| | | |  | | By Irie Sentner | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Makayla Gray
|  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
President Donald Trump is known for nocturnally posting or reposting sometimes dozens of videos and memes. | Evan Vucci/AP | Late last night, as the fifth day of Black History Month came to a close, President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account was pushing out posts. That wasn’t unusual — the president is known for nocturnally posting or reposting sometimes dozens of videos and memes. But one clip among last night’s crop was unlike the others: At 11:44 p.m., Trump posted a video that included a depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. Trump is no stranger to racist rhetoric, in particular about Obama, and vulgarity has become something of a calling card for the White House’s official communications. When Trump during last year’s government shutdown posted an AI-generated video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dressed as mariachi performers, for example, the White House doubled down in the face of criticism, reposting iterations of the video and even playing it on the screens in the White House briefing room. That appeared to be the White House’s initial strategy this morning. Around 9 a.m., press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the post was simply “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.” She added: “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.” But some of the strongest “fake outrage” came from the president’s biggest allies. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the only Black Republican in the Senate, said in an X post at 9:43 a.m. The criticism only grew from there. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) at 10:17 a.m. called the post “wrong and incredibly offensive — whether intentional or a mistake.” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) at 11:43 a.m. said “a reasonable person sees the racist context to this.” Five minutes later, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said the video was “totally unacceptable.” All three called for Trump to take down the post and apologize. Just before noon, about 12 hours after the original posting, the White House said the post had been deleted. An anonymous White House official placed the blame on an unnamed White House staffer, saying they had “erroneously made” the post. It was not immediately clear who in the White House has access to the president’s Truth Social account. It was also unclear if any of the other posts that appeared on Trump’s account last night were made by the unnamed staffer — and if so, how many were authorized. At 12:48 p.m., well after the White House indicated that the post was removed, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said the “racist images” were “offensive, heart breaking, and unacceptable.” He echoed his colleagues urging Trump to issue an apology. As of publication, Trump has not publicly addressed the incident — though his account has posted several times since noon. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at isentner@politico.com.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The J Street Action Fund, J Street’s super PAC, has raised $3 million to back Democrats in competitive races in the 2026 midterms. The announcement comes the morning after AIPAC’s entry into the Democratic primary to replace New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill in the state’s 11th Congressional District has drawn increased scrutiny. AIPAC spent big to take down former Rep. Tom Malinowski over his comments expressing openness to conditioning aid to Israel — but now Malinowski is in danger of losing the race, with an even bigger problem looming for AIPAC: he’s going down to the wire with progressive Analilia Mejia, who has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. Tali deGroot, J Street’s VP of political and digital strategy, told Playbook that J Street Action Fund plans to “use the funds to take on the most extreme anti-democracy members and candidates in November, specifically ones that tout their unconditional support of Israel, but then at the same time, traffic in antisemitic comments or are actively working to undermine democracy here in the U.S.” DeGroot added that many of the candidates the group will target are endorsed by AIPAC. She slammed AIPAC for “spending billionaire dollars in Democratic primaries to bully, threaten and scare members of Congress from straying from their unconditional support of Israeli government actions.” She added: “It’s pretty notable that they failed to do that in the New Jersey special election last night.” 2. WAR AND PEACE: Talks today between Iran and the U.S. ended with little movement after Tehran refused to end its enrichment of nuclear fuel, WSJ’s Benoit Faucon reports. But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled a willingness to continue the talks, which are akin to a high-stakes game of telephone, with both parties alternating communicating through Omani officials. Dance of the superpowers: During a global disarmament conference in Geneva today, the U.S. accused China of conducting secret nuclear testing in 2020 and violating nuclear ban commitments, Reuters’ Olivia Le Poidevin and Mark Trevelyan report. “China's ambassador on disarmament, Shen Jian, did not directly address [the] charge but said Beijing had always acted prudently and responsibly on nuclear issues. ‘China notes that the U.S. continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat. China firmly opposes such false narratives,’ he said.” 3. AOC GOES GLOBAL: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Steps Onto a Wider Stage,” by NYT’s Kellen Browning and Reid Epstein: “Next week, she plans to expand her progressive pitch to foreign policy, by speaking at the Munich Security Conference in her most significant overseas trip since taking office … There, she is expected to present a left-wing alternative to Mr. Trump’s shoot-from-the-hip approach to world affairs.” 4. THE BRAVE NEW WORLD: “The big split driving the tricky politics of AI data centers,” by POLITICO’s Brendan Bordelon and Gabby Miller: “Nationally … the tech giants behind the rapid rollout of data centers have a window to shape public opinion despite opposition they’re seeing on the local level, according to new results from The POLITICO Poll.” The survey, in partnership with Public First, “found that most voters are blasé — even mildly positive — about the possibility of having a data center in their area, associating them with new jobs and other economic benefits.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | 5. ROSE’S THORN: Tom Rose, the U.S. ambassador to Poland, announced this morning on X that the U.S. “will have no further dealings, contacts, or communications” with Polish Parliament Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty, citing “outrageous and unprovoked insults” against Trump after he refused to support his Nobel Peace Prize nomination, POLITICO’s Wojciech Kość reports. Czarzasty said Monday that Trump “does not deserve” the prize due to his previous comments about NATO allies and his “destabilizing” of several international organizations. Polish PM Donald Tusk shot back: “Mr. Ambassador Rose, allies should respect, not lecture, each other. At least this is how we, here in Poland, understand partnership.” 6. INVESTIGATING BIG TECH: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is launching a probe into claims the Trump administration pressured Google and Apple into blocking apps tracking ICE agents, POLITICO’s Alfred Ng reports. The House Judiciary Committee ranking member demanded that the DOJ turn over all records of its communications with Google and Apple related to discussions about apps that crowdsource sightings of ICE officers, calling it a “coercion and censorship campaign … [and] a clear effort to silence this Administration’s critics and suppress any evidence that would expose the Administration’s lies.” 7. WATCH OUT: “‘Irresistible stage’: Olympic authorities on high alert for cyberattacks as winter games kick off,” by POLITICO’s Maggie Miller and Dana Nickel: “This week, Italian authorities have already stopped hacking attempts at several embassies and Olympic venues. Security groups tracking these threats are also warning that hackers might be gearing up to spread disinformation online to discredit the games, or may launch further cyberattacks on Olympics sites ahead of the Opening Ceremony.” 8. BENGHAZI’S BACK: AG Pam Bondi today announced that Zubayr Al-Bakoush, a key participant in the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, is in U.S. custody and will be prosecuted for the deaths of four Americans, AP’s Eric Tucker reports. “FBI and Justice Department officials did not detail the circumstances of his arrest but said he was taken to an airfield in Virginia early Friday and will face charges in Washington including murder, attempted murder, arson and conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorism organization.” 9. PLAYBOOK PREVIEW: John Sandweg and Chad Wolf are appearing on tonight’s episode of C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire,” where the two discuss the DHS funding debate gripping Congress now. Sandweg, who was acting ICE director during the Obama administration, acknowledged that it’s hard to legislate the issue, but said “the most important thing they can do is ensure that the department publishes timely data on who is being arrested.” Wolf, who was acting DHS secretary in the first Trump administration said what Democrats should do is push for a different system. “Change the law and it’ll give ICE a different mission, and they’ll go and they’ll execute that mission,” he said. Watch the clip
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| | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | PLAYBOOK SPORTS SECTION — The DMV is sending a handful of athletes to compete at the Winter Olympics in Italy, Washingtonian’s Daniella Byck notes. They include figure skating’s “quad god” Ilia Malinin, hockey’s Martin Fehérváry, Logan Thompson and Tom Wilson and speed skaters Brandon Kim and Conor McDermott-Mostowy. REMAKING GOVERNMENT … AND GOLF — “Inside Trump’s Takeover of D.C.’s Golf Courses,” by NOTUS’ Reese Gorman: “NOTUS spoke with a dozen people involved or familiar with the planning of the project and reviewed documents detailing Trump’s takeover of public courses and his vision for remaking them.” TRANSITIONS — Bill Dunne is now the COO of the Rainey Center. He was previously the COO of Data Trust. … Andrew Peek has joined the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security as the inaugural director of the Adrienne Arsht National Security Resilience Initiative. He most recently was at the NSC and is also a State Department alum. … Jennifer Goforth will be chief development officer at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She previously worked at Third Way. … … Kristina Aleksander is now policy communications manager at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. She was formerly communications director for Rep. Don Davis. … Christopher Garcia is now AEM’s government relations manager. He formerly worked for Uber and former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. ENGAGED — Sarah Fortinsky, who was recently promoted to be a national politics reporter at The Hill, on Monday got engaged to Jesse Fastenberg, a fintech entrepreneur and real estate investor. The couple met on a dating app, and Jesse proposed this weekend at Stratton in Vermont. After he rented out the top of the mountain, they took snowmobiles up to the top and he proposed there. Pic ... Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Mimi Montgomery, a reporter for Axios D.C., and Tripp Camden, a manager at Northrop Grumman, on Jan. 10 welcomed William “Wiley” Byrd Camden. Pic 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.
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