POLITICO Nightly: The scramble to suck up to Trump

BY CALDER MCHUGH Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) takes pictures as former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before departing Manhattan criminal court on May 13. | Pool photo by Mark Peterson. HOW TO GET AHEAD — After sitting in court listening to witness after witness testify to his alleged misdeeds, several weeks ago former President Donald Trump began grousing about his lack of support outside the courtroom. Almost immediately, a steady stream of friends, advisers and Republican elected officials from across the nation started to trickle in . Over the past two weeks, it’s turned into a cavalcade of defenders, with almost everyone who’s anyone in contemporary Republican politics making the pilgrimage to Manhattan to kiss the ring and complain to television cameras about the unfairness of the proceedings. They’re there in part to say what Trump can’t, due to his gag order — a series of talking points which include but aren’t limited to: Justice Juan Merchan’s daughter’s political leanings, the problem with the liberal New York jury pool, the character of various witnesses and prosecutor Susan Hoffinger’s donations to President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. The trip to the Manhattan courthouse has become a MAGA acid test, but also a window into how to get ahead in the Trump-era Republican Party. In one theatrical measure of the raw ambition on display, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) became the first Republican member of Congress to show up in support of Trump . Scott, who’s up for reelection this year, drove with Trump from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue down to the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, then sat in the front row of the courtroom before departing to speak to the cameras. Two weeks later, he announced his plan to run for Senate Republican leader — and his case for being selected is largely based on having Trump’s ear . The following week saw a House Freedom Caucus road trip to Manhattan. There, nearly a dozen of the thirstiest and most contentious members in the House — including Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who’s scrambling to win the GOP primary in a new House district — railed against the trial from across the street, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Gaetz, the tormenter of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy who’s said to be eyeing a gubernatorial bid in 2026, blasted the charges as “the Mr. Potato Head doll of crimes, where they had to stick together a bunch of things that did not belong together.” Days earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who’s been working on building his relationship with Trump in advance of the possibility the former president returns to office, appeared on the scene. A trial surrounding hush money payments made to a porn star seems like an unlikely place for the  government’s most powerful evangelical Christian to station himself — especially since Johnson once asserted that Trump “lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House.” But Johnson, who’s been fending off an ouster attempt from the right, made clear he thought it was important to appear in support of “a friend.” “I wanted to be here myself and call out what is a travesty of justice.” he said, roughly one week after Trump publicly urged Republicans to unite behind Johnson and helped extinguish the threat to his speakership. To some degree, the blocks outside of 10 Centre Street have become something akin to Trump’s famous boardroom in “The Apprentice.” Vice presidential hopefuls including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance have all traveled far from their home states to pay homage to Trump, aiming to get in his good graces. If Trump is in fact found guilty next week, Merchan is not required to send him to prison; most first-time, non-violent crime offenders end up with probation or a fine instead. In any case, Trump would be sure to appeal. So, very soon, he’ll be free from the Manhattan courthouse with which he has so many complaints. The former president has made clear he’s paying attention to the loyalists who serve in his Manhattan vanguard and appreciates their service. “I do have a lot of surrogates and they are speaking very beautifully,” Trump said on Tuesday. “They come from all over Washington, and they’re highly respected and they think this is the biggest scam they’ve ever seen.” They also appear to think it’s the biggest opportunity. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at cmchugh@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh . POLITICO Nightly will not publish on Monday, May 27 for Memorial Day. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Tuesday, May 28.   TRUMP ON TRIAL ADJOURNED — The former president’s trial remains adjourned until next Tuesday, a scheduling decision from Justice Juan Merchan in order to avoid Memorial Day weekend breaking up the final days of the trial.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. 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Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY .     WHAT'D I MISS? — Commerce-backed deal with Emirati AI giant sets off alarm bells in Congress: A Commerce Department-backed plan to pry an Emirati artificial intelligence company away from Beijing is sparking growing unease among the very lawmakers it appears designed to impress : China hawks. When Microsoft inked a $1.5 billion investment deal with UAE-based G42 last month, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo hailed it as a way to keep the firm out of China’s “camp.” But now, there are increasing concerns among China hawks on the Hill that the deal could soon put sensitive AI technology at risk of Chinese espionage. In recent briefings from Microsoft and the Commerce Department, lawmakers are finding out that G42 may get access to advanced semiconductors that the U.S. government wants to protect from China. — Judge rules Menendez’s prosecutors can’t show ‘critical’ evidence: Jurors in Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption case cannot see evidence prosecutors have called “critical” to part of their case , a federal judge ruled today. The decision puts a hole in prosecutors’ ability to prove their central claim: that the New Jersey Democrat took bribes to help send billions of dollars of American military aid to Egypt. U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein said prosecutors could not use evidence they hoped would show Egyptian officials were “frantic about not getting their money’s worth,” despite bribes Menendez allegedly took to help the country access billions of dollars of American military aid and arms. — Top Senate Judiciary Democrats seek meeting with Roberts over Alito concerns: Two senior Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), are requesting a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts “as soon as possible” amid reports that properties owned by Justice Samuel Alito displayed two flags with links to the Jan. 6 insurrection. “We urge you to immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that Justice Alito will recuse himself in any cases related to the 2020 presidential election and January 6th attack on the Capitol,” Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote in a letter released today. NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 RISING VP CONTENDER — Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has unexpectedly emerged as a top contender to become Donald J. Trump’s running mate , a signal that the former president is heavily weighing experience and the ability to run a disciplined campaign over other factors, reports the New York Times.. Cotton’s ascendance comes as Trump’s leading vice-presidential options have increasingly come into focus, according to three people with direct knowledge of Trump’s thinking who insisted on anonymity to discuss private meetings. These people said that Trump’s other current favorites were Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and three of Cotton’s Senate colleagues: Marco Rubio of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina and J.D. Vance of Ohio. The former president has also discussed the five Republican men as potential candidates for administration posts if he were to unseat President Biden in November.       AROUND THE WORLD Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party gestures during a question and answer session at a business conference in London, on Feb. 1, 2024. | Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP FOLLOW THE LEADER — In the late summer of 2023, a small group of American and British political strategists sat down for dinner at a restaurant in London’s Marylebone neighborhood. On the menu: French cuisine and political anxiety. The gathering included several key Labour Party officials and two outspoken American centrists, Matt Bennett and Josh Freed, both leaders of the think tank Third Way . Conversation quickly turned to Labour’s political messaging, which remained fuzzy even as the ruling Conservatives flailed in the polls. As good as things looked for Labour, there had been some unsettling political misses — most notably, a by-election for Boris Johnson’s west London seat that Labour lost in an upset, largely because of backlash against local policies discouraging the use of cars. Was it time, some party officials wondered, to itemize a more precise governing agenda, to make it harder for the Tories to brand them with a radical caricature? Freed and Bennett responded with one voice: Don’t do it. It would not solve any of Labour’s problems to churn out reams of well-intentioned white papers, they said; on the contrary, presenting that kind of policy library would just offer the Conservatives countless tiny targets to shoot at. Not long after the dinner, Bennett recalled citing the 2016 U.S. election as a proof point. “I pointed out that Hillary’s campaign had 290 or so policy ideas on their website; Trump had seven,” Bennett said, perhaps exaggerating, but not by much. For an overall message, the Americans advised Labour: Keep it simple, keep it safe — just as Joe Biden did in 2020.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST:  Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today .     NIGHTLY NUMBER $3.5 billion The amount that Congress has shifted — earmarked originally for grants for semiconductor manufacturing — to a separate Pentagon program called Secure Enclave , a classified project to build chips in a special facility for defense and intelligence needs. RADAR SWEEP THINK DIFFERENT — Apple used to culturally dominate the tech world. Even if they didn’t sell as many computers as some of their competitors, their slick, indie rock-soundtracked advertisements, their new product launches and the star power inside of their company dwarfed that of their competitors and had real cultural influence. But in recent years, that has waned . The low came earlier this month, when Apple released an advertisement that they then pulled which showcased art and musical instruments being crushed by an oversized iPad. How did they get to their place atop the tech world? And how did they lose it? Nitish Pahwa investigates for Slate. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1883: The Brooklyn Bridge opens after 14 years of construction. It's shown here in May 1983, on the occasion of its centennial. | David Handschuh/AP Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .     Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   FOLLOW US

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