The Playbook Podcast
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The Playbook Podcast
POLITICO’s Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns bring their fresh insight, analysis and reporting to the biggest story driving the day in the nation’s capital.
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2038 episodes
One year of Trump 2.0
Today marks one year since President Donald Trump returned to office. In his first year back in the White House, Trump has wielded the power of the pr...
The tariff tango
President Donald Trump’s signature tariffs are still roiling Michigan, one of the most closely watched midterm states in 2026. Almost nowhere on the m...
Trump's global gambits
A handful of international fronts are simmering with tension as President Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda expands. The president seemingly backed...
Iran tensions rise
President Donald Trump is ramping up the rhetoric over Iran. Trump is considering a range of options as the death toll from the crackdown on protests...
Trump’s Powell problem
The Justice Department’s investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell is still sending shockwaves through Washington and beyond. As President Donald Tru...
Fed up
Jerome Powell is the latest target of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. The Federal Reserve chair confirmed that DOJ has opened a criminal...
Trump’s affordability equation
Affordability was supposed to be the primary focus of 2026 as Republicans try to shore up voter support ahead of the midterms. Instead, nearly every d...
Back from the brink
The Trump administration is pushing forward with its oil-driven agenda in Venezuela. President Donald Trump is set to welcome oil industry executives...
The well-oiled machine
President Donald Trump touted on Tuesday night that Venezuela’s interim government would turn over billions of dollars worth of oil to the U.S., just...
Trump in the Center
President Donald Trump is speaking with House Republicans at the Kennedy Center today for what was originally intended to be a rally-the-troops gather...
Decoding the ‘Donroe Doctrine’
President Donald Trump is taking hardline stances on a number of countries in the Western Hemisphere and beyond after the U.S. carried out a stunning...
Redistricting retrospective
Few political stories dominated the headlines and displayed the sharp divisions across the country more in 2025 than redistricting. Under the demands...
Dems’ candidate concerns
Democrats are fretting about a certain candidate profile in red and purple states that’s giving some in the party heartburn. Much of their consternati...
The MAGA maelstrom
The coalition that sent Donald Trump back to the White House appears fragile as Republicans search for a successor who can unite the party once Trump...
Deadline day
When President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law in November, he set off a 30-day deadline for the Justice Department to...
Trump sticks to the script
President Donald Trump delivered a live address to the nation from the White House in succinct fashion with a sharp focus on the economy on Wednesday...
Wild about Wiles
Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, set off a media storm on Tuesday after Vanity Fair published a deeply reported account of the Wh...
Another affordability speech
Vice President JD Vance is headed to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to talk about affordability with voters who are feeling the pinch of cost-of-living conce...
A renewed peace push
Negotiators are engaged in high-level talks to hammer out a peace plan for Ukraine in Berlin, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounding li...
From 'The Conversation': Bill Gates on vaccine hesitancy, AI and global health
Gates Foundation co-founder Bill Gates joined POLITICO’s Dasha Burns on this week’s episode of The Conversation to discuss his continued support for v...
Hoosier daddy?
The Indiana state Senate on Thursday rejected a proposed congressional map backed by President Donald Trump that would have all but guaranteed an addi...
Trump’s new world order
President Donald Trump has shaken up the way that America interacts with the rest of the world in nearly every way since he returned to office earlier...
Can Trump stick the landing on affordability?
President Donald Trump made an affordability push on Tuesday night in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, where he spoke for more than an hour-and-a-half. The...
An interview with President Donald Trump
In this special edition of the Playbook Podcast, we're bringing you an interview with President Donald Trump. POLITICO's Dasha Burns sat down with the...
The Supreme Court’s power play
Major cases coming before the Supreme Court will force the justices to consider the extent of President Donald Trump’s power. Today, the high court wi...
From 'The Conversation': Trump’s tariff czar speaks | Jamieson Greer
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is no stranger to President Donald Trump’s tariff-forward trade agenda. Greer served as chief of staff to Rob...
Trump’s World Cup draws closer
The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off at noon today at the Kennedy Center. The event is to determine which countries will fall into each grou...
Signalgate: the sequel
Pete Hegseth has been no stranger to drama during his tenure as Defense secretary, with a steady stream of headlines following him since his nominatio...
Tennessee’s titan lesson for Republicans
Republican Matt Van Epps won a closely watched special election in Tennessee last night, defeating Democrat Aftyn Behn. But Republicans writ large may...
Hegseth's headache
President Donald Trump is holding his latest made-for-TV Cabinet meeting today, where all eyes will be on Pete Hegseth. The Defense secretary has capt...
Trump’s vexing Venezuela position
The Trump administration pressure campaign against Venezuela and strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the region are coming under increas...
Witkoff's revealing phone call
A stunning transcript reportedly detailing Steve Witkoff’s private conversation with one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top aides reveals the a...
Parsing Trump’s Ukraine peace plan
President Donald Trump has dispatched Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi over the Ukraine peace plan. The proposa...
Rubio’s week of war and peace
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is back from Geneva, where he met with Ukrainian and European officials to negotiate a peace agreement to end the Russi...
From 'The Conversation': Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on transforming the armed forces
Dan Driscoll made history earlier this year when, at 38, he was sworn in as the youngest Army secretary in U.S. history.
An...
Mr. Mamdani goes to Washington
This afternoon, two politicians who embody diametrically opposite facets of New York City — President Donald Trump and NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani...
Trump’s teetering economic message
Despite his continued insistence that cost-of-living concerns aren’t a problem, President Donald Trump is confronting subpar stats on the U.S. economy...
Bracing for breakthrough on Russia-Ukraine war
There appears to be some progress toward an end to the Russia-Ukraine war after months of start-and-stop talks between President Donald Trump and top-...
Trump’s messaging maelstrom
Two big things are happening in Washington today, and each involves a separate controversial figure. On Capitol Hill, the House is set to vote on clos...
Trump tries to reclaim the narrative
President Donald Trump is aiming to grab control of the news cycle after a tumultuous turn over the past couple of weeks. The White House wants to be...