| | | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | ON CAMPUS — A brief snapshot of where things stand as pro-Palestinian demonstrations roil the campuses of some of the nation’s most elite private schools: At Columbia University:
- New York Gov. KATHY HOCHUL visited the campus this morning where she met with students, law enforcement and school administrators about the need to “fight antisemitism and protect public safety.”
- Meanwhile, Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation (led by ELISE STEFANIK) sent a letter today calling on University President MINOUCHE SHAFIK to resign. Read the letter … More from Bianca Quilantan
- Shafik earlier canceled in-person classes today amid ongoing tension following the NYPD’s “sweep of the on-campus ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ on Thursday, which approached its sixth day in the early hours of Monday morning,” per the Columbia Daily Spectator.
At Yale:
At Harvard:
- “The University restricted access to Harvard Yard until Friday afternoon in apparent anticipation of student protests,” report the Crimson’s Michelle Amponsah and Joyce Kim. “The closures are a sign that Harvard’s leadership is hoping to avoid its own version of the scene at Columbia … [M]ore than 200 Harvard affiliates rallied in Harvard Yard Friday demanding that the University ‘disclose and divest’ from Israeli companies and investments in the West Bank.”
|  The jury in the hush money case against Donald Trump heard opening statements and brief testimony today. | Pool photo by Yuki Iwamura | TRUMP TRIAL, DAY 5 — The hush money/election interference trial against Trump is kicking off in full today, with both sides already delivering their opening statements and the first witness taking the stand, our colleagues Erica Orden and Ben Feuerherd report from New York. THE OPENING STATEMENTS … The defense: Trump lawyer TODD BLANCHE began his opener with two simple sentences: “President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes.” He also noted that he would be referring to his client as “President” because he “earned it” and “out of respect for the office that he held.” But perhaps the most notable line from the defense this morning came as Blanche tried to get ahead of the prosecution’s case: “I have a spoiler alert: There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence the election,” Blanche told the jury. “It’s called democracy.” He continued: “There’s nothing wrong with a nondisclosure agreement.” The prosecution: Prosecutor MATTHEW COLANGELO set the scene for their case by recalling a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower, which he alleged is where Trump’s criminal scheme began. Trump, MICHAEL COHEN and DAVID PECKER, the former CEO of National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc., “struck an agreement” at that meeting where they “conspired to influence the 2016 presidential election in three different ways.” THE FIRST WITNESS … Pecker took the stand but spent only about 20 minutes testifying. The trial was previously scheduled to end early today so one of the jurors could attend an appointment. Pecker is expected to return to the stand tomorrow. “In his initial testimony, he provided basic biographical information and talked a bit about his role in approving the covers and content of various AMI publications, including the National Enquirer,” Erica writes. “As Pecker testified, Trump kept his head turned to watch his former close ally speak.” Read the full play-by-play from Erica and Ben at our live blog Related read: “In Defense of Trump,” by N.Y. Mag’s Andrew Rice: “Todd Blanche is a surprisingly competent lawyer. And he’s on track to keep his client out of jail until the election.” POLL POSITION — Another day brings another positive poll result for President JOE BIDEN, continuing his string of reports closing the gap with DONALD TRUMP. The topline: Biden leads Trump 51% to 48% among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup — and by an even wider six-point margin (53% to 47%) among those who say they will definitely vote in November, according to the latest Marist national poll. More notable nuggets:
- The two candidates are now tied at 49% among independents, a notable movement from the previous 7-point margin that Trump held (52% to 45%).
- Biden’s lead even holds in a multi-candidate field, with Biden at 43% to Trump’s 38%. The others: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. garners 14%, while CORNEL WEST and JILL STEIN both slot in at 2%.
- Among suburban voters, Biden leads Trump, 58% to 41%.
See the full poll results Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.
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President Joe Biden is reportedly considering a move on immigration that could offer him a boost ahead of the election. | Patrick Semansky/AP | 1. MAJOR IMMIGRATION MOVE: “Biden Weighs Giving Legal Status to Immigrant Spouses of U.S. Citizens,” by WSJ’s Michelle Hackman: “The idea has gained currency inside the White House since last summer, despite the fraught nature of immigration politics heading into the 2024 presidential election. There is a growing recognition among Biden’s top political advisers that the president could benefit from taking a positive step on immigration to contrast with his tough talk on the issue, and with an expected executive order aiming to sharply curb illegal crossings at the southern border. “Officials inside the White House and at the Department of Homeland Security have been studying a range of proposals to provide work permits or deportation relief for millions of undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S. for a long time. They have zeroed in on the population of mixed-status families, where typically the children and one parent are U.S. citizens, because they believe that demographic is the most compelling, according to administration officials and advocates who have spoken with them.” 2. YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH: Though Trump no longer commands the same social media following as when he was regularly posting on Twitter, his Truth Social account is perhaps a more useful window into the mind of the former president as he mounts a comeback bid. “Here on his company’s social network, the former president’s increasingly confrontational posting keeps his most ardent followers primed for action, helps him raise money and provides daily fodder for a media sphere that exists largely to amplify him. And he has reason to believe his efforts are paying off: Polling shows that Trump has convinced as many as 70 percent of Republicans that Biden won the 2020 election because of voter fraud,” WaPo’s Derek Hawkins, Clara Ence Morse, Drew Harwell, Irfan Uraizee and Adrián Blanco write in a must-read deep dive on how Trump wields the platform. “Few Americans hang out in this corner of the internet. … But it’s here that Trump — who reshaped campaigning and the presidency with his use of social media — offers an intimate view of what his second term could look like: isolated, vitriolic and vengeful. The Washington Post analyzed all of Trump’s online posts from the official launches of his presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2024 to show how his social media use has changed from his first presidential run.” 3. SCOTUS WATCH: “Supreme Court will take up the legal fight over ghost guns, firearms without serial numbers,” by AP’s Mark Sherman: “The justices by a 5-4 vote had previously intervened to keep the regulation in effect during the legal fight. Ghost guns, which lack serial numbers, have been turning up at crime scenes with increasing regularity. The regulation, which took effect in 2022, changed the definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun, so they can be tracked more easily. Those parts must be licensed and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale, as they do with other commercially made firearms.”
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | 4. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: “Israel Planned Bigger Attack on Iran, but Scaled It Back to Avoid War,” by NYT’s Ronen Bergman and Patrick Kingsley: “Israel abandoned plans for a much more extensive counterstrike on Iran after concerted diplomatic pressure from the United States and other foreign allies and because the brunt of an Iranian assault on Israel soil had been thwarted, according to three senior Israeli officials. Israeli leaders originally discussed bombarding several military targets across Iran last week, including near Tehran, the Iranian capital, in retaliation for the Iranian strike on April 13, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive discussions.” Meanwhile: “Israeli officials are working to head off potential U.S. sanctions against an Israeli military unit accused of human-rights abuses, as Washington intensifies pressure on Israel over how it is prosecuting the war in Gaza,” WSJ’s Jared Malsin, Rory Jones and Carrie Keller-Lynn report. 5. THE NEW CENTRISM, PART I: “‘Head-Spinning’: John Fetterman’s Breaks With Joe Biden Confound Some Democrats,” by HuffPost’s Igor Bobic: Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Pa.) “now in his sophomore year in the Senate, has been true to his word about being a reliable Democratic vote in the Senate. But his attacks against members of his own party and public breaks with the White House are drawing comparisons to [Sens. JOE] MANCHIN and KYRSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.), the two signature Democratic party apostates of the moment, putting on display some of the very tendencies Fetterman said he opposed — even if earlier stages of his career hinted at his current behavior. “This version of the gruff, hoodie-wearing, 6-foot-8 Pennsylvania senator has grated on progressives who supported him during his 2022 run for Senate and even some fellow Keystone Democrats who watched his rise to national prominence. … Fetterman’s sophomore year in Congress has been quite different from when he first began stomping around the Senate in a pair of shorts and Hoka shoes, scaring the living daylights out of the chamber’s stodgy traditionalists. For one, he’s much more eager to engage with reporters in the hallways of the Capitol despite still exhibiting symptoms of an auditory processing disorder resulting from a stroke.” 6. THE NEW CENTRISM, PART II: “Chinese-Americans Are Pushing San Francisco Toward the Political Center,” by WSJ’s Jim Carlton and Christine Mai-Duc: “Long a reliable voting bloc for the left, Chinese-Americans have been important drivers of a recent backlash against progressive policies in San Francisco, which has grown in support and been backed by tech industry money. Members of the Chinese community, who make up one-fifth of this city of 810,000 and a slightly smaller percentage of registered voters, say they have been particularly incensed by incidents of anti-Asian violence, school policies they believe have emphasized equity over merit, and street homelessness. Many are also upset that property crime has long been higher in San Francisco than most other major cities, though it has dropped this year.” 7. ON WISCONSIN: “Trump said immigrants ‘inundated’ this tiny town. Here’s what residents say,” by Deseret News’ Samuel Benson in Whitewater, Wisconsin: “On the ground, the city’s disparate groups tried to cope. The police department begged for more resources, amid an uptick of unlicensed motorists and little ability to communicate with them. The city struggled to keep up with the housing demand. The schools navigated the unique challenge of an increase in students who don’t speak English. Nonprofit groups adjusted to the increased food and clothing needs. And the city’s new arrivals, the Nicaraguan mothers and the Mexican children and the Venezuelan working-age men, all looking for a better life 1,400 miles from the Mexican border, found themselves at the center of a political firestorm.”
| | | | POLITICO IS BACK AT THE 2024 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO will again be your eyes and ears at the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles from May 5-8 with exclusive, daily, reporting in our Global Playbook newsletter. Suzanne Lynch will be on the ground covering the biggest moments, behind-the-scenes buzz and on-stage insights from global leaders in health, finance, tech, philanthropy and beyond. Get a front-row seat to where the most interesting minds and top global leaders confront the world’s most pressing and complex challenges — subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | John Fetterman is co-signing Mitt Romney for president of Harvard. George Washington’s very old cherries were unearthed. Melania Trump is back in black. OUT AND ABOUT — The Embassy of Australia and CNN co-hosted the inaugural WHCD Kangaroo Cup yesterday afternoon. Australian Ambassador Kevin Rudd and CNN’s Sam Feist welcomed guests before a competitive match of tennis began on D.C.’s only grass tennis court, with Jim Miller and Nick Snyder emerging as the victors. SPOTTED: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, British Ambassador Karen Pierce, Corinne Day, Charlie Dent, Steve Rochlin, Josh Dawsey, Jonathan Martin, Sabrina Siddiqui, Peter Baker, Susan Glasser, Ken Thomas, Steve Holland, Bhumika Tharoor, Ann Marimow, Matt Cranston, Kevin Lamarque, Hans Nichols, Jon Decker, Jim Acosta, Jeff Zeleny, David Chalian, Kylie Atwood and Christine Brennan. MEDIA MOVE — Amanda Mull is joining Bloomberg Businessweek to cover the intersection of culture and commerce. She most recently was a staff writer at The Atlantic. TRANSITION — Jessica Monahan is joining Cozen O’Connor as a senior principal. She most recently was policy adviser at Arnold & Porter. 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. Correction: Friday’s Playbook PM misstated Morgan McGarvey’s party affiliation. He is a Democrat.
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