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By Irie Sentner |
Presented by |
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THE CATCH-UP |
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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Oakland County International Airport on Monday, July 27. | Alex Brandon/AP |
President Donald Trump is en route to battleground Michigan to tout his administration’s push to revive domestic manufacturing — the latest opportunity for the White House to amp up its midterm messaging on the economy amid voters’ persistent affordability concerns. Trump is attending a drag race before rallying at a General Motors test plant in Milford, located in the swing district where Democrats hope to flip back the seat held by GOP Rep. Tom Barrett, who succeeded Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin with a narrow win in 2024. The president’s visit comes as early voting has already begun ahead of Michigan’s Aug. 4 primaries. Trump has long touted a vision of America that reinvigorates the Rust Belt by bringing factory jobs back to the U.S., which he says is the ultimate goal of his sprawling tariff regime. And automakers in Michigan have committed to increasing domestic production. Last year, Stellantis announced it was investing about $230 million across two plants in the state as part of a $13 billion investment to expand U.S. production by 50 percent, and GM said it was investing $4 billion to expand several U.S. plants, including two in Michigan. The state has also seen some job growth: “As of June, overall employment in Michigan was up since January 2025, when Trump began his second term, by about 11,000 jobs. But that's a minuscule amount, about one-quarter of 1 percent, in a year and a half,” the Detroit Free Press’ Todd Spangler notes. But the lead-time for those investments runs counter to the cadences of contemporary politics. GM’s expanded production in Michigan is scheduled to begin in 2027, and Stellantis’ in 2028 and 2029. Trump’s visit today underscores the difficulty he faces in selling the promise of the future to voters for whom his tariffs — plus the simmering war with Iran — have made everyday goods more expensive in the present. That’s especially true in Michigan, typically the top U.S. trading partner for Canada, on which Trump said he would impose 50 percent tariffs on some goods starting next month. Mike Rogers, who is unopposed in the Republican primary for Senate, is expected to speak at Trump’s event this afternoon, Playbook reported this morning. It’s unclear if any other Michigan officials will appear with him. But it’s likely Trump will give a shoutout to GOP Rep. John James, whom he endorsed in the gubernatorial primary. James is running against businessman Perry Johnson, who’s holding a “Trump Tailgate” today in Milford despite failing to nab the president’s support. In response, the Team Trump X account last week called Johnson a “NEVER TRUMPER” and emphasized that James “is the ONLY Trump-endorsed candidate.” MORE OUT OF MICHIGAN: Abdul El-Sayed’s leaked Zoom meeting comment to donors about putting “one ogre on a pike,” scooped by Playbook’s Adam Wren, is drawing backlash from fellow Democrats, POLITICO’s Liz Crampton reports. “You put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message, and all of a sudden starts to sound a lot different,” El-Sayed said on the call, according to audio of the meeting obtained by Playbook. He was speaking about how a victory in the race would give him a platform to push the progressive movement forward, declaring his intent to support a primary against Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in 2028. He did not mention his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, by name in the portion of the call reviewed by Playbook. The criticism came from a wide range. Some took El-Sayed’s comment as an attack on the party. Shannon Watts, founder of gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action, said El-Sayed “doesn’t mean Republicans.” Fred Guttenberg, another gun control activist, wrote: “That is what Abdul El-Sayed and his DSA movement think of Democrats and the party.” And some saw it as a specific slight toward Stevens. Centrists like Neera Tanden said it was “not beating the rap that this race has some serious sexism” and former Bernie Sanders staffer Melissa Byrne called it “beneath the progressive project.” Arik Wolk, a spokesperson for Stevens’ campaign said El-Sayed “continues with personal insults and making this race about his personal political ambitions and the other 49 states.” The two are set to meet in a debate tonight, with eight days to go until the primary. Good Monday afternoon. This is Irie Sentner. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Get in touch!
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A message from Anthropic: Helping a Boston restaurant owner support his team
Running a restaurant means financial pressure and moving parts. At Shy Bird, owner Eli Feldman uses Claude to help solve problems from kitchen organization to manager coaching, so he can give more to the people who make the restaurant run. Learn more. |
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6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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1. WAR REPORT: The U.S. is continuing — for now — its pause on striking Iran as Trump gives “the talks some space,” as U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz put it yesterday. And there is some movement on negotiations: Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan “have achieved progress in getting the United States and Iran back to negotiations, regional officials said Monday,” per the AP. But that hasn’t stopped targeting of U.S. allies in the region: Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq all reported drone attacks from Iran-backed groups today, in what could amount to a test of Trump’s appetite to continue his pause. More from Reuters 2. THUNE’S THORN: Trump wants to cancel the Senate’s August recess. The president this morning called for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to keep the chamber in session until it “passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER,” per POLITICO’s Jordain Carney. The legislation — which Trump has called his top priority — has drawn bipartisan pushback, giving the bill no path forward. Asked earlier this year about abolishing the filibuster, Thune replied: “Yeah, that's not going to happen.” The Senate is scheduled to leave town for recess at the end of next week, allowing lawmakers up for reelection a critical period to campaign back home. 3. BRAVE NEW WORLD: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is set to meet with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this week, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney reports. Altman is descending on D.C. this week, and he’s expected to meet with the White House and various members of Congress. But it wasn’t immediately clear which other lawmakers Altman will meet with during his visit, or if other senators will attend the meeting with Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a co-chair of the Senate’s cybersecurity caucus.
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A message from Anthropic:  
Helping a Boston restaurant owner support his team
Running a restaurant comes with pressure. At Shy Bird, Claude helps Eli Feldman do more for his team. Learn more. |
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4. WHAT NOW: “67 boat strikes. 221 dead. The cocaine hasn’t slowed, officials report,” by WaPo’s Alex Horton and colleagues: “In a recent assessment reviewed by The Washington Post, DEA analysts found the strikes had failed to affect the supply or price of cocaine in the United States and had led traffickers to diversify beyond go-fast boats and to avoid international waters, opting instead for larger boats and hemming close to coastlines, where U.S. forces are less likely to open fire. In a closed-door briefing last month, Pentagon officials told lawmakers the strikes in international waters off South and Central America had not reduced its purity.” 5. AIR RAGE: “How the Pentagon continues to outmaneuver the FAA,” by POLITICO’s Oriana Pawlyk and Audrey Decker: “A recent string of low-altitude military flyovers is the latest flare-up in a yearslong battle that often ends with federal air safety officials getting steamrolled by the Pentagon. The flyovers, including one in which the Blue Angels kicked up tents and chairs on a beach in Florida earlier this month, have stirred angst inside the Federal Aviation Administration and raised alarm among some lawmakers. … Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brushed off the furor over the flyovers, saying on social media they ‘will continue until morale improves.’” 6. BUILD BACK … NEVER?: “Congress Budgeted Billions for Big Transit Projects. Trump Isn’t Spending It,” by NYT’s Emily Badger and Alicia Parlapiano: “[S]ince President Trump returned to office, the Federal Transit Administration has not signed a single new agreement under the program, known as Capital Investment Grants. Large projects ready to enter the final phase of the program’s yearslong pipeline have stalled there. … As the number of pending projects builds up, so has anxiety about the federal government’s support for major transit infrastructure. Money that Congress designated for that purpose is accumulating too: More than $7 billion hasn’t been obligated to any project.
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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McCONNELL UPDATE — Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office released a statement today indicating that the Kentucky Republican will remain in rehab as he continues to recover from a June fall that left him briefly unconscious. The Office of the Attending Physician confirmed that medical staff visit the senator daily to discuss “all aspects of his rehabilitation care” but added he is “not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to office.” McConnell also said he won’t be healthy enough to attend Kentucky’s premier political event this weekend, the annual Fancy Farm Picnic. The statement also included a picture of McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, which it said was taken on Sunday. More from POLITICO’s Cheyanne Daniels KICKING AND SCREAMING — Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Dem on the House Judiciary Committee, has delivered a formal request to FIFA President Gianni Infantino to appear before the panel to detail the global soccer governing body’s ties to the Trump administration in light of this summer’s World Cup, The Athletic’s Adam Crafton reports. Raskin is seeking “a list of anything of value (including transfer of money, gifts, prizes, awards, or public appearances) given to President Trump, members of his Administration, or their family members, or any entity associated with them, such as The Trump Organization.” FOR YOUR RADAR — A Secret Service agent in Florida was arrested and placed on administrative leave “in connection to a brutal, days-long college hazing ritual that nearly ended in death,” NBC’s David Li and Juliette Arcodia report. Marquez Christopher Pinder and two others were “booked on suspicion of attempted manslaughter with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and hazing with a deadly weapon.” The Secret Service is “fully cooperating” with the investigation. “It wasn’t immediately clear how or why the 29-year-old Pinder would have such intimate connections to a college frat.” CHRISTMAS IN JULY — The White House today opened applications to volunteer for this year’s Christmas festivities, including for decorating and performing at open houses. POLITICO MOVE — John Tedder is joining POLITICO as director of security. He most recently led media and event security work at Cox Enterprises, including for Axios and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and has spent 15 years working in corporate security. OUT AND ABOUT — Top tennis stars gathered at Ned’s Club last night for an exclusive VIP Players Party kicking off the 2026 Mubadala DC Open. SPOTTED: Venus Williams, Francis Tiafoe and Ayan Broomfield, Alex de Minaur, Mark Ein and Sally Stiebel Ein, Zachary Svajda, Jakub MenÅ¡Ãk, Wiley Brown, Valerie Camillo, Magdalena FrÄ™ch, Ashlyn Krueger, Brad Gilbert, Cruz Hewitt, Hugo Nys, Andrea Vavassori, Simone Bolelli, Tomás MartÃn Etcheverry, Martin Damm, Sadio Doumbia, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Pete Kalamoutsos, Vinoda Basnayake, Tommy Paul, Jowind Ronen, Emma Mears and Darius Baxter. TRANSITION — Alex Davidson is joining the National Confectioners Association as senior director of public affairs and communications. He most recently worked at the National Turkey Federation and is a Beer Institute and Hill 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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