Big news this evening: Playbook is getting a new team. Beginning tomorrow, Playbook will be co-authored by ADAM WREN, DASHA BURNS and WILL STEAKIN — three of the sharpest reporters in American politics, taking the wheel at exactly the moment when stakes are the highest. A midterm year full of surprises, from President Donald Trump’s endorsements to a nationwide left-wing challenge toppling establishment Democrats. A wide-open 2028 race already taking shape. And a battle over the future of both parties that grows more intense by the day. They’ll be working over the next several weeks toward an official relaunch on August 31, when you can expect a newsletter with more reporting, deeper sourcing and an even sharper read on where power is shifting — from the campaign trail to Capitol Hill to the West Wing. What won't change: Playbook will still be the indispensable morning briefing you start your day with. The Playbook Podcast is also getting a refresh — anchored by DASHA, with a rotating cast of her fellow authors and POLITICO journalists breaking down the biggest stories of the day, available in audio and video formats each morning. MEGAN MESSERLY joins as a Playbook Contributor, adding her reporting and sourcing to the team's daily coverage on both the newsletter and podcast. GIUSEPPE MACRI will become Senior Playbook Editor, leading execution of the daily product and its long-term strategic vision. KYLE BLAINE remains Playbook Executive Producer. There's more coming, too. Later this summer, we'll reboot Forecast, a look-ahead briefing, podcast, and global franchise, led by JACK BLANCHARD, who takes the helm in his new role as Global Politics Bureau Chief. More on that soon — but in the meantime, we offer Jack our thanks for an exceptional 18 months leading this newsletter. But since Adam, Dasha and Will will be landing in your inbox every morning starting tomorrow, you should get to know them better right away. MEET THE AUTHORSAdam Wren Adam Wren has spent his career decoding how power works in American politics — from the Democratic Party's search for its future ahead of the 2028 presidential election to the remaking of the federal government under President Donald Trump. He has demonstrated a knack for bringing readers close to rising figures before they become national newsmakers, as well as tracking politics upstream to where it meets culture. His reporting, spanning three presidential campaigns, ranges from examining the institutions and ideas reshaping the right, like Turning Point USA and how The Lord of the Rings formed JD Vance, to the statewide races and characters that signal where the country is heading. He was most recently part of the team behind the investigation that led to Graham Platner’s withdrawal from the Maine Senate race. He started as a contributor to POLITICO Magazine in 2015 and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
- Favorite scoop of your career: This is like asking me about my favorite breath: the next one keeps me alive. But thinking back on Trump 2.0, probably that Vivek Ramaswamy would step away from DOGE or that James Talarico, who I first profiled in 2023, was exploring — and then launching — a run for the Senate.
- First Playbook memory: Reading Mark Leibovich’s 2010 profile of Mike Allen, and learning how to write a masterful profile, but also about the drive it takes to write Playbook and the influence it has.
- Dream interview: I’m nearly done with David Maraniss’ Bill Clinton biography, and I’d like to do a joint interview with both of them: To ask Maraniss how he captured Clinton, and to ask Clinton about how he captured the party in the 1992 battle of ideas — all to get a sense of where 2028 might be headed.
Dasha Burns Dasha Burns is known for her deep sourcing and in-depth interviews with the people who hold power. She has interviewed Trump in the Roosevelt Room and pressed him on everything from foreign policy to the limits of presidential authority. She has led POLITICO's White House coverage, and hosts The Conversation, POLITICO's weekly interview show and podcast, where guests have ranged from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. She will continue as POLITICO's Global Anchor and host and managing editor of The Conversation alongside her new role on Playbook. Before POLITICO, she was a national correspondent at NBC News, where she led coverage of the 2024 campaign and reported on-site from Butler, Pennsylvania, during the first assassination attempt on Trump. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.
- Favorite scoop of your career: Brutal question. I’d never put an interview subject through something so tough! Every scoop is memorable for a different reason, and usually has its own wild behind-the-scenes story. If I’m thinking about this administration, it’s probably revealing that there were a dozen-plus national security-related Signal chats stood up by then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, or scooping the White House “intervention” with Elon Musk.
- First Playbook memory: I wasn’t super into politics when I started college. But then sophomore year a colleague on CalTV (the campus news station) told me to subscribe to a daily newsletter called Playbook. The rest was history.
- Dream interview: I like high stakes. I like complicated figures. Let’s talk, Vladimir Putin.
Will Steakin Will Steakin has spent more than a decade covering national politics, with a focus on the voices, coalitions and power struggles reshaping both parties — from fissures inside the MAGA movement to the insurgent left. In his first few weeks at POLITICO, Will contributed cycle-defining pieces including predicting an insurgent wave in Colorado and a lively look at the future of the political operatives behind Graham Platner’s rise (and fall). Before joining POLITICO, he helped lead ABC News' coverage of the Trump administration, Congress and national elections, and earlier reported on the aftermath of the January 6 attack and broke a series of stories about the investigations into Rep. Matt Gaetz ahead of Gaetz's withdrawal as Trump's attorney general nominee. His reporting increasingly tracks how online personalities and emerging media figures are reshaping politics. He is a graduate of Columbia University.
- Favorite scoop of your career: One that still sticks with me is doing one of the few interviews with AOC before her huge 2018 primary upset, when the idea that she could beat Joe Crowley seemed unthinkable. Her campaign caught my eye, and I had to convince my editor to even do it. I still have the call recorded: AOC sounds wide-eyed and not entirely convinced herself that she can pull it off. She obviously went on to become a defining figure in Democratic politics overnight. It really taught me to trust my gut. But for sheer chaos, it’s hard to beat Rudy Giuliani’s post-election takeover of Trump campaign headquarters in 2020, when sources called me from their offices describing a “coup” as his team commandeered conference rooms and sparked a screaming match between Jason Miller and Jenna Ellis ... an early preview of what was to come.
- First Playbook memory: I’m actually going to pivot and shout out a recent Playbook edition that has become a favorite of mine: when our own Adam Wren planted a flag on Hasan Piker’s growing role as a Democratic surrogate. The story helped ignite a wider news cycle over how candidates engage with him, which turned into a debate that has come to reflect the party's broader struggle over its future.
- Dream interview: In this moment, Tucker Carlson. Booted from Fox while anchoring its biggest show, he quickly built one of the right’s most influential platforms -- few figures are better positioned to shape what the movement looks like after Trump.
THE BOTTOM LINEMark your calendar for August 31 for the official relaunch of Playbook. Until then, the newsletter will keep arriving every morning, bringing you original reporting and analysis that anticipates the most critical developments across American politics, the White House and Congress. We can't wait for you to get to know the new team. |
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