| | | |  | | By Adam Wren | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray Happy Saturday. The situation was not monitored at the new Polymarket “Situation Room” bar last night … because all the monitors went dark. This is Adam Wren. Get in touch. START YOUR DAY HERE: “‘This is about attention’: Mike Lee's MAGA crusade is driving his colleagues crazy,” by POLITICO’s Jordain Carney: “Among online activists and in some corners of the Republican Party, Mike Lee is being heralded as a MAGA champion willing to pressure his own party to embrace hardball tactics or risk political suicide. “But inside the Senate, the Utahn’s scorched-earth, hyper-online methods are sparking a wave of mostly private animosity from GOP colleagues who believe his plan to push through legislation overhauling how federal elections are conducted is ill-conceived and potentially harmful to the party’s chances in the midterms. They believe he doesn’t have a realistic path to passing the SAVE America Act, and they view him as seeking personal attention at the cost of sparking an ongoing intraparty feud.”
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
VP JD Vance’s week is set to end on a bitter note. | Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP | VP JD Vance had another tough week. The longtime anti-interventionist remains in a “hard spot” amid the ongoing Iran war, Joe Kent told Megyn Kelly on her podcast. Kent, the former top counterterrorism official who resigned this week over dissatisfaction with the U.S. campaign against Iran, met privately with Vance and DNI Tulsi Gabbard before he left his post. The narrative that conflict “complicates Vance’s political future” and “a major political setback” has calcified. It’s not just that, though: President Donald Trump has reportedly been quizzing those around him recently about the 2028 race to succeed him, and whether he should back Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the as-of-now hypothetical matchup, according to multiple reports. Now Vance’s week is set to end on a bitter note: Tonight at 7 p.m. in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will keynote the Butler County Democratic Party Spring Gala, where he plans to bash Vance in his own backyard, according to a copy of his prepared remarks shared first with Playbook. “[Vance] wrote an entire book that trafficked in tired stereotypes about the proud people of my state,” Beshear will say. “Calling the people who mined the coal that powered the Industrial Revolution and two world wars lazy. Saying that addiction is the fault of people struggling — and not the opioid manufacturers who flooded our communities with pills. As AG I sued more of them than any attorney general in the country and if I could have found more of them to sue I would have.” Beshear won’t stop there. “JD on the other hand … his book ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ was just hillbilly hate. It was poverty tourism. Because he ain’t from Appalachia. And Ohio deserved a much better senator than him and we all deserve a much better vice president. But let’s talk about how we turn this around. How we actually go win back those voters JD Vance is so condescending to.” Beshear will also attempt to position himself as a more capable tribune of Appalachia, saying “we have to talk to people and not at them. That’s how I won counties in Eastern Kentucky that normally vote for Republicans by large margins. Including Breathitt County, the county JD Vance pretends to be from. Donald Trump won this county by 59 points. I won it by 22 points the year before. So I know we can win in tough areas when we lead with what’s important to us.”
| | | | A message from BlackRock: BlackRock launched Future Builders, a $100 million philanthropic initiative designed to expand economic opportunity for 50,000 tradespeople nationwide and support the next generation of America's skilled trades. As the U.S. faces historic demand for new and modernized infrastructure, the initiative helps address urgent labor needs by connecting workers to training, supporting licensure, and helping participants build long-term financial security. Learn more. | | | | Though Vance is often an enticing target for 2028 Democratic hopefuls, he is not always an easy one. Vance dispatched Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the 2024 vice presidential debate. And Beshear, for example, has not always proven sure-footed as a Vance foil. In August of 2024, Beshear drew intense backlash for appearing to suggest Vance should have to experience the circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape: “JD Vance calls pregnancy resulting from rape inconvenient. Inconvenience is traffic. Make him go through this,” Beshear said on “Morning Joe.” Vance called him a “disgusting person”; Beshear later said, “Obviously, I’d never wish harm on anyone.” Beshear also in 2024 mocked Vance’s preference for the popular Appalachian soda Mountain Dew, saying “Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?” But then Beshear later apologized to the soda for the comment, bringing a bottle of it as a prop to a press conference. “Folks, I’ve been a person that when sometimes I’ve gone over the line, I’ve wanted to make sure that I set the record straight, so, I do owe an apology to Diet Mountain Dew,” Beshear said. And Beshear also criticized Vance for not supporting Kentucky during 2022’s deadly floods, though Vance reportedly wrote a $10,000 check to a local charity. Asked for comment about Beshear’s planned remarks, Vance press secretary Taylor Van Kirk told Playbook in notably sharp terms in her official capacity: “Every time Andy Beshear attacks the Vice President to try to get himself publicity, he ends up humiliating himself in the process, but maybe that's something he's into?” Beshear is not alone as a potential 2028 Democrat to go to Vance’s home state to launch an attack against him — Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) traveled to the City Club of Cleveland to bracket Vance last April. Nor was Beshear the only potential presidential aspirant to hit Vance this week. “He’s not the first vice president to have to effectively ignore his own values in order to serve with Donald Trump,” former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Playbook of Vance’s Iran predicament in Michigan on Wednesday, the same day Vance visited the state. “And you know, you can tell that there is something off in the MAGA coalition, because JD Vance is uncharacteristically quiet.” In response, Van Kirk said: “Pete Buttigieg is an unemployed man who recently moved to Michigan and then chickened out of a Senate run because he’s clearly unelectable. The media should stop treating his ramblings as news.” But the broadsides from potential 2028 Democratic aspirants offer perhaps the most promising news of the week for Vance. It’s the surest sign yet that, despite any political turmoil, they believe he remains his party’s likeliest post-Trump standard bearer.
| | | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. IRAN WAR LATEST: In the latest of Trump’s widely diverging signals on where the war in Iran is headed, Trump floated “winding down” military efforts in the region in a post to Truth Social, possibly without reopening the Strait of Hormuz, even as thousands more Marines are en route to the region. That’s a decidedly different tone than Israel’s defense minister struck this morning, who warned that attacks by the U.S. and Israel will “increase significantly” next week. It’s also a different tack than what’s going on behind the scenes: the administration has been exploring options to extract Iran’s nuclear materials through special forces, CBS’ Jennifer Jacobs and colleagues scoop. The latest escalation: Tehran launched missiles at the joint U.S.-U.K. Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, AP’s Jon Gambrell and colleagues report. “The Iranian attack on the Diego Garcia air base — located about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) from Iran — suggested Tehran has in its stockpile missiles that can go farther than it had previously acknowledged.” Ties that bind: The war has “triggered the broadest and fastest wave of attacks against U.S. embassies and consulates in the post-9/11 era,” WSJ’s Robbie Gramer and Vera Bergengruen report, as retaliation over the war widens. And any possibility of Trump stepping back from the war — especially without securing the strait — could leave U.S. allies sifting through the war’s damages, WaPo’s Michael Birnbaum and colleagues write. 2. THE OTHER WAR: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing to bring negotiations to end the war in his home country back on track, after three weeks of the conflict in Iran has dominated the world (and the White House’s) attention, NYT’s Cassandra Vinograd reports from Kyiv. The Kremlin has said talks are in a “situational pause” — but late Thursday Zelenskyy announced Ukrainian officials were on their way to the U.S. for weekend talks, which kick off today in Miami. Meanwhile, drone strikes are raising the death toll in Ukraine, per AP. 3. DATA DUMP: “Confrontation between billionaire CEO and Lutnick hints at trouble with huge data center project,” by POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman and Zack Colman: “A confrontation between a Dallas billionaire and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at a Silicon Valley conference has exposed simmering tensions over an effort to secure financing for a sprawling campus of data centers powered by a private energy grid. Toby Neugebauer, the CEO and co-founder of Fermi America, became ‘loud and belligerent’ with Lutnick at the Nvidia GTC conference in San Jose, California, on Tuesday as he raised the issue of investment from South Korea in the data center project, according to a witness. “Neugebauer, who has an established relationship with Lutnick and has done business with the secretary’s sons, disputes the description of the encounter as heated but concedes he had a ‘direct conversation’ about what he sees as Lutnick’s interference in Fermi’s planned Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus in West Texas. … The incident provides a glimpse behind the scenes of an effort to develop one of the largest clusters of AI data centers in the country.” 4. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: In another closed-door meeting with bipartisan senators on the Hill yesterday, border czar Tom Homan communicated additional immigration enforcement concessions from the White House as talks ramp up to end the DHS shutdown, POLITICO’s Katherine Tully-McManus and colleagues report. The new offer includes a look at draft legislation, which Republicans are hoping Democrats respond to this weekend. A Democratic aide told KTM and co. there’s still “ways to go,” but Homan called it a “good discussion.” The Senate is working through the weekend — continuing the extended debate over the SAVE Act (more on that below) and potentially another bipartisan meeting on DHS funding. The rare weekend work comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune warns of a looming deadline at the end of next week — and the risk of canceling the two-week recess if no progress is made, as POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes write. Elon Musk on X this morning offered to “pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse,” as the TSA impact piles up, per WSJ.
| | | | POLITICO's Economy Summit Join POLITICO’s Economy Summit on March 25 for discussions with government and industry leaders about the policy decisions that will determine tomorrow’s market risks and opportunities. Hear from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Gary Cohn, and more. RSVP to attend in person or virtually. | | | | | 5. THE LATEST DEM INFIGHTING: “Growing Frustration With Chuck Schumer Spurs Talk of Replacing Him,” by WSJ’s Siobhan Hughes and colleagues: “Sen. Chris Murphy was dining with progressive activists at a French restaurant in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood when the conversation about how to advance their legislative priorities turned to a thorny question: what to do about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. … [Murphy] responded that some lawmakers had been doing informal counts to see whether enough votes existed to remove the New York Democrat from his leadership position … “Murphy explained that Schumer had enough backing to remain as leader. But the disclosure stood out nonetheless.” Murphy denied that he keeps such a count and told WSJ he still supports Schumer, but more interviews with Democratic senators, candidates, current and former congressional aides, activists and advisers revealed a “widespread” concern. 6. THE DON-ROE DOCTRINE: Cuba’s government rejected a request this week by the U.S. Embassy to bring in diesel fuel for its generators, saying it’s “shameless” while the country is under an oil embargo, WaPo’s Adam Taylor and colleagues scoop. But without fuel, the embassy could be forced to evacuate around or before May. The pressure cooker comes as the Trump administration is increasingly threatening to push the Cuban government from power. Speaking at a presser yesterday, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said the country’s leadership is “not up for negotiation,” per Reuters. Price tag for Petro: The DEA is officially designating Colombian President Gustavo Petro as a “priority target” while federal prosecutors look into his ties to drug trafficking, AP’s Jim Mustian and colleagues report. 7. REDISTRICTING RODEO: As Democrats’ push for redistricting in Virginia enters its final stretch, some in the party are growing nervous, NBC’s Adam Edelman reports. They have fundraising and ad spending advantages — but it’s been more challenging to convince some of Virginia’s voters (compared to California) to back a gerrymander, and April is not usually an election month for the state. “We have to effectively make the case that even though this seems unfair in Virginia, it’s totally fair for America,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) told NBC. 8. MEDIAWATCH: “Judge Rules Pentagon Restrictions on Press Are Unconstitutional,” by NYT’s Erik Wemple: “A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Pentagon’s restrictions on news outlets violate the First Amendment and issued an order tossing parts of the Defense Department’s policy, handing a victory to The New York Times, which filed suit in December over the restrictions. … In his 40-page ruling, Judge [Paul Friedman] wrote that the Pentagon’s policy rewarded reporters who were ‘willing to publish only stories that are favorable to or spoon-fed by department leadership.’ … Sean Parnell, the chief spokesman at the Pentagon, said in an X post, ‘We disagree with the decision and are pursuing an immediate appeal.’” 9. UNDOING A LEGACY: “Covering murals, removing statues: The erasure of Cesar Chavez is underway in California,” by LA Times’ Karen Garcia and Melissa Gomez: “It took three decades of battles and lobbying for Cesar Chavez’s name and likeness to grace hundreds of buildings, roads, parks and schools. It is taking just days for them to come down. … In San Fernando, a completely covered Chavez statue was pulled off its pedestal and put into storage. Murals depicting Chavez in Los Angeles were unceremoniously painted over. In Fresno, the City Council voted to strip his name from a major street — just three years after its controversial decision to rebrand it in his honor.”
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Energy policy sits at the center of economic resilience. At BlackRock's U.S. Infrastructure Summit, leaders discussed. Learn more. | | | | CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies
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| GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “This Military Tragedy Became a Blockbuster Movie. Here’s What It Didn’t Tell You,” by R.M. Schneiderman and Ed Darack for POLITICO Magazine: “More than 20 years after Operation Red Wings, the mission that inspired the bestselling memoir and film ‘Lone Survivor,’ Navy SEALs are finally opening up about what really happened.” — “How Will Lewis Lost the Washington Post,” by Paul Farhi for Washingtonian: “Two years ago, Jeff Bezos brought in controversial media executive Will Lewis to lift the Washington Post out of a post-Trump slump. His calamitous tenure ended in failure—and has left the storied newspaper in an even deeper hole.” — “A massive border wall expansion is underway,” by WaPo’s Arelis Hernández, Jake Spring, John Muyskens and Thomas Simonetti: “The aggressive pace of expansion has alarmed advocates who say the construction will destroy pristine country, threaten endangered species, and cut off access to sacred Indigenous and archaeological sites.” — “How a Billionaire Friend Changed Trump’s Mind About Pot,” by The Free Press’ Gabe Kaminsky: “Credit card pioneer Howard Kessler persuaded the president to buck decades of Republican dogma on marijuana.” — “How Eric Trump Became an Ally of One of China’s Biggest Crypto Companies,” by Bloomberg’s Ryan Weeks: “Bitmain has been dogged for years by questions about the security of its mining rigs. But that hasn’t stopped it from going into business with a key member of the First Family.” — “The ‘Big Black Scar,’” by The Atlantic’s Nick Miroff: “Trump is blowing up national-park land in Arizona to wall off one of the border’s last wild places.” — “‘I’m Far Angrier,’” by The Atlantic’s Russell Berman: “Can Cory Booker, once the candidate of love, run for president and stay true to who he is?” — “A U.S. Citizen Now Runs Mexico’s Top Drug Cartel — and Targeting Him Is Complicated,” by WSJ’s José de Córdoba, Santiago Pérez and Steve Fisher: “The California-born stepson of the late kingpin ‘El Mencho’ enjoys constitutional protections other capos could only dream of.”
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➡️ Get on the Invite List | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | 2028 WATCH? — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro appeared as a special guest at ModSquad’s second annual policy retreat in D.C. yesterday. Shapiro joined Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), ModSquad honorary chair, for a fireside chat focused on getting elected in battleground states and the need for Democrats to lean in on public safety. “We're getting stuff done in Pennsylvania because we show up in communities all across the Commonwealth, listen to the people we serve, and bring elected leaders from both sides of the aisle together to make progress on the issues that matter,” Shapiro said. Also delivering remarks: former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and pollster David Shor. PLATNER PLOTZ — Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s response to Janet Mills’ attack ad against his controversial old Reddit posts this week contains an unattributed quote: “Denounces decade-old Reddit post,” seeming to indicate that the the line was pulled from news coverage or a headline. But that phrase doesn’t show up anywhere in searches of the coverage, Adam reports. Platner’s campaign did not provide comment, but sent along a transcript from October 2025, and pointed to a line that read: “Reports that Graham Platner does not deny, but now denounces, show that he disparaged cops on Reddit in 2021 and called white rural Americans racist and stupid.” Campaigns often have a list of citations ready for ads. It remains unclear where the quote in the ad originated. IN MEMORIAM — “Laredo journalist and IRE executive director Diana R. Fuentes dies,” by KGNS News’ Mariana Flores-Sosa: “Diana R. Fuentes, a Laredo native and former editor of the Laredo Morning Times, died unexpectedly March 20 in Washington, D.C., according to Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). … She was executive director of IRE at the time of her death, a position she held since April 2021. Fuentes had more than 35 years of experience in journalism and was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame in 2022. She also taught journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Texas State University, where she recently earned her master’s degree.” UPDATE ON THE TWAIN PRIZE — The Atlantic reported yesterday that Bill Maher was set to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor — an honor bestowed by the Kennedy Center. The story cited a number of sources, including one who works at the center, and another who said Trump was even “supportive of the idea.” But it wasn’t meant to be: “After this story was published, the White House called the Kennedy Center and made clear that Maher would not receive the prize. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also then sent us a statement: ‘This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.’” STRICTLY BALLROOM — “President Trump’s Ballroom Architect, Roasting in the Hot Seat,” by NYT’s Elisabeth Bumiller: “He is successful, rich and approaching the end of a long career. So fellow architects and colleagues wonder why Shalom Baranes — who renovated the Pentagon, modernized the Treasury Department and over 50 years changed much of the face of Washington — signed on to the headache of President Trump’s White House ballroom.” MEDIA MOVE — Dustin Volz is joining the NYT to cover cybersecurity and intelligence. He previously was at the WSJ. TRANSITION — Brad Klapper is now comms director for the Board of Peace. He is a managing partner at Qorvis and was formerly at the AP. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The Dispatch’s Jonah Goldberg … CNN’s John Berman … Progressive Change Campaign Committee’s Adam Green … Cenk Uygur … Brian Ellner ... Narrative Strategies DC’s Ken Spain … Dan Wilson of Mercury … Andrew Bleeker of Bully Pulpit Interactive … FocusDC’s Matt Gerson … Ross Kyle of Van Scoyoc Associates … Nicole Smith of Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies … Andres Ramirez of Forbes Tate Partners … Andrew Brown … Fred Fielding ... Sharon Castillo … Taylor St. Germain of Reproductive Equity Now … John Mark Kolb … Amy Joyce … Eileen Tansill … Lynn Hidalgo … Alex Arbaiza … Scott Raab … POLITICO’s Danny Clasen, Nicholas Cirone and Yesi Chappell … Melissa Mattoon … Dana Martin … Siena Duncan … Beatrice Jin THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): NBC “Meet the Press”: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) … Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío. Panel: Mike Dubke, Ashley Etienne, Courtney Kube and Jonathan Martin. ABC “This Week”: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Panel: Donna Brazile, Chris Christie and Marianna Sotomayor. CBS “Face the Nation”: U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz … Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) … International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi … Fiona Hill … Anthony Salvanto. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Panel: Emily Brooks and David Swerdlick. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Tom Homan … retired Lt. Gen. Charles Moore … Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) … Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Panel: Guy Benson, Dasha Burns, Juan Williams and Roger Zakheim. CNN “Inside Politics Sunday”: Graham Platner. Panel: Aaron Blake, Jeff Mason and Margaret Talev. MS NOW “The Weekend: Primetime”: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) ... Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling … Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss … Geoff Duncan. PBS “Compass Points”: Vali Nasr … Mike Doran … Dana Stroul … Miad Maleki. 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.
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