Playbook PM: Biden and Trump put their sparring gloves on
Playbook PM: Biden and Trump put their sparring gloves on
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LET’S MAKE A DEAL — Calm in the Middle East will last a little bit longer, as Qatari mediators announced today that the truce between Israel and Hamas will extend two more days beyond the initial four. Confirming the news at the White House, JOHN KIRBY said at this afternoon’s briefing that the agreement will include the release of additional hostages and a continued pause in fighting.
The news will enable more aid to reach Gaza, which is embroiled in humanitarian disaster with more than 14,000 dead, and more freed Israelis and Palestinians to go home. It isn’t entirely clear how many Americans might remain among the hostages held by Hamas: Kirby said today that the administration thinks the number is in the single digits, but clear information is hard to come by.
How long can President JOE BIDEN keep the bloodshed at bay — and steer the war on a different path? That’s the critical question for the U.S. (and Qatar and Egypt, also leading negotiations): whether Biden can “use the success of recent days to alter the trajectory of the war,” NYT’s Peter Baker writes . Biden talked with Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU yesterday and is particularly focused on any American hostages. Only one has been released so far.
A higher hurdle may be whether he can convince Israel to inflict fewer civilian casualties when the truce expires and bombings resume, potentially restarting an outpouring of progressive anger at Biden.
Donald Trump’s Obamacare comments play right into the Joe Biden campaign’s newly aggressive efforts to highlight his radical plans. | Stephanie Scarbrough/AP Photo
PIVOT IN PROGRESS — Obamacare repeal is dead. Long live Obamacare repeal! DONALD TRUMP has raised the prospect that he’ll revive the drive to undo the Affordable Care Act, and the Biden reelect is pouncing. It’s one of several striking examples today of the potential contours of a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024, as both sides sharpen their focus on the general election.
Most Republican politicians finally gave up on emphasizing the ACA in last year’s midterms. But Trump dangled the idea again in a Truth Social post this weekend, inspired by a WSJ editorial, writing that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” and that the failed 2017 repeal “was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”
Democrats couldn’t be more thrilled, NBC’s Sahil Kapur reports . Not only is health care typically one of the best issues for Dems, but Trump’s comments play right into the Biden campaign’s newly aggressive efforts to make Americans aware of the former president’s radical plans for a second term. One Biden adviser calls Trump’s move “almost perfect,” saying they’ll “really hit this hard” and that “no tactic is out of the question.”
This morning, Trump took on another new line of attack from Democratic and Republican opponents alike: his mental fitness in the wake of a series of recent gaffes. Trump claimed on Truth Social that his pattern of seeming to mix up BARACK OBAMA and Biden was actually an intentional, sarcastic conflation to indicate that Biden may not really be in charge. He added that he “ACED” a cognitive test.
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign rallies feel pretty similar to how they did in 2016 and 2020: rapturous fans in an atmosphere that feels more like a concert than anything to do with politics, Ben Jacobs reports in Slate . These diehard Trump loyalists “are perhaps the decisive reason for Trump’s political strength,” and they look set to power him to another nomination: “[Florida Gov.] RON DeSANTIS NIKKI HALEY have partisans. Donald Trump has fans.”
— Speaking at an event in Sarasota, Florida, this morning, Speaker MIKE JOHNSON was all sunshine in describing the prospects for a foreign aid package benefiting Israel and Ukraine, saying there was a “sense of urgency” in Congress to help both countries.
This morning’s Playbook laid out the many obstacles facing a pre-holiday deal, but Johnson said he wasn’t worried: “I think all of that will come together in the coming days,” he said, per Anthony Adragna . “I’m confident and optimistic that we’ll be able to get that done — get that over the line.”
Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at [email protected] .
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THE WHITE HOUSE
HAPPENING TODAY — The focus at the White House this afternoon is supply chain resilience and logistics improvements, as Biden leads the initial meeting of a supply chain council, Bloomberg’s Gregory Korte reports . The administration is announcing dozens of new steps that they intend to improve access to crucial goods and bring down prices by ameliorating supply chain snarls. They include giving HHS more authority to manufacture essential medicines under the Defense Production Act.
’TIS THE SEASON — First lady JILL BIDEN today is unveiling the White House’s holiday decor, with a theme of focusing on the “magic, wonder and joy” of the season, AP’s Darlene Superville reports . The decorations aim to encourage visitors to experience the holidays through a child’s eyes, with allusions to the 200th anniversary of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The White House will play host to 98 Christmas trees and 142,000 lights.
HEADS UP — For the first time in months, the House Judiciary subcommittee on the “weaponization” of government will hold a hearing Thursday morning : RUPA SUBRAMANYA are due to testify.
GOLDEN HANDCUFFS — “Businessman accused of bribing Sen. Menendez had deep ties to Egypt,” by WaPo’s Shawn Boburg, Claire Parker, Terrence McCoy and Marina Dias: “WAEL HANA’s extensive ties to the Egyptian government included arranging the shipment of military equipment from the U.S., associates say.”
THE STEAMROLLER — Trump is cruising in Iowa with fewer than 50 days to go before the caucuses, as DeSantis and Haley race to catch him with time running down, NYT’s Shane Goldmacher reports . This weekend, DeSantis will finally reach the 99th of Iowa’s 99 counties, a notable campaign-trail feat. Haley is pumping lots of money into anti-DeSantis ads to try to come out ahead and position herself as the main Trump alternative. Trump is largely coasting above it all. But the Never Back Down door-knocking operation remains a potential x-factor.
— NYT’s Nate Cohn says the recent spate of polls showing a shockingly close contest between Trump and Biden for young voters can’t be dismissed like some Dems are trying to do. Broad dissatisfaction with Biden among typical Democratic supporters really could endanger his reelection, though there’s plenty of time for the situation to change. The bigger picture is that there’s a lot less stability in this election than we typically see in a super-polarized America: “These are the textbook conditions for volatility.”
MORE POLITICS
— Michigan State Board of Education President PAMELA PUGH announced today that she’ll drop out of the Senate race to run instead for the House seat vacated by Democratic Rep. DAN KILDEE. Pugh is the first Democrat to declare a campaign in the swing district.
— For Esquire, Chris Heath goes deep into a series of conversations with the always-quotable Bannon, who’s just as committed to scorched-earth political warfare as ever. “Is Bannon truly someone forever playing the game several levels above and ahead of the rest of us, his every ambiguous zig and zag calculated to further a majestic master plan?” he writes. “Or is he actually just one more big-talking huckster, brazenly improvising whatever he can with whichever tools he can muster, making it all up as he goes? ... [M]ight it be that in our modern-day runaway world of increasingly fractured and divided truths, there’s no longer a meaningful difference between the two?”
UP FOR DEBATE — SEAN HANNITY tells Chris Cadelago that he sees his debate Thursday between DeSantis and California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM as a clash between red- and blue-state visions/agendas. But the governors have bigger ambitions of their own: DeSantis to boost his presidential campaign and Newsom to boost Biden’s. Hannity, who has overseen granular preparations for the debate, says he’ll try to be fair to both of them equally despite his personal conservatism, and he won’t be jumping in with fact-checks.
JUDICIARY SQUARE
SCOTUS WATCH — Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could offer conservative justices an opportunity to bar Congress from creating a wealth tax before it even tries, WaPo’s Ann Marimow and Julie Zauzmer Weil report . But it also “has many experts panicked over the potential to destabilize the nation’s tax system.” And not for the first time recently, questions have emerged about the factual accuracy of the personal story at the center of the legal challenge — though in this instance, the doubts have emerged before the hearing.
— After the Supreme Court ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions, many high school seniors this year are still finding ways to highlight their racial or ethnic background in their essays, WaPo’s Nick Anderson reports .
BEYOND THE BELTWAY
DEMOCRACY WATCH — “Antagonisms flare as red states try to dictate how blue cities are run,” by WaPo’s Molly Hennessy-Fiske: “Despite long advocating small government and local control, Republican governors and legislators across a significant swath of the country are increasingly overriding the actions of Democratic cities — removing elected district attorneys or threatening to strip them of power, taking over election offices and otherwise limiting local independence. State lawmakers proposed nearly 700 bills this year to circumscribe what cities and counties can do ... As of mid-October, at least 92 had passed.”
— In the dozen states with near-total abortion bans that snapped into place after , anti-abortion advocates have successfully swatted down almost any attempts to soften the laws or add more exceptions, ProPublica’s Kavitha Surana reports . Just four of the states made any changes this year, as “Republicans ultimately fell in line with highly organized Christian groups.”
WAR IN UKRAINE
FROM 30,000 FEET — “Putin Has Staked Russia’s Resources on Victory in Ukraine. Can the West Match Him?” by WSJ’s Marcus Walker in Kyiv: “Western disarray and Russia’s growing commitment of its human and industrial resources to the war point to a bitter year on the defensive for Ukraine. But the Russian army’s limitations on the offensive ... suggest it is more likely to grind out small gains than to achieve a breakthrough.”
“It’s inaccurate to suggest that Russia is winning the war. ... However, if the right choices are not made next year on Ukraine’s approach and Western resourcing, then Ukraine’s prospects for success look dim.”
TRADE WARS — “U.S. Whiskey Is ‘Collateral Damage’ in Trans-Atlantic Trade Fight,” by WSJ’s Kristina Peterson and Kim Mackrael: “The threatened tariff is the European Union’s retaliation for U.S. tariffs on European steel and aluminum ... U.S. and EU officials say they hope to reach a deal to avoid the 50% tariff by year’s end, likely by delaying its effective date. But there is no end in sight to the broader trade dispute.”
BOOK CLUB — Maggie Haberman Jonathan Swan are writing a new book on this phase of Donald Trump’s public life, Axios’ Mike Allen reports . Simon and Schuster landed the book, which will come in 2025 at the earliest and have a bigger-picture focus than just his campaign. ... Byron Tau’s new book, “Means of Control,” which examines the surveillance state and governments’ purchase of corporate data, will be on sale in February .
MEDIA MOVES — Adam Wollner will be deputy politics editor at NBC News Digital. He previously has been White House editor at The Messenger. ... Scott Havens is departing his role as CEO of Bloomberg Media to become president of business operations at the New York Mets.
TRANSITION — Hannah Osantowske is now campaign manager for Rep. John James’ (R-Mich.) reelect. She most recently managed a state legislative campaign in Louisiana, and is a Greg Pence and John James alum.
ENGAGED — Topher Williams, founder of Flatirons Strategies and a John Hickenlooper alum, and Austin Montoya, senior officer of policy, advocacy and comms at the Colorado Health Foundation, got engaged in St. James’s Park in London yesterday afternoon, celebrating later over dinner at Hide restaurant. They met in Denver in 2018.
— Alisha Sud, associate director at the Milken Institute, and David Reid Dobell, economic analyst at the State Department, got engaged at the top of Mount Cardigan in Orange, New Hampshire, on Friday. They met on Bumble in 2021 and had their first date at OKPB. ...
BONUS BIRTHDAY: Hannah Osantowske
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