Principals

1. GOP fundraising
2. Jack Smith’s SCOTUS setback
3. NYT defends its Biden reporting
4. Blinken meets Xi
5. US builds Gaza pier
6. USAID to Moldova

PDB: Trump trial highlights

White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend gets underway … US readies $6 billion military package for Ukraine … Bloomberg: Biden receives bad economic news

— edited by Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann and Morgan Chalfant

Mike Johnson saved Ukraine aid. Will donors care?

Speaker Mike Johnson is being re-evaluated in political circles after breaking with GOP hardliners to pass Ukraine aid — and that includes among donors. Taking over for Kevin McCarthy and his vaunted fundraising operation, large donor money has been slower to pour in so far. Now, both Johnson’s critics and supporters are waiting to see whether his decision on the national security package changes things, Kadia Goba reports. Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the anti-Johnson rebels, has argued that his tenuous position with conservatives will brand him a “lame duck,” and thus not worth a long-term investment from donors. Some observers also predicted it might hurt Johnson with grassroots contributors, who trend MAGA. But others think Johnson bucking the hard right could resonate with larger GOP donors, who tend to hold more traditional views and are looking for more assertiveness from leadership. “He achieved some conservative wins, helped America lead, and neutralized a challenge from the far right — all of this will earn him credibility with Republican donors, including with those who have been skeptical of his ability to navigate a razor-thin majority,” one former senior Republican aide said.

Supreme Court sees its shadow in Trump election case

The Supreme Court looks likely to keep Jack Smith’s election interference case against Donald Trump in limbo through November. At oral arguments over Trump’s claim that presidents should have immunity from prosecution, the court’s conservative justices focused less on the details of Smith’s indictment and more on setting some limiting principle that keeps White House occupants from constant threat of legal jeopardy. “I’m not as concerned about this case so much as future ones,” Neil Gorsuch said, one of several justices who expressed similar sentiments. Justice Sonia Sotomayor skewered the idea that presidents could be immune for acts taken in their official capacity, asking Trump attorney John Sauer to justify examples like ordering the military to assassinate a political rival. That “could well be an official act,” he argued, depending on the context. The quick consensus among legal observers in the press was that the court may not declare Trump free from prosecution, but that it looked likely to send it back to a lower court to go over the particulars of his case, which would cut off the already fading chances of starting a trial before the election.

New York Times vs. Biden vs. Politico

The New York Times issued a rare public rebuke of comments about its reporting. On Thursday, Politico published a story detailing the years of animosity between New York Times journalists and the Biden administration (a topic we’ve covered here in Semafor). Politico noted that Times reporters have complained about the lack of an on-the-record interview with Biden, and that publisher AG Sulzberger had even raised the issue during a private meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris. In a statement shared first with Semafor, a spokesperson for the paper defended its coverage, as well as Sulzberger’s decision to question Harris about Biden’s refusal to participate in interviews with most mainstream news organizations. The spokesperson also pushed back strongly against an insinuation from an anonymous Times source in the piece that the tenor of its coverage was a direct result of leadership’s frustration.. “The notion that any line of coverage has been ordered up or encouraged in retaliation for declining an interview, or any other reason, is outrageous and untrue,” the spokesperson said. However, a tipster noted that when the Times shared the same statement with Semafor several hours later, it omitted that quote.

— Max Tani

Blinken meets Xi in China

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, on a trip that may yield some progress on low-level issues but is unlikely to resolve the fundamental tensions between the superpowers. Washington and Beijing hope to improve bilateral military communication and reduce travel restrictions, The New York Times reported, but disputes over trade, security, and territorial conflicts remain: Blinken was to deliver the most direct in-person warning yet to Beijing over its tacit support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while his Chinese counterpart spoke of the potential for a “downward spiral” in ties between the US and China in the wake of President Biden and Xi’s efforts to stablilize the relationship last year.

— Prashant Rao

US prepares to ship aid to Gaza by sea

The US aims to start delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea in early May, after the military began construction on a floating pier on Thursday. During a briefing with reporters, a senior military official described an elaborate operation supported by multiple nations — including 1,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors — that will transport aid screened in Cyprus via a floating causeway into Gaza, where there will be no American boots on the ground. Officials expect the setup to move 90 truckloads of aid daily at first, and eventually 150. The assistance could prove critical if Israel moves forward with a planned operation in Rafah. But some have raised questions about risks to US troops, especially following a mortar attack on Israeli forces preparing for the effort. “This has been an ill-conceived mission from the start,” the Senate Armed Service Committee’s top Republican Roger Wicker said. The senior military official said the attack was not linked to the mission, and that the US worked with the Israel Defense Forces “for weeks” on security planning and would reassess the security situation on a daily basis.

— Morgan Chalfant

Russian disinformation in Moldova alarms US official

A top USAID official is being dispatched to Moldova to offer support for the country as it faces immense pressure from Russia, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant reports. USAID deputy administrator Isobel Coleman, who will meet with government officials and business leaders as part of the agency’s pro-democracy initiative, expressed concerns about a heightened effort by Moscow to spread disinformation particularly about Moldova’s pivot away from Russian energy in an interview ahead of the trip. “The Russian disinformation has kicked into high gear,” she said. Moldova shares a border with Ukraine and officials there have been warning that it could be Russia’s next target. “God forbid, if the Russians would feel emboldened, clearly Moldova would be next,” the country’s foreign minister told the Washington Post, while he warned in an interview with Bloomberg that Moldova has become a “petri dish of Russian hybrid warfare and election meddling.”

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has “drastically” stepped up his political efforts to boost Republicans in competitive races, which is raising questions about his future aspirations. “I’m going to help anybody and everybody so that we can hopefully keep our majority,” he said.

Axios: President Biden has started to walk across the South Lawn with aides rather than alone when he goes to and from Marine One, a change intended to “draw less attention to the 81-year-old’s halting and stiff gait.”

Playbook: David Pecker’s testimony could have a political impact for Donald Trump because it is “refreshing memories about the turmoil that dominated the Trump era.”

The Early 202: Biden is joking more about Trump.

White House

• President Biden will return to Washington from New York today. He is scheduled to speak at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday (and hopefully will spend today practicing some good jokes).
• The White House tried to amplify comments from Senate Minority Leader Mitch Connell about Donald Trump resisting a bipartisan border security deal.

• Kim Kardashian visited the White House for a criminal justice reform roundtable with Vice President Harris.
• Second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke with the executive director of Columbia University’s Hillel as well as a rabbi affiliated with the school about the need to address antisemitism on college campuses.

Congress

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a video with President Biden (and Sen. Ed Markey) about the “climate corps.”
• Ukrainian-born Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., sparked anger among residents of Chernihiv, Ukraine, when she voted against the national security supplemental to fund war efforts in her native country, which she left 24 years ago. — WaPo
• The Biden administration is unlikely to heed calls from Republicans to strip colleges of federal funding for what they say are insufficient efforts to crack down on antisemitism. — Politico

Outside the Beltway

USC is scrapping its main commencement ceremony altogether next month, after facing protests for canceling a planned address by pro-Palestinian 2024 valedictorian Asna Tabassum.

Economy

• The US economy grew much less than anticipated in the first quarter of this year and prices rose, according to GDP data from the Commerce Department that further dampened hopes for interest rate cuts by summer.
• Allies of Donald Trump are drafting proposals that would try to erode the Federal Reserve’s independence if he wins a second term. – WSJ
• The finance ministers of four G20 countries — Brazil, Germany, South Africa, and Spain — called for a global wealth tax on billionaires.

Trump Trial

The former publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, testified Thursday on Donald Trump’s in New York City that he refused to pay adult film actress Stormy Daniels $125,000 for her story about an alleged affair with the future president because he had already paid $180,000 to quash two other stories that could have hurt Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He said he later found out that Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels. Pecker also said Trump had at one point sought to buy the rights to Playboy model Karen McDougal’s allegations she had a monthslong affair with him.

Courts

• A federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s request for a new trial in the civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who was awarded $83.5 million by a jury in January that found the former president defamed her.
• Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on sexual assault charges was overturned by New York’s highest court.

On the Trail

• Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde wants Republicans to talk more about healthcare policy. — Fox News
• President Biden’s campaign placed a new digital ad buy in Pennsylvania to try and court Nikki Haley supporters in the battleground state. — CNN

Foreign Policy

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke separately with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to thank them following the passage of the Ukraine aid bill. He also said he invited Johnson to visit Ukraine.
• Ukraine pulled US Abrams tanks off the battlefield “in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack.” — AP
• The US is preparing to announce a $6 billion weapons package for Ukraine through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, meaning the equipment will be procured through new contracts instead of being taken from US stocks. — Politico
• Ariel Henry stepped down as Haiti’s prime minister.

Technology

• ByteDance would rather shut down TikTok than sell it if its efforts to fight the new US divestiture-or-ban law fall short. — Reuters
• The FCC voted to restore net neutrality rules repealed under Donald Trump’s administration.

Climate

The EPA unveiled a rule to cut pollution from coal-burning power plants, but it’s an open question whether it will be enough to help President Biden with younger progressive voters who have been disappointed by his administration’s actions on climate. — Politico

Media

• European Union lawmakers have approved a resolution calling for the “immediate and unconditional” release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and others held jailed in Russia.
• Satirical site The Onion was sold by G/O Media to Global Tetrahedron for an undisclosed amount. The entire staff will remain in Chicago.

Big Read

Medical care for women who have had miscarriages is becoming a debating point in the abortion wars as some states have enacted increasingly strict restrictions on reproductive rights, the Los Angeles Times says. According to the National Library of Medicine, as many as 25% of women who know they’re pregnant will miscarry. Most miscarriages naturally resolve, but some require medical treatment similar to an elective abortion. Democrats are highlighting the dangers of miscarriages as another reason to support abortion rights, as they try to reach suburban, college-educated women in areas that may decide control of Congress. Ralph Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition says focusing on possible restrictions on miscarriage care “is a strategy to try and change the subject and shift the narrative.”

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state would refuse to comply with the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules that add protections for transgender students.

What the Right isn’t reading: Donald Trump said the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that took place in 2017 was a “peanut” compared to protests breaking out across the country over the Gaza war.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Editor-at-Large: Steve Clemons

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Nina Jankowicz is the one-time director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board who became a target of conservatives. She recently launched a new nonprofit to push back against false narratives.

• Poor countries have a climate bomb on their balance sheets.
• China is extending its lead over the US in Africa’s energy transition.
• Why the new US campus protestors cover their faces.