The Playbook Podcast

President Donald Trump is shaking up the White House after Republicans’ humiliating midterm defeat, ousting chief of staff Susie Wiles and replacing her with Stephen Miller. But Miller’s rise didn’t happen overnight.

New reporting from POLITICO’s Dasha Burns and Will Steakin reveals how Miller’s wife, Katie, spent weeks lobbying Trump allies to help secure the job for her husband. In a special weekend edition of the Playbook Podcast, Dasha and Megan Messerly unpack the West Wing power struggle, Wiles’ downfall and what Miller’s promotion means for the next two years of Trump’s presidency.

The race for Rep. Jim Clyburn’s coveted 2028 endorsement is already heating up. He tells Dasha Burns in an exclusive interview who he has spoken to and what it will take to win his support. Then the other stories animating Washington: 2028 is already here with a new movement to draft Rep. Ro Khanna for president and Pete Hegseth is facing fresh scrutiny after Republicans’ midterm wipeout.

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A decade after Sen. Bernie Sanders nationalized his brand of economic populism, Democrats are winning on his message. What lessons have they learned since 2016 and could a new progressive movement carry that momentum into 2028? Then the other stories animating Washington: President Donald Trump is taking the GOP's midterm drubbing in a surprisingly Zen fashion, while Vice President JD Vance points the finger at the Iran war, with Trump's blessing.

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The results are in: Democrats scored a massive midterm win, seizing control of Congress. In this special Election Night Playbook episode, co-authors Dasha Burns, Adam Wren and Will Steakin join Senior Political Columnist Jonathan Martin and Senior Executive Editor Alex Burns to unpack the biggest takeaways. Plus, the team speaks with President Donald Trump about why he thinks Republicans suffered such major losses.

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It's Election Day. Both Republicans and Democrats can agree on one thing: The results could reshape the political landscape for years to come. Will the blue tsunami predicted by some polls materialize? And could MAGA face a major political reckoning in the aftermath? Join the Playbook authors for this Election Day preview.

Tonight is POLITICO Elections Live at 9 pm ET. Stream on politico.com or the POLITICO app.