Two versions of the future are colliding in D.C.

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Jul 11, 2024 View in browser   By Ian Ward TONIGHT’S VIEWING — It was an eventful day for President Joe Biden’s embattled campaign as a handful of new House Democrats called for him to drop his reelection bid today, bringing the total to more than a dozen. A closed-door Senate meeting with top Biden aides didn’t appear to quell the fears of many skeptical Democrats about the president’s path to victory. This evening marks an even more critical moment in his bid to shore up support — at 6:30 PM ET, Biden is scheduled to hold a rare press conference. CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC are all expected to break away from scheduled programming to carry the event. President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the NATO 75th anniversary celebratory event on Tuesday in Washington, DC. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images SPLIT SCREEN — As the leaders of the global international order gathered in Washington this week for the annual NATO summit, a very different collection of characters was congregating just across town, where the fourth edition of the National Conservatism Conference was taking place at a downtown D.C. hotel. The conference, which began in 2019 under the auspices of the conservative nonprofit Edmund Burke Foundation, has become the marquee annual get-together for the “New Right,” providing populist and nationalist-leaning activists, intellectuals and think-tankers with an opportunity to brush shoulders with their elected standard-bearers on Capitol Hill. This year’s conference, which ran from Monday to Wednesday, featured three full days of speeches and panels about the future of the “national conservatism,” grounded in economic nationalism, foreign policy restraint and a religiously-inflected social conservatism (as well as full-throated support for Donald Trump). The event was headlined by several of the rising stars of the conservative movement, including Sen. Josh Hawley, former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and Trump vice-presidential prospect Sen. J.D. Vance. Yet the split-screen between NATO and “NatCon” — which the conference’s organizers say was merely an accident of scheduling — underscored the stark division in Washington about the fate of the global order and America’s role in it. At the NATO summit, President Joe Biden and senior Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to reassure the world that America remains committed to the rules-based international order and the foundational principles of liberal internationalism. At NatCon, meanwhile, the conferences’ attendees made it clear that they’re ready to blow that very same order to bits — and outlined their plans to replace it with a more nationalistic and unapologetically anti-liberal one. During a speech on Wednesday, the conservative activist Jack Posobiec directly addressed the “people across town” and the “globalist world order … having their summit in honor of NATO.” “As sure as I’m standing here today, President Donald J. Trump is waiting in the wings,” Posobiec said. “And when he assumes office again, let me tell you: the globalists and their entire regime will be smashed to pieces and scattered to the winds.” In his keynote address on Wednesday, Vance — who humorously brushed off the mounting speculation about his place on the Republican ticket with a joke about the “slow news week” — reiterated his opposition to U.S. support for Ukraine and criticized the global economic order that NATO has made possible, arguing that it prioritizes economic efficiency over natural security. “The dumbest of all possible foreign policy solutions and answers for our country is that we should let China make all of our stuff and we should fight a war with China,” Vance said. “Yet I’ve seen the Wall Street Journal editorial page for the last couple of years say that we can indefinitely send munitions and weapons of war to Ukraine, after for the past two generations advocating that we ship our industrial base overseas.” Although foreign policy remained among the participants’ chief preoccupations, the conference revealed a more fundamental disagreement between the NATO and NatCon crowds. Across the three days of NatCon, participants also articulated a vision of American nationalism that contrasted sharply with the liberal and pluralistic one that has informed America’s place in the international order since the end of the Cold War. In his speech, Vance urged the audience to reject the small-L liberal belief that America is merely a “creedal nation” grounded in a set of abstract ideals and principles: “America is a nation — it is a group of people with a common history and a common future,” Vance said. “If this movement is going to go anywhere, and if this country is going to thrive, we have to remember that America is a nation.” Hawley, meanwhile, argued that conservatives should embrace America’s “Christian heritage” — while rejecting “ethnic nationalism of the ancient world or to the authoritarian ideology of blood-and-soil.” “Some will say now that I am calling America a Christian nation — and so I am. And some will say I am advocating Christian nationalism — and so I do,” he said in his speech. “The truth is, Christian nationalism is not a threat to American democracy. Christian nationalism founded American democracy, and it is the best form of democracy yet devised by man.” The conversation at NatCon was not entirely focused on the U.S., though. The conference featured a significant number of foreign conservatives, including British Conservative M.P. Suella Braverman, Indian conservative Ram Madhav, Polish conservative Ryszard Legutkom, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s political director Balázs Orbán (no relation) and even Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the heir to the Shah of Iran. In a speech on the conference’s first day, conference organizer Saurabh Sharma called for the creation of a “nationalist internationale” and “global anti-globalist alliance,” urging American conservatives to look abroad for examples of effective nationalist governance. Yet throughout the conference, there was a clear sense that the existing internationalist order — on full display at the NATO summit across town — would need to be destroyed before a new nationalist order could rise in its place. “We are this great nation that’s lost its way,” said David Malpass, the former president of the World Bank Group who has since converted to the NatCon cause. “And we have to recognize that it’s going to take an upheaval — not just changes on the margins — to recover our greatness.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at iward@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ianwardreports.   Understand 2024’s big impacts with Pro’s extensive Campaign Races Dashboard, exclusive insights, and key coverage of federal- and state-level debates. Focus on policy. Learn more.     What'd I Miss? — U.S. military to shut down embattled Gaza aid pier: The U.S. plans to shut down the controversial Gaza humanitarian pier “in relatively short order,” ending a three-month saga that saw the U.S. military struggle to deliver vital aid to the enclave. Speaking to reporters at the NATO Public Forum in Washington today, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said “I do anticipate, in relatively short order, we will wind down pier operations” in the Gaza Strip. The Pentagon later said in a statement that troops had failed to successfully re-anchor the pier onto the shore of the Gaza Strip due to “technical and weather-related issues.” — Spartz charged over allegedly carrying a weapon in terminal at Dulles Airport: Rep. Victoria Spartz is facing a misdemeanor charge over allegedly carrying a weapon in a terminal at Dulles International Airport in late June and will face arraignment on Sept. 20. On June 28, Spartz (R-Ind.) allegedly brought a .380 caliber firearm in her carry-on that was found by TSA personnel. Last month, her office said the handgun was “accidentally” in her bag, she was “issued a citation” and then allowed to board her international flight. The Indiana Republican could face up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. She’ll be arraigned at the Loudoun General District Court in Virginia. — House GOP fails to pass Capitol spending bill — an ominous sign for looming funding fights: House Republicans failed to pass their $7 billion funding bill for parts of the legislative branch today, a surprise misstep in what should have been an easy victory for GOP leaders. The failure is an ominous sign for Republicans’ push to pass the rest of their fiscal 2025 spending bills on the floor before August recess, with seven bills — most of which are far more politically divisive — tentatively slated for floor action during the last two weeks of July. Nightly Road to 2024 READY TO GO — Democratic lawmakers are making contingency plans in case Joe Biden tanks his highly anticipated solo press conference later today, with at least a half-dozen lawmakers preparing to go public against the president, according to POLITICO. Three of those lawmakers’ offices have already drafted statements, according to two people who have been briefed on conversations. DO IT FOR US — Some longtime aides and advisers to President Biden have become increasingly convinced that he will have to step aside from the campaign, and in recent days they have been trying to come up with ways to persuade him that he should, according to three people briefed on the matter, reports the New York Times. A small group of Mr. Biden’s advisers in the administration and the campaign — at least two of whom have told allies that they do not believe he should keep trying to run for a second term — have said they would have to convince the president of several things. ANYONE BUT TRUMP — A scathing, five-part piece by The New York Times editorial board published this morning leaves no room for doubt about who they think should be elected in November: anyone but Donald Trump. “Mr. Trump has shown a character unworthy of the responsibilities of the presidency,” the board, made up of 14 Times opinion journalists, wrote. “He has demonstrated an utter lack of respect for the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people. Instead of a cogent vision for the country’s future, Mr. Trump is animated by a thirst for political power: to use the levers of government to advance his interests, satisfy his impulses and exact retribution against those who he thinks have wronged him.” JUST A FEW TWEAKS — The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Civic Media, a Wisconsin-based progressive talk-radio network, said today it had agreed to make two edits to an interview with President Joe Biden at the request of his campaign before the broadcast aired, a decision the station said fell short of “journalistic interview standards.” Still, the station said, it stands by its popular host Earl Ingram, who conducted the interview with Biden following the June 27 televised debate with rival Republican Donald Trump during which the president lost his train of thought and at times made nonsensical statements. Ingram’s interview was recorded on July 3 and aired on July 4. AROUND THE WORLD German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) accompanied by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and CEO of Rheinmetall Armin Papperger in February. | Pool photo by Fabian Bimmer NICE TRY — The U.S. and Germany foiled a Russian plot to kill the chief executive of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger. The plan to kill the CEO was part of a series of Russian plots to assassinate defense industry executives across Europe, CNN reported today, citing U.S. and Western intelligence officials. “In view of the latest reports on Rheinmetall, this is what we have actually been communicating more and more clearly in recent months. Russia is waging a hybrid war of aggression,” Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said this evening on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington. U.S. intelligence services discovered the plot to kill Papperger earlier this year, subsequently informing Germany, whose security services were then able to foil the plot, a senior German government official told CNN. TRUMP’S THINKING — Officials from NATO countries are enjoying an extra perk of this year’s summit in Washington: easier access to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle. They have fanned out around town to meet with Trump confidants and get a sense of the Republican’s thinking. They’ve sat for breakfasts and dinners with Richard Grenell, who is often talked about as a potential secretary of State pick. And they’ve held meetings with former top national security advisers including retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg or John Bolton, about European security. “Everyone keeps asking us if we’re meeting with Trump people,” said an exhausted senior European diplomat, one of seven European, NATO and former U.S. officials who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about a potential new administration. “The answer is ‘Of course we are.’ We all are. We’ve been doing it for years. But the proximity this week is helpful.” A former Trump official who is informally engaged with the campaign said that while he has been meeting with Europeans about the businessman’s worldview for years, “it’s been more intensive over the last four weeks. There’s immense interest in what his thinking on NATO might be.”   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.     Nightly Number 2032 The year that Canada has pledged it will begin to hit its NATO defense-spending commitment, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in the closing hours of the NATO summit. The pledge follows months of pointed barbs directed at Canada for failing to say when it would finally meet its pledge — or how. RADAR SWEEP SHELLEY DUVALL’S BIGGEST FAN — Shelley Duvall, who found fame in Hollywood in movies like The Shining before leaving acting behind and moving to Texas, died today. Just last week, Texas Monthly’s Meher Yeda spoke with one of Duvall’s most ardent fans — Sarah Lukowski, who runs the account Shelley Duvall Archives across social media platforms and lives in Austin herself. After being an admirer of Duvall for years, Lukowski struck up a friendship with the former film star. The piece explores Lukowski, Duvall, fandom and friendship. Parting Image Fred Thompson, then minority counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee and later a Republican senator from Tennessee, smokes a pipe as he listens to questions during the proceedings. | AP Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   Follow us

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