| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | WORTH NOTING — “Trump rode to victory with a diverse coalition. His Cabinet is less so,” by Brakkton Booker: “DONALD TRUMP’s victory promised an electoral realignment as he made heavy gains among Latinos and peeled off some Black men. His Cabinet, however, ultimately reflects the staying power of white men in Washington,” Brakkton writes. “After a flurry of selections last week, the president-elect winds up with just three people of color in secretary roles, matching his first Cabinet.” ECONOMY VIBE CHECK — “US GDP Grows at Solid 2.8% Pace, Helped by Consumer Spending,” by Bloomberg’s Augusta Saraiva and Matthew Boesler Checking in with the Fed … The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index report, is out today, and shows that inflation eked higher last month by 0.2 percent. The bump “represents a second straight month of inflation trending higher, putting the level further above the Fed’s 2 percent target,” per NYT’s Dealbook team. The Fed is set to meet in mid-December to decide on further interest rate cuts.
|  The Biden administration has brokered the release of three Americans detained in China. | Alex Brandon/AP | WELCOME HOME — The Biden administration has brokered the release of three Americans detained in China, “trading them for unidentified Chinese citizens in U.S. custody,” Phelim Kine and Robbie Gramer scooped this morning. All three are expected back on American soil within hours. The three American citizens …
- MARK SWIDAN: Chinese police detained Swidan in 2012 for “allegedly manufacturing and trafficking narcotics despite what the San Francisco-based prisoner release nonprofit Dui Hua Foundation has described as an absence of substantive evidence.” His trial lasted more than five years, and culminated with the Texas native being sentenced to death.
- KAI LI: “Shanghai police detained Kai Li of New York state in September 2016 and a court sentenced him to a 10-year prison term in July 2018 for allegedly spying for the FBI. The U.N. declared Li a victim of arbitrary detention in 2021 and described his imprisonment as ‘political and not criminal … [and] at least in part attributable to his status as a foreign national of Chinese heritage.’”
- JOHN LEUNG: “A Chinese court handed down a life sentence to Leung on espionage charges in 2023, alleging he had worked for U.S. intelligence agencies since 1989, per CNN reporting. His release comes as a surprise given that neither the State Department nor the U.N. had considered him to be ‘wrongfully detained’ by Chinese authorities.”
Swidan’s mother, KATHERINE SWIDAN: “I’m just elated and excited — I can’t even believe it.” A diplomatic capstone: The release comes after years of intense talks between the Biden administration and China, and “marks a late-administration diplomatic victory for President JOE BIDEN and negotiators in the office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs,” Phelim and Robbie write. The backstory: Biden reportedly spoke to Chinese President XI JINPING about the situation two weeks ago in Peru, while both White House national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN and Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN made similar pushes to their Chinese counterparts earlier this year. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. This newsletter will be off for the holiday tomorrow and Friday, but we’ll still be in your inbox every morning. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Instagram: Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts: limits for teens, peace of mind for parents
Parents want their teens to grow and thrive - and to make sure they’re staying safe.
That’s why Instagram is launching Teen Accounts, with automatic protections limiting who can contact teens and the content they can see. Putting built-in limits in place for teens, so parents can have more peace of mind.
Learn more. | | | | | 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  A woman hugs her crying daughter as displaced residents return to Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2024. | AP | 1. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: The cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is holding, at least at this early hour. The scene in Lebanon: Thousands of Lebanese citizens who were displaced by the fighting have begun returning to their homes in the south of the country, their cars and vans “piled high with mattresses, suitcases and even furniture,” Reuters’ Maya Gebeily and Aziz Taher report. Israeli and Lebanese officials have cautioned residents not to return to the border quite yet, as Israel’s forces haven’t fully withdrawn and some minor skirmishes continue, as WaPo’s Mohamad El Chamaa reports. Hamas claims it’s “ready to cooperate”: While a peace deal in the larger conflict between Israel and Hamas remains elusive, Hamas officials said in a statement that they will “cooperate with any efforts” to end the war in Gaza, WaPo’s Rebecca Tan reports from Jerusalem. The view from the White House: After incoming national security adviser Rep. MIKE WALTZ (R-Fla.) posted on X that Trump is the reason why the two sides reached an agreement, the Biden White House pushed back, AP’s Aamer Madhani reports. “I would just point out that you know you’ve done a really good thing when other people take credit for it,” Jake Sullivan said this morning during an interview with CNN. 2. SCARY STUFF: Trump’s transition team announced that several of his picks for key administration positions have received “threats to their lives and those who live with them,” including bomb threats and “swatting” attempts both last night and this morning.
- Rep. ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.), Trump’s pick for U.N. ambassador, said her home was targeted by a bomb threat today. “New York State, County law enforcement and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism,” per a statement from her office.
- A bomb squad also reportedly responded to the Florida home of MATT GAETZ today after the former lawmaker received a pipe bomb threat, per Punchbowl’s Melanie Zanona: “After the sheriff was made aware of the threat, a bomb-sniffing dog was brought over to sniff the mail box, but it was inconclusive. … Gaetz — who withdrew his nomination for Trump’s attorney general last week — was not at home, but a family member was.”
In a statement, the FBI noted they are “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents,” adding that they “take all potential threats seriously,” per CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
| | | | A message from Instagram:   | | | 3. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: ELON MUSK and VIVEK RAMASWAMY are making the rounds on Capitol Hill, meeting with Republican lawmakers to discuss their plans for Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency panel, Jordain Carney reports. What they’re talking about: “Ideas that Musk and Ramaswamy are floating include cutting regulations, reducing the size of the federal workforce and mounting a legal bid to bypass Congress on spending cuts.” Beware the congressional turf war: While several GOP lawmakers — including Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) and Sens. RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) and JONI ERNST (R-Iowa) — are jumping at the chance to work with Musk and Ramaswamy, DOGE's murky authority could encroach on the power of appropriations committee leaders. House “Appropriations Chair TOM COLE (R-Okla.) and other members of the panel said they are waiting to see the details of what Trump is proposing and how realistic the plans from his allies are.” Related read: “Elon Musk publicized the names of government employees he wants to cut. It’s terrifying federal workers,” by CNN’s Hadas Gold and Rene Marsh 4. THE COMING HEALTH CARE FIGHT: “Donald Trump’s likely pick for health chief, ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., has grabbed headlines for his anti-vaccine rhetoric and sharp criticism of Big Pharma. But hospitals, not drugmakers, might have more to fear from a Republican government,” WSJ’s David Wainer reports. “With the GOP in control of Congress and the White House, hospitals could face budget cuts and tighter oversight, after a period of benefiting from generous federal spending under President Biden. Much of it comes down to hospitals’ reliance on government insurance programs like Affordable Care Act exchanges and Medicaid that could be cut down to size by Republicans looking for ways to trim government spending and pay for tax cuts.” 5. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: “Crypto leaders press Trump to create federal bitcoin reserve,” by WaPo’s Tony Romm: “Economists and fiscal experts say the proposal carries significant risks: Crypto prices can fluctuate wildly, potentially putting taxpayer dollars at risk if the government acquires bitcoin at its current level — near record highs — and its value ultimately falls. … But it is unclear how much, if at all, the incoming administration can actually adopt on its own, or if Trump must rely on Congress.”
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