| | | | |  | | By Ankush Khardori | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | BACK IN BRASS? — “Donald Trump ‘eyes deal’ to save failing DC Waldorf-Astoria, turn it back into Trump International Hotel,” by the NY Post’s James Franey and Carl Campanile: “Three sources familiar with the situation said that the incoming commander-in-chief’s company, the Trump Organization, is weighing options that include a licensing deal or even possibly buying back the lease on the government-owned, 125-year-old Old Post Office building. ‘Our family has saved the hotel once. If asked, we would save it again,’ ERIC TRUMP told The Post in an exclusive interview.” BIG DAY IN RALJON — “Trump brings political drama to Army-Navy game sidelines,” by Fox News’ Michael Dorgan
|  Kash Patel is trying to shed his reputation as a brash and voluble Trump sycophant, but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to withstand increasing scrutiny of his record. | Angelina Katsanis/POLITICO | THE CASE AGAINST KASH — KASH PATEL practically looked like a changed man this week as he made the rounds on Capitol Hill working to shore up support among the Republican senators who will ultimately decide his fate as DONALD TRUMP’s nominee for FBI director. Patel sat silently in the office of Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) while reporters asked him whether he would investigate the Jan. 6 select committee, as Trump (again) suggested last week. On his way in to meet with Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas), he described the process of meeting with senators as “humbling” and said that he was learning “every day as I go.” Patel is clearly trying to shed the reputation that he earned over the years in Washington as a brash and voluble Trump sycophant, but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to withstand increasing scrutiny of his record — and questions about his character — as he continues to meet with senators and as a confirmation hearing looms in the new year. Two stories that dropped yesterday underscored the risks that remain: 1. What went wrong for Wray: The first was a look back at outgoing FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY’s tenure — with fresh reporting — from CNN’s Evan Perez and Holmes Lybrand. The upshot: Wray failed to meet Trump’s “expectations of unbridled fealty” during a tenure that “was punctuated by periods of significant tension” due to Trump’s unhappiness over the Trump-Russia investigation and the FBI’s “failure to support his claims of fraud in the 2020 election.” “At least twice,” Perez and Lybrand report, “Wray told aides that he was prepared to resign over Trump’s demands” but was eventually convinced to stay. As for why Trump actually tapped Patel, one former DOJ official and Wray ally put the matter pointedly: “Kash Patel is exactly what Trump says he doesn’t want in an FBI director: someone who is going to weaponize the FBI.” 2. Patel’s misrepresentations about his work: The second story dug into Patel’s alleged false claims about his role working on the DOJ’s investigation into the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, courtesy of the NYT’s Adam Goldman, Charlie Savage and Eileen Sullivan. The upshot: Patel “has both exaggerated his own importance and misleadingly distorted the department’s broader effort, according to public documents and interviews with several current and former law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.” Patel has repeatedly claimed, for instance, that he “was leading the prosecution’s efforts at Main Justice in Washington, D.C.” In fact, his role was brief and limited, evidently focused on the type of low-level bureaucratic grunt work that career prosecutors typically hate. Both stories add to a public record that indicates that Trump tapped Patel not for his law enforcement experience — which is relatively limited — but because he wants a loyalist in the post after being thwarted in his efforts to use the FBI to further his political aims in the first term. The risk for Patel is that a critical mass of Senate Republicans will decide, in light of all this, that there are too many serious questions about Trump’s motives and about Patel’s suitability for the job. After all, Patel has repeatedly indulged and promoted politically expedient conspiracy theories, drafted his own enemies list, and casually threatened to prosecute members of the press and Trump’s antagonists — all while hawking cringeworthy children’s books and “K$H” merchandise. There is also the not-so-small matter of Patel’s repeated and extensive comments denigrating the FBI’s tens of thousands of employees, as well as the fact that multiple former Trump appointees have described Patel as dishonest and unqualified for a top law enforcement post — and the prospect of Patel running the bureau as “terrifying.” A new column this morning from your Playbooker today tries to take stock of these issues and explores the risks that Patel’s nomination poses to the bureau — and to the country. Patel may not be the next J. EDGAR HOOVER — a lot has changed both in and outside of the bureau in the 50-plus years since his tenure. “The truth is that even the most intelligent, thoughtful, engaged, diligent director can’t really bend that place to his will,” a former senior FBI official recently told me. But those constraints may not be enough to prevent Patel from investigating — and perhaps trying to imprison — some of Trump’s political opponents. Patel would also be empowered to exert significant influence on personnel matters — for instance, by promoting other Trump loyalists in the FBI’s ranks and by punishing agents who worked on cases that he and Trump disfavor, perhaps even by suspending their security clearances. In short, Patel would have plenty of opportunity to damage the bureau and to distort its work — and to use and abuse the FBI for political ends. “Kash Patel has served in key national security positions throughout the government,” a Trump transition spokesperson told us. “He is beyond qualified to lead the FBI and will make a fantastic director.” In another era, any one of the red flags surrounding Patel might have been fatal for someone who wanted to lead the FBI, but Trump is continuing to stick by him — as well as his other shaky nominees. It’s all part of an apparent effort to prevent anyone from joining the senior ranks of the administration who might exercise independent judgment or otherwise push back on Trump in his second term. The question for Senate Republicans, as we approach the end of the year, is whether they will facilitate that effort. Good Saturday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop me a line: Ankush Khardori.
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Learn more about open source AI. | | | LATEST FROM SEOUL — “South Korea’s parliament votes to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law order,” by AP’s Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung: “The National Assembly passed the motion 204-85. YOON [SUK YEOL]’s presidential powers and duties were subsequently suspended and Prime Minister HAN DUCK-SOO, the country’s No. 2 official, took over presidential powers later Saturday. The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.” THE TRUMP FAMILY TEA — Amid rumors of DONALD TRUMP JR.’s split from fiancée KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE in favor of Palm Beach socialite BETTINA ANDERSON, a source tells People mag that Don Jr. “has been seeing Anderson for ‘about 6 months’ and ‘even took her on a trip to Alaska and introduced her around as his girlfriend when he was still very much with Kim.’” A separate source put it this way: “Don Jr. has always wanted to look good in his father’s eyes. … Someone like Bettina, who is and has been a model, and is in Waspy circles of Palm Beach is something that would impress him.” Yet another source tells People that Don Jr. “has been telling people for months that Kim is so uptight and always dresses so professionally in these kinds of dresses and high heels, and never looks relaxed or casual," adding that “Anderson has wanted Guilfoyle — who was nominated as the U.S. ambassador to Greece by her would-be father-in-law on Tuesday, Dec. 10 — ‘out of the area’ since growing close to Don Jr.” FWIW, Don Jr. appeared to respond to the unnamed sources, telling Page Six: “Anyone taking baseless and petty fake news cheap shots at [Guilfoyle] in the tabloids are just embarrassing themselves.” THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE — “The Trump Show Is Returning. Will It Be Triumph, Tragedy or Farce?” by NYT’s James Poniewozik: “TV has fixated on one person, as news, comedy material and dramatic subtext, since 2015. Can it do another four years?”
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| | | | Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US
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Tech moguls like Mark Zuckerberg have been cozying up to Trump in the weeks following the election. | David Zalubowski/AP | 1. THE BOSSES’ BULLRUSH: With Trump’s comeback now complete, powerful CEOs, many of whom had been hedging their bets during the election season, are now “rushing to make inroads with the president-elect, gambling that personal relationships with the next occupant of the Oval Office will help their bottom lines and spare them from Trump’s wrath,” WSJ’s Brian Schwartz, Dana Mattioli and Rebecca Ballhaus report. “In the weeks since the election, Trump and his advisers have been flooded with calls from c-suite executives who are eager to get face time with the president-elect and his team at Mar-a-Lago, the private Florida club where the transition team conducts much of its planning for the second term. A business consultant close to Trump is advising corporate clients to engage with Trump in any way they can and emphasize common goals, such as tax and regulatory changes.” Quite the scene: “The day before Thanksgiving, [MARK ZUCKERBERG] dined with the president-elect on a patio at Mar-a-Lago. At one point, Zuckerberg and other attendees stood, hand over heart, as the club played a rendition of the national anthem sung by imprisoned defendants who are accused of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, according to people familiar with the matter. There was no announcement that the recording was by the Jan. 6th choir, one of the people said.” Related read: “Tim Cook Dines With Trump at Mar-a-Lago,” by NYT’s Teddy Schleifer and Tripp Mickle … “In Display of Fealty, Tech Industry Curries Favor With Trump,” by NYT’s Teddy Schleifer and David Yaffe-Bellany … “Bank of America, Goldman to donate undecided amounts to Trump's inaugural committee,” by Reuters 2. THE NIGHT SHIFT: Trump’s return has also brought a revival of his trademark social media missives, many of which come after traditional business hours — a fresh reminder of his night-owl tendencies. “He has been the president-elect (again) for 37 days, but he has been most active in the evenings, hosting lavish dinners, announcing nominations and firing off texts to his aides,” NYT’s Michael Shear writes. “Of the more than 80 personnel announcements Mr. Trump has made since Election Day, 45 have been announced in social media posts and emails that he has sent after 6 p.m. Many have come after 10 p.m., prompting a wave of social media chatter and television coverage that sometimes continues throughout the night and into the early morning hours. One of his veteran staff members said Mr. Trump was known to leave voice mail messages in the middle of the night saying: ‘This is your favorite president.’ He sometimes follows up the next day, suggesting the person might want to share the audio with his friends and family.” 3. UNDER CONSIDERATION: Trump is considering privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, WaPo’s Jacob Bogage, Jacqueline Alemany and Jeff Stein report, “a move that could shake up consumer shipping and business supply chains and push hundreds of thousands of federal workers out of the government. Trump has discussed his desire to overhaul the Postal Service at his Mar-a-Lago estate with HOWARD LUTNICK, his pick for commerce secretary and the co-chair of his presidential transition, the people said. Earlier this month, Trump also convened a group of transition officials to ask for their views on privatizing the agency, one of the people said.” Trump also expressed a desire to squash Daylight Saving Time, “which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, vowing that the Republican Party would “use its best efforts to eliminate” the tradition. As for the mysterious aircraft hovering over homes in New Jersey? “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!” 4. MAKING A LIST, CHECKING IT NOT AT ALL: As part of Biden’s historic commutation decision this week, the White House controversially commuted the sentence of former Pennsylvania judge MICHAEL CONAHAN — who was at the center of a notorious “kids-for-cash” scandal — without considering the specifics of his case, beyond whether it fit into a broad set of criteria, an administration official told our colleague Adam Cancryn. The backstory: “Conahan was convicted in 2011 of funneling juveniles to for-profit detention centers in exchange for more than $2 million in kickbacks. He was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges. At the time, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania called the scandal ‘the worst in Pennsylvania’s history,’ forcing the state to vacate thousands of juvenile convictions. But the White House did not consider any of those details when weighing the charges against Conahan or the cases of other individuals who received commutations on Thursday.”
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | 5. THE VIEW FROM KYIV: “Cajole, Plead and Flatter: Ukraine Makes Its Case to Trump,” by NYT’s Constant Méheut, Kim Barker and Maria Varenikova: “With his military losing ground in Ukraine’s east, [President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY]’s public messaging has shifted since Mr. Trump’s election. He is portraying Ukraine as being open to negotiations that could involve concessions, including ceding Russian-occupied territory in the east and regaining it later through diplomacy. That is meant as a signal to Mr. Trump’s foreign policy team that the Ukrainian leader is reasonable compared with the nuclear saber-rattling of Russia’s president, VLADIMIR V. PUTIN.” 6. SYRIA LATEST: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN is in Jordan today to meet with Arab leaders “to discuss how to assist a political transition in Syria, nearly a week after rebels toppled the dictatorship of BASHAR AL-ASSAD,” NYT’s Matthew Mpoke Bigg reports. “Mr. Blinken was expected to meet in the coastal city of Aqaba with foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League, AHMED ABOUL GHEIT, according to a statement by Jordan’s Foreign Ministry. Turkey, the United Nations and the European Union would also participate.” Related read: “Russia Begins Packing Up Military Equipment in Syria, Satellite Images Show,” by WSJ’s Thomas Grove … “Assad’s fall to Islamist rebels in Syria unsettles region’s autocrats,” by WaPo’s Claire Parker and Susannah George in Cairo … “Syria Shudders as Assad’s Prison Atrocities Come Into the Light,” by NYT’s Christina Goldbaum in Damascus 7. ONE TO WATCH: Texas AG KEN PAXTON has “filed a lawsuit accusing a New York doctor of prescribing abortion drugs to a Texas resident in violation of state law,” The Texas Tribune’s Eleanor Klibanoff reports. “This lawsuit is the first attempt to test what happens when state abortion laws are at odds with each other. New York has a shield law that protects providers from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, which has served as implicit permission for a network of doctors to mail abortion pills into states that have banned the procedure. Texas has vowed to pursue these cases regardless of those laws, and legal experts are divided on where the courts may land on this issue.” 8. ANOTHER AUTOPSY REPORT: “Why Democrats Lost More Seats in Vermont Than Any Other State,” by NYT’s Jenna Russell: “To be sure, the election did not come close to ending the Democratic majorities in either chamber of the State Legislature. In the 150-member House, Republicans will now hold 56 seats instead of 37; in the 30-member Senate, their numbers increased from 13 to 17. But the shift is expected to change the dynamics at the State House, motivating Democrats who may have once ignored the minority’s views to engage in more discussion and consider more compromise.” 9. IMMIGRATION FILES: “A New Risk for Employers: Losing Millions of Migrants With Temporary Work Permits,” by WSJ’s Ruth Simon and Michelle Hackman: “Those at risk include people from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine as well as people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, often called Dreamers. … Immigration advocates, and some Democrats in Congress, are urging the Biden administration to take executive action to extend immigrants’ work permits for as long as possible ahead of Trump’s return to Washington.” CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 16 funnies
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| GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “The Biden Administration Is Separating Families at the Border. It Doesn’t Always Say Why,” by ProPublica’s Mica Rosenberg: “U.S. officials can withhold their rationale in family separation cases that relate to national security. There have been about 80 children separated for these reasons this year, with an estimated 50 of them Russian.” — “How America Created the Enemy It Feared Most,” by NYT’s Azam Ahmed: “The United States killed its own allies, sabotaging itself in a part of Afghanistan where it never needed to be.” — “Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight,” by Reuters’ Samia Nakhoul, Maya Gebeily, Parisa Hafezi and Suleiman Al-Khalidi: “Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Instead, aides, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark, more than a dozen people with knowledge of the events told Reuters.” — “The Gold Rush at the Heart of a Civil War,” by NYT’s Declan Walsh: “Famine and ethnic cleansing stalk Sudan. Yet the gold trade is booming, enriching generals and propelling the fight.” — “Netflix’s Extraordinary Parental Leave Was Part of Its Culture. That’s Over,” by WSJ’s Jessica Toonkel: “Employees worry the pullback and other new restrictions mean the entertainment giant is losing the identity that fueled its success.”
| | | | Write your own chapter in the new Washington. From the Lame Duck Congress Series to New Administration insights, POLITICO Pro delivers intelligence across 22+ policy areas to help you anticipate and navigate change. Discover how a Pro subscription empowers you. Learn more today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Michael Whatley is confident Trump has put Republicans in a good position for 2026 and beyond. Mitch McConnell said polio vaccine skeptics are “dangerous.” Larry Hogan isn’t quite sure where he fits in the Republican Party under Trump 2.0. SPOTTED at Minetta Tavern last night after it opened this week: Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), Robert Costa, David Hogg and Keith McNally, all separately. SPOTTED: Jim Mattis at the Round Robin at The Willard yesterday afternoon. Pic OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Matt and Mercedes Schlapp’s annual Christmas party on Thursday: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Reps. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) and Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), Kash Patel, Brendan Carr, Michael Whatley, Matt Whitaker, Chad Wolf, Don and Shannon McGahn, Laura Schlapp, Alex Acosta, Leland Vittert, Jenn Pellegrino, Hogan Gidley, Alexa Henning, Caroline Sunshine, Steve Holland, Chris Plante, Libby Locke and Tom Clare, Sean Spicer, Mark Halperin, Michael and Jana Toner, Maggie Mulvaney and Charlie Spies. — SPOTTED last night at the vice president’s residence for a black tie dinner: VP Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Gwen Walz, Tony West and Maya Harris, Jeff and Mary Zients, Eric Holder and Sharon Malone, Donna Brazile, Minyon Moore, Tom Nides and Virginia Moseley, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Shonda Rhimes, Reginald Hudlin, Charlamagne Tha God, Ana Navarro, Tonya Lewis Lee, Jonathan Capehart and Nick Schmit, Ray McGuire and Crystal McCrary, Carol Sutton Lewis, Don Cheadle and Bridgid Coulter, Star Jones, Jeff Shell, Roland Martin, Chad Griffin, Brian and Norah Weinstein, Art and Sela Collins, Jennifer Palmieri, Lorraine Voles, Kirk and Crystal Wagar, Charles and Karen Phillips, Sheila Nix and John and Kimberly Emerson. — SPOTTED at Steve Rochlin and Christina Sevilla’s holiday chalet bonfire buffet last night: David Corn, Michael Isikoff, Meridith McGraw, George Conway, Molly Ball and David Kihara, Juliet Eilperin, Shadi Hamid, Silvia Foster-Frau, Sarah and Fin Gomez, Jon Decker, Neil Grace, Adam Green, Julie Bloom, Sophia Cai, Jack Detsch, Ed Roman, Puru Trivedi, Michael Hirsh, Josh Meyer, Mary Jacoby, Andy Oros, Sheena and Rodell Mollineau, Bruce Kieloch, Katherine Doyle, Sarakshi Rai, Bernd Debusmann, Bay Fang, Paris Huang, Laura Kelly, Michael Falcone, Eric McPike, Mark Paustenbach, Marie-Hélène Zavala, Anna Gawel, Shaila Manyam, Amirah Sequeira, Kathryn Stack, J.P. Freire, Marc Raimondi, Amir and Hastie Afkhami, Mark Vlasic and Sumi Somaskanda. MEDIA MOVE — Alicia Caldwell is joining Bloomberg as an immigration reporter. She previously was an immigration reporter at WSJ. More from Talking Biz News TRANSITION — Matt Naugle has joined the strategic comms team at Stand Together Communications. He previously worked in digital at Majority Strategies. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Former FBI Director James Comey … John Ullyot of Brighton Strategy Group … Chuck Rocha … Raffi Williams … Henry R. Muñoz … CNN’s Abigail Crutchfield … POLITICO’s Beth Belton and Ilona Chebotareva … Aubrey Quinn … Sloane Speakman … Elizabeth Wenk of Burness … Cindy Chetti of the National Multifamily Housing Council … Suzanne Wrasse … American Council of Engineering Companies’ Allison Schneider … Stephanie Allen of the SEC … Pierce Wiegard … Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy … Kirsten Powers … Auston Anderson … Ted Frank … Kyra Jennings … Amplifire Strategies’ Tom Egan … BrabenderCox’s Matt Beynon … Lindy Li … Jake Schneider … International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ Danielle Eckert … Kimberly Hunt … Schuyler Ebersol … Amanda Kane Rapp … Kirsten Madison of the National Endowment for Democracy … David Cuzzi of Prospect Hill Strategies … Maddy McDaniel … R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. … Rob Placek … Avik Roy THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) … Debra Tice. Panel: Ashley Etienne, Amna Nawaz, Ryan Nobles and Peggy Noonan. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) … Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.). Panel: Julia Manchester, Josh Kraushaar, Meghan Hays and Marc Thiessen. ABC “This Week”: Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) … Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … Chris Christie … Eric Schmidt. Panel: Donna Brazile, Reince Priebus, Julie Pace and Marianna Sotomayor. CBS “Face the Nation”: Rep Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) … Gary Cohn … Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova … Cindy McCain. CNN “State of the Union”: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) MSNBC “The Weekend”: Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler … Gretchen Carlson … Julie Roginsky. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) … Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) … Ben Wikler. Panel: George Will, Julie Mason and Catherine Lucey. 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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