| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade | Presented by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
|  Christmas at the White House is full of traditions that have remained unchanged for generations, while others get tweaked from administration to administration. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | FOR YOUR END-OF-2023 READING LIST — “War, Indictments and a House in Disarray: A Chaotic Year in 23 Stories,” POLITICO Magazine A PLAYBOOK HOLIDAY QUIZ — Merry Christmas, y’all! It’s been a heckuva year in politics, so we hope today is full of family, fun and hopefully no breaking news or weird behavior in an otherwise empty Capitol building. From us here at Playbook, to you and yours, have a very happy holiday. In that festive spirit, we’re bringing you a special quiz edition of Playbook, with two parts: current events and history. Answers to both parts will be in the Playbookers section of the newsletter. PART ONE: CURRENT EVENTS 1. Who said it: Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY or Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU? — “The war is exacting a very heavy cost from us. However, we have no choice but to continue to fight.”
— “In the end, darkness will lose. Evil will be defeated.” 2. Embattled Harvard President CLAUDINE GAY continues to have the support of the Harvard Corporation, per the NYT. Which former Obama-era cabinet official leads the board of the Harvard Corporation? a. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS
b. PENNY PRITZKER
c. JANET NAPOLITANO
d. ROBERT GATES 3. Who said it: former President DONALD TRUMP or Pope FRANCIS? — “Do not confuse celebration [of Christmas] with consumerism.”
— “We can never stop saying that beautiful phrase: Merry Christmas.” 4. Who is scheduled to visit Mexico City in the coming days to “hammer out new agreements to control the surge of migrants seeking entry into the United States,” per the AP? a. VP KAMALA HARRIS
b. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN
c. DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS
d. White House chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS 5. Which country is home to what Anne McElvoy has labeled the “first nail-biter election of 2024”? a. Pakistan
b. Russia
c. Taiwan
d. Finland 6. Who said the following in a speech in Phoenix this week, per the AP: “The problem with the baby boomers, I think, is they get their news from MSNBC, Fox and CNN”? a. ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
b. CORNEL WEST
c. KYRSTEN SINEMA
d. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ 7. As Peter Behr reports, when JOHN PODESTA “arrived at the White House to speed up President JOE BIDEN’s clean energy agenda,” what issue topped his list of priorities? a. The aging electric grid
b. Expanding use of electric vehicles
c. “Green-collar” jobs
d. Subsidies to wind farms 8. So far, 35 members of the House “have announced that they are retiring or leaving the chamber to run for other offices” in the 2024 cycle, per NBC. How many of those 35 are Democrats? a. 13
b. 18
c. 23
d. 28 9. What prompted NASA Administrator BILL NELSON to say “this is an exciting time” in an interview with WaPo? a. The latest SpaceX launch
b. Two companies planning to land rovers on the moon early in 2024
c. Chatter about building a so-called space elevator
d. The rivalry between ELON MUSK and JEFF BEZOS 10. Who or what did Trump say was being subjected to “levels of persecution never seen before in our country”? a. Jewish Americans
b. Evangelical Christians
c. People who say “Merry Christmas”
d. Donald Trump Merry Christmas. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Join us for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of American Business event January 11 to discover how innovation enables businesses to serve customers, solve problems and strengthen society. During our biggest event of the year, you will hear from U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Suzanne P. Clark and other leading CEOs highlighting how America’s free enterprise system is crucial for the long-term success of our country. | | | PART TWO: HISTORY Last night, Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN participated in the annual NORAD SANTA-tracking calls. Today, Harris and second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF are calling U.S. service members to share holiday greetings. Christmas at the White House is full of traditions that have remained unchanged for generations, while others get tweaked from administration to administration. Here, 10 questions on that topic. 1. Under which president did the country get its first official White House ornament that could be purchased by the public? a. ULYSSES S. GRANT
b. RONALD REAGAN
c. BILL CLINTON
d. FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT 2. The National Christmas tree lighting happens every year on the White House lawn. Which president started the tradition? a. JOHN TYLER
b. JOHN F. KENNEDY
c. FRANKLIN PIERCE
d. CALVIN COOLIDGE 3. Which president was rumored to have banned the Christmas tree from being displayed inside the White House because he was a conservationist? a. BARACK OBAMA
b. TEDDY ROOSEVELT
c. RICHARD NIXON
d. JAMES POLK 4. Which president had to jump in with congressmen and members of his cabinet to help put out a Christmas Eve fire at the Library of Congress? a. MILLARD FILLMORE
b. GEORGE WASHINGTON
c. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
d. GROVER CLEVELAND 5. Under whose presidency was there a children’s Christmas party that was interrupted by an electrical fire that destroyed the Oval Office? a. WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
b. HERBERT HOOVER
c. WARREN HARDING
d. WOODROW WILSON 6. Which world leader skipped their own nation’s holiday events to deliver a speech at the White House during the Christmas Eve lighting of the National Christmas tree? a. Queen ELIZABETH II
b. French President JACQUES CHIRAC
c. Canadian PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU
d. British PM WINSTON CHURCHILL 7. Which president broadcast his national holiday message via America’s first communications satellite? a. GERALD FORD
b. DWIGHT EISENHOWER
c. LYNDON JOHNSON
d. RICHARD NIXON 8. Which president holds the record for most number of trees displayed at the White House for Christmas? a. GEORGE W. BUSH
b. JOE BIDEN
c. BARACK OBAMA
d. DONALD TRUMP 9. For decades, first families have been decorating Christmas trees in the White House. Which president erected the first known one — decorated with candles in the second floor Oval Room? a. GROVER CLEVELAND
b. WILLIAM McKINLEY
c. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
d. BENJAMIN HARRISON 10. Which first lady started the tradition of adding themes to the White House Christmas trees? a. JACKIE KENNEDY
b. BARBARA BUSH
c. PAT NIXON
d. LADY BIRD JOHNSON
| | | | A message from The U.S. Chamber of Commerce:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m. Harris and Emhoff will make Christmas calls to U.S. service members.
| | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | | | 
Nikki Haley is mounting a big ground-game push in the final stretch before Iowa. | Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. HALEY’S COMET: “Newly Flush With Cash, Nikki Haley Makes Her Move in Iowa. Is It Too Late?” by NYT’s Kellen Browning and Jazmine Ulloa On Haley’s behalf: Americans for Prosperity Action, a super PAC backing NIKKI HALEY, “has enlisted about 150 volunteer and part-time staff members to canvass the state, and it aims to knock on 100,000 doors before the caucuses, said DREW KLEIN, a senior adviser with A.F.P. Action.” How RON DeSANTIS’ camp sees it: “‘Nikki Haley’s 11th-hour rent-a-campaign gambit won’t work,’ ANDREW ROMEO, a spokesman for Mr. DeSantis, said in a statement. ‘Only the Washington establishment,’ he added, ‘would try to pitch that grass-roots success can be bought.’” 2. STATE OF THE UNIONS: Nineteen months of negotiations have wrapped up with a contract between the AP’s newsroom union and management, per The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky. The union yesterday announced that they’d reached a deal for a three-year contract that includes 14 weeks of paid parental leave, no health care cost increases, bonuses and 2.75% to 3.5% raises over each of the next three years. 3. COMING TOGETHER: “Meet the Americans Trying to Lower the Temperature in Politics,” by WSJ’s Aaron Zitner: “These groups have won increased support from the donor community, including one alliance of right-of-center and liberal foundations that says it has raised about $40 million in less than three years toward a $100 million goal. They are also drawing from the work of social-science researchers at Stanford, Northwestern and many other universities who are testing which messages in ads and in-person conversations show the most promise in guiding Americans toward more productive forms of debate.” 4. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: The U.S. vision for a post-war Gaza, with the Palestinian Authority in charge, faces plenty of obstacles. But first of all there’s this: The Biden administration can’t even get Israel “to unblock salaries needed to prevent the authority from collapsing altogether,” WaPo’s Loveday Morris and Yasmeen Abutaleb report. Meanwhile, Egypt has laid out its own plan for ending the war, AP’s Samy Magdy, Najib Jobain and Melanie Lidman report. But the big proposal from Cairo and Qatar likely wouldn’t satisfy Israel by imposing a cease-fire without entirely eliminating Hamas or giving Netanyahu’s government long-term military control over Gaza. At the same time, Israel’s bombing campaign continues to exact some of its worst devastation of the war, with a new strike on a refugee camp reportedly killing 106 people.
| | | | A message from The U.S. Chamber of Commerce:   | | | 5. IMMIGRATION FILES: The flow of undocumented immigrants streaming over the U.S.-Mexico border has ramped up even more in recent days, straining systems despite actions meant to deter them from the Texas and federal governments, CBS’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez reports from Eagle Pass. “Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass set up a makeshift outdoor holding area this month to supervise migrants until they could be transported to processing facilities. In just days, thousands of migrant men, women and children slept in this staging area in between two international bridges, braving temperatures that fell below 50 degrees overnight.” 6. A VIBE SHIFT TO WATCH: “In L.A. District Attorney Race, Rhetoric Shifts From Reform to Fear,” by NYT’s Tim Arango and Ana Facio-Krajcer: “Three years ago, GEORGE GASCÓN rode a wave of collective outrage following the murder of GEORGE FLOYD in Minneapolis to become district attorney of Los Angeles by promising to make the criminal justice system fairer and, most crucially, to rein in the police. “Now, to win re-election and stay in office, Mr. Gascón will need to tap into a different type of emotion: fear — in particular a perception that Los Angeles is less safe and that his policies as district attorney have made it so, an argument advanced by many of his challengers but largely unsupported by data. ‘I think that this race now for 2024 has gone back to, for a lot of people, law and order, lock ’em up,’ Mr. Gascón said in an interview.” Related read: “Biden Administration Puts New Emphasis on Fighting Violent Crime,” by WSJ’s Sadie Gurman 7. LITTLE ROCKET MAN: South Korea and Japan have started more fully sharing missile data about North Korea with each other, boosting the three-way cooperation between them and the U.S. to track Pyongyang’s launches, WSJ’s Dasl Yoon reports. “The data sharing could also help the U.S. and its allies respond more quickly to a North Korean missile launch by giving them a more comprehensive picture in real time. That could potentially buy minutes to analyze the data and improve the chances of intercepting a missile.” 8. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: The next frontier of espionage could be the theft of artificial intelligence secrets, which the U.S. worries could give China a big boost, WSJ’s Robert McMillan, Dustin Volz and Aruna Viswanatha report. “Instead of just stealing trade secrets, the FBI and other agencies believe China could use AI to gather and stockpile data on Americans at a scale that was never before possible.” 9. A BIG 2024 QUESTION: “Can ticket-splitting governor races survive a Trump-Biden rematch in 2024?” by Zach Montellaro and Lisa Kashinsky: “The last time [Trump] was at the top of the ticket, three of the 11 states holding gubernatorial elections voted for different parties for governor and president, an enduring sign that sometimes politics actually is still all local. But in the subsequent four years, politics has continued to grow more polarized — and nationalized — leaving a smaller and smaller gap between federal elections and those that govern the states.”
| | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | | Alexei Navalny has been found, alive and well, in a Russian penal colony. Rudy Giuliani’s knighthood is being questioned. Giang Jill Nguyen is bringing Washington together over bread. Quiz answers …
PART ONE: 1. Netanyahu; Zelenskyy. 2. b, Penny Pritzker. 3. Francis; Trump. 4. b, Antony Blinken. 5. c, Taiwan. 6. a, RFK Jr. 7. a, the electric grid. 8. c, 23. 9. b, two companies planning to land rovers on the moon early in 2024. 10. d, Trump. PART TWO: 1. b, Reagan. 2. d, Coolidge. 3. b, Roosevelt. 4. a, Fillmore. 5. b, Hoover. 6. d, Churchill. 7. b, Eisenhower. 8. b, Biden. 9. d, Benjamin Harrison. 10. a, Kennedy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Mike Donilon … Karl Rove … OMB’s Wintta Woldemariam … Tim Miller … Jones Day’s Brian Rabbitt … Bill Bailey of the Walt Disney Co. … Stephanie Mathews O’Keefe … USAID’s Sophia Lalani … CNN’s Hilary Krieger … Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing … Atlas Strategy Group’s Michael Blake … Rachael Slobodien of Eberle Strategies … CBS’ Natalie Pahz … Daniel Fisher of the Associated Equipment Distributors … Amanda Munger … Miranda Margowsky of the Financial Technology Association … Anne Wall … Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza … Kristen Shatynski … James Fitzella … former CEA Chair Christina Romer … Sarah Levin … CTA’s Tiffany Moore … Rokk Solutions’ Benjamin Khoshbin … Zachary Hooper … Jason Pye of FreedomWorks and the Due Process Institute … Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton, producer Andrew Howard and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misstated Marsha (Catron) Espinosa’s work affiliation. She is with Conexión.
| | | | A message from The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Join us for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of American Business event January 11 to discover how innovation enables businesses to serve customers, solve problems and strengthen society. Our biggest event of the year draws a virtual audience of more than 10,000 people from across the nation and around the world, from small business owners to Fortune 500 CEOs, community leaders, and policymakers. You will hear from U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Suzanne P. Clark and other leading CEOs highlighting how America’s free enterprise system is crucial for the long-term success of our country. | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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