It's been two days since 'Signalgate' took over Washington, and the president’s inner circle continues to deal with its impacts. Despite the administration's public support of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, some are wondering if he'll eventually fall on the sword. White House bureau chief Dasha Burns joins Playbook managing editor and author…

It was the group chat heard round the world, and it perhaps shouldn’t even exist at all. Yesterday, “The Atlantic” published a piece revealing that some of the Trump administration’s top national security officials were using the commercial messaging app Signal to hold conversations about top-secret war plans — and that they inadvertently leaked th…

With both the Senate and the House returning today from a weeklong recess, the race is on to pass a budget bill. And though one of the prevailing recent storylines out of Washington centers on the divides within the Democratic Party, we’re about to have the divides within the Republican Party on full display. Congress reporter Jordain Carney joins …

Democrats want to talk about Elon Musk. Whether voters want to hear that is another question — and one we may get an answer to very soon. In Wisconsin, an April 1 state supreme court race offers a test run of Dems’ new Musk-centric campaign strategy. If it works, you can probably expect to see them use that Playbook in the 2026 campaign. If it does…

President Donald Trump’s multi-front battle on education is in full swing. Today, he’s expected to sign an executive order effectively dismantling the Department of Education; Columbia University faces a deadline to respond to the administration’s demands or else lose $400 million in funding; Penn finds itself under scrutiny as the administration t…

President Donald Trump is no stranger to pushing the limits. And since reentering the Oval Office, he’s put significant energy into pushing the limits of the law — testing the courts and the legal system in ways rarely before seen in this country. What’s behind that effort, and where does it go from here? Senior legal correspondent Josh Gerstein jo…

Today, President Donald Trump will talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Trump, who told reporters over the weekend that significant progress has already been made in peace negotiations, is expected to make certain concessions for a successful deal. Can the two leaders come up with a plan…

Democrats have been looking inward since November 5, but over the past few days that self-examination has escalated. On Friday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led a small group of Senate Democrats to help pass the Republican-backed continuing resolution. In the days since, Schumer has faced frustration from colleagues, with some even calling for his…

House Republicans are one step closer to passing their continuing resolution to fund the government, now that they have overcome the roadblock that is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Last night, Schumer announced that he will reluctantly support the GOP’s CR — preferring it to the alternative of a government shutdown. But that decision has le…

President Donald Trump has only been in office for a month and a half, but 2028 is already on the minds of Democrats in Washington, and the road to the next presidential campaign is beginning to take shape. POLITICO national politics correspondent Adam Wren sits down with Playbook deputy editor Zack Stanton to share his scoop about what their fello…

Market volatility is the talk of Washington as the White House issues (and, in some cases, walks back) whiplash-inducing tariff threats. And as the economy dominates the discussion, all eyes are on Congress as a government shutdown looms at the end of the week. Yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson led House Republicans on a big step forward, passi…

What precisely are the limits of free speech in Donald Trump’s America? That question is at the heart of the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University grad student and green card holder whose protests against Israel led to his detention by ICE over the weekend. Administration officials say the move complies with President Trump’s executive orde…

Two facts are behind the day’s biggest story on Capitol Hill. One, we’re just five days away from a government shutdown. Two, the House GOP’s so-called ‘clean’ continuing resolution is chock full of details — like mass deportations and new money for ICE — that will make it hard to get enough Democratic votes to succeed. POLITICO Congress reporter M…

It’s the worst-kept secret in Washington: Being in Congress isn’t as glamorous as it seems from the outside. But what is life really like on Capitol Hill? What do members privately think about their colleagues? How do they know it’s time to hang up their spurs? And what are the things the rest of us really don’t get about the pressures they face? P…

President Donald Trump’s tariff regime is blooming before our eyes. That may delight his MAGA base, but it’s causing agita in the broader electorate, as Americans face the near inevitability of higher prices for the foreseeable future and businesses struggle to keep up with the head-spinning turn of events. Is there a point at which the political r…

In his joint address to Congress last night, President Donald Trump gave a red-meat speech that lauded his culture war victories, denigrated his political opponents, and, oh yeah, ran until 11pm. But for all the noise in the speech, many of the headlines this morning are about Democrats, who responded to the aggressive and partisan speech in kind. …

This evening, President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress for the first time in his second term in the White House. After a whirlwind 24 hours that included pausing all military aid to Ukraine, and imposing tariffs on our two closest trading partners, Congress will be in for quite the speech. Senior Congress editor Mike DeBonis …

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency project has become the center of President Trump’s domestic agenda, with a lot of political capital being channeled into defending Musk’s actions from critics. But ahead of Trump’s joint address tomorrow, Politico’s Megan Messerly reports that some of the president’s allies are worried that DOGE is ov…

Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Washington, where he will meet President Donald Trump in person for the first time since Trump’s return to the White House. The relationship between the two leaders has long been contentious, but escalated in recent weeks, with Trump calling Zelenskyy a “dictator” while refusing to blame Russia f…

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in Washington today to meet with President Donald Trump. On the surface, the two leaders couldn’t be more different. But as Playbook author Jack Blanchard tells chief correspondent Eugene Daniels, the Trump-Starmer relationship is, indeed, special. They dig into what’s on the agenda today and what deliverables St…

In a dramatic scene last night, the House of Representatives passed its budget blueprint in a 217-215 vote. Earlier in the day, four Republicans stated they wouldn’t support the bill. But ultimately, the only GOP member to vote no was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) in a near party-line vote. Congress reporter Nicholas Wu joins Playbook deputy editor Za…

The House’s big, beautiful fiscal blueprint is up for a vote today, but Speaker Mike Johnson is already navigating inter-party fighting over possible budget cuts. POLITICO senior Congress editor Mike DeBonis joins deputy Playbook editor Zack Stanton to break down Johnson’s sticky situation. Plus, a military contractors’ pitch for deportation camps …

President Donald Trump’s election helped turbocharge an already surging bull market in the U.S., sending stocks and cryptocurrencies to even higher records. But, some on Wall Street are sounding the alarm that the fast times can’t last. POLITICO capital markets reporter Declan Harty joins chief Playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels to explain what …

Warning signs are flashing for congressional Republicans as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency project escalates its slash-and-burn approach to federal budget cuts. In deep-red Georgia, a raucous town hall forum last night portends potential problems for the GOP. In Washington, Republicans on the Hill back-channel with the…

Day in and day out, the most consequential stories in Washington right now seem to include two key players. One is obvious: President Donald Trump. The other is Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and Trump’s largest political benefactor. As their partnership remaps power in Washington, journalists on the frontlines scurry to crack the biggest st…