| | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis | With help from Daniel Lippman WHAT IT ALL MEANS: President Donald Trump packed quite a bit into last night’s joint address to Congress, which served as an early-stage victory lap to tout the fire hose of upheaval of the federal bureaucracy, foreign policy and more — all while dropping tea leaves for the eagle-eyed lobbying industry. — Far from retreating from sweeping new tariffs he imposed on Canada, Mexico and China earlier in the day, as much of the business community had hoped, Trump doubled down on his protectionist trade policies Tuesday night. Trump touted his existing tariffs on copper, aluminum, steel and lumber and even namedropped an American steelworker who came as one of his guests to the speech. — He vowed new reciprocal tariffs on goods from countries around the world that he said will go into effect starting April 2, promising that his trade policies would result in a “field day” for farmers — give or take “a little bit of an adjustment period.” — Another big winner of his trade policies would be automakers, Trump said — an assertion quite at odds with alarms being raised by the companies themselves. “It’s going to boom,” the president said of the auto industry, adding that he “spoke to the majors” earlier in the day. “All three, the top people and they’re so excited.” — Less than a day later, however, Trump granted automakers the first major carveout from the new tariff regime, agreeing to a 30-day delay of tariffs on vehicles made in compliance with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement brokered by Trump in his first term after lobbying by executives from the so-called Big Three: Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. — Elsewhere in the nearly 100-minute speech, Trump reiterated his commitment to permanently extending the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017. He gave shoutouts to a number of key business priorities, including the restoration of full expensing for capital investments, backdated to his Inauguration Day, tax cuts for domestic manufacturing and eliminating taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits. — Trump also floated a new deduction for interest payments on loans for American-made cars and tax breaks to incentivize domestic shipbuilding, an idea cheered by the head of a key industry group. — Not every sector would fare as well under the industrial policy laid out by the president, though. “Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t mean a thing,” Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson of the landmark bipartisan semiconductor incentives passed in 2022. — Trump directed Johnson to “get rid of” that law and use “whatever’s left over” to “reduce debt or any other reason you want to,” pointing to an announcement by chipmaking giant TSMC that it would invest an additional $100 billion into manufacturing plants in the U.S. “And we’re not giving them any money,” Trump boasted, mere hours after industry executives fanned out across the Hill to promote chip incentives. (A spokesperson for the Semiconductor Industry Association, which organized Tuesday’s fly-in, declined to comment.) — But Trump’s policy proposals weren’t the only things K Street gleaned last night from the speech. Something that jumped out to Aaron Cutler, who leads the lobbying practice at Hogan Lovells, was “at a macro level, the level of energy that President Trump had, and the fact that he said, ‘We’re just getting started.’” — “We’ve been advising clients, like, don’t look at this as a first 100-day thing. This is going to be the pace for the next three years and 10 months,” Cutler told PI. “I don’t think it’s going to slow down at all.” Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis: American higher education is at a crossroads. Ideological forces in and outside of campuses have pulled too many universities away from the core purpose, principles and values that made them America's great engines of learning, innovation and discovery. It is imperative that universities reaffirm these core principles. We invite other university leaders, board members and alumni to join us. | | | BROWNSTEIN ADDS TRUMP LAWYER: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Washington’s top-earning lobbying firm, has bolstered its ranks with a top Trump world attorney whose former clients include the president himself. — Evan Corcoran represented Trump during the multiple federal investigations led by former special counsel Jack Smith after Trump left office, including the probe that eventually resulted in Trump’s indictment on charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election. — He briefly represented Trump during the other criminal case brought by Smith, involving Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and obstruction of justice, before being compelled to testify for the prosecution. Both cases against Trump were ultimately dropped. — Corcoran is joining Brownstein’s D.C. office as a shareholder in its litigation department, but firm spokesperson Maria Miller told PI that he will also register to lobby. Corcoran “is a team player and will support clients as needed,” Miller said when asked with which clients Corcoran might work. — “Since he knows the administration’s decisionmakers, he can interface with agencies to get results,” said Adam Bult, who co-chairs Brownstein’s litigation practice. “I look forward to seeing Evan expand our civil and white collar practice.” — Corcoran’s other former clients include former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 select committee. MORE ON THOSE TARIFFS: Business groups are holding out hope for more carveouts to Trump’s new tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but POLITICO’s Doug Palmer and Ari Hawkins report that they’re not ruling out taking legal action against the administration. — Ed Brzytwa, vice president of international trade at the Consumer Technology Association, whose members range from retailers such as Walmart and Amazon to manufacturers such as Sony and Panasonic, said he was hopeful before Trump’s speech that the White House would announce deals with Canada and Mexico. — “‘They were close, they almost had deals,’ said Brzytwa. ‘Canada and Mexico were engaging in good faith.’ If talks are successful, he continued, ‘this conversation about whether or not to file a lawsuit is less relevant.’” — “There’s always that hope that these won’t last long, and you don’t want to create a big ruckus out of nothing, not for something that could go away quickly,” another lobbyist told Doug and Ari. “But that may be wishful thinking,” they write, given the recriminations and threats that were coming out of both Ottawa and Washington on Tuesday. — “And it reflects the lack of good options the U.S. business community faces as it stares down duties that, according to one estimate, will reduce U.S. economic output by about $200 billion. Even if business groups decide to risk Trump’s ire with a lawsuit, any case could take years to litigate.” MUSK READ: “Two weeks ago, SpaceX engineer Ted Malaska showed up at the Federal Aviation Administration’s headquarters in Washington to deliver what he described as a directive from his boss Elon Musk: The agency will immediately start work on a program to deploy thousands of the company’s Starlink satellite terminals to support the national airspace system,” Bloomberg’s Jason Leopold, Allyson Versprille and Kelcee Griffis report. — “Malaska told those in attendance that the employees had up to 18 months to get the new program up and running, an unsettling timeline for aviation safety employees accustomed to a more deliberate pace. Anyone who impeded progress, Malaska said, would be reported to Musk and risked losing their jobs, according to two people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly.” D’ESPOSITO LANDS AT MODERN FORTIS: Former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) is joining Modern Fortis as a senior adviser, where he’ll advise the lobbying firm’s public safety clients as well as tech companies partnering with law enforcement and those working on other public safety and security initiatives. — D’Esposito was a retired NYPD detective and served on the House Homeland Security Committee during his one term in Congress, which ended after D’Esposito’s reelection loss in November. D’Esposito doesn’t plan on registering to lobby, according to the firm, whose clients include the D.C. Police Union and companies like Truleo, which bills itself as an “AI-powered police assistant.”
| | | | A message from Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis:  
| | | | | — LSG has added Teal Baker as managing director and Rachel Shell and Dayna Adelman as senior vice presidents. Baker was previously with the Better Medicare Alliance, Shell was previously with Edelman and Adelman was previously with Heineken. — The National Association of Wheat Growers has hired Anthony Peña as policy manager. He was most recently a government relations manager at the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association and is a Patty Murray alum. — Claudia Flores is now director of public policy at DailyPay. She was previously DailyPay’s senior manager of public policy. — S-3 Group has promoted Hastie Afkhami, Jose Ceballos and Marty Reiser to partners in the lobbying practice and Sarah Dolan Schneider to senior vice president in the public affairs practice. — Rahul Rao is now a partner at White & Case. He previously was deputy director at the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. — Christopher Madaio is now senior adviser at The Institute for College Access & Success. He previously was director of the investigations group at the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid. — Nvidia is adding Sarah Weinstein and Angela Krasnick to its corporate communications team in D.C. Weinstein previously was director of public affairs at the Commerce Department and is a Jeanne Shaheen and Pete Aguilar alum. Krasnick most recently was director of digital platforms in the Biden White House. — Sierra Robinson is now director of external affairs and comms at the National Credit Union Administration. She previously was a director of federal government affairs at CitiGroup and is a Mike Crapo alum. — Tom Hebert is now director of government affairs at CTIA. He was previously director of competition and regulatory policy at Americans for Tax Reform. — Caitlin Clarke is now senior director for cybersecurity services at Venable. Clarke previously served on the National Security Council under the Biden administration as the senior director for cyber and emerging technology. — Tusk Strategies has added Alexandra Caffrey and Joe Costello as vice presidents. Caffrey most recently was deputy director of message events on the Harris campaign, and is a Transportation Department alum. Costello most recently was a spokesperson on the Harris campaign, and is a House Oversight alum. — Bridget Cullen is now a professional staff member for the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee. She previously was managing director at Daly Consulting Group. — Tara Burchmore is now a government affairs associate at Robinhood Markets. She was most recently a TechCongress fellow for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).
| | | | A message from Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis: Universities must protect their core principles, strengthen their compact with the American people and build on their unmatched capacity for teaching and innovation. Not only because universities provide education that is transformative and research that improves everyday life—but also because their work is vital to American prosperity, competitiveness and national security.
To this end, the leadership of Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis recently took board-level action to affirm three indispensable principles that have long guided us:
· Excellence in all aspects of our work, free of political litmus tests, grounded in a commitment to institutional neutrality in words and deeds.
· Academic freedom and freedom of expression.
· An environment that fosters growth and development, including a commitment to minimizing financial and other barriers that impede students' access to our institutions or that hinder their academic success.
Join us: HigherEdStatementOfPrinciples.com | | | | | Friends of Jim Risch (Sen. Jim Risch, PAC for America) HYDE-SMITH VICTORY COMMITTEE (Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Conservatives Harvesting Success PAC, NRSC) IOWA FRONTLINE FUND (Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson) NRSC FUTURE FUND (GA Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026, MI Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026, NH Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026, MN Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026, KY Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026, VA Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026, CO Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026, NRSC)
| | Association of Old Crows Political Action Committee (Crow PAC) (PAC) Californians for Ethnic Studies (PAC) Citizens for the 16th (PAC) People for Integrity in Government (Super PAC) WITH HONOR FUND III, INC. (Super PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Continental Strategy, LLC: Mediterranean Shipping Company Sa Continental Strategy, LLC: Sports Gambling Alliance Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: The Center For Planning Excellence, Inc. Hither Creek Strategies, LLC: Save Greater Dowses Beach K&L Gates, LLP: Onpoint Community Credit Union Mccarter & English, LLP: Le Creuset Of America, Inc. Meltsner Strategies, LLC: Project For Election Infrastructure Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Sealed Inc. Modern Fortis LLC: Fund For Constitutional Government Natural Resource Results LLC: Pixley Irrigation District New Century Government Affairs (F/K/A Terrence C. Wolfe): Keiser University New Century Government Affairs (F/K/A Terrence C. Wolfe): Southeastern College Winning Strategies Washington: Give An Hour
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Meltsner Strategies, LLC: Center For Technology And Civic Life Meltsner Strategies, LLC: Institute For Responsive Government Action, Inc. Natural Resource Results LLC: South Valley Water Association Oncology Nursing Society: Oncology Nursing Society | | | | Follow us | | | |
