| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | BREAKING — “Biden releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from Northeast reserve in bid to lower prices at pump,” by AP’s Matthew Daly
|  Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger tried to undermine Robert Costello's credibility today. | Elizabeth Williams via AP Photo | THE DEFENSE RESTS — But DONALD TRUMP never does. “We’ll be resting pretty quickly, meaning resting the case,” he told reporters outside his criminal hush money trial today, per CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “I won’t be resting. I don’t rest. I’d like to rest sometimes, but I don’t get to rest,” said the former president, who appeared to nod off multiple times throughout the trial. Trump’s defense attorneys wrapped up this morning without calling Trump himself to testify, which had been the biggest outstanding question mark in the case. Trump hadn’t ruled out the prospect over the weekend, but many legal experts thought it would carry more downside than upside for him. Instead, ROBERT COSTELLO was back on the stand for cross-examination and re-direct questioning, which didn’t match the intense drama of his testimony yesterday. Prosecutor SUSAN HOFFINGER sought to portray Costello “as a dishonest operative who was looking out for Trump and his longtime friend RUDY GIULIANI” in 2018, Ben Feuerherd reports. Costello has painted MICHAEL COHEN as the dishonest one. What happens now: Justice JUAN MERCHAN has delayed closing arguments until next week, after the long Memorial Day weekend, which will be followed by jury deliberations. This afternoon, Merchan and the lawyers for both sides will nail down the instructions he’ll provide to jurors at a 2:15 p.m. “charging conference.” The entourage: Per the Trump campaign, DONALD TRUMP JR. showed up to support his dad today, as did Sen. ERIC SCHMITT (R-Mo.), Reps. RONNY JACKSON (R-Texas), DANIEL WEBSTER (R-Fla.), DAN MEUSER (R-Pa.), TROY NEHLS (R-Texas), DALE STRONG (R-Ala.) and MARÍA ELVIRA SALAZAR (R-Fla.) and JOE PISCOPO, among others. IN OTHER TRUMP-RELATED TRIALS … The RNC’s CHRISTINA BOBB pleaded not guilty in the Arizona 2020 election subversion case, per ABC’s Will Steakin. TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW — Did Trump mix up abortion pills and contraception? In an interview with KDKA-TV, Trump was asked about limits on birth control, and he didn’t rule out states clamping down on contraception, which is very unpopular politically. “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?” asked KDKA anchor Jon Delano. “We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly, and I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting,” Trump said, adding that he would put out his policy “very soon.” “Things really do have a lot to do with the states and some states are going to have different policy than others.” It was a classically Trumpian hand-waving answer that managed to avoid taking any actual stance — but more in line with how he’s addressed access to mifepristone, not birth control. A Trump campaign official told WaPo’s Amy Wang that Trump “has never advocated restrictions on contraceptives,” and pointed instead to his comments about abortion pills. But the KDKA video shows Trump was asked very specifically about birth control. President JOE BIDEN’s campaign, of course, was quick to highlight his comments. Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from INVEST IN OUR LAND: America is strongest when our farmers thrive. That's why Congress made a historic $20B investment in 2022 to support conservation practices that mitigate the effects of extreme weather and strengthen livelihoods.
Now, some want to direct these funds toward less effective practices that threaten farmers’ ability to weather storms and grow healthy soils through climate-smart farming.
Help protect conservation funding to feed America and keep farming viable for future generations. Learn more at InvestInOurLand.org. | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | |  Swing voters are taking concerns about Donald Trump not leaving office seriously. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 1. THE DEMOCRACY ELECTION: Focus groups of swing voters are picking up repeatedly on an eye-popping worry that Trump would refuse to leave office after a second term, in effect undermining American democracy, Joshua Green reports for Bloomberg Businessweek. The concerns are serious enough that they’re giving disillusioned Biden voters pause about abandoning him in November. These voters are taking Trump’s own comments (and past actions) both literally and seriously: “Trump’s flirtations with smashing limits on presidential power, while thrilling to many of his followers, alarm other voters, including some who once supported him.” 2. THE INFLATION ELECTION: “Largest rent increases are in swing states. Will it spell trouble for Biden?” by USA Today’s Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy: JOHN PIKE, “a registered independent [in Wisconsin], says he has generally voted for Democratic candidates, but this November, he’s unsure he’ll vote at all, given his experience dealing with skyrocketing rents and economic hardship. … In some swing states … rental costs have more than doubled in the past four years. In fact, 6 out of the top 10 markets and 1/3 of the top 100 markets with the largest increases happen to be in swing states, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data obtained exclusively from Rent.com.” 3. THE WAR WILL NOT BE TELEVISED: Israel today seized equipment from the AP and shut down its broadcast from Gaza because Al Jazeera is one of many organizations that gets live feeds from the AP, prompting an outcry from the news organization. The AP called the move “an abusive use by the Israeli government of the country’s new foreign broadcaster law,” which ordered Al Jazeera to close down in Israel. The AP had earlier refused to comply with an order to stop its live feed. Israel responded that it would do whatever it takes “to limit broadcasts that harm the security of the state.” White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE today called Israel’s action “concerning,” per Lauren Egan. 4. A MARRIAGE OF INCONVENIENCE: “‘I ran into her yesterday’: RFK’s strange non-relationship with his VP pick,” by WaPo’s Ashley Parker and Meryl Kornfield: “[ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.’s] communications director, DEL BIGTREE, put an even finer point on how the Kennedy operation seems to view its vice-presidential pick when asked by a Washington Post reporter who in the campaign might be able to speak on [NICOLE] SHANAHAN’s behalf. ‘I’ve never had a conversation with her about who shares her perspective,’ Bigtree said. ‘The only perspective I’m really focused on is Bobby’s.’”
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | 5. THE STAKES FOR NOVEMBER: PETER NAVARRO may be in federal prison, but that didn’t stop him from conducting an email interview with Semafor’s Gina Chon about his aggressive plans for a second Trump term. Navarro says that in the first 100 days, he envisions “mass deportations,” more tariffs on Chinese goods and the ouster of Fed Chair JEROME POWELL. “His time behind bars hasn’t tempered Navarro.” Related interview with SAM MANGEL on how he’s helping Navarro 6. WHAT MARTIN O’MALLEY IS UP TO: “Social Security chief Martin O’Malley races to rebuild troubled agency,” by WaPo’s Lisa Rein: “O’Malley has made improving customer service his biggest priority. He doesn’t have long … [He] has made changes large and small designed to make agency operations more efficient and equitable after a static three years under acting leadership.” 7. THIS AFTERNOON’S EVENT: As Biden heads to Nashua, New Hampshire, today, the White House announced that the U.S. has crossed the threshold of 1 million claims submitted and approved under the PACT Act, The Hill’s Brad Dress reports. The 2022 law, one of several high-profile accomplishments that Biden is touting on the campaign trail this year, allowed more veterans to get help and compensation for being exposed to toxic materials in the military. There’s still a lot of work ahead for the VA, which has received more than 4 million claims total. “The PACT Act has also created $5.7 billion in earned benefits for veterans.” 8. FASCINATING MEGATREND: “How Free School Meals Went Mainstream,” by NYT’s Susan Shain: “Advocates for free school meals have pushed for them to be offered to every student for a long time, but saw significant progress in the last decade and a half. Their first big win came quietly, in 2010, when Congress passed an under-the-radar policy called the community eligibility provision … Then, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government let every public school student eat for free, rapidly transforming the nation’s thinking around school meals. … In total, more than 21 million American children now attend schools that offer free meals to all — a tenfold increase from 2010.” 9. MORE QUESTIONS FOR TIM SHEEHY: The Montana GOP Senate candidate is telling a story on the campaign trail that he was discharged from the military for medical reasons after he sustained injuries in service. But his own memoir frames it differently, saying he decided to leave after being injured because he got fed up with military policies and “the military’s constriction of your life and your path,” The Daily Beast’s Martin Pengelly reports. Sheehy’s campaign responds that the Beast’s questions are “disgusting” and there’s no discrepancy.
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Mike Gallagher was sanctioned by China. Thomas Massie doesn’t sound worried about his primary election today. Larry Hogan is leaning directly into abortion with his first big ad, Ally Mutnick scooped. Sam Brown’s internal polling gives him a huge primary lead. SPOTTED: Emeril Lagasse at Le Diplomate for lunch yesterday. IN MEMORIAM — “James Greenfield, Globe-Trotting Reporter and Times Editor, Dies at 99,” by NYT’s Robert McFadden: “He wrote about world affairs for Time magazine and worked at the State Department before becoming a senior editor at The New York Times in 1967.” ONE TO WATCH — “S.E. Cupp to Lead ‘Battleground,’ a Roundtable Show Focused on Swing States, for Fox Stations,” by Variety’s Brian Steinberg TRANSITIONS — Tim Bertocci is now director of external affairs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. He previously was chief of staff for Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.). … Three policy staffers for Speaker Mike Johnson, Brittan Specht, Jason Yaworske and Preston Hill, are all leaving this month to join Michael Best Strategies, per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan. … Ben Meyerson is joining the Jewish Council for Public Affairs as digital director. He most recently worked for Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) campaign. ENGAGED — Jon Gonin, political director of the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, proposed yesterday to Shannon Macleod, senior adviser to New Hampshire congressional candidate Colin Van Ostern. The two met while they were working for campaigns in New Hampshire. 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | A message from INVEST IN OUR LAND:   America's farmers deserve to pass on their land and life's work to their children. Help protect farms from the effects of extreme weather.
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