Good Wednesday morning, Illinois. The rain turned slushy yesterday. This is unacceptable.
TOP TALKER
Jordan Abudayyeh and Jason Rubin have launched Abudayyeh Rubin Communications Strategies. | ARC Strategies
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Jordan Abudayyeh and Jason Rubin , names synonymous for years with Gov. JB Pritzker’s team, have launched Abudayyeh Rubin Communications Strategies (ARC Strategies), a firm focused on helping companies and organizations tell their stories. ARC Strategies also will offer crisis communications, public relations, media training and speechwriting.
Their exit: We reported their leaving the governor’s office a couple of weeks ago in The Buzz.
Their backstory: Abudayyeh and Rubin most recently served as deputy chiefs of staff for communications in Pritzker’s office, playing integral roles in managing day-to-day operations and messaging, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the years, Abudayyeh became a go-to for reporters wanting help in understanding the ins and outs of Pritzker’s budget proposals and other legislative endeavors.
Also on their resumes: Abudayyeh was a campaign press secretary during Pritzker’s first campaign in 2018, and earlier she worked as a political reporter at WICS in Springfield. Rubin, who oversaw internal communications for more than 30 state agencies and boards, also worked on comms for Pritzker’s campaign. Previously, he did similar work for campaigns in Florida and New York.
“We’re excited to utilize our extensive skill sets, homegrown in one of the toughest political environments in the nation, to provide strategic counsel to clients,” Abudayyeh said in a statement announcing the new firm.
THE BUZZ
Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Bloomberg's John Micklethwait in Chicago on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. | Evan Vucci/AP
DONALD TRUMP headlined an Economic Club of Chicago forum Tuesday talking about the economy, though the conversation with Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief, John Micklethwait, often veered as it does when the former president is on the stage.
He loves tariffs: “The world’s most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariffs,” Trump told the mostly conservative crowd of nearly 600 at the Fairmont Hotel.
Fact-check: Trump claimed Deere was backing away from its plans to build plants in Mexico. But that’s not true, reports Crain’s John Pletz.
The biggest applause line was Trump addressing immigration, saying he supports only “legal” immigration. Trump also made an outrageously false claim that 13,099 “horrible criminals” and “murderers” are on the loose. In fact, some 13,000 immigrants, including those here legally, have been jailed for decades, which is what the number refers to, according to The Washington Post.
And on whether he’d accept the results of the election, Trump said, “We should be allowed to disagree.” The audience cheered.
On world issues, Trump dodged a question about whether he’s communicated with Vladimir Putin since leaving the White House. “I don't comment on that," he said. "But I will tell you that if I did, it's a smart thing,”
On the election, Trump got in a few digs at Kamala Harris, calling her “incompetent.” Though Trump avoided making comments about Harris’ race, as he did the last time he was in Chicago to speak at the National Association of Black Journalists.
Bracing to be berated: And many attendees were expecting Trump to disparage Chicago the way he did Detroit last week, calling it “a mess” and “a developing nation.” Instead, Trump told the Chicago crowd, “I think you people are even wealthier, ok?”
SPOTTED: Kent Gray, an Illinois attorney who served as Trump’s Illinois state director in 2016 and has been a bundler for the 2020 and 2024 campaigns, left the event all smiles — and not just because he got his gold Trump shoes signed by the former president. “President Trump was on his A-game today,” said Gray, calling the moderator “smug” and saying Trump “deftly” explained that tariffs used to “enforce free and fair trade” can help Americans.
THE DEMOCRATIC PUSHBACK
Gov. JB Pritzker called Trump “a rambling, incoherent, insulting old man determined to drive our economy into the deepest ditch he can find. Donald Trump’s proposed economic policies would increase costs, deepen the deficit, and kill jobs yet.”
Sen. Dick Durbin accused Trump of "adding nearly $8 trillion to the national debt during his presidency. He’s only the second president in history to have fewer jobs at the end of his term than when he was sworn in.”
And Mayor Brandon Johnson called Trump’s “‘economic plan' nothing more than a massive tax break for billionaires and big corporations while working people get stuck with higher prices for everyday goods.”
— Pedro Martinez showcases TIF funding for CPS schools in North Lawndale amid CTU strife: “He visited Collins Academy on Tuesday to celebrate the recent $40 million approved for three North Lawndale schools: $10 million in tax increment financing and $30 million the Board of Education earmarked in their 2025 budget,” by the Tribune’s Nell Salzman and A.D. Quig.
— Lights, camera, action! Gov. JB Pritzker proclaimed today as “Chicago International Film Festival Day” in honor of the start of the Chicago International Film Festival.
COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS
— Leaking Chicago Bears Arlington Heights tax appeal information earns Cook County official a slap on the wrist: Inspector general recommends Commissioner Samantha Steele “take ethics training for violating the board’s ethics policy and the state’s property tax code by leaking confidential information about the pending Bears’ appeal of their property assessment and exhibiting bias against the team in comments to the media,” by the Tribune’s A.D. Quig.
Denise Barreto: “Sweaters, tights, boots and soup!”
Steve Brown: “Put antique convertible into winter storage, stow golf clubs, drag out hats/gloves and count hours til the day pitchers and catchers report.”
Lynne Chambers : “By thinking about cold weather coming and if those burning wood stoves will be safe and if seniors can afford the higher utilities.”
Mimi Cowan: “With tears and an annual pondering of property in warmer climates until I remember that I don't like big bugs and I love Chicago's amazing cultural scene.”
Elena Maria Gottreich : “Turn off the a/c and open all the windows and enjoy the fall breeze.”
Charles Keller: “Bring a leaf blower to clear the greens and to hunt for my ball if necessary.”
Kevin Lampe: “One word: fleece.”
Ed Mazur : “Hold Sundays for Bears games.”
Marilynn Miller: “Packing away my summer wardrobe and unpacking the winter. It's a big job!”
Jeff Nathan: “Start drinking earlier in the day.”
Steve Niketopoulos : “Shift my books and records off of my radiator covers so they did not get ruined.”
David Ruskin: “Covering up the patio furniture (with global warming, it’s more of a fall to winter thing!).”
John Straus: “Put away my golf shirts and take out the flannels.”
Timothy Thomas: “Rotating the wardrobe and switching the window screens to store windows.”
Next question: What do Donald Trump or Kamala Harris need to be doing on the campaign trail? Email skapos@politico.com
TUESDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Michael Marsh for correctly answering that President Ronald Reagan spoke at Chicago Heights Bloom High School on June 28, 1985. He gave a speech about a tax reform proposal. And h/t to Michael Stokke who worked on the advance for Reagan’s trip to the school.
TODAY’s QUESTION: Who was the Illinois congressman who flew around the world? Email skapos@politico.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Cook County Commissioner Josina Morita , United Airlines Managing Director for People Impact and Chief Diversity Officer Anel Ruiz and Illinois Assistant Appellate Defender Liam Kelly.
