Current Affairs Of Pakistan & World: Welcome to WHCD weekend

Welcome to WHCD weekend

Apr 23, 2026

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With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray

On today’s Playbook Podcast: Adam Wren and Megan Messerly discuss how the White House is reining in international travel for Cabinet members ahead of the midterms.

Good Thursday morning. This is Jack Blanchard. Get in touch.

THE HOUR IS UPON US: Pre-order your Ubers, stock up on electrolytes, check (again) that you remembered your RSVPs. The White House Correspondents Dinner weekend is upon us — and this time, there’s a Donald Trump factor to contend with.

Thursday is the new Friday: As usual, there’s a ton of pre-parties happening tonight for those unable to wait for, you know, the actual weekend, including the prestigious Annual Washington Women in Journalism Awards, hosted by the Washingtonian. Send us your best tips for making the weekend fun (what to aim for, what and where to eat, what — or perhaps who — to avoid) and we’ll throw the best of them in Playbook tomorrow.

An expert in making the weekend fun: Legendary D.C. lobbying/party queen Tammy Haddad is Dasha’s guest on “The Conversation” this week, where she talks through the history and the highlights of the weekend. “One of the great things that people don't get about that whole weekend is that it's connecting with people,” Haddad says. “Developing relationships, getting new jobs, new people to marry, new people to hang out with. That's the best part of being in D.C., right? We’re in this community.”

Ignore the haters! “It only happens once a year,” Haddad adds. “If you're a journalist, you don't get to see your competition except at political conventions, political events … [and] at this dinner. So it really is a coming together [of a] community. This isn't happening all the time.” The full episode drops tomorrow. Subscribe on Apple or Spotify

Personally speaking … Your Playbook author (who’s getting old) very much prefers the boozy brunches to the late-night soirees. But it’s hard to argue that the hottest ticket in town this weekend isn’t tomorrow night’s party at The Executive Branch, the highly exclusive MAGA-friendly club co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., where founding membership costs a mere $500,000.

The party promises to be full of buzz again this year: Sources familiar with the planning told Playbook that the guest list is surging past capacity. The space has an upper limit of 275 people — but requests have come in at four times that number. What’s driving the spiking interest? The entertainment, of course. For those lucky enough to get in, Nelly will be taking the stage sometime around 9:30 or 10 p.m., we hear. “No one can compete with Nelly,” one source said.

The guest list will feature plenty of senior administration officials, as well as big names from business and tech, the sources said. It will also be the first time that journalists have been allowed in the space since its opening last year. “Only non-fake news is allowed in,” one of the sources said. But if you’re one of the many who didn’t manage to snag an invite, you’re in good company: even Fortune 15 executives are struggling to get in, the sources said.

In today’s Playbook …

— Pressure piles on Florida Republicans to deliver on redistricting.

— Senate Republicans clear immigration enforcement bill in overnight vote.

— Which Supreme Court justice was seen at a tuxedo shop in Georgetown? We got the story.

DRIVING THE DAY

FLORIDA, MAN: All eyes in the redistricting arms race are now squarely turned toward Florida — the biggest jewel left on the board for Republicans eager to claw back their advantage in the nationwide push that Trump launched last year.

Following Virginia Democrats’ victory persuading voters to redraw the commonwealth’s maps — giving Democrats a +1 edge in the gerrymandering tally — Florida lawmakers are set to kick around their own redrawing next week. But the road may not be a smooth one for Republicans in the state.

For the full download on where Florida Republicans turn now, we tapped POLITICO’s man in Tallahassee, Gary Fineout, to give us the lay of the land:

In just six days, the Florida Legislature is supposed to gavel in for a highly anticipated special session that will presumably include a new congressional map that could help Republicans heading into the midterms after their defeat this week in Virginia.

Some have noted a slight bit of irony that it could fall to Gov. Ron DeSantis to help Trump’s team in preserving GOP control of the House. (Yes, Trump and DeSantis have patched up their relationship after the governor challenged him in 2024, but there’s been some beef between DeSantis and several top White House aides.) Some Republicans say this effort could give DeSantis a chance to shine again with the conservative wing of the party if he pulls it off.

But but but: It’s illegal under Florida’s constitution to draw congressional maps for partisan gain, and any action is sure to draw a swift legal challenge.

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So what’s it look like? Legislators — and the rest of the world — still don’t even know exactly what the new map will look like just days before they will vote. Top Republicans in the Legislature are waiting on the governor’s team to submit a map (supposedly this week) and just as important defend the map once it drops. What legal justification will be used?

And then there’s the question of whether the map will actually help? Republicans already have a commanding 20-8 edge in Florida based on a map DeSantis muscled through back in 2022.

One longtime Florida political consultant who has worked for prominent Republicans did a recent analysis that concluded the effort could net the GOP … zero seats. “We have already compacted Democrats into such tight districts, the only thing you can do when you are redrawing is cut them out of there,” Alex Alvarado said in an interview. “You have to place those Democratic voters somewhere.”

DeSantis first got on the redistricting train last summer. But a lot has changed politically since then. The governor “would still like to get something done on redistricting,” one Florida GOP operative familiar with the governor’s thinking told POLITICO. “But he realizes the atmospherics for the 2026 election are already in place and it will be tough for Republicans to retain the House regardless of what happens in Florida.” Read more on Florida’s make-or-break moment from Gary and Erin Doherty

LOOMING IN THE BACKGROUND: Though Florida appears to be the largest redistricting battleground left on the map, one of the biggest wild cards in the redistricting saga is still on the table. That’s when the Supreme Court might decide to take a hammer to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which would allow red Southern states to hypothetically redraw Black- and Hispanic-majority blue districts, POLITICO’s Samuel Benson writes in.

But the window for such an action to come in time to impact this year’s midterms has all but closed. Even if a decision in Louisiana v. Callais came on the next decision day, two Southern states have already held primaries, and the candidate filing deadline in every state but Florida has passed.

Could those state legislatures call special sessions, redraw maps, reopen filing periods, push back primaries and ultimately give the GOP a slight edge in the redistricting wars? In some cases, yes. But the havoc that would create for voters, election workers, campaigns and lawmakers would be difficult to justify.

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ON THE HILL

VOTE-A-RAMA-DRAMA: The Senate embarked on another vote-a-rama last night, wrapping just after 3:30 a.m. with a 50-48 vote to green-light Republicans’ plan to send tens of billions of dollars to immigration enforcement agencies in the coming years, POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes and Jordain Carney report.

Up next: House Republicans need to approve the budget blueprint before GOP leaders can move on to crafting the party-line package itself. Around 4 a.m., Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that Speaker Mike Johnson hasn’t guaranteed the House can adopt the budget resolution in its current form. House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington told our colleague Katherine Tully-McManus there’s still an appetite for going broader if there is not going to be a third reconciliation bill. But House GOP leaders are planning to stick with their narrow scope, at least for now. More in POLITICO’s Inside Congress

CABINET CLEANOUT: GOP senators have a message for the White House: Get the house in order now — or get ready to wait. The recent spate of Cabinet departures has some Republicans in the chamber wondering whether more shakeups could be coming and what that could mean to an unsettled Senate floor schedule, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney reports. Senate Republicans are already trying to juggle a shrinking window for lawmaking before the midterms — not to mention growing uncertainty about whether Republicans can defend their majority.

Though no senator is openly pointing to any particular Cabinet official as likely to depart, there’s some names floating around. Three privately tabbed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as one with potential to move. A fourth questioned how long DNI Tulsi Gabbard would remain in her post. And two senators said FBI Director Kash Patel could be on the rocks. “He’s in a bad mood, so he’s letting a lot of them go,” one of the four said about Trump. “He’s preparing to really let a lot of them go.”

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Republican leaders raced overnight to try and land a backup plan to fund government spy powers as the clock ticks on the program’s expiration. Speaker Mike Johnson told POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and Mia McCarthy that he was targeting an updated proposal for Section 702 of FISA for today, as the House gets pressured to file by week’s end so the Senate has sufficient time to act before April 30.

AND IN THE BACKGROUND: The House Oversight Committee is divided on getting Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon for her cooperation with their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, per POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs.

THE DRUMBEAT OF WAR

CEASEFIRE HOLDING: Despite Iran’s attacks on three international ships in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, the shaky — and so far, indefinite — ceasefire remains in place as mediators hope talks can restart as soon as Friday. “President Trump ultimately will dictate the timeline,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters yesterday evening, adding that Iran’s attacks yesterday were not considered a ceasefire violation. Iran blasted the U.S. for “endless hypocritical” messaging, adding the country remains open to negotiations, per WSJ. But Iran is showing its grip on the strait has only tightened, NYT’s Peter Eavis writes.

And Trump’s team isn’t making predictions anymore about what’s going to happen with gas prices, as the issue threatens to dominate the midterms. Administration officials aren’t committing to a timeline, POLITICO’s James Bikales and colleagues write. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “declined to say Wednesday when the price of gasoline — now averaging above $4 per gallon, more than a dollar higher than when the war started — will come down. Instead, he told Senate appropriators that it depended on the length of the war.”

Quick reminder: The 60-day mark of the war is fast approaching. Some GOP members have acknowledged that could be their inflection point on when the vague responses on the war’s end may no longer suffice, as NYT’s Robert Jimison notes. The latest Senate war powers vote failed again, as Democrats remain committed to forcing the issue each week.

Complicating factors: Clearing the Strait of Hormuz of the mines that were placed by the Iranian military could take up to six months, and it likely wouldn’t start until the end of the war, according to a Pentagon assessment shared with Congress, WaPo’s Dan Lamothe and colleagues scoop. Meanwhile Iran’s military capabilities remain greater than the White House or Pentagon have publicly acknowledged, per CBS’ Jennifer Jacobs and colleagues.

Another piece of the puzzle: Smack in the middle of the war effort, the Pentagon announced Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his post. POLITICO’s Jack Detsch, Paul McLeary, Daniel Lippman and Connor O'Brien have the behind-the-scenes details on why.

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BEST OF THE REST

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — 2028 watch: There’s a pair of tentpole events that could provide a window into the direction of the Democratic Party in 2026 and beyond to mark on your calendar.

Pod squad: After hosting its first sold-out “Crooked Con” last year, Crooked Media is coming back for a second installment of the conference, with an announcement expected during Jon Lovett’s live show in D.C. tonight, Playbook’s Ali Bianco scoops.

The convention will kick off just days after the midterm election, from Nov. 5-7 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center — aiming to officially kick off the 2028 conversation. Crooked Media is promising “more panels across bigger stages, candidate forums, live shows … and of course appearances from top voices across politics, media, and activism,” according to a statement shared with Playbook.

CAP it off: A number of potential Democratic presidential candidates will get to test-drive their policy prescriptions for the party at the Center for American Progress’ 2026 Ideas Conference on May 19 in D.C., POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky scoops. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) are among the headliners of the center-left convening that CAP is bringing back after a three-year hiatus to help fine-tune Democrats' approach to the midterms and 2028.

The speaker list also includes a mix of party leaders and rising stars: New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Ezra Klein.

CRYPTO CRASHOUT: “Crypto traders fall out of love with Trump’s digital ventures,” by POLITICO’s Declan Harty: “Eleven months ago, a gala dinner for major investors in the cryptocurrency token set off a buying frenzy from MAGA-loving crypto traders, outrage among Democrats and a headline-grabbing protest at the event. But a similar event planned for Saturday at Mar-a-Lago is highlighting a growing disenchantment with Trump’s crypto ventures. Over the last year, investors have shunned the so-called $TRUMP memecoin … The memecoin is currently down more than 95 percent from its January 2025 high.”

TOP TALKER: Kalshi suspended and fined three political candidates from the betting site after an internal investigation found they placed bets on their own races, CNN’s Marshall Cohen reports. Though Kalshi didn’t identify who the candidates were, the names started filtering out: Matt Klein, who’s running for Congress as a Democrat in Minnesota, apologized in a post on X. Meanwhile, Mark Moran, who’s running for Virginia Senate as an independent, welcomed the attention and told the WSJ he has no intention of paying the fine.

TALK OF THE TOWN

ONLY IN D.C. — POLITICO’s E&E News’ Scott Waldman texts in with a made-for-WHCD story: “I went to get measured for my rental tux on Wednesday. It was a really small place in Georgetown called Anthony's Tuxedos. The owner, Ed Solomon, is a witty political junkie and father of long-shot mayoral candidate Hope Solomon, who is running for office after getting DOGE’d. I had just been fitted for my tux when I hear someone come in and start speaking to Ed. I walk out and it's me, the owner and Justice Samuel Alito staring awkwardly at each other.”

Loyal readers might remember Anthony’s from a story ahead of the WHCD weekend in 2022, when Eugene Daniels overheard former AG Merrick Garland asking Ed for instructions on how to get the studs into the tuxedo shirt buttonholes. We could all probably use that advice, Ed.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM — Spectators young and old clamored yesterday to the National Zoo for the public debut of Linh Mai, a less-than-two-month old, 500-pound elephant calf — the first to be born at the zoo in 25 years. Playbook’s Irie Sentner spotted Linh Mai with her “auntie” Swarna, who took the calf under her wing when her mother rejected her at birth. She is fed elephant formula every two hours, and National Zoo staff monitor her 24/7. Watch here on the zoo’s Elephant Cam

“I’m a Linh Mai enthusiast. I've been following since she was born,” Surupa Sengupta, who went to visit the calf yesterday, told Irie. Sengupta said she had been at the zoo two years ago with her nephew when she saw Linh Mai’s parents mating. Now, she said, she is excited for its newest elephant “to be an ambassador for the species.” Pic … Another pic

PLAYBOOK ARTS SECTION — “Two year closure was his idea, says Trump’s new Kennedy Center leader, defending dramatic move,” by CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty: “Trump’s newly appointed head of the Kennedy Center [Matt Floca] offered a full-throated defense of the decision to close the renowned arts institution for renovations for two years, telling reporters on Wednesday that it was his idea. … However, Kennedy Center officials acknowledged that even after the two years, patrons may not see much of a difference in the physical look of the building when it reopens. The only visible changes of note that patrons will see are landscape pavers, fountains and possible changes to the interior color palette, officials said.”

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT — “Secret ‘sugar daddy’ sex scandal explodes inside Trump's counterterrorism HQ,” by Daily Mail’s Shawn Cohen: “A top-level Trump counterterrorism official is under investigation amid claims she actively looks for sugar daddies to maintain her exorbitant lifestyle.”

OUT AND ABOUT — The Washington Association of Black Journalists hosted “A Toast to Press Freedom” WHCA reception last night at the National Association of Broadcasters HQ. SPOTTED: Reps. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), Don Lemon, April Ryan, Brett Bruen, Eugene Scott, Eva McKend, Raquel Martin, Allison Seymour, Marc Clarke, Ashleigh Demi, Monica Richardson, Erica Loewe, Brianna Tucker, Sheila Eldridge, Adjoa B. Asamoah, Phil Lewis, Kimberly Wilson, Jawn Murray, Michelle Bailey, Ayesha Rascoe, Ameshia Cross, Anthony Coley, Nicholas Wu, Rodericka Applewhaite, Nola Haynes, Aprill Turner, Glynda Carr, Javier Lewis, Deborah Berry, Lakecia Stickney and Darlene Superville.

— Alzheimer’s advocates convened on Capitol Hill this week for UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Advancing Women’s Brain Health Summit to highlight the importance of funding Alzheimer’s disease research. Attendees also gathered for the summit reception at the Russell Senate Office Building. SPOTTED: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and NIA Director Richard Hodes.

— Sachiko Kuno and Kate Goodall hosted a gathering at historic Evermay in Georgetown last night to celebrate the launch of the Embassy for the Future. The evening brought together journalists, entrepreneurs, policymakers and cultural figures for cocktails, conversation and connection. SPOTTED: Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Yamada, Jodie McLean, Eric and Sharapat Kessler, Ami Aronson, Marcellus Rolle, Margaret Carlson, Maryam Mujica, Michael Collins, Michelle Freeman, Tamara Buchwald, Bruce Kieloch, Nancy Bagley, Amy Argetsinger, Jake Perry, Hakeem Oluseyi and Mignon Clyburn.

WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Alex Meyer is stepping down from his role leading the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, per Axios. He’s expected to join Trump’s outside midterms operation.

TRANSITIONS — William Thompson has joined FGS Global as a managing director in their Washington, D.C. office. He previously worked in the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. … Alethea Harney has joined the National Women’s Law Center as chief of staff. She previously worked for former second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) … Conexión’s Pili Tobar … Aaron Huertas … Jeff Wiener of Milne, Wiener & Shofe Global Strategies … John Oliver … Hadar Susskind … Tim Lim … Doug Brake … Kindred Motes … Clarine Nardi Riddle of Kasowitz Benson Torres … Ted Trippi … Tizzy Brown … Alex Lupica … Camila Gonzalez of WilmerHale … Darien Flowers … CoStar Group’s Julian Sharat … Justin White … former Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) … Once Upon a Hill’s Michael Jones … Blendi Qatipi … Gideon Lett … Jesse Seidman … Kal Penn … Neil Strauss of Red Banyan … Caterpillar’s Katie Webster … Bill Browder … Tess Cohen-Dumani of the Herald Group … Michael Moore … Sabrina Bruce

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