Playbook PM: How Trump held a fragile ceasefire together

Politico

5 days ago

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THE CATCH-UP
A FRAGILE CEASEFIRE: Just hours after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran effective at midnight, that deal seemed shaky as further strikes loomed in the region before a fiery Trump lashed out at both countries to tamp things down. The remarkable scenes were essentially narrated in real time through Trump's words to reporters and on his Truth Social feed.
Dropping another bomb: 'We have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing,' Trump told reporters as he departed the White House this morning as the planes flew toward Iran.
How it happened: At 6:50 a.m., the president chastised Israel: 'DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!' About 30 minutes later, his warning seemed to have landed: 'ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!'
The view from Israel: PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he held off on more aggressive strikes against Iran after getting on the phone with Trump, POLITICO's Gigi Ewing and Jake Traylor report. In a statement, Netanyahu claimed that Iran had sent missles before the ceasefire was set to start, and Israel responded by striking a radar installation in Tehran. But Trump spoke to him in 'an exceptionally firm and direct way' and laid out the stakes, a White House official told Axios' Barak Ravid.
A backtrack: In a break from his remarks earlier this week, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he does not want a regime change in Iran. 'I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos,' Trump said.
Looming threats: A senior political official of the Houthi militant group in Yemen said that they are not bound by the Israel and Iran ceasefire, saying they would continue their attacks 'until the aggression against Gaza stops and the siege is lifted,' WSJ's Saleh al-Batati and Stephen Kalin report. And it's not just physical attacks to worry about: U.S. officials are still warning that retaliation from Iran could come from 'cyber actions calibrated to not elicit a forceful American response,' WaPo's Joseph Menn writes.
The latest Hill action: The Senate's briefing on the Iran strikes — originally set for today — will now take place on Thursday, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth set to attend once they return from the Netherlands, per Semafor's Burgess Everett. Democrats are still barreling forward on voting on a War Powers resolution, per Punchbowl.
The dust settles: With a ceasefire in place for now, Trump has sent out a barrage of posts on Truth Social during his flight to the Netherlands for the NATO summit. In total, the president has posted 32 times since 6:50 a.m. Here are some highlights:
HELLO, NATO: In vexing comments aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked by reporters whether the U.S. remains committed to NATO's Article 5 clause. 'Depends on your definition,' he said. 'I'm committed to being their friends. … I'm committed to saving lives. I'm committed to life and safety. And I'm going to give you an exact definition when I get there. I just don't want to do it on the back of an airplane.' On his way, Trump predicted that the summit would be a 'much calmer period than what I just went through with Israel and Iran.' More from POLITICO's Chris Lunday and colleagues
Trump has landed now, telling reporters: 'Now we're going to NATO. We'll get a new set of problems.'
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7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Even as he jetted off to the Netherlands, Trump is turning his attention to Congress, bringing the hammer down on Republicans to get his 'big, beautiful bill' done ASAP, telling lawmakers to lock in — maybe even literally, if they have to. 'To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don't go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social. 'Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY. NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT'S DONE.'
It's a sentiment that was echoed by Speaker Mike Johnson today, who told his members in a closed-door meeting 'not to leave town' and stay flexible with their July Fourth plans, as the prospect grows of going to conference, which basically everyone seems keen to avoid, POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill reports. How that's playing: 'We may not leave town for a while then — but I can vote no as many times as it takes and for as long as it takes to do something actually big and beautiful,' Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Meredith.
Race to the finish: Speaker John Thune is pushing ahead with getting the megabill on the floor by the end of the week. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is attending the Senate Republican policy lunch today to help get it done. We're still waiting on the megabill final text while the Senate parliamentarian rules on what can stay in. The last rulings are expected by tomorrow.
Headaches persist: The cost of the Senate's tax package comes out to a hefty $4.2 trillion — already above what House Republicans say they're willing to spend — and that's before factoring in a SALT deal, which would likely add hundreds of billions of dollars more, POLITICO's Brian Faler reports. And the SALT Caucus won't be easily forced into a deal, per Meredith. Meanwhile, 16 House Republicans sent a letter to Thune and Johnson 'opposing the Senate's proposed Medicaid cuts, suggesting that they are prepared to vote against the legislation,' per NOTUS' Reese Gorman.
2. TRUMP WON'T LIKE THIS ONE: Fed Chair Jerome Powell said today at a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee that tariffs are likely to hike prices, and that the Fed will hold interest rates steady to mitigate the risk of inflation, POLITICO's Sam Sutton writes. 'For the time being, we are well-positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,' Powell said. While a handful of House Republicans pressed Powell on his position, few attempted to work him over, as Trump had demanded.
3. IMMIGRATION FILES: 'Another man who was deported in violation of court order must be returned to US, court rules,' by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein: 'It's the fourth time since March that federal courts have ordered the administration to return immigrants who were deemed illegally or improperly deported. Officials must begin seeking the return of Jordin Melgar-Salmeron, who was sent to his native country on May 7, 'as soon as possible,' a three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Justice Department officials acknowledged last month that Melgar-Salmeron's deportation violated an earlier directive from the 2nd Circuit.'
For your radar: 'ICE arrests 11 Iranian nationals in 48 hours,' by CBS' Nicole Sganga
4. CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS WATCH: Emil Bove, a top DOJ official now nominated to a federal appeals court, 'told subordinates he was willing to ignore court orders' to make good on Trump's mass deportations, according to a formal complaint from former DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni, NYT's Devlin Barrett reports. 'Bove 'stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what,' according to Mr. Reuveni's account. … 'Bove stated that D.O.J. would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any such order,'' Reuveni said in the complaint.
The response: Deputy AG Todd Blanche called the NYT's reporting 'utterly false.' Blanche said he was present at the meeting described by Reuveni and that 'at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed.' Bove is set to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow on his nomination to serve on a federal appeals court.
5. T-MINUS TWO WEEKS: Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on Fox Business today that more trade deals are coming as soon as Congress passes the megabill, per POLITICO's Doug Palmer. 'I think you're going to see a sequence of trade [deals], really starting from around the Fourth of July,' Hassett said. But talks with over a dozen of the biggest trade partners are 'struggling to get over the finish line,' Bloomberg's Katia Dmitrieva writes. It's possible that any promising good-faith talks may push back the July 9 deadline, but so far only the U.K. has an agreement on paper, while China has a truce going until August.
6. TAKING STOCK: Stephen Miller, the force behind the Trump administration's biggest immigration policies, owns from $100,001 up to a quarter of a million dollars in financial stock in Palantir Technologies — one of ICE's biggest contractors — per his recent financial disclosure, according to a report by the Project on Government Oversight.
Big on pharma: A POLITICO review of stock trading by lawmakers found that many, including Republicans, are buying pharma stocks — suggesting they don't think the Trump administration's attacks on the industry are going to do lasting damage, POLITICO's Amanda Chu reports. Lawmakers 'purchased up to $2.9 million in pharmaceutical stocks in the first six months of the Trump administration, financial disclosures say, and Republicans outpaced Democrats in share purchases, investing as much as $1.8 million in drug companies.'
7. DOGE DAYS AREN'T OVER: The Atlantic's Charlie Warzel and Hana Kiros have new reporting on deaths across South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria, 'the consequences of massive cuts to U.S. foreign assistance made by the Department of Government Efficiency and the State Department.' Despite Elon Musk's denials that the DOGE cuts have had an adverse impact, which extensive reporting proves false, his 'indifference to the suffering of people in Africa exists alongside his belief that he has a central role to play in the future of the human species,' The Atlantic notes.
TALK OF THE TOWN
Mike Huckabee reacts to Trump's praise of his work as Israeli ambassador on Truth Social: 'Whew! Looks like I still have a job!'
Iranian State TV aired a Lego-style animation of its war with Israel … it's quite strange to say the least.
Thomas Massie, under fire from Trump and MAGA, went on Theo Von's podcast.
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'Metro's faster trains and 'Better Bus' launch mark biggest overhaul in decades,' by Axios' Anna Spiegel: 'Metro is unveiling major changes to its rail and bus system this month to increase efficiency and accommodate rising ridership — all without raising fares. … Trains are expected to run faster and longer, while the entirely new 'Better Bus' system launches Sunday — the first major overhaul in 50 years.'
OUT AND ABOUT — The Children's Tumor Foundation held its annual NF conference from Saturday to today at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, where attendees discussed the state of funding for rare disease research amid Trump administration cuts. SPOTTED: William Gahl, Steffen Thirstrup, Amy Comstock Rick, Annette Bakker, Julie Tibbets, Aubrey Rothrock, Angela Lamari and Simon Vukelj.
TRANSITIONS — Timothy O'Neill is now legislative director for Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). He most recently was a professional staff member for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. … Scott Barnes is now senior director of federal government affairs at Emergent BioSolutions. He is a Vertex Pharmaceuticals alum. … Dan Krassner is now SVP at Kensington Avenue Strategies and executive director of the American EV Jobs Alliance. He previously was senior director of campaigns at Unite America. …
… Ninio Fetalvo is now principal for federal government relations at Michael Best Strategies, working in its health care practice. He previously was a director at Brunswick Group, and is a Trump White House and CMS alum. … Jack Clem is now press secretary for the House China committee. He most recently was a staff assistant for Rep. Dale Strong (R-Ala.). … Jeffrey Lopez has been named director of the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion. He previously was a senior legislative assistant for Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).
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