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With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

WENT WELL FOR HIM THE FIRST TIME — “Trump calls for conditioning Ukraine aid on congressional Biden probes,” by WaPo’s Isaac Arnsdorf: “Former President DONALD TRUMP called on congressional Republicans to withhold military support for Ukraine until the Biden administration cooperates with their investigations into [President JOE BIDEN] and his son HUNTER BIDEN’s business dealings.

“The demand … echoed Trump’s conduct at issue during his first impeachment, when Trump withheld aid from Ukraine while pressuring the country’s president to announce an investigation of Biden. … He added that any Republican lawmakers who didn’t join the effort should face primary challenges, a tactic he used last year to unseat Republicans who voted to impeach him for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.”

Related: NYT: “Trump Threatens Republicans Who Don’t Help Him Exact Vengeance” … POLITICO: “Labor battle brews as Trump rallies in Biden’s backyard” … POLITICO: “Trump insulted their governor and may be indicted again. They love him.”

TWO BIG READS ON TRUMP’S BIG LEGAL BILLS — Trump’s legal woes are varied in terms of scope, location and seriousness, but have one thing in common: They cost a lot of money to defend.

For Trump, the line between the legal and the political, the public and private, is essentially nonexistent.

One way to quantify that: The Trump-aligned Save America super PAC is expected to disclose tomorrow that it has spent $40.2 million this year on legal bills incurred by the former president and his associates, report WaPo’s Josh Dawsey, Devlin Barrett and Spencer Hsu.

That sum is “more than any other expense the PAC has incurred during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and, according to federal filings from earlier this month, more than Trump’s campaign raised in the second quarter of 2023.” (It’s also more than any of his competitors raised.)

Now, the setup is of interest to prosecutors: “While interviewing potential witnesses associated with Trump, prosecutors have raised pointed questions about who is paying for their lawyers and why, people familiar with the questions said. Trump advisers told The Washington Post that the PAC, which raises most of its money from small-dollar contributions by Trump supporters across the country, is footing the legal bills for almost anyone drawn into the investigations who requests help from the former president and his advisers.”

Prosecutors have “obtained emails in which some of Trump’s aides discuss whether lawyers should be paid, as well as a spreadsheet that Trump’s lawyers kept in the post-presidency of who had been subpoenaed.”

Trump advisers say “no demands” have been made that witnesses have to toe the Trump line in order to get their legal bills paid.

Trump allies are quick to defend the arrangement. Sen. J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio) tweeted (or is the term now “X-ed”?): “I have good friends who did nothing wrong who had their legal fees paid by Save America PAC. Would you rather they throw all of their employees under a bus? … I have one buddy who wasn’t in DC on J6, had no role in planning the rally, but got subpoenaed by the J6 committee because he was on a few texts with DON JR. Not even accused of wrongdoing. Thousands in legal fees.”

These hefty legal costs may be starting to affect Trump’s cash flow.

The sums are so substantial that the PAC “requested a refund on a $60 million contribution it made to another group supporting the Republican front-runner,” NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher.

“The decision signals a potential money crisis for Mr. Trump, who has so far refused to pay his own voluminous bills directly and has also avoided creating a legal-defense fund for himself and people who have become entangled in the various investigations related to him.”

DeSANTIS CAMP BLASTS TRUMP — In response to the WaPo and NYT stories, ANDREW ROMEO, communications director of RON DeSANTIS’ presidential campaign, sent Playbook this statement:

“Trump has spent over $60 million dollars this year on two things: falsely attacking Ron DeSantis and paying his own legal fees, not a cent on defeating Joe Biden. Governor DeSantis’ sole focus, by contrast, has been campaigning for this country’s future, defeating Biden, and reversing the decline of America.”

It’s the latest evidence that a new strategy has taken hold in DeSantis world: engage with mainstream outlets and go after Trump directly.

Some instances of that in recent days:

DeSantis to ABC’s Rachel Scott: “If the election becomes a referendum on what document was left by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, we are not going to win. … We’ve got to focus on what the people are looking for in terms of their futures, and I just think in 2024 … we can’t have distractions.”

When asked about the possibility of Trump skipping the first debate next month: “I think everyone should show up. You owe it to make the case to the people about why you should be president. And at the end of the day, nobody’s entitled to a nomination. Nobody’s entitled to be elected to any office, much less the presidency.”

DeSantis to NBC’s Gabe Guttierez: “With me as the nominee, we’re gonna focus on Biden‘s failures and our vision for the future. That’s what the election will be about if Donald Trump is the nominee: it’s going to be about all those other issues. I think Biden‘s gonna be able to hang out in his basement again, and he’s gonna be able to get away with it and end up with four more years.”

When Gabe pointed out that DeSantis was down by 30 points in polling, the candidate bristled: “Says you,” DeSantis said. “I can tell you: We’ve been in Iowa. I’m the one showing up at all these places. We’re signing up people day after day. We’re going to do this in all the early states. … [W]e still have a huge campaign ahead of us.”

But even as DeSantis touts a state-by-state process, there are warning signs back home that national outlets are picking up on:

“Does DeSantis have a Florida problem? Trump dominates in the Sunshine State,” by WaPo’s Lori Rozsa: “While the governor runs on a platform to ‘make America Florida,’ his support in the Sunshine State is showing signs of teetering. The governor’s uphill battle in his own state is a troubling sign at a moment when his campaign is struggling to regain momentum.”

Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

SUNDAY BEST …

— NIKKI HALEY on her proposal for new term limits in Congress and mental acuity tests for elected leaders, on CBS’ “Face the Nation”: “You see what happened with [MITCH] McCONNELL, you see what happened with [DIANNE] FEINSTEIN. We have too many issues going on that we need to start making sure that we do this. … We’ve got to stop electing people because they look good in the picture or they hold a baby well. We’ve got to stop electing people because we like them and they’ve been there a long time. That’s actually the problem. You need to have term limits, because we need new ideas, new solutions.”

On DeSantis’ curriculum controversy: “He just should come out and say no positives came out of slavery. I think that’s important to say. And I think that’s what these Republicans and Democrats have asked him to say. We’ll see what he does.”

— VIVEK RAMASWAMY on how he stands apart from Trump, on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “I believe I will be able to take that agenda even further than Trump did, because I’m not yet having that effect on people. Do I think Trump can beat Biden in a general election [by] a narrow margin? To be honest, yes, I do. But I think I am the only candidate in this race — in the entire Republican primary field — who can deliver a Ronald Reagan, 1980-style landslide election, a moral mandate in this election.”

On the DeSantis curriculum controversy: “Obviously, we should be teaching kids about the awful legacy of slavery, but, even more importantly, we’re not teaching them enough about the ideals that actually do define this country.”

— WILL HURD on the DeSantis curriculum controversy, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “Anybody that is implying that there was an upside to slavery is insane. … But this is one more part of a fact pattern of Ron DeSantis being mean and hateful.”

— CHRIS CHRISTIE on Trump’s legal troubles, on “State of the Union”: “It is most likely that, by the time we get on the debate stage on August 23, the front-runner will be out on bail in four different jurisdictions, Florida, Washington, Georgia, and New York.”

— Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) on Supreme Court Justice SAMUEL ALITO’s assertion that Congress does not have authority to regulate the Supreme Court, on “State of the Union”: “From the very beginning, Congress has set those rules. But it is even more disturbing that Alito feels the need to insert himself into a congressional debate. And it is just more evidence that these justices on the Supreme Court, these conservative justices, just see themselves as politicians.”

— Rep. NANCY MACE (R-S.C.) on whether House Republicans are divided over impeachment, on “Fox News Sunday”: “I do believe we are, at this point. An inquiry is different from an impeachment vote, and is another tool in the toolbox. But I will tell you: Every time we walk the plank, we are putting moderate members, members that won Biden districts — we are putting those seats at risk for 2024. We are putting the majority at risk. And it’s not just impeachment that does that. Other issues, like abortion, et cetera, also put those members on the plank.”

TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.

• “The Death of Summer” by Bloomberg’s Niall Ferguson
• “Try Tolerance in a Small Town,” by NYT’s David French
• “Mitch McConnell has the ‘Potomac Fever.’ It’s time to let go,” by WaPo’s Kathleen Parker
• “Why Kamala Harris Is A Better VP Than You Think,” by Julia Azari in POLITICO Mag
• “The No Labels 2024 Election Threat to Trump,” by Karl Rove in the WSJ
• “Conservatives Have a New Master Theory of American Politics,” by N.Y. Mag’s Jonathan Chait
• “With DeSantis Reeling, What About Tim Scott?” by NYT’s Ross Douthat
• “A year after Dobbs, House GOP proposes taking food from hungry babies,” by WaPo’s Catherine Rampell
• “The Perilous Gap in Election Trust,” by The Dispatch’s Chris Stirewalt
• “How the news media unintentionally contributes to Donald Trump’s endurance,” by Michael Bugeja for Poynter
• “This Is Your Brain on Lies and Conspiracy Theories,” by Marcel Danasi in POLITICO Mag

PHOTO OF THE DAY

9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR

1. CABINET CALLSHEET: Trump’s former Cabinet members get the survey by NBC’s Peter Nicholas and Megan Lebowitz, finding that few of his former acolytes are willing to stick their necks out for the former president at this point.

Of the 44 Trump Cabinet members contacted, “most declined to comment or ignored the requests. A total of four have said publicly they support his run for re-election.” The four public backers are former acting AG MATTHEW WHITAKER, former COS MARK MEADOWS, former OMB Director RUSSELL VOUGHT and former acting DNI RICHARD GRENELL.

The campaign response: “The Trump campaign declined to comment beyond pointing to three former Cabinet members as people to contact — one of whom has endorsed Trump and two others who, when asked, didn’t commit to endorsing him at this time.”

2. TRUMP’S CALIFORNIA GAMBIT: Trump is yet again remaking the presidential primary landscape in his preferred image this cycle, using an old tactic from previous campaigns by leaning on state officials to bend the rules to his liking, with the latest change coming in California.

“In a move backed by former President Trump’s campaign, the California Republican Party on Saturday changed its rules for allocating delegates in the state’s presidential primary — a shake-up that could discourage other GOP candidates from campaigning here and make the state less competitive in next year’s nominating contest,” L.A. Times’ Seema Matha writes.

3. NO LABELS’ NEWEST NAME-BRAND: Former Missouri Democratic Gov. JAY NIXON is jumping on board with No Labels, the centrist group that has pushed for a “unity ticket” on the 2024 presidential ballot and raised hackles among Democrats that fear the effort could torpedo Biden’s reelection. Nixon will be the group’s director of ballot integrity and told AP’s Steve Peoples in an interview that he was “drawn to the role after learning that well-funded groups aligned with Democrats were working to stop No Labels from securing ballot access in key states.”

4. COULD FLORIDA TURN PURPLE?: “Republicans dominate in Florida. Abortion and pot could change that,” by Gary Fineout in Miami: “National Democrats had all but written off Florida as a lost cause — a former purple state turned solid red by the MAGA movement and Gov. Ron DeSantis. But key party leaders in the state, desperate to turn things around in 2024, are confident that citizen initiatives dealing with abortion rights and recreational marijuana legalization could fuel turnout and boost the party’s chances.”

5. MASTRIANO EYES A KEYSTONE COMEBACK: Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Republicans in Pennsylvania are worried about DOUG MASTRIANO’s campaign ambitions. Well, despite the conservative state senator’s pledge that he won’t run for Senate, Mastriano is clearly “stoking his base” in recent appearances, the Philly Inquirer’s Chris Brennan writes. And while roughly a dozen GOP operators told the Inquirer they weren’t sure what exactly Mastriano is up to, Brennan writes that the most likely scenario is the “very early days of another run for governor in 2026, which raises the prospect of a rematch with Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO.”

6. SWITCHING SIDES: “Inside the Party Switch that Blew Up North Carolina Politics,” by NYT’s Kate Kelly and David Perlmutt: TRICIA COTHAM “came from a family with strong ties to the Democratic Party, campaigned as a progressive on social issues and had even co-sponsored a bill to codify a version of Roe v. Wade into North Carolina law. Interviews with former and current political allies depict her as someone who had grown alienated from Democratic Party officials and ideals. Republican leaders cultivated her before she ran and, seeing her growing estrangement, seized a chance to coax her across party lines.”

7. VEEP FILES: “Harris Urges Black Americans to Vote in Bid to Replicate Record Turnout,” by Bloomberg’s Akayla Gardner: “Vice President Kamala Harris urged Black Americans to vote and cast Republicans as extremists on everything from abortion, voting rights and gun reform. ‘Here’s what we need to do. Vote. It gets back to the voting,’ Harris said Saturday at a gathering of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil-rights organization, in Boston. Noting that Black voters had record turnout in 2020, Harris said that ‘it scared some people.’”

Related read: “In Boston on Saturday, Kamala Harris warns of ‘full-on attempt to attack’ hard-won rights and freedoms,” by the Boston Globe’s Maliya Ellis, Tiana Woodard and John Hilliard

8. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Saudi Arabia to Host Ukraine Peace Talks as Part of Western Effort to Woo Global South,” by WSJ’s Laurence Norman and Stephen Kalin: “According to diplomats involved in the discussion, the meeting would bring senior officials from up to 30 countries to Jeddah on Aug. 5 and 6.”

9. RED, GREEN AND BLUE: “Two dozen lawmakers have electric cars. Not all are Democrats,” by Mia McCarthy: “Congress is deeply divided on whether Washington should push more Americans to buy electric vehicles. But more than two dozen lawmakers have made the leap themselves, according to a first-of-its kind tally by POLITICO’s E&E News — including at least two House Republicans who oppose President Joe Biden’s climate policies.”

SPOTTED: Kevin Durant at the Four Seasons hotel yesterday evening. Later, he appeared with Drake at his concert at Capital One Arena.

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Here’s what caused Saturday’s destructive storms in the D.C. area,” by WaPo’s Jason Samenow, Jeff Halverson and Dan Stillman

MEDIA MOVE — Amanda Cox is joining Bloomberg as executive editor for data journalism. She most recently led special data projects at USAFacts, and is a NYT alum.

TRANSITION — Jennifer Welch is now chief geoeconomist at Bloomberg Economics. She previously worked in the NSC and VP’s office on Asia-Pacific and China-Taiwan issues.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Maggie Miller Ruffini, VP of policy and government relations at The Woolf Group, and Patrick Ruffini, founding partner of Echelon Insights, welcomed Leo Frederick Ruffini on Wednesday. Pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) … Arnold Schwarzenegger … WaPo’s Shane Harris … NYT’s Jim Rutenberg … Michael Glassner (6-0) … Mario Lopez of the Hispanic Leadership Fund … Rebecca Kutler … Michelle Bernard … POLITICO’s Teresa Wiltz and Tyler Weyant … Jonathan Kanter (5-0) … Education Week’s Lauraine Langreo … Brad Jenkins … Heidi Crebo-Rediker … Glen Chambers … Suzanne Nossel of PEN America … Mark Beatty of Google … Jonathan Spalter of USTelecom … Bob Bissen of the National Head Start Association … Candace Randle Person … Alex Parker of Capitol Counsel … Kana Smith … MSNBC’s Isaac-Davy Aronson … Emily Barson … Dave Kochel … Michael Short … Anita Hill … former CFTC Chair Tim Massad … Tony Maciulis … Bill O’Leary of Heidrick & Struggles … former Reps. Quico Canseco (R-Texas), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Wendell Bailey (R-Mo.) … Garry Malphrus … Ben Marter of API … Sintia Radu … Eleanor Smeal … Herald Group’s Cameron Smith … Davey McKissick of Glen Echo Group

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