The Playbook Podcast

White House reporter and West Wing Playbook author Eli Stokols has been reporting on the simmering rift between Joe Biden’s administration and the New York Times, and the White House Correspondent’s Dinner this past weekend introduced another layer. Stokols joins Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza to discuss. Plus, MTG is a no-show in the House Monday night, and the rest of the news you need to know to...

Prior to last week’s congressional recess, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared poised for battle to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson from his post. But over the weeklong break, she didn’t offer any updates on the mission. It has now been 38 days since Greene first filed that motion, and she has gone completely quiet on her plans. What’s going on? Playbook co-author Rachael Bade walks through some poss...

Former President Donald Trump had a huge day in two different courtrooms on Thursday, but was only present for the one in Manhattan. David Pecker took the stand as a key witness in the case, and he alleged Trump was not the only prominent political figure for whom he caught and killed stories. Legal reporter Ben Feuerherd takes Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza through what it was like in the courtroo...

Even by modern standards, this is a dizzying day of Trump legal news. Today, he’ll return to a Manhattan court room where Judge Juan Merchan could rule over whether he violated a gag order and former National Enquirer chief David Pecker will resume his testimony in Trump’s criminal trial. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over Trump’s claims of presidential immun...

Late Tuesday evening, the Senate finally passed the long-awaited foreign aid bill that also moves to ban TikTok, citing national security concerns. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill in the coming days. So, what does this mean for the popular social networking app, and can anything save it? Tech policy reporter Rebecca Kern walks Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels through some of the...

Can Joe Biden win Florida come November? It's unlikely, but the Sunshine State might still loom large in Biden's campaign -- serving as perfect fodder for why he needs to be reelected. When Biden travels there today, he will denounce its red-tinged policies, especially the six-week abortion ban set to take effect next week. Deputy national editor Zach Montellaro joins Playbook deputy editor Zack S...

After every day last week was devoted to assembling a jury, the trial involving allegations that Trump paid hush money to two women with whom he was having affairs will begin today in Manhattan. Senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein chats with Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza about what’s on his radar and District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s attempt to “rebrand” the case. Playbook co-author Ryan Liz...

Mike Johnson is close to notching a major legislative victory that may come at an extremely high cost: His job as speaker of the House. The foreign aid supplemental that’s been roiling the House GOP comes up for a procedural vote today where it’ll need Democratic support to pass — and if that vote on the rule passes, the underlying legislation will also need Democratic votes to get through. That’s...

After two days, the jury for Donald Trump’s criminal prosecution for business fraud in New York is taking starting to take shape — and the legal world is surprised by what it sees. Of the seven jurors impaneled so far, two have something very important in common: They are lawyers. That is deeply unusual, legal correspondent Betsy Woodruff Swan tells Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels, and it could...

On Tuesday, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky became the second congressman to publicly declare support for a motion-to-vacate attempt against House Speaker Mike Johnson. The basis for all of the drama? The rising tensions over the proposed foreign aid package. Playbook co-author Rachael Bade joins co-author Eugene Daniels to walk through all the nuances, and what comes next. Plus, what's next in the...

After stalling for months, House Speaker Mike Johnson finally has a plan to tackle aid to Ukraine and Israel — and it amounts to the trickiest legislative issue of his speakership. Among its provisions? Turning foreign aid into loans, using frozen Russian assets to assist Zelenskyy’s government and — if that weren’t enough — a TikTok ban. Playbook co-author Rachael Bade breaks it all down.

Donald Trump has been outspoken in his belief that he has been martyred by the U.S. justice system, especially in the lead-up to his hush money trial Monday. But as legal editor James Romoser has uncovered, Trump might be on to something with the idea that the justice system is two-tiered; what he hasn't mentioned is the extent to which it favors him. Romoser joins Playbook co-author Eugene Daniel...

Is Mike Johnson’s time as speaker limited?  After weeks of delay, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate — a procedural move that would oust him from the House’s top spot — seems to be coming to a head, just at Johnson’s moment of maximum vulnerability. And this time, House Democrats won’t be able to save him. Congress reporter Anthony Adragna joins Playbook co-author Rachael Bade to break...

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to provide a new centerpiece of sorts for the administration's Indo-Pacific strategy during his visit to the U.S. today, with a main goal of countering the footprint of China in the region. DC-based China correspondent Phelim Kine walks Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza through the nuances. All that, and everything else you need to know today.

Donald Trump’s new video outlining his stance on abortion rights offered the clearest reminder yet that he is being simultaneously pulled in two opposing directions. He wants the credit for appointing the conservative justices who overturned Roe and wiped away constitutional protections for abortion. What he very much does not want is the electoral albatross that comes along with that reality. The...

After the two-week spring recess, Congress will return to a plethora of work, including the debate surrounding FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In the coming days, House Speaker Mike Johnson will finally bring to the floor a reauthorization of this foreign surveillance law. But with Republican infighting over FISA and a pair of contentious amendments being pushed by privacy hawks e...

In a phone call yesterday with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden made two central demands: First, to allow the flow of humanitarian aid; second, to empower negotiators to broker a cease-fire and hostage deal. If that sounds like a marked change in Biden’s posture, it is: The killings this week of seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen seems to have fundamentally shifted the...

House Republicans are fighting again. That’s not a story in and of itself. But the stakes are. There is disagreement over both whether and how to fund Ukraine aid, and nobody is happy about it. “This isn’t a Republican speaker we have right now; this is a Democrat speaker,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told Tucker Carlson, slamming Mike Johnson while explaining her motion to oust him as House speak...

On Monday, the Florida Supreme Court issued a number of significant rulings that will impact abortion politics in the state. The justices upheld a Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed, 15-week abortion ban that in one month will trigger a far more restrictive 6-week ban. The justices further ruled that Floridians will get a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment come November that would reverse the ban...

In an interview with Trey Gowdy of Fox News on the evening of Easter Sunday, Mike Johnson called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to oust him a distraction from the mission. Attempting to impart a dose of reality on Republican viewers, the House Speaker told his former colleague that his job is particularly difficult right now, but said he does have plans for resolving the Ukraine aid debacle....

The smattering of prominent Republicans who have refused to commit to supporting Donald Trump in the general election differ in their ideological beliefs, their geography, their offices and their profiles. But they all share one thing in common: None have heard a peep from Joe Biden. Senior political columnist Jonathan Martin knows that because he reached out to every single one of them. Today, he...

Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential run has been a spectacle from the start. Despite being born into Democratic royalty, the independent candidate holds a hodgepodge of policy views that sometimes veer into conspiracy theories — but which also give him a strange appeal to an array of voters scattered across the political spectrum. Could his choice of running mate change that? Politics reporter Britta...

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the nation should significantly limit the use of mifepristone, a pill that terminates early pregnancy. A number of justices on the majority-conservative court appeared to take issue with the idea of a sweeping, national pronouncement. But, this story is really just getting started. Anti-abortion activists and elected officials have several b...

In the last 24 hours, the diplomatic dynamic between the U.S. and Israel took on another layer of complexity when the U.S. abstained in voting for a UN Gaza ceasefire resolution, allowing it to pass. The action resulted in officials from Israel cancelling a trip to Washington. National security reporter Alex Ward joins Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels to discuss how things got here, and what lies...

There are three important things on Donald Trump’s agenda today, and they're all connected. First, the former president has a half-billion dollar bond due stemming from the New York civil fraud case. He has said he is struggling to procure the funds to fulfill this, so it is particularly timely that Trump Media and Technology Group is going public today. Trump is estimated to have about a $3 billi...