The Playbook Podcast

The gloves are off between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and Playbook’s Zack Stanton and Adam Wren have all the explosive details. Today, Trump White House officials are due to have a call with Musk in an attempt to lower the temperature. That comes after Musk went nuclear against Trump, making shocking allegations about the president and badmouthing some of his signature policies. But not everyone in Trump’s orbit is so eager to forge a detente: Steve Bannon is taking a victory lap, Republicans are being forced to choose sides and there’s always the possibility that one of the two unpredictable principals at the center of the brouhaha will jump back into the fray. Adam reveals the behind-the-scenes attitudes and views driving the day in Washington, and the other news you need to know today.

In a trio of announcements last night, President Donald Trump unveiled a new travel ban barring entry into the U.S. by residents from of 12 nations, a fresh attempt to block Harvard-enrolled international students from entering the country and an investigation into the so-called “auto pen” scandal, alleging that White House aides unconstitutionally exercised presidential authority during Joe Biden’s presidency. Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard and contributing author Adam Wren discuss it all. Plus, a preview of today’s big White House meeting between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The moment has finally arrived: Elon Musk turned his chainsaw on the Trump White House yesterday in a blitz of X posts taking aim at the president’s reconciliation bill. Calling it an “abomination” and vowing retribution against those members of Congress who back it, Musk’s posture amounts to not only a stunning (but nascent) split between Trump’s movement and the man who financed a broad swath of it, but also a sign of the bumpy road ahead on Capitol Hill. Chief Playbook correspondent Dasha Burns joins managing editor Jack Blanchard to unpack the story Washington is buzzing about.

President Donald Trump is calling. Will Senate Republicans answer? As the GOP homes in on the votes needed to pass the all-important reconciliation bill through the upper chamber, the president is escalating both his outreach to and pressure on holdouts. But what the White House is saying and what those last few Senate Republicans really want may be in conflict. Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard and chief correspondent Dasha Burns discuss the latest. Plus, Chinese President Xi Jinping gears up for his phone call with Trump on tariff negotiations.

Yesterday in Colorado, a man shouted “Free Palestine” as he attacked a group of elderly demonstrators who had gathered to peacefully advocate for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The episode is at once the nation’s latest paroxysm of antisemitic violence and the newest flashpoint in the debate about immigration: the alleged assailant was reportedly in the country illegally, having overstayed a visa. Chief Playbook correspondent Dasha Burns and author and managing editor Jack Blanchard join unpack it all. That, plus a new wave of Ukrainian strikes hammer deep in Russian territory.