| | | | |  | | By Lauren Egan, Adam Cancryn, Eli Stokols and Ben Johansen | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren Even before Dr. THAER AHMAD, a Palestinian American emergency physician from Chicago, walked out of a meeting with President JOE BIDEN Tuesday evening in protest of his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, things weren’t going great. The small meeting with Muslim and Arab American leaders was only scheduled after it was made clear to the White House that people would decline invitations to the traditional Eid al-Fitr ceremony marking the end of Ramadan. Some leaders who had attended Ramadan events at the White House in the past argued it would be inappropriate to celebrate amid ongoing suffering in Gaza and pushed instead for a robust policy discussion with top Biden officials. The White House says it accommodated that request. But that’s not quite how some of those leaders viewed it. On Tuesday afternoon, WA’EL ALZAYAT, CEO of the Muslim advocacy group Emgage, sent an email to stakeholders letting them know he had declined the White House’s invitation to meet with Biden, Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN and other senior administration officials. “In this moment of tremendous pain and suffering, we have asked the White House to postpone this gathering and to convene a proper policy meeting with representatives of the community’s choosing, rather than those selected by the White House,” Alzayat wrote. “Without more Palestinian voices and policy experts in the room, we do not believe today’s meeting will provide for such an opportunity.” El-Hibri Foundation’s FARHAN LATIF also turned down an invitation to participate in the meeting, according to two people familiar with the guest list. Those people said that Imam MOHAMED MAGID and Institute for Social Policy and Understanding’s DALIA MOGAHED did the same. But another person familiar with the planning said Magid and Mogahed were out of the country on Tuesday, suggesting it was merely a scheduling conflict. Neither responded to West Wing Playbook’s request for comment. Ultimately, about six guests ended up participating in the gathering. It lasted roughly an hour and a half — far longer than the initial 30 minutes that the White House had offered. Imam Dr. TALIB SHAREEF, one of the attendees, said Biden came across as genuine and engaged, asking questions and often turning to his aides to check if he could share certain national security information with the group to help explain where he was coming from. Shareef said he read the president’s own statement marking Ramadan back to him, in which he talked about the need to find enduring peace. Biden, in turn, said they could expect to see more pushback to Israel from the White House going forward. “My piece in the room was to get him to try to see the disparity and that it has gone way beyond an eye for an eye, in terms of the suffering that we’re seeing,” Shareef said, adding that “time will tell” whether their message broke through. But for others there, the construct of the meeting itself was problematic. In an interview with CNN after he walked out of the meeting, Ahmad, who traveled to Gaza earlier this year, said he told the president that “it was disappointing I’m the only Palestinian here, and out of respect for my community, I’m going to leave.” On Wednesday, press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE refused to say whether Ahmad was the first person that Biden had spoken with who has been on the ground in Gaza since Oct. 7. But deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES said in a statement to West Wing Playbook that three doctors who recently returned from Gaza participated in yesterday’s meeting. “President Biden and his senior team are actively honoring the commitment he made to ongoing engagement with communities directly impacted by the conflict in Gaza including Muslim-, Arab-, and Jewish-American communities, including by hosting a wide range of Muslim community leaders at the White House and agencies,” Bates said. “That includes meeting directly with individuals and organizations who have been deeply critical of administration policy.” Arab American leaders have warned White House officials that they too often view the community solely through a Muslim lens and have refused to heed suggestions for which groups it should invite to meetings. Another Arab American leader with longtime ties to the Democratic Party said he has pleaded repeatedly with senior Biden officials to treat Arab Americans as a distinct group, noting that not all Arab Americans are Muslim and only a slice of Muslims are Arab American. “I don’t know who makes the final call there, but I’ve lost count of the number of blunders,” said the leader, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. “And have given up trying to help.” MESSAGE US — Are you BRIDGET WILLIAMS, deputy director of presidential scheduling? 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!
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | | | Which president was the first to wear pants (not breeches) to his inauguration? (Answer at bottom.)
| | NOT SHIFTING COURSE: The Biden administration will not change its policy toward Israel, even after an Israeli strike killed seven humanitarian aid workers on Monday, our ALEXANDER WARD reports. Biden was privately outraged at the strike and publicly called for “accountability,” but according to senior administration officials, there are no plans from the White House to change its approach — by, say, conditioning aid. It’s the latest example of the White House being reluctant to use its leverage, which has caused tension within the administration. “It’s just rinse and repeat with the Israelis. The American political system can’t or won’t draw a real line with them and that is regrettable,” said a senior U.S. official. YES, CHEF: Biden’s strongly worded statement was not enough for Chef JOSÉ ANDRÉS, who laid bare the incongruity of the administration’s approach to the conflict in an interview on Wednesday and claimed that Israel targeted his World Central Kitchen workers “systematically, car by car.” Andrés told Reuters’ JEFF MASON that Biden “must do more to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu this war needs to end now.” And he questioned how the administration can be supplying aid in Gaza while also arming Israel. “It’s very complicated to understand,” he said. “America is going to be sending its Navy and its military to do humanitarian work, but at the same time weapons provided by America ... are killing civilians.” THE FALLOUT: The Biden administration has reached out to the United Nations for help distributing aid from a U.S. military-built pier to starving Gazans, our LARA SELIGMAN, ERIN BANCO and Alexander Ward report. But the arrangement may be in jeopardy after the deadly Israeli strike on WCK workers. Before the attack, the U.S. was finalizing a formal agreement with an aid group to distribute resources in Gaza once the pier was established, and now those discussions are complicated with groups pressing the U.S. for additional safety reassurances. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by NPR’s DOMENICO MONTANARO, who reports on a new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist College poll that found Biden currently leading DONALD TRUMP in a head-to-head matchup by two points. The national survey had plenty of good content for Dems, with the survey finding that 63 percent of Biden supporters locked in to voting for the president — compared to 59 percent for Trump. LEE M. MIRINGOFF, director of the Marist Institute of Politics, also noted that Democrats are more cohesive in their positions on key electoral issues compared to their Republican counterparts. Communications director BEN LABOLT and campaign spokesperson DANIEL WESSEL shared the data on X. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s HOPE KARNOPP and TAMIA FOWLKES, who report that Tuesday night’s Wisconsin primary results should send warning signs to the Biden campaign. Voters who chose “uninstructed delegation” more than doubled Biden’s 2020 margin of victory in the state, taking nearly 48,000 votes in the state’s primary. Voters upset with the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war organized a “Listen to Wisconsin” movement, mirroring states like Michigan and Minnesota that garnered a significant amount of the Democratic vote. “We have the power, really, to make President Biden a one-term president if that is his choice and the choice is his,” said JANAN NAJEEB, one of the leaders of the effort. ONCE A TEACHER … First lady JILL BIDEN on Wednesday morning surprised teacher of the year MISSY TESTERMAN on “CBS Mornings,” CBS’ WEIJIA JIANG reports. During the sit-down, Biden announced that there would be a first-ever White House state dinner honoring Testerman and teachers of the year from across the country. It will take place on May 1.
| | BIDEN’S BUNCH OF NUMBER NERDS: The Biden campaign announced its team of pollsters, our ELENA SCHNEIDER scooped today. And it will include two men whose research was instrumental, in the view of senior aides, to the Democratic Party’s better-than-expected 2022 midterm performance. GEOFF GARIN and JEFREY POLLOCK, whose research informed the president’s branding of “MAGA Republicans” two years ago, will be part of a large team that also includes 2020 vets CELINDA LAKE, SILAS LEE and MATT BARRETO as well as MOLLY MURPHY, a top adviser to North Carolina Gov. ROY COOPER and a new addition to the campaign team. DAVID BINDER, who specializes in focus groups, will continue to provide qualitative research. Close readers of this newsletter might have known to expect this broadening out of a polling operation that, in 2020, was headed up by Lake and JOHN ANZALONE. We reported a year ago that Biden’s brain trust was envisioning a bigger team with less reliance on a few pollsters. “The truth is: there is no singular ‘Biden pollster,’” a senior Biden aide told us last March. While Anzalone won’t be involved day to day, he will still have an advisory role, he confirmed in a text. RACKING UP THE DOLLARS: The Biden campaign had its best grassroots fundraising month to date in March — breaking its own small-dollar donations for the fifth straight month, The Hill’s BRETT SAMUELS reports. The campaign also saw its active email list double in size from the end of 2023 to the end of March. MY, GEORGE: GEORGE CONWAY, an influential anti-Trump lawyer, wrote a check for over $900,000 to the Biden Victory Fund, the maximum amount possible, Axios’ MIKE ALLEN reports. Conway, who was once married to former Trump aide KELLYANNE CONWAY, will also host a fundraiser for Biden in D.C. on April 24. The lead hosts will be strategic consultant MELISSA MOSS and her husband, JONATHAN SILVER.
| | BECAUSE WHAT’S BETTER THAN BEING A MEMBER OF THE LEAST FUNCTIONAL GOVERNING BODY? A top Biden aide is weighing a run for Congress after Rep. ANNIE KUSTER (D-N.H.) announced she would retire at the end of her term, Boston Globe’s JAMES PINDELL reports. MAGGIE GOODLANDER, who is top aide to White House deputy chief of staff BRUCE REED and has roots in the Granite State, is considering a bid in the state’s 2nd congressional district, the Globe learned. Goodlander is also married to national security adviser Jake Sullivan. WHO ELSE BUT BOEING: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN on Wednesday was the latest person to deal with a Boeing issue. Due to a mechanical problem with Blinken’s plane, the secretary was forced to drive from Paris to Brussels, CNN’s KYLIE ATWOOD reports. It’s the second time this year Blinken has been plagued with plane problems, after having a similar issue with a Boeing plane earlier this year in Switzerland. Let’s hope he picked up a good jambon beurre along the way. SULLIVAN TO THE DISABLED LIST, MAY MISS A START: National security adviser Jake Sullivan scrubbed a planned trip to Saudi Arabia this week due to injury. As Bloomberg’s JENNIFER JACOBS reported Tuesday, Sullivan cracked a rib. National security council spokesman JOHN KIRBY confirmed the news, noting that the injury resulted from an accident, not a nefarious act — glad we cleared that up!
| | LARGELY FAILED: The Center for International Policy released a new memo Wednesday assessing the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and laying out recommendations on how to end the conflict. CIP concluded that the administration has “largely failed” to make substantive policy changes to ensure human security in the region. In the list of recommendations, the center said the administration should use their leverage to call for a sustained cease-fire, suspend arms delivery to Israel and strengthen the legitimacy of the Palestinian people. “It’s important that the Administration is finally taking steps to enshrine its values in policy memoranda but it’s clearly insufficient,” said CIP executive Vice President MATT DUSS. “We continue to urge the administration to end its reliance on an old playbook.”
| | Biden and Corporate America? It’s ‘Complicated.’ (NYT’s Jim Tankersley) Janet Yellen Missed the First ‘China Shock.’ Can She Stop the Second? (WSJ’s Andrew Duehren) Let People Eat (José Andrés for the NYT)
| | | In 1825, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS was likely the first president to break from the tradition of wearing breeches to the inauguration, opting for some trousers. Thanks to Noah Raizman for this question! 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 Sam Stein.
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