| | | | |  | | By Rachael Bade, Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | A FRATERNAL GLOBAL BRAID — “Under siege, 3 world leaders say: Bring it on,” John F. Harris and Alexander Burns: “The calculations of [JOE BIDEN, EMMANUEL MACRON and RISHI SUNAK] have merged to create a striking experiment: Just a few weeks from now, there will be a rapid-fire series of events that will test the vitality of traditional establishment politicians at a moment when large swaths of voters are clearly in the mood for disruption.”
|  Donald Trump was under fierce pressure to back Army veteran Sam Brown ahead of today's Nevada Senate primary | David Calvert/Getty Images | DRAMA IN THE DESERT — Nevada’s Republican voters make their choice today for who will take on Democratic incumbent JACKY ROSEN to claim a crucial swing-state Senate seat. But the drama surrounding the primary race — and DONALD TRUMP’s late-breaking endorsement Sunday — threatens to echo for some time to come. To recap: The primary pits Army veteran and Purple Heart awardee SAM BROWN, a favorite of the NRSC and national party operatives, against JEFF GUNTER, a MAGA-minded businessman who served as Trump’s ambassador to Iceland. Trump has been under pressure from the NRSC chair, Sen. STEVE DAINES (R-Mont.), and other party poo-bahs to back Brown over Gunter as the more electable candidate. And, finally, late Sunday night, Trump delivered the nod on Truth Social (after curiously deciding not to endorse Brown at a Las Vegas rally hours earlier). Gunter is not taking the snub lying down. In fact, he is now waging a scorched-earth effort to attack the endorsement decision as being part of a pay-to-play scheme inside the NRSC and Trump world. He first insinuated foul play in an X posting yesterday, and he went even further in a call to Playbook last night where he accused Daines and the NRSC of sabotaging his campaign from the beginning by threatening consultants who worked with him. It’s a shocking and rare instance of a Republican candidate pushing back on a Trump endorsement, the all-important, make-or-break currency of big-time Republican politics today — and an episode that peels back the curtain on the high-stakes jockeying that frequently takes place behind the scenes before those endorsements are made. Gunter was careful not to blame Trump himself. But, he said, “I do think that he’s surrounded by handlers who, you know, probably have other vested interests in other candidates.” Both the Trump campaign and the NRSC are fiercely rejecting Gunter’s allegations. “Numerous reputable vendors met with Jeff Gunter and decided he was not a serious candidate, with no path to victory,” NRSC Spokesman MIKE BERG told Playbook. “His insane rant proves their judgment was correct.” “He’s mad because he didn’t earn the endorsement of President Trump — I understand that, but that doesn’t give him the right … to cast aspersions or to make up bullshit attacking President Trump and his campaign,” Trump campaign senior adviser CHRIS LaCIVITA added. In the account he shared with Playbook, Gunter ticked off a series of snubs he said were orchestrated to sideline him, starting with his early talks with The Strategy Group, a GOP consulting firm he had spoken with about his campaign. That firm, he alleges, backed out after the NRSC threatened to blackball it from general-election work unless they dropped him. A person at The Strategy Group denied Gunter’s accusation, saying they cut ties with Gunter out of concern about his ability to win. Gunter, in turn, shared emails with Playbook showing they were indeed in advanced talks about a contract, to the point that they had started coordinating a video shoot for his campaign launch. The company, Gunter said, set up a sit down with Daines early on. In Gunter’s account of that meeting, Daines tried to “intimidate” him out of running by saying he’s very close with Trump. In a competing account, from a person familiar with what happened, it was Gunter who boasted about his close relationship with Trump and his ability to secure immediate endorsements from the ex-president and Nevada Gov. JOE LOMBARDO. Gunter called the allegation “sociopathic” and part of a “pattern of behavior that Steve Daines did to bad-mouth me” in the eyes of Trump world. “You don’t do that with the president,” he added, recognizing that predicting Trump’s decisions or putting words in his president’s mouth is “the kiss of death." Meanwhile, Gunter said, he’d gotten other signals that he was being pushed to the margins — including inside the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group he’d been active in for nearly two decades. That, he said, prompted him to self-fund his race to the tune of $3 million-plus and seek his own Trump world allies, such as Nevada GOP Chair MICHAEL McDONALD and Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.). With rumors of an impending Brown endorsement swirling, Gunter said he had a long conversation with Trump Saturday night, just before the rally, where Trump didn’t indicate what he’d do and commented positively on his campaign: “It really doesn’t seem to me like you’re losing,” he said, according to Gunter. Others were imploring Trump around the same time not to endorse Brown at the rally, according to people close with Gunter. Trump then skips the nod when he appears before the crowd; only later, on Trump Social, does the endorsement come through. What happens in between? Without evidence, Gunter tweeted that the NRSC “freaks out” and that a “big check comes in from the swamp” to secure the nod for Brown. That allegation is prompting some different scorched-earth reactions: “Gunter’s insane rant made him sound like ADAM SCHIFF on a witch hunt, which makes sense, because Gunter is also a California Democrat,” Berg said. LaCivita added that Gunther “should be very mindful about poking the bear one too many times, because I will promise you, you’ll get your ass bit.” Good Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Did you know that most of the data on your smartphone travels over WiFi, not cellular? Thanks to WiFi innovation by Comcast, our customers connect over a billion devices to our network each year. Unlicensed spectrum is key to a fast and secure WiFi experience at home and on the go. Comcast leads the way by developing cutting-edge WiFi gateways that maximize our multi-gig broadband network and spectrum made available by the FCC. Learn more. | | | ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA — Today’s other primaries kick off a string of tests for the future of House Republicans, with South Carolina offering the latest fight between the moderate establishment and the more extreme rabble-rousers of the party. Front and center today is Rep. NANCY MACE’s bitter primary against a KEVIN McCARTHY-backed bid to unseat her, Ally Mutnick writes. “Her top challenger is CATHERINE TEMPLETON, a former candidate for South Carolina governor. Templeton herself has spent more on TV ads than the incumbent, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact. But the biggest spending has come from an array of super PACs on either side of the primary. Templeton is backed by several well-funded outside groups, including Winning for Women, which had endorsed Mace in 2022, and three groups with ties to McCarthy allies.” The other pieces on the board: Today’s open contest for North Dakota’s at-large congressional district has drawn warring endorsements and support from major GOP players. JULIE FEDORCHAK enjoys the endorsement of Trump, Gov. DOUG BURGUM and Sen. JOHN HOEVEN in her contest against RICK BECKER, who is backed by Club for Growth. Meanwhile, the most concerning race for the GOP’s governance wing is the Colorado Springs-based seat from which Rep. DOUG LAMBORN is retiring. Establishment-minded Republicans there have assembled against DAVE WILLIAMS, the chair of the Colorado Republican Party. Up next: Rep. BOB GOOD (R-Va.) is facing down a challenge from JOHN McGUIRE, another opponent endorsed by McCarthy, next Tuesday. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: NEWS YOU CAN USE — United is adding nearly 200 new flights to Milwaukee and Chicago this summer to make travel to the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention easier for attendees, according to a release shared with Playbook. United is increasing its Milwaukee routes by 75% — or 72 flights — including a new, nonstop between Milwaukee and DCA. Other hubs increasing their traffic include Chicago O’Hare, New York/Newark, Denver, Washington Dulles and Houston. As for the Democratic convention, United will fly its largest Chicago O’Hare schedule since 2019, with more than 530 flights per day on peak days. There will be 38 additional flights between Chicago O’Hare and DCA and more than 80 added flights from Albany, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Portland, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose and Seattle. Flights are expected to be available starting today.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Unlicensed spectrum is key to a fast and secure WiFi experience at home and on the go. Comcast leads the way by developing cutting-edge WiFi gateways that maximize our multi-gig broadband network and spectrum made available by the FCC. Learn more. | | | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY | | On the Hill The Senate will meet at 3 p.m. to resume consideration of DAVID ROSNER’S FERC nomination. The House will meet at noon. 3 things to watch …
- Staring down a potential contempt of Congress vote later this week in the House, AG MERRICK GARLAND is again engaging with his critics on Capitol Hill, a week after a relatively fiery (for Garland) appearance before the House Judiciary Committee. In a WaPo new op-ed, he denounces “baseless, personal and dangerous” attacks on the DOJ that include, he writes, GOP threats to defund special counsel JACK SMITH and “conspiracy theories” that the department was behind Trump’s New York conviction: “Continued unfounded attacks against the Justice Department’s employees are dangerous for people’s safety. They are dangerous for our democracy. This must stop.”
- Speaker MIKE JOHNSON will almost certainly get a welcome bump to his whip count in the coming days following tonight’s special election in Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, where Republican MICHAEL RULLI is heavily favored over Democrat MICHAEL KRIPCHAK to replace former GOP Rep. BILL JOHNSON in a district Trump won by 29 points in 2020. The next likely Republican addition will come later this month, when Colorado’s 4th District votes to replace former Rep. KEN BUCK.
- With abortion taking center stage on the campaign trail, what could be most interesting about this year’s government funding process is where appropriators aren’t fighting. Jennifer Scholtes reports that House Republicans’ fiscal 2025 Agriculture-FDA bill includes no new restrictions on abortion medication in “an early sign GOP leaders are toning down their most divisive funding proposals amid pushback from centrist Republicans.” Among those watching closely is Planned Parenthood, which yesterday unveiled “Lady Budgeton” (sigh), their Regency-themed appropriations tracker.
At the White House Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief in the morning. The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will have lunch together at noon. In the afternoon, Biden will deliver remarks at Everytown’s Gun Sense University. Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will brief at 2:30 p.m. Harris will participate in a press call in the afternoon to announce a new action on medical debt with CFPB Director ROHIT CHOPRA.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | JUDICIARY SQUARE
|  A liberal documentarian recorded interactions with Justice Samuel Alito and Martha-Ann Alito at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner earlier this month. | AP | IN THEIR OWN WORDS — In a remarkable recording captured by a liberal documentarian at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner on June 3, Justice SAMUEL ALITO spoke “candidly about the ideological battle between the left and the right — discussing the difficulty of living ‘peacefully’ with ideological opponents in the face of ‘fundamental’ differences that ‘can’t be compromised,’” Rolling Stone’s Tessa Stuart and Tim Dickinson report. Alito also “endorsed what his interlocutor described as a necessary fight to ‘return our country to a place of godliness.’ And Alito offered a blunt assessment of how America’s polarization will ultimately be resolved: ‘One side or the other is going to win.’” Windsor also recorded an interaction with Alito’s wife, MARTHA-ANN, who has recently come under fire for controversies over flags flown at their properties, Rolling Stone’s Asawin Suebsaeng and Andrew Perez report. Asked about returning the U.S. to “a godly place,” Martha-Ann complained about seeing rainbow flags during Pride Month. “‘You know what I want?’ Mrs. Alito says. ‘I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag, because I have to look across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month.’ “Referencing her husband, Mrs. Alito says, ‘He’s like, “Oh, please don’t put up a flag.” I said, “I won’t do it because I am deferring to you. But when you are free of this nonsense, I’m putting it up and I’m gonna send them a message every day, maybe every week, I’ll be changing the flags.” They’ll be all kinds. I made a flag in my head. This is how I satisfy myself. I made a flag. It’s white and has yellow and orange flames around it. And in the middle is the word “vergogna.” “Vergogna” in Italian means shame — vergogna. V-E-R-G-O-G-N-A. Vergogna.’” More top reads:
- HUNTER BIDEN’s defense team rested its case yesterday in the gun trial against the president’s son, with the jury now deliberating and due back this morning. Deliberations are not expected to last long. An unexpected fan club: “In an unusual break from the predictable, reflexive battles between the American left and right, prominent gun rights advocates are now rallying around Hunter Biden,” WSJ’s Zusha Elinson writes.
TRUMP CARDS
| 
Judge Aileen Cannon yesterday took a swipe at prosecutors working for the Special Counsel Jack Smith. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo | CANNON FODDER — Judge AILEEN CANNON yesterday “slightly narrowed” the classified documents case against Trump, ruling that “prosecutors cannot charge him based on an episode in which he is said to have shown a highly sensitive military map to a political adviser months after leaving office,” NYT’s Alan Feuer reports. The decision amounted to “more of a swipe at prosecutors working for the special counsel, JACK SMITH, who brought the case than a major blow to the allegations against Mr. Trump. Even though Judge Cannon technically removed the incident from the 53-page indictment, prosecutors may still be able to introduce evidence of it to the jury if the case finally goes to trial. … The episode about the map, while indicative of Mr. Trump’s lax handling of classified materials, was not central to the formal allegations in the case.” More top reads:
| | | | A message from Comcast:   Unlicensed wireless spectrum is key to fast and secure WiFi. Learn more. | | | 2024 WATCH
| 
Donald Trump didn’t mention the word “abortion” once in remarks yesterday at a Christian advocacy organization. | Alex Kent for POLITICO | ABORTION ON THE BALLOT — In brief recorded remarks before the Danbury Institute, a Christian advocacy organization that wants to ban all abortions, Trump didn’t mention the word “abortion” once. “Instead, Trump told the group, ‘You just can’t vote Democrat. They’re against religion. They’re against your religion in particular,’” our colleagues Adam Wren, Megan Messerly and Lisa Kashinsky report from Indianapolis. “For all his efforts to avoid the issue and ‘make both sides happy,’ as he has long promised, Trump still got hit by both sides — from Democrats for appearing at all, and from some of his own voters in the room for skirting a topic at the top of their agenda.” The MAGA mood: “He sounded more like a politician who wants to be elected,” said RICK PATRICK, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Sylacauga, Alabama. “I voted for him and I plan to vote for him again, but he was not like the other speakers who were here talking about religious things.” More top reads:
- Trump’s proposal to make workers’ tips nontaxable, previewed in his Vegas rally on Sunday, is “an untested idea … that would encourage businesses and employees to recharacterize taxed wages as untaxed tips,” WSJ’s Richard Rubin and Vivian Salama write. That could have unpredictable consequences and further encourage a practice that has recently exploded to many Americans’ chagrin.
MORE POLITICS FOR YOUR RADAR — “UAW President Shawn Fain under investigation by federal watchdog, court filing reveals,” by The Detroit News’ Robert Snell and Breana Noble: “The watchdog, monitor NEIL BAROFSKY, revealed the probe Monday while accusing union leaders of obstructing and interfering with attempts to access information, actions that could serve as an apparent violation of the 2020 consent decree that averted a full-scale takeover of the UAW by the Justice Department.” AMERICA AND THE WORLD MIDDLE EAST LATEST — “Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas,” by WSJ’s Summer Said and Rory Jones: “For much of [YAHYA] SINWAR’S political life, shaped by bloody conflict with an Israeli state that he says has no right to exist, he has stuck to a simple playbook. Backed into a corner, he looks to violence for a way out. The current fight in Gaza is no exception. “In dozens of messages — reviewed by The Wall Street Journal — that Sinwar has transmitted to cease-fire negotiators, Hamas compatriots outside Gaza and others, he’s shown a cold disregard for human life and made clear he believes Israel has more to lose from the war than Hamas. The messages were shared by multiple people with differing views of Sinwar. More than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, most of them civilians, Palestinian officials say.” The cease-fire push: The U.N. Security Council yesterday approved a U.S.-led resolution for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release, voting 14-0 in favor, with Russia as the only abstention. “The resolution marks the latest international pressure tactic to get Hamas and Israel to agree on a path to end the fighting. The proposal in the resolution matches the three-phase deal that Biden announced May 31,” Mona Zhang writes. THE WHITE HOUSE MEET THE NEW BOSS — Biden is “close to naming derivatives regulator CHRISTY GOLDSMITH ROMERO to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., replacing the beleaguered banking agency’s longtime chairman MARTIN GRUENBERG,” WSJ’s Andrew Ackerman and Andrew Restuccia scooped. HMM — “White House’s unprecedented snub of UN chief António Guterres,” by Devex’s Colum Lynch: “More than three and a half years into his term, Biden has earned the curious distinction of being the first U.S. president since the U.N.’s founding in San Francisco in 1945 not to invite at least one sitting U.N. secretary-general to the White House.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Rudy Giuliani got his mugshot in Arizona. Jamaal Bowman is trying to patch things up with the Democratic Socialists of America. Donald Trump called Taylor Swift “unusually beautiful” — though he noted she’s likely liberal and “probably doesn’t like Trump” in a new book. John and Gisele Fetterman are back home after getting in a car crash on their 16th anniversary. Jon Lovett was surprised by some of the headlines he missed while Survivor-ing. PLAYBOOK REAL ESTATE SECTION — “Buyers Battle Over Sean Hannity’s Long Island Home, Which Sells for Roughly $12.7 Million Cash,” by WSJ’s E.B. Solomont FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Texas Tribune Festival is adding Liz Cheney, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to its speaker lineup for the event, set to take place in Austin, Texas, from Sept. 5-7. The trio joins a lineup that already includes Stacey Abrams, George Conway, Adam Kinzinger, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and many more. See the full list OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED over the weekend at a baby shower for Emma Doyle, former Trump White House deputy chief of staff, hosted by Brittany Baker and Ashley Gunn: Natalie McIntyre, Jennifer Kaufmann, Marcie McSwane, Natalee Binkholder, Dina Ellis and Cat Williams. — SPOTTED at a panel conversation called “Politics, Policy & Precedent: The Freedom To Marry At 20 Years,” sponsored by Centerline Liberties at the downtown office of Kirkland Ellis yesterday evening: Ted Olson, James Dozier, Marc Solomon, Reg Brown, Jay Timmons, Andrew Wheeler, Julie Conway, Kathryn Lehman, Alex Lundry, Alison Esposito, Molly Ball, Phil Elliott, Shannon and Don McGahn, Barbara Comstock, Charlie Dent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Sarah Matthews. TRANSITIONS — Caleb Hays has launched Section 4 Strategies, a boutique law firm focused on election integrity. He most recently was deputy staff director and general counsel for the House Administration Committee, leading House Republicans’ election policy. … Lauren Roche Nolte is now executive assistant for government affairs at a16z. She most recently was director for strategy and operations at Avoq. … David Weissman is now a director of congressional affairs at the National Community Pharmacists Association. He previously was a legislative assistant and senior manager of government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. WEDDINGS — Jonathan Cousimano, director of federal affairs for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Kate Brescia, associate director at Everytown for Gun Safety, got married over Memorial Day Weekend on Cape Cod. Kathryn Irwin Bronstein officiated. The couple met at a mutual friend’s summer solstice party when Kate was working on Capitol Hill and Jonathan was at the DCCC. Pic … Another pic — Jacquline Anderson, legislative assistant to Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), and David Horsley, legislative assistant to Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), got married Saturday at the Daughters of the American Revolution. They met as staff assistants in 2020 and began dating after a round of drinks at Capitol Lounge. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Deputy CIA Director David Cohen … Jennifer Rubin … Kim Oates of the House Radio/TV Gallery … Disney’s Lucas Acosta … J Street’s Jeremy Ben-Ami … Greta Van Susteren … Lindsey Williams Drath … Cesar Gonzalez of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart’s (R-Fla.) office … TJ Adams-Falconer … Jamal Brown … Duke’s Mike Schoenfeld … Tad Devine of Devine Mulvey Longabaugh … Penina Graubart … Lorissa Bounds … Kristen Thomaselli ... Mary Kate Cunningham … Marty Kearns of Netcentric Campaigns … Emily Dobler … former Reps. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) (94) … former South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard … Eric Lieberman … Wendy Teramoto … CNN’s Morgan Rimmer … Ryan Bugas … Will Rahn of PBS’ “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover” … Sofia Jones of the House Appropriations Committee 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. Corrections: Yesterday’s Playbook misgendered Essam Attia. He is a man. Also, one of the linked stories contained an error we repeated in the newsletter in listing House Republicans who voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law. Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) was not in Congress when the law passed. It also included an incorrect title for Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
| | | | A message from Comcast: How many WiFi devices are connected in your home?
With the explosion of connected devices, the average home using our Xfinity WiFi has 20+ connected devices. Some devices stream 4K video. Some need ultra-low latency for gaming. And some just need to send a reminder that the refrigerator door is open.
With over a billion devices connected to our network, we know how important WiFi is to our digital lives. Comcast continues to innovate to maximize our superior broadband network and the unlicensed spectrum that is critical to fast and seamless WiFi at home and on the go.
Comcast is introducing its newest gateway, the XB10, the first to incorporate the latest generation of our network with WiFi 7 and AI technologies. The XB10 will be capable of delivering multi-gig download and upload speeds over WiFi and simultaneously power 300 connected devices in the home.
Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
