| | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | CHIEF CONCERNS — The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are set to visit the White House a week from today. Will HARRISON BUTKER show up? (The kicker recently blasted President JOE BIDEN in a controversial commencement speech. He did attend the White House visit last year, FWIW.) Will TAYLOR SWIFT accompany TRAVIS KELCE? (She does not have a tour stop scheduled for that date, though she is playing in Madrid, Spain, the day before.) Will ANDY REID enjoy the menu as much this time around?
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President Joe Biden is considering a shift in tone on Donald Trump as his hush money trial wraps up. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | TRIAL BALLOONS — With the hush money trial against DONALD TRUMP expected to wrap up as soon as next week, President JOE BIDEN’s campaign is “exploring a shift to a new, more aggressive posture” about the proceedings, NBC’s Monica Alba, Natasha Korecki and Mike Memoli report. Thus far, mum’s been the word from both the candidate and the campaign, who have decided to stay above the fray as the courtroom drama plays out. “A person familiar with the discussions summed it up this way: ‘Donald Trump’s legal troubles are not going to keep him out of the White House. Only one thing will do that: voting this November for Joe Biden.’ “If Trump is found guilty at his state trial in New York City, the Biden campaign will also consider whether to brand him as a ‘convicted felon,’ this person added. ‘It’s an open question.’ Campaign officials are also weighing whether to amplify that kind of messaging with key surrogates on the airwaves or an ad buy or both.” Meanwhile, another trial will be high on Biden and his team’s radar this summer: That of his son, HUNTER, who is facing a criminal trial on felony gun charges — set to get underway on June 3. (Another trial, on tax charges, has been punted to September.) As we have previously reported, President Biden’s concern about the trial is personal, not political, but that doesn’t mean White House and campaign officials won’t be monitoring things closely, NBC’s Alba, Memoli and Sarah Fitzpatrick write. “His advisers will be watching, in part, for any instances where the president is referenced during the proceedings, and they plan to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to react in real time, according to two people familiar with the plans.” EXPORTING JOE — “Bidenism Is Gasping in America. It’s Having a Moment in Britain,” by Alex Burns: “Even if Biden-style politics carries the day on July 4, Labour should be careful about putting too much stock in that American playbook. In fact, they should probably discard it on July 5. The feeble state of Biden’s reelection campaign is a testament to the limits of his political methods, and an object lesson in why Labour should not follow his example past Election Day. What worked for Biden in 2020 — offering himself to a wide community of voters as a safe harbor amid the gales of Trumpism — has failed him badly as president. His party is taking a staggering risk by putting its faith in that approach again.” MIDDLE EAST LATEST — The International Court of Justice this morning “ruled that Israel must immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, dealing another blow to the country as it faces increasing international isolation,” NYT’s Gaya Gupta writes. “The court has no means of enforcing its orders, and the language of the ruling left some room for interpretation, experts said. Hard-line politicians in Israel immediately vowed that Israel would not comply.” Notable: Among the ICJ judges backing today’s ruling was U.S. representative SARAH CLEVELAND, whose candidacy Biden backed last year and whom he had previously nominated to a senior State Department position in 2021, Al Arabiya English notes. Related read: “The bodies of 3 more hostages are recovered from Gaza by the Israeli army,” by AP’s Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv FOR YOUR RADAR — “Young missionary couple from US among 3 killed by gunmen in Haiti’s capital, police say,” by AP’s Dánica Coto and Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. We’ll be off Monday for the holiday, as will the Playbook Daily Briefing podcast, but Playbook will still be in your inbox every morning. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
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Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is among the leading contenders to become Trump's running mate. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. THE TOUCH, THE FEEL: Despite not receiving a name-drop in Trump’s rundown of top VP contenders yesterday, Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) has “unexpectedly emerged” as a real potential running mate for Trump, NYT’s Michael Bender reports. “Trump’s interest in Mr. Cotton, who won a second term in the Senate in 2020, reflects this do-no-harm mentality. “The former president has said privately that he views Mr. Cotton as a reliable and effective communicator in cable news interviews. Mr. Trump has also praised Mr. Cotton’s Army service, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fact that he is a fellow Ivy League graduate. Mr. Trump went to the University of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Cotton attended Harvard, earning undergraduate and law degrees.” 2. MUSK READ: ELON MUSK is turning up the volume and frequency of his anti-Biden posts on his X platform, NYT’s Kate Conger and Ryan Mac reports. “Musk’s posts about this year’s presidential race stand out because he is signaling a willingness to tip the political scales as the owner of an influential social media platform, something that no other leader of a social media firm has done.” By the numbers: According to the NYT analysis, “Musk has posted about Mr. Biden on X at least seven times a month since January, attacking the president for everything from his age to his policies on immigration and health.” In total, Musk’s posts about Biden in 2024 are nearing 40, while he only notched 30 posts in all of 2023. 3. LETTER FROM A MIAMI JAIL: PETER NAVARRO, the former Trump aide who was sent to prison after being found guilty of contempt of Congress, tells the WSJ’s Alex Leary that he has “no regrets” about what landed him there and said he isn’t asking for a pardon should Trump return to the White House. “‘I will not give the Supreme Court any excuse to duck what is otherwise a landmark constitutional case regarding the separation of powers and executive privilege,’ Navarro wrote to The Wall Street Journal from prison in Miami, referencing his appeal now before a federal appeals court. … “‘I have no regrets,’ said federal inmate No. 04370-510. ‘I didn’t choose this fight, this fight chose me.’ He might not want a pardon but Navarro will have a home in a new Trump administration if he wants it. ‘I would absolutely have Peter back. This outrageous behavior by the Democrats should not have happened,’ Trump said in a statement to the Journal. (Navarro said he wasn’t looking for a job but would consider one ‘if the boss needs me.’)”
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | 4. DATA DIVE: “Trump’s Pattern of Sowing Election Doubt Intensifies in 2024,” by NYT’s Karen Yourish and Charlie Smart: “Trump has baselessly and publicly cast doubt about the fairness of the 2024 election about once a day, on average, since he announced his candidacy for president, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Though the tactic is familiar — Mr. Trump raised the specter of a ‘rigged’ election in the 2016 and 2020 cycles, too — his attempts to undermine the 2024 contest are a significant escalation. … The Times has documented more than 500 campaign events, social media posts and interviews during the 2024 cycle in which Mr. Trump falsely accused Democrats or others of trying to ‘rig,’ ‘cheat,’ ‘steal’ or otherwise ‘influence’ the next election — or of having done so in 2020.” 5. MATERIEL CONCERNS: “Russian jamming leaves some high-tech U.S. weapons ineffective in Ukraine,” by WaPo’s Isabelle Khurshudyan and Alex Horton in Kyiv: “Many U.S.-made satellite-guided ammunitions in Ukraine have failed to withstand Russian jamming technology, prompting Kyiv to stop using certain types of Western-provided armaments after effectiveness rates plummeted, according to senior Ukrainian military officials and confidential internal Ukrainian assessments obtained by The Washington Post. … “Russia’s ability to combat the high-tech munitions has far-reaching implications for Ukraine and its Western supporters — potentially providing a blueprint for adversaries such as China and Iran — and it is a key reason Moscow’s forces have regained the initiative and are advancing on the battlefield.” Related read: “Ukraine Hits Russian Complex in Occupied Crimea With U.S.-Supplied Missiles,” by WSJ’s Ian Lovett and Nikita Nikolaienko in Kyiv 6. SOULS OF MISCHIEF: “Are Russia and North Korea planning an ‘October surprise’ that aids Trump?” by NBC’s Courtney Kube and Carol Lee: “The Biden administration is increasingly concerned that the intensifying military alliance between Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN and North Korean leader KIM JONG UN could vastly expand Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities and increase tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, six senior U.S. officials told NBC News. U.S. officials are also bracing for North Korea to potentially take its most provocative military actions in a decade close to the U.S. presidential election, possibly at Putin’s urging, the officials said.” 7. OUR MAN IN ISTANBUL: JEFF FLAKE, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, sat down with The Deseret News’ Samuel Benson to talk about his post, the Israel-Hamas war, his former life in Congress and more. The Q: “If you could tell Americans to pay attention to one thing in the world right now, what would it be?” Flake: “I think there’s a strain of politics — I think a malignant strain — right now that says, we can shut the world out, and that we can be more peaceful, more secure, more prosperous, by shutting the world out. And I think that is wrong. We need alliances. We need friendships. And that’s one thing that I’ve always known. It’s certainly been reinforced, particularly after Ukraine. You need friends, you need allies. And you can’t say, ‘Well, we disagree on this issue, and so we won’t do anything together.’”
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Robert De Niro helped cut an ad for Joe Biden’s campaign. Chris Sununu called Gavin Newsom “just a prick.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a party on Thursday night hosted by Simon & Schuster for Brody and Luke Mullins’ “The Wolves of K Street” ($27.48) on a roof deck overlooking the White House: Robb Watters, Mike Balmoris, Jeff Birnbaum, Emily Birnbaum, Lyndon Boozer, Lisa Camooso Miller, Sean and Rebecca Spicer, Brian Walsh, Brett Forrest, Dave Grimaldi, Patrick Mellody, Tom Quinn, Bill Duryea, Michael Schaffer, Tracy Sefl, Shanti Stanton, Rob Tappan, Ken Vogel, Janet Adamy and Byron Tau. — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) hosted more than 70 Tennesseans for her annual policy summit. It kicked off with a dinner attended by Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Susie Wiles; included panels with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Daines, John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.); and wrapped up with a songwriters round featuring Aaron Barker and J.T. Harding. — The Washington University Defense, Aerospace and National Security Alumni Network and the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement co-sponsored an event Wednesday at the Cosmos Club, which featured J. Michael Luttig, Jeh Johnson and Dick Gephardt talking about American democracy. 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.
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