It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. President Donald Trump is creating dueling realities as he sows chaos in Washington while simultaneously pitching his vision for world order abroad. In Washington, Senate Republicans awoke today to an announcement from Trump that he was blowing up their plan to quickly confirm DNI nominee Jay Clayton and revive FISA’s Section 702 because, he wrote, they had fallen “into a trap” laid by Democrats. “[T]o add a slight bit of intrigue,” the president said, he demanded that GOP senators attach the SAVE America Act to the spy powers reauthorization and confirm James McDonald as U.S. attorney before he would allow Clayton’s nomination to move forward. The last-minute U-turn is Trump’s latest capricious decision that is puzzling Republicans on the Hill. Asked why Trump made the post, Senate Majority Leader John Thune quipped: “Good question.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who chairs the Intelligence Committee, called Trump’s move “regrettable.” The deadline to reauthorize Section 702 passed on Friday. Meanwhile, in Évian-les-Bains, France, Trump’s focus was trained far from the dysfunction he was causing in D.C. In meandering remarks — even by Trumpian standards — to reporters after the G7 summit, the president touted the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, saying he hoped it would be “the beginning of a much larger deal all across the Middle East.” Senior U.S. officials this afternoon dictated that MOU to journalists, per the AP. It includes a "minimum" standard for downbending highly enriched uranium and provisions to protect Lebanon in exchange for the U.S. waiving some sanctions. He called, once again, to expand the Abraham Accords. He showed uncharacteristically overt criticism of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (“you can do a little softer touch, Bibi, you don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah”). He praised either the president or prime minister of Lebanon — it was not immediately clear, as Trump named both roles, which belong to different people — as a “good man” with a “tough life” who would visit Washington in “the next week or two.” He said he had spoken with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and claimed “they both want to do something, they just don’t know how to do it.” He celebrated the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa and the millions of dollars in aid he was sending to help (after spear-heading major cuts to global aid). He cheered strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, declaring: “Drugs coming through water, the sea, ocean, sea, gulf, [are] down about 97.2 percent. That’s the ones that get hit.” And multiple times, he underlined the fact that he is not Herbert Hoover. Trump invoked Hoover, for whom he blamed the Great Depression, in celebrating himself for avoiding an “economic catastrophe” by coming to an agreement with Iran. But taken alongside his rambling remarks that touched on nearly every corner of the globe except the chaos happening in the country he leads, it was illustrative of just how much the 80-year-old is thinking about his legacy — and just how central his foreign policy will be to it. “Rather than possibly going into a depression, rather than having your favorite president be Herbert Hoover … I don’t think I’ll make mistakes like that,” he said. Trump enjoys the stature he holds when meeting with other world leaders. At points in his remarks, he discussed conversations with Indian PM Narendra Modi, Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We’re using their airports — not that they could stop us if we didn’t want them to,” Trump said of the Saudis. He suddenly slapped the podium, attempting to kill a bug. “I wanted to get that little sucker,” the president said. “But I missed. I hate missing.” Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at isentner@politico.com.
|
MAYORAL RACE — Janeese Lewis George is maintaining a big lead over Kenyan McDuffie in the D.C. Democratic mayoral primary with 64 percent of the vote counted — including in every ward except Ward 3, according to the AP. But McDuffie isn’t giving up. “I urge residents to remain patient because every vote matters and every vote must be counted,” he said in a statement today. LOCKED OUT — Trump is planning to add a new, permanent fence on the north and south sides of Lafayette Square — the park right across from the White House — that would allow officials to lock it if deemed necessary, WaPo’s Dan Diamond reports. The idea was discussed during Trump’s first term, including after racial justice protesters breached temporary fences in May 2020, forcing Trump to briefly take shelter in the White House’s underground bunker. TRAFFIC SPREADS TO THE RIVER — “DCA and Potomac, Anacostia river closures coming for July 4,” by Axios’ Cuneyt Dil and Mimi Montgomery: “The portion of the Potomac between the Key Bridge to just south of the 14th Street Bridge — including the Tidal Basin — will be off-limits to boaters and kayakers from July 2 to July 5, the Coast Guard announced.” SPOTTED: Lina Khan in the Senate's Mansfield room briefing the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee this morning. A source familiar with the meeting said she discussed consumer protection and affordability issues. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Steve Rattner and Maureen White’s annual dinner on the rooftop of the Hay-Adams on Tuesday night: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Gina Raimondo and Andy Moffit, Mike and Afasaneh Beschloss, Gahl Burt, Margaret Carlson, Tom Daschle, E.J. Dionne, Maureen Dowd, Shawn McCreesh, John Heilemann, Tom Donilon, David Ignatius, Jonathan Karl, Ed Luce and Niamh King, Katie Kingsbury, Michelle Cottle, Terry and Dorothy McAuliffe, Sally Quinn, Steve and Amy Ricchetti, Justin Smith, Neera Tanden, Steve Weisman, Dan Yergin and Angela Stent, Katty Kay and Andrea Mitchell. — The AI Policy Institute hosted a launch party at Ned’s Club last night to celebrate the debut of its new daily briefing, AI Policy Daily. SPOTTED: Francesca Craig, Heather Podesta, Jonathan Davidson, Alexandra Reeve Givens, Daniel Colson, Carrie Adams, Min Goodman-Cheng, Mark Lasswell, Mark Lima, Fin Gomez, Cat Zakrzewski, Craig Timberg, David Chalian, Scott Simon, Alex Thompson, Michael Shepherd, Ben Guggenheim, Molly Ball, Brian Hale, Jenny Marron, Sean McElwee, Steve Clemons, Peter Nonis and Juleanna Glover. — MFA CEO Bryan Corbett hosted a dinner discussion at Isla last night on the geopolitical, geoeconomic and technological shifts shaping choices for global private funds. The evening featured remarks from USTR’s Joe Sullivan, Singaporean Ambassador Lui Tuck Yew, White House Council of Economic Advisers’ Hugo Dante and former Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender. Widehall’s Steve Clemons moderated. SPOTTED: Italian Ambassador Marco Peronaci, Finnish Ambassador Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, Lithuanian Ambassador Gediminas Varvuolis, Rwandan Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana, Estonian Ambassador Kristjan Prikk, Monegasque Ambassador Maguy Maccario-Doyle, EU deputy chief of mission Ruth Bajada, Turkish deputy chief of mission Murat Uğurluoğlu, Latvian deputy chief of mission Jānis Beķeris, Benjamin Dubertret, Monta Nishimura, David Wilezol, Kelly McGrath, Maria Jose Ochoa, Will Kelsey, Andrew Malin and John Van Etten. TRANSITIONS — Levar Stoney is now senior managing director at Applecart. He is the former two-term mayor of Richmond, Virginia. … Sohini Gupta has launched Fillgap Strategies, a consulting firm for the healthcare ecosystem. She previously worked at AHIP and UnitedHealth Group. … Matthew Graves is now office managing partner in Washington for Winston Taylor. He is the immediate past U.S. attorney for D.C. and previously served as a prosecutor in that office. … … Brian Phillips Jr. is joining Consumer Brands as manager of state media relations. He previously was deputy media relations director at the FCC, comms director to Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and press secretary for House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). … Genevieve Manise has joined Consumer Brands as industry engagement coordinator. She previously interned with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) office and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes in South Africa. 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.
|
