| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard with Dasha Burns | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray On today’s Playbook Podcast: Jack and Dasha discuss the latest leader that Donald Trump is welcoming to the White House — and the stakes of the meeting.
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| Good Tuesday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, sobbingly grateful that D.C. public schools are back to normal today. Get in touch! DIDN'T SEE THESE COMING … ASSORTED POLICY UPDATES FROM YOUR REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT: President Donald Trump, 1:07 p.m.: “We should take over the voting, in at least 15 places. Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” … … U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, 3:48 p.m.: “You bring a gun into the District, you mark my words, you're going to jail. I don't care if you have a license in another district and I don't care if you're a law abiding gun owner somewhere else. You bring a gun into this District, count on going to jail.” … … Deputy AG Todd Blanche, 7:18 p.m.: “It's not a crime to party with [Jeffrey] Epstein.” … … Trump, 11:20 p.m.: “We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages and want nothing further to do into the future with Harvard University.” It’s … well, quite the policy platform, headed into an election year. SPEAKING OF ELECTIONS — TODAY’S ESSENTIAL READ: “Increasingly violent threats toward and harassment of public officials — from county clerks up to the president — are driving more and more of those figures out of their jobs,” POLITICO’s Andrew Howard reveals this morning. “In the years since the 2020 election, roughly 50 percent of top local election officials across 11 western states have left their jobs since November 2020, according to a new report from Issue One, a bipartisan organization that tracks election issues and supports campaign finance reforms …The new data comes at the same time as another report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue — shared first with POLITICO — found a more than 200 percent increase in violent rhetoric toward public officials.” In today’s Playbook … — Trump hosts his first world leader of 2026 at the White House. It could get messy. — On the Hill, Mike Johnson needs all the votes to reopen the government today. — And Renee Good’s family are on the Hill, as immigration remains front and center.
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President Donald Trump will welcome Colombian President Gustavo Petro to the White House on Tuesday. | Matias Delacroix/AP Photo | PETRO-POLITICS: Exactly one month on from the jaw-dropping U.S. military operation to seize Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Trump hosts Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House today. It’s a meeting with huge implications, at home and abroad. It could also go horribly wrong. Three’s a charm: By Playbook’s count, Trump has hosted 35 different world leaders at the White House this past year. Only two of those meetings have really blown up — the infamous face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last February, and the ambush of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in May. Today has the potential to be the third. Petro can be erratic, to say the least. He’s an emotional guy who — if we’re being charitable — wears his heart on his sleeve and is not afraid to push back at perceived slights. He’s also an avowed leftist and a frequent, vocal critic of the U.S. And he doesn’t speak English. Alarm bells: This explosive combination has triggered frequent rows with Trump. There was a bitter falling-out in the very first week of the presidency, with Trump threatening Colombia with massive tariffs after Petro refused to accept a planeload of shackled deportees. Petro’s U.S. visa was revoked in September following a speech he made at a rally in New York. In October, Petro was sanctioned by the State Department after accusing Trump of “murder” over boat strikes in the Caribbean. Trump called him a “lunatic” and cut all U.S. aid to Colombia. By December, Trump was openly threatening Petro. “He better wise up or he’ll be next,” the president told reporters, accusing Colombia of allowing illegal drugs to flood the U.S. After the operation to seize Maduro on Jan. 3, Trump called Petro “a sick man” who had better “watch his ass.” But but but: An hourlong private phone call a few days later changed everything. (“It was a great honor to speak,” Trump said afterward.) Whatever tone Petro struck, and whatever promises he made about halting the flow of drugs, clearly did the trick. “He was certainly critical before that,” Trump told reporters yesterday. “But somehow, after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice … So I look forward to seeing him.” In theory, some sort of deal on drug flows should be within their grasp today. But will the rapprochement last? “The really critical thing is seeing how Petro reacts to Trump and other officials’ provocations,” POLITICO’s resident Colombia-watcher, Eric Bazail-Eimil, tells Playbook via a late-night voice note. “We’ve certainly seen ribbing of different kinds in these meetings — most notably when Vice President JD Vance triggered the argument between Trump and Zelenskyy. And there’s little love lost for Petro within this administration.” And there’s more: “Petro has a short fuse,” Eric goes on. “If somebody mentions allegations that he’s involved in drug trafficking — which Petro denies — or makes comments about Colombia’s economic or political direction, it could cause a confrontation. Petro has struggled to placate Trump and he’s not known for being a particularly conciliatory politician. So we’ll see if cooler heads continue prevailing, and whether Petro in the spur of the moment can watch what he says.”
| | | | 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. | | | | Sadly for fans of political drama, it’s possible this could yet play out behind closed doors. Per Trump’s official schedule, there are currently no plans to invite the press in for the start of the 11 a.m. meeting — though schedules frequently change nearer the time. But a press shut-out would itself be interesting. Trump held more than 30 Oval Office media events with foreign leaders through the course of 2025 — sometimes offering six or seven joint pressers in a single month — and clearly enjoyed parading overseas grandees before the media, especially when they bestowed him with praise and lavish gifts. By contrast, the number of world leaders to visit the White House in 2026 is zero, prior to today. The criticism after last November’s bruising elections — that Trump was spending too much time on foreign affairs and not enough on kitchen-table issues — has cut through. The press were not invited in when he met Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last month, nor when he hosted Slovak PM Robert Fico at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s team want him photographed in Rust Belt factories talking about falling prices, not hosting foreign leaders in his gilded office. Not that that means diplomacy isn’t happening. Just check out Steve Witkoff’s schedule this week. He meets Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem today to discuss the next phase of peace in Gaza. He then holds two days of trilateral peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials tomorrow and Thursday in the UAE. And then Friday he meets the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul to discuss a possible nuclear deal. And you thought you were stretched thin this week … About those peace talks: Trump told reporters yesterday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed not to fire missiles at Ukraine for “a period of one week,” given temperatures in Kyiv have now slumped below zero. “I called him up,” Trump said. And yet — Russian missiles were raining down on Kyiv apartment blocks again last night. Check out Zelenskyy’s angry statement here … Let’s see if Trump responds to the snub today. AND THIS IS OMINOUS: "The last US nuclear weapons treaty with Russia is dying,” by POLITICO’s Jack Detsch and Paul McLeary: “The expiration this week of a core U.S.-Russia arms control treaty could touch off a global nuclear weapons race,” they write this morning. “The New START treaty, which will expire on Thursday, was struck in 2010 and limited how many deployed nuclear-capable missiles, bombers and warheads both the U.S. and Russia could have. Russia made initial overtures about a renewed pact in September, but the Trump administration has not formally responded, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.”
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| | | | SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN ANOTHER TEST FOR JOHNSON: The House Rules Committee officially moved forward the package deal with five full funding bills and a two-week continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security with no changes, teeing up a procedural vote on the floor today that will come down to the wire for Speaker Mike Johnson as he looks to end the partial shutdown. The vote today follows a full-on scramble by Johnson to rally the caucus around the funding package and keep the shutdown as short as possible, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and Jennifer Scholtes report. His plan looked in danger \yesterday as hardliners, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), pushed to attach a partisan elections bill (the SAVE Act) to the spending package. But as often in Trump’s GOP, the hardliners folded under presidential pressure. Trump privately leaned on members and publicly called for the package to be passed with “NO changes.” Luna and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) met with Trump at the White House, and announced shortly after that they will vote for the package even without the SAVE Act attached. Johnson told Meredith he thinks he has the votes to get this out the door and onto Trump’s desk — but he can only afford to lose one member of his caucus. More from POLITICO’s Inside Congress MEANWHILE, THE MINORITY: Democratic leaders in the House are taking two different paths on the spending package, highlighting the ongoing discord in the party over how to respond to Trump’s immigration agenda, Meredith and Mia McCarthy report. House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) announced she will vote for the package, breaking with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. It’s the third time in less than a year that House Democrats find themselves at odds over a deal brokered by Senate Democrats, Mia and Meredith note. CAPITULATION CORNER: In a major reversal, Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee in the panel’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs and Calen Razor report. The switch-up came as the House was gearing up for a vote tomorrow to hold them in contempt of Congress.
| | | | 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. | | | | | ICE AGE ALSO ON THE HILL TODAY: The family of Renee Good today will speak at a public forum on her death and the tactics used by ICE agents in Minneapolis. Good’s brothers, Brent Ganger and Luke Ganger, will give their testimony at the 3 p.m. event with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). With these personal stories front and center today, it’s a reminder that this crisis isn’t going to fade away quickly, POLITICO’s immigration expert Myah Ward writes in to Playbook. The deaths of Good and Alex Pretti reverberated across the country. And Good’s family appearing underscores what they’ve already made clear — they’re going to continue pushing the administration for a thorough investigation into her death. And it’s not only Good’s brothers appearing today, Myah tells Playbook. We’re going to hear from Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen, who was shot five times by Customs and Border Patrol last fall in Chicago. Aliya Rahman will speak as well, another U.S. citizen (photos of her went viral last month as she was pulled out of a car and detained by agents). So we’ll be watching closely for how Democrats connect these cases to tell a larger story. First in Playbook: Garcia, the leading Democrat on House Oversight, is releasing a new report today detailing Democrats’ key findings on Good and Pretti’s deaths, Playbook’s Ali Bianco reports. Garcia in a statement said Trump, Kristi Noem and DHS “have lied over and over again and are now trying to cover up the truth.” The report lays out — in a little over 20 pages — the case Democrats will make in the coming days and weeks. The report argues that Trump’s “extreme policies, violent tactics, and culture of impunity” led to the deaths in Minnesota, attacking the administration’s claims that Pretti and Good were “domestic terrorists.” The report also claims the available evidence suggests a “cover up” by the administration by impeding impartial investigations. Read the report Latest from Minneapolis: Eight more federal prosecutors are in the process of exiting the state’s U.S. Attorney’s Office, including the civil division chief who has handled hundreds of wrongful detention cases since the operation began in December, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. … Noem announced yesterday that ICE officers in Minneapolis will now all be required to wear body cameras, Eric Bazail-Eimil reports. AND ANOTHER SETBACK: A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from stripping the Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, which was originally set to end today. “In a scathing, 83-page ruling, Judge [Ana] Reyes said that the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, did not have the authority to end the status and that her arguments … were flawed,” NYT’s Miriam Jordan reports.
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| | | | BEST OF THE REST MEDIAWATCH: Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros Discovery’s Bruce Campbell will testify at 2:30 p.m. before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the potential acquisition of Warner Bros. studios by the streaming giant, and the seismic implications for the film and media industry. It’ll be a crucial conversation on any possible antitrust and market competition violations that could stop the potential deal. Warner Bros. shareholders are likely to vote on the deal in March, per CNBC. REDISTRICTING RODEO: Maryland’s House of Delegates approved a new congressional map that could eliminate the state’s only GOP-held seat, NYT’s Nick Corasaniti and Campbell Robertson report. But the passage — pushed heavily by 2028 hopeful Gov. Wes Moore — sets up a showdown with the state Senate, where some Democrats are skeptical of the plan. POLL POSITION: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is maintaining a dominant lead over her GOP challenger Bruce Blakeman in the latest Siena poll out this morning, with Hochul up 54 percent to Blakeman’s 28 percent. She also scored a high of 49 percent on her favorability rating. “Ten months from election day, Blakeman — largely unknown to three in five New York voters — has his work cut out for him,” pollster Steven Greenberg said. MESSIN’ WITH TEXAS: “A ‘mediocre’ comment has put Talarico's Texas Senate campaign in the hot seat,” by POLITICO’s Liz Crampton: “The tense Texas Democratic Senate primary has been roiled by yet another online firestorm after an influencer accused state Rep. James Talarico of calling a former opponent a ‘mediocre Black man’ — a claim he said was a ‘mischaracterization of a private conversation.’ … The influencer, Morgan Thompson, posted the accusation in a video on Sunday … [Colin Allred] fired back. ‘James, if you want to compliment Black women, just do it. Just do it. Don’t do it while also tearing down a Black man,’ he said in a video.” CUTTING DEEP: “Global aid cuts could lead to 9.4 million deaths by 2030, study projects,” by WaPo’s Chico Harlan: “A new study published Monday in the Lancet puts a number on the potential human toll as the global humanitarian system cracks apart, projecting an extra 9.4 million deaths by 2030 if the current trends persist.” SCHOOL TIES: “Trump Drops Demand for Cash From Harvard After Stiff Resistance,” by NYT’s Michael Bender and colleagues: “Trump has backtracked on a major point in negotiations with Harvard, dropping his administration’s demand for a $200 million payment to the government in hopes of finally resolving the administration’s conflicts with the university.” But but but: Trump hit back at the story in a series of Truth Socials last night. “The Failing New York Times story was completely wrong,” the president wrote. Trump said “the case [against Harvard] will continue until justice is preserved” and demanded $1 billion from the university.
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➡️ Sign up for POLITICO Forecast. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | KEEPING IT OLD SKOOL: In a world of AI-infused campaign tools, made-to-go-viral TikTok videos and high-tech political data-mining, there’s something reassuring about the endurance of more traditional campaign methods. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) yesterday announced plans for a coast-to-coast book tour to promote his latest tome “Stand”, a 270-page expansion of his famous 25-hour speech on the Senate floor. It’s a funny coincidence because this is the very week that California Gov. Gavin Newsom happens to have his new memoir out, as Playbook reported yesterday. (Newsom will surely be embarking on a book tour imminently, now the glossy Vogue spread is safely under his belt.) And that’s a funny coincidence, because Newsom’s tome follows the publication last month of a new memoir by another prominent Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, which made headlines with its revelations about former VP Kamala Harris. Which is also a funny coincidence, given Harris published her own headline-grabbing memoir late last year. (The Kamala book tour is still ongoing.) Quite what’s prompted this flurry of literary inspiration among prominent Dems is, of course, a complete mystery … but Andy Beshear, Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore, Pete Buttigieg … we’re waiting to hear from you. EXTREME MAKEOVER, D.C. EDITION — President Donald Trump delivered fresh details about his plans to renovate the Kennedy Center yesterday, telling reporters he’s “not ripping it down” and will instead be “using the steel” to rebuild. He said the effort would cost roughly $200 million and that it would likely close around July 4. The mood inside the building: “The fallout from Trump’s surprise plan to close Kennedy Center,” by WaPo’s Travis Andrews and colleagues: “The center’s staff learned of the imminent closure through Trump’s Truth Social post … Within hours, speculation and fear had spread as the center’s staffers, performing artists and patrons began preparing for an uncertain future.” JAMES, PLEASE SAY YOU’RE JOKING — James Fishback, who’s running to as a Republican in Florida’s governor’s race, posted on X that he made a Tinder account to “meet young female voters where they are” and make his affordability pitch for them to “get married, buy a home, and raise a family.” He then followed up saying he ran out of likes (we can’t make this up) and asked for donations so he can get the paid version of Tinder. INTRODUCING THE BRUSSELS PLAYBOOK PODCAST: Starting next Tuesday, POLITICO's chief EU correspondent, Zoya Sheftalovich, will be bringing you a daily podcast taking you behind the stories driving the agenda in the heart of the EU — all in under 15 minutes. Zoya will pick up the mic as host Monday to Thursday, whizzing you around the issues that matter, and giving you a glimpse into how the reporting came together. On Fridays, EU Confidential will continue to see you into the weekend. Listen to the trailer and subscribe now BOOK CLUB — Longtime Playbooker Bruce Friedrich’s new book, “Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity's Favorite Food―and Our Future” ($29.95), is out today. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Independent Women is bringing on a new cohort for their ambassador program. The 2026 class: Allie Coghan, Amie Ichikawa, Claire Abernathy, Linnea Saltz, Luke Healy, Madisan DeBos, Payton McNabb, Prisha Mosley and Soren Aldaco. TRANSITIONS — Rey Anthony is returning to Rep. Carlos Gimenez’s (R-Fla.) office as chief of staff. He previously worked for Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) and is a María Elvira Salazar alum. … Savannah Farrell is now a VP at J Strategies. She previously worked at Actum. … Colleen Jarrott is now senior counsel at Clark Hill and a senior director at Clark Hill Public Strategies. She previously worked at Hinshaw & Culbertson. … Joe Franklin is joining the Biotechnology Innovation Organization as its chief legal and policy officer. He previously worked at Covington & Burling. … Fionnuala Quinn is now external affairs officer for the Hyde Group. She was previously at Dods Group. … Lauren Dudley is now Aviation Subcommittee staff director for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Democrats. She previously worked for the National Transportation Safety Board. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.) … former Wisconsin Dem Chair Ben Wikler … Matt Rhoades … Jose Antonio Vargas … Mieke Eoyang … Virginia Moore … former Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) … Markus Batchelor … Invictus Strategies’ Andrew McIndoe … Josh Lipsky … MaryAlice Parks … Kyle Tharp … Zaida Ricker of the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators … Douglas Holtz-Eakin … Lisa Boothe … Justine Turner … John Hendren … Steve Weiss … Arthur Levitt … Fred Hochberg … Claudia Borovina … Lauren Bosler … … Kevin Figueroa of Sen. Michael Bennet’s (D-Colo.) office … Gabby Paone … Eric Lander … Claritza Jimenez … POLITICO’s Benjamin Berg … CISA’s John Fletcher Mutz … Amy Chapman … Mike Ryan 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misspelled Reilly Knecht’s name.
| | | | 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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