POLITICO Playbook: Trump’s nationalism has gone domestic Presented by Amazon

President Donald Trump’s worldview that nations alone, in their own self-interest, act to protect themselves is playing out now among different U.S. states. | Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images

DRIVING THE DAY

TRUMP’S NATIONALISM HAS GONE DOMESTIC: President DONALD TRUMP’S worldview is that nations alone, in their own self-interest, act to protect themselves and enhance their circumstances. Large, multilateral institutions are usually cumbersome and stodgy.

ISN’T THAT WHAT WE’RE SEEING AROUND AMERICA right now? Rhode Island is rounding up residents of other states. Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS has said New Yorkers and New Jerseyans need to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO is sniping at Rhode Island Gov. GINA RAIMONDO. Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT has restricted vehicle traffic from Louisiana and is requiring travelers from multiple states to quarantine.

MUCH AS THE UNITED STATES HAS BRUSHED ASIDE THE UNITED NATIONS and other multilateral institutions, states aren’t waiting for the federal government to make these decisions. They’ll take Uncle Sam’s cash, but they are creating their own rules and are filling in gaps as they see fit. It’s all helping TRUMP create an alternative narrative of culpability: that the “open borders” crowd in the blue states let the virus in, while he tried to keep it out.

NYT, A1: “Trump Extends Social Distancing Guidelines Through End of April,” by Mike Shear: “President Trump retreated Sunday from his desire to relax coronavirus guidelines by Easter, announcing instead that all Americans must continue to avoid nonessential travel, going to work, eating at bars and restaurants, or gathering in groups of more than 10 for at least another month and perhaps until June. …

“The president finally appeared on Sunday to acknowledge the possibility of deaths on a large scale and back down from weeks of insisting that the threat from the virus might be overblown. In the past month, Mr. Trump has vacillated between accepting the need for aggressive action to limit the pandemic and complaining that such moves will harm the economy. …

“‘During this period, it’s very important that everyone strongly follow the guidelines. Have to follow the guidelines,’ Mr. Trump told reporters, with members of the government’s coronavirus task force nearby. ‘Therefore, we will be extending our guidelines to April 30 to slow the spread. … We can expect that by June 1, we will be well on our way to recovery … We think by June 1. A lot of great things will be happening.’”

WAPO’S PHIL RUCKER on the whiplash: “Trump beats a retreat on opening the country as coronavirus data, images show dark reality”: “For six days straight, President Trump talked about reopening the country quickly. He wanted people filing into offices again, diners returning to restaurants and shoppers gathering at malls without fear of contagion.

“Trump mused about a reopening date of April 12, picking it arbitrarily because he thought it would be beautiful to see church pews packed with parishioners on Easter. Then he dug in, seeming to tune out the nearly unanimous assessment of public health experts and governors and mayors fighting to help save lives, which was that Easter would be far too soon because the worst still was yet to come. As the self-described wartime president saw things, the novel coronavirus was a ‘silent enemy’ and America was defeating it. What a difference a week makes.”

MOOD MUSIC … WSJ: “America’s Make-or-Break Week: The bills are now coming due for big companies and millions of laid-off workers. Decisions made in the next few days will shape how coronavirus impacts the economy,” by Ruth Simon, Esther Fung, Suzanne Kapner and Heather Haddon: “Congress has passed a $2 trillion rescue plan but before those funds start to flow, American companies from the owner of a single liquor store in Boston to corporate giants like Macy’s Inc., must decide what to do about April’s bills: Which obligations do they pay and which can they put off? How many employees can they afford to keep on the payroll? Can they get a break on rent? The decisions they make this week could shape how deeply the economy is damaged by the coronavirus pandemic.”

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NATASHA BERTRAND and MAGGIE SEVERNS: “How the coronavirus shook Congress out of complacency”: “It was just hours before the start of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial when Sen. Tom Cotton began to panic. The Arkansas Republican had spent Martin Luther King Day weekend poring over news reports from Asia describing a new, highly infectious disease traced to a provincial city of 11 million inside China, hardening his already deeply held disdain for the Chinese Communist Party.

“Cotton was struck by the way the Chinese government was putting a positive spin on its handling of the new virus, while taking increasingly drastic steps to try to contain it. ‘That’s when it really kind of crystalized for me,’ he told POLITICO in an interview. ‘Those two things obviously do not match.’

“So he started badgering the White House to bar travel from China immediately. Cotton called the president, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and other top officials, warning about the dangers of the virus and pressing them to ground flights. Soon, he said, he had made his point so thoroughly that he would simply point down to the ground every time he saw White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland -- a sign for ‘get the planes down.’

“But Cotton, along with a handful of others, was the exception on Capitol Hill when there still might have been a chance to prevent the worst.” POLITICO

Good Monday morning. JAKE and ANNA will talk shop about all things coronavirus-related this morning at 9 a.m. during a Playbook virtual briefing. Register

SPOTTED: Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Foggy Bottom Whole Foods on Sunday morning. Pic

WSJ: “Global Stocks Fall as Oil Dips Below $20,” by Joanne Chiu: “U.S. stock-index futures and global equity markets dropped, as markets remained volatile amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Futures tied to the S&P 500 index fell about 0.7%, reversing earlier gains and suggesting that U.S. shares could fall at the start of the week. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, a security that is seen as a haven, fell to 0.657%, according to Tradeweb, from 0.744% Friday. Yields move in the opposite direction of prices.”

-- A 0.7% drop seems quaint these days.

DAN DIAMOND: “FDA issues emergency authorization of anti-malaria drug for coronavirus care”: “The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, decades-old malaria drugs championed by President Donald Trump for coronavirus treatment despite scant evidence.

“The agency allowed for the drugs to be ‘donated to the Strategic National Stockpile to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible,’ HHS said in a statement, announcing that Sandoz donated 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to the stockpile and Bayer donated 1 million doses of chloroquine.” POLITICO

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FT: “Top German ventilator company warns on global supply crunch,” by Tobias Buck in Berlin and Michael Pooler in London: “One of the world’s largest makers of ventilators, Drägerwerk, has warned that global demand for the machines that help severely ill coronavirus patients to breathe will outstrip supply, despite being on course to quadruple production this year.

“Stefan Dräger, chief executive of the group, said the situation was especially worrying in the US. ‘The largest part of production capacity for ventilators is in Europe, while the biggest problem appears to be in the US. That is something that concerns me,’ he told the FT in an interview.”

-- L.A. TIMES: “L.A. County got 170 broken ventilators from feds; Silicon Valley is fixing them, Newsom says,” by Taryn Luna and Rong-Gong Lin II: “California and other states have been stocking up on ventilators in anticipation of a shortage at hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Gov. Gavin] Newsom said he learned about the problem with the federal government’s ventilators when he visited Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Friday.

“‘Rather than lamenting about it, rather than complaining about it, rather than pointing fingers, rather than generating headlines in order to generate more stress and anxiety, we got a car and a truck,’ Newsom said. ‘And we had those 170 brought here to this facility at 8 a.m. this morning, and they are quite literally working on those ventilators right now,’ Newsom said.”

ALEX THOMPSON and HOLLY OTTERBEIN: “Why the progessive movement is suddenly torn over AOC”: “Of the half-dozen incumbent primary challengers Justice Democrats is backing this cycle, Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed just two. Neither was a particularly risky move: Both candidates — Jessica Cisneros in Texas and Marie Newman in Illinois — were taking on conservative Democrats who oppose abortion rights and later earned the support of several prominent national Democrats.

“Ocasio-Cortez’s reluctance marks a break with the outsider tactics of the activist left, represented by groups like Justice Democrats. This election cycle, the organization is trying to boot not just conservative Democrats but also some liberal Democrats and to replace them with members who are more left-wing. In other words, to replicate what it pulled off against Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018 by recruiting Ocasio-Cortez.

“Ocasio-Cortez’s shift coincides with turnover among top aides in her congressional office — replacing some outspoken radicals with more traditional political professionals — along with a broader reckoning on the left on how to expand [Bernie] Sanders’ coalition after his failure to significantly do so in the presidential primary. Some progressives have questioned whether Sanders should have softened his anti-establishment rhetoric and tried to build bridges with mainstream Democrats who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 rather than betting big on turning out disaffected and first-time voters.” POLITICO

NYT, A1: “Is the U.S. Headed Toward a Short British-Style Election?” by Jonathan Martin, Reid Epstein and Maggie Haberman

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TRUMP’S MONDAY -- The president will have lunch with VP Mike Pence at 1 p.m. in the private dining room.

-- THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE will hold a briefing at 5 p.m.

PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: A wedding proceeds in Hong Kong on Sunday even as the government imposed new restrictions to further social distancing because of the coronavirus. | Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

LETTER TO WASHINGTON … TIM ALBERTA in Ypsilanti, Mich.: “Fear in Bulk”: “I spent nearly three hours inside the Sam’s Club. From a respectful distance, I spoke with customers young and old, black and white, wealthy and working class. We talked about the coronavirus. We talked about their families. We talked about their jobs and their finances and their 401(k)s. No matter whom I encountered, no matter their politics or worldviews, the conversations were animated by a common sentiment: fear.

“This wasn’t the fear you read about in front-page headlines or hear about on the evening news. None of us was on death’s door. None of us was being admitted to an over-capacity hospital. None of us was retracing routes of infection through dozens of family members and friends. Our fear was one step removed. We were waiting. We were—like the vast majority of Americans—reading those headlines, watching those newscasts, wondering when it might be our turn.” POLITICO Magazine

CNN: “Justice Department reviews stock trades by lawmakers after coronavirus briefings,” by David Shortell, Evan Perez, Jeremy Herb and Kara Scannell: “The Justice Department has started to probe a series of stock transactions made by lawmakers ahead of the sharp market downturn stemming from the spread of coronavirus, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“The inquiry, which is still in its early stages and being done in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has so far included outreach from the FBI to at least one lawmaker, Sen. Richard Burr, seeking information about the trades, according to one of the sources.” CNN

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BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- “Coronavirus Slowdown in Seattle Suggests Restrictions Are Working,” by NYT’s Mike Baker: “The Seattle area, home of the first known coronavirus case in the United States and the place where the virus claimed 37 of its first 50 victims, is now seeing evidence that strict containment strategies, imposed in the earliest days of the outbreak, are beginning to pay off — at least for now.

“Deaths are not rising as fast as they are in other states. Dramatic declines in street traffic show that people are staying home. Hospitals have so far not been overwhelmed. And preliminary statistical models provided to public officials in Washington State suggest that the spread of the virus has slowed in the Seattle area in recent days.

“While each infected person was spreading the virus to an average of 2.7 other people earlier in March, that number appears to have dropped, with one projection suggesting that it was now down to 1.4.” NYT

CHOTINER’D … THE NEW YORKER’S ISAAC CHOTINER interviews Richard Epstein, the law professor whose theories downplaying the virus are said to have been circulating inside the Trump administration. It does not go well.

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KNOWING TONY FAUCI -- “Dr. Fauci Was a Basketball Captain. Now He’s America’s Point Guard,” by WSJ’s Ben Cohen: “The basketball team at Regis High School had a 1-16 record as the players entered a rival’s gym in the winter of 1958 fully expecting to leave with yet another loss. The other team’s star was a future NBA coach who would one day run the New York Knicks. Regis was led by a diminutive future doctor who would one day run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“‘Nobody gave us a chance,’ said John Zeman, a Regis alumnus. ‘Everyone figured it was going to be a blowout.’ But there was one teenager who looked at this demoralizing collection of data and came to a wildly optimistic conclusion. ‘Tony said no,’ he said. ‘We’re going to win this game. And we did.’

“Tony, the team captain better known as Fauch, a short kid with a thick Brooklyn accent who led his overmatched team to a highly improbable victory in the biggest game of his life, now answers to a name that most Americans have come to recognize: Dr. Anthony Fauci.” WSJ

PLAYBOOKERS

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IN MEMORIAM -- CBS: “Remembering Maria Mercader, CBS News journalist for three decades”: “CBS News is mourning the loss of Maria Mercader, a network veteran who covered breaking news for nearly three decades and, most recently, helped shape strategy for the network's correspondents and reporters.

“Maria was 54 and died from the Covid-19 coronavirus in a New York hospital. She had been on medical leave for an unrelated matter since the last week in February. Maria fought cancer and related illnesses for more than 20 years, and was an inspiration each time she returned to work after a setback threatened to end her life.” CBS

TRANSITIONS -- Ian Rayder is now deputy secretary of state in Colorado. He previously was director of federal affairs for Denver International Airport, and worked in D.C. for Cisco. … Christopher Hooton, the Internet Association’s chief economist and head of research, will join Facebook as a senior research scientist in the Demography and Survey Science Group. … Jason Noble is now senior adviser for comms for Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa), based in Iowa. He previously was Iowa comms director for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Casey Higgins, senior policy adviser at Akin Gump. What she’s reading: “My favorite author is Erik Larson. He writes historical nonfiction that reads like a thrilling novel. His latest book, ‘The Splendid and the Vile,’ begins on Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, the same day that Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. It chronicles over the year that followed how Britain, under Churchill’s bold leadership, endured the blitz and bound together against all odds. It’s a story of leadership in crisis, courage and perseverance that is uniquely resonant under today’s circumstances.” Playbook Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) is 7-0 … Jason Greenblatt is 53 … Kevin Dowling, VP at Venn Strategies … Tracey Lintott … WaPo’s John Hudson … Mark Pfeifle … Joe Kildea, VP of comms at the Club for Growth, is 41 … Suzy Khimm … former Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) is 58 … former Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) is 79 … Payne Griffin … Randee (Ulsh) Gilmore … Michael Ramlet, co-founder and CEO of Morning Consult (h/t Olivia Petersen) … Bradleigh Chance … Zach Silber, chief innovation officer at Kivvit … CQ Roll Call’s Sandhya Raman … former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) is 37 … former Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.), a member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, is 68 … NYT’s Alex Kingsbury … Scott Rasmussen is 64 … Paul Hoffman …

… Drew Maloney, president and CEO of the American Investment Council … Eric Rubin … Sara Fay … Piers Morgan is 55 … Anna Katherine Baxley … Bob Blancato … Jerry Blount … Aryeh Lightstone … BCW Global’s Susan Lagana … Jeremy Kenney of Campaign Solutions (h/t Gail Owens) … Jamiyl Peters … Marc Gonzales, VP for government affairs at US Telecom, is 51 (h/t Randy White) … HuffPost reporter Jessica Schulberg … David Greer … Peter La Fountain … Visa’s Jeremy Sturchio … Danielle Maurer … Mark Strand … Gerrard Williams … Matt Laslo is 37 … Chris Berardini … Sue Robinson … Terry Babcock-Lumish … Jill Hanauer … Gail Stoltz … Mark Daley … Peter Rasmussen … Michael Stockert … Gabriela Schneider … James Pollock

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