| | | | |  | | By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan, Myah Ward and Ben Johansen | | | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren
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Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Ambassador Rahm Emanuel are pictured in the refurbished library of U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in Tokyo last week. | Office of the U.S. Embassy to Japan | | Right smack in the center of the sprawling, high-density metropolis that is Tokyo, the official residence for the U.S. ambassador to Japan sits on three stately acres behind cement walls and steel gates. The first U.S. ambassador’s residence built anywhere in the world when it opened in 1931, it’s where, in 1945, U.S. Gen. DOUGLAS MACARTHUR accepted Japan’s unconditional surrender from Emperor HIROHITO. When several recent ambassadors to Japan gathered in September 2022 for the state funeral of former Prime Minister SHINZO ABE, they chatted about the historic residence. And they all agreed that the library, a stately walnut-paneled room, is the best room in the house. Sen. BILL HAGERTY (R-Tenn.), who served as ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019, called it “the epicenter of American diplomatic activity in Japan.” But as they chatted about the beloved library, Ambassador RAHM EMANUEL asked those gathered if they’d “seen the books?” “They all sort of laughed and shrugged and said, ‘Yeah,’” he told West Wing Playbook. Like his predecessors, Emanuel routinely hosts politicians, dignitaries and cultural figures in his library. Any guest who looked closely would have noticed that the books filling the floor-to-ceiling shelves were hardly impressive. Thick, well-worn travel guides and sticker books for children shared the shelves with an incomplete collection of Japanese and American literature. “They looked like things that were left behind,” Emanuel said. “It was storage, not a presentation of America.” Not long after Emanuel settled into his post in 2021, Chase CEO JAMIE DIMON asked him to host a senior advisers dinner at the ambassador’s residence. As it took place, Emanuel pulled Dimon into his library. Dimon marveled at the room’s beauty. “I told him to look at the books,” Emanuel recalled. “He looked and he said, ‘Oh my God.’” Emanuel asked Dimon to kick in $50,000 toward what he’d decided would be a signature project of his ambassadorship: upgrading the library’s book collection befitting the grandeur of the room, which he also refitted with new furniture handcrafted by Japanese artisans. All told, Emanuel solicited approximately $125,000 in private contributions to the embassy from other individuals, according to embassy staff. Under federal guidelines, it is permissible to “accept gifts for embassy refurbishment,” though there is a fairly rigorous review process that takes place around it. Emanuel indicated he went through State on the furniture procurement. A department official did not respond to comment. Emanuel himself suggested several books and personal areas of interest and consulted with U.S. officials and his team to curate a more comprehensive, impressive collection. And now the shelves are home to classics — MARK TWAIN, HERMAN MELVILLE, WILLIAM FAULKNER and JOHN STEINBECK — as well as RICHARD WRIGHT, RALPH ELLISON and TONI MORRISON. There are newer works by contemporary novelists like ANN PATCHETT and JENNIFER EGAN and historians ranging from academics like ROBERT MIDDLEKAUFF to more popular authors including ROBERT CARO and DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN. To find more relevant Japanese titles, Emanuel’s team worked with Toyo Bunko, a local library specializing in Asian history and culture. The new inventory includes books on samurais, sushi and Suntory (although, strangely, not a single HARUKI MURAKAMI novel). “If you’re going to present America to Japan and Japan to Americans visiting, there’s no better way than our histories and our literature,” Emanuel said. Emanuel and his wife, AMY RULE, also commissioned new furniture from a Japanese woodworker who’d emerged from a grant competition for artisans aimed at preserving traditional craft techniques. “From a single tree that’s 250 years old, he made four chairs, the sofa, the coffee table,” Emanuel said, noting that the upholstery was done by an 88-year-old craftsman.
|  Furniture from the Tokunaga family sits in the library of U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in Tokyo. | Office of the U.S. Embassy to Japan | With the furniture delivered days after Christmas, the project is close to complete, although Emanuel remains on the lookout for additional titles. He said leftover funds will be used to endow the library so that his successors can add to the collection as they see fit. “Every ambassador tries to figure out how to give something back, because we all feel — beyond a professional attachment, an emotional attachment, not only to the home, the house, but to Japan,” he said. As for what happened to all those travel guides? “We used them as kindling,” Emanuel replied. Editor’s note: Eli is on parental leave and will return (we hope) next month. He graciously filed this piece during his leave because he is a glutton for punishment. MESSAGE US — Are you HARUKI MURAKAMI? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
| | A message from the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease: Obesity is a chronic disease affecting millions of Americans, and disproportionately impacting Black and Hispanic adults. Leaders need to act now. | | | | | What did the first date between BARACK and MICHELLE OBAMA entail? (Answer at bottom.)
| | PROTESTED AT THE PEW: During a campaign event Monday at the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, President JOE BIDEN’s speech was interrupted by protesters chanting “cease-fire now.” It lasted all of 45 seconds before being drowned out by chants of “four more years” from supporters, our ELENA SCHNEIDER reports. “I understand their passion,” Biden said. “I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza.” The speech took place at the site of the 2015 white supremacist attack that took the lives of nine churchgoers. And more than a handful of Democrats were, shall we say, not pleased that the protesters would use that setting as a staging ground. In his remarks, Biden laid out the stakes for this year’s election, drawing on a common contrast the campaign often makes: the “existential choice between Biden, a champion of democracy, and his likely Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump,” as Schneider puts it. After his speech, Biden stopped by Hannibal’s Kitchen, a Lowcountry favorite. We hope he tried the crab rice. KEEPING THE TEAM INTACT: The president has no plans to fire Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN despite failing to to tell the White House last week that he was hospitalized with complications from an undisclosed surgical procedure, our JONATHAN LEMIRE and ALEXANDER WARD report. Not only that, they report that he’d reject a resignation offer if one were submitted. National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY told reporters traveling Monday on Air Force One that Biden “respects the fact that Secretary Austin took ownership for the lack of transparency.” He said the “main focus right now is on Secretary Austin’s health and making sure he gets all the care and support he needs to fully recover.” We still don’t know why Austin was hospitalized in the first place, or the nature of his complications. Kirby declined to give any information on the secretary’s condition and could not say whether Biden was aware of what type of elective surgery Austin received. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This op-ed from NYT’s BINYAMIN APPELBAUM, who praises the president’s economic agenda and writes that Biden deserves more credit for how he’s handled the economy. Entitled, “The Seeds Joe Biden Has Planted,” Appelbaum's piece lays out the case for Biden’s success, and argues that his administration’s investments have directly helped revitalize the economy. Communications director BEN LABOLT and National Economic Council deputy director DANIEL HORNUNG shared the piece on X. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by Semafor’s KADIA GOBA, who writes that Black Democrats in Texas want more from Biden as concerns heighten over the president’s struggle to break through with the base. Democrats interviewed argue there are not enough Biden messengers working to sell Biden’s record to skeptical Black voters. “You look at a place like Texas, where you have one of the largest Black populations in the United States, there aren’t a bunch of Biden administration champions running around,” Harris County Attorney CHRISTIAN MENEFEE told Semafor. RAKING IN THE CASH: The Biden campaign raised $1 million through online fundraising in the 24 hours following President Biden’s Jan. 6 anniversary speech, The Hill’s ALEX GANGITANO reports. “We are encouraged by the strong grassroots enthusiasm we are seeing around the President’s core campaign message,” deputy campaign manager ROB FLAHERTY told The Hill.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | | | | | JUST AN AMTRAK RIDE AWAY: White House infrastructure coordinator MITCH LANDRIEU is leaving his post, the president confirmed in a statement Monday. “When I passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I knew I needed someone by my side who would help deliver real results for the American people,” Biden said. “I knew that Mitch Landrieu … was the man to help me rebuild the country.” Landrieu will be joining Biden’s reelection campaign as a national co-chair, Lauren reports. [JUST WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS OUT!] FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: LUKAS MCGOWAN is leaving the White House, where he is currently the senior adviser for economic recovery in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. His last day will be Friday. MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: EARL ADAMS JR., the former deputy administrator for the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is now a partner at Hogan Lovells, a law practice based in Washington D.C.
| | | | A message from the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease:   | | | | | CHIP WARS: A group of bipartisan lawmakers have sent top Biden officials a letter urging him to take stronger action in limiting Chinese dominance on the microchip manufacturing industry, WSJ’s ASA FITCH reports. The group urges the U.S. Trade Representative office and the Commerce Department to “utilize all existing trade authorities” or outline new ways to protect the supply chain for older chips, Fitch notes. Last week, the Commerce Department announced its plans to provide Microchip Technology with a $162 million grant to support its microchip manufacturing efforts. BUT WILL THEY STAY YELLOW? The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday awarded 67 recipients with nearly $1 billion to replace its school bus fleet with low emission buses. The funding brings the total investments into clean energy buses to almost $2 billion across 280 school districts in 37 states. “I’ve sat next to students on their very first clean school bus ride and their excitement reflects the power of good policy,” EPA Administrator MICHAEL REGAN said. A CRACK DOWN: On Monday, Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN announced that 100,000 companies have joined a newly established database aimed at unmasking shell company owners, AP’s FATIMA HUSSEIN reports. The database will collect “beneficial ownership” information on companies, with Yellen saying it will send a message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”
| | | | POLITICO AT CES® 2024: We are going ALL On at CES 2024 with a special edition of the POLITICO Digital Future Daily newsletter. The CES-focused newsletter will take you inside the most powerful tech event in the world, featuring revolutionary products that cut across verticals, and insights from industry leaders that are shaping the future of innovation. The newsletter runs from Jan. 9-12 and will focus on the public policy-related aspects of the gathering. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage of the show. | | | | | | | | | The U.S. Is Dealing With an Israeli Leader Who’s Losing Control (POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi) Biden is asking for Mexican help to stop the record surge of migrants. Here's what Mexico wants in return. (NBC’s Julia Ainsley) Inside Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff’s L.A. (LA Times’ Courtney Subramanian)
| | Describing their 1989 date in an interview more than 20 years later, Michelle Obama said the future president showed he was “hip, cutting edge, cultural and sensitive.” Jeez … seems like quite the first impression. Starting at the Chicago Art Institute, Barack showed off his “cultural side.” In an effort to then display his “sophisticated side,” he took her to see an “independent filmmaker,” aka SPIKE LEE, who had just released his film, “Do the Right Thing.” “Take tips, gentlemen,” Barack Obama said in the interview. A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it! Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.
| | A message from the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease: Obesity is the second leading contributor to preventable death in the United States only after smoking. For communities of color — who are disproportionately impacted by obesity — it’s time for immediate action.
Our leaders have the power to combat the obesity epidemic — starting with allowing Medicare to cover lifesaving, FDA-approved obesity medications. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
