| | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | Presented by ExxonMobil | | 
Nikki Haley tells supporters in South Carolina that she is suspending her campaign for president. | Chris Carlson/AP | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | Last night, even as Super Tuesday results flooded in showing overwhelming support for DONALD TRUMP and meager returns for NIKKI HALEY, a spokesperson for Haley’s campaign said the mood in her inner circle was “jubilant.” The jubilation seems to have passed. This morning, Haley officially suspended her campaign, striking a ruminant tone in remarks to supporters in South Carolina. “I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that,” Haley said. “I have no regrets. And while I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.” Haley declined to formally endorse Trump for president, saying today that it is now up to him “to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it, who did not support him, and I hope he does that.” More from Natalie Allison Welcome to the general election. Trump is now the GOP’s nominee-in-waiting, and the matchup between Trump and President JOE BIDEN is now the indisputable main event in American politics. “It will be the country’s first presidential rematch in nearly 70 years,” NYT’s Shane Goldmacher notes. “And it will be an eight-month slog, with two nominees who polls show are deeply unpopular and who are each determined to make the race about his opponent, leaving both bent on running exceedingly negative campaigns.” Falling in line is outgoing Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL, who tepidly endorsed Trump. “It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support,” McConnell said in a statement. More from Burgess Everett and Ursula Perano Trump’s response to Haley’s departure: “Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries. Much of her money came from Radical Left Democrats, as did many of her voters, almost 50%,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social. “I’d like to thank my family, friends, and the Great Republican Party for helping me to produce, by far, the most successful Super Tuesday in HISTORY, and would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation.” Biden’s response: “Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement after Haley made the news official. “I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.” The road ahead for Haley: “As she exits the race, it is hard to know whether Haley is part of the party’s future or a last gasp of more-traditional Republicanism that favors a hawkish foreign policy, fiscal discipline and limited government,” writes WSJ’s John McCormick, who was first to report the news of Haley’s exit. “The 52-year-old could still have a future in presidential politics, but her sharp criticism of Trump in the final two months of her campaign will likely make that challenging while he still has a hold on the party.” THE SUPER TUESDAY AFTER-ACTION REPORT …
- “The Super Tuesday Places Where Donald Trump Did Best — and Worst,” by WSJ’s Max Rust and Randy Yeip: “Trump continues to draw his strongest support in those places with lower rates of adults with a four-year college degree. In counties where college graduates are a smaller share of the population than the national rate, Trump averaged 83% of the vote. That compares with 61% in places where those with a college degree account for a higher-than-average share of the population.”
- “Who will Nikki Haley’s supporters vote for now that she dropped out?” by WaPo’s Derek Hawkins, Dylan Wells, Sabrina Rodriguez, Jenn Ackerman, Matt McClain, Kim Raff and Rachel Woolf: “The Washington Post spoke to nearly 40 Haley voters in four Super Tuesday states about how they would vote in a Biden-Trump rematch, a prospect that often elicited groans or hands thrown up in disappointment.”
Oh, and BTW: ELON MUSK cleared the air after reports emerged indicating that he and Trump met recently. “Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President,” Musk wrote in a post on X. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
| | | | A message from ExxonMobil: The world needs ways to reduce carbon emissions. At ExxonMobil, we’re working on solutions in our own operations – like carbon capture and clean energy from hydrogen – that could also help in other industries like manufacturing, commercial transportation and power generation, too. Helping deliver heavy industry with low emissions. | | | | | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Joe Biden's reelection is preparing to kick into high gear on the heels of the president's State of the Union address. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images | 1. THE SOTU STARTING GUN: For months now, those close to Biden have told donors and party operatives to take a wait-and-see approach as the reelection campaign ramps up ahead of a general election blitz. Now, the president’s State of the Union address is set to trigger the action, WaPo’s Michael Scherer reports. “The mission: To demonstrate Biden momentum and tamp down party anxiety before the August convention in Chicago. “New swing-state advertising from the campaign and outside groups is expected in the coming weeks and months. State leadership teams in the eight battleground states, including newly added New Hampshire, have been ordered to begin engaging with volunteers and contacting voters through what the campaign has started to call a ‘March month of action.’ Offices will open. Coalition groups will launch. Members of Congress will be dispatched. Administration travel, including by Biden, will be robust, according to people involved in the planning.” 2. INSIDE THE SOTU PREP: Biden decamped to Camp David over the weekend to iron out his State of the Union address, which he is set to give tomorrow. Among the preparations, there was plenty of throat-soothing tea, teleprompters and “a copy of ‘Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict,’ a book by WILLIAM URY, an international negotiation expert,” NYT’s Katie Rogers writes in a look at the legwork that has gone in to crafting the high-stakes speech. Who’s in the room: “The Camp David weekend group included BRUCE REED, the White House deputy chief of staff, who helped guide policy-related additions to the speech; MIKE DONILON, the aide who has the best understanding of Mr. Biden’s voice; ANITA DUNN, who oversees communications strategy for the White House; and JEFFREY D. ZIENTS, Mr. Biden’s chief of staff. Rounding out the group was STEVE RICCHETTI, counselor to the president and a longtime friend, and VINAY REDDY, Mr. Biden’s speechwriter. The historian JON MEACHAM, who is called upon to add historical heft, was also there.” 3. FED UP: Fed Chair JEROME POWELL appeared before the House Financial Services Committee this morning, where he told lawmakers: “If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year. But the economic outlook is uncertain, and ongoing progress toward our 2 percent inflation objective is not assured.” “But rate cuts — which aren’t expected to start until sometime this summer — could read differently on the campaign trail,” WaPo’s Rachel Siegel writes. “The Biden administration, for one, is playing up strong growth, a booming job market and easing inflation. Yet the president’s polling on the economy — especially on inflation — is weak, and his campaign would probably benefit from rate cuts that ease steep prices for mortgages, car insurance and business investment.” 4. A NEW STRATEGY ON THE RIGHT: “‘Our prayer is that it doesn’t even reach the ballot’: Inside Arizona’s abortion battle,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein in Phoenix: “Arizona conservatives are mobilizing early to correct what they see as one of their biggest mistakes over the last two years: waiting too long to jump into the fray. … [T]hey’re leaning particularly hard on the ‘decline to sign’ strategy in Arizona because there they lack the policies and levers of power conservatives are using in other states … to make it harder for proposed amendments to qualify for the ballot.”
| | | | On the ground in Albany. Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Track how power brokers are driving change across legislation and budget and impacting lobbying efforts. Learn more. | | | | | 5. LEDE OF THE DAY: “Dave McCormick might live part-time in Connecticut but he’s campaigning all over Pa.,” by the Philly Inquirer’s Julia Terruso: “As DAVE McCORMICK launched his 67-county campaign bus tour on a Saturday afternoon in Lititz, he told supporters gathered that he was going to ‘live on the bus,’ through November. He flew back to Connecticut later that evening. It’s the sort of dichotomy that Democrats have hammered McCormick over as they try to portray the Republican candidate as a wealthy outsider posing as a Pennsylvania resident in his quest to oust Democratic Sen. BOB CASEY.” A *chef’s kiss* anecdote: “As the bus tour goes on he’ll try to counter the out-of-touch millionaire branding with events like this. Though even that night, the label ironically stared him in the face. Williamsport High’s mascot is the Marching Millionaires — named for the lumber barons who lived there in the 1890s. The name was emblazoned on flags in the gym and the seats the inductees sat on. And as McCormick’s bus pulled away, it passed school banners that read: ‘It’s a great day to be a Millionaire.’” 6. IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY: Democratic Florida Rep. JARED MOSKOWITZ is considering a run for governor in the Sunshine State in 2026, telling our colleague Mia McCarthy that while it’s still “super early” in the process, he won’t rule it out. Other Dems considering a run include state Sen. SHEVRIN JONES and Florida House Minority Leader FENTRICE DRISKELL. 7. INVESTIGATION INVENTORY: Biden’s plan to install JOHN PODESTA as the administration’s new climate chief is raising a red flag for some congressional Republicans, the Washington Examiner’s Gabe Kaminsky reports. “The appointment ‘appears to be a blatant attempt to sidestep congressional oversight and install Mr. Podesta in a position that under federal law requires the advice and consent of the United States Senate,’ House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (R-WA) and Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-WV), ranking member for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote in a letter Tuesday evening to the president.” 8. WILD STORY: “Rushing home on a rerouted jet, Haiti’s prime minister is pressured by U.S. to resign,” by the Miami Herald’s Jacqueline Charles and Michael Wilner: “The Biden administration had been proposing for months that [Haitian PM ARIEL] HENRY, in power since the assassination of Haitian President JOVENEL MOÏSE nearly three years ago, lead a political transition toward democratic elections. With gangs now overrunning Port-au-Prince, time had run out. Henry was midflight when the administration asked him to agree to a new transitional government — and resign.”
| | | | CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a fundraising reception in memory of Sally and Lee Atwater to raise money for a cure for brain cancer yesterday evening at Nelson Mullins: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Russell Fry (R-S.C.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). — Serbian Caucus co-chair Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) and Serbian Ambassador Marko Djuric organized a special congressional screening at the Congressional Visitors Center of “Heroes of Halyard,” a film about the largest rescue of U.S. airmen behind enemy lines during World War II. The screening was preceded by a panel discussion on the Serbia-United States Defense Partnership. SPOTTED: Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), State Secretary at the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia Nemanja Starovic, Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard Major General John Harris, Lt. Col. John Cappello and director Rados Bajic. TRANSITIONS — Aida Ross is now deputy rapid response director at the DNC. She most recently was rapid response director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party and is a Katie Hobbs alum. … Logan Bayroff is joining West End Strategy Team as a VP. He most recently was VP of comms at J Street. … … Ross Guckert is now EVP of defense programs at J.A. Green & Company. He previously was U.S. Army program executive officer at Enterprise Information Systems. … Joaquin Guerra is joining Conexión Public Engagement as partner. He most recently was national political director for the Campaign for Our Shared Future Action Fund and is a Bill Bradley and Bill Richardson alum. 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 and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | A message from ExxonMobil: Heavy industry accounts for nearly 30% of global carbon emissions. For these businesses, setting and achieving meaningful carbon-reduction goals can be complex. At ExxonMobil, we’ve been working on reducing our own carbon emissions. At our Baytown plant, one of the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical operations, we’re working to deploy hydrogen power and carbon capture to reduce emissions by up to 30%. Now, we’re taking solutions like these to others in heavy industry. Using our technologies, we can help these businesses create a plan to make similar reductions. And together, we can deliver a lower-emissions future. Let's deliver. | | | | | | | 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 politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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