| | | | |  | | By Eli Stokols, Sam Stein, Lauren Egan 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 Perhaps no single play meant more to a city than STEVE GLEASON’s blocked punt in the New Orleans Saints’ first home game back in the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina. The thunderous, cathartic roar from the crowd reverberated for almost a full minute, epitomizing a city’s resilience. The moment is now immortalized in bronze outside the arena. But Gleason’s legacy is now far bigger than that play, or even football. Thirteen years ago, he was diagnosed with ALS. Since then, he has unflinchingly faced his own mortality, his impact growing as his body deteriorates. Through his Team Gleason organization and his own daily perseverance, Gleason has raised awareness about the disease and helped support hundreds who are living with it. Among those who have said as much include BRIAN WALLACH, the former Obama White House counsel staffer who was diagnosed with ALS in 2017. Both Wallach and Gleason came to D.C. over the past week — a minor miracle given the projected life spans each was given and a testament to their belief that Washington can focus more on tackling ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. Wallach will attend this evening’s premier of "Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign," a film charting the patient advocacy movement he and his wife SANDRA ABREVAYA built following his diagnosis. Gleason held a D.C. event last week celebrating his new autobiography, “A Life Impossible,” which he typed letter by letter with his eyes (and the help of co-author JEFF DUNCAN, a longtime Saints reporter and columnist). In the world of ALS advocacy, the two have regularly crossed paths. Gleason and his group feature prominently in "No Ordinary Campaign." And four years ago, when Gleason received the congressional gold medal at the Capitol, Wallach was in attendance. Both men also have made inroads with the Biden administration. Wallach knows many officials from his time with BARACK OBAMA, including current White House communications director BEN LABOLT, who was an informal adviser to his group, I AM ALS. And while in town last week, Gleason met with Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG. The two discussed how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is making travel more accessible and the administration’s ongoing efforts to improve air travel for passengers who, like Gleason, use a wheelchair. MITCH LANDRIEU, Biden’s senior adviser for infrastructure and the former mayor of New Orleans, also arranged for Gleason to tour the White House along with his wife, MICHEL VARISCO GLEASON and their two children, RIVERS and GRAY. “This was a bucket list thing for them, so it was great to be able to facilitate that,” Landrieu told West Wing Playbook. “Steve is really one of my heroes. The way he has dealt with his illness and shown people that life is still precious even when you’re dealing with a devastating illness and real limitations, it’s just so remarkable.” Amid all this, Gleason agreed to write about his White House visit for West Wing Playbook. In a way, his reflections aren’t all that different from countless other citizens who pass through the building, awestruck at the proximity of history. But they’re also unique, illuminating the paradox of the disease he, Wallach and so many others live with: While the body’s muscles fail, the mind does not. The ability to absorb and cherish life remains and often grows. Visiting the White House was an experience steeped in history, significance, and a sense of awe. Sharing that special moment with my wife, Michel and our kids, Rivers and Gray, ten years after my “expiration date” made the visit profoundly meaningful. Each room and hallway echoed the events and decisions that have shaped our country. The sense of walking through living history was palpable, from the portraits of past presidents to the furnishings that have witnessed pivotal moments. Our purpose in going to the White House was to primarily visit the Executive Branch of our government. Over the last 13 years, we’ve spent a significant amount of time with the Legislative Branch. Although we didn’t have any prepared meetings, we spent time and spoke to a number of friends, including Mitch Landrieu and Karine Jean-Pierre.
|  | | Sharing experiences and adventures with our kids is my primary commitment, and it doesn’t get much better than our time at the White House. Seeing the interior and exterior in person helped our 12-year-old son, Rivers, connect the dots between what he’s learned in school and real life. He was able to see the context of many historical events and understand the importance of this iconic building in a tangible way. Posing with Rivers and Gray below the portrait of my favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, in the State Dining room was poignantly powerful. Our daughter, Gray, is only 5, but I know she’ll one day see the images of her sitting where world leaders discussed global affairs and she’ll grasp the magnitude of our time together.
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Courtesy of Steve Gleason | Michel and I feel so grateful to the entire staff for their generosity. To be able to enjoy this beautiful experience with our family was so fulfilling. It was a unique opportunity to see firsthand where history is made and to walk in the footsteps of our country’s leaders was an unforgettable adventure. MESSAGE US — Are you AKHIL RAJAN, senior policy adviser for the deputy chief of staff? 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!
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| | THE VERDICT IS IN: The criminal trial of DONALD TRUMP concluded this afternoon with a jury finding him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star — in order to influence the 2016 presidential election. That sentence alone would have been unthinkable in a not so distant political past. So would this one: Trump is now the first ex-president convicted of a crime but he will likely only solidify his grip on the Republican Party. How the Biden campaign handles this is, perhaps, the more interesting question. The president will address it at some point, though we do not expect that to come tonight (watch, he will now do just that). As we previously reported, he will likely frame it as the proper execution of justice and reiterate his belief that issues of law should be separate from issues of politics. Immediately following the verdict, Biden aides were loath to say anything about it. The campaign, for its part, did weigh in, noting the verdict but stressing that it didn’t change the material matter: that Trump would remain on the ballot. "In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” said campaign spokesman MICHAEL TYLER. “Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.” THE GREEN LIGHT: The Biden administration quietly gave Ukraine permission to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv, our ERIN BANCO, ALEXANDER WARD and LARA SELIGMAN scoop. It’s a significant reversal that will help Ukraine better defend its second-largest city but risk an expanded conflict. “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” said one U.S. official, adding that the administration’s policy of not allowing long-range missile strikes in Russia “has not changed.” MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: President JOE BIDEN will travel to France from June 5 to 9, where he will visit Paris and Normandy, press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE announced Thursday. On June 6, the president will deliver remarks and commemorate the 80th anniversary of the battle of Normandy, which paved the way for the liberation of Europe in World War II. On June 7, he’ll go to Pointe du Hoc for more remarks, these on “the importance of defending freedom and democracy.” On June 8, French President EMMANUEL MACRON will host the president for a state visit in Paris. It will mark Biden’s first state visit to France and come ahead of a series of summits with G-7 and NATO leaders. TIKTOK, MOTHERF**KER: The LA Times’ NOAH BIERMAN reports that White House efforts to tap a new generation of online influencers are hitting some snags as the youths who have amassed massive online followings have grown “more jaded and demanding, both politically and financially.” Roughly one-fifth of the top left-leaning influencers on TikTok have posted explicitly anti-Biden content this year, accounting for more than 100 million views. Much of that has to do with the war in Gaza, and a backlash to talk of banning TikTok altogether in the U.S. But there are still a number of ardently pro-Biden influencers out there, including HARRY SISSON, a 21-year-old NYU student who flew to Biden’s event earlier this month in Racine, Wis., to ask him two questions that boiled down to: “Why are you so great?” In an interview, Sisson relished his status as the rare person who posts on a platform who got an audience with the president. “Folks at the New York Times just have to come to the realization that they are no longer the No. 1 priority,” he said. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Yahoo Finance’s BEN WERSCHKUL, who reports that a new memo from the White House attempts to tie inflation to Donald Trump-era tax cuts. The GOP push to extend and deepen tax cuts in 2017 represents “a MAGAnomics economic agenda that would trigger an 'inflation bomb' and raise costs for middle class families,” according to senior deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES. Many provisions of the 2017 cuts are set to expire next year and Biden has stressed on the campaign trail that he’ll let it happen. The memo also touched on the corporate tax rate: Trump lowered it to 21 percent in 2017 and promised to drop it even lower to 15 percent if he wins in November. Meanwhile, Biden is pushing to raise the rate to 28 percent. Bates and campaign spokesperson JAMES SINGER shared the piece on X. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This new poll from the Arab American Institute, which found that Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza has put him in deep water with Arab American voters. In 2020, Biden bested Trump by 24 percentage points among this constituency. But the poll of Arab American voters in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia has Biden trailing the former president by 14 percentage points. Seventy-nine percent of voters surveyed have an unfavorable view of Biden, compared with 56 percent for Trump. In 2020, 10 percent of Arab Americans said they were “not sure” who to vote for or picked third-party candidates — that figure has now jumped to 50 percent.
| | SOUNDING EVEN MORE ALARMS: Prominent Black officials are warning the Biden campaign that the president’s efforts to keep Black voters solidly in his electoral coalition are not working — and that time is running out, our EUGENE DANIELS and Lauren report. The concern isn’t that the Biden administration hasn’t had many policy achievements, it’s that Black Americans aren’t hearing about them. These officials also worry that the campaign has not fully grasped the gravity of the information gap. “I’m in a battleground state. I know what has and hasn’t been done. I felt a level of disconnection earlier on the message, on the messengers and on mobilization,” said Rep. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and one of the members who traveled with Biden to Philadelphia yesterday. So, to recap: * Arab American voters, worrisome for Biden;
* Black voters, worrisome for Biden;
* TikTok influencers, somewhat worrisome for Biden. Get this man to Paris. A MUSKY SMELL: On Wednesday, WSJ reported that Donald Trump is considering billionaire ELON MUSK for an advisory role if he were to win in November. Today, the Biden campaign is out with a response: “Despite what Donald Trump thinks, America is not for sale to billionaires, oil and gas executives or even Elon Musk,” campaign spokesperson James Singer said. “Trump is selling out America to pay his legal bills and put himself in power, while all billionaires like Elon see is a sucker: They know if they cut him campaign checks, he’ll cut their taxes while he cuts Social Security and other benefits for the middle class,” Singer added.
| | | | HOLY SEE YA LATER: C’mon. You chuckled. U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican JOE DONNELLY told our ADAM WREN that he plans to step down from his post on July 8 and return to his hometown of Granger, Indiana. “It’s been an amazing privilege to serve the Country and the President,” Donnelly said. Donnelly previously said he would stay in the position through the year amid talks that he would return to politics, possibly running for senate or governor.
| | | | NO EXIT IN SIGHT: Last week, FDIC Chairman MARTIN GRUENBERG said that he would step down from his post after an investigation found pervasive discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at the agency. But since then, WSJ’s ANDREW ACKERMAN and REBECCA BALLHAUS report that Gruenberg has told senior staff he’s prepared to remain in the top role for at least several months, as the White House has yet to name a potential successor. And some top officials are skeptical that the Senate will have time to confirm a new chair before the election this November. Gruenberg has suggested that he has been staying on to avoid a partisan gridlock that could result from his immediate departure, leaving the board with two Democrats and two Republicans. And not much has changed at the agency, with some staffers wondering if his resignation was a “political head-fake” to keep the status quo in place. A GOOD OL’ TRILAT: The White House is working on a trilateral meeting between U.S., Egyptian and Israeli officials in Cairo next week, Axios’ BARAK RAVID reports. The officials could potentially discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing and a plan for securing the border between Egypt and Gaza. Reopening the crossing, preventing Hamas from smuggling weapons into the Gaza strip from Egypt and maintaining peace between Israel and Egypt are key priorities for the Biden administration. A U.S. delegation headed up by senior director for the Middle East at the White House National Security Council TERRY WOLF is expected to travel to Egypt in the coming days.
| | The Donald Trump I Saw on The Apprentice (Bill Pruitt for Slate Magazine) From electric vehicles to deciding what to cook for dinner, John Podesta faces climate challenges (AP’s Chris Megerian) Big stars come out for Biden — but much of Hollywood wrestles with 2024 endorsements in a polarized world (CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Elizabeth Wagmeister)
| | For those who have known LLOYD AUSTIN since his high school years, it oddly makes sense that he ended up heading the Defense Department. That’s because, as a captain of the 1971 Thomasville High School basketball team in Georgia, Austin was known — get this — as a “force inside as a rebounder and defender.” His nickname on the harwood was “Blade.” Why Blade? Because he was “this skinny little kid” according to his coach, JIM HUGHES. “Blade; like something that would cut the turf or the ground if he fell on it. Blade. Slim,” Hughes said in 2020. We’re not exactly sure how a skinny kid was such an imposing defensive threat. But as this piece notes, he did the “dirty work” by using his “wingspan to clog up passing lanes and have the advantage to reach over opponents.”
| | Lincoln was very much a cat person — so much so that his wife, MARY LINCOLN, said that the former president’s favorite hobby was “cats,” according to the White House Historical Association. After winning the presidency, Lincoln left his dog FIDO at home in Springfield, Illinois. Harsh. But that opened the door for Secretary of State WILLIAM SEWARD to gift Abe two cats: TABBY and DIXIE. Lincoln reportedly said that Dixie was smarter than members of his administration and pleased him more … because he wouldn’t talk back. 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 and Rishika Dugyala.
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