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By Irie Sentner |
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THE CATCH-UP |
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President Donald Trump listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday. | AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin |
President Donald Trump has made his priorities clear. “I don’t care about the midterms,” Trump said today during his 12th Cabinet meeting. The comment came as the president spoke about why he hasn’t moved faster to end the war with Iran. But the remark also comes two weeks after the president told reporters “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” when approaching those negotiations. Even in the context of the war, the striking admissions point to Trump’s unexpected focus during his second term, in which he has become embroiled in a series of conflicts abroad — going to war with Iran, capturing Venezuela’s leader, escalating tensions with Cuba and threatening to annex Greenland, to name the major ones — amid plummeting approval and skyrocketing prices, all as his party faces hurricane-force headwinds with the midterms rapidly approaching. But for all the president’s alacrity to reshape the global order, he’s becoming decreasingly eager to talk about it. Instead, Trump during the Cabinet meeting returned again and again to his beautification projects in D.C., particularly his repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. “I love construction, it’s very exciting,” Trump said, musing about his lifelong love of building swimming pools. He called the Reflecting Pool renovation “a really important thing” and suggested he’s considering a renovation for the World War II Memorial fountain. The president opened the meeting reading out from a binder a list of the successes the administration hopes to highlight ahead of the midterms. “Things are doing very well,” he began, launching into a 10-minute “weave” about strong jobs numbers, border security, a decreasing crime rate, tax cuts from his One Big Beautiful Bill, stock market records, low-cost generic drugs and retirement plans at an “all time high.” Trump did touch on the war several times, emphasizing that his ultimate goal is to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear weapon. As for the ongoing negotiations to end the war, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “we’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress can be made” — but reminded Trump that he had “other options … if that doesn’t work.” Iranian state TV today said it had obtained a draft memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran that would see Tehran restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month, while the U.S. would pull out its military and lift the naval blockade, per Reuters. But the Cabinet members gathered primarily sought to highlight the administration’s economic wins — and sweep away the less-flattering figures. “You’re leading us to the greatest economy that the world has ever known,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent returned to his repeated promise that gas prices would soon fall. VP JD Vance spoke at length about how his anti-fraud task force is saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Still, the war was never far from the conversation. “The continued resilience of the economy speaks for itself, even during the Iran — the, uh, conflict,” Bessent said, reading from a piece of paper. Neither was the Reflecting Pool. “When you authorized ‘Operation Epic Fury’ — just like you talked about with the Reflecting Pool — we didn’t do the same old thing the way we’ve done it in the past,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. Happy Wednesday afternoon! Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at isentner@politico.com.
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5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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1. ALARMING INVESTIGATION: At least 10 ICE detainees have died by suicide since Trump started his second term — a rate that far outpaces the overall increase of total detainees, according to a major new AP investigation. In the past seven months alone, the agency has recorded seven deaths by suicide, the most of any fiscal year in ICE history. The agency has typically recorded one or zero deaths each year. Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said suicide deaths among ICE detainees are “extremely rare” and that detention facility staff are required to attend annual suicide prevention training. 2. A NEW REVOLVING DOOR: Washington is seeing a surge of lawmakers heading for the exits. And while they can’t raise money for campaign committees, they can solicit funds for leadership PACs — and take any leftover money with them when they leave. Several lawmakers preparing to conclude their Hill tenures this year appear to be doing just that, Bloomberg Government’s Kate Ackley reports, including Reps. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) and Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). 3. TRAIL MIX: Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg has publicly positioned himself as the most anti-Israel candidate in the Democratic primary for New York’s deeply progressive — and deeply Jewish — 12th Congressional District, calling himself the “only candidate” seeking to block “bombs and bulldozers” to the country. But behind closed doors at an exclusive Upper East Side members’ club earlier this month, Schlossberg struck a different tone: “I probably would have continued funding Israel’s offensive weaponry within the years following October 7th,” Schlossberg told the gathering, POLITICO’s Jason Beeferman scoops. Coming in hot: Fresh off his resounding victory last night, Ken Paxton is wasting no time greasing the wheels of Washington. Paxton’s campaign scheduled a fundraising stop in D.C. on June 2 at the offices of AxAdvocacy, Bloomberg Government’s Kate Ackley reports. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is listed as a special guest on the invitation sent to lobbyists, with more to come. Ad it up: Tom Steyer shattered ad spending records in his push to become California’s next governor, spending or booking more than $195 million in ads across TV, cable and radio, AP reports. And he’s lapping the rest of this year’s candidates: Steyer’s total so far is over $100 million more than the next-highest spender, Georgia GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson, who spent about $83 million.
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Watch the season finale of On the Road with Jonathan Martin On the Road with Jonathan Martin wraps Season 1 in South Philly with Gov. Josh Shapiro, who weighs in on the future of the Democratic Party, voter trust, 2028 speculation and more — from inside Angelo’s Pizzeria. Watch the finale and catch up on the full season. |
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4. 2028 WATCH: Iowa Democrats desperately want to jump back to the front of the line for the early primary window after they were removed ahead of 2024 — and they’re threatening to go rogue if they don’t get their way, NOTUS’ Elena Schneider reports. “But it’s not clear if the DNC members charged with setting that calendar want them to return, after the failure and messy fallout of the last caucus in 2020. At least three DNC members, granted anonymity to describe private deliberations, cast doubt on Iowa’s chances. ‘We just don’t have the votes to get Iowa into the early window,’ one of those members said.” 5. WHAT A DEM MAJORITY MIGHT LOOK LIKE: “House Democrats launch new anti-corruption caucus targeting Trump-era ethics concerns,” by MS NOW’s Kevin Frey and Jack Fitzpatrick: “The new End Corruption Caucus — details of which were shared first with MS NOW — is launching at the direction of Reps. Jason Crow, D-Col., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Mike Levin, D-Calif., spanning the party’s centrist to progressive wings.”
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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POOL REPORT — “Reflecting Pool Contract Has ‘Inflated’ Profit Margin, Government Analysis Finds,” by NYT’s David Fahrenthold: A National Park Service report “found that the typical profit margin of federal construction contracts like this one is 6 percent to 12 percent. But the firm fixing the Reflecting Pool, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, submitted a bid that charged 20 percent, adding at least $850,000 to what a more typical contract would have cost. … The government eventually agreed to pay the firm $13.1 million, which is seven times the amount that President Trump initially said the work would cost.” Footing the bill: The National Park Service is “using at least $67 million worth of park entrance fees to help fund President Trump’s beautification projects in Washington,” NYT’s Maxine Joselow and Andrea Fuller report. “Nearly $60 million in fees paid by visitors to national parks across the country is funding repairs to nine of the capital’s ornamental fountains, the analysis found. The government is putting another $7 million worth of entrance fees toward the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.” Ask the expert: “Did Trump pick the right blue for the Reflecting Pool? We asked a pool guy,” by WaPo’s Maura Judkis: “Steve Goodale, who goes by ‘Swimming Pool Steve’ online, is Canadian, so he doesn’t have a vested interest in the state of our Reflecting Pool. He has some good news. ‘It’s not really going to end up looking like a swimming pool,’ says Swimming Pool Steve.” MEDIAWATCH — CBS News didn’t renew “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi’s contract, after she drew headlines when top editor Bari Weiss pulled her segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons at the eleventh hour. Alfonsi told NYT’s Michael Grynbaum that CBS News didn’t respond to her agent’s inquiries ahead of her contract’s lapse Saturday. “It sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom,” she said. “I think it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize accurate reporting.” But she’s sticking around: “If they want me gone because I did my job, they’ll have to fire me,” she said. CBS declined to comment. ASKED AND ANSWERED — Barred in D.C., a local outlet about, well, bars in D.C., asked the District’s mayoral candidates and at-large council member candidates a series of questions about the city’s bars, restaurants and nightlife. Read the mayoral responses … and the council member responses SPORTS BLINK — Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) “reached an agreement on Wednesday after more than two months of intense negotiations, adopting a comprehensive bill that would grant the NCAA its long-sought antitrust exemption related to athlete transfers, eligibility and the compensation cap,” per Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger. “The bill — named the Protect College Sports Act — precludes the creation of a so-called ‘super league’; creates an agent registry limiting fees to 5%; permits the pooling of media rights; and bars coaches from leaving their team before the season ends.” OUT AND ABOUT — The Herblock Prize for political cartooning was presented to Jack Ohman last night in front of a packed house at the Library of Congress’ Coolidge Auditorium. Judy Woodruff delivered the annual Herblock Lecture with a call to defend the free press, and Pedro Molina was runner-up for the prize. SPOTTED: Al Hunt, Dana Priest, Clarence Page, Ruth Marcus, Nell Minow, Karen Tumulty, Paul Richter, H.D. Palmer, Amy Palmer, Margaret Talev, Sarah Just, Tom DeFrank, Melanie Cooper, Kevin Kallaugher, Rob Rogers, Steve Brodner, Joel Pett, Eric Shansby, Roslyn Mazer, Meredith Jolivert, Raphaela Jolivert and Matt Wuerker. TRANSITIONS — Ari Sulby is joining the Semiconductor Industry Association as director of global policy. He most recently worked for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. … Caroline Farr has joined Continental Strategy as a VP. She most recently worked in Treasury’s Office of Legislative Affairs. MEDIA MOVES — Luke Bradley-Jones is set to become CEO of The Economist Group on Aug. 1 when Lara Boro steps down after seven years in the role. Bradley-Jones has been the group’s president since August 2024 . POLITICO NEWS — The 13th year of the POLITICO Journalism Institute kicked off last night, integrating 16 college and two high school students into our newsroom to help train the next generation of journalists. Meet the roster: Roxy Ekberg of the University of Iowa (who will be with us here on Playbook!), Declan Bradley of Oberlin College, Delilah Brumer of UCLA, Remy Francisco of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Cameron Glymph of Florida State, Abigail Hatting of American University, Philip Lam of Northwestern, James Libresco of Brown, Desiree Luo of Northwestern, Nila Roper of Spelman, Yasuhiro Shinozaki of Oberlin, Naina Srivastava of the University of Texas, Ruby Topalian of Columbia, Grace Yoon of Harvard, Ethan Young of the University of Pennsylvania, Joseph Zuloaga of Columbia, Marley Farmer of The Gunston School and Gavin Leonard of Georgetown Day School. 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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