President Donald Trump has dispatched Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi over the Ukraine peace plan. The proposal is an updated version from the original 28-point plan, drafted by Steve Witkoff, which was criticized by many for favoring Russia. The new plan, which has been slimmed down, has garnered far more support in Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proclaimed that peace seems “doable” now. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and Adam Wren break down what to know and what comes next.
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Rubio’s week of war and peace
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is back from Geneva, where he met with Ukrainian and European officials to negotiate a peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Rubio said Sunday he was “very optimistic” about the progress thus far. President Donald Trump has set a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to accept a deal. Meanwhile, tensions with Venezuela are mounting as the U.S. amasses military resources in the region at a level not seen in decades. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and diplomatic correspondent Felicia Schwartz discuss the stakes.
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From 'The Conversation': Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on transforming the armed forces
Dan Driscoll made history earlier this year when, at 38, he was sworn in as the youngest Army secretary in U.S. history.
And he just made news again this week when he became the highest-level Trump administration official to visit Kyiv for the White House’s secret peace talks in effort to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Driscoll joined high-level talks with Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as news broke about a potential peace deal on the horizon.
Driscoll is a veteran of the Iraq War, and as a result, has felt the effects of Pentagon decisions firsthand. He’s set out to reshape the U.S. Army and the Pentagon into an agile institution that can make better use of existing resources and channel the best practices of the private sector.
“When you are creating defensive and offensive solutions, you have to think even 10 years out when the war really gets to its most catastrophic moment, ‘What are the very basic tools of warfare that can't be impacted by the enemy,” Driscoll said.
In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Driscoll sits down with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns to delve into the future of warfare, his plans for reinvigorating the Army’s technology and the innovation spurred by conflict.
“I think the best guess is if the United States entered a conflict with a peer in a couple of years, it would be a hybrid war where nearly every human being on the battlefield would be empowered and enabled with a digital tool,” Driscoll said. “I think we believe every infantryman in the United States Army will carry a drone with them into battle.”
CNN "NewsNight" host Abby Phillip also joined Dasha to chat about her new book, “A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power,” Jackson’s influence on today’s political landscape and Phillip’s approach to her own roundtable show.
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Mr. Mamdani goes to Washington
This afternoon, two politicians who embody diametrically opposite facets of New York City — President Donald Trump and NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani — will meet in Washington. Despite their myriad differences, both Trump and Mamdani are presently focused on the same issue: affordability. It’s a topic both men hinged their campaigns on. But will they be able to find any common ground? Playbook’s Adam Wren and New York Playbook co-author Nick Reisman walk through what they’re watching. Plus, exclusive reporting on the man at the center of Indiana’s redistricting resistance, and Barack Obama’s new role as mentor-in-chief.
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Trump’s teetering economic message
Despite his continued insistence that cost-of-living concerns aren’t a problem, President Donald Trump is confronting subpar stats on the U.S. economy, as evidenced in the data and lived reality for Americans. The September jobs report that was delayed due to the government shutdown is expected to arrive today as fresh Fox News polling shows that more than three quarters of Americans view the economy unfavorably. Trump — and 2026 candidates up and down the ballot on both sides of the aisle — are reckoning with a sour economic state. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns break it all down.
POLITICO’s Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns bring their fresh insight, analysis and reporting to the biggest story driving the day in the nation’s capital.
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