| | | | |  | | By Lauren Egan, Eli Stokols, Burgess Everett and Ben Johansen | | Presented by |  | | | 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 For much of JOE BIDEN’s time in office, the White House has held The Wall Street Journal’s news operation in high regard. The paper’s reporters have often been selected to ask questions at Biden’s press conferences. The White House has regularly worked with them privately on stories. And the press shop grew to appreciate The Journal’s unvarnished and dry approach to coverage, having grown annoyed at The Washington Post’s inclination to run “tick tock” stories and, what they felt was, The New York Times’ obsession with the subject of the president’s age. But that relationship is now under serious strain following The Journal’s own publication of a lengthy story on the president’s health and mental acuity. That story, based on what the paper said were more than 45 interviews over several months, cast Biden as discursive and distracted, mumbling and non-attentive. It presented anecdotes in which the president would read from notecards in meetings with lawmakers, speak in hushed tones and seemingly stumble over his own administration’s policies. Inside the West Wing, staff interpreted the piece as a sign that the paper was reverting to partisan form ahead of the November election. There was some speculation that the paper’s owner, RUPERT MURDOCH, was showing his preference for a DONALD TRUMP victory, according to two people familiar with the communications team’s thinking. “Complete and utter editorial fail by the @wsj,” White House communications director BEN LABOLT posted on X. “Makes you wonder who they’re taking orders from.” A spokesperson for The Journal said that the paper stands by its reporting. While much of the paper’s portrayal of Biden is evidenced in his own public appearances, the item drew intense, immediate pushback, largely for how it was structured. The main on-the-record quotes raising concerns about Biden were from Republicans, including former House Speaker KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-Calif.) and his successor, Speaker MIKE JOHNSON (R-La.). In one anecdote, The Journal said Biden erroneously described a policy change on a big energy project as a “study,” when, in fact, the administration has routinely used that terminology before. A number of Democratic lawmakers — including Sen. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.) and former House Speaker NANCY PELOSI (D-Calif.) — were quick to say that their on-the-record rebuttals did not make it into The Journal’s final piece. Murray said in an interview she spoke to the paper twice. That The Journal was the outlet to print the item was a particular sore spot for the White House. According to three people familiar with the communications shop’s perceptions of the press corps, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal thinking, the West Wing has long viewed the paper’s White House reporters as both predictable and sober-minded, chief among them KEN THOMAS. It also sees The Journal’s audience as one it needs to cultivate — the center-right electorate that Biden must gain ground with if he is going to make up for his current deficit with younger, liberal voters. The response didn’t just indicate that Biden’s age remains a sensitive point for the White House and allied Democrats, but that the president’s team is still uncertain about how best to parlay scrutiny of it. Having downplayed these storylines early in the administration, aides have tried to use humor or even embrace the idea that Biden is old (and wise) as a response. On Wednesday, they tried fury. But inside the West Wing, Biden aides said they felt vindicated that cable news hosts slammed the piece. That included a Biden favorite, MSNBC’s JOE SCARBOROUGH, who called the story a “Trump hit piece” during a “Morning Joe” segment. (Deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES posted about the segment at least nine times on Wednesday.) Additional vindication would come from Capitol Hill, where several Republican senators downplayed the seriousness of the portrayal of Biden that their House GOP counterparts had presented. Sen. MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah) said in his meetings and phone calls with Biden he’s found the president “to be normally capable, intellectually. And with it. At the same time, when we get older like me, we may not be as sharp as we once were. But we, hopefully, make up for that with wisdom and better judgment.” Romney said he does not harbor concerns about Biden’s decision-making or fitness for the job. Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.), who was sworn in by then-vice president Biden in 2015, said these days Biden is “clearly not the person I met in 2015. But then again, I’m not the person he met in 2015.” During a chat at a NATO Summit last year, Tillis said that Biden “carried the conversation well and was a bit more reserved” than he had been a few years ago. “I don’t think at the end of the day a lot of people are going to draw a big distinction between either of the two candidates based on their mental acuity,” Tillis said. But it wasn’t all gravy for Biden. Three years ago, Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.) said the president was “sharp as a tack” in their meetings on infrastructure. On Wednesday, she said it was fair to question whether he still is: “I’m trying to be sensitive here to the issue. But yeah, I think it's a valid question.” MESSAGE US — Are you FATHER TIME? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. 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| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes: President Biden: American chemistry is the backbone of innovation.
It's time to address the regulatory overload stifling American chemistry. Chemistry powers our semiconductors, medical devices, and clean energy initiatives. But your administration’s avalanche of regulations is hampering America’s progress and competitiveness. American chemistry is more than an industry; it's our future. The Biden Administration must commit to smarter, growth-oriented regulations before it’s too late - because when chemistry is enabled to create, America competes. | | | | | Which president was given crocodile insurance during a trip to Australia? (Answer at bottom.)
| | FRENCH DISPATCH: President Biden landed in France today, kicking off a month of high-stakes international meetings. But our ELENA SCHNEIDER, Eli and LISA KASHINSKY report that foreign policy remains a political liability for him — despite Biden vowing during his 2020 campaign to restore America’s alliances and leadership abroad. Wars in Gaza and Ukraine have complicated Biden’s job and contributed to his political shakiness at home. Aides are hoping that his upcoming engagements with world leaders will let him flex his diplomatic muscles. But even one of the Biden campaign’s own pollsters, CELINDA LAKE, believes foreign policy is a “vulnerability” — particularly with blue-collar workers who “worry about how much money we’re spending abroad.” AIR FORCE ONE IS … UH, HOLDING ON THE TARMAC? The president’s plane is always first for takeoff and usually rolling within minutes of him climbing on board. But that was not the case Tuesday evening at Joint Base Andrews, when the plane sat idle for more than 10 minutes before leaving. The reason, according to three sources familiar with the matter, was that JACOB SPREYER, the president’s body man who is tasked to be by Biden’s side at all times, bailed out of the staff van in the motorcade just as it was pulling away from the West Wing on West Executive Drive. Spreyer, we’re told, realized at the last minute something important had been left behind. The motorcade, as it does, continued to JBA without him. Officials were able to scramble the proverbial jets and put Spreyer in a “hot car” — that’s an official vehicle with flashing lights and all that fun stuff — to JBA just a few moments behind the motorcade. Photographers apparently captured him running across the tarmac to the plane, which began taxiing quickly after he boarded. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by our BRAKKTON BOOKER, who reports that Florida Rep. BYRON DONALDS — a frontrunner to be DONALD TRUMP’s running mate — suggested Black families were better off during the Jim Crow-era of racial segregation than they are today under the Biden administration. “During Jim Crow the Black family was together,” Donalds said Tuesday at a GOP outreach event in Philadelphia. “During Jim Crow, more Black people were — not just conservative, because Black people always have always been conservative-minded — but more Black people voted conservatively.” Campaign director of rapid response AMMAR MOUSSA shared the piece on X, adding that it’s “Not a headline you want to see @ByronDonalds.” WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by NPR’s ELENA MOORE, who reports that President Biden continues to receive low marks from younger Black, Latino and Asian American voters who overwhelmingly supported him four years ago, according to the University of Chicago’s latest GenForward survey. The survey, conducted in mid-May, found that just one-third of all young Americans would back Biden if the election were held at that time. The drop in support for Biden from 2020 is especially staggering among younger Black and Latino voters. In 2020, 89 percent of Black voters aged 18-29 and 78 percent of those aged 30-44 voted for Biden. Now, just 33 percent said they would support him if the election were held today, with 23 percent choosing Donald Trump. When it comes to young Latino voters, Trump is beating the president by a four-point margin — a significant reversal from 2020, when Biden won 69 percent of Latino voters under 30.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | BUYING BIG: Two Biden-allied groups are planning to buy an additional $50 million in ads across six states in the next two months, WaPo’s MICHAEL SCHERER reports. The ads will highlight the president’s efforts to lower drug prices, increase spending on clean energy and reduce pollution. This latest spend by Climate Power and Future Forward USA Action, two nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors, follows about $33 million of similar ads that they pushed last year. One spot focuses on Biden’s fight against big oil, featuring a farmer frustrated at his delivery costs when gas prices go up.
| | | | SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW: Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN’s longtime chief of staff KELLY MAGSAMEN is stepping down at the end of June, our LARA SELIGMAN scooped. Magsamen, who has served as Austin’s right hand since the beginning of the administration, has largely stayed behind the scenes, rarely speaking with reporters. She drew criticism in January for failing to inform the White House about Austin’s hospitalization. Austin said he was “deeply grateful for her tremendous service,” and that she was “instrumental” in navigating difficult challenges within the Pentagon and internationally over her years in the job. MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: President Biden on Wednesday nominated JULIANNE SMITH, his current ambassador to NATO, to be under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Smith would take over for VICTORIA NULAND, who retired in March. — CHRISTINE ABIZAID, director of the National Counterterrorism Center will step down in July, Scripps News’ SASHA INGBER reports. BRETT HOLMGREN, assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research at the State Department, will take over for Abizaid. — HENRY HAGGARD has joined WestExec Advisors as a senior adviser, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He spent 25 years at the State Department, most recently as a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of counselor. — LAURIE-ANN AGAMA will serve as the Assistant United States Trade Representative for Economic Affairs, the White House announced Wednesday. Agama most recently was Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Textiles.
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes:   | | | | | STEP IT UP: Ukrainian officials are pressing the U.S. and other countries to ramp up its F-16 pilot training, saying the current pipeline isn’t producing enough aviators to fly the jets that will soon be donated to Kyiv, our Lara Seligman, ERIN BANCO and PAUL MCLEARY report. In a series of meetings and calls over the past several weeks, Ukraine requested that the U.S. train 30 additional pilots at Morris Air National Guard base in Tucson, Arizona — a move Rep. JIM HIMES (D-Conn.) and Rep. MIKE TURNER (R-Ohio) have also pressed for. But the Biden administration has told Kyiv the Arizona program only has enough seats to accept 12 pilot trainees at a time. STAY ON CHINA: Vulnerable congressional Democrats, led by Sen. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio), are calling on the Biden administration to investigate Chinese solar companies for allegedly skirting U.S. tariffs, Axios’ HANS NICHOLS and STEPHEN NEUKAM report. As trade with China becomes a critical 2024 talking point, many swing-district Dems are looking to emphasize tough-on-China positions before the election.
| | What Hunter Biden tells us about America (Financial Times’ Edward Luce) A War on the Nile Pushes Sudan Toward the Abyss (NYT’s Declan Walsh)
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes: Did you know that it takes 500 highly specialized chemicals to manufacture one semiconductor chip? And the Biden Administration is investing billions to build semiconductor plants in the U.S.
There’s just one big problem: the president’s administration keeps rolling out regulations and restrictions that could impair chemical manufacturers’ ability to produce the very inputs needed to achieve this expansion.
“You can build all the semiconductor plants you want, but if critical chemistries aren’t available, you won’t be successful in onshoring the chip manufacturing supply chain. This is an issue of national security.” – Chris Jahn, President and CEO, American Chemistry Council
Call on the Biden Administration to stop undercutting American innovation and national priorities.
Learn more at chemistrycreates.org | | | | | | In 2011, while on a trip to Australia’s tropical north — home to some of the world's biggest and deadliest crocodiles — former Australian Chief Minister PAUL HENDERSON gave BARACK OBAMA crocodile insurance, Reuters reported 13 years ago. The insurance would have paid out $50,000 to MICHELLE OBAMA if the president had been attacked by a crocodile. “I was just presented with the most unique gift I have ever received as president — crocodile insurance. My wife, Michelle, will be relieved,” Obama said in a speech during the trip. 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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