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DRIVING THE DAY
ONE OF THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS of the political persona that DONALD TRUMP created was that he had a knack for relationships -- building them and maintaining them. When relationships weren’t going his way, he had the unique gumption to step up to institutions or people, forcing them to cower to him and bend to his will.
BUT WHETHER IT’S WITH REPORTERS, international institutions, multilateral alliances or governors, we now see that TRUMP can hardly seem to keep any relationship intact. His personal and professional alliances are in tatters. He tears down much more frequently than builds up.
THIS WAS IN EVIDENCE AGAIN TUESDAY EVENING, when TRUMP said he would halt financial contributions to the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic. Nevermind that he has been in office for three years -- the president blames the organization for turning a blind eye to China.
THE MOVE immediately raised the ire of domestic and international leaders. The secretary general of the United Nations said that now is the time for unity, not to strip money from the organization. BILL GATES panned it as “dangerous.” Sen. PATRICK LEAHY (D-Vt.) likened the decision to “cutting off ammunition to an ally as the enemy closes in.”
THE WHO is only the most recent example of Trump’s self-isolation. The president’s allies in the media are limited to OANN and a dwindling number of Fox News personalities. Even his natural allies -- like the Wall Street Journal editorial page -- are drawing his fire of late.
AND ON AND ON. TRUMP has torn up the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal without replacing them. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is no longer. He lashes out at governors when they speak their mind, and tacitly threatens their federal funding if they don’t play by his rules. He has no relationship with Speaker NANCY PELOSI, who holds the purse strings for the federal government he runs.
THERE ARE SOME NOTABLE exceptions: TRUMP did force countries into increasing their contributions to NATO. He convinced OPEC countries to lower their oil production.
A CHECK FROM TRUMP IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ELECTION YEAR … WAPO’S LISA REIN: “In unprecedented move, Treasury orders Trump’s name printed on stimulus checks”: “The Treasury Department has ordered President Trump’s name be printed on stimulus checks the Internal Revenue Service is rushing to send to tens of millions of Americans, a process that could slow their delivery by a few days, senior IRS officials said.
“The unprecedented decision, finalized late Monday, means that when recipients open the $1,200 paper checks the IRS is scheduled to begin sending to 70 million Americans in coming days, ‘President Donald J. Trump’ will appear on the left side of the payment.
“It will be the first time a president’s name appears on an IRS disbursement, whether a routine refund or one of the handful of checks the government has issued to taxpayers in recent decades either to stimulate a down economy or share the dividends of a strong one. …
“The checks will … bear Trump’s name in the memo line, below a line that reads, ‘Economic Impact Payment,’ the administration officials said. The IRS will mail the checks to people for whom it does not have banking information. Many of them have low incomes.
“The checks will carry the signature of an official with the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the Treasury Department division that prints the checks. The checks will follow direct deposits issued in recent days to the bank accounts of about 80 million people. Those payments do not include Trump’s name.”
OPENING THE ECONOMY …
-- HERE ARE THE NAMES of the “Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups.” He will be calling these people today.
-- NYT ON THE PRESIDENT’S ADVISERS, by Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman: “Mr. Trump was vague about whether those on his list had all agreed to serve on the task force his administration has been struggling to put together over the past week. Some business leaders have been hesitant to attach their names to it in the middle of intense discussions in the White House about who would serve on a formal council, and what its mandate would be.”
-- ONE OF THE PEOPLE advising the president is LARRY LINDSEY. Last May, Playbook reported that LINDSEY told House GOP leaders that TRUMP was a “a 10-out-of-10 narcissist.” LINDSEY suggested to GOP leaders that TRUMP did not get enough attention from his mother in childhood. He also said the president had the long-term decision-making ability of an “empty chair.” Playbook, from May 15, 2019
-- WAPO ON THE CDC AND FEMA’S PLANS, by Lena Sun, Josh Dawsey and William Wan: “A team of government officials -- led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- has created a public health strategy to combat the novel coronavirus and reopen parts of the country.
“Their strategy, obtained by The Washington Post, is part of a larger White House effort to draft a national plan to get Americans out of their homes and back to work. It gives guidance to state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts, moving from drastic restrictions such as stay-at-home orders in a phased way to support a safe reopening. …
“The plan lays out three phases: Preparing the nation to reopen with a national communication campaign and community readiness assessment until May 1. Then, the effort through May 15 would involve ramping up manufacturing of testing kits and personal protective equipment and increasing emergency funding. Then staged reopenings would begin, depending on local conditions. The plan does not give dates for reopenings but specified ‘not before May 1.’”
BIG PICTURE ... BEN WHITE: “Why Trump can’t flip the switch on the economy” … WAPO: “Trump wants to declare country open by May 1 — but the reality will be much slower,” by Phil Rucker, Bob Costa and Ashley Parker
THIS WILL MAKE THE ROUNDS TODAY … AP: “China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for 6 key days”: “In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.
“President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data.”
PELOSI sent a letter to House Democrats Tuesday with the sharpest broadsides at TRUMP we’ve seen in some time: “The truth is because of an incompetent reaction to this health crisis, the strong economy handed to Donald Trump is now a disaster, causing the suffering of countless Americans and endangering lives. The truth is a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.” The letter
REMINDER: JAKE and ANNA will chat with Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) at 9:30 a.m. today Register
-- AOC raised $2.7 million in the first quarter of this year, according to a report she filed this morning with the FEC. She has $3.5 million on hand.
Good Wednesday morning.
REMINDER: THE CRUCIAL Paycheck Protection Program -- which gives loans to small businesses -- will run dry at the end of the week unless there’s unanimous bipartisan action taken. The SENATE has a pro-forma session Thursday, and the HOUSE has one Friday.
WSJ: “S&P Futures and Global Stocks Decline,” by Frances Yoon: “World stocks and S&P 500 futures declined modestly, with market moves damped by a lack of major developments in the global coronavirus crisis. By early afternoon in Hong Kong, E-mini S&P 500 futures were down 0.5%. Europe’s major region indexes opened lower Wednesday, with tepid losses. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.4%.” WSJ
INTERESTING EXPERIMENT … ESPN’S JEFF PASSAN: “MLB players, team employees participating in coronavirus study”: “Employees of Major League Baseball teams are participating in a massive study that will test up to 10,000 people for coronavirus antibodies and should offer researchers a better sense of how widespread the disease is in major metropolitan areas across the United States, although doctors caution that the data gathered is not expected to hasten the game's return.
“The study, which is being run by Stanford University, USC and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), will use test kits that draw blood via pinprick and offer results within 10 minutes. The test will detect the prevalence of IgM, an antibody produced relatively early in those who have been infected with COVID-19, and IgG, a second form that doctors said lasts long after the infection happens. A positive test would confirm a person did in fact contract coronavirus, even if he or she was asymptomatic.
“The goal of the study is to get a better sense of the virus' true infection rate by utilizing a nationwide sample. The speed with which MLB coordinated logistics and ensured participation from a wide range of people, including players, front-office staff, concession workers and others, made it the right choice for the study, according to doctors running it.
THE NEW ECONOMY … WSJ: “Thirst for Oil Vanishes, Leaving Industry in Chaos,” by Russell Gold, Benoit Faucon and Rebecca Elliott: “There is too much gasoline and jet fuel on the market, so refineries that turn crude into fuel are slowing oil purchases. Oil-storage facilities from Asia to Africa and the American Southwest are filling up. Producers have begun to shut in wells whose oil has nowhere to go.
“The result is a breakdown of parts of the supply chain that delivers one of the world’s most important commodities. ‘The global oil industry is experiencing a shock like no other in its history,’ said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. …
“Global demand for crude is normally around 100 million barrels a day. Estimates of the decline vary widely and change daily, but most put current demand at 65 million to 80 million barrels a day. In volume and percentage, the fall exceeds the collapse of 1979 to 1983. It occurred over four weeks, not four years.”
-- NEW REALITY FOR SCHOOLS, via the L.A. Times: “Although campuses are likely to reopen in the fall, the school day may unfold in starkly different ways, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, suggesting staggered start times, ‘reconfigured’ classrooms that allow for social distancing and some continuance of online learning.”
BURGESS EVERETT -- “Susan Collins chides ‘very uneven’ Trump performance on coronavirus”: “Susan Collins hasn’t decided whether to endorse or oppose President Donald Trump’s reelection bid. But she has reached a conclusion on his public performance during the coronavirus pandemic: ‘Very uneven.’
“The Maine Republican senator, who is up for reelection herself this November, said in an interview on Tuesday that Trump has been effective when he’s focused on the coronavirus response and the recommendations of public health experts like Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S. But when he’s beefing with governors and journalists, far less so.
“‘It’s been very uneven. There are times when I think his message has been spot-on and he has really deferred to the public health officials who have been with him at these press conferences,’ Collins said. ‘And then there are times when I think he’s been off-message and has brought up extraneous issues. So I think it’s been mixed.’” POLITICO
VEEPSTAKES -- “Poll: Voters prioritize experienced VP for Biden over gender, race,” by Christopher Cadelago: “Voters overwhelmingly want to see Joe Biden choose a vice presidential nominee with governing experience, and they’re far less invested in whether he chooses a woman or a person of color as his running mate, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.
“The survey — conducted just after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, making Biden the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee — found that about two-thirds of voters said it was important Biden choose a running mate with legislative and executive experience. While Biden has vowed to select a woman to join him on the ticket, only 29 percent of voters said it was important for Biden to choose a woman, while 22 percent said it was important that he choose a person of color.
“Among Democrats, about 8 in 10 said it was important that Biden’s vice-presidential selection have legislative and executive experience. Meanwhile, about half of Democrats said it’s important for Biden’s running mate to be younger than him (77 years old) and for his pick to be a woman.” POLITICO
DOWN BALLOT -- “Democratic voter motivation in Wisconsin has Republicans worried,” by WaPo’s Amy Gardner, Dan Balz and Dan Simmons
THE JUICE …
-- SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) has raised $6.23 million for the NRSC this cycle, including $1.53 million in the first quarter. This is the most of any Republican besides Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, who chairs the committee. He raised $4.7 million in 2019, which was the most besides Young and Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL (R-Ky.).
-- JOHN BOLTON’S PAC and super PAC donated no money to candidates in the first quarter of 2020. The super PAC did report $45,800.86 in legal fees to Baker and Hostetler.
-- NEW POLL: Democrat Barbara Bollier leads Republican Kris Kobach by two points in a new poll in Kansas paid for by 314 Action, a group focused on electing candidates with a science background. The poll, conducted by PPP, surveyed 1,271 people on April 13 and 14. Kobach is the former secretary of state in Kansas. Bollier is a Democratic member of the state senate. The poll
TRUMP’S WEDNESDAY: The president will host a phone call with banking, financial services, food and beverage, hospitality and retail groups at 10 a.m. in the Oval Office. Then it’s a phone call with health care, tech, telecom and transportation groups at noon, followed by a call with agriculture, construction, labor, defense, energy, manufacturing and “thought leaders” at 2 p.m. At 3:30, he’s due to speak with sports groups. All of these are subcommittees of his open-the-economy counsel.
-- THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE will hold a briefing at 5 p.m.
PLAYBOOK READS
THE WFH READ: Probably one of the most impactful public-service stories we've ever read: NYT, Sept. 20, 2008: "A Disability Epidemic Among a Railroad’s Retirees," by Walt Bogdanich, Andrew W. Lehren, Robert A. McDonald and Nicholas Phillips
WAPO’s ROBIN GIVHAN: “Obama gives Biden his endorsement. He should really give him his lighting, that set and his camera.”: “Virtual campaigning through social media is not new, but it’s now all there is. Communicating with voters is no longer a matter of how eloquent a candidate might be. It’s heavily dependent on whether he can get the lighting right, keep the background from being impersonal but not distracting and dress in a manner that’s just right for his home office as well as your living room.
“It’s no easy feat, and it’s Biden’s challenge. The endorsement video opens with a close-up of Obama offering his concern and condolences as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic. He settles into his thoughts before he gets to Biden. Obama never mentions the current president by name, but he briskly lays out his negative assessment.”
THE TESTING MESS -- “Coronavirus testing hits dramatic slowdown in U.S.,” by David Lim: “The number of coronavirus tests analyzed each day by commercial labs in the U.S. plummeted by more than 30 percent over the past week, even though new infections are still surging in many states and officials are desperately trying to ramp up testing so the country can reopen.
“One reason for the drop-off may be the narrow testing criteria that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last revised in March. The agency’s guidelines prioritize hospitalized patients, health care workers and those thought to be especially vulnerable to the disease, such as the elderly. Health providers have been turning away others in part due to shortages of the swabs used to collect samples.
“It’s not clear whether demand has peaked among the groups on the CDC’s priority list. But after being overwhelmed for weeks, commercial labs say they are now sitting with unused testing capacity waiting for samples to arrive.
“The continued glitches in the U.S. testing system are threatening to impede attempts to reopen the economy and return to normal life. Expanding testing as much as possible is essential so officials have enough data to determine when it’s safe to lift social distancing measures and allow people to go back to work. Continued testing beyond that point will help officials detect — and stamp out — sparks that could set off new outbreaks.” POLITICO
ACROSS THE POND … POLITICO EUROPE'S DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and LAURENZ GEHRKE: “At least half a dozen EU countries have started easing lockdowns, jumping ahead of the European Commission, which on Wednesday will formally unveil its ‘roadmap’ toward lifting containment measures — a document intended to prevent the confusion and lack of coordination that marred the bloc's initial responses to the pandemic.
“The un-choreographed announcements in capitals from Copenhagen to Warsaw authorized a haphazard array of steps to begin ending the constraints on businesses and citizens, which have helped reduce the death toll and limit the pressure on health systems, but at a staggering economic cost that has unnerved political leaders.” POLITICO Europe
THE ATLANTIC’S ED YONG: “Our Pandemic Summer: The fight against the coronavirus won’t be over when the U.S. reopens. Here’s how the nation must prepare itself.”
PENTAGON BUZZ, via AP’s Lolita Baldor: “Despite social distancing and other Defense Department policies on coronavirus prevention, Marines are still lining up for the trademark cuts, at times standing only a foot or two apart, with few masks in sight.” AP
MEDIAWATCH -- “L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated,’” by Variety’s Gene Maddus
-- Declan Walsh will be the NYT’s first-ever chief Africa correspondent. He currently is Cairo bureau chief. … Barton Gellman is now a staff writer at The Atlantic. He previously was a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a lecturer at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School and is a WaPo alum. The announcement
PLAYBOOKERS
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at [email protected].
TRANSITIONS -- David Mork is now assistant VP at Zurich North America. He previously was COS to former Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.). … José Morales Jr. is now deputy voter protection director at Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight Action. He previously was national constituency director for Pete Buttigieg’s campaign.
FOGGY BOTTOM ARRIVAL LOUNGE -- Adriel Harvey is now a senior adviser at the State Department. She previously was executive secretary at USAID.
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. A trend that doesn’t get enough attention: “For students born between 1954 and 2001, the achievement gap between students in the top and bottom 10% of the socioeconomic distribution has remained as wide as a full standard deviation -- the equivalent of three to four years of learning.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) is 37 … Pete Rouse … Kathryn Wellner … Laura Lee Lewis … The Hill’s Amie Parnes (h/t Ben Chang) … United’s Frank Benenati … Sarah Bloom Raskin … Jason Lamote … Tom Rosenstiel, author and executive director of the American Press Institute (h/t Jon Haber) … Ray Locker is 6-0 … Alex Miller Murphy … Pat Devney, COS to Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) (h/t Jazmin Vargas) … Leslie Shedd, comms director for the House Foreign Affairs GOP … Jamie Geller … Irish Times’ Suzanne Lynch … Charles Fried … POLITICO’s Anna Gronewold and Taylor Hawkins … Rishi Banerjee … Sarah Jane Donofrio (h/t Samantha Greene) … Dana Gansman … FERC’s Mary O’Driscoll … Max Neuberger of Jewish Insider and Debut Inbox … Lisbeth Lyons, government affairs director for the Printing Industries of America (h/t Brad Thompson) … Maia Daniels …
… John F.W. Rogers, EVP, COS and secretary to the board at Goldman Sachs, is 64 (h/t Dina Powell) … Linda Bloodworth-Thomason … former Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), now a senior adviser at Covington, is 79 … Brandon Lynaugh … King Philippe of Belgium is 6-0 … Alexandra Hudson … Bart Jackson … Kristin McCarthy … Alan Butkovitz is 68 … John Harney, night editor at Bloomberg in D.C. (h/t kids David and Mary) … Phil Goldfeder … Rachel Kleinfeld … Rachel Gartner Clark … Steven Clift … Cheyenne Hopkins, SVP of public affairs at the Bank Policy Institute … Grace Mary Aylmer … Michael Taube … Brian Montopoli, producer at MSNBC … Stan Melton Jr. … Robyn Swirling … Jonathan Singer is 36 … Boeing’s Kate Bernard … Rajan Trivedi … Katie Scharf Dykes … Jaimey Sexton … Rosemary Potter … Kathryn Garza … Carol A.O. Wolf
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