| | | | By Eli Okun | Presented by | | | | | | THE CATCH-UP | | | SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son and President-elect Donald Trump announce major investment plans at Mar-a-Lago. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | GOING SOFT — President-elect DONALD TRUMP hasn’t taken office yet, but he’s already making a big economic splash with the news today that SoftBank will invest $100 billion in the U.S. over the coming four years. Trump’s announcement at Mar-a-Lago with CEO MASAYOSHI SON included an off-the-cuff request from Trump to double the investment to $200 billion. “I will try,” Son responded. But SoftBank estimates that even the $100 billion commitment would create 100,000 jobs, with a focus on AI and other new tech. It’s a big move that reflects Trump’s urgency to bolster U.S. economic growth. But some questions remain. SoftBank currently has just $30 billion in cash on hand, so it may have to raise outside money to deliver. WSJ’s Alex Leary and Eliot Brown note. And some of the investor’s previous moves — including after Son made a similar, $50 billion pledge in December 2016 — didn’t pan out or ended in big implosions, like WeWork. Republicans are feeling upbeat about their economic plans for next year: In Congress, excitement about cutting taxes is triumphing over deficit-hawk concerns, WSJ’s Richard Rubin reports. And Trump’s ascendance could spur GOP voters to spend more, boosting consumer confidence and economic growth, per WSJ’s Joe Pinsker. But Trump could run into hurdles with the Fed. Though the central bank is likely to cut interest rates at its meeting this week, it’s also expected to release predictions of more cautious cuts in 2025, NYT’s Jeanna Smialek reports. And if the Fed lowers rates slower than Trump wants — which could happen, especially if his policies worsen inflation — tensions could be high. Inside the Fed, staffers are trying to keep their conversations apolitical and stay away from talk about tariffs. On the flip side: President JOE BIDEN has a major essay out today in The American Prospect (interesting choice of venue) defending his economic record and laying out his vision for the legacy he’ll leave. And he ends with a challenge to Trump to build on, not tear down, Biden’s economic growth and investments. “I fought to write a new economic playbook that builds the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down,” Biden writes. “I fought to make smart investments in America’s future that put us in the lead globally.”
| | A message from Instagram: Congress can help keep teens safe online today.
By passing federal legislation requiring app store parental consent and age verification, Congress would put parents in charge of teen app downloads. This helps parents ensure teens download apps that are safe.
That's why 3 of 4 parents agree: teens under 16 shouldn't be able to download apps without parental consent.
Tell lawmakers: support a national standard requiring app store parental consent and age verification for teens. | | MORE FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT — In a typically freewheeling press conference alongside the announcement, Trump sounded off on a variety of other topics:
- TikTok: “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump said, which raises the prospect that he could oppose an imminent ban of the app.
- Ukraine: Trump criticized Biden’s move to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made missiles deeper into Russia as “very stupid,” and said he might revoke the green light.
- ANN SELZER: Trump said he will sue The Des Moines Register for publishing an Iowa survey from the legendary pollster that turned out to be off. He also dangled lawsuits against “60 Minutes,” BOB WOODWARD and the Pulitzer Prizes.
- ERIC ADAMS: Trump said he’d consider pardoning the NYC mayor.
- Privatizing the Postal Service: “Not the worst thing I’ve ever heard,” he said, confirming that he’s considering the idea.
- Vaccines: Trump said he’s a “big believer” in the polio vaccine, but he doesn’t like school mandates of vaccines (most states require vaccination from measles, mumps and rubella to attend public schools).
- Primaries: Trump indicated that he’d encourage primaries against GOP senators who oppose his nominees for “stupid” reasons, but not if they have “reasonable” policy disagreements.
- Drones: Trump said he canceled a trip to his Bedminster, New Jersey, property because of recent mysterious drone sightings in the state.
- LUIGI MANGIONE: “It’s really terrible that some people seem to admire him … There’s a certain appetite for him. I don’t get it.”
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — BEN WIKLER, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, has reached the 40-signature threshold from DNC members to qualify for upcoming candidate forums for DNC chair, our colleague Adam Wren writes in. CR LATEST — We still don’t have bill text for a continuing resolution to keep the government open, but House Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE said the agreement is “close” and “hopefully” coming today, per Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill. A potential deal on farm aid could include $10 billion to $12 billion in assistance and a one-year farm bill extension, Meredith reports. Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today. | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | Money for electric vehicle charging infrastructure could be repurposed under the Trump administration. | David Zalubowski/AP Photo | 1. CLIMATE FILES: A Trump transition team is recommending major changes to unwind Biden’s climate change-fighting policies around electric vehicles and automotive emissions, Reuters’ Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Kirkham scooped. The plan calls for rolling back Biden’s tailpipe emissions rules and fuel economy standards, and preventing California from going further. It also recommends major tariffs on the materials for EV batteries, along with shifting money away from EV subsidies and charging stations, which could roil the market and seriously slow the country’s transition to cleaner cars. Instead, the team wants to put the funds into domestic minerals processing and battery production for national defense. 2. CONFIRMATION CLASS: As he hits Capitol Hill this week to try to win over mostly Republican senators, HHS Secretary-designate ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. plans to focus on fighting chronic disease and making Americans’ food more healthful, WSJ’s Liz Essley Whyte, Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews report. And he’ll seek to mitigate his greatest vulnerabilities by aligning himself with Trump on abortion, despite his pro-abortion rights record, and deemphasizing vaccines, despite his history of false claims about them. Vaccines, in fact, might not be the stumbling block for Kennedy with GOP senators, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott report. Key votes are more concerned (and feeling grassroots pressure) about Kennedy’s abortion stance, in particular, and his opposition to Big Agriculture. Meanwhile, Protect Our Care is fighting Kennedy’s nomination from the left by spending tens of thousands of dollars on ads in key senators’ states highlighting his vaccine opposition, Daniel Payne reports. 3. PULL UP A (VICE) CHAIR: 24-year-old March for Our Lives co-founder DAVID HOGG is jumping into the race for DNC vice chair, ABC’s Brittany Shepherd and Adisa Hargett-Robinson scooped. Hogg pitches himself as a candidate for a new generation of Democratic leadership focused on the working class — and honest about the party’s messaging failures. 4. THE WORLD BRACES FOR TRUMP: The prospects of trade wars and mass deportations are already rattling a number of U.S. allies around the globe. In Canada, powerful Deputy PM and Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND resigned today from PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s government, citing clashes over how to prepare for Trump’s tariffs, per Bloomberg’s Brian Platt. And despite Ottawa’s pledge to crack down on migrants at our northern border, in reality there are limits to how much authorities can rein in, Reuters’ Anna Mehler Paperny reports from Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville. In Vietnam, which benefited from the U.S.-China trade standoff in Trump’s first term, a broader round of tariffs against Chinese companies operating abroad could cause a serious hit to Hanoi, WSJ’s Liza Lin, Jason Douglas and Rebecca Feng report. Trump has decried the large U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam, though the country could be spared if he focuses more on China and Mexico. And in the Northern Triangle, waves of deportees to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras could cause significant upheaval, AP’s Megan Janetsky reports from San Pedro Sula. Many of these people will be vulnerable to the gang violence they initially fled. Advocates “worry their return could thrust them into even deeper economic and humanitarian crises, fueling migration down the line.”
| | A message from Instagram: | | 5. FROM THE BIG LIE TO MAIN JUSTICE: “How Pam Bondi boosted Trump’s election fraud claims in a key swing state,” by WaPo’s Beth Reinhard: “[PAM] BONDI’s support for Trump’s efforts to undermine the 2020 election [was] a role often overlooked among the better-known players in the post-election drama … [RUDY] GIULIANI faced intense media scrutiny and professional sanctions … But in public appearances in the week after the election, Bondi also made unfounded allegations about ‘evidence of cheating’ and ‘fake ballots,’ and in private huddles with other campaign advisers she discussed legal strategies to challenge the results in [Pennsylvania].” 6. STICKING THE LANDING: “Trump transition launches DHS landing team full of first-term alums,” by Betsy Woodruff Swan and John Sakellariadis: “[T]he DHS landing team is being led by ROBERT LAW, a top official in the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during Trump’s first term. … Other landing team members include JOHN FEERE, a senior official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first term; JOHN ZADROZNY, also an alum of USCIS, as well as the Trump State Department; and JOE EDLOW, acting head of USCIS during the Trump administration. KAREN EVANS, a top cybersecurity official at the Department of Energy and DHS during Trump’s first term, is also on the landing team.” 7. DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO: “Trump vows to ‘hire American.’ His businesses keep hiring foreign guest workers,” by CNN’s Curt Devine: “Trump’s own businesses sought to hire more foreign guest workers this year than any other year on record, according to a CNN review of government labor data. Companies linked to some of Trump’s top political backers and administration picks also have been given the green light to use guest workers this year.” 8. FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE: Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN warned today that he’ll give the green light for short- and medium-range missiles if the U.S. deploys them, per Reuters. He accused the West of pushing Moscow repeatedly to its own “red lines” and said Russia is gaining the upper hand in its war on Ukraine. 9. MARTIAL LAW FALLOUT: “Impeachment in South Korea Has Cost Washington a Staunch Ally,” by NYT’s Choe Sang-Hun in Seoul: “President YOON SUK YEOL … put his country in lock step with the United States by countering North Korea with sanctions and joint military drills. He won Washington’s plaudits when he overcame a century of historical grievances Koreans held against Japan and helped lay the ground for trilateral cooperation to deter China. … Now, as he is locked out of power following his impeachment, his foreign policy — and Washington’s painstaking alliance-building in Northeast Asia — faces the prospect of unraveling.”
| | Write your own chapter in the new Washington. From the Lame Duck Congress Series to New Administration insights, POLITICO Pro delivers intelligence across 22+ policy areas to help you anticipate and navigate change. Discover how a Pro subscription empowers you. Learn more today. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Bernie Sanders revealed serious Amazon workplace safety concerns. Brian Benjamin got no bribery reprieve from the Supreme Court. Alexander Smirnov pleaded guilty. Eric Adams’ reelection campaign suffered a big blow. Adeel Mangi said the judicial confirmation process is broken. Jessica Rosenworcel warned against politically weaponizing the FCC. MEDIA MOVE — Diego Areas Munhoz is now a technology reporter at Punchbowl. He previously was a workplace and labor policy reporter at Bloomberg. TRANSITIONS — Dana Williamson has left her role as chief of staff to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Chris Cadelago and Melanie Mason scooped. Nathan Barankin, a Kamala Harris veteran and recent arrival in Newsom world, has taken over the position. … Daniel Henke is now senior donor manager for U.S. strategy at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. He previously was director of U.S. government relations at the One Campaign. … … Paul Martino is joining Hunton Andrews Kurth as a partner. He previously was VP and senior policy counsel at the National Retail Federation. … Allison Aprahamian will be press secretary for incoming Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho). She previously was comms director for the House China select committee. BONUS BIRTHDAYS: Garrett Brown of Rep. Ryan Zinke’s (R-Mont.) office … Hannah Robinson of CHIPS for America 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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