| | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray On today’s Playbook Podcast: Adam and POLITICO’s Chief EU Correspondent and host of the Brussels Playbook Podcast Zoya Sheftalovich break down everything to know about this year’s Munich Security Conference.
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| It’s Friday, and 15 years ago this week, we were getting down. This is Adam Wren back in your inbox. Get in touch. FRIDAY LISTEN: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is this week’s guest on “The Conversation” with Playbook’s Dasha Burns. The firebrand senator pulls no punches in his assessment of the state of the Democratic Party, and why he catches more heat for criticizing his own party than the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). On Democrats’ biggest midterm liability: “I mean, have you seen the last polling? You know, our brand continues to drop. For me, like that’s … I just want to be the … a Democrat that it’s like hey, I have these values and … and that’s why I vote this way. I don’t treat voters like children where it … it’s like trying to explain why it’s wrong to shut our government down.” On why he gets more flak than other Democrats: “I don’t know. … I’m not criticizing the Democrats. I’m just saying, ‘Hey, here’s a flag.’ Here’s a problem because all of the … the things that work well in your email list or in your district or state, it won’t in the kinds of states that really matter.” Watch the full episode … Listen and subscribe on Apple and Spotify In today’s Playbook … — Why Munich is the 2028 hotspot. — Congress skips town as DHS shuts down. — The Senate takes a historic vote on D.C. policy.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | CONTINENTAL DIVIDE: The first foreign policy proving grounds of the 2028 Democratic presidential primary run through not a debate stage in Manchester, New Hampshire, but Munich, Germany. No fewer than six potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders are set to burnish their foreign policy bona fides today at the Munich Security Conference — Davos for the national defense set — offering a rejoinder and contrast to VP JD Vance’s scathing criticism of the continent in the same forum last year. “Other 2028 contenders no doubt saw the way Vance used MSC to make waves last year,” Zev Karlin-Neumann, a Democratic speechwriter and former State Department staffer, told Playbook. “Munich used to be a place diplomats went to meet with the Poles. Now it’s also a place where presidential contenders try to juice their polls.” Taken together, the 2028 Democrats’ presence at the event will almost certainly represent the most high-profile and substantive foreign policy rebuttal Democrats have offered during Trump 2.0 — and come at a time of fraying international alliances. “I’ve been doing this type of travel for a while,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said when asked by Playbook about all the ambitious Democrats in attendance this year. “I think maybe other people are using this as an opportunity for them to flex whatever they want.” Gallego, who is meeting with Baltic foreign ministers and Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez, told us his message to foreign leaders in Munich will be that “the relationship between our allies, our friends, is still strong. Donald Trump will be gone in three years. We have senators here that are going to be here longer than him, and we need to continue growing our relationship and making sure we have a secure future.” Whether on the official stage or in sideline events, at least half a dozen possible presidential contenders will be present in Munich this year alongside Gallego: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Kelly is also taking meetings with European leaders and NATO and defense officials. On the sidelines, he’ll meet with wounded Ukrainians and Baltic leaders. Raimondo is leading a panel discussion on economic security and emerging technology. A spokesperson said she’ll argue that economic security is national security and “make the case that the U.S. must invest in its leadership in emerging tech (AI, quantum and biotech) and derisk its supply chains in order to strengthen its national security and outcompete China. And she’ll say that the best way to do that is by working with our allies and partners.” But AOC and Newsom seem to be generating the most buzz. The two are expected to lay out their own visions for America’s relationship with the world, drawing a direct contrast with Vance and Rubio. Both are expected to reassert that America has a role to play in Europe, people familiar with their planning and messaging for the event tell Playbook, though the flavor of their remarks is expected to diverge. Newsom, who will participate in the conference’s main program today, will deliver remarks on the economic need for climate action. He’ll also have two bilateral meetings today, Playbook has learned: one with German Federal Minister for the Environment Carsten Schneider, and one with EU Commissioner for Climate Wopke Hoekstra. Tomorrow, he’s expected to formalize a new partnership with Ukraine through the signing of a memorandum of understanding with regional leaders, per his office. He’ll meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and deliver remarks on strengthening transatlantic cooperation. “While Trump divides and destabilizes, California is focused on stability, cooperation, and expanding economic opportunity for all,” his office said. Overall, Newsom will deliver a message that “President Trump is temporary. California is not,” according to a background briefing on his remarks from the governor’s office. AOC is set to speak in the main hall today at 11 a.m. Eastern, with remarks that will center on populism, according to a person familiar with her planning. The New York Democrat’s participation in the conference was framed to Playbook as an explicit contrast to Vance’s visit last year, when he railed on the “retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.” “I think that Europe is largely pretty horrified by what Vance said, but they also have questions about where the Democratic Party is headed,” said a person involved in planning AOC’s remarks. “And what could this mean for us? They feel familiar with the old way of thinking inside the party, and so they’re very interested in learning more about what younger, populist Democrats are thinking.” To prepare for her Munich debut, AOC has been advised by Matt Duss, the former foreign policy adviser to Sanders and EVP at the progressive think tank Center for International Policy. The two have met roughly half a dozen times over Zoom and in person since she received her invitation. So why Munich now? “It’s an opportunity to go into a space that doesn’t often hear from progressives, or from people who are trying to talk about the things she believes are important, like protecting the working class as the way to protect democracy,” Duss told Playbook. “One reason so many in these spaces have been shocked by the challenges arising in democracies in Europe and in the United States is because they have not paid enough attention to voices like hers.” FOLLOW ALONG: POLITICO journalists will be interviewing an unparalleled roster of major newsmakers — including Kelly, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) — at the exclusive POLITICO Pub on the ground in Munich. Others include NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, EU Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, SAP CEO Christian Klein, Hitachi Energy CEO Andreas Schierenbeck, Bill Browder, Yulia Navalnaya and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Follow along for all the action More on Munich …
- McConnell’s message: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pens an op-ed for POLITICO Magazine on three urgent tasks for the West: “If Munich is meant to be more than a platform for speeches, then representatives of allied governments would do well to devote their time together to reaching an understanding on the fundamentals … It’s natural to put one’s own country’s interests first, but it would be foolish for either side of the Atlantic to go it alone.”
- Ukraine expectations: Over the past three years, the MSC has served as a venue for high-stakes negotiations on Russia’s war in Ukraine. “This year, it’s likely to serve as a glaring reminder of just how stuck talks are,” POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz, Paul McLeary and Jack Detsch report from Munich. Despite the gathering of dozens of world leaders, “six European officials said they did not expect many concrete results to come out of the gathering other than statements of solidarity.”
| | | | A message from AHIP: 35 Million Seniors Could See Reduced Benefits and Higher Costs. Health plans welcome reforms to strengthen Medicare Advantage. However, a proposal for flat program funding at a time of sharply rising medical costs and high utilization of care will directly impact seniors' coverage. If finalized, this proposal could result in benefit reductions and higher costs for 35 million seniors and people with disabilities when they renew their Medicare Advantage coverage in October 2026. Learn more. | | | | IMMIGRATION FILES SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Barring a shock reversal, it’s all but certain that DHS will shut down at day’s end. Only Fetterman voted with Republicans to fund the agency yesterday, as the rest of Senate Dems held firm in demanding more immigration enforcement reforms than Republicans have offered. “They have some things that are really very, very hard to approve, frankly,” Trump said yesterday. It’s an unusual shutdown: With just one (big) agency affected, the vibes are decidedly mixed. Lawmakers in both parties are angry and blaming each other. Negotiations were still ongoing as of yesterday evening, per POLITICO’s Jordain Carney. And yet, as lawmakers leave town without a deal in hand, they also face limited political pressure to end the shutdown: This could go for a while yet. The latest from POLITICO’s Inside Congress The politics: Though Democrats are glad the Trump administration is finally ending its immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, Republicans think the shift will also erode Democratic messaging on the shutdown and the public backlash more broadly, POLITICO’s Myah Ward and Eric Bazail-Eimil report. Charging ahead: With her agency about to lose funding, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem will be in Phoenix for a midday event about election security, per PBS’ Liz Landers. And don’t miss this story last night from WSJ’s Michelle Hackman and colleagues about the ongoing chaos within DHS, including the anecdote that Corey Lewandowski “fired a U.S. Coast Guard pilot after Noem’s blanket was left behind on a plane” — a decision that was reversed when they realized they needed someone to take them home. Though Noem and Lewandowski say they’re not having an affair, “people said they do little to hide their relationship inside the department.” DHS calls this “salacious, baseless gossip.” ALSO HAPPENING TODAY: the arraignment of Don Lemon and several other people charged in connection with an ICE protest in Minnesota. Legal experts tell CBS’ Sarah Lynch the case is quite weak. A WHIPPLE BUILDING ADMONISHMENT: “Court rebukes Trump administration for denying immigration detainees access to lawyers,” by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein: “A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration has been violating the rights of people detained by ICE in Minnesota, saying the agency had stashed them in an ill-equipped, overcrowded facility without access to attorneys. … The judge ordered the administration to dramatically revamp conditions in the Bishop Henry Whipple federal building.” Other high-profile cases: Kyle has a telling breakdown of the 373 judges who’ve rejected the Trump administration’s unprecedented mass detention policy — and the 28 who’ve upheld it. … Marimar Martinez’s attorney said the Border Patrol agent who allegedly shot her in Chicago, Charles Exum, is now under federal criminal investigation, MS NOW’s Julianne McShane reports. … Feds sought to drop charges against two men who were accused in a Minnesota ICE shooting incident, saying in a striking filing that prosecutors had given wrong info, per The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Sarah Nelson.
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| | | | TRAIL MIX FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Cash dash: The Republican Attorneys General Association pulled in $29.3 million across its different entities in 2025, according to figures shared exclusively with Playbook, narrowly outpacing its Democratic counterpart, which raised $28 million. RAGA says theirs is the highest total any AG organization has ever raised in any year, as the group looks to flip seats in swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. SIGN OF THE TIMES: Even a (shared) Trump endorsement wasn’t enough to keep establishment-friendly Karrin Taylor Robson afloat in a MAGAfied GOP. She dropped out of the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary, leaving Reps. Andy Biggs and David Schweikert as the two main competitors, per the Arizona Republic’s Stacey Barchenger. WHAT’S UP WITH RAHM? Rahm Emanuel will be in Michigan this weekend for a three-day swing — not to boost down-ballot Democrats, but to unveil yet another policy proposal, this time to help military service members transition back to civilian life through the skilled trades, as your author reports. “The moves raise the question: Is he presenting the planks of a larger platform that he can run on for president? Or is he headfaking a run to build buzz and draw interest to his ideas, redirecting the field to where he thinks the party’s intellectual center of gravity should be?” More 2028 watch: Newsom will travel to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, next month for a book event, per USA Today’s Margie Cullen. LET THE SUNSHINE IN: The pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future is plunking down a cool $5 million to back Rep. Byron Donalds’ Florida GOP gubernatorial bid, NBC’s Matt Dixon scooped. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to scramble out of the Sunshine State’s political wilderness by tapping moderate House and Senate candidates with military/national security backgrounds, POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard reports. And Purple Heart veteran Luke Murphy is running in the GOP primary to replace Rep. Neal Dunn, per Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles.
| | | | POLITICO Governors Summit Join POLITICO's annual Governors Summit, held alongside the National Governors Association’s Winter Meeting, for a series of forward-looking conversations with governors from across the country about how state leaders are setting the agenda for America’s next chapter. Hear from Gov. Wes Moore (D), Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), and more. Register Now. | | | | | BEST OF THE REST VAX NOT: Major medical associations will ask a federal judge today for a preliminary injunction to block HHS and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from changing the childhood vaccine schedule and moving forward with a revamped vaccine advisory panel. The Boston judge is Brian Murphy, who’s ruled against the administration on other issues, Reuters’ Nate Raymond previews. The White House is now keeping a closer eye on HHS, with a shakeup yesterday that placed four new senior counselors at the agency’s top ranks, CNN’s Adam Cancryn scooped. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — How they really feel: “Trump says trust the process on tariffs. Some in the GOP are getting restless,” by POLITICO’s Daniel Desrochers and Megan Messerly: “[P]rivately some Republicans remain anxious about a tariff policy that has injected uncertainty into a shaky economy. It’s a far cry, they say, from the booming one President Donald Trump promised.” ON THE HILL: Republicans will put out farm bill text today. But House Agriculture ranking member Angie Craig (D-Minn.) already warned that she’ll likely oppose their legislation, as the typically bipartisan farm bill coalition falls apart, per POLITICO’s Grace Yarrow. Nominee woes: Jeremy Carl’s State Department nomination may be doomed, as Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said he’ll vote no because of Carl’s past comments about Jews, the Deseret News’ Cami Mondeaux scooped. On Senate Banking, where Tillis’ anger about the criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell could entangle Kevin Warsh as his successor, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent floated the prospect of the panel investigating Powell instead of DOJ, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller scooped. THEY WENT TO JARED: The drip-drip of information about that mysterious whistleblower complaint against DNI Tulsi Gabbard continued yesterday. The person close to Trump about whom two foreign nationals were heard talking on an intercepted call turns out to have been Jared Kushner, WSJ’s Dustin Volz and colleagues report. U.S. officials tell the Journal that the allegations about Kushner in the call “would be significant” if true, but other top administration officials say they’re “demonstrably false.” Still no word on what the highly classified details are. CASH FLOW: “New York, New Jersey Expect US to Unfreeze Tunnel Funding,” by Bloomberg’s Chris Dolmetsch and Michelle Kaske IT’S OFFICIAL: The EPA unwound the landmark greenhouse gas endangerment finding, rolling back the foundation of federal regulation for huge swathes of policy to fight climate change, per the L.A. Times. (The AP breaks down several false claims Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made at their announcement yesterday.) Now the real fight will move to the courts — perhaps for years — where Democratic-led states and green groups will sue, POLITICO’s Alex Guillén reports.
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| | | | THE WEEKEND AHEAD FRIDAY PROGRAMS … POLITICO “The Conversation”: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). C-SPAN “Ceasefire”: Steve Israel and Charlie Dent … Dan Kanninen and Ashley Davis. SUNDAY SO FAR … PBS “Compass Points”: Anita Anand … NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte … Finnish President Alexander Stubb. CBS “Face the Nation”: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries … Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) … Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) … Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) … Texas AG Ken Paxton … Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Panel: Guy Benson, Horace Cooper, Josh Kraushaar and Leslie Marshall. MS NOW “The Weekend”: Doug Emhoff … J.P. Cooney … Jack Smith … Elliott Payne. ABC “This Week”: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) … Mary Ellen O’Toole … Jim Jones. Panel: Chris Christie, Faiz Shakir, Susan Glasser and Matt Gorman. CNN “State of the Union”: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) … Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) … Gary Walters. Panel: Molly Ball, Julie Mason and Phil Wegmann.
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➡️ Subscribe Now | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — For only the fifth time ever during D.C. home rule, Congress has stepped in to block a local city policy. The Senate yesterday voted through a disapproval resolution, 49-47, that President Donald Trump is expected to sign and that would force D.C. to accept new federal tax cuts, per WaPo’s Meagan Flynn. Republicans say this will give more money back to D.C. taxpayers. Local officials warn it will upend tax filing season, slash $600 million from budgets over the next few years and kill a new child tax credit. SPORTS BLINK — With the Washington Post in retreat, the Baltimore Banner unveiled an expansion to cover D.C. sports. The Banner will cover the Nationals and Commanders regularly, along with enterprise stories about other local teams. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — This year’s Congressional Radio-Television Correspondents Association will take place June 30 at the Mellon Auditorium. It will focus on the importance of the First Amendment as part of a celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary — and the Congressional Karaoke Competition (featuring lawmakers vs. journalists) will return. BOOK CLUB — Italian PM Giorgia Meloni’s forthcoming book, “Giorgia’s Vision,” will have a foreword from VP JD Vance, per POLITICO’s Sophia Cai. HISTORY LESSON — Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of Congress officially named a House press gallery after Frederick Douglass. OUT AND ABOUT AT MSC — SPOTTED at the POLITICO Welcome Party yesterday with founding partner Helsing: Mathias Döpfner, Daniel Ek, Jan Bayer, Goli Sheikholeslami, Gundbert Scherf, Paolo Zampolli, Bill Anderson, Irene Fellin, Danielle Burr, Johannes Boie, Gen. Alexus Gregory Grynkewich, Baiba Braže and Laura Rudas. — SPOTTED at the POLITICO Pub and Platz at MSC so far: Nadia Calviño, Andrius Kubilius (who was interviewed onstage by POLITICO’s Jan Cienski) and Andrew Levy. TRANSITIONS — David Ogden is now senior counsel at Democracy Defenders Fund. He most recently worked at WilmerHale and is a longtime DOJ alum. … Luisana Pérez Fernández has launched Horizonte Strategies, a bilingual comms firm focused on media and narrative strategy, especially for Latino audiences. She previously worked in the Biden White House, and is an HHS and Biden campaign alum. … … Kat Skiles is joining Reproductive Freedom for All as SVP of comms and digital strategy. She previously led Narrative and is a DNC and Nancy Pelosi alum. … Suzanne Youngblood Lane is joining Anchorage Digital as director of policy comms. She previously worked at Apex Strategies and is a Nikki Haley and Mitch McConnell alum. … Minna Jung is now senior director at Rally. She is an Earthjustice and Environmental Defense Fund alum. ENGAGED — Claire Washburn, manager of government relations at Plurus Strategies, and Davis Ladley, director of operations and member services at America’s Poison Centers, got engaged Monday at Osteria Mozza. They met during freshman orientation at American University in 2016. Pic … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) … Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) … former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon … Chip Smith … former Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) … Lila Nieves-Lee … Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center … George Kundanis … NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson … Bill McCarren … Apollo Communications’ Brian Szmytke … Jeanne Mancini … Mae Stevens … Fox News’ Cailin Kearns … Reuters’ Mike Spector … SpyTalk’s Jeff Stein … Blackstone’s Elizabeth Lewis … Camille Johnston … Raven Reeder … Meta’s Alex Burgos … Megan Becker … Mark Cohen … POLITICO’s Paul Repola … Stat’s Daniel Payne … Emily Minster of Rep. Summer Lee’s (D-Pa.) office … Kirby Eule of Touchdown Strategies … Dave Dorey … Betsy Ankney … USDA’s Peter Laudeman … Sven Erik Holmes … Bryson Morgan … Matt Miller of SK Group … Samantha Slater … Jill Barclay 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 Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross.
| | | | A message from AHIP: 35 Million Seniors Could See Reduced Benefits and Higher Costs
Health plans welcome reforms to strengthen Medicare Advantage. However, a proposal for flat program funding at a time of sharply rising medical costs and high utilization of care will directly impact seniors' coverage. If finalized, this proposal could result in benefit reductions and higher costs for 35 million seniors and people with disabilities when they renew their Medicare Advantage coverage in October 2026. Learn more. | | | | | | | | 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 political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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