| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | TALK OF THIS TOWN — The Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint has become Democrats’ favorite rallying cry — and many other conservative think-tankers in D.C. see it as “the ultimate cautionary tale,” Michael Schaffer reports. But for Heritage staffers of yore, it’s also a sign of the problems with KEVIN ROBERTS’ MAGA-aligned leadership. BEFORE THE STARM — Ahead of British PM KEIR STARMER’s White House visit today, two of his top political aides visited Washington this week to brief key Democrats on Labour’s sweeping victory in July. They spoke to Alexander Burns about what they said and what they heard — “exactly the same anecdotes, exactly the same struggle, exactly the same sort of battles, particularly with the cost-of-living crisis, on both sides of the Atlantic.”
|  Donald Trump yesterday put out a very Trumpy statement insisting he was finished with debates. | Matt Rourke/AP | DEBATE FALLOUT, DAY 3 — By most metrics so far, KAMALA HARRIS won Tuesday’s ABC News debate in Philadelphia. — Polls from CNN, YouGov and SoCal Strategies showed Harris as the victor. — In offshore betting markets, Harris zipped past DONALD TRUMP. PredictIt had the likelihood of a Harris victory in November rising from 53 cents to 57 cents and Trump dropping from 52 cents to 47 cents. — Wall Street took notice: Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group fell after the debate, as did assets associated with Trump-friendly policies, such as cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. Industries that would be affected by Harris’s policies also responded accordingly, with solar prices up and health insurance stocks down. But the political metric that often tells you which candidate is leading was not much of a guide: Generally, a frontrunner is keen to sit on his or her lead and eschews extra debates. The lagging candidate is often looking for more opportunities to break through and advocates for more confrontation. It’s a little different with Harris and Trump. The horse-race polls are more or less deadlocked — we’ll see if she gets a bump soon enough — so what’s driving the two candidates is strictly about whether they think they can win another debate. The Harris camp immediately pushed for a second debate after the Tuesday event ended, and Harris reiterated that yesterday at an event in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate,” she said. “Because this election and what is at stake could not be more important.” In a new campaign memo obtained by Playbook this morning, senior Harris adviser IAN SAMS writes that Trump is avoiding a rematch in part because he is hard-pressed to defend the “toxic positions” he espoused on Tuesday — whether not explicitly ruling out a national abortion ban or continuing to defend Jan. 6 rioters or mentioning “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act. “In almost any other circumstance, any one of these answers might drive days of a media crisis for the candidate,” Sams writes. “The voters who will decide this election are repulsed by positions like these.” Read the memo But Trump yesterday put out a very Trumpy statement insisting he was finished with debates. “When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said that “polls clearly show that [he] won” the debate, which is not true. And he concluded with a seemingly definitive statement ruling out another one-on-one event with harris: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” Trump told the NY Post afterwards, “We just don’t think that there’s any need for it.” The Harris campaign is not taking those denials all that seriously. “The vice president is clear she believes there should be another debate and we do not consider this to be the last word from him,” Harris spokesperson BRIAN FALLON told Playbook. “He is just working through his feelings after losing very badly Tuesday night.” Some top Republicans agree. Sen. JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) urged Trump to agree to another debate. And plenty of Republicans we pinged yesterday said they believed this was just typical Trumpian posturing. The ongoing post-debate coverage continues to be tough on Trump. The WSJ notes, “Trump has a long history of giving conflicting answers about whether he will commit to a debate, including before the two campaigns agreed on the Philadelphia event.” In Bloomberg’s account of the new debate about debates, Gregory Korte notes, “The [ABC] moderators corrected on-air the former president’s false claims that immigrants were eating household pets in Ohio and that some states allow babies to be killed after birth.” The AP’s Meg Kinnard writes, “the vice president largely controlled the tenor [of the Tuesday debate], goading Trump into agitated responses that contained exaggerations and mistruths.” This NYT lede captures the tenor of much of the coverage of Trump’s event yesterday in Arizona: “Although it had been billed as an event focused on housing and the economy, former President Donald J. Trump spent much of a meandering speech on Thursday in Tucson, Ariz., venting his grievances over his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.” Trump suggested he wasn’t thinking strategically about whether another debate might help him, but simply reacting to the ABC event, which he felt was unfair to him. He said the ABC moderators “were bad news” and that he “was angry at the debate.” He added that he was also “angry” because “everything is terrible.” Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from Novo Nordisk: At Novo Nordisk, our majority shareholder is a charitable foundation committed to improving people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet. That lets us invest in early science and take risks for the benefit of patients as we drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases. | | | BREAKING OVERNIGHT — “Boeing factory workers go on strike after rejecting contract offer,” by AP’s David Koenig, Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson MODERN FAMILY — That both presidential candidates have blended families “knit together by divorce” would have once been unthinkable in politics — but now just seems normal, Megan Messerly writes. SUCCESSION — “The New Right Has a Blueprint for Seizing Power. Is JD Vance Executing It?” by Ian Ward: “By forging an alliance between the New Right and MAGA, [JD] VANCE … could be the vanguard of a new political elite that, though not popular itself, would institute an illiberal and explicitly reactionary social order. … It is, in effect, a plan to use populism to constrain the popular will (though Vance and his allies of course don’t see it that way).” HELL’S KITCHEN — “GOP Lawmakers Embrace Trump’s Baseless Claims About Immigrants Eating Pets,” by NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: MIKE MURPHY — Listen to our Deep Dive conversation with the longtime GOP strategist on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. POLITICO’s AI & TECH SUMMIT: American Leadership, Security and Democracy — Join us Tuesday at noon for exclusive conversations on U.S. global competitiveness, election security, AI rulemaking, TikTok-era campaigning and what policies to expect from Harris or Trump administrations. Keynote guests include DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, national economic advisor LAEL BRAINARD, Congress’ AI rule-writers Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.) and Rep. JAY OBERNOLTE (R-Calif.), Deputy AG LISA MONACO, President JOE BIDEN’s chief science and tech adviser and former DARPA director ARATI PRABHAKAR, and more speaker announcements to come. RSVP to attend or watch online
| | | | A message from Novo Nordisk:   Through revolutionary research, Novo Nordisk is transforming the lives of Americans with obesity and diabetes. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The House and the Senate are out. 3 things to watch …
- It’s the Battle of the Andys over at the House Freedom Caucus: The hard-right Republican bloc needs a new leader after current chair BOB GOOD (R-Va.) lost his primary over the summer. The two contenders to replace him, at least temporarily, are Reps. ANDY BIGGS (R-Ariz.) and ANDY HARRIS (R-Md.), Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers report. Biggs, a former chair, is seen as a caretaker pick, while Harris has designs on long-term leadership of the group. A third Andy — OGLES, of Tennessee — is also considering a run. Expect the pick to be finalized next week.
- The House and Senate left town yesterday no closer on a path to funding the government past Sept. 30. It’s worth noting that the implications go beyond a possible shutdown: Also at stake are potentially billions of dollars in federal disaster relief funds. The stalled House Republican plan includes a $10 billion boost to FEMA’s main relief fund, but Sen. BRIAN SCHATZ (D-Hawaii) yesterday called for more help to be directed to the survivors of last year’s Lahaina wildfire in the form of Community Development Block Grant funding. More from MauiNow
- Did Sen. JOE MANCHIN (I-W.Va.) undertake a rare cross-party endorsement in the Maryland Senate race? Last night, DC News Now reported as much, citing Manchin’s praise for GOP former Gov. LARRY HOGAN as “the right person with the right attitude for the job.” But a person close to Manchin suggested the comments did not constitute a formal endorsement for his No Labels compadre and noted the former Democrat gave Hogan similar praise last week. Asked whether the campaign was ready to tout an endorsement, a Hogan spokesperson said last night that the former governor “deeply appreciates Sen. Manchin’s friendship.”
At the White House Biden will speak at a lunch celebrating Black excellence on the South Lawn at noon. He’ll host British PM KEIR STARMER for a bilateral meeting at 4:30 p.m. He’ll travel to Wilmington, Delaware, in the evening. On the trail Trump will hold a press conference in LA at noon Eastern, and then will have a rally in Las Vegas at 10 p.m. Eastern. Harris will travel to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for an event and then to Wilkes-Barre, where she’ll speak at a campaign event at 6:35 p.m. She’ll return to Washington afterward. Walz will take part in political events in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Lansing, Michigan; and Wausau, Wisconsin, where he’ll speak briefly at 4:45 p.m. Eastern.
| | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 2024 WATCH |  Justice Department national security head Matthew Olsen warned that North Korea, China and Russia pose active threats to the election. | Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images | DEPT. OF MEDDLING — Federal prosecutors have now gathered enough evidence to file criminal charges soon over Iran’s alleged hack of the Trump campaign, which led to materials being leaked to reporters, WaPo’s Josh Dawsey and Devlin Barrett scooped. Details aren’t clear yet, and if the person or people live abroad then the charge may be largely symbolic for now. But much of the FBI’s investigation has examined whoever was posing as “Robert” when they contacted journalists with the information. And it’s not just Iran. Justice Department national security head MATTHEW OLSEN warned in a speech yesterday that North Korea, China and especially Russia pose active threats to the election as they try to intervene and sway Americans, per Bloomberg’s Katrina Manson. Foreign meddling is a “clear and present danger,” Olsen said. Russia, which wants to boost Trump and damage support for Ukraine, is U.S. officials’ No. 1 concern, especially as it spreads misinformation and propaganda. More top reads:
- Looming large: The presence of LAURA LOOMER close to Trump continued to spark outrage and concern from many Republicans yesterday, as she feuded with Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) — whose office called her a “stain on society” — and Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.), per the Washington Examiner’s Christian Datoc.
TRUMP CARDS THE TRUMP TRIALS — Judge SCOTT McAFEE removed three of the counts in the sprawling Fulton County election subversion case, including two against Trump, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tamar Hallerman reports. He said they were outside Georgia jurisdiction. Many more counts remain, of course. Meanwhile, an appeals court denied a Trump attempt to delay sentencing for his hush money conviction, since it has already been pushed to after the election, per CNN’s Kara Scannell. SPEAKING OF HUSH MONEY — “Trump Lawyer Alina Habba Quietly Settles With Ex-Bedminster Waitress Involved In Hush Money Deal,” by NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery: “[ALINA] HABBA’s professional ethics were called into question last year when ALICE BIANCO, a former waitress at Bedminster, sued the golf club for having allegedly ‘defrauded’ her into accepting $15,000 on the condition that she keep quiet about sexual harassment allegations. Habba brokered that deal, the lawsuit alleges.” SPEAKING OF BEDMINSTER — TIMOTHY HALE-CUSANELLI, a convicted Jan. 6 rioter whom prosecutors called a “white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer,” spoke twice at Trump’s golf club this summer, NPR’s Tom Dreisbach reports. FAMILY FIRST — “Trump plans to launch his sons’ crypto business on Monday, 50 days before Election Day,” by AP’s Josh Boak: “His speech will come 50 days before Election Day, an extraordinary use of dwindling campaign time to promote a personal business.”
|  Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) warned that election betting is a “nightmare” that could give rich people the chance to mess with elections. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | MORE POLITICS BET ON IT — Gambling on elections could suddenly become a major new avenue for betting, after a judge yesterday gave the green light to Kalshi to launch regulated markets for the bets, Declan Harty reports. Tens of thousands of contracts on the outcome of the battle for Congress were already traded before the market was closed again late last night after the CFPB appealed and the D.C. Circuit ordered an emergency stay, per Coinbase’s Nikhilesh De. Still, other trading platforms are watching and waiting as this world goes mainstream. WSJ’s Alexander Osipovich scooped that Interactive Brokers planned to start allowing bets on the presidential election Monday, which could expand the reach to millions of Americans. If the CFTC can’t win a reversal, this is a big loss for regulators who argue that the betting markets violate the law. Sen. JEFF MERKLEY (D-Ore.) warned that this is a “nightmare” that could give rich people the chance to mess with elections. But proponents say betting markets are actually better than polls, because gamblers have something at stake. More top reads:
| | | | A message from Novo Nordisk:   Novo Nordisk's revolutionary pharmaceutical research is transforming the lives of Americans with obesity and diabetes. At Novo Nordisk, we take the long view of health. | | | MEDIAWATCH TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES — Smartmatic’s big defamation lawsuit against Newsmax over false allegations of 2020 election fraud is now on its way to trial at the end of the month, unless a settlement comes first, AP’s Randall Chase reports from Dover, Delaware. The outlet maintains that it was just reporting on others’ allegations against the voting machine company. AMERICA AND THE WORLD
|  President Joe Biden has long been concerned about escalation that would trigger reprisals from Russia. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo | UKRAINE LATEST — The war in Ukraine will be a central topic of discussion as Starmer visits the White House today. And the president is nearing a split decision on allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons to hit Russia: giving the green light for the U.K. and France to say yes, while still barring American arms from that usage, NYT’s David Sanger, Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt report. Ukraine has been begging for approval for Western weapons to be used for strikes inside Russia, and it could give Kyiv a boost on the battlefield. In the Russian area where Ukraine has invaded, Moscow kicked off a big counter-attack yesterday as Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN warned about possible reprisals for Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, per Reuters’ Andrew Osborn and Guy Faulconbridge. But the reality is that Biden can help Ukraine only so much, regardless of this choice, WSJ’s Lara Seligman and Alan Cullison report. The war will likely still be raging by the time he leaves office, the U.S. isn’t advocating for peace negotiations, and the odds of more assistance from Congress look remote. U.S. officials are nervous about Ukraine’s recent battlefield strategy. More top reads:
- Still sending weapons: The U.S. signed off on $165 million more in weapons sales to Israel, though the tank trailers won’t arrive for three years, per AP’s Tara Copp.
BEYOND THE BELTWAY THE ABORTION LANDSCAPE — A state judge in North Dakota struck down its abortion ban as unconstitutional yesterday, which could make the procedure legal there once again, The Forum’s Peyton Haug and Kjersti Maday report from Bismarck. But the state is appealing. TV TONIGHT — PBS’ “Washington Week”: Ashley Parker, Eugene Daniels, Jerusalem Demsas and Asma Khalid. SUNDAY SO FAR … CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) … Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Panel: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Scott Jennings, Ashley Allison and Brenda Gianiny. CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) … Maryland Gov. Wes Moore … Gary Cohn. NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) … Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Panel: Hallie Jackson, Jonathan Martin, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Marc Short. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Panel: Stef Kight, Horace Cooper, Meghan Hays and Josh Holmes. Sunday special: Dennis Quaid. ABC “This Week”: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine … Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. MSNBC “The Sunday Show”: Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) … Mary Trump. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) … David French. Panel: David French, Tia Mitchell, Julie Mason and Dan Merica.
| | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Mary Peltola has to share the Alaska ballot with a Democratic prisoner after all. Doug Emhoff is the target of antisemitic ads aimed at Muslim voters in Michigan. Joshua Kindred could become the next impeachment focus in Congress. Greg Landsman is the king of calling Republicans weird. Rosario Dawson and Bill Nye are trying to reach climate voters. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the Ford Motor Co. Innovation Space on Wednesday night for a reception honoring the Kentucky delegation and celebrating Ford’s investments in Kentucky: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) and Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Chris Smith and Jessica Carter. — Black in Health Policy and FTI Consulting hosted the inaugural Black In Health Policy Congressional Black Caucus Reception to honor Reps. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Gabe Amo (D-R.I.) for their work to advance health care, medicine and Black representation in health care Wednesday night. SPOTTED: Courtney Carmichael, Marc Johnson, Jennifer Fisher Clay, Charlene MacDonald, Essence Revels, Ganny Belloni, Sonya Clay, Nina DeJonghe, Ornella Musinguzi, Tealanie Baldwin, Citseko Staples Miller, Michael Adeyanju, Katie Smith and Lauren Crawford Shaver. — SPOTTED at the nationwide premiere of “God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust” at the Rayburn House Office Building last night: David A.R. White, Scott Baio, Isaiah Washington, Samaire Armstrong, Michael Scott, Matt and Mercy Schlapp, Raymond Arroyo, Mary Millben and Fanchon Stinger. MEDIA MOVE — Vera Bergengruen is joining the WSJ’s national security team. She previously was a senior correspondent at Time, and is a BuzzFeed alum. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Loren Voss is now director for defense policy and strategy at the NSC, where she will focus on military personnel and readiness. She is an Air Force Reserve officer and most recently was a visiting associate professor at GW Law. TRANSITIONS — Greg Degen will be head of international affairs at Commonwealth Fusion Systems. He most recently was chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Energy, and is an Obama White House and USAID alum. … Claire Sandberg has launched a progressive phones firm, Crowdwave Campaigns, which provides phone calls, text messages and general consulting. She is a former Bernie Sanders national organizing director. ENGAGED — Samuel LeDoux, city councilor for Espanola, New Mexico, and a Doug Ducey and Larry Hogan alum, proposed to Kiele Nichols, an educational assistant for special education at Espanola Public Schools, on Wednesday night in the Rainey Center for Public Policy/Greater Carolina/The Southern Group’s box at the Nats game. They met in 2023 at an Espanola Chamber of Commerce event. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) and Roger Williams (R-Texas) … North Carolina AG Josh Stein … White House’s Kelsey Smith … Danielle Burr … Cedric Richmond … Asya Evelyn of Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-Calif.) office … Mark Mellman … José Morales of the Hub Project … Potomac Strategy Group’s Matt Mackowiak … Robin Meszoly … Vivian Schiller of the Aspen Institute … Ryan Hambleton … Walter Suskind … CNN’s Alli Gordon … Amazon’s Suzanne Beall and Tina Pelkey … POLITICO’s Ari Hawkins, Kate Ling, Destiny Edeki, Ben Leonard and Robyn Brigham … Bloomberg’s Laura Davison … NBC’s Ginger Gibson … MSNBC’s Casey Dolan … former Reps. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.) … Jerry Johnson of Brodeur Partners … Jennifer Pflieger … Herald Group’s Jack Fencl … Dan Hilton of the American Trucking Associations 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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