The Playbook Podcast

The big news at the morning NATO confab, announced Wednesday by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, is threefold: (1) NATO is doubling its military footprint in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia to counter the threat from Russia; (2) Biden and NATO leaders will increase pressure on China to condemn the Russian invasion; (3) NATO will take additional steps to aid Ukraine with “cybersecurity assistance” and “equipment to help Ukraine protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.”

It’s that third issue that has seized everyone’s attention, as WMDs are now a serious focus of the summit. Stoltenberg repeatedly called on Russia to stop its “nuclear sabre-rattling,” and warned that “the spread of chemical or biological agents used in Ukraine may have dire consequences also for the population living in NATO Allied countries in Europe.”

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, President Joe Biden has focused on three policies: (1) sanctioning Russia, (2) bolstering NATO’s defenses and (3) providing security assistance to Ukraine. All three policies have been calibrated to deter Russian President’s Vladimir Putin's aggression without escalating the conflict. 

Biden departs for Brussels this morning, and on Thursday, he attends a trio of emergency summits — NATO, the G-7 and the European Council — where each of the three pillars of Biden’s response to the war will be under pressure.

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

The White House has worked hard to project a united front between President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and their respective teams.

But the upcoming book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future,” by NYT’s Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, reveals some frustrations at the highest echelons of the White House between the Biden and Harris camps, as well as the VP’s angst over the policy portfolio she was given. 

Playbook got its hands on some juicy excerpts.

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Supreme Court confirmation hearings typically blot out everything else going on in Washington.

This time, not so much. 

With war raging in Ukraine and President Joe Biden headed to Brussels on Wednesday for an emergency NATO summit, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's four-day hearing marathon, which starts today at 11 a.m., may well be below-the-fold news. It’s not just outside events dampening the suspense: With her confirmation all but assured and the balance of the court not in play, the likelihood of major surprises is dramatically reduced.

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

As Rep. Mo Brooks’ (R-Ala.) Trump-endorsed Senate campaign sputters and the Alabama GOP primary descends into chaos, Sen. Richard Shelby is making his move. 

Our Burgess Everett and Natalie Allison scoop that Shelby is “preparing to pour as much as $6 million into the race by transferring his campaign coffers into a super PAC supporting Katie Britt,” his former aide who is running for the Senate seat.

“‘I’m going to give it all away sooner or later. I’m going to help her, transfer it to a super PAC,’ said Shelby, who has nearly $10 million in his campaign account and more than $6 million in a separate leadership PAC. He added that Britt is ‘doing well right now. Mo Brooks is dropping, you see that.’”

Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive: How Democrats alienated the woman who helped them win the House

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

No one was surprised by the request: a no-fly zone — and if not that, then access to those Soviet-style fighter jets in Poland that could help them “close the sky.” But if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's  — who has risen to almost folk-legend status in the eyes of Congress, and who clearly did his homework, invoking 9/11, Martin Luther King Jr. and Pearl Harbor in one 16-minute address — thought his message would immediately elicit the changes he wanted, he was wrong. At least so far. 

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address Congress virtually at 9 am this morning.

The headlines will likely focus on the red lines that President Joe Biden won’t cross: Zelenskyy’s request for a no-fly zone, and the transfer of Polish MiGs.

But the debate has shifted. 

Betsy Woodruff Swan interviews Daniel Vajdich, a longtime lobbyist for Ukrainian interests, who says “he has consulted with Zelenskyy’s advisers about the speech.”

“Zelenskyy is going to express gratitude to the U.S. for what it’s done to support Ukraine and punish Russia, but he’s also going to name and shame, or at least shame, and rightly so,” he tells Betsy.

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy will speak to Congress virtually. According to one person with knowledge of the address, he plans “to name and shame,” meaning excoriating the West for not doing enough to defend his country, though he will balance his remarks with some gratitude for what has been provided. 

WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia and Siobhan Hughes report that it was Zelenskyy who asked Congress to speak. Few world leaders have the kind of moral authority that Zelenskyy has to push Congress. A week ago Saturday, when he addressed members of Congress privately, his pleas for assistance produced a flurry of congressional requests to the Biden administration. The Ukrainian aid package zipping through Congress ballooned in the following days.

Tougher sanctions, advanced air defense weapons, airplanes from Poland, and a no-fly-zone are all still on Zelenskyy’s wish list. His advocates in Washington — lobbyists and members of Congress — told Playbook they have tried to push his government to deemphasize the no-fly zone, which has been repeatedly ruled out by Biden, and focus on beefed up defense assistance that is more achievable, such as S-300 surface-to-air missiles. 

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Something unusual has happened in Washington since Russia invaded Ukraine. Congress — which typically takes a back seat on foreign policy matters — has driven the White House beyond its comfort zone with bipartisan demands for more assertive policies.  

It started with calls for tougher sanctions, then escalated to an appeal for a larger military and humanitarian assistance package. Members of both parties then clamored for a U.S. ban on Russian oil, which the White House saw as politically risky given the effect on gas prices at home. And they insisted that the U.S. end permanent normal trade relations with Russia.

The tactics have worked. And this week, lawmakers will be at it again — this time nudging the Biden administration to go further than it wants in facilitating the transfer of fighter jets from Poland to Ukraine.

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.

At a Thursday lunch in the New York Times Washington bureau, upset reporters pressed executive editor Dean Baquet about a recent sting operation targeting national security reporter Matthew Rosenberg, according to two people present.

Project Veritas, a group that has singled out journalists and Democrats in undercover operations, posted a pair of videos this week showing Rosenberg divulging details about sensitive newsroom dynamics and disparaging his colleagues. Rosenberg suggested that the media was overhyping the siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, scoffing at colleagues who were there that day who said they were traumatized, and blasted what he called left-leaning younger Times reporters wrapped up in a “woke” culture influencing coverage.

The videos immediately caused tensions to flare among Times staff, according to more than a half-dozen reporters who were granted anonymity to speak candidly. During the Thursday lunch, multiple reporters said they were upset about Rosenberg dissing their own coverage and badmouthing his coworkers.

Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: The man fighting for Ukraine in D.C.

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Senior Producer of POLITICO Audio.