| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Rachael Bade and Ryan Lizza | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | HAPPENING TODAY — “Mexicans Go to Polls in Historic Election, as 2 Women Vie to Lead the Country,” by NYT’s Natalie Kitroeff and Simon Romero … “Claudia Sheinbaum Will Be Mexico’s Next President. But Which Version of Her Will Govern?” by José Luis Sabau for POLITICO Magazine
|  Donald Trump's criminal conviction has turned him to “a symbol,” Speaker Mike Johnson said. | Alex Kent for POLITICO | A MATTER OF CONVICTION — Since Thursday afternoon, DONALD TRUMP’s conviction in Manhattan has blotted out pretty much all other political news. You can expect that to remain the case, even though his sentencing hearing is more than a month away. It’s not just Democrats who are trying to keep this in the news: Republicans are eager to stoke this story, too. FOR REPUBLICANS … It’s not simply that a rally-round-the-flag effect is filling the Trump campaign’s piggy bank — though it is doing that. It’s that the criminal conviction has turned Trump into “a symbol.” That’s the phrase Speaker MIKE JOHNSON used at a GOP fundraiser in Illinois last night, Shia Kapos and Lisa Kashinsky report. Trump, said Johnson, “is not just our nominee, not just an individual running for president. I think now he’s seen as a symbol, a symbol of one who is willing to fight back against that corruption, the deep state and all the rest.” With Congress back in Washington this week, Republicans have made clear that they intend to keep this story in the news. One way they aim to do that is by hauling Manhattan DA ALVIN BRAGG in front of House Judiciary’s select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government; Rep. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) sent letters to Bragg and his senior counsel to testify on June 13. Among the attendees of Johnson’s speech at the Peoria-Tazewell Lincoln Day Dinner, the consensus was that Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts would solidify his support among Republicans. (“You’re not going to see those ‘Republicans for Biden’ signs in front yards,” predicted former Illinois state Rep. JEANNE IVES. “That’s going away.”) But outside of Republican circles, the outlook is a bit less clear. FOR INDEPENDENTS … Even as some voters profess that “it won’t make any difference” — as in this dispatch from Wisconsin by the Boston Globe’s Jim Puzzanghera — it really can’t help but affect the way voters think about 2024. (“This is how the verdict impacts the race; takes focus off [President JOE] BIDEN’s weaknesses & onto Trump’s,” observes the ever-sharp Amy Walter.) Morning Consult is out with a new poll this weekend that finds that 54 percent of voters approve of the guilty verdict, and that 49 percent of independents and 15 percent of Republicans think he should drop his bid for the White House altogether. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 10 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of independents say they are now less likely to vote for Trump because of the verdict. The usual caveats apply, and the speediest polls are not always the most reliable. But they give us some hint that this won’t be a simple one for prognosticators to parse out. FOR DEMOCRATS … It’s a question Democrats have weighed in 2018, 2020, 2022 and now 2024: “trying to determine how much they should wade into the Trump muck in trying to tie their opponent to the scandal,” WaPo’s Paul Kane writes. “There hasn’t been a consistent answer over the years, but in the few days since Trump was pronounced guilty, House Democrats so far feel comfortable raising the issue in the battleground districts that will determine which side holds power next year. … “It seems as if national Democrats are on board with leaning into the guilty verdict. By early Friday afternoon the House Majority PAC, the super PAC affiliated with Democratic leadership, began issuing statement after statement under an ‘I support crime’ headline for each embattled GOP incumbent defending Trump. “Democrats have centered their message on saying the verdict shows that every American faces consequences for their actions and to remind voters in competitive House districts, many of which favored President Biden four years ago, that their Republican counterpart cannot be independent from Trump.” Still, Democrats seem to realize that this dynamic alone will not win them the election. “I think that voters are paying attention, and it does matter to some of them,” one former senior Biden campaign and White House aide told Playbook. “I don’t think it is correct for the campaign to say, ‘Oh, people don't care about this.’ I think some people do care. Large swaths of people know it is not their determining factor.” THE OTHER TRIAL IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK — “As Hunter Biden’s Trial Nears, President Biden Pulls Him Close,” by NYT’s Katie Rogers … “For Hunter Biden, a dramatic day with his brother’s widow led to charges,” by WaPo’s Matt Viser Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | 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. | | | SUNDAY BEST … — Trump on the possibility of getting jail time or house arrest, on “Fox and Friends Weekend”: “I’m OK with it. … You don’t beg for anything. … I’m not sure the public would stand for it. … I think it would be tough for the public to take. You know, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.” … on whether he’d take revenge on his political enemies and reform the intelligence community in a second term: “Look, it’s a very interesting question, and I say it and it sounds beautiful, right: You know, my revenge will be success. And I mean that. But it’s awfully hard when you see what they’ve done. These people are so evil. And at the same time, the country can come together. You know, I’m saying this, but the country can come together. … I could have [locked HILLARY CLINTON up], but I felt it would have been a terrible thing. And then this happened to me. … I’m not sure I can answer the question.” … on his message to Hispanic Americans: “They’re great people, very entrepreneurial, great energy. And as you know, I’m doing very well with them, I mean, beyond anybody — I don’t think anybody’s ever had polling. … They’ve always liked me, and I’ve always liked them.” … on his son BARRON: “He’s amazing actually, in a certain way. You know, he’s tall, good-looking guy. He’s a very good student. And he’s applied to colleges and gets into everywhere he goes. You know, he’s very sought after from the standpoint he’s a very smart guy. Very tall guy. And he’s a great kid. He’s cool. He’s pretty cool, I’ll tell you.” … and more: Trump said he would declassify the 9/11 files, the JFK files and the EPSTEIN files, and fire “woke” senior military generals. TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   Let’s fix 340B so it can help the patients that need it most. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | At the White House Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS have nothing on their public schedules.
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Donald Trump's lawyers plan to appeal over Justice Juan Merchan’s refusal to recuse himself. | Elizabeth Williams via AP Photo | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. MORE CONVICTION FALLOUT: Erica Orden and Ben Feuerherd have a fascinating look at the appeals process that will be the next phase of Trump’s hush money guilty verdict — and the upshot is that some lawyers think he has at least a decent shot at winning with the “13th juror.” The appeal could proceed along multiple different legal pathways, from focusing on the legal theory underpinning the prosecution to attacking which witnesses and testimony Justice JUAN MERCHAN did or didn’t allow. The New York appellate division has an “inherent kind of bias with white-collar defendants,” one former prosecutor cautions. Trump attorney WILL SCHARF said today on ABC’s “This Week” that they would challenge the verdict over Merchan’s refusal to recuse himself and his jury instructions. Besides appeals, the other big question for Bragg over the next few weeks is whether to seek time behind bars for Trump, WSJ’s James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey write. He could also leave it up to the judge. Regardless of how it plays out, the guilty verdict amounts to a big moment of validation for a DA whose approach was widely questioned at first: People who know Bragg tell WaPo’s Shayna Jacobs that he remained “committed to pursuing a novel legal theory that he believed made sense.” From 30,000 feet: “A Felon in the Oval Office Would Test the American System,” by NYT’s Peter Baker … “Trump’s attacks on US justice system after guilty verdict could be useful to autocrats like Putin,” by AP’s Emma Burrows 2. IN THE HUNT: “The Governor, the Wolf and the Warden: A Fresh Look at a Gianforte Hunt,” by NYT’s Jonathan Weisman: “By the time the wolf affair was settled, [a Montana game warden’s] superiors had pressured him to lie about the governor’s role, and his boss would be forced out of the department, he told The New York Times in his first interview about the episode. He, too, would leave a job he said he loved. … Wolf hunting is legal and fairly common in Montana. [GREG] GIANFORTE was recorded as the killer of the animal … But Mr. Gianforte, a Republican, is running for re-election this year, and some find the killing of a once-protected species distasteful.” Gianforte’s office didn’t respond to specific questions about whether he tried to obscure his role as the wolf hunter, but instead said the warden’s allegations were “far-left fever dreams pedaled by desperate partisans.” 3. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: U.S. officials are meeting today with Israel and Egypt to talk about reopening the Rafah crossing, per NYT’s Aaron Boxerman and Mike Ives. But significant confusion remains about Israel’s response to Biden’s big Friday speech driving the Israel-Hamas war toward a permanent cease-fire: Is PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU on board or not? Netanyahu’s remarks yesterday seemed to pump the brakes on Biden, and two far-right ministers announced they would topple Netanyahu’s coalition government if he accepted the U.S. plan, per CNN. But top Netanyahu adviser OPHIR FALK told The Sunday Times’ Christina Lamb that Israel has indeed accepted the framework, though he griped that “it’s not a good deal” and there are still many details to work out. And opposition leader YAIR LAPID said he’d save Netanyahu’s government from the far right if he takes the deal. What Biden can and can’t accomplish: “How Israel Avoided Biden’s Red Line,” by WSJ’s Michael Gordon and Dov Lieber: “The original plan for a two-division sweep through Rafah was retooled to address U.S. concerns.” 4. THE BRAVE NEW WORLD: “Democrats wanted an agreement on using artificial intelligence. It went nowhere,” by AP’s Dan Merica: “The Democratic National Committee was watching earlier this year as campaigns nationwide were experimenting with artificial intelligence. So the organization approached a handful of influential party campaign committees with a request: Sign onto guidelines that would commit them to use the technology in a ‘responsible’ way. … [It] was hardly full of revolutionary ideas. … [But t]he plan went nowhere. Instead of fostering an agreement, the guidelines sparked a debate about the value of such pledges, particularly those governing fast-evolving technology.”
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   Let’s fix 340B so it can help the patients that need it most. | | | 5. WHAT JEFF YASS IS WATCHING: Trump officially joined TikTok last night, a big get for the besieged app and a clear sign that his campaign is prioritizing reaching young voters over suffering blowback from China concerns, Meridith McGraw and Rebecca Kern report. That’s the same calculation that the Biden campaign made. One TikTok official pointed out to our colleague that the app “is particularly attractive to Trump’s campaign given there’s a two-to-one ratio of pro-Trump versus pro-Biden content on the app.” 6. TESTS FOR THE WEST: “As Challenges Pile Up, a Spate of Summitry Spotlights Western Resolve,” by NYT’s Mark Landler: “[A]s they gather on the windswept bluffs of Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday, and five weeks later in Washington for a NATO summit, the leaders will be tested across a range of divisive issues: wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the rise of China and, perhaps most daunting, the future of the United States.” Ukraine reality check: “Biden team hails ‘lightning speed’ call on strikes in Russia. Meanwhile, Kharkiv burned,” by WaPo’s Michael Birnbaum, Ellen Nakashima, Siobhán O'Grady, Kostiantyn Khudov and Alex Horton 7. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: Chinese Defense Minister DONG JUN in a speech today echoed Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN in calling for more military communication and less tension between the U.S. and China, WSJ’s Chun Han Wong reports. Both speeches, after the leaders’ first face-to-face meeting at a conference in Singapore, were a sign that the countries are trying to lower the risks of confrontation and misunderstanding between Washington and Beijing. Still, “Dong stressed that Beijing’s willingness to engage the U.S. wasn’t an invitation to undermine Chinese interests,” and he spent a lot of time on grievances. 8. IMMIGRATION FILES: “Faith-Based Groups That Assist Migrants Become Targets of Extremists,” by NYT’s Miriam Jordan in San Diego: “For decades, Catholic Charities and other faith-based organizations have played a crucial role … But after President Biden took office in 2021 promising a more humane approach to migration, these faith-based groups have increasingly become the subjects of conspiracy theories and targets for far-right activists and Republican members of Congress, who accuse them of promoting an invasion to displace white Americans and engaging in child trafficking and migrant smuggling. The organizations say those claims are baseless.” 9. KEY DEMOGRAPHIC: In a new analysis, Reuters’ Jason Lange and James Oliphant find that Biden’s support among voters without college degrees is down 10 points from this point in 2020. That’s where Trump has been able to make inroads and gain an overall advantage in the race, as Biden suffers with less educated people in traditionally Democratic groups like “Black people, Hispanic women, young voters and suburban women.” But many of these voters who have soured on Biden haven’t yet been persuaded by Trump either.
| | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | | Adam Hollier suspended his congressional campaign. Ted Turner celebrated 44 years of CNN. Joe Manchin went fishing. SPOTTED: Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) at the French Laundry in Yountville, California. Pic … Another pic IN MEMORIAM — “Pulitzer Prize-winning AP photographer Ron Edmonds dies. His images of Reagan shooting are indelible: Edmonds retired in 2009, when he was the AP’s senior White House photographer. He had covered presidents and the world, Super Bowls and the Olympics.” WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and John Hughes welcomed John Zachary Welker Hughes on Thursday night. He came in at 7 lbs and 19 ¾ inches, and joins big sister Margot. Pic … Another pic … On-air announcement HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) … Alex Hornbrook … Mia Heck ... Mike Lynch of the DPCC and Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich.) office … Jeanine Pirro … Crooked Media’s Jon Favreau … Ian Byrne … Rich Ashooh ... former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) … Jen Tumminio … Ben Cassidy of the BLC Group … Clarence Page … Vanessa Day … POLITICO’s Katie Wojcik … JP Schnapper-Casteras … Chris Lehane … Alex Joyce and Philip Reichert of the American Conservation Coalition … Zach Isakowitz of the Semiconductor Industry Association … Jason Rosenbaum … Darby McQueen-Dever of Rep. Ben Cline’s (R-Va.) office … Hannah Botelho of Kieloch Consulting … Reason’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown 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. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misstated who had to apologize for the “2,000 Mules” film. It was the co-producer Salem Media Group.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Hospitals that participate in the 340B program contract with more than 33,000 pharmacies to dispense the program’s drug prescriptions. More than 40% of these pharmacies have financial ties to one of the three largest PBMs – CVS Health, Express Scripts and OptumRx. 340B hospitals and the PBM-owned pharmacies they contract with are profiting off discounted medicines while uninsured patients are left paying full price for their medicines. Let’s fix 340B so it better helps patients. | | | | | | | 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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