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By Eli Okun and Makayla Gray |
Presented by |
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THE CATCH-UP |
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at an event about maternal healthcare on May 11. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP |
THE ART OF THE DEAL: Iranian state media has laid out the government’s demands for a deal with the U.S. — and laid bare just how distant peace remains. “Generous” and “reasonable” is how Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei framed Iran’s latest response, in remarks to reporters today. “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” President Donald Trump had fumed about it yesterday. Iran’s nuclear program, Baghaei added, would be left to discuss in negotiations until “the time is right.” Live updates from the WSJ And the ceasefire is hanging by a thread: Trump said at the White House today that it’s “unbelievably weak” and “on massive life support,” likening the truce’s odds to a doctor giving a patient a 1 percent chance of survival. Now that the world has gotten a closer look at what Iran demanded, it’s clear why he’s so pessimistic. Some of Iran’s top lines will be difficult at best, and nonstarters at worst, for the U.S. to swallow. State media said Iran wants the U.S. to pay reparations for the war and allow Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz — neither of which would be acceptable in Washington — along with the lifting of sanctions, per the NYT. The U.S., in turn, wants Iran to agree to major new limits on its nuclear program, which Iranian leaders, feeling emboldened by how the war has gone, seem nowhere near accepting. Trump continued to draw a hard line today, telling Fox News’ John Roberts that “they’re going to fold.” And he said he’s weighing a restart of the “Project Freedom” operation to have the U.S. Navy guide ships through the strait, though that’d “only be a piece of it.” (In more fanciful news, Trump said he’s weighing a push to make Venezuela the 51st state.) The upshot is that even though a ceasefire remains in place, the path forward looks murky for Trump to get the Strait of Hormuz reopened, let alone achieve the war’s broader aims of setting back Iran’s nuclear program or regime change. Will he escalate militarily, give ground to Iran or prolong a status quo, in which gas prices rise and broader economic tumult grows? The saber-rattling: The Pentagon announced that a Navy ballistic missile submarine made its way to Gibraltar over the weekend, per CBS’ Jim LaPorta, who notes that such a public disclosure is rare and “seems to be strategic signaling” to Iran. The economic scramble: Trump told CBS’ Nancy Cordes on the phone this morning that he wants to lift the federal gas tax temporarily until gas prices fall again, in a bid to give Americans some financial relief. Very quickly, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) announced they’re introducing bills to suspend the tax. Democrats already have some legislation to do so, though sponsor Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) earlier said the GOP response “hasn’t been great so far,” per Bloomberg Government’s Macon Atkinson. (Reality check: Experts told CBS last month the suspension might not help much.) Could Trump’s call be an opening for action — or does Congress already have too much on its plate? Meanwhile, oil prices kept rising today on the latest negative signals from the U.S. and Iran. Global fallout: “As Iran war hits U.S. weapons stocks, allies fear impact on Ukraine,” by WaPo’s Noah Robertson and Ellen Francis Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line at eokun@politico.com and mgray@politico.com. AFTERNOON VIEWING: James Comey will be on MS NOW’s “Deadline: White House” with Nicolle Wallace at 4 p.m. for his first interview after his latest criminal indictment by the Trump DOJ. A federal judge last week agreed to waive a court appearance Comey originally had scheduled today.
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8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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1. WHERE’S THE BEEF? As early as today, the administration plans to lower beef tariffs for a temporary period, WSJ’s Patrick Thomas and Gavin Bade scooped. It’s an effort to ease high beef prices for American consumers — but it could also anger U.S. ranchers and cattlemen. To that end, federal agencies will also roll out loans and deregulatory steps meant to please them, including fewer protections for wolves. 2. WHCD SHOOTING FALLOUT: Cole Allen, the man who allegedly stormed last month’s press gala while armed with guns and knives, pleaded not guilty today on charges of attempting to assassinate Trump, per AP. Building on Allen’s attorneys’ request to disqualify U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro and acting AG Todd Blanche from the case, “[d]efense attorney Eugene Ohm said the defense likely would seek to disqualify Pirro’s entire office from involvement in the case. Ohm acknowledged that a bid to disqualify the entire Justice Department would be unlikely.” Allen, who did not speak during the hearing, is scheduled to return to court June 29. Conspiracy theories rising on the left: “Many Americans think Trump assassination attempts were fake, survey finds,” by WaPo’s Liam Scott: Nearly one-quarter of Americans baselessly think the shooting was staged, according to a survey by NewsGuard. “Roughly 1 in 3 Democratic respondents said they believed the event was staged, compared with about 1 in 8 Republicans.” 3. YOU’VE GOT MAIL (BALLOTS): After Trump’s March executive order requiring the Postal Service to determine who receives mail ballots, USPS workers are expressing concern over the constitutionality of facilitating the process, CNN’s Gabe Cohen and Jeremy Herb report. “[V]oting-rights lawyers warn that would effectively turn USPS into an election enforcement arm, even though there’s no evidence of widespread fraud from ballots cast by mail.” The initiative, enacted to combat the baseless claim that widespread election fraud is created through mail voting, has USPS employees weighing compliance in policing ballots with consideration of GOP funding from Congress. 4. AILING AMERICA: “The families going hungry because of Trump’s food stamp cuts,” by NBC’s Shannon Pettypiece in Phoenix: “Since the [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] was enacted last summer, about 3.5 million people have fallen off the SNAP rolls nationwide as of January, according to federal data. No state has seen a more dramatic drop than Arizona, which offers a window into what may be in store for other states. … [Its] changes are going beyond their stated aims and have made it harder for many more people in Arizona to receive food assistance, even if they should be eligible.”
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POLITICO Security Summit On May 12, POLITICO's Security Summit will convene administration officials, policymakers and industry leaders for urgent conversations on the most pressing issues in defense and cybersecurity – including global defense cooperation, intelligence sharing, investments in new weapons systems, defense tech, and more. Register to attend. |
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5. WHAT THOM TILLIS IS READING: Is Stephen Miller on the back foot? The hard-line White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser is one of the most powerful people in America, having steered Trump’s immigration crackdown and myriad other policy priorities. But The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer and Nick Miroff report that Miller’s influence has diminished somewhat, as Trump has pulled back from (some of) Miller’s most extreme prescriptions on immigration. Border czar Tom Homan and new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin are taking more control. Still, Miller remains hugely consequential, and the White House says Trump loves him. 6. REDISTRICTING RODEO: In the wake of last week’s Republican gerrymandering flurry, election officials are grappling with logistical headaches and voter confusion, AP’s John Hanna and Jack Brook report. On the ground in Central Florida, a large community of Puerto Ricans and South Americans has been split into four districts under the GOP’s new map — triggering a backlash from Democratic and even some Republican voters, WaPo’s Teo Armus and Clara Ence Morse report from Kissimmee. 7. WHAT ENDING DEI LOOKS LIKE: Last year, Trump and the DOJ ended a settlement to replace septic tanks in Alabama on the grounds of what Trump called “illegal DEI.” Now, the funds that support the sanitation work in the primarily Black area are set to run out in October, NYT’s Bernard Mokam reports. “In interviews, many Black Belt residents said they had never heard of D.E.I. … Community activists fear the region may be doomed to enduring wastewater challenges forever.” 8. KNOWING HARMEET DHILLON: “How Growing Up in Smithfield Shaped Harmeet Dhillon,” by The Assembly’s Michael Hewlett: “The high-ranking U.S. Justice Department lawyer, who’s reportedly in line for a promotion, was reared in the 1970s as an outsider — an Indian Sikh girl in a town with a Ku Klux Klan billboard. … Half a century later, the 57-year-old is in charge of enforcing the anti-discrimination laws that grew out of the racial animus Black people in Smithfield and elsewhere in the South faced.”
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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IN MEMORIAM — “Former U.S. Rep. Bill Posey dies, remembered for long dedication to service,” by Florida Today’s Britt Kennerly: “Posey died Saturday, May 9, at age 78, ‘surrounded by the love of his family,’ including his wife of 59 years, Katie, and his daughters, Cathi and Pamela. … Supporters across the years consistently praised Posey’s service to his community, from helping local families get tickets for White House tours to his support for space-related funding.” WATCH OUT FOR DAVID FAHRENTHOLD — The NYT reporter’s latest turn of the screw, with Luke Broadwater, about President Donald Trump’s alternations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool reveals that the no-bid contract’s cost has added another $6.2 million. The Interior Department said it’s a reflection of the fast timeline to meet the semiquincentennial deadline. But the contractor, seemingly now getting a 20 percent profit margin, was handpicked because the administration said it was an emergency in which delays would lead to “serious injury” for the government. Meanwhile, the Cultural Landscape Foundation sued today in federal court to try to stop the paint job at the pool, POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports. SPORTS BLINK — “The cage match is on for tickets to Trump’s UFC fight at the White House,” by NBC’s Jonathan Allen and colleagues: “Trump is handpicking most of the 4,000-plus spectators lucky enough, cunning enough or rich enough to score a seat on the South Lawn. ‘I’m going to make a lot of enemies because it’s impossible to get everyone tickets,’ the president said Friday in a telephone interview.” MEDIA MOVE — Greg Manifold is joining CNN as VP of visuals and design. He previously worked at WaPo. TRANSITIONS — Colton Hotary is now VP of government relations and public affairs at the critical minerals investment firm TechMet. He most recently worked at LG. … Fernando Laguarda is now VP of legal and compliance services and general counsel at UnidosUS. He previously worked at the General Services Administration and is an AmeriCorps alum. 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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