Playbook PM: Kristi Noem’s brutal animal instincts

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THE CATCH-UP

UP FOR DEBATE — President JOE BIDEN told Howard Stern in a live interview this morning that he’s willing to debate DONALD TRUMP: “I am, somewhere. I don’t know when. But I’m happy to debate him.” Responded CHRIS LaCIVITA: “Ok let’s set it up !”

IN THE DOGHOUSE — In her forthcoming memoir, South Dakota Gov. KRISTI NOEM boasts about killing her 14-month-old puppy, CRICKET. Now, we’re seriously wondering if she just killed her own shot at being VP.

The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly got his hands on an excerpt from “No Going Back” ($30), which will be published next month. In the book, Noem tells the story of her rowdy German wirehaired pointer, who she said had an “aggressive personality.”

According to the story, Noem tried to redirect the dog’s energy into hunting. But Cricket, Noem writes, went “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.” Then, on the way home, the dog attacked a local family’s chickens and “whipped around to bite” Noem when she tried to stop him. She proceeded to shoot Cricket in a gravel pit.

Noem says she included the anecdote to show her willingness to do “difficult, messy and ugly” things in South Dakota life, as Pengelly writes. She doubled down on that sentiment in an X post this morning: “We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”

But read the story, and it sure sounds more like animal cruelty.

Cricket sounds like, well, a puppy: rambunctious, wild and in serious need of training or possibly a new home. Rather than express sadness or regret about the situation, Noem goes on to write that she “hated that dog,” which she called “untrainable” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog.” Does that mean he should have been executed?

A few pages later, Noem also brags that, around the same time, she also put down one of her goats who chased her kids around and smelled “musky” and “rancid” (you know, as opposed to all those nice-smelling farm animals). What’s more, the poor goat survived the first shot and Noem had to go find another shotgun shell to put him out of his misery.

We’re not sure who the heck advised Noem on this book. But whatever hell MITT ROMNEY endured as a presidential candidate in 2012 for driving with the family dog on the roof of his car, expect Noem to face even more outrage from the many Americans, across ideological and party lines, who will be left totally appalled by the killing of animals out of what seems to be little more than annoyance.

THE TRUMP TRIAL — Trump’s lawyers finally got their turn to cross-examine former National Enquirer publisher DAVID PECKER at Trump’s hush money criminal trial in Manhattan today, trying to undermine his testimony about a scheme to help Trump influence the 2016 election.

EMIL BOVE, one of Trump’s defense attorneys, got Pecker to acknowledge that he ran BILL and HILLARY CLINTON hit pieces before his much-discussed Trump Tower meeting in 2015, not just afterward. Pecker also said the “catch and kill” contract he signed with KAREN McDOUGAL, who’d alleged an affair with Trump, was designed in coordination with lawyers.

“Bove suggested in his cross examination that the payment to her was for legitimate work she performed” by writing fitness columns, Erica Orden reports. He advanced a narrative that the Enquirer treated Trump the same as it did other notable figures. And he zeroed in on the agreement Pecker’s former company struck with federal prosecutors to avoid criminal liability.

Pecker pushed back against Bove’s arguments, avowing that “I’ve been truthful to the best of my recollection.” With the cross-examination now over, prosecutors are back up to try to rebut the defense’s narrative and point out the ways in which the Enquirer’s deal with McDougal was not “standard operating procedure.”

Meanwhile, a decision on whether Trump violated his gag order was delayed even further: Judge JUAN MERCHAN moved the next hearing on the matter from Wednesday to Thursday.

Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line at [email protected] and [email protected].

PAGING JIM PILLEN — Maine state House Majority Leader MAUREEN TERRY said today that if Nebraska changes its system for awarding Electoral College votes to winner-take-all (effectively ensuring Trump gets an extra one), Maine will go tit for tat and change its rules, too.

RAHM BOMB — As Biden hit a nadir in the polls this winter, some top Democratic donors in New York mounted an unsuccessful push to try to get U.S. Ambassador to Japan RAHM EMANUEL installed as a new campaign head, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman, Morgan Chalfant and Ben Smith scooped. We can’t imagine where those donors might have gotten that idea.

7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. INFLATION NATION: The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures index clocked prices rising 2.7 percent annually in March — bumping higher than economists had expected and than February’s 2.5 percent rate. That means inflation is heading in the wrong direction according to the Fed’s favored metric. While inflation is still way down from its pandemic-era high, today’s data is yet another indicator that the central bank has been unable to erase its most stubborn vestiges. Core inflation, setting aside food and energy, was 2.8 percent. Housing and transportation costs were especially culpable for the higher rate. The upshot is that a Fed interest rate cut is looking less and less likely anytime soon.

One positive sign: Consumer spending held strong in today’s Commerce Department data, which eased some fears of a worst-case stagflation scenario after yesterday’s slower GDP report. More from Reuters

2. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN wrapped up a trip to China with some stark warnings for Beijing, and a reminder that despite rhetorical gestures toward a friendlier relationship, both countries are pretty dug in on the big issues.

Blinken told reporters that he threatened China with sanctions if it doesn’t stop shoring up Russia’s military industrial base, per Phelim Kine. He said progress on stopping the chemicals that make fentanyl has been tepid, and concerns remain about trade, Taiwan and the South China Sea. Blinken also told CNN’s Kylie Atwood that the U.S. has evidence of China trying to “influence and arguably interfere” with the 2024 election, potentially breaking Chinese President XI JINPING’s pledge that Beijing wouldn’t go there. And though Blinken said he brought up the plight of Americans detained in China, their loved ones worry about whether they’ll come home, NBC’s Jennifer Jett reports.

Blinken’s Chinese counterpart, WANG YI, said bilateral relations risk a “return to a downward spiral.” This week’s outcome “suggests that the Biden administration’s months of intensive high-level diplomatic outreach to Beijing … is failing to meaningfully change Beijing’s behavior,” Phelim writes. Still, “both countries are trying to salvage what they can” and particularly prevent the threat of greater conflict, NYT’s Ana Swanson and Vivian Wang report.

One small step forward: The U.S. and China agreed to inaugural senior-level discussions about artificial intelligence, launching an intergovernmental dialogue to help manage the risks of the new technology, per CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist and Evelyn Cheng.

In case you’re wondering: TikTok did not come up in the talks, Blinken told reporters.

Related reads: “A New Pacific Arsenal to Counter China,” NYT … “States Take On China in the Name of National Security,” WSJ … “When U.S. Diplomats Visit China, Meal Choices Are About More Than Taste Buds,” NYT

3. MIDDLE EAST SIREN: As Egypt tried to urge Israel today to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas, Israeli officials told them that they’d give negotiations one more try — but proceed with an imminent ground invasion of Rafah if it fails, per Axios’ Barak Ravid. Meanwhile, the U.S. is pausing plans to sanction Israel Defense Forces battalions over alleged human rights violations in the West Bank, ABC’s Anne Flaherty scooped.

4. BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE: “Perry, a Far-Right Incumbent, Faces Shifting Political Ground in Pennsylvania,” by NYT’s Robert Draper in Hershey: “[A]mong archconservative House members, only [Rep. SCOTT] PERRY must sell those same views to voters in a politically competitive district … Perry, a historically lackluster fund-raiser who has had to divert substantial donations to paying for legal fees relating to his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, finds himself increasingly at risk … [Centrist Democrat JANELLE] STELSON has pitched herself as an affable, instantly familiar TV personality and noncombative alternative.”

5. HOW FAR CAN ABORTION RIGHTS GO?: “Inside the long-odds push to undo an abortion ban in ruby red Arkansas,” by WaPo’s Hannah Knowles in Bryant: “Supporters of a [referendum] are betting that abortion rights has become a winning issue here in the post-Roe era, with strict bans galvanizing liberal voters and also giving some conservatives pause. … But the ballot proposal to legalize abortion through 18 weeks after fertilization — and afterward in limited cases — is facing stiff headwinds.”

6. STATE OF THE UNIONS: A major strike of truck and bus workers could begin tonight at a Daimler Truck factory in North Carolina, putting the state’s Democrats in an awkward position, NYT’s Jonathan Weisman reports. United Auto Workers President SHAWN FAIN is bullish and aggressive about a potential strike of 7,000 workers, as he has been (successfully) in other states. The White House sounds supportive, too. But North Carolina has historically been a pretty anti-union swing state. Top Democrats there, including Gov. ROY COOPER and gubernatorial nominee JOSH STEIN, are treading much more cautiously.

7. DONALD DIPLOMACY: WaPo’s Josh Dawsey, Marianne LeVine and Michael Birnbaum have a detailed look at Trump’s recent spate of meetings with various conservative foreign leaders, many of whom have particularly tried to influence him with competing messages about Ukraine. The Brits have worked especially hard to build a relationship with Trump — one of many countries now preparing for the possibility of his return to the White House after writing off the possibility post-Jan. 6. “But it’s unclear whether the conversations will have an effect on a former president who is impulsive with his decision-making.”

Related reads on MAGA and Ukraine: “A Ukraine-born congresswoman voted no on aid. Her hometown feels betrayed,” by WaPo’s Siobhán O’Grady, Anastacia Galouchka and Marianna Sotomayor in Chernihiv: “VALENTYNA RUDENOK, 65, a history teacher who was a librarian when [Rep. VICTORIA] SPARTZ studied at the school and remembers sneaking the teenager extra books … said she is upset by Spartz’s vote.” … And Alex Ward reports that Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY gave Speaker MIKE JOHNSON a deadline for passing more military aid when they met in December: He said Kyiv could hold out only until “March or April.”

PLAYBOOKERS

Antony Blinken will go to Israel next week.

Gary Fineout shared the story of the time that Bob Graham was his substitute teacher.

Donald Trump Jr. said no thanks to running the NRA.

Jack Ciattarelli thinks the third time’s the charm to become New Jersey governor.

Sam Altman and other tech leaders are on a new DHS advisory board on AI.

Aaron Sorkin is writing a movie about Jan. 6 and Facebook’s culpability.

OUT AND ABOUT — Axios and Live Nation hosted a White House Correspondents’ Dinner party last night at the Organization of American States, with a live performance by Jelly Roll. SPOTTED: Naomi Biden, Jim and Autumn VandeHei, Paul and Janna Ryan, Mike Allen, Heather Podesta, Roy and Kelly Schwartz, Ryan Nobles, Symone Sanders-Townsend, Ian Sams, Alex Thompson, Vedant Patel, Josh Ginsberg, Lauren French and Jake Wilkins, Leland Vittert, Sara Fischer, Jesse Rodriguez, Kristen Parisi, Hans Nichols, Ron Bonjean, David Risher, Ben Coffey Clark, Annie Grayer, Sophia Cai, Allison Murphy, Aja Moore, Igor Bobic, Eugene Daniels, Margaret Taylor, Jacquelyn Cameron, Ed O’Keefe and Tony P.

— SPOTTED Wednesday evening at Fulcrum Public Affairs, Conexion and Bryson Gillette’s first annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner week reception celebrating the next generation of leaders in politics and policy, held at the recently opened MITA: Dana Thompson, Oscar Ramirez, Adrian Saenz, Pili Tobar, Colin Rogero, Bill Burton, Omar Vargas, Steve Benjamin, Jen Molina, Luisana Perez Fernandez, Julian Purdy, Stacey Brayboy, Noel Perez, Chanelle Hardy, Kenny LaSalle, Chris Moyer, Veronica Duron, Mayra Macias, Nicole Young Collier, Laquita Honeysucker, Michael Collins, Cietta Kiandoli, Shawn Deadwiler and Alex Howard.

— SPOTTED at a RightNOW Women “speed mentoring” reception on Wednesday night hosted by Susan Hirschmann at Williams and Jensen, bringing together female Republican chiefs of staff and K Street vets to mentor young women: Jane Adams, Marlene Colucci, Shelley Hymes, Beth Jafari, Jen Jett, Alexandra Kendrick, Mary Rosado and Amy Smith.

— SPOTTED at the 25th annual Kidsave Miracles Gala at the National Press Club last night: award winner Scott Simon, Tia Mitchell, Cheyanne Daniels, Michael Starr Hopkins, Randi Thompson, Allyson Baker, Shannon Scott-Paul, Bill Novelli and Pam Nanudorn.

— NBCUniversal News Group hosted a dinner last night at Cafe Milano in honor of Kelly O’Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, who was also celebrating her 30th anniversary at NBC News. SPOTTED: Cesar Conde, Rebecca Blumenstein, Andrea Mitchell, Sally Buzbee, Tammy Haddad, Hallie Jackson, Eugene Daniels, Adrienne Arsht, Mary Bruce, Nancy Cordes, Weijia Jiang, Marc Short, Peter Alexander, Carrie Budoff Brown, Steve Thomma and Eric Schultz.

TRANSITIONS — Rich Cordray will leave his role as head of the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid in June as his appointment expires next week, Michael Stratford reports. … Michelle Lapointe is joining the American Immigration Council as legal director. She previously was deputy legal director at the National Immigration Law Center. … Emily Horowitz is now a public health analyst at the CDC. She previously was federal government relations manager at the American Heart Association.

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