| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza, Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | BREAKING OVERNIGHT — World Central Kitchen, the humanitarian nonprofit founded by D.C. chef JOSÉ ANDRÉS, said seven of its workers were killed in Gaza, blaming an Israeli airstrike. The group said it was immediately pausing its operations in the Middle East, where it was running one of the most ambitious and sophisticated efforts to deliver food aid. “This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war,” WCK CEO ERIN GORE said in a statement. “This is unforgivable.” The IDF said it is undertaking “a thorough review at the highest levels.” More from WaPo Andrés mourned the victims, who include a U.S. citizen, as “angels … I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless … they are not nameless. The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.”
|  Donald Trump will begin today in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his campaign says he will discuss “Biden’s Border Bloodbath." | AP | BORDER VS. ABORTION — Today is the first day since the JOE BIDEN–DONALD TRUMP rematch was set that might actually feel like the general election. Trump will be in the Midwest today talking about the border. Top Democrats are descending on Florida to talk about abortion. Let’s start with Trump … He begins the day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his campaign says he will discuss “Biden’s Border Bloodbath” (not to be confused with Build Back Better). He’s also expected to highlight a recent tragedy there: the March 22 murder of a woman allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant who had been deported to Mexico in 2020. The story is saturating conservative talk radio in Michigan. Yesterday, Trump was on one of those shows previewing the trip and claiming, without sourcing, that the world’s jails have been “emptied” into the United States. “If I were a dictator or president or anybody running a country, I would do the exact same thing,” he told host JUSTIN BARCLAY. “I'd empty up every prison. I'd empty up every, every mental institution.” Longtime Michigan Republican strategist JOHN YOB circulated a memo last week arguing that the recent murder coupled with the migrant surge was allowing Trump to gain traction with suburbanites, especially women, in swingy west Michigan. (Grand Rapids is in Kent County, which Trump won in 2016 and Biden won in 2020.) Officially, the Biden campaign’s response is that Trump “is expected to once again try to politicize a tragedy and sow hate and division,” as ALYSSA BRADLEY, Biden’s Michigan communications director, put it. The campaign also reminds us that Trump tanked the bipartisan border security deal that Biden said would have allowed him to “shut down the border right now and fix it quickly.” But the divisions in Biden’s party about that rhetoric remain. In a new profile of Biden campaign manager JULIE CHAVEZ RODRIGUEZ, WaPo’s Jesús Rodríguez reports that JCR “was adamant that ‘the president doesn’t talk about shutting down the border’ and is ‘not advocating for shutting down the border.’” As for Biden … POTUS does not have any public events scheduled today, but his campaign and Democratic leaders are turning their attention to Florida, whose Supreme Court issued two enormously consequential rulings yesterday: (1) It gave the go-ahead for a November referendum on a state constitutional amendment to legalize abortion, and (2) it allowed RON DeSANTIS’s six-week abortion ban to become Florida law in 30 days. The twin opinions set up the ultimate contrast in November, as both the leaders of the referendum fight and the Democrats counting on abortion as a “globalizing and motivating” issue (in the words of Rodriguez) see it. ANNA HOCHKAMMER, one of the leaders of the abortion-rights fight in Florida told Playbook that the six-week ban is “a public health disaster and a huge political opportunity to demonstrate the choice: abortion bans that hurt women and girls, or common sense and the government minding its own business.” She cited polling showing 75% of Floridians opposing it. While Trump is talking about victims of immigrant crime in Michigan, Democrats will be talking about “women denied necessary health care” in Florida: At 10 a.m., House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES will be in Broward County with HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA, Rep. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-Fla.) and other members for a field hearing and news conference. At 12:30 p.m., the Biden campaign will hold a media call led by North Carolina Gov. ROY COOPER to discuss yesterday’s news and how Trump “would bring the nightmare women in the Southeast are now facing to all 50 states.” We will be watching Trump closely today in Grand Rapids and during a later rally in Wisconsin to see if he addresses the Florida abortion news. He has both taken credit for states’ being able to pass strict abortion bans and said that DeSantis’s six-week law was “a terrible mistake.” (As our colleague Kimberly Leonard writes, “Ron DeSantis made a risky political bet by signing abortion bans into law in Florida. Now, it’s Donald Trump who could pay for it.”) A question for Trump that Democrats will be pushing: As a Floridian, how will he vote on the constitutional amendment, which, if defeated, would keep the six-week abortion ban in place? The Biden campaign is talking a big game about the effect that the abortion issue could now have on Florida. In a memo released after the rulings, Rodriguez called the state “winnable” for Biden. (We’ll believe the Biden campaign believes this when it runs its first TV ads in Florida, which was not included in its recent $30 million ad buy.) But even if Florida never comes into play for Biden, the deep unpopularity of the six-week abortion ban is a useful contrast. This line from former Rep. CARLOS CURBELO (R-Fla.) sums up things nicely. “Abortion is to Republicans what immigration is to Democrats,” he told Kimberly. “If they’re talking about it, they’re losing.” Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
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Explore the impact of the metaverse. | | | JUST POSTED — As Trump continues to make the supposed plight of the Jan. 6 defendants a centerpiece of his campaign, Tom Joscelyn, Norman Eisen and Fred Wertheimer do the yeoman’s work of explaining just who it is whom he is defending. Writing for Just Security, they compile some sobering stats about the assailants now incarcerated at the D.C. Jail — the vast majority of whom are accused or convicted of, or have admitted to, assaulting members of law enforcement. TRUMP TRIALS UPDATE — Three big developments in Trump legal news overnight: — Trump Tower is safe (for now): In the New York fraud case, Trump posted a $175 million bond, which will prevent the state from seizing any of his assets while he appeals the verdict. It is not clear what Trump used as collateral for the bond. This could mean a pause in the barrage of fundraising emails from DON JR. warning that TISH JAMES was “seizing my boyhood home.” More from Erica Orden — Bragg’s new witness: In the New York criminal case, HOPE HICKS will be testifying for the prosecution at the trial, which begins on April 15, per NBC News. — A judge’s grave warning: The judge in the New York case, JUAN MERCHAN, yesterday expanded his gag order on Trump, adding family members of the judge, attorneys, and staff involved in the case to the list of people about whom Trump is barred from making public statements. Merchan had harsh words for Trump, who, one day after the original gag order was issued, attacked the judge’s daughter: “It is no longer just a mere possibility or a reasonable likelihood that there exists a threat to the integrity of the judicial proceedings,” he wrote. “The threat is very real.” “The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant's recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well,” he continued, calling the threats “a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.” Among the consequences for Trump if he misbehaves: He could lose access to the names of jurors, Merchan said, “if he engages in any conduct that threatens the safety and integrity of the jury or the jury selection process.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — MIKE PENCE’s Advancing American Freedom is launching a big $2 million ad campaign pressuring Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER to push forward the bill that would force a sale or ban of TikTok. The ads (which feature Schumer’s own anti-TikTok comments) will run across TV and digital in D.C. and several key swing Senate states: Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Though the legislation passed the House by a wide, bipartisan margin, it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Watch the ad But, but, but: TikTok and its allies are mounting their own, very wide-ranging pressure campaign on the Hill. As Hailey Fuchs reported last week, the powerful Club for Growth — which has links to ByteDance investor JEFF YASS — told House members that voting for the bill could cost them in Club for Growth’s legislator scoring.
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate and the House are out. What we’re watching … The early reviews are in for Speaker MIKE JOHNSON’s extremely tentative plan — more of a float, really — to trade a reversal of the Biden administration pause on natural gas export permits as part of any deal to deliver Ukraine funding. They aren’t great, Jordain Carney finds at Inside Congress. Conservative hard-liners don’t think it’s enough of a sop — they want action on the border — while Democratic climate hawks are already retching at the prospect of reversing what they consider to be one of Biden’s top environmental victories. But deals are made in the middle, and there just might be critical mass between the fringes to make the idea stick. At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10 a.m. Though it’s not on his public schedule, NPR’s Asma Khalid reports that Biden will host “a small, solemn Ramadan iftar dinner” this evening amid the Israel-Hamas war. VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive briefings and conduct internal staff meetings.
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|  White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is expected to visit Saudi Arabia on Thursday to keep working on a major deal to normalize ties with Israel. | Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo | MIDDLE EAST LATEST — At a pivotal virtual meeting yesterday, U.S. officials tried to convince Israel not to undertake a massive ground incursion into Rafah — with no big breakthrough, as CNN’s Kayla Tausche, MJ Lee, Jennifer Hansler, Arlette Saenz and Michael Williams report, but talks that both sides called “constructive and productive,” per AP’s Zeke Miller. The White House framed the lengthy meeting as a positive step forward in a process that they hope will include an in-person discussion, perhaps as soon as next week. (There was a different message from Pence, who said in a speech yesterday evening that “Israel has no choice but to invade Rafah,” per Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs.) Despite the ongoing rift between the allies over Israel’s killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in its war with Hamas, the U.S. is now considering another major weapons sale to Israel, Lara Seligman, Joe Gould and Paul McLeary scooped. The tranche of fighter jets, medium-range air-to-air missiles and kits that upgrade bombs into precision-guided weapons seems to be on the precipice of getting the Biden administration’s go-ahead, as they’ve already signaled to congressional committees. The weapons would take years to get to Israel, though. At the same time, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN is expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN in Saudi Arabia on Thursday to keep working on a major deal to normalize ties with Israel, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports. Though some officials are very skeptical this could go anywhere, “U.S. officials hope to reach a bilateral agreement with the Saudis and then possibly present it to Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, whose side of the deal would include committing to a path toward a two-state solution. Netanyahu would then face a choice.” Elsewhere in the region: “U.S. tells Iran it ‘had no involvement’ in Israel strike,” Axios MEDIAWATCH BACK IN THEIR GOOD GRACES? — Biden will sit Thursday to pre-tape an interview with Univision’s ENRIQUE ACEVEDO, Adrian Carrasquillo reports for Vanity Fair. It’ll come after an ANITA DUNN meeting helped smooth over tensions between the White House and Univision, after what Democrats widely criticized as a “softball” interview of Trump on the network. JUDICIARY SQUARE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER — “Hunter Biden loses attempt to dismiss tax charges,” by The Hill’s Nick Robertson: “Judge MARK SCARSI determined that the case was not political, shutting down [HUNTER] BIDEN’s main argument by noting that Biden’s attorneys did not provide evidence for the claim.” TRUMP CARDS
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Donald Trump's stake in Truth Social’s parent company now sits at about $3.8 billion. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | TAKING STOCK — Trump Media & Technology Group’s wild ride through the stock market took a 21% nosedive yesterday, wiping out more than $1 billion worth of Trump’s own stake in Truth Social’s parent company, per WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar. His stake now sits at about $3.8 billion. The tumble followed the company’s disclosure of financial troubles last year, which made clear that it “would have struggled to survive without the recent deal that took it public.” Instead, the stock now known as DJT soared initially in the latest meme-stock craze, driven in part by Trump supporters who helped bolster it. “Monday’s stock slide could create more urgency for Trump and other insiders to try to sell shares or borrow against them before a six-month lockup agreement expires,” the Journal writes. But the timing of that six-month lockup also presents ethics concerns if the payout coincides with his return to the White House, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports. “That schedule of financial earnings could lead to either foreign or domestic interests potentially investing in the company as a way to try to pressure and sway Trump.” His spokesperson said Trump would follow ethics guidelines.
| | | | A message from Meta:   | | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY BALTIMORE BRIDGE FALLOUT — Biden will head to Baltimore on Friday to see the site of the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said yesterday, per Myah Ward. As Maryland politicians work to ensure that Congress funds the recovery, Rep. KWEISI MFUME (D-Md.) told reporters that he’d spoken with Johnson and Rep. TOM COLE (R-Okla.) about getting the money, per Anthony Adragna. Meanwhile, WaPo’s Erin Cox has a step-back piece about the collapse as the first big challenge for Maryland Gov. WES MOORE, which could strangle Baltimore’s economy and provide a test of his leadership. NIGHTMARE FUEL — “First human case of bird flu in Texas detected after contact with infected dairy cattle,” by The Texas Tribune’s Neelam Bohra GHOST IN THE MACHINE — “Rep. GREGORY MEEKS, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is fighting to maintain control over a judicial seat that provides the financial lifeblood to the political machine he oversees in New York City,” Joe Anuta reports. RIGHT TURN — “Gov. Tina Kotek signs new law making drug possession a crime again, says ‘business as usual’ cannot continue,” by The Oregonian’s Noelle Crombie THE ECONOMY DEBT DOWNLOAD — “A Million Simulations, One Verdict for US Economy: Debt Danger Ahead,” by Bhargavi Sakthivel, Maeva Cousin, and David Wilcox: “Bloomberg Economics ran a million forecast simulations on the US debt outlook. 88% of them show borrowing on an unsustainable path.” ALL POLITICS
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Today's presidential primaries in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, should give another boost to Biden’s and Trump’s runaway victories. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | ELECTION DAY — Primary voters head to the polls today in several states. Among the election results to watch tonight: Wisconsin: How will Biden fare against another “uncommitted”-style protest vote campaign over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war? Reuters’ Nandita Bose reports that the loose network of organizers are hoping to cross the threshold of 20,682 votes — i.e., Biden’s 2020 margin over Trump in the state. (In Wisconsin, it’s “uninstructed” rather than “uncommitted.”) Perhaps more consequentially, voters will weigh in on a pair of ballot measures on election administration and funding, including an effort by Republicans to ban private grant money that helps run elections, which opponents have derided as “Zuckerbucks.” More from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island: Presidential primaries in these states, along with Wisconsin, should give another boost to Biden’s and Trump’s runaway victories. But watch for signs of discontent — not only “uncommitted” votes against Biden (or “blank” in New York), but NIKKI HALEY votes against Trump. In Rhode Island, The Providence Journal notes that 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote for the first time. Arkansas and Mississippi: Runoff elections in these states will include the GOP primary to take on Rep. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.). More top reads:
- Cash dash: First-quarter fundraising totals are starting to roll out from candidates across the country. Among the numbers that stood out yesterday: Democrat COLIN VAN OSTERN pulled in $325,000 in just four days in a newly open New Hampshire congressional race. … Republican CHRIS “MOOKIE” WALKER raised $510,000 in Q1 for his West Virginia congressional bid. … CATHERINE TEMPLETON, who’s primarying Rep. NANCY MACE (R-S.C.), raised $461,000.
- Race ratings: Inside Elections’ Nathan Gonzales shifted the ratings of 12 House races — and though eight moved in Democrats’ favor, he writes that Republicans overall are favored to retain the chamber.
2024 WATCH SPOILER ALERT — “RFK Jr. campaign says it has enough signatures for North Carolina ballot,” by Axios’ Erin Doherty CONGRESS NOT GOING ANYWHERE YET — Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL told WHAS-TV yesterday that he’ll serve out his full term even after he departs his post as party leader — with a particular focus on pushing back against the isolationist foreign policy voices in the GOP, per Burgess Everett. RO KHANNA’S VISION — “Ro Khanna Wants to Be the Future of the Democratic Party,” by The Atlantic’s Russell Berman: “He sees himself as a bridge between the nation’s faded industrial might and its digital future, appealing to a set of often-warring constituencies: progressives and pragmatists, tech capitalists and the working class, climate activists and coal country.” POLICY CORNER UP IN SMOKE — Roll Call’s Lauren Clason reports: “The White House’s timeline for banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars appears to have slipped again after the administration missed its self-imposed target to finalize the rules by March.”
| | | | YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Gary Peters is scrutinizing private-equity firms’ role in emergency rooms. The Easter Bunny made an appearance at the White House press briefing. Jill Biden read “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” at the White House Easter Egg Roll. BOOK CLUB — Tim Murtaugh, who was comms director for the Trump 2020 campaign, is out today with a new book, “Swing Hard in Case You Hit It: My Escape from Addiction and Shot at Redemption on the Trump Campaign” ($28.99). Published by Bombardier Books, it charts his experience with alcoholism and ascent to the top level of Trump’s team. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Kiersten Todt is taking over as president of Wondros, an LA-based creative comms agency. She previously was chief of staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. MEDIA MOVES — Rosie Perper is now a news editor at POLITICO. She most recently was a top editor at CoinDesk, and is a Jerusalem Post and Business Insider alum. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Avi Zevin will be special assistant to the president for clean energy implementation in the Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. He currently is principal deputy general counsel at the Energy Department. TRANSITIONS — Elsa Alvarado is now associate VP at Precision. She previously was director of public affairs at Bryson Gillette, and is a Biden Pentagon alum. … The Center for Democracy and Technology is adding Drew Courtney as comms director and Becca Branum as deputy director for their Free Expression Project. Courtney previously was VP at West End Strategy Team. Branum previously was senior counsel to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). … Bert Kaufman has returned to the Commerce Department as senior adviser to Secretary Gina Raimondo for private-sector engagement. He most recently managed the boutique advisory practice Redpoint Advisors. … … Thomas Rosenkoetter is now SVP and executive director of the American Bankers Association’s Card Policy Council. He previously was managing director and head of government affairs at BNP Paribas. … Mark Grundvig is now a partner at Foley & Lardner in its antitrust and competition practice group. He previously was assistant chief in the Washington Criminal II Section of DOJ’s Antitrust Division. … Ron Guerrier is joining Save the Children US as chief technology officer. He previously was global chief information officer at HP. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) … USTR’s Brian Janovitz … Evan McMullin … POLITICO’s Nico Portuondo and Michael Warrick … Tim Pataki of CGCN Group … Chad Banghart … Caitlyn Morrison of Arnold Ventures … Dentons’ Sander Lurie … Naji Filali of Percipient Strategies … David Shwiff … Julia Roig of the Horizons Project … Lynda Tran … Kelsey Kilgore of Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates … Laura Henry of the National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association … Daschle Group’s Joe Hack … Commerce’s Patrick Zimet … CNN’s Liz Brown-Kaiser … Alex Rosenwald … Andreessen Horowitz’s Colin Rom … Robby Zirkelbach … Dan Sallick of Subject Matter and Avōq … Edelman’s Ryan Kuntz … Rachel Pankuch … former acting AG Jeff Rosen … NYT’s Emily Steel … former Reps. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) … Tony Lake 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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