| | | | | |  | | By Tara Palmeri, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza | Presented by Facebook | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | It's been barely three months since he left office, but former President DONALD TRUMP is already reorganizing his nascent post-White House political operation, bringing in veteran political consultant SUSIE WILES to instill order. Wiles has been tasked with overseeing Trump's fundraising operation and creating a system for issuing endorsements. Notably, she will layer over Trump's former campaign manager BILL STEPIEN and deputy JUSTIN CLARK, as well as the committee of people who currently help decide endorsements. While Trump has expressed frustration with Stepien and Clark — as he has with many of his previous chiefs of staff and campaign managers — he is not firing them. Wiles — who previously managed the campaigns of Florida Sen. RICK SCOTT and Gov. RON DESANTIS and led Trump's Florida operation during much of his two campaigns there — has been quietly working behind the scenes for weeks. But Trump has been more vocal about centralizing her power until he's satisfied with the new direction of his political operation. "The president tells everyone around Mar-a-Lago that Susie is now in charge," an adviser said. News of Wiles' appointment was first reported Wednesday night by Insider. Another source said Trump is suspicious of a number of aides around him with separate clients — specifically whether they're using their connections to him to generate business. "There was a lot of smoke around, 'If I'm your consultant then I can get the president to endorse him,'" said another Trump adviser. "Making money off [him] or using [him] is the thing he hates the most." In a story out today, our Meridith McGraw and Gabby Orr report that a top Trump donor complained recently that he received an unsolicited call from a Republican candidate seeking financial support. That prompted questions about whether a former Trump campaign aide improperly accessed his donor list to help out a new client. Jones Day, which served as counsel to Trump's campaign committee, then dashed off a letter to former Trump staff and consultants warning that they risked prosecution if they misused campaign resources. Recipients were ordered to destroy or return any information they might have taken from the Trump campaign's vast donor database. Wiles is being tasked with nipping this drama in the bud. She will oversee three Trump fundraising entities: a super PAC, a 501(c)(4) and the Save America Leadership PAC. The super PAC, which has not yet been registered, was supposed to be led by onetime campaign manager COREY LEWANDOWSKI, but instead he will be running a separate 501(c)(4). | | A message from Facebook: It's time to update internet regulations
The internet has changed a lot in the 25 years since lawmakers last passed comprehensive internet regulations. It's time for an update.
See how we're making progress on key issues and why we support updated regulations to set clear rules for addressing today's toughest challenges. | | | In addition to the money operation, Wiles will be in charge of vetting candidates seeking Trump's endorsement, including evaluating their votes, their past statements on Trump and their polling numbers. "They were just flying by the seat of their pants," an adviser said of the existing cast, mentioning that Trump misses having a built-in organization like he did in the White House. (While Trump professes to want order, he notoriously tramples any processes that impinge on his freedom to do what he pleases. A "Trump gatekeeper" was an oxymoron during his time in the White House.) Trump, through a spokesperson, denied that he is upset with the political operation pre-Wiles. His spokesperson JASON MILLER called the assertion "100 percent false." Stepien and Clark declined to comment. "Susie has been a great teammate for two successful presidential campaigns in Florida and we're glad to have her join the all-stars already assembled. Watch out 2022!" Miller said in a statement. Good Thursday morning and April Fools' Day. We will spare you a lame attempt at early-morning humor and get on with it. Got a tip? A document to share? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. JOIN US — President JOE BIDEN'S agenda is moving along with an ambitious timeline of having enough Covid-19 vaccines for all adults by the end of May, the deployment of $1.9 trillion in pandemic relief and a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure plan. But the White House is also dealing with a rise in the number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, the fallout from back-to-back mass shootings and a coming showdown over the Senate filibuster. Join RYAN today at 9 a.m. for a conversation with White House chief of staff RON KLAIN to discuss what's next on Biden's agenda. Register here NUMBER OF THE DAY: $6 MILLION — That's how much Speaker NANCY PELOSI raised during her Hill recess. In two — yes, TWO — days. It's the largest 48-hour sum she's ever hauled in, we're told by her team. HUNTER'S BOOK ARRIVES — WaPo reviews HUNTER BIDEN'S new book, "Beautiful Things," calling it "a memoir at once harrowing, relentless and a determined exercise in trying to seize his own narrative from the clutches of the Republicans and the press." Marianne Szegedy-Maszak writes that the book "is organized around two parallel narratives: pervasive grief over Beau's absence and the unvarnished confessional of an addict. Page after page features assertions of the brothers' closeness juxtaposed with gallons of vodka, bowls of crack, dissolute characters parading in and out of trashed hotel rooms — both five-star and no-star — and repeated failed treatment efforts. "And then there is the almost Shakespearean specter of Joe Biden, the agonized father grieving the loss of one son and terrified at his inability to prevent the slow suicidal decline of the other. Hunter addresses the political strain he caused his father, notably by the public drubbing the son endured for his role with Burisma. Hunter calls that faux scandal cooked up by Trump and his cronies 'the decade's biggest political fable … most remarkable for its epic banality.'" | | | |   | | | BIDEN'S THURSDAY — The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President's Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. and have lunch together at 12:15 p.m. Biden will hold his first Cabinet meeting at 1:15 p.m. in the East Room. More from the AP — Harris will meet virtually with the founding members of the COVID-19 Community Corps to discuss Covid-19 public education efforts at 9:15 a.m. in the South Court Auditorium. Harris and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF will depart D.C. at 5 p.m. en route to Los Angeles, where they will stay through Easter Sunday. — Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at noon. THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m. and THE SENATE at 10 a.m., both pro forma sessions. Pelosi will hold her weekly press conference virtually at 2 p.m. | | | | JOIN THE CONVERSATION, SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" Power dynamics are shifting in Washington, and more people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. "The Recast" is a new twice-weekly newsletter that breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics, policy and power in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear from new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out on our latest newsletter, SUBSCRIBE NOW. Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | 
PHOTO OF THE DAY: A handler walks Major Biden on the South Lawn on Wednesday after reports of the dog being involved in a second biting incident earlier this week. | Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP | UP ON CAPITOL HILL THE NEXT SIX MONTHS (GIVE OR TAKE) IN CONGRESS — "Infrastructure Year: Dems brace for brutal slog to pass Biden's $2.5T plan," by Marianne LeVine, Sarah Ferris and Melanie Zanona: "Absent a seismic political shift, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will have to draft a sprawling bill that can only afford to lose three Democratic votes in the House and zero in the Senate. Because Democrats are expecting to use their budget powers to steer the bill past a Senate filibuster, Biden's infrastructure plan would also need to survive a slew of procedural hurdles that could further split the party. "The infrastructure debate amounts to a political ultra-marathon for Biden and his Democratic-led Congress, a stark contrast with the mostly breezy path to approving Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill. Party leaders will be under immense pressure from their base to deliver, while also protecting the political future of their most endangered members, some of whom are already anxious about GOP attacks on proposed tax hikes, ahead of the midterm elections." LATEST GAETZ-GATE — "Gaetz investigation complicated by overture to his father about ex-FBI agent who went missing," WaPo: "The men who approached Don Gaetz, people familiar with the matter said, had no apparent connection to the sex-crimes investigation of his son, other than having somehow learned about it before it was publicly reported. But when news of law enforcement's interest in Gaetz surfaced Tuesday, the congressman asserted that the allegation was 'rooted in an extortion effort against my family for $25 million,' and he identified by name a former federal prosecutor who he said was part of the effort. … "While the Justice Department investigates Gaetz, the FBI is separately examining whether the request to his father about [Robert] Levinson might constitute extortion, with Gaetz and his family as possible victims. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment." THE WHITE HOUSE BIDEN'S BFD — "40 Years After Reagan, a Bet Big Government Can Get Something Done," NYT: "It has been 40 years since President Ronald Reagan declared in his first inaugural address that 'government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem.' The infrastructure plan that President Biden described on Wednesday … is a bet that government can do colossal things that the private sector cannot. … "It will take years to know whether Mr. Biden's initiative will have the lasting power of the New Deal or the Great Society, or whether it can 'change the paradigm,' as he argued a few weeks ago. Yet it is already clear it is based on the gamble that the country is ready to dispense with one of the main tenets of the Reagan revolution, and show that for some tasks the government can jump-start the economy more efficiently than market forces. Mr. Biden has also made a bet that the trauma of the coronavirus pandemic and the social and racial inequities it underscored have changed the political center of gravity for the nation." — WaPo takes a close look at the energy and environment goals of the plan: "Biden's infrastructure plan aims to turbocharge U.S. shift from fossil fuels" WATCH: Biden announces $2 trillion infrastructure plan: | 
| PLAYING HARDBALL — "Biden endorses moving MLB All-Star Game out of Georgia," by Benjamin Din: "President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he would 'strongly support' moving the Major League Baseball All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to Georgia's newly passed voting law that critics say restricts voting access. … "Biden's comments joined a growing chorus of voices that have called on the MLB to move its marquee summertime game out of Cobb County, as part of a larger effort to boycott organizations headquartered in the state that have remained silent on the voting rights issue, as well as major sporting events, including golf's annual Masters Tournament." | | A message from Facebook: Facebook supports updated internet regulations
It's been 25 years since comprehensive internet regulations passed. But a lot has changed since 1996.
See how we're taking action and why we support updated regulations to address today's challenges —protecting privacy, fighting misinformation, reforming Section 230, and more. | | | POLITICS CORNER BOWING TO REALITY — "Democrat drops election contest in Iowa House race," by Sarah Ferris and Ally Mutnick: "Rita Hart, a former state senator, said Wednesday she is withdrawing her contest with the House Administration Committee, which she had asked to review the November election, arguing that roughly two dozen ballots were improperly rejected by local officials and would have flipped the result. "With Hart no longer contesting the results, the House panel will move to dismiss Hart's complaint. Republicans had mounted a sustained PR campaign against the committee's review, calling it an improper use of congressional resources to resolve a state election issue after the race had already been certified and Miller-Meeks was sworn in. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy traveled to Iowa this week to show his support for Miller-Meeks." IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS ROUND OF REDISTRICTING — Read Tom Edsall's latest in the Times. He gives a master class and concludes: "Without approval of the kind of election reform the voting rights bill seeks, the odds will shift further against continued Democratic control of the House and Senate and possibly result in another Democratic president ground down by gridlock." PANDEMIC YIKES … "White House knew more than a week ago of Johnson & Johnson contractor vaccine-supply problems," by Erin Banco, Sarah Owermohle and Rachel Roubein: "The news that the contractor, Emergent BioSolutions, had ruined 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine by mistakenly mixing it with ingredients from another coronavirus shot became public on Wednesday. "But two senior officials working on the federal government's Covid-19 response told POLITICO that it became clear earlier this month that there were significant problems at Emergent's West Baltimore plant, where the company was producing the active ingredient — or drug substance — for J&J's vaccine. The officials said they had not known the exact details of the situation." Morning Consult is out with a weekly tracker looking at public trust in a variety of institutions, from government and the military to Hollywood and Silicon Valley. We got an early look at the data and zeroed in on three institutions with the biggest trust disparities by party: the U.S. government, the police and the news media. The survey asked respondents to choose their level of trust from "a lot," "some," "not much" and "not at all." | 
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| We tracked the percentage of respondents who said they had "a lot" of or "some" trust in these three institutions, from October to now. Republicans generally have a lot of trust in the police, with the number of those who had at least some trust never dipping below 80%, while Democrats' trust in police hovered around 60%. The percentage of Democrats who trust the media consistently hovered above 50%, vs. less than a third of Republicans. | 
| As for trust in the government, there's been a bit more back and forth. Republicans began the polling in October with a high mark of 67%, vs. 41% among Democrats. In the first poll after Election Day, Democrats shot up to 54%, while Republicans dropped to 51%, and it has been a steady downward slope for the GOP ever since. Following Biden's inauguration, 65% of Democrats said they had at least some trust, while only 42% of Republicans echoed the sentiment. Current numbers stand at 60% for Democrats and 34% for Republicans. See the full tracker from Morning Consult | | | | THE LATEST FROM INSIDE THE WEST WING : A lot happened in the first two months of the Biden presidency. From a growing crisis at the border to increased mass shootings across the country while navigating the pandemic and ongoing economic challenges. Add Transition Playbook to your daily reads to find out what actions are on the table and the internal state of play inside the West Wing and across the administration. Track the people, policies and emerging power centers of the Biden administration. Don't miss out. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | THURSDAY LISTEN — Former President Bill Clinton spoke to Bernice A. King, the youngest of Martin Luther King Jr.'s four children, for the latest episode of his "Why Am I Telling You This?" podcast. The two discuss King's life, her parents and the pursuit of racial, social and economic justice. Listen SPOTTED on Wednesday night at the Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association's virtual "Sheroes in Media" Awards Gala, which was co-produced by David Morgan and Hannah Kim: co-emcees Alicia Menendez and Richard Lui, honorees Julie Burton, Heather Cohen, Francine Compton, Michelle Lee, Nora Lopez, Lisa Matthews and Dorothy Tucker, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Young Kim (R-Calif.), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Val Demings (D-Fla.) and Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Gina Brillon and Deborah Bond. MEDIAWATCH — Usha Sahay is joining POLITICO Magazine as a senior editor specializing in global coverage. She previously was managing editor of War on the Rocks and is a WSJ and HuffPost alum. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Vikrum Aiyer is joining the ACLU as deputy director in the National Political Advocacy Department. He previously was VP of global public policy and strategic comms at Postmates and is an Obama White House alum. TRANSITIONS — Bonnie Glaser and Laura Thornton are joining the German Marshall Fund. Glaser will be director of GMF's Asia program and previously was senior adviser for Asia and founder and director of the China Power Project at CSIS. Thornton will be director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and previously was director of global programs at International IDEA in Stockholm. … Bobby Fraser is now VP of comms at Nahigian Strategies. He previously was head of public affairs for the Department of Transportation. … … Jerusa McCullock is joining Impactual as managing director. She previously was a director at Arabella Advisors. … Christy Gleason will be executive director of SCAN, Save the Children's political advocacy arm. She currently is a strategist and policy adviser to Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). … Artur Orkisz is now a senior congressional affairs adviser for the Royal Norwegian Embassy in D.C. He was previously at the Polish Embassy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Justice Samuel Alito (71) … Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) (45) … Rachel Maddow (48) … NYT's Michael Crowley … Sharon Soderstrom, chief of staff for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell … Julia Hahn, senior comms adviser to Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) … Matt Haller of the International Franchise Association … Kevin McDonald of Sen. Pat Leahy's (D-Vt.) office … Nicole Harburger Stafford … Wess Mitchell … John Palatiello … J Street's Jess Smith … Antonio White of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation … Frances and Mary Patano … POLITICO's Nancy Vu and Greg Krajci … Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, incoming executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality … Sean Weppner … Jake Hemme … Matt Harakal … Hayley Andrews … David Leaverton … Dan Lothian of Little Park Media … Rachael Duffy … Mary Popadiuk … Jacob Spiering … Julie Sweet … Bob Drummond … Edelman's Nicholas Rozzo and Pranav Shankla … Campbell O'Connor … Nancy Lee Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross. | | | | Sponsored Survey WE VALUE YOUR OPINION: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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