|
Presented by Amazon: POLITICO's must-read briefing on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. | | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | | |  Donald Trump makes the sign of zipping his lips at a Manhattan courtroom today. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP Photo | TAKING THE STAND, TAKING A STAND — Today in a Manhattan courtroom, the unstoppable force that is DONALD TRUMP met the immovable object of the American legal system as he took the stand at his civil business fraud trial. The results were intriguingly mixed, with plenty of harbingers for how his other cases might proceed in the months to come. The case itself threatens Trump’s persona as a titan of real estate and the ultimate dealmaker — to say nothing of the very real financial risks it poses to the Trump Organization and his ability to do business in New York. State AG TISH JAMES accuses the Trumps of committing massive financial fraud by overstating their net worth and overvaluing their properties. Their defense attorneys argue that they acted legally and with no ill intent. As he took the stand for his first extensive public testimony in a decade, Trump vacillated between the brash presidential frontrunner who’s made political hay out of his prosecutions and the slightly chastened defendant subject to the judgment of Justice ARTHUR ENGORON. Classic Trump: The former president answered yes-or-no questions with monologues. He attacked James, Engoron and the entire legal system that he sees as out to get him. “It’s a terrible thing you’ve done,” he told the judge. “You know nothing about me. You believe this political hack [James] back there, and this is unfortunate.” He lambasted the proceedings as a “very, very” unfair trial. He yelled at the judge at length. And he even found time for a riff on one of his greatest hits: “I’m not a windmill person.” Substantively, Trump argued that many of his assets were actually undervalued, countering James’ case (and the summary judgment Engoron has already issued in the case). But in between the periods of rhetorical combat, there were a few moments where Engoron reminded Trump who was really in charge. “I beseech you to control him,” Engoron told Trump’s attorneys. “Sit down!” he shouted at them later. Trump got the message a bit, and — temporarily — the temperature in the courtroom lowered while he answered more questions. He acknowledged that some properties were overvalued. And he said he sometimes had input on property valuation documents, which could undermine his defense, even as he downplayed his role and the records’ importance. Walking out of the courtroom for a break at one point, he physically zipped his lips to reporters. Which version of Trump prevails will matter for his political career. But in the courtroom, all that matters is which version of the truth will prevail — and that’s entirely in Engoron’s hands. Related read: “Florida Chief Financial Officer Says State Should Provide Public Funding To Trump Amid Legal Battles,” by The Messenger’s Eva Surovell and Marc Caputo IT’S OFFICIAL — Republican former Rep. PETER MEIJER jumped into the Michigan Senate race, laying out what he describes as a bold vision for American greatness in his launch video, from the economy to China to parental rights in education. Meijer could be a strong general-election candidate for the GOP, but first he’d have to get through a tough primary — and his anti-Trump record has cost him a primary before. The welcome was not warm. The NRSC, which recruited former Rep. MIKE ROGERS to jump in the race, is so concerned that Meijer could split the center-right vote in the primary and elevate a MAGA candidate (like former Detroit Police Chief JAMES CRAIG) that they’re openly opposing his bid, Ally Mutnick reports. “Peter Meijer isn’t viable in a primary election, and there’s worry that if Meijer were nominated, the base would not be enthused in the general election,” Executive Director JASON THIELMAN said in a statement. And the official Michigan GOP account on X tweeted — and then deleted and apologized for — a message that read, “Peter Meijer voted to impeach President Trump. Remember that.” Good Monday afternoon, and thanks for reading Playbook PM. If you are the “very established White House reporter” who applied for Gannett’s new TAYLOR SWIFT reporter job — or if you know who it was — we want to hear from you. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Amazon: Independent sellers are essential to Amazon and make up more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store.
That’s why Amazon invests billions of dollars in people, resources, and tools that support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey, from getting started to helping them scale globally.
Learn how Amazon innovates for sellers. | | | AMERICA AND THE WORLD MIDDLE EAST LATEST — In Turkey today, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN sounded a bit more optimistic about the prospect for humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza and about the potential for “humanitarian pauses” the U.S. has advocated, per WaPo. But the devastation of war continued: Israel braced for a huge battle in Gaza City, and the Gaza Health Ministry said today that the number of Palestinians killed has now crossed the 10,000 threshold, including more than 4,000 children. And the reality is that Blinken’s Middle East trip achieved “only limited success” in his attempts to stop the bloodshed, AP’s Matthew Lee reports from Ankara, Turkey. U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria suffered even more attacks over the weekend, jumping from 30 to 38 incidents total and 46 service members injured, the Pentagon said today, per Lara Seligman. THE DISSENT — “U.S. diplomats slam Israel policy in leaked memo,” Nahal Toosi scoops: The memo argues “that, among other things, the U.S. should be willing to publicly criticize the Israelis. The message suggests a growing loss of confidence among U.S. diplomats in President JOE BIDEN’s approach to the Middle East crisis.” CONGRESS WHERE IMPEACHMENT STANDS — House Republicans’ Biden impeachment inquiry is zooming toward its final phase, including some major interviews and a final report, CNN’s Annie Grayer and Melanie Zanona report. But plenty of doubts remain: Impeachment supporters have yet to sway crucial moderate Republicans or turn up evidence of Biden corruption that would convince the public and the press. The duration of their “endgame” to reach that concluding report is uncertain, but likely to be measured in months. The committee chairs leading the probe are still eyeing almost 30 more witnesses. DAVID WEISS, the special counsel overseeing the HUNTER BIDEN prosecution, will sit down for an interview tomorrow. ALL POLITICS UNDER THE RADAR — Two elections tomorrow on opposite sides of New York — for Erie County and Suffolk County executives — could be telling indicators of how the migrant crisis is playing politically in the state, NYT’s Nicholas Fandos and Luis Ferré-Sadurní report. If the GOP can flip the seats, they could be bellwethers of growing strength on the basis of attacking Democrats for an influx of immigrants. And Republicans are considered the favorites in Suffolk County, the state’s largest county outside of NYC, which would give the party nearly unified control over Long Island. — Ohio will vote tomorrow on legalizing marijuana, and polls indicate that the referendum is likely to succeed, Mona Zhang previews. BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE — A year out from the election, a new memo from Congressional Leadership Fund President DAN CONSTON argues that House Republicans are well positioned to hold the chamber, NBC’s Bridget Bowman reports. In particular, Conston cites internal polling showing that several front-line members are viewed much more favorably in their districts than the GOP overall, having built strong individual brands. THE MARK LEIBOVICH TREATMENT — “Donald Trump’s Gift to Adam Schiff,” The Atlantic: “For the California lawmaker, MAGA outrage has been good for business.” AD WARS — Sen. JON TESTER (D-Mont.) is going up with his first TV ads of the cycle starting tomorrow.
| | | | CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes. | | | | | THE WHITE HOUSE STRIKE TICK-TOCK — The United Auto Workers strike posed a significant threat to the U.S. economy and Biden’s political standing. Now that it’s close over, Holly Otterbein and Olivia Olander look back at how he made it through the six weeks — including the historic decision to join workers on the picket line, which encapsulated his new approach to Democratic economic populism and political risk-taking. Union leaders “credit Biden’s embrace … for providing political cover that helped secure a deal.” 2024 WATCH END OF AN ERA — For the most part, Republicans have finally stopped promising on the campaign trail that they will repeal Obamacare, WSJ’s Stephanie Armour and Aaron Zitner report. Not only does that help ensure that the Affordable Care Act is here to stay, more than a decade after its inception; it also reflects a growing Republican comfort with larger government in health care and other aspects of American life, especially after the pandemic. NIKKI HALEY ASCENDANT — New Hampshire Republicans tired of Trump are loving Haley on the campaign trail, The Atlantic’s Elaine Godfrey reports. It’s still hard to see her path to anything but second place. But she’s definitely connecting: “Haley tends to speak with such a straight face that she appears almost stern. And she begins many sentences as though she is imparting a very wise lesson: ‘This is what I’ll tell you.’ The voters I met found this appealing.”
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Share what you think in a short, 1 minute survey about one of our advertisers | | | POLICY CORNER AMTRAK JOE RETURNS — This afternoon will see perhaps the most Biden event imaginable: a big Amtrak speech in Delaware. And he’ll be announcing a major new investment in the train service’s Northeast Corridor: $16.4 billion in funding across 25 different projects, per The Hill’s Alex Gangitano. From repairing tunnels to slashing travel times, the investments include the big Gateway project in New York/New Jersey and the Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Maryland. THE BRAVE NEW WORLD — Artificial intelligence companies are developing new technologies that they think could help the U.S. military on everything from pilot-less planes to rapid decision-making. Now they’re trying to sell the Pentagon on their products, NYT’s Eric Lipton reports. But the Pentagon is moving very cautiously on AI. And the startups are taking on behemoths of the military-industrial complex in trying to compete for defense contracts. JUDICIARY SQUARE SCOTUS WATCH — As the Supreme Court takes up a major case tomorrow about domestic abusers’ right to own guns if they haven’t been convicted of crimes, USA Today’s John Fritze previews the three justices to watch at oral arguments: potential swing votes BRETT KAVANAUGH and AMY CONEY BARRETT, and CLARENCE THOMAS, who may have new opportunity to clarify his originalist view of gun rights. The court’s conservative supermajority has the opportunity to gut gun restrictions even further across the country with this case. MEDIAWATCH PRIZE POSSESSION — The Pulitzers announced that they’re broadening the field of eligible journalism to include written work from broadcast and audio outlets’ digital news sites. The shift is an acknowledgment of blurring journalistic categories: Broadcast/audio companies now produce plenty of text-based journalism — as newspapers produce plenty of image- or sound-based journalism.
| | | | GET READY FOR POLITICO’S DEFENSE SUMMIT ON 11/14: Russia’s war on Ukraine … China’s threats to Taiwan … a war in Gaza. The U.S. is under increasing pressure to deter, defend and fight in more ways — but not everyone agrees how. Join POLITICO's 3rd Annual Defense Summit on November 14 for exclusive interviews and expert discussions on global security and the U.S.'s race to bolster alliances and stay ahead of adversaries. Explore critical topics, including international conflicts, advanced technology, spending priorities and political dynamics shaping global defense strategies. Don’t miss these timely and important discussions. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS MEDIA MOVES — The Guardian’s U.S. operation has added Emilie Harkin as SVP of growth (previously at Conde Nast) and Adria Walker as a reporter and Melissa Hellman as a senior reporter on the race and equity team. TRANSITIONS — Mike Casca will be chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan report. He currently is deputy chief of staff for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and is a prominent progressive flack. … Carol Quillen will be president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She previously was president of Davidson College and a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute. … … Alexander Cochran is joining the American Institute of Architects as chief advocacy officer. He previously was special counsel to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. … Drew Pusateri is now VP of corporate comms for Hims and Hers Health. He most recently was strategic comms director at the Cruise, and is a Meta, Senate Homeland Security and Claire McCaskill alum. ENGAGED — Jeff Ballou, a producer at ABC News’ Washington bureau, and Rasheedah Thomas, founder of Emerald Digital Solutions, got engaged at the Kennedy Center on Friday night. The proposal was followed by a surprise champagne toast from friends and dinner at Cafe Del Mar. The couple met at a mutual friend’s birthday party.Pic by Max Pinchinat … Another pic — Parker Williams, senior comms manager at Ducks Unlimited, proposed to Kasey Lovett, senior director of comms at American Beverage, on Saturday at the Tidal Basin, where he first asked her to be his girlfriend. They met on the Hill as comms directors. Pic … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Aly Higgins Wheeler, founder of Wheelerhouse LLC, and Graham Wheeler welcomed Callum Patrick Wheeler on Thursday. He joins big brother Jackson.Pic … Another pic — Adam Goldstein, a managing director in FGS Global’s government relations practice, and Jessica Goldstein, an investment banker at Greenhill and Co., welcomed Sylvie Yael Goldstein on Saturday. She came in at 7 lbs, 5 oz, and is named for her great-grandmother.Pic 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 producer Bethany Irvine.
| | | | SPONSORED CONTENT More than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store are from independent sellers
Amazon is committed to seeing small businesses thrive, which is why we provide services and support to help them grow. “Amazon has a ton of tools that helped us take our business to the next level,” said Kyle, owner of Pawstruck. Learn more. Sponsored by Amazon   | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
