POLITICO Nightly: Putin’s shrinking circle of friends

BY GABRIEL GAVIN Presented by  Traditional Russian wooden nesting dolls depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a gift shop in Moscow on March 11, 2024. | Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images THE EASTERN FRONT — Russian President Vladimir Putin will touch down in Beijing Thursday as part of a state visit that he is hoping will help shore up his country’s wartime economy in the face of Western sanctions. It’s the second time the longtime strongman has flown to China in less than a year, and comes just a week after he was sworn in for an unprecedented fifth term in office following an election widely understood to have been rigged in his favor. The message is clear: for Russia, the wind is blowing East. Ahead of the visit, Putin declared that ties between the two nations have reached “unprecedented” levels, only two years after they formally announced a “no limits” partnership. Now, analysts say stronger trade ties, energy sales and access to military hardware are likely to be high on the agenda as Moscow continues to grapple with the consequences of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While Putin is set to get a warm welcome from his counterpart, Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, he’s likely to find his hosts are less interested in his lofty notions of an anti-Western alliance, and more focused on what they can get out of him in his hour of need. “China is very much a pragmatic country still — it gives off ideological noises, but it has almost a purely transactional approach,” Ian Garner, a historian of Russian culture and war propaganda, told Nightly. “Right now, it’s in [China’s] interests to use Russia as a wedge to frustrate the West and achieve its own economic ambitions, but the second it’s not in their own interests, they will drop Putin like a stone.” Cracks are already beginning to show in the relationship between the two Eurasian powers. For years, Moscow has been talking about a potential pivot towards Asia, insisting Europe needed it more than it ever needed Europe. But Western embargoes on Russian fossil fuels have created a huge dent in the Kremlin’s budget, one that Beijing simply can’t fill. While Russian deliveries of natural gas to China peaked late last year, a long-mooted infrastructure project, designed to help replace EU customers and branded the Power of Siberia 2, has faced serious delays and an apparent lack of interest from Beijing. With sluggish economic growth of its own, China has little need for even more Russian gas and, if it buys it at all, will only do so at a major discount — something Putin’s inner circle has glossed over when they promise a new era of economic relations. There are other reasons Xi might be hesitant to ride to Putin’s rescue. Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed a new round of almost 300 sanctions against Chinese firms that it says help Moscow’s military-industrial complex circumvent restrictions on sensitive technologies. While Beijing has claimed the measures “lack international legal basis and authorization from the United Nations Security Council,” it is unlikely to want to risk further Western ire without clear reward. Far from being an ideological bedfellow, Beijing has even sought to rein in an increasingly belligerent and paranoid Russian government. On the eve of the visit, the Kremlin publicly backed Chinese calls for an end to the war in Ukraine, including opening peace talks. While Moscow evidently isn’t ready to do any deal with Kyiv that isn’t entirely on its own terms, the move shows just how much pressure the country is under to show it isn’t trying to drag Beijing into a ‘forever war’ that it wants no part of. And, as the circle of leaders willing to host Putin continues to shrink, Xi’s power in the relationship continues to grow — as does the sense that it’s Putin who is becoming bad for business. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ggavin@politico.eu or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @GabrielCSGavin .   A message from Safety Runs First: ADVANCING EQUINE SAFETY IN HORSERACING: Thoroughbred racing is applying unprecedented resources to protect the wellbeing of our horses. For the first time ever, all horses now run under the same safety and anti-doping rules, overseen by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Advanced diagnostic technologies and big data add a new layer of protection. Combining uniform rules and hands-on care with the latest technologies ensures safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com.   TRUMP ON TRIAL ON HOLD — The Trump trial was once again paused, as has become customary on Wednesdays throughout the trial. GETTING IN LINE — A large House GOP group is discussing a trip to New York to back up Donald Trump at his hush money trial, according to four Republicans familiar with the matter — joining a growing GOP trend. Those lawmakers considering a Thursday visit, which is not yet finalized, include a chunk of the House Freedom Caucus, two of those people told POLITICO, granted anonymity to discuss fluid discussions. Members of that conservative group are being particularly tight-lipped in case a busy House schedule this week delays their plans. Roughly 16 people from the House Freedom Caucus are eyeing a trip to New York, one of those people said. Chair Bob Good (R-Va.), whose primary opponent has made Good’s initial backing of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a wedge issue in the race, is among those included in the discussions, according to that person. “Every Republican should go support President Trump,” said Good, who declined to comment on whether he was making the trip and whether he has spoken to the former president about attending.   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. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY .     WHAT'D I MISS? — Congress clears major aviation policy bill, after months of delays: The House voted today to send the biggest aviation bill in five years to President Joe Biden’s desk . The bill, H.R. 3935, cleared on a 387-26 vote, would inject $105 billion into the Federal Aviation Administration over five years and guide policy for everything from drones and air taxis to technology intended to help planes avoid runway collisions. It will also add five long-haul, round-trip flights a day to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, despite objections from D.C.-area lawmakers.  However, it contains no significant provisions to clamp down on oversight of Boeing, whose quality control problems have spiraled since a door panel blew off mid-air on one of its 737 MAX 9 jets in January. — Bipartisan group of senators unveil long-awaited guidance on AI bills: A bipartisan group of senators has taken a critical step forward in regulating artificial intelligence , releasing a long-awaited, Chuck Schumer-endorsed “roadmap” for addressing AI that Congress could take up this term. The bipartisan working group, which consists of Schumer, Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), has been developing the report for months, looking to outline areas of AI ripe for bipartisan regulation. The quartet hosted a number of AI briefings this term for senators, hoping to educate sometimes tech-averse lawmakers. Top line AI priorities in the report include: Boosting funding for AI innovation; tackling nationwide standards for AI safety and fairness; using AI to strengthen U.S. national security; addressing potential job displacement for U.S. workers caused by AI; tackling so-called “deepfakes” being used in elections, and “non-consensual distribution of intimate images”; ensuring that opportunities to partake in AI innovation reach schools and companies. — Lawmakers blast FDIC chief over toxic workplace: FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg faced a bipartisan grilling on Capitol Hill today over a blistering report that found pervasive harassment and mistreatment of employees at the agency on his watch. Democrats blasted Gruenberg’s leadership and openly questioned whether he should stay at the agency. But they stopped short of joining Republicans in calling for his removal, which would imperil a crackdown on big banks and halt other pending financial rules opposed by the industry. Gruenberg appeared before lawmakers for the first time since the independent report last week portrayed a workplace culture that for years was rife with sexual misconduct, discrimination and other mistreatment of employees that managers did little to stop. NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 DEBATE AGREEMENT — Having spent months avoiding direct engagement on when and where to debate, both Donald Trump and Joe Biden seemed to agree on a time and place in a matter of minutes today , setting up high-stakes showdowns in late June and mid September, reports POLITICO. The former president’s campaign announced that it accepted an invitation to debate the current president on CNN on June 27 and on ABC on September 10. Biden, having previously said that he had “received and accepted an invitation” from CNN then agreed to participate in ABC News’ forum, too. SQUEEZED OUT — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is lashing out after being left out of the upcoming presidential debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump that are scheduled for June and September, writes POLITICO. Kennedy, who is unlikely to meet the debate qualification requirements laid out by CNN, said in a social media post that the president and former president are “trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win.” RFK JR IS NOT ON BALLOTS! ALWAYS A WHINER! excerpt:   He’s officially made the ballot in Michigan and is still attempting to qualify in other key states. According to CNN’s rules, a candidate must be on the ballot in enough states to earn a majority of Electoral College votes by June 20. Although the Kennedy campaign is making efforts to meet the state-by-state qualifications to get on the ballot, many of the states won’t certify the candidates who have qualified until later in the summer.   A message from Safety Runs First:   AROUND THE WORLD Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is transported from a helicopter by medics to a hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia today. | AFP via Getty Images ‘ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT’ — Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is in critical condition after he was shot five times following a government meeting . “He is fighting for his life,” Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák told press outside the hospital where Fico is being operated on. “We are hoping that he is strong enough to make it.” “He suffered a polytrauma,” Kaliňák said, adding that 59 year-old Fico has been in surgery for three and half hours. “It’s a really complicated health condition.” More detailed health information will be available later, Kaliňák said, adding that for now there is “no good news.” The shooting shocked politicians in Europe, where such incidents are rare. World leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attack and sent their thoughts to Fico and his family. Police identified the shooter as 71 year-old “Juraj C.” Witnesses alleged that after a government meeting, the attacker shouted to Fico to approach him, offering his hand, after which shots were fired. According to local media reports, the shooter was a published poet and in his retirement worked for a security firm. Some government officials blamed the violence on Slovakia’s polarized political debate and climate of intolerance for differing viewpoints.   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 3.4 percent The percentage that the consumer price index — one of the key measures of inflation — has risen over a 12-month period , according to a report from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released today. Inflation eased slightly in April, beating estimates. RADAR SWEEP THIS LOOKS FAMILIAR — Formerly iconic streets in American cities around the country now look remarkably similar to one another. Trendy restaurant chains like Blue Bottle, Salt & Straw, Shake Shack and sweetgreen, to name a few, are all popping up right near each other in places that were once cultural landmarks for cities . These places are often convenient and deliver on their promise to deliver tasty or healthy meals. But they’ve also served to create a kind of cultural flatness around the country that didn’t used to exist — you might now get a remarkably similar dining experience on many streets in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Austin. Meghan McCarron writes about the trend and what it’s done to the country in Eater. PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1944: U.S. soldiers pile huge rolls of wire fence at an army supply depot in England for the coming invasion of the European continent. | AP Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .   A message from Safety Runs First: BRINGING RACING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: Three years ago, Congress created the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to enhance the safety and integrity of Thoroughbred racing. Under HISA, for the first time in the sport’s 200-year history, every horse across the country is now running under the same safety and anti-doping rules. In addition, HISA is partnering with leading technology providers, including AWS and Palantir, to create new data-enabled tools to assist veterinary screenings. These tools add a new layer of protection by helping identify at-risk horses before they reach the starting gate. The industry is also investing in the latest technologies for diagnostic imaging and wearable biometric devices. Combining enhanced, uniform rules, data analytics and cutting-edge technologies is improving safety outcomes and enhancing the ecosystems of care at every track nationwide, ensuring safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com.     Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   FOLLOW US

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Sign The Petition: 7,000 signatures needed by Endangered Species Day to help save gray wolves from extinction

 

URGENT ACTION NEEDED: Become one of the FIRST members to help us reach 7,000 signatures by Endangered Species Day in just two days → Sign the petition now to protect mama wolf 907F and the remaining 124 Yellowstone gray wolves from brutal trophy hunters! >> There are only 124 gray wolves remaining in Yellowstone, including an impressive and beloved female known as 907F. This fierce matriarch of the Junction Butte Pack is the pack’s leader and the oldest known wolf in Yellowstone! She’s proven herself to be a shrewd survivor after spending over a decade raising litters of pups and fending off rivals. Mama wolf 907F is an iconic legend among the park and is easily recognized by her thick fur and missing left eye.  But innocent gray wolves like 907F are in danger of being brutally slaughtered by trophy hunters any moment now. And even a brave mama wolf like 907F is no competition for the type of powerful and violent murder methods used on unsuspecting wolves by these merciless killers. From loaded rifles to painful choking snares, to dynamiting entire wolf dens with sleeping pups inside — these bloodthirsty trophy hunters will do ANYTHING to get their kill, regardless of how inhumane or gruesome.  In fact, just recently, it was reported that a hunter in Wyoming captured a Yellowstone wolf that had unknowingly crossed the park’s border into the state that has virtually no limits to murdering wolves. This ruthless hunter didn’t just put the poor creature out of its misery after running the animal down to exhaustion with a snowmobile. No,  instead, the abuse continued as the hunter taped the injured wolf’s mouth shut and transported the animal to a local bar for cheap thrills — before finally taking the innocent wolf out back of the public establishment and shooting the helpless animal to death.  Gray wolves are in danger of being completely annihilated by reckless trophy hunters — and we could soon lose this beloved species forever if we don’t demand federal protections for them immediately. Endangered Species Day is just 2 days away, and we’re aiming to get 7,000 signatures by then to demand ESA protections immediately:  can gray wolves count on you to step up for them today? Add your name now >> SIGN THE PETITION As environmentalists and activists gear up for Endangered Species Day, it’s a crucial time to raise awareness for protecting the Earth’s most endangered and threatened species from extinction. It highlights the importance of wildlife conservation in supporting healthy biodiversity, as well as the vital roles that keystone species like gray wolves play in maintaining our planet’s healthy ecosystems.   In other words, protecting vulnerable species like gray wolves is about more than saving one of the country’s most treasured native mammals, but these beloved canines also help keep our public lands in check. And if violent trophy hunters continue to annihilate the remaining gray wolves and we lose this important species, it would severely disrupt our ecosystems and natural food chain.  However, despite these dwindling animals being savagely murdered in droves by violent hunters, it was announced earlier this year that this fragile species will be removed from the Endangered Species Act list, which means they will lose crucial life-saving protections! We cannot allow this decision to stand, so we must rally activists to fight back with us immediately!  Please,  these majestic creatures are running out of time, and they’re counting on you to be their voice. Be one of the first supporters to take action ahead of Endangered Species Day. Tell FWS that we demand protections for gray wolves before it’s too late to save them from EXTINCTION! >> SIGN THE PETITION Thanks for using your voice to defend keystone species like gray wolves,  Friends of the Earth  Contact Us: Friends of the Earth U.S. Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA PO Box 7010 Merrifield, VA 22116-7010 1-877-843-8687 Contact us Learn more: www.foe.org/news www.foe.org/about-us www.foeaction.org Connect:

How To Be Trump’s Veep A cartoon about the 🤡s who really want the job... MARK FIORE MAY 16 The cult is getting cultier. Speculation is growing about who Donald Trump will pick as his running mate, so possible contenders are making the trek to his criminal trial in Manhattan in the hopes that the Defendant-in-Chief will look favorably upon them. And it’s not just vice presidential contenders, one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the party dropped by Trump’s election interference/hush money trial to parrot MAGA lies. It is astounding (but not surprising) to see so many Republican politicians debase themselves before a criminal ex-president. The Trumpian uniform of dark suit, white shirt with a red tie was in full force outside the Manhattan courthouse as the pick-me-now Republicans marched before the media. As guys like Sen. J.D. Vance and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum mugged for the cameras, they must not have noticed what happened to Michael Cohen and how his association with Trump worked out for him . . . never mind what happened to the last running mate Trump had. I guess certain sacrifices must be made if you’re positioning yourself to be an autocrat’s right-hand man.

 

The loathsomeness of Trump world The backstory of the trial ROBERT REICH MAY 16 Friends, There is something important about Trump’s criminal trial in New York that’s not being openly talked about. I don’t mean we’re not getting the facts about what’s happening in Manhattan Superior Court. But something very big is being left out. The trial has introduced us to a world of moral and ethical loathsomeness in which people use and abuse one another routinely. It’s Trump world. Consider Stormy Daniels. Porn stars are entitled to do as they wish to make money. But when they extort their clients or boyfriends who are running for public office — demanding large payments in order to stay quiet about their affair — they’re violating public morality. They’re contributing to a society in which every interaction has a potential price. Last week we heard Daniels’s story, even more detailed and lascivious than expected. But a troubling aspect of her behavior is that when Trump ran for office, she saw a chance to extort money from him. She then “shopped” her account of their sexual liaison, before finally accepting $130,000 to be silenced in the 2016 election’s final critical days. Or consider Michael Cohen. Powerful people often need “fixers” — assistants that carry out their wishes and protect them from legal or political trouble. But when those fixers arrange payments to keep stories out of the media, they’re treading on morally thin ice. Cohen didn’t just fix. He boasted of burying Trump’s secrets and spreading Trump’s lies. In his work for Trump, he repeatedly acted illegally and found ways to cover up his actions. After he paid Daniels to keep silent and Trump was elected president, Cohen concocted with Trump a means of being reimbursed that involved falsifying records that disguised the repayment as ordinary legal expenses. And then there’s David Pecker, publisher of the National Enquirer. Tabloids are part of a long tradition of American journalism. But when tabloid publishers buy stories to bury them on behalf of powerful people, thereby establishing a kind of bankable account of chits that can be cashed in with the powerful, it violates public morality because it corrupts our democracy. Two weeks ago, Pecker testified about “catching and killing” stories — buying the exclusive rights to stories, or “catching them,” for the specific goal of ensuring the information never becomes public. That’s the “killing” part. According to people who have worked for him, Pecker mastered this technique — ethics be damned. Which brings us to Trump himself. I don’t care that he had extramarital affairs. But when a presidential candidate tells his fixer to buy off someone — “Just take care of it” — so the public doesn’t get information before an election about a candidate that they might find relevant to evaluating him, it undermines democracy. This cast of characters — and there are many, many others like them in Trump world — are loathsome not because they have violated the law, but because they have contributed to creating a harsh society in which everyone is potentially bought or sold. It’s a sell-or-tell society, a catch-and-kill society, a just-take-care-of-it society. A society where money and power are the only considerations. Where honor and integrity count for nothing. I am not naive about how the world works. I’ve spent years in Washington, many of them around powerful people. I have seen the seamy side of American politics and business. But the people who inhabit Trump world live in a more extreme place — where there are no norms, no standards of decency, no common good. There are only opportunities to make money off others and potential dangers of being ripped off by others. It’s a place where there are no relationships, only transactions. I sometimes worry that the daily dismal drone of Trump world — the continuous lies and vindictiveness that issue from Trump and his campaign, the dismissive and derogatory ways he deals with and talks about others, the people who testify at his criminal trial about what they have done for or to him and what he has done for or to them — have a subtly corrosive effect on our own world. It’s important to remind ourselves that most of the people we know are not like this. That honor and integrity do count. That standards of decency guide most behavior. That relationships matter.