| | | |  | | By Ali Bianco | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Makayla Gray
|  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
For all the criticism, President Donald Trump was still the undeniable draw of the summit. | Evan Vucci/AP | A RUDE AWAKENING: Davos is back. The nexus of power that descended on the mountains in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum this week resulted in a topsy-turvy take on the world order that’s come to exemplify much of the second Trump administration. For Europe and President Donald Trump, it’s been one of the most consequential weeks yet. And the eye on diplomacy isn’t turning away yet — top U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials are meeting today for trilateral negotiations as they continue to search for an end to the war in Ukraine, the fourth anniversary of which is around the corner in February. The trilateral is set to cap a dramatic week in geopolitics that we’re all still unpacking. In that spirit, Playbook tapped our reporters from across the globe for the three biggest takeaways from Davos this week: 1. A WAKE UP CALL FOR EUROPE: This Davos felt like an electric shock treatment was being delivered to the international system, POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy writes in to Playbook. It’s been over a year of Trump throwing cold water on U.S. relations with some of our biggest allies. Until this week, European leaders were nearly bending over backward to please him (we can never forget the “Daddy” comments, now can we?). But that world order is now endangered, if not already over, POLITICO’s Kathryn Carlson tells us. European leaders — although relieved that Trump “TACO’d” on his Greenland threats that could have blown up NATO — are waking up to the reality that trying to appease Trump isn’t a strategy they can count on. Big geopolitical swings are no longer group projects, but the domain of social media posts, keynote speech quips and one-on-one backroom meetings. Look no further than leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron leaving Davos without even meeting Trump — a sign that officials who once rushed to try to get in front of Trump to shape his views are now questioning the utility of that approach, POLITICO diplomatic correspondent Felicia Schwartz writes to Playbook. The Board of Peace rollout really underscored this, Felicia tells us. Trump and his team wanted a grand unveiling of what they envision as an alternate body to the United Nations to solve the world's problems, with Trump indefinitely at the helm. No European nations accepted his invitation (in fact none of the powerful permanent members of the security council have, though Russia says it’s considering it). The ceremony was filled with a collection of middle and developing powers, many undemocratic, who are largely not major diplomatic players. But after largely shirking the gathering during his first term, Trump’s return sent a certain message, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Playbook’s Dasha Burns for “The Conversation” in Davos. “I think it’s the message to the rest of the world: ‘America First’ is not America alone,” Bessent said. “And the message is: we are changing. We are reordering global trade. We expect you to pay for part of the NATO defense. We expect that you will reciprocate, and so we have brought that message here.” Watch the full interview 2. THE BREAKOUT PLAYERS: The summit’s potency is a big victory for BlackRock’s Larry Fink, who brought the star power back to the summit and helped it emerge from the brink of irrelevance after years of leadership problems, as Kathryn writes in a must-read report from Switzerland. Davos became the center of the world’s biggest power struggles — with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting on the sidelines, and even tried-and-true hater Elon Musk coming back into the fray. Coming out of the week, it was Canada’s Mark Carney who had one of the marquee speeches of the summit — signaling an end to the conventional wisdom of global politics and “a rupture in the world order.” Our Canada colleagues Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric broke down Carney’s new doctrine — and how it’s coming at a pivotal time for him at home — on the Playbook Canada podcast. And that stuck with the White House, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols tells Playbook: The fact that Trump was still thinking about Carney on his flight home last night — posting that he was no longer welcome on a Board of Peace that Carney had no intention to ever join — signaled that the president was a bit stung, and at least somewhat aware that his call for countries to move on from a decadeslong reliance on the U.S. resonated widely in Davos and beyond. But as veteran Harvard economist and ex-IMF chief economist Ken Rogoff predicted to Anne on the EU Confidential podcast, “whoever is the hero of Davos will always be the loser” of the year. Plus, some politicians got a boost at Davos that could help them back home. Dasha caught up with Andy Beshear, asking the Democratic Kentucky governor for his take. “There are some who think [the WEF] has grown too, in my terms I would say snooty, that’s a Kentucky term,” Beshear said. “I think since Trump has become president in this next term, as a lot of the international community have lost faith in their relationship with the federal government, a relationship with state governors has become even more important.” 3. IT’S ALWAYS THE ECONOMY: For all the criticism, Trump was still the undeniable draw of the summit, Kathryn tells Playbook. Titans of politics and business were jostling with each other to be able get a spot in the room, and both the anxiety before, and relief after Trump said he wouldn’t use force in Greenland, was palpable. The president’s willingness to climb down from his Greenland threats so quickly also showed that for all Trump’s brashness and bluster, he was never really going to launch an invasion, Eli tells us. He came to see that his threats, rather than creating leverage, were alienating partners and unnerving the markets. The president still likes to be a chaos agent at times, but the market continues to be the most effective check on his impulses. MOOD MUSIC: As for the most interesting moments in the hallways, Kathryn told us it’s a high bar to clear when your frenzied hotel-corridor newsletter filing can be interrupted by Apple CEO Tim Cook and his entourage passing by, or when Zelenskyy or Musk show up as last-minute attendees. But the Davos attendees that were really the talk of the town? Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau, who popped up throughout the week. Also overheard: Many management consultants and finance bros roasting Jared Kushner’s Gaza PowerPoint at parties last night. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM — and stay warm this weekend. Send me your thoughts at abianco@politico.com.
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Read her story. | | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. TODAY IN D.C.: VP JD Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson took the stage today for the annual March for Life rally, where thousands of anti-abortion activists marched through downtown D.C. toward the Supreme Court. ABC 7News has a full rundown of the road closures to expect this afternoon. 2. MINNESOTA LATEST: Hundreds of businesses are closed across Minnesota today as many residents have vowed to strike against the escalating ICE enforcement operations that have sparked nationwide controversy and brought Minneapolis to the center of Trump’s immigration agenda, NYT’s Pooja Salhotra and Jazmine Ulloa report. “Parts of the city seemed like a ghost town on Friday morning, with many cafes and local coffee chains shuttered, signs posted in their windows expressing solidarity with the strike,” they write. But today is also shaping up to be one of the biggest mobilizations of protests in Minneapolis since the enforcement operation began, with a march happening downtown this afternoon, per AP. DHS has claimed that ICE has arrested “over 10,000” immigrants in Minneapolis in the last year, but the numbers are difficult to verify, Minnesota Star Tribune’s Deena Winter reports. Over in Maine: With federal immigration enforcement now starting its latest operation in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — whose seat in the Senate is a top target for Democrats — is walking a tightrope on the president’s agenda and the increasingly polarizing matter of ICE, Washington Examiner’s David Sivak writes. 3. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Trump said a large “Armada” U.S. navy force is now heading toward Iran, the latest instance of saber-rattling as he continues to threaten intervention amid the anti-government protests that have gripped the country, per NYT’s Abdi Latif Dahir. “We’re watching Iran,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Trump had appeared to back away from threats to strike Iran, saying he had received assurances that detained protesters there would not be executed. Leaders across the Middle East had also warned Mr. Trump that a military confrontation could destabilize the region,” NYT writes. The administration is also planning to deport 40 Iranians back to Iran as early as Sunday, per MS NOW. Fact check: Iran’s top prosecutor today said Trump’s repeated claims that he stopped more than 800 Iranians from being executed was “completely false,” AP’s Jon Gambrell reports. “No such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision,” Iran’s top prosecutor Mohammad Movahedi said. The reported death toll is near 5,000 people, though sweeping internet blackouts have made it difficult to determine an accurate count.
| | | | New from POLITICO Introducing POLITICO Forecast: Tomorrow’s conversations about global power, tonight. Forecast brings forward-looking insight from POLITICO’s global newsroom, including coverage tied to major international gatherings like Davos, to help you understand where politics, policy and power are headed.
➡️ Subscribe Now | | | | | 4. 2026 WATCH: Retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced that he’s endorsing his former campaign manager, Adrian Boafo, to replace him, WaPo’s Alec Dent and Maegan Vazquez report. “He really knows the district. He knows the people. He’s served the people,” he told WaPo of Boafo, who is currently in Maryland’s House of Delegates and is in the crowded primary to succeed Hoyer. Personality politics: NYT’s J. David Goodman has a look at the Texas Senate Democratic primary, and the two dueling ideas about what it will take for either rising star to achieve the elusive goal of flipping the red seat. Where Jasmine Crockett is looking to surge Democrats to the polls, James Talarico is trying to reach voters at the margins — and who wins could be telling for the Democratic Party’s path out of the wilderness. … NBC’s Henry Gomez sat down for an exclusive interview with Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s been through quite the political evolution from far-right and “very online” to toeing the line in the Ohio gubernatorial race. 5. PATEL PARES IT DOWN: FBI Director Kash Patel has purged even more of the bureau’s senior officials, “forcing out field office leaders and other senior agents connected to the two criminal investigations of Donald Trump,” MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian and Carol Leonnig scoop. That includes Atlanta’s special agent in charge, New York’s acting assistant director in charge, a former special agent in New Orleans and as many as six agents in Miami. “The exact number of departures was unclear. An FBI spokesperson did not respond to questions. That kind of turnover is unheard of at the FBI, which has a long tradition of being an independent law enforcement agency staffed by non-political civil servants,” they write. 6. THE EPSTEIN SAGA: Two top House Dems are asking Bondi for a chance to visit the prison where Ghislaine Maxwell is being held and interview the warden there, “citing reports they said they had received that she was receiving preferential treatment,” NYT’s Michael Gold reports. “They claimed that she had received unusual perks, like being able to use a laptop unsupervised and being given bottled water while other inmates drank tap water.” 7. PLAYBOOK PREVIEW: Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) are on tonight’s episode of C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire,” where they discussed Trump’s Greenland brinksmanship. “I remind myself all the time that the president’s approach to problems is always unconventional,” Flood said. “You have to sift through it long enough to see how it comes out. And it gets better as fast as it gets bad.” Cleaver said he worries about the lasting impacts: “I think our friends are now wondering how friendly we are going to be in the future.” Watch the clip
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| | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | WINTER STORM WATCH — “Ice, power outage risks grow as D.C. area braces for winter storm” by WaPo’s Jason Samenow: “Temperatures will plunge to near 10 degrees early Saturday. Then, from Saturday night through Sunday night, a powerful winter storm is expected to unload heavy snow and ice, turning roads and sidewalks treacherous and disrupting businesses and schools, potentially for days. … The potential for heavy amounts of ice that could lead to power outages has increased, especially south and east of the Beltway.” The preparation: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has officially declared a snow emergency, going into effect tomorrow at noon until Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. “That means residents need to move their vehicles out of Snow Emergency Routes as soon as possible to give our snow teams space to plow,” Bowser said on X. Politics on ice: The storm threatens to shuffle next week’s Senate schedule, as it approaches the Jan. 30 deadline for funding, as POLITICO’s Inside Congress reports. If conditions persist, airline cancellations could trap senators in their home states and senators haven’t yet received guidance about whether to show up on Monday, per our colleagues. Meanwhile, FEMA has “abruptly halted ongoing terminations of hundreds of disaster workers as the agency prepares for an enormous winter storm expected to pound a large swath of the country in the coming days,” CNN’s Gabe Cohen reports. But how long the terminations will pause is unclear. Fit check: If you’re preparing to brave the elements, POLITICO’s Katherine Tully-McManus has some essential tips: Ensure your base layers are sweat wicking and your outer layers can withstand the wind. “Wool socks + boots — w/ room to wiggle toes. Blood flow is key. Keep hands out of pockets when it's icy!! Break the fall! Check on your neighbors!” Silver lining: The Washington DC Snowball Fight Association has declared the snowball fight is on for 11 a.m. Sunday on the National Mall at 12 St, near the Smithsonian Metro station. BIG WEEK FOR FLOTUS — First lady Melania Trump will ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, just a couple days before her Amazon documentary debuts across 20 venues nationwide, per Page Six. ON TRUMP’S HAND — Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the dark bruise seen on his left hand this week “was the result of hitting a table and of taking aspirin,” per NYT’s Claire Moses. “‘I clipped it on the table. So, I put a little — what do they call it? — cream on it. But I clipped it.’ … Mr. Trump said that the bruise was also a side effect of taking aspirin. ‘I would say take aspirin if you like your heart. But don’t take aspirin if you don’t want to have a little bruising. I take the big aspirin. And when you take the big aspirin, they tell you you’ll bruise,’ he said.” THEY SEE ME ROLLIN’ — “Trump gets new Cadillac ride ahead of Air Force One plane on the way,” by Reuters’ David Shepardson: “This week in Davos, Switzerland, the U.S. Secret Service began transporting Trump in newly delivered Cadillac SUVs, the agency confirmed in a social media post. The vehicles appear to be modified Cadillac Escalades, but the agency did not confirm that.” THE AWARD GOES TO — The RTDNA Foundation announced the awardees for its 2026 First Amendment Awards, who’ll be honored on March 12 at a ceremony at the Watergate Hotel. The awardees are: ABC’s Juju Chang, CBS’ Vladimir Duthiers, Freedom Forum’s Kevin Goldberg, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, NBC’s Tom Llamas, Bill Owens, CNN’s Manu Raju, Jim Rodenbush and Under the Desk’s V Spehar, as well as NPR and PBS. The organization will also honor CBS News Chicago’s Asal Rezaei with the Citation of Courage and Steve Bertrand with the Lifetime Achievement Award. OUT AND ABOUT — British Charge d’Affairs James Roscoe hosted a reception celebrating the “Golden Age of Nuclear Energy,” focused on U.S.-U.K. collaboration in the space, at the British ambassador’s residence yesterday evening. SPOTTED: Seb Gorka, Jarrod Agen, David A. Wright, Ho Nieh, Rian Bahran, Clay Sell, Kevin Jayne, Oladipo Okusaga, Patricia Schouker, Mungo Woodifield, Colin Moneymaker, Kirk Schnoebelen, André Béliveau, Michael Brown, Michael Sessums, Mary Neumayr, Shane Londagin, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Carol Lane, Prerna Bhat, Daniel Ogg and Widad Whitman. — The GOP Latinos Staff Association and the Republican Asian American Staff Association hosted their first new year’s party yesterday. SPOTTED: Patrick Herrera, Jinwook Hwang, Joseph Harrington, Daniel Chung, Matthew Smith, Ethan Yang, Jace McNaught, Anthony Euceda, Paula Restrepo, Luis Reyes, Sasha Torrealba, Pooja Patel, Jackie Olvera, Landry Cunningham, Gianmarco Herrera, Vanessa Scott, Bri Sáenz, William Wang, Cameron Vu, Samuel Luna, Isabella Martinez, Enrique Martinez, Christopher Zhen, Joey Contreras, Matthew Calogero, Chris Ferrari, Saat Alety, Xiomara Villarreal, Haley Tran, Ben Clardy, Kellie Chong, Sebastian Lopez, Enrique Carrasco and Kelvin Bencosme. — “On Background: A Journalism-Improv Mashup” began a series of forthcoming shows between local journalists and comedians with Tom Sietsema as the inaugural guest last night at Nobody in Blagden Alley. Improvisers asked Sietsema about stories and people from his career as a journalist and longtime WaPo food critic, and then made up scenes based on the interview. SPOTTED: Philippa Hughes, Matt Dorf, Dan Kois, Tarik El-Bashir, Shilpi Malinowski, Liza Lester, Emily Dakin and Shawn Westfall. TRANSITIONS — Max Willens and Katie Paxon have joined Rep. Dan Newhouse’s (R-Wash.) office as a staff assistant and research assistant, respectively. Paxon was previously at the Wilson Center. 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. Corrections: Yesterday’s Playbook PM misspelled Jennifer Scholtes' name. It also inaccurately characterized actions taken during a Biden-era investigation into President Donald Trump that saw senators' phone records unknowingly collected.
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