Politico Playbook Audio Briefing

It has been one month since President Donald Trump federalized Washington, D.C. His control over the police department expires today, and it appears unlikely Congress will act to extend his power. But the National Guard troops and other federal agents are set to stay for now, so Trump’s influence will likely still be felt throughout the city. The question on everyone’s mind: Where will he direct troops next? Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns explore some possibilities. Plus, the aftershocks from Israel’s shocking bombing of Qatar are being felt in Washington.

The Jeffrey Epstein files are dominating the conversation in Washington today, following the release yesterday of a birthday greeting reportedly sent to Epstein by Donald Trump. Democrats are taking some glee over the release, but Republicans are ignoring the issue altogether, opting instead to focus on immigration and crime. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and POLITICO White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns walk through the situation. Plus, the immigration crackdown in Chicago ramps up, and it’s special election day in northern Virginia.

This morning, President Donald Trump will head to the Museum of the Bible to speak at the second meeting of his Religious Liberty Commission. But as his words aim to shore up support from a key constituency, his actions — ranging from deploying the National Guard in major cities to favorably comparing his efforts to “Apocalypse Now” — risk opening new fissures in American life. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns break it all down. Plus, the inside scoop about the latest public clash within Trump’s inner circle.

The Conversation with Dasha Burns is back! In Season 1, Burns sat down with some of the most powerful players in Washington to get their perspectives on what’s really going on inside The White House. Join The Conversation again as Burns continues to explore how President Trump and his team are fundamentally reshaping the country, and how Democrats are tackling this new era of American politics. Full episodes will now air every Friday, starting Sept. 12.

The private sector jobs boom that President Donald Trump pledged to deliver in his second term is starting to look shaky — and that raises the political stakes for this morning’s new monthly jobs report. Weak numbers — or substantial revisions to previously reported gains — would blow a hole in the Trump administration’s claims its agenda has unleashed a new “Golden Age” for American workers — and could portend a turbulent path ahead for the U.S. economy. Playbook’s Zack Stanton and POLITICO White House reporter Megan Messerly sort out what to expect as the spin cycle fires up. Plus: the Defense Department gets a rebranding, and the Justice Department opens a criminal probe into Lisa Cook.

This morning on Capitol Hill, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee to answer questions. Officially, the topic is the "President's 2026 Health Care Agenda." But unofficially, the hearing will offer the first chance for senators to grill Kennedy since the the CDC's internal war over vaccines spilled into public view, pitting scientists and medical professionals against RFK Jr.'s MAHA loyalists. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and Politico White House reporter Megan Messerly tell you what to watch for. Plus, President Donald Trump engages with European leaders on Ukraine and Russia, and a who's who of tech world CEOs descend on DC for a Rose Garden soiree.

The day Washington has been anticipating for more than a month has finally arrived: With August recess over and Congress back in action, the furor over the Jeffrey Epstein files is set to ramp up in a major way. From the maneuvering around the bipartisan discharge petition to the public pressure campaign spearheaded by Epstein’s survivors, the story is set to dominate DC today. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and Politico White House reporter Megan Messerly talk through what to expect. Plus, Trump threatens to send the military to Chicago and his tariff policies head to the Supreme Court.

When President Donald Trump addresses the press today in the Oval Office, it will be his first public appearance in a week. For many presidents, that wouldn’t be particularly notable. But Trump’s weeklong absence was heard loud and clear and sparked myriad theories about his health and vitality. POLITICO White House reporter Megan Messerly joins Playbook’s Jack Blanchard to discuss that, the president’s latest comments on Russia and all the rest of the news driving the day.

In their ongoing effort to reorganize and define the party, Democrats have gotten some new guidance on how to win over voters. And it’s not so much about what they should do, but what they shouldn’t. In a new memo shared exclusively with Playbook, the center-left Democratic think tank Third Way reveals the party should distance itself from a few dozen words and phrases that may alienate potential voters. Could terms such as “microaggression,” “privilege” and “triggering” in fact be turning off potential Democratic voters? Playbook’s Adam Wren and White House reporter Megan Messerly unpack that and more.

President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Act is in for one big, beautiful rebranding effort. Today in Georgia, VP JD Vance will seek to reframe the Republican megalaw as primarily  “working families tax cuts.” In part, that’s a reaction to weak poll numbers for Trump’s signature legislative accomplishment heading into the midterms. But the new approach is also a reflection of a divide within the GOP over whether congressional Republicans have been sufficiently proactive in promoting the policy to voters. Playbook’s Adam Wren and Politico White House reporter Irie Sentner break down what to watch.

With a smashmouth, all-caps-laden and meme-filled X account, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is holding a mirror up to MAGA — and MAGA doesn’t like what it’s seeing. For a decade, President Donald Trump has blazed trails online. And now, Newsom is finding that by replicating Trump’s posts — to the point of outright parody and trolling — he’s effectively gamed social media algorithms and colonized X’s “for you” tab. Is this a new era for political communication in America? And is the Michelle Obama “when they go low, we go high” era effectively dead and buried? Playbook’s Adam Wren and Dasha Burns sort through the AI-generated slop and get some answers.

A whirlwind of diplomacy whipped through Washington yesterday. Today, we’re sorting through the aftermath of the series of historic meetings between President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a coterie of European leaders. Playbook’s Adam Wren and Dasha Burns sort through the big takeaways, what really changed and what lies ahead for Ukraine, Russia and the U.S.

Another day, another massive summit with huge geopolitical implications. On Friday, the biggest story in politics was the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meets with Trump, with a cavalcade of European leaders in tow. What can we expect today? Playbook’s Adam Wren and Dasha Burns unpack what to expect.

This afternoon, President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. For the better part of a week, the White House has been tempering expectations — with the latest chatter being that this will all be the prelude to a second meeting with Putin at which real progress could be made on a ceasefire agreement in Russia’s war on Ukraine. So what would success look like today? And what is each side’s strategy going in? Playbook’s Adam Wren and POLITICO White House and foreign affairs correspondent Eli Stokols walk you through what you need to know.

After his appearance last week on “Pod Save America,” Pete Buttigieg attracted incoming fire over his response to a question about Gaza — an answer which critics thought was especially mealy-mouthed. This morning, in an exclusive interview for Playbook, Buttigieg clears the air — and offers the latest sign of just how much opinions within the Democratic Party are shifting on Israel and Gaza. Playbook’s Adam Wren and Dasha Burns talk it through. Plus, the latest on tomorrow’s Trump-Putin meeting, and Dasha talks through her latest scoop on Susie Wiles and Laura Loomer.

After successfully ousting several officials in the Trump administration, far-right activist and MAGA influencer Laura Loomer has sharpened her focus on her next targets: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and one of his top aides. And a big part of the reason why has to do with 2028. Playbook’s Adam Wren and Dasha Burns break it all down and what it could mean for the administration. Plus, the latest geopolitical jockeying ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, and questions abound about the trustworthiness of new economic data from Trump’s Washington.

Residents of Washington are waking up this morning to a city that looks a little different. At a press conference yesterday morning, President Donald Trump announced he would effectively take over the Washington’s police department for 30 days and deploy the National Guard to patrol the city. What happens next? How are Democrats responding? And what is the conversation Trump is trying to bait them into? Playbook’s Adam Wren and Dasha Burns break it all down.

Today at 10 a.m., President Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will deploy federal forces to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., in an attempt to fight crime and “immediately clear out the city’s homeless population.” It comes as Trump has reportedly eyed a federal takeover of Washington in response to what he characterizes as “out of control crime” — even though statistics from law enforcement show that violent crime in the district has dropped substantially over the past two years. Is this an attempt by Trump to control the narrative? How seriously should Washingtonians take the threat of a takeover? And what does this mean for self-governance in D.C.? Playbook’s Adam Wren and POLITICO senior Congress editor Mike DeBonis talk it through.

Last night, the White House announced that it will use federal law enforcement officers to patrol Washington D.C. in a striking escalation of the administration’s antagonism towards the city’s locally controlled government. It comes as Trump has threatened in recent days to federalize the city and take over its police force in response to an attempted carjacking that injured a staffer in the Trump administration. But there’s a bigger picture, too: A pivot on the part of the administration to refocus its message on the “law and order” issues where they feel the safest politically. Where do things go from here? Playbook’s Adam Wren breaks it all down with POLITICO White House reporter Megan Messerly. That, plus Texas’ redistricting melee scrambles the state’s marquee U.S. Senate race, and how the White House is thinking about the prospect of a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As the humanitarian disaster in Gaza shifts American politics and opinions about Israel, the entire issue is quickly becoming the Democratic Party’s first foreign policy litmus test of the 2026 and 2028 cycles. Playbook’s Adam Wren and POLITICO White House reporter Megan Messerly look at how that’s playing out in Michigan’s pivotal Senate primary, which is a microcosm of the broader dynamics shaping the party: a divide that isn’t so much left vs. center or progressive vs. moderate, but institutionalists vs. disruptors. All of that, plus: President Donald Trump’s latest wave of tariffs went into effect overnight, and what we know about the latest rumblings of a coming meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.