taiwanese sovereignty—a change that could further cement Xi’s hold on power at home.” 3. THE CRISIS IN GAZA: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to the White House for talks tomorrow, where Trump is set to share a new peace proposal. Also this week, Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, will travel to Cairo for talks with senior Egyptian officials on Gaza and the potential peace deal in the first visit to Egypt in decades by the sitting U.S. ambassador to Israel, per NYT’s Natan Odenheimer. The details: A 21-point plan from Trump starts with the immediate end to military operations and the freezing of battle lines, plus the release of all hostages in Hamas custody. All of Hamas’ weaponry would then be destroyed. An international security force would be mobilized for the transition period. It also includes a plan for governance, security and rehabilitation of Gaza — dubbed the “Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize” — but offers little specifics on how or in what order these points would be addressed, or where Gazans would go during the rehabilitation of the area. More on the proposal from WaPo’s Karen DeYoung and colleagues Important to know: Neither side has yet agreed to this plan, though Trump is expected to push Netanyahu to agree tomorrow. Hamas hasn’t yet received a copy of it. What Trump is saying: “We have a real chance for GREATNESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER. WE WILL GET IT DONE!!!” the president posted to Truth Social this morning. On the ground: Gaza’s Health Ministry announced this morning that more than 66,000 Palestinians have died since the war in Gaza began, per AP. The explosions in Gaza City have been so dangerous that Doctors Without Borders has suspended its operations, saying it had “no choice” as the Israeli military advanced closer to its clinics, per NYT. Diplomacy week concludes: “6 takeaways from a Trumpian UN General Assembly,” by POLITICO’s Eric Bazail-Eimil 4. UKRAINE LATEST: Russia launched a blistering 12-hour attack on the Ukrainian capital with nearly 600 drones and several missiles, killing four people overnight and injuring many more as the Ukrainian military warns the number of dead may rise during search and rescue, per NYT’s Marc Santora. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters yesterday he shared his “visions” for the battlefield and a list of weapons with Trump last week, WaPo’s Siobhán O'Grady reports. That includes a possible new deal for long-range missiles, per Bloomberg. “If we are threatened by blackouts in the capital of Ukraine, then the Kremlin should know there will also be blackouts in the capital of Russia,” he said. The view from Europe: Russia’s provocations of NATO have only multiplied in recent weeks. But the latest consternation point for Europe is Moldova, as today’s parliamentary election could decide whether it “continues its path to the European Union under President Maia Sandu or slips back into Moscow’s orbit,” NYT’s Paul Sonne and colleagues report.
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| | | | 5. SOUTH OF THE BORDER: Trump is readying to bail out Argentina’s economy with a $20 billion loan, and WaPo’s David Lynch breaks down what makes Argentina unique in the Trump agenda. Argentina’s Javier Milei, a close MAGA ally, has been suffering in provincial elections this year. But in the U.S., the bailout is sparking frustration with some MAGA supporters — including American farmers outraged that Argentina dropped its export tax in order to spur China to buy its soybeans, which they previously purchased from the U.S. Strikes loom over Venezuela: NYT’s Julie Turkewitz spent a week in Caracas, where some Venezuelans hold out hope that Trump’s endgame with his war on drug trafficking is to oust leader Nicolas Maduro. Others are concerned that a potentially violent U.S. move would have adverse effects: “You kill Maduro,” said one Venezuelan businessman, “you turn Venezuela into Haiti.” The bigger picture: “Trump Is Reasserting U.S. Dominion Over Latin America,” by WSJ’s Juan Forero and Ryan Dubé 6. STORMING THE IVY TOWER: The White House is weighing a change to university research grants that would incentivize colleges to adapt to the Trump administration’s policies and values, WaPo’s Laura Meckler and Susan Svrluga scooped. Instead of individual lawsuits and investigations, the new system could force universities to adopt certain admission criteria, crack down on foreign student applications and more. By showing they are in compliance, the schools will get a “competitive advantage” in grant applications. Critics call it an assault on academic freedom and speech. Meanwhile, universities are split over whether to acquiesce or fight back against the administration’s moves to cancel funds and reshape higher education, with the University of California system still figuring out their way forward, NYT’s Alan Blinder and Stephanie Saul write. 7. REDISTRICTING RODEO: “Wes Moore hesitates on redistricting as Democrats eye Maryland’s last GOP seat,” by POLITICO’s Brakkton Booker: “Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is under pressure to eliminate the state’s only Republican-held seat as President Donald Trump wages a national redistricting war ahead of next year’s pivotal midterms. So far, the rising star in the party and a potential White House hopeful hasn’t made a move … ‘There is no hold up from me,’ he said … ‘The general assembly has got to be the one … to introduce and pass legislation, but they also know that they have a ready and an eager and a willing partner in the governor to make sure that we have fair maps come [next] November.’” 8. COMMANDER INCOMING: Trump will attend the last-minute global gathering of the nation’s top military leaders in Quantico, Virginia this week, WaPo’s Tara Copp and colleagues scooped this morning. A rationale for the meeting, which hundreds of top generals have been ordered to attend, has not been publicly offered beyond it being an opportunity for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to further elucidate his vision for a “warrior ethos” in the military. “Trump’s appearance not only upstages Hegseth’s plans, but adds new security concerns to the massive and nearly unprecedented military event,” per the Post. The meeting is set for Tuesday morning. 9. JAGGED LITTLE PILL: Pharmaceutical companies aren’t preoccupied with worry about Trump’s tariffs; they’re more concerned about uncertainty on drug prices, WSJ’s David Wainer reports. Many pharma companies have already promised to break ground on domestic manufacturing, thus skirting the tariffs. But Trump’s Sept. 29 deadline for companies to slash their prices is tomorrow, and the White House is already weighing programs to tie prices closer to global levels. But there’s no clarity yet on which drugs will be hit, or when. The MAHA agenda: Trump’s embrace of the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda has the medical community sounding alarms among the medical community and sowing doubt among some Republicans on the Hill. But Trump is betting that it’ll pay off with his MAGA base, WSJ’s Natalie Andrews and Jasmine Li write. Though polling consistently shows that vaccines and science-based medicine have the overwhelming support of independents, vaccine skepticism and Trump’s push to address autism rates is only reinforcing the views of some of his core supporters. “How can you not see how this administration cares?” one Trump voter told WSJ.
| | | | Introducing Global Security: POLITICO’s weekly briefing on the policies and industrial shifts driving transatlantic defense. We track how decisions in Washington, Brussels and beyond ripple across borders — shaping the future of security and industry. Sign up today for the free preview version. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | ON THAT NAPA VALLEY RETREAT: Some Democrats are slamming the DSCC’s luxury Napa Valley retreat to a vineyard that could coincide with a government shutdown, as Playbook’s Adam Wren reported yesterday. Candidates like Maine’s Graham Planter posted to X that they won’t attend the event if the government shuts down. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) also told our colleague Brakkton Booker that she will not attend if there’s a shutdown. IN MEMORIAM — “Russell Nelson, Who Led Major Changes to the Mormon Church, Dies at 101,” by NYT’s Sarah Pulliam Bailey: “Russell M. Nelson, the oldest serving president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who led sweeping church policy changes in the last decade of his life, died on Saturday in Salt Lake City. He was 101. … Dr. Nelson became president and prophet of the church at 93, and ushered in a surprising spread of new policies, delivering significant changes to a tradition that had grown to more than 17.5 million members worldwide under his leadership as of 2024.” TRANSITIONS — Jeremy Huggins is now press secretary and field representative for Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.). He is also the owner of J. M. Huggins LLC and is a U.S. Air Force veteran. … Vial is adding three new members to its corporate affairs team. Florida Guxholli, formerly of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky) office, joins as director of federal affairs. Matthew Diaz, a Biden White House alum, joins as chief of staff. Claudia Yu, a recent graduate of Cornell, joins as a policy fellow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) … Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.) … Jen O’Malley Dillon … Scott Mulhauser of Bully Pulpit International … Steve Schmidt … Del Quentin Wilber … POLITICO’s Patrick D’Silva, Bob McGovern, Ariana Lawson, Meredith Robbins and Amina Shahid … Christian Vasquez … Matt Corridoni of VoteVets … Vanessa Valdivia … Chrys Kefalas of the National Association of Manufacturers … Brian Rogers of Bullpen Strategy Group … Puck’s Abby Livingston … Molly Crosby of Planned Parenthood … Rory Murphy of MGM Resorts International … Chris Geidner … William Thompson … Jon Summers … Laura Quinn of Catalist … Dan Crawford of Echo Communications Advisors … Ocean Conservancy’s Janis Searles Jones … former Reps. Curt Clawson (R-Fla.) and Steve Largent (R-Okla.) … Marty Machowsky … former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin … Jon Hukill of Crimson Atlantic Communications … Jeanne Allen of the Center for Education Reform … Poppy MacDonald … Helen Aguirre Ferré … WaPo’s Emily Heil … Bhavna Ghia 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 Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | A message from Solana Policy Institute: The next generation of U.S. financial infrastructure is open-source and blockchain-based—built by software developers creating transparent systems that empower consumer choice. As Congress crafts digital asset legislation, we must preserve historical protections for open-source software developers.
America's welcoming approach to software development enabled our leadership in groundbreaking technologies. But regulatory uncertainty is driving talent overseas. Our share of all global open-source developers dropped by more than 50 percent from 2015-2025, weakening our competitive edge. To maintain our status as the "crypto capital of the world," Congress must protect the builders and service providers who build and power it.
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