| | | |  | | By Jack Blanchard | Presented by the Coalition for Medicare Choices | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine
| | | Good Monday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, wondering if it’s possible to have actually overdosed on nachos. Please send help. TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR: Sorry Taylor; sorry Donald — your (adopted) Chiefs took one heck of a beating. But at least Donald Trump can say he was cheered by football fans when he appeared on the big screen ahead of Super Bowl LIX, becoming the first president in history to attend America’s sporting set piece. (Ex-Eagles fan Taylor Swift, by contrast, was roundly booed — “BOOED out of the stadium,” Trump delighted on Truth Social.) Trump had better be careful — what with this and those glowing poll ratings over the weekend, you’d hate to see it go to his head. One-man show: It says something that Trump managed to dominate even Super Bowl Sunday, first reviving the traditional pregame interview (with Fox News’ Bret Baier) before pulling a comically cheesy PR stunt on his way to the game, announcing Feb. 9 as “Gulf of America Day” just as Air Force One flew over the ocean basin. “This is even bigger than the Super Bowl,” Trump told gathered hacks. He then met with the families of New Orleans terror attack victims on the pitch, saluted for the national anthem — and then announced on his flight home that he was abolishing the penny. It’s all quite a contrast from Joe Biden’s annual Super Bowl disappearing act. In less jolly news: Almost everyone in MAGA World seemed to hate Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. Here’s Kari Lake … Benny Johnson … Charlie Kirk … Maybe that’s why Trump left before the second half. Or maybe he just couldn’t stand to see the Eagles win again. Still: Nobody can have hated the show more than Drake. Laugh now, cry later, as someone once said.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Today, President Donald Trump will announce 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. | Ben Curtis/AP | HAPPY TARIFF WEEK: The president will today announce 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports as his long-threatened global trade war heats up. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday afternoon his universal tariffs on imported metals will be followed with further announcements this week targeting nations with a perceived trade imbalance with America. Trump’s latest moves came shortly after China’s own tit-for-tat trade measures targeting certain U.S. imports came into effect on Sunday night. The entire global economy is changing before our eyes — and we’re still only three weeks in. Steel yourselves: So how big a deal are these metal tariffs? “The U.S. relies on aluminum imports, mostly from Canada, the United Arab Emirates and China, to meet the vast majority of its demand,” Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove reports. “Steel imports account for a smaller portion of consumption, but are vital for sectors leaning on specialty grades not made in the U.S., including energy businesses from wind developers to oil drillers.” Tru-doh: It’s especially rough news for Canada, which had won a carveout from Trump’s existing tariffs on steel and aluminum when they were announced during his first term, and then dodged a 25 percent general tariff during those 11th-hour talks last week. “This is the next four years,” groaned Ontario Premier Doug Ford on X. “Shifting goalposts and constant chaos, putting our economy at risk.” More here via POLITICO’s Ari Hawkins. While we’re doing bad news for Canada: Trump told Fox News the concessions offered by Mexico and Canada to avert a trade war last week were “not enough.” (Don’t forget the universal tariff on each country has only been paused for now.) He also claimed he was deadly serious about Canada becoming the 51st state, warning hacks on Air Force One that Canada is not a “viable country” without U.S. trade and support. Sounds ominous … AP has all the quotes. Another day, another climbdown? Trump being Trump, of course, we can’t be 100 percent sure this latest flurry of tariffs will actually happen. But Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a Trump ally in the Senate, tells the WSJ we should draw a distinction between the “punitive tariffs” used to threaten nations like Canada, Mexico and Colombia over issues like immigration and drug-smuggling, and the “structural, long-term tariffs” the president is preparing this week. “The structural tariffs are going to be a reality,” Moreno says. Bull in a China shop: As Bloomberg notes, Trump hasn’t clarified whether imports of Chinese metals will now face double tariffs, given he has already imposed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods. Either way, the reaction on Asian markets has been relatively calm thus far. “It could take 2-3 days for the market to digest with price weakening,” says Mengtian Jiang, an analyst at consultancy Horizon Insights. The FT says the bigger fear for free-trade types is that Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on China are only the start. Coming attractions: Trump told reporters Sunday that reciprocal tariffs for other nations with trade barriers raised against America could be announced as soon as tomorrow. “Very simply — if they charge us, we charge them,” the president said, adding these reciprocal tariffs would come in “almost immediately.” Reuters’ Jeff Mason has more. Miller time: Earlier in the day, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller spelled out what it all means on Fox News. Miller’s ire was fixed largely on the European Union, which he said uses a combination of tariffs, VAT on manufactured goods plus fines and digital taxes on tech firms to damage the U.S. economy. “If we’re getting charged 30 percent by Europe, then we are going to charge them 30 percent in return,” he said. “Enough is enough. The president is going to insist on fair treatment.” It’s going to be another busy week.
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices: Protect Medicare Advantage: 34 million seniors are counting on it.
Over half of America's seniors choose Medicare Advantage because it provides them better care at lower costs than fee-for-service Medicare. With their coverage and care on the line, seniors are watching closely to see whether policymakers keep the bipartisan promise to protect Medicare Advantage by ensuring this vital part of Medicare is adequately funded.
Learn more at https://medicarechoices.org/ | | | THE MAGA REVOLUTION RESEARCH AND DESTROY: Massive cuts to the National Institutes of Health’s funding for the “indirect” costs around medical research, announced without warning late on Friday, will come into force today — and the backlash has been growing steadily through the weekend. There’s been lots of back and forth on how significant these cuts are, with scientists and researchers screaming bloody murder about the consequences, while axe-wielder-in-chief Elon Musk insists it’s no big deal. The people to actually watch today … Are Hill Republicans with large science and research industries bases in their states. Check out these comments from Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) to her local press in Alabama over the weekend as your starter. Given there are also anxious local reports of big funding losses in places like Georgia … Wisconsin … and Nebraska (not to mention the questions around $3.7 billion received by North Carolina, per the NYT), this one has the chance to get very political, very fast. Also getting political … The courts. (Who could have seen that coming?) The weekend saw repeated attacks by powerful Republicans on the judge who ruled Musk’s aggressive targeting of USAID must be paused last week. Vice President JD Vance kicked things off by declaring on X: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” Trump himself then weighed in on Air Force One, saying: “When a president can’t look for fraud and waste and abuse, we don’t have a country any more …. No judge should frankly be allowed to make that kind of decision.” Team Trump is confident it has strong public backing on this one. But but but: In truth, not even all Rs are united on this. USAID has long enjoyed support from a certain type of Republican in Washington who sees it as an effective promotion of soft power abroad. One veteran staffer tells POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin that its destruction places American workers abroad “in dangerous situations.” And even some Republicans who have criticized USAID in the past now worry about Trump’s sledgehammer, add WSJ’s Siobhan Hughes, Katy Stech Ferek and Alex Ward. Don’t “throw the baby out with the bath water,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) urges, while USAID backer Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) offers up the quote of the day: “Something I really like about Donald Trump — he can be assaulted by reality.” Banned aid: ProPublica’s Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy examine in detail whether Trump’s destruction of USAID has broken the law. Several experts tell them likely yes, pointing to potential violations of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Administrative Procedures Act, the Impoundment Control Act and the Constitution. They report former USAID chief of staff Matt Hopson told career staffers that “Trump could not have a higher tolerance for legal risk.” Who’s next?: While politicians and judges argue about the future of USAID, it’s the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which looks like the next government agency to be fed into Musk’s trusty wood chipper. Staffers have been told its headquarters will remain closed today and throughout the rest of the week (h/t the AP). Will it ever open again? Given its new acting head is Project 2025 slash-and-burn guru Russell Vought, you’d have to assume not — or at least not in anything like its current form. Getting around Congress: “The agency, created by Congress in 2011 as a financial industry watchdog, cannot be closed without congressional action,” the NYT’s Ryan Mac and Stacy Cowley report. “But its director can freeze most of its actions by halting enforcement, weakening or repealing regulations and softening its supervision of banks and other lenders.” Will Congress just sit back and let this happen? Developing overnight: In a filing late Sunday night, the Trump administration asked a court to lift the DOGE-related order issued early Saturday that limits Treasury officials’ access to payment system databases. The DOJ is arguing that barring contractors and non-Treasury federal employees from accessing the systems could result in major disruptions, since Treasury often relies on such people to perform maintenance and some other agencies need access to the systems to initiate payments. Stay tuned. (h/t Josh Gerstein) But the biggest cut of all this week … The penny! Last night, Trump posted on social media: “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time.” Plenty of people agree with Trump on this one … There was a great NYT Mag piece about the whole issue recently, if you’ve got a few minutes to spare. What to watch today: A Massachusetts federal judge today will have the next hearing on the Trump administration’s “buyout” offer for federal workers, whose deadline he extended to 11:59 p.m. tonight, as WaPo’s Olivia George writes. Further reading: “NOAA told to search grant programs for climate-related terms,” by Axios’ Andrew Freedman … “For Stunned Federal Workers, Sleeplessness, Anger and Tears,” by NYT’s Elisabeth Bumiller
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices:  
| | | BEST OF THE REST GOP AT WAR: Prominent House Republicans are clashing bitterly over plans for a major tax reconciliation bill, POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill scooped last night. The dispute centers, naturally, on the depth of spending cuts vs. the maximum deficit increase permitted by Congress. Deficit hardliners like House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) want to keep the deficit lower, but that would preclude much in the way of tax cuts beyond an extension of the 2017 Trump package. House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and other top Republicans are pushing for more leeway. And there’s more: “Centrists and even some more conservative Republicans are also increasingly alarmed that Arrington keeps raising Medicare reforms as a potential spending offset, according to three Republicans familiar with the ongoing talks,” Benjamin and Meredith report. “Trump made it clear on the campaign trail that he doesn’t want to touch Medicare, but Arrington has suggested a variety of changes to the program that would lower costs in the Ways and Means’ jurisdiction.” Needless to say, time is running out for the GOP to cut a deal. NOMINATIONS WATCH: Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as director of national intelligence comes up for a procedural vote at 5:30 p.m. But barring a surprise, there’s now vanishingly little suspense about her path — or indeed those of any other controversial Cabinet picks — to confirmation. As POLITICO’s Jordain Carney writes this morning, Senate Republicans have quickly fallen into line with whatever Trump wants, far more easily than they did in his first term. Only Labor Secretary-designate Lori Chavez-DeRemer faces any real lingering vote-count problem — for not being conservative enough. SCARY STUFF: “Inside Trump’s Iran fear,” by Axios’ Alex Isenstadt, from his new book, “Revenge”: “Iran’s threat to assassinate Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign was far more serious than publicly known — and led to extraordinary precautions by his team that included using a decoy plane to avert a feared attempt on his life. … Law enforcement officials warned Trump last year that Tehran had placed operatives in the U.S. with access to surface-to-air missiles. Trump’s team worried that the Iranians could try to down his easily recognizable personal jet — better known as ‘Trump Force One’ — as it was taking off or landing. … Much of Trump's staff traveled on Trump Force One [on a decoy flight] — infuriating some aides who worried they’d be ‘collateral damage’ if the jet were shot down.”
| | | | A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices:  
| | | BEYOND THE BELTWAY JUST VANCE: VP Vance is making his entrée on the world stage today as he travels to Paris for the two-day AI Action Summit. (After that, he’ll move on to Germany for the Munich Security Conference this coming weekend.) In France, Vance’s schedule includes dinner at the Palais de l'Élysée and bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and VP Kaja Kallas, and Indian PM Narendra Modi, POLITICO’s Irie Sentner previews. The stakes: For Vance, this summit offers an opportunity to dig into policy on the emerging technology that could reshape the world. It’s also a chance to start building global relationships and burnishing his foreign policy credentials, with at least half an eye on 2028. But there could be some awkward moments: He “will have to mingle with bastions of a global status quo he and Trump have been widely critical of,” Irie notes, at a moment when many U.S. allies dread the isolationism Vance champions. What Kyiv is watching: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and special envoy Keith Kellogg are also heading to Europe this week to discuss the war in Ukraine, the AP reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in Munich too, to present Ukraine’s hopes for negotiations. Trump indicated yesterday on Air Force One that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but declined to provide many details, per Reuters. “I do believe we’re making progress,” he said. IMMIGRATION FILES: The first court challenge to Trump’s send-migrants-to-Gitmo plan has succeeded, but it’s very narrow. Three Venezuelan detainees in New Mexico, who said they had a “credible fear” of joining the dozens of people already flown to Guantánamo Bay, got a federal judge to block that from happening temporarily, per the AP. Dept. of leopards and faces: In heavily Venezuelan Doral, Florida, which swung hard to Trump at the election (and where he owns a glitzy golf club), the president’s revocation of Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans has come as a shock and betrayal, WaPo’s Sabrina Rodriguez and Reshma Kirpalani report. More immigration reading: “They helped US order airstrikes against Taliban. Now Trump’s moves have left those Afghans in limbo,” by AP’s Llazar Semini, Farnoush Amiri and Munir Ahmed … “It’s a race for NJ governor, but Republicans want to focus on immigration,” by Daniel Han. GAZA FALLOUT: In Jordan, where Palestinians already make up an outright majority of the population by some unofficial estimates, Trump’s suggestion that Gaza’s Middle Eastern neighbors should take in even more refugees has unleashed “widespread anger,” WaPo’s Claire Parker reports from Amman. But he’s not backing down: Trump’s latest comments on Gaza, on Sunday afternoon, were perhaps his most bullish so far. “Think of it as a big real estate site,” he said. “And the United States is going to own it. And we’re going to slowly, very slowly, develop it. We’re going to bring stability to the Middle East.” Um, really? The U.S. will “let other countries develop parts of it,” Trump added, meaning that “people from all over the world can come and live there.” And its current inhabitants? “We’ll take care of the Palestinians,” he said. “We’re going to make sure they live in harmony and peace, and they’re not murdered.” Needless to say, there’s still precious little sign of support for the idea outside Israel.
| | TALK OF THE TOWN | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Britain’s new man in Washington, Peter Mandelson, arrived in D.C. at the end of last week and will formally hand over his credentials to the State Department at Blair House today — officially kicking off his tenure as British ambassador. Mandelson replaces the now-departed Karen Pierce, a famously party-loving figure on the Washington circuit who built strong relations with Team Trump. Mandelson is a veteran of the British political scene and an old ally of former PM Tony Blair — and told your Playbook author he’s already “energized” by the post-inauguration fever gripping D.C. In his own words: “Landing back in D.C. is hugely energizing: this town remains the power capital of the free world and hasn’t felt so dynamic in years,” Mandelson said. “U.S./U.K. partnerships are everywhere you look — it’s my mission to turbo-charge that friendship. The gates of 3100 Massachusetts Avenue are open to Playbookers of all stripes.” Sounds good! Playbook looks forward to sharing several large gins in the months ahead. — Amos Snead has launched a new strategic comms firm, The DUX Group LLC. He previously was president of Adfero for the last six years and is a Washington public affairs and Hill veteran, as well as chair emeritus of the National Press Foundation. — Greta Gao will be chief counsel and senior adviser for the House Judiciary Committee Democrats. She previously was acting deputy assistant AG at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legislative Affairs. — Robert Marchant is now a managing principal and director of growth at Husch Blackwell Strategies, leading its Wisconsin state advocacy team in Madison. He most recently was chief client officer and partner at Michael Best Strategies. MEDIA MOVES — Christa Case Bryant is the new editor of The Christian Science Monitor. She most recently was senior congressional correspondent and deputy national news editor for the outlet. … Keith Koffler is the new managing editor of The Daily Signal. He previously was senior editor at Fox News Digital, overseeing politics reporters and editors in D.C. Tyler O’Neil is shifting to a senior editor role. … Interactive live video platform 2WAY is adding Meghan McCain and Michael Moynihan to its lineup next month, along with bringing Alex Chitty aboard as head of strategy and operations. He previously was head of audio and video at The Free Press. TRANSITIONS — Lauren Chou is joining the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee as comms director. She most recently was comms director for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s Florida Senate campaign, and is an EMILY’s List and Mandela Barnes alum. … Ryan McManus and Tommy Reynolds are now directors of government relations at Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. McManus previously was a government relations manager for the American Public Works Association. Reynolds previously was legislative director for Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.). … Stuart Styron is now a senior fellow at SeedAI. He previously was senior technology policy counsel to Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). … … Grace Hagerty is now an account director in BerlinRosen’s impact practice. She previously was press secretary for the Labor Department. … Mitch Heidenreich is joining Rep. Dave Min’s (D-Calif.) office as legislative director. He previously was a senior legislative assistant for Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii). … Joshua Gardner is now VP of corporate comms at Middleburg Communities. He previously was managing director at Stand Together, and is a Frank Luntz alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) … Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) … George Stephanopoulos … Bob Iger … WSJ’s Michael Gordon … Glenn Beck … POLITICO’s Greg Mott, Kaitlyn Tibbetts, Selby Tennent and Jessica Meyers … The Atlantic’s Margy Slattery … Reuters’ Aram Roston … Emily Horne … Izzy Klein … Mindy Finn … Curt Levey of the Committee for Justice … Susan Crabtree … John Yang … Kyle Trygstad … Cathy Gillespie … CNN’s Mallory Thompson … Marisa Kashino … Merck’s John Cummins … Erin Logan … Cavan Jones of the American Society of Anesthesiologists … Alex Davidson of the National Turkey Federation … Jo-Marie St. Martin … Jake Silverman of Rep. Nikema Williams’ (D-Ga.) office (3-0) … Natalie Knight of House Judiciary … Eric Storey … Tim Graham … Matt Holt … Steve Beynon … Scott Sendek … John Sturm … Jim Pfaff … Joanna Belanger … Jeff Jacoby … Jim Cramer (7-0) 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 deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook misstated whose houseguest Kato Kaelin was.
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Medicare Advantage outperforms fee-for-service Medicare in preventive care and supporting seniors living with chronic disease. Seniors in Medicare Advantage experience fewer readmissions, fewer preventable hospitalizations, lower rates of high-risk medications and better outcomes.
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