April 14, 2025: Inside the chaos at HHS

Revenge, the saying goes, is a dish best served cold. And this week, the Trump administration is serving up a veritable buffet. Whether blocking Harvard University from enrolling international students, launching a Federal Trade Commission investigation into Media Matters, or using the long arm of the DOJ to prosecute Democratic elected officials, President Donald Trump’s government is mounting a show of force against its perceived opponents. But how does this revenge tour align with what MAGA voters expected from Trump 2.0? Playbook supervising editor Zack Stanton breaks it down with contributing author Adam Wren. Plus, swing-district House Republicans are already seeing the political liabilities that come with voting for the sprawling reconciliation package, and a stunned Washington mourns two Israeli embassy staffers murdered in downtown D.C.

Tonight, Donald Trump goes where no president has gone before: to an invite-only dinner for investors in a cryptocurrency bearing his name. The unprecedented event is the latest in a pile of entanglements that raise serious questions about palm-greasing and profiteering — from deals for Trump-branded golf courses to the $400 million jet Qatar gifted to the administration for use as Air Force One. Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard digs into it all with contributing author Adam Wren. Plus, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. releases its first MAHA Commission report, and the House GOP’s mammoth megabill takes a big step forward.

Former President Joe Biden is trying to lay low. But with the conversation in Washington dominated by the fallout from his cancer diagnosis and the continuing revelations from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book “Original Sin,” his every move is fodder for more discussion — welcome or not. Playbook contributing author Adam Wren joins managing editor and author Jack Blanchard to dig into it all. Meanwhile, the GOP megabill continues to progress through the House, as GOP leadership eyes the legislative endgame. And South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at the White House to try and defuse Trump’s furor over the alleged mistreatment of Afrikaner farmers.

The year’s most anticipated book in Washington has finally arrived: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s “Original Sin” dropped overnight, just as Joe Biden’s physical and cognitive health as president is the topic dominating the D.C. discourse. And the din of that conversation is likely to only grow louder. Partly, that’s because the Biden story isn’t going away. But it’s also because Republicans are eager to keep the focus there rather than the politically risky proposed cuts to Medicaid that have now taken center stage in the debate over the House GOP’s Big Beautiful Bill. President Donald Trump heads to Capitol Hill this morning to try and win over Republican holdouts. Playbook contributing author Adam Wren joins managing editor and author Jack Blanchard to unpack it all.

Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. This news comes just days before the release of a hotly anticipated book that promises to reveal information about the former president’s alleged cognitive decline and the lengths that White House staffers and others in his inner circle went to conceal it. Also, President Donald Trump has a diplomatic double-header today with calls to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his latest attempt to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine. National politics correspondent and Playbook contributing author Adam Wren joins Playbook managing editor Jack Blanchard to break it all down. Plus, House Republicans voted the Big Beautiful Bill out of the Budget Committee last night, increasing the likelihood of a floor vote before Memorial Day.

As a new book about former President Joe Biden’s cognitive health steamrolls its way through the Washington conversation, a new litmus test is emerging for Democrats with national ambitions: Did Biden, in fact, decline in mental acuity while in office?  National politics correspondent and contributing Playbook author Adam Wren joins Playbook deputy editor Zack Stanton to talk it through. Plus, President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East trip, and the GOP mega-bill is teetering as hard-line conservatives force Speaker Mike Johnson to entertain major changes to the legislative package.

Today, the Supreme Court hears arguably the biggest case of the term. But precisely what is being decided is up for debate. There’s a constitutional question about birthright citizenship. And then there’s a procedural question with wide-reaching implications: Can lower-court judges block federal policies with nationwide injunctions? Depending on how the high court rules, one of the main impediments preventing President Donald Trump from implementing his policy agenda could disappear. Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard and chief Playbook correspondent Dasha Burns talk through the case and survey the potential fallout. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is a no-show for peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, and Trump’s Mideast trip comes to a close.

It’s Washington’s buzziest new book, and Joe Biden would probably prefer not to talk about it. And there’s a reason for that: It has ignited a ferocious discourse about the former president’s mental acuity and alleged decline and prompted uncomfortable questions for his former staffers and aides about who knew what and when. Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard and chief Playbook correspondent Dasha Burns talk about the D.C. zeitgeist and how it all unfolded. Plus, Trump remains in the Middle East, where his Qatari jet fiasco is only picking up speed.

President Donald Trump’s well-known love of pomp and grandeur will be on full display today as he makes an official state visit to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom’s royal family is all too eager to woo Trump — especially as other regional powers, like Qatar, very publicly make entreaties — so they’ve pulled out all the stops for a major gathering of business leaders as well as a banquet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. What are insiders looking for from the trip? Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard and chief Playbook correspondent Dasha Burns unpack that and more. Plus, the “one big, beautiful bill” presses forward today on Capitol Hill and the administration braces for new inflation numbers this morning.

It’s the start of a frenzied week for Washington, as President Donald Trump embarks on his first overseas trip of his second term and congressional Republicans unveil sweeping new proposed cuts to spending and taxes (and, likely, Medicaid). Add in a few major geopolitical issues — the end of talks between U.S. and Chinese leaders in Geneva and the start of talks between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul — and you’re beginning to get the shape of it. What do you need to know about it all? Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard and chief Playbook correspondent and POLITICO White House bureau chief Dasha Burns make sense of the news that will drive the day on this, the pilot episode of “The Playbook Podcast.”