| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | PANDA-MONIUM — In a surprise announcement that has thrilled Beltway animal lovers of all ages, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo revealed this morning that giant pandas will return to Washington later this year. There’s a hard-news angle to this, too: The pandas’ return comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Beijiing — and after lapsed lease agreements led to the departure of the zoo’s three pandas back to China last year. The announcement video, featuring JILL BIDEN and LONNIE BUNCH EYES EMOJI — “Inside Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Growing Alliance,” by WSJ’s Emily Glazer, Robbie Whelan, Alex Leary, Cara Lombardo and Dana Mattioli: “DONALD TRUMP and ELON MUSK have discussed a possible advisory role for the Tesla leader should the presumptive Republican nominee reclaim the White House, the latest sign that the once-frosty relationship between the two men has thawed. “The role hasn’t been fully hammered out and might not happen, people familiar with the talks said, but the two men discussed ways to give Musk formal input and influence over policies related to border security and the economy, both issues on which Musk has grown more vocal. “Musk, along with the billionaire investor NELSON PELTZ, has also briefed Trump on a plan they’ve developed to invest in a data-driven project to prevent voter fraud, according to some of the people. Peltz and Musk also told Trump of an influence campaign in elite circles that is already under way, in which Musk and his political allies host gatherings of powerful business leaders across the country and try to convince them not to support President Biden’s re-election campaign.”
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The Manhattan jury must decide on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records Trump faces related to the coverup of an alleged $130,000 hush money payment. | Alex Kent for POLITICO | THE DELIBERATIONS BEGIN — Late this morning, jurors in Trump’s hush money/business fraud case left the courtroom to begin their deliberations. Before sending the jury away, Justice JUAN MERCHAN delivered standard instructions on the verdict process and reasonable doubt: “As a juror, you are asked to make a very important decision about another member of the community,” Merchan said. “You are responsible for the facts. And you are responsible to determine if the defendant is guilty or not guilty." Merchan also repeated his instruction that former Trump attorney and key witness MICHAEL COHEN’s prior guilty plea could be used to test his credibility, but cannot be the sole evidence of Trump’s guilt, Kyle Cheney reports. Merchan also added that Trump’s choice not to testify cannot factor into their decision, as “the defendant is not required to prove that he is not guilty.”
- What they have to do: The jury must decide on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records Trump faces related to the coverup of an alleged $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star STORMY DANIELS in 2016.
- The timing: Nobody knows precisely how long the jury deliberations will take, but Kyle suggests a few signs that could hint at where they are going to land — like issuing a question to the judge or deciding to work late to reach a result.
What is Trump thinking? As the jury filed out of the courtroom, Trump shot a smile to his lawyers and reporters, per CNN. Afterwards, Trump told reporters that after listening to Merchan’s instructions, he believes “MOTHER TERESA could not beat those charges. … But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do.” Trump also repeated his accusations that Merchan is “corrupt” and “conflicted,” while alleging that the gag order imposed on him prevents him from backing up his accusations, as NYT’s Michael Gold reports. Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
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Somewhat lost in the glut of stories is the reality that the presidential race between Biden and Trump is still very close. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | 1. CLOSER THAN YOU THINK: President JOE BIDEN has recently faced a slate of bad polls and low approval ratings. But somewhat lost in the glut of stories is the reality that the presidential race is still very close, as NYT’s Nate Cohn writes this morning. “[T]here’s a case for taking a glass-almost-half-full perspective on Mr. Biden’s chances ... In fact, Mr. Biden could win if the election were held tomorrow even if the polls had an above-average year in terms of accuracy, simply because the polls don’t have to be off by much at all for him to prevail.” 2. BIBI VS. BIDEN: Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU is now criticizing the Biden administration for not pursuing sanctions against the International Criminal Court for seeking the PM’s arrest on war crimes, Alex Ward reports. “Netanyahu blasted the new stance in an interview with Sirius XM’s ‘The Morgan Ortagus Show’ that is set to air Sunday. … ‘The United States said that they would, in fact, back the sanctions bill,’ Netanyahu says in the interview. ‘I thought that was still the American position because there was bipartisan consensus just a few days ago.’… The Biden administration is in talks with Congress on how best to respond to the arrest warrants.” Related read on Rafah: After a recent Israeli strike that killed at least 45 Palestinians at a tent encampment in Rafah, aid groups are warning Washington that relief work is now “nearly impossible,” WaPo’s Ellen Francis, Kelly Kasulis Cho, Susannah George and Adela Suliman report. “Aid agencies said the Israeli offensive upended efforts to deliver basic supplies to starving Palestinians and forced the displaced to flee again. The groups have called on the U.N. Security Council to enforce an order from the International Court of Justice for Israel to halt military operations in Rafah.” 3. ON DEFENSE: After Sen. ROGER WICKER (R-Miss.) pushed for a $55 billion increase in defense spending in a NYT op-ed this morning, Connor O’Brien And Joe Gould take a closer look at the proposal’s uphill battle in the upper chamber: “Some defense hawks are already backing the idea of exceeding budget caps, and it could pose a dilemma for some vulnerable Democrats. But any plans to bust the caps will have to navigate Democrats’ demands that any increase get a non-defense match.”
| | | | A message from PhRMA: The 340B drug pricing program is supposed to help vulnerable patients access medicines at qualifying hospitals and clinics. It’s meant to be a safety net for those who really need it. So why is the 340B program padding profits for large hospitals, PBMs and chain pharmacies? Let’s fix 340B so it can help the patients that need it most. Let’s fix 340B. | | | 4. WAR IN UKRAINE: As Kyiv continues to struggle with munition shortages in their fight against the Kremlin, Reuters’ Mari Saito is out with a stirring dispatch from the eastern stretch of the front lines, where exhausted soldiers are working to push back Russia’s steady gains. On the ground, “soldiers in infantry, artillery and drone units all expressed exhaustion. They spoke of an acute shortage of ammunition and an urgent need to replenish troops .… Death and injury are constant and every day is a reminder of the asymmetry of the war.” Related read: “Soldiers in Ukraine say US-supplied tanks have made them targets for Russian strikes,” by CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, Mick Krever, Kosta Gak and Brice Laine 5. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: “Crypto super PACs get $25M boost,” by Jasper Goodman: “Ripple Labs, a major cryptocurrency firm, said Wednesday that it’s contributing $25 million to a network of industry super PACs working to influence elections this year, bringing the group’s fundraising to around $110 million. The move doubles Ripple’s previous $25 million contribution to the effort, which is designed to help elect crypto allies and take down potential critics. So far, the investment has succeeded in boosting several crypto-friendly candidates in the House and Senate. The group is threatening to spend in Ohio and Montana Senate races that could determine control of the upper chamber.” 6. ANNALS OF INFLUENCE: “US pledges $135 million in aid to Western-leaning Moldova to counter Russian influence,” by AP’s Matthew Lee And Vadim Ghirda: “[Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN] said $85 million would go to bolster energy infrastructure and $50 million was aimed at overhauling the energy and farming industries and deterring disinformation. … Before Wednesday, the U.S. had provided Moldova with $774 million in financial aid since the Ukraine war began in February 2022. Some $300 million of that was earmarked for energy security.”
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   Let’s fix 340B so it can help the patients that need it most. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Chris Bond is now SVP of comms at AHIP. He previously was managing director at PLUS Communications and is a Steve Scalise alum. MEDIA MOVE — Romesh Ratnesar will be SVP for engagement at The Atlantic Council. He previously was a member of the editorial board at Bloomberg Opinion. TRANSITION — Sharon Pearce is now VP and government affairs lead at the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association. She previously was SVP of government relations at the National Kidney Foundation. 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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