| | | |  | | By Sophia Cai, Ben Johansen and Irie Sentner | | Presented by |  | | | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the power dynamics, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s White House. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben JUST IN: The friendship between ELON MUSK and Rep. JIM JORDAN is helping both men further their personal and political agendas in President DONALD TRUMP’s Washington, our HAILEY FUCHS reports. The billionaire DOGE chief and House Judiciary chair speak about once a month, and both men are leveraging that relationship to gain influence in the other’s domain. THE WALKBACK: After Trump’s blockbuster comments last night that the U.S. would control Gaza, the White House on Wednesday walked back some of the details Trump laid out, casting the “takeover” as an opening salvo. THE HEAVYWEIGHT: CHARLIE KIRK has been a fixture in Trump world for years. But look past the surface, and you’ll see he’s quietly become the most influential player outside the administration whose last name isn’t Trump or Musk. Consider the signs:
- He was Vice President JD VANCE’s first guest on Air Force Two.
- He traveled to Greenland with DONALD TRUMP JR. after the president floated buying the territory.
- He was an unofficial backchannel between TikTok and Trump’s team in January as the company faced its deadline to sell.
- He hosted a pre-inauguration ball packed with West Wing power players.
At 31 years old, Kirk commands an online following of more than 25 million people across social media platforms and churns out content in lockstep with the White House’s messaging. But it’s his unique mix of social influence and direct access to the administration’s nerve center — Vance, Trump Jr. and Presidential Personnel Director SERGIO GOR — that has transformed him from Trump Jr.’s “body man” into a political power broker over the past eight years. Kirk’s rise in Trump’s orbit began with the president’s eldest son, whom he met through former RNC co-chair TOMMY HICKS and Texas financier GENTRY BEACH, according to a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to describe personal relationships. On the 2016 campaign trail, Kirk did social media — and some grunt work. “I traveled the country for about 70 days straight carrying Donald Trump Jr.’s bags and getting his Diet Cokes,” Kirk told RUSH LIMBAUGH in a 2019 interview. Fast-forward to today: Kirk is no longer just following the action. He headlined his own inaugural eve ball, sharing the dance floor with Vance, Gor and Trump Jr. His radio program, The Charlie Kirk Show, is syndicated on nearly 200 stations nationally, and his conservative advocacy organization, Turning Point Action, played a major role in Trump’s 2024 ground game — a position it plans to expand for the 2026 midterms. Kirk’s threatened to back primary opponents for lawmakers who stand in Trump’s way. Throughout the transition, Kirk was a regular presence at Mar-a-Lago, sometimes weighing in on personnel decisions, according to two people who were at Mar-a-Lago during that period. Trump gave him a shout-out for being “fantastic” during his speech at his rally the day before the inauguration. But Kirk’s relationships, which extend deep into the senior-most ranks of the White House, were built up well before Trump won reelection. During Trump’s time out of office, Kirk leveraged Turning Point and his radio show to amplify the architects of Trump’s second-term agenda — interviewing figures like Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy STEPHEN MILLER, OMB Director nominee RUSS VOUGHT, and staff secretary WILL SCHARF. But Kirk doesn’t always tout the Trump line. Today on his radio show, he put out a “redline” over the president’s plans to control the Gaza Strip: “The occupation of Gaza is not worth the life of a single Marine from Oklahoma. Period. It’s not worth it.” Even as Kirk’s stature has grown, he insists he hasn’t lost sight of the grassroots base that fueled his rise. “Charlie is here to assist with what President Trump and JD Vance are working to accomplish,” his spokesperson, ANDREW KOLVET, told West Wing Playbook. “To the extent that he can be helpful and is invited to participate or weigh in, he’s honored to do that. But it’s all about President Trump and Vice President Vance. He wants to see their mandate fulfilled, it’s as simple as that.” As close as Kirk has grown to top figures in the West Wing, he makes sure to keep a pulse on what’s resonating with the masses, according to a person who’s familiar with Kirk’s day to day: He still reads every single email he gets from his radio listeners — thousands of them, every day. MESSAGE US — Are you Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT? 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!
| | | | We’ve re-imagined and expanded our Inside Congress newsletter to give you unmatched reporting on Capitol Hill politics and policy -- and we'll get it to your inbox even earlier. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | How did former President JOE BIDEN get the nickname, “Hands”? (Answer at bottom.)
| | FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: The National Women’s Law Center and Public Citizen are demanding that Congress investigate whether Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency violated the law by accessing protected or classified information without authorization, according to a letter obtained by West Wing Playbook. The letter, signed by 119 national organizations, argues that Musk and his representatives may have “violated the temporary restraining orders (TROs) issued by district courts in Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.” — the latter of which was recently extended by U.S. District Judge LOREN ALIKHAN — in response to last week’s OMB memo “attempting to freeze or cut funding appropriated by Congress.” “Millions of Americans are likely to be harmed if Elon Musk and DOGE are allowed to continue to infiltrate and take over critical government systems,” the signees write in the letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE, Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, Speaker MIKE JOHNSON and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES. “We demand that you take action immediately to protect your constituents, our democracy and the rule of law.” OVER AT THE BRIEFING: White House press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT gave her third briefing on Wednesday, where she stressed that Trump has not committed to sending American troops to Gaza, Ben reports. It comes after Trump on Tuesday, alongside Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, said that the U.S. will “take over” the Gaza strip, sending American troops “if necessary.” And the “new media” seat for Wednesday went to SAGE STEELE, the former ESPN broadcaster turned conservative podcaster, following MIKE ALLEN of Axios and JOHN ASHBROOK of the “Ruthless” podcast at the previous two briefings. Leavitt also announced that more than 12,000 applications have come in to compete for the seat. CULTURE WAR CHRONICLES: Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girl’s sports, through denying federal funds to schools that allow it. The order is one of several actions Trump has already taken targeting transgender Americans. “The war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said at the signing ceremony. The Trump administration will roll back the Biden administration’s guidance on Title IX, which required schools to allow trans students to access the school’s sports programs. When addressing the crowd, Trump praised Alabama Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE, the former football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008, for being a great coach to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES. “His quarterback was named Mahomes. He was a great college coach. I said, ‘How good was he?’ He said, ‘You don’t want to know how good. He made me into a great coach,’” Trump remarked. Mahomes did not play under Tuberville. He played at Texas Tech University from 2014 to 2017.
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council: President Trump: Chemistry Powers American Greatness. Mr. President, chemistry is foundational to America's supply chain. It fuels national defense, energy security, healthcare, and innovation. Growing U.S. chemical production means jobs, stronger supply chains, and winning the global competition. Over 75% of Americans agree: chemistry is essential to our economy and security. By championing smart, pro-growth policies we can bolster chemical production here and help make America the world's manufacturing superpower. American success relies on American chemistry. | | | | | FILLING OUT THE TEAM: PAM BONDI was sworn in as attorney general on Wednesday, hours after the Senate confirmed the former Florida AG in a 54-46 vote. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-Pa.) was the lone Democrat to support her nomination. During Bondi’s swearing in, Trump commented on her approach toward Democrats: “I know I'm supposed to say, ‘She's going to be totally impartial with respect to Democrats.’ … I'm not sure if there's a possibility of ‘totally,’ but she's going to be as total as you can get.” NEXT INTO THE TANK: Federal employees at the Labor Department are racing to block the DOGE team from hobbling the agency and gaining access to sensitive computer systems following similar efforts at USAID and the Office of Personnel Management, our LAWRENCE UKENYE reports. Government employee unions and labor groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Wednesday contending that Musk’s government efficiency team will attempt to illegally gain access to DOL’s systems containing sensitive information and unlawfully fire career personnel.
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council:  
| | | | | THEY’RE THE SAME PICTURE: Trump on the campaign trail disavowed Project 2025, saying he knew nothing about the effort spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation. But as our LISET CRUZ, ALI BIANCO, MEGAN MESSERLY, ABHINANDA BHATTACHARYYA and ANNA WIEDERKEHR report, many of the conservative blueprint’s ideas have made their way into the president’s early executive actions, signaling the sweeping impact the think-tank’s document has had on the White House’s policy making. A side-by-side review by POLITICO found dozens of cases where Trump’s early orders have aligned with the 922-page policy document. Several of the ideas, such as energy policies expanding U.S. oil and critical minerals production, are longtime conservative policy priorities that did not originate with Project 2025. But some of the more unconventional strategies outlined in the document, such as reclassifying federal employees to make them easier to fire and installing loyalists in senior government positions, have also shown up. Our colleagues broke down the 37 ways in which Trump’s orders are aligned with the Project 2025 agenda, divided into six categories: social issues, immigration, government staffing, energy, foreign affairs and the economy. TOP SECRET? The C.I.A. sent the White House an unclassified email listing all employees hired by the spy agency over the last two years to comply with Trump’s executive order to shrink the federal workforce, NYT’s DAVID E. SANGER and JULIAN E. BARNES report. The list includes first names and the first initial of the last name of the new hires, who are still in their probationary period — and thus easy to dismiss. It included a large crop of young analysts and operatives who were hired specifically to focus on China, and whose identities are usually closely guarded because Chinese hackers are constantly seeking to identify them.
| | Trump Advisers Stopped Musk From Hiring a Noncitizen at DOGE (The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer) After 24 years, an immigrant’s fate is upended in Trump’s first week (WaPo’s Joanna Slater) Trump is Turning Out To Be a Very Pro-China President (POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi) ‘Frankly Insane’: Trump’s Plan to Ship Migrants to Guantanamo Could Quickly Collapse (POLITICO’s Ben Fox)
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council: President Trump: Let's Make America the Manufacturing Superpower
Mr. President, chemistry is the backbone of American innovation and strength. From national defense to energy independence, healthcare, and advanced technology, U.S. chemical manufacturers drive the products and solutions our nation relies on every day.
By growing U.S. chemical production, we can create jobs, bolster our sector's trade surplus, and ensure America wins the global competition. Over 75% of Americans agree: chemistry is essential to our economy and technological edge.
Smart, pro-growth policies are key to fostering domestic production, strengthening supply chains, and prioritizing energy security. By supporting American chemical manufacturers, you'll support families, businesses, and our nation.
Let's work together to champion growth, innovation, and American-made success. With your leadership, we can help you secure America's place as the world's manufacturing superpower.
American success relies on American chemistry. | | | | | During his time at the private boys’ high school Archmere Academy, Biden initially started with the nickname “Dash” from his classmates for his stutter. But after he “turned himself into a star halfback” on the football field “known for his skill at reeling in passes,” he got the nickname “Hands,” according to the University of Virginia Miller Center for Politics. 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 Jennifer Haberkorn, Noah Bierman and Kaitlyn Locke
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