POLITICO Playbook: What Trump might not get about impeachment Presented by Amazon

A few smart, seasoned people in the White House wondered to Playbook on Wednesday night if President Donald Trump actually believes the most recent vote ended impeachment. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

IT BARELY TOOK THE PRESIDENT ANY TIME before he said this Wednesday evening at his campaign rally in Greenville, N.C.: “I just heard that the United States House of Representatives has overwhelmingly voted to kill the most ridiculous project I’ve ever been involved in: the resolution -- how stupid is that -- on impeachment. I want to thank those Democrats because many of them voted for us, the vote was a totally lopsided 332-95-1.” … Upon arriving in North Carolina, President Donald Trump said the same thing: “We have just received an overwhelming vote against impeachment. And that’s the end of it. Let the Democrats now go back to work.”

A FEW THINGS …

-- FIRST OF ALL, a few smart, seasoned people in the White House wondered to us Wednesday night if TRUMP actually believes this vote ended impeachment. Of course, it didn’t. This was a procedural vote that means nothing in the grand scheme of things. There are still nearly 90 Democrats who are now on record supporting an impeachment inquiry, and ROBERT MUELLER is coming to the Hill next week. There are Democrats who believe the impeachment caucus will swell as soon as he opens his mouth.

-- THE WHITE HOUSE DID, THOUGH, WANT A BIG VOTE ON TABLING THIS MOTION. House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY was the one who offered the motion to table the impeachment resolution. The administration believed it would send a message to the public that a large majority of the House was against impeachment -- it's a convenient talking point. (The other live option was to send it to Judiciary.) This was so important to the White House and Trump allies that Reps. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio) and MARK MEADOWS (R-N.C.) -- both very close to the president -- skipped the rally in North Carolina to vote on tabling the impeachment motion.

-- THE DEM LEADERSHIP WAS SPLIT: Rep. David Cicilline (R.I.) voted against tabling it, as did Katherine Clark (Mass.). The rest of the top of the party -- Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, Ben Ray Luján, Hakeem Jeffries -- voted to table. The list of who voted to impeach

MORE ON LAST NIGHT … NYT’S MICHAEL CROWLEY in Greenville: “At Rally, President Accuses Liberal Critics of Seeking the Nation’s ‘Destruction’”: “President Trump road-tested his attacks on four Democratic congresswomen on Wednesday, casting them as avatars of anti-American radicalism and reiterating his call for them to leave the country, in a preview of a slash-and-burn re-election strategy that depicts Mr. Trump as a bulwark against a ‘dangerous, militant hard left.’

“‘These left-wing ideologues see our nation as a force for evil,’ Mr. Trump told a packed arena. To roaring applause, he railed against what he called ‘hate-filled extremists who are constantly trying to tear our country down.’ ‘They don’t love our country,’ he said. ‘I think, in some cases, they hate our country. You know what? If they don’t love it, tell them to leave it.’

“In recent days, similar comments by Mr. Trump have been met with repugnance across the country. But the capacity crowd in an arena at East Carolina University seemed to savor them. After Mr. Trump reeled off several controversial comments made by one of the four congresswomen, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, including ones that he depicted as sympathetic to Al Qaeda, the crowd started up a rousing chant of ‘Send her back! Send her back!’” NYT

VIDEO of the crowd chanting “send her back” after the president discussed Rep. ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.): The 1:54 clip

-- ONE REPUBLICAN UNEASY … REP. MARK WALKER, a North Carolina Republican in GOP leadership (@repmarkwalker): “Though it was brief, I struggled with the ‘send her back’ chant tonight referencing Rep. Omar. Her history, words & actions reveal her great disdain for both America & Israel. That should be our focus and not phrasing that’s painful to our friends in the minority communities.”

-- AP'S STEVE PEOPLES and ZEKE MILLER: “Not since George Wallace’s campaign in 1968 has a presidential candidate — and certainly not an incumbent president — put racial polarization at the center of his call to voters. Though Trump’s comments generated outrage and even a resolution of condemnation in the House, the president and his campaign believe the strategy carries far more benefits than risks.” AP

HA’ARETZ: “Netanyahu to Decide Whether Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib Can Enter Israel, West Bank for Tour”

-- WE’D HAVE TO IMAGINE TRUMP WOULD BE PRETTY PLEASED if his friend and ally Benjamin Netanyahu declined to allow Omar and Tlaib -- the president’s enemies, at the moment -- into Israel. This could cause a diplomatic row, though, since Omar and Tlaib are elected federal officials.

SOME DEBT LIMIT NOISE … We caught up with Speaker NANCY PELOSI just before we published the PM edition of Playbook on Wednesday, and she sounded positive about the debt limit/budget talks. She expressed hope that the deal could come out within days and get a vote one week from today. In fact, she said the deal needed to come together before the end of the week in order to have the vote before the recess.

SHORTLY AFTER THAT, the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION began spreading the message to reporters that, in fact, the negotiations were NOT close to completion, and they had a ways to go.

-- WE WON’T PLAY THE PREDICTION GAME, but that kind of talk from the administration was confusing, and disorienting after hearing such a positive message from Pelosi.

WHERE CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS ARE -- “Senate Republicans pray Trump will take budget deal,” by Burgess Everett, John Bresnahan and Gabby Orr: “Congress and the White House are moving toward an ambitious budget deal, but the big question still remains: What will President Donald Trump do?

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican senators are pushing Trump to accept an agreement with Democrats that would avoid stiff budget cuts, steer clear of a potential default and provide a huge measure of certainty through the presidential campaign. Trump has been warm to the proposal as it’s taken shape, according to multiple senators who have spoken with him in recent days. But GOP backers of a deal fear a last-ditch push from hard-line conservatives inside the administration and Congress to reject any bipartisan compromise.” POLITICO

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- ADAM JENTLESON, former deputy chief of staff to former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, has signed on with the publisher Liveright to write a book titled “Tyranny of the Minority” that will be published in early 2021.

The publisher’s description of what to expect: “An insider’s account of how recent changes to Senate rules, norms, and leadership structures have allowed a party representing an ever smaller, whiter, and more radical portion of the American electorate to dominate the federal government, to Dan Gerstle at Liveright, in an exclusive submission, by Heather Schroder at Compass Talent Agency (NA).”

Good Thursday morning. SPOTTED at a book party for Tim Alberta, hosted by Patrick Steel and Carrie Budoff Brown at Patrick and Lee Satterfield’s home Wednesday night: Brendan Buck, Eliana Johnson, Paul Kane, Shane Goldmacher, Josh Dawsey, Annie Karni, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), Elaina Plott, Heather Podesta, UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, David Castagnetti, Michael Allen, Ron Bonjean, Meredith McPhillips, Robert and Dr. Elena Allbritton, Zac Moffatt, Brendan Buck, Phil Rucker, Melissa Moss, Shawna Thomas, Gina Adams, Phil Musser, Susan Molinari, Pete Selfridge, Keith Urbahn, Jill Zuckman, Matt Kaminski, John Harris, Ben Terris and Kristin Roberts.

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SPOTTED: Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir, and campaign co-chairs Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Nina Turner at Hunan Dynasty with 10 progressive lawmakers including Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas). (hat tip: Alex Thompson)

POMPEO ADDS A LITTLE FUEL TO THE FIRE … “[Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo spoke Wednesday night at the annual dinner for the Kansas Society of Washington, D.C., according to multiple sources. It’s another sign of how the secretary maintains ties to the Kansas political scene. This year’s dinner honored University of Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self and Sydney Reed, who works in Roberts’ Senate office.

“Pompeo made light of the speculation about his future in the speech, telling the crowd that he’s not running for office again before adding the phrase ‘right now,’ according to sources at the dinner.” McClatchy

WHAT THE E-RING IS READING -- “2,100 more troops headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, Pentagon says,” by Wesley Morgan: “They will join some 2,500 active-duty and 2,000 National Guard troops already there, for a total force of 6,600 on the border mission. The new active-duty troops will arrive ‘in the next several weeks’ and will provide ‘aerial surveillance, operational, logistical, and administrative support’ to Customs and Border Patrol, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Chris Mitchell said in a statement.” POLITICO

-- NYT’S THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF: “U.S. to Send About 500 More Troops to Saudi Arabia”: “The United States is sending hundreds of troops to Saudi Arabia in what is intended as the latest show of force toward Iran, two Defense Department officials said Wednesday. The roughly 500 troops are part of a broader tranche of forces sent to the region over the past two months after tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated.” NYT

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2020 WATCH -- DANIEL STRAUSS: “Buttigieg campaign adds ex-DNC CEO to expanded senior staff”: “Pete Buttigieg has hired two seasoned Democratic operatives to boost his early-state and policy teams. Jess O’Connell has signed on as a senior adviser charged with leading the South Bend, Ind., mayor's strategy in early primary and caucus states, campaign officials told POLITICO. O’Connell served as CEO of the Democratic National Committee in 2017 and has also been executive director of EMILY’s List. … The Buttigieg campaign has also hired Sonal Shah as national policy director, as Buttigieg tries to beef up his policy bona fides.” POLITICO

-- MAGGIE SEVERNS: “Obama and Clinton’s rainmakers place their 2020 bets”: “Big-money Democratic donors have jumped off the sidelines of the presidential race, and three candidates are the clear winners of their support: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris.

“Each of those three candidates received more than 220 donations from top fundraisers who helped raise at least $100,000 (and sometimes many multiples more) for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign or at least $50,000 for Barack Obama in 2012, according to a POLITICO analysis of Federal Election Commission data. Members of this group of nearly 2,000 so-called “bundlers” have tapped their personal networks in the past to collectively raise tens of millions of dollars for Democratic campaigns.

“But while top Democratic fundraisers donated more money in the second quarter than in the slow first three months of the race, many are no closer to choosing a single candidate: Close to 40 percent of the 810 bundlers who have donated to a 2020 Democrat so far have given to more than one candidate.” POLITICO

-- “DNC tinkers with format for next debates,” by Zach Montellaro: “The Democratic National Committee and CNN are making sure both nights of the July 2020 presidential debates have their fair share of top-tier candidates, insuring that there won't be a pileup of leading candidates on one night that could hurt ratings. The network and the DNC announced Wednesday that candidates will first be split into three tiers, before being randomly split across the two nights. The tiers are based off public polling.” POLITICO

-- HAPPENING TONIGHT: CNN will host a live debate draw during a special edition of “Anderson Cooper 360°,” broken into three groups … Tier 3: Bennet, Bullock, de Blasio, Delaney, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Ryan, Williamson; Tier 2: Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Klobuchar, O’Rourke, Yang; Tier 1: Biden, Harris, Sanders, Warren. CNN

BURGESS EVERETT: “Sen. Isakson hospitalized after fall”: “Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson fell in his apartment and was hospitalized after fracturing four ribs, his office announced on Wednesday. The third-term Republican senator sustained the injuries Tuesday night, his office said, and he was admitted to George Washington University Hospital in Washington. ‘He is in pain, but resting and doing well. Senator Isakson looks forward to fully recovering and getting back to work for Georgians,’ said Amanda Maddox, a spokeswoman for Isakson.” POLITICO

THE JUICE …

-- RYAN ZINKE’S SEAL PAC paid what appears to be a $10,000 fine, according to an FEC report. Zinke listed it as a “PAC compliance fee,” but there’s no such thing as a “compliance fee.”

TRUMP’S THURSDAY -- The president and first lady Melania Trump will participate in a photo-op with members of Team USA for the 2019 Special Olympics World Games at noon in the Oval Office. He will meet Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at 1:30 p.m., followed by a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. Trump and the first lady will participate in a flag presentation ceremony at 2:35 p.m. in the East Room.

PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: Esther Bitrus, a 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping survivor, and others who have suffered religious persecution around the world meet with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WAPO’S ROZ HELDERMAN and BETH REINHARD: “Behind the scenes the night Trump partied at Mar-a-Lago with Jeffrey Epstein and NFL cheerleaders”

-- BACKSTORY: “In interview, Faith Daniels recalls Trump kissing her on lips”: MSNBC

BIG IN LONDON -- “Theresa May’s final hours,” by POLITICO Europe’s Emilio Casalicchio and Jack Blanchard: “One government figure summed up the mood: ‘It’s like your old pet dog. You are always sad to lose your old pet dog, but you know its legs are gone and it’s blind and it can no longer function. As sad as it is, it’s time to put it down.’”

R.I.P. YOUR MENTIONS, MATT -- “How the Dems Should Blow Up Their Debates,” by Third Way’s Matt Bennett and David de la Fuente in POLITICO Magazine

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IMMIGRATION FILES -- “A Border Kept Him From His Daughter. Now He’s Here to Say Goodbye,” by NYT’s Christina Goldbaum and Miriam Jordan: “In recent weeks, Heydi, a 13-year-old immigrant from Honduras, had become increasingly depressed about her father, who had been held in detention since he was caught illegally crossing the southern border in early June. It had been his third attempt in four years to reach the United States to be with his only child, who was living with his sisters in New York. But as days turned into weeks and more than a month passed without his release, the young girl seemed to lose hope, her family said.

“Around 10:30 p.m. one night last week, Heydi shut herself in a room, saying she wanted to be alone. About an hour and a half later, her aunt, Zoila, gently opened the door to offer her a snack. Maybe some cookies and milk would cheer her up, she thought.

“But the bed with blue and violet flowered sheets was empty. Zoila peered out the window, and then caught a glimpse of the closet on the opposite end of the room: There was Heydi, hanging from a phone-charging cable that she had fashioned into a noose.” NYT

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FOR YOUR RADAR … AP/GENEVA: “Ebola outbreak in Congo declared a global health emergency”: “More than 1,600 people have died since August in the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, which is unfolding in a region described as a war zone.”

VALLEY TALK -- “DNC warns 2020 campaigns not to use FaceApp ‘developed by Russians,’” by CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan: “The Democratic National Committee sent a security alert to 2020 presidential campaigns Wednesday afternoon warning them not to use the popular smartphone application FaceApp ...

“‘This app allows users to perform different transformations on photos of people, such as aging the person in the picture. Unfortunately, this novelty is not without risk: FaceApp was developed by Russians,’ the alert from Bob Lord, the DNC's chief security officer, read. FaceApp, which was released in 2017, went viral this week with celebrities and other public personalities all around the world sharing photos of themselves edited through the app. The app's makers says it uses artificial intelligence technology to edit the photos.” CNN

PLAYBOOKERS

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at [email protected].

MEDIAWATCH -- Keith Grossman will be president of Time. He previously was COO at Engine and global chief revenue officer at Bloomberg.

SPOTTED: Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) at the McDonald’s on 4th and C Street on Wednesday. Pic … Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) at the O-Ku sushi bar at Union Market on Wednesday night.

IN MEMORIAM -- RFE/RL’S GOLNAZ ESFANDIARI (@GEsfandiari): “Bruce Laingen, a former U.S. diplomat held hostage in Iran for 444 days, has died. He told me in a 2009 interview that the painful experience left him with ‘a sense of disappointment that Iran would abuse its own tradition of hospitality for foreigners.’” The interview … WaPo obit

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Julia Krieger, Iowa communications director for the Biden campaign. A fun fact about her: “When I graduated from college, I took an unpaid fellowship in D.C., so I convinced my mom to co-sign a loan and she basically threatened to disown me if I didn’t pay it back. I worked nights and weekends at Starbucks until I got a full-time job -- and I did pay off my loan, so my mom still loves me.” Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Olivier Knox, chief Washington correspondent for SiriusXM ... former Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) is 69 ... Carol Ross Joynt, booker for CBS’ “Face The Nation” ... Gadi Schwartz, correspondent for NBC News and co-host of NBC’s “Stay Tuned!” on Snapchat … Steve Forbes is 72 … Candid’s Varun Anand, an HFA alum, is 25 … Liz Kreutz ... Alice Rhee … Chris Marroletti (h/t Liz Johnson) ... Reid Davenport ... James Wallner ... Sukrit Agarwal ... David Vandivier ... Suzanne Ruecker ... Bob Moore ... Dylan Roberts ... Teddy Tanzer ... Pepper Pennington Natonski ... Alex Spence, senior U.K. political correspondent at BuzzFeed ... Steve Chenevey ... Jonathan Taplin ... Michael Luongo ... Jill Neunaber … Jenna Kimberley … Lauren Davie … Law360’s Philip Rosenstein ...

… Billy McBeath, digital director at American Crossroads and Senate Leadership Fund … Rep. T.J. Cox (D-Calif.) is 56 … former Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) is 69 ... former Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) is 78 ... former Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Ariz.) is 79 … Evan Ross of FleishmanHillard ... Jennifer Hoelzer ... Britta Towle ... Lauren Czeizler ... John Yanchek ... Fox Business Network’s Jackie DeAngelis ... Kate Balcerzak ... Kate Cichy … Dana Camp-Farber ... Omar Kasule ... Bill Knapp of Iowa ... Sid Davidoff, senior partner at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, is 8-0 ... Erin Meiman ... Robert Colorina ... Jeff Kosseff

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