GOING TO CALIFORNIA — DONALD TRUMP is taking his campaign operation into the Golden State today, pushing into the home base of his rival KAMALA HARRIS and a state that he has increasingly denigrated in stark campaign rhetoric. “In the words of the Republican presidential ticket, California is teetering on the brink of apocalypse, pushed to the edge by Democratic leaders and their far-out policies,” WaPo’s Reis Thebault writes. “All this California calumny reveals a GOP strategy that dates back decades but has reached new heights in recent months.” “Since President JOE BIDEN dropped out of the race and the Bay Area’s own Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, Republicans have sought to put California on the ballot, framing the election in part as a referendum on America’s partisan perceptions of the Golden State. “Trump, [Sen. JD] VANCE and other Republicans have relied on stereotypes old and new to turn California into a watchword for liberal lunacy and government overreach. In doing so, they have latched on to state problems — many real, some imagined — magnified them and blamed them on liberal leaders who they say have treated California as a laboratory for leftist ideas.” THE RHETORICAL QUESTION — “How Stump Speeches by Harris and Trump Differ (and Don’t)” by NYT’s Linda Qiu and Dylan Freedman: “An examination of a month’s worth of rally speeches revealed sharp contrasts in how closely the candidates stick to the script — and the facts.” Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
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1. WHAT BIDEN IS UP TO: Biden today is expected to announce a “major effort to blunt the global influence of RT and expose what it says is the Russian state media network’s key role in the Kremlin’s global intelligence and influence operations,” CNN’s Kylie Atwood and Sean Lyngaas report. “The State Department will reveal declassified US intelligence findings that suggest RT is fully integrated into Russia’s intelligence operations around the world and begin a diplomatic campaign to provide countries with information about the risks associated with RT activities, the official said. A key finding from the new US intelligence is that, for more than a year, the Russian government has quietly embedded an intelligence-gathering unit within RT that is focused on influence operations globally.” The White House today is also rolling out a new move “to drastically limit a trade rule that allowed more than a billion packages from China to enter the United States last year without being subject to tariffs,” NYT’s Ana Swanson and Jordyn Holman report. “The administration, which has kept stiff levies in place on Chinese products, said a flood of shipments under the rule had hurt American manufacturers and allowed fentanyl and counterfeit products to come into the country.” 2. TRUMP 2.0: The latest move that Trump world allies are considering should the former president return to office is one to privatize mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, WSJ’s AnnaMaria Andriotis and Gina Heeb report. “The talks have been under way since at least this past spring and include reaching out to investment managers for advice on how to get the deal done. Trump confidants including LARRY KUDLOW, former director of the National Economic Council, and JOHN McENTEE, former director of the White House presidential personnel office, are among those involved, the people said.” Past efforts to break Fannie and Freddie loose of government control have failed, including during Trump’s presidency. “Critics worried about the companies’ safety and the impact on the housing market, which relies on their backing. There were also doubts about whether bankers could actually drum up enough money.” FWIW: A Trump campaign spox responded by saying that Trump “himself has never said anything about this throughout the campaign.” 3. CHINA HITS THE HILL: A stalemate on the Hill between the GOP’s China hawks and Wall Street-friendly Republicans is sparing industry from feeling more pain as corporate America faces growing pressure from the right to cut ties with China, Jasper Goodman and Eleanor Mueller report. “Behind the scenes, top Republicans have failed to reach a compromise on restricting U.S. investment in China despite pledging to do so late last year. “Key GOP players in the clash include House Foreign Affairs Chair MICHAEL McCAUL of Texas, a leading China hawk who wants to curtail U.S. financial support from going to whole sectors of the Chinese economy, and House Financial Services Chair PATRICK McHENRY of North Carolina, who has pushed for a narrower approach aimed at sanctioned firms. With the legislative window closing for this Congress, Republicans who prefer a more aggressive policy are weighing an end-run around McHenry and others who stand in their way.”
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4. UKRAINE LATEST: “Diplomacy Over Ukraine War Is About Weapons More Than Peace Talks,” by NYT’s Edward Wong and Marc Santora: “The most urgent diplomacy taking place now — and discussed with intensity this week in Kyiv, Washington and London — is about shaping the battlefield in Ukraine’s favor. … American and European officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, have made clear over the last week that they are operating on the idea that Ukraine must consolidate and expand its gains on the battlefield in order to prod [Russian President VLADIMIR] PUTIN toward the negotiating table — and to have meaningful leverage if talks start.” Related read: “Russia expels six UK diplomats as tensions rise over Ukraine missiles,” by Reuters’ Andrew Osborn 5. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Boeing Workers Walk Off the Job in First Strike Since 2008,” by NYT’s Niraj Chokshi: “Thousands of Boeing workers walked off the job on Friday after rejecting a contract offer from the company, a potentially costly disruption as Boeing tries to increase airplane production after a safety crisis. The strike, the first at Boeing in 16 years, is expected to bring operations to a halt in the Seattle area, home to most of Boeing’s commercial plane manufacturing. The slowdown could also further disrupt the company’s fragile supply chain.” 6. BIG IN THE BIG APPLE: “The Mayor of New York Is Surrounded by Scandal. Will Voters Really Care?” by NYT’s Ginia Bellafante: “With the mayoral primary still months away, no significant polling has been conducted that might reflect the current situation. But years of research by political scientists has suggested that the electoral punishment for actual corruption — leaving aside the semblance of it — is, as one meta-analysis put it, often ‘rather mild.’ One reason that voters tolerate it is that corruption, in all of its shadowy intricacy and need for graphs and bullet points and explainers, frequently seems to elude ordinary understanding.”
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Anna Paulina Luna won’t say how she’ll vote on Florida’s abortion referendum. Rick Steves — the travel guide guy — is endorsing Kamala Harris. Elon Musk made a secret play to unseat a Texas prosecutor backed by George Soros. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “The decade-long mission to build the World War I memorial,” by WaPo’s Katie Shepherd OUT AND ABOUT — The Radio & Television Correspondents’ Association hosted its annual Congressional Correspondents’ Dinner at The Anthem last night to celebrate excellence in journalism. Award winners included ABC’s Rachel Scott, Scripps News, CBS’ Victor Ulloa and CNN’s Ted Barrett. The evening also included karaoke performances by Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) as well as members of the congressional press corps, Sahil Kapur, Harri Leigh, Ryan Schmelz and Joe St. George. The playlist: Kamlanger-Dove sang “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon, McClain sang “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker, Jacobs sang “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus, Kapur sang “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, Leigh and Schmelz dueted “Hit Me Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears and St. George sang “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks. SPOTTED: Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) and Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), Dana Bash, Sena Fitzmaurice, Jared Halpern, Ryan Nobles, Nathaniel Reed, Allison Pecorin, Jim Acosta, Mary Bruce, Linda Pattillo, Nicole Bloom, Ava Bloom, Fin Gómez, Justin Theroux, Michael Steele, Andrea Mitchell, Manu Raju, Junelle Harnal, Peter Alexander and Kelly O’Donnell. — Women of Color for Harris hosted a Harris Victory Fund event last night with special guests Rohini Kosoglu and Kristin Bertolina from the Harris-Walz team at the home of Eve Maldonado O'Toole and co-hosted by Irene Bueno, Mariel Sáez, Jade Floyd, Keenan Austin Reed and Linda Shim. SPOTTED: Holly Mitchell, Ingrid Duran, Catherine Pino, Xenia Ruiz, Diane Padilla, Danielle Aviles Krueger and Erin Martin. — The McCourt School of Public Policy celebrated the opening of its new home at 125 E St. NW, on Georgetown’s Capitol Campus last night. SPOTTED: Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.), D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Charles Allen, Frank McCourt, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Norah O'Donnell, Paul Tagliabue, Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson, Charlie Spies, Mo Elleithee, Maria Ghazal, Tami Buckner, Mike Dubke, Geoffrey Okamoto, Dan Tangherlini, Meredith Hanley, Robert Doar, Alexandra Reeve Givens, Jim Hock, Therese Shaheen and Larry Di Rita, Michele Jawando, Fritz and Brooke Brogan, Chanelle Hardy, Clint Odom and Luke and Rachel Braun Schoenfelder. TRANSITION — Ebony Baylor is now VP of policy and strategic alliances at the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. She previously was VP of government affairs at In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda. WEEKEND WEDDING — Kylie Nolan, comms director for the Senate Homeland Security GOP, and Jonathan Newbold, an FP&A manager at Acuity Inc., got married in Wilmington, North Carolina, over the weekend. They met when Kylie’s dog, Sawyer, was attacked by another dog and Jonathan intervened to save Sawyer — who was the ring bearer in the wedding. Pic … Another pic 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 the organization that hosted an event honoring Rep. Gabe Amo. It was Ghana Diaspora Public Affairs. |
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