With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

We’ve finally made it: White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend is upon us.

JUST POSTED: THREE BUZZY READS …

1. “Baby showers, icicle music and sauna time: How embassy parties have become the new K Street,” by Daniel Lippman and Hailey Fuchs: “The embassy scene has come roaring back post-pandemic as D.C.’s diplomatic set races to make up for lost time.”

2. “The Award for Thirstiest Member of Congress Goes to …” by POLITICO Magazine: “Presenting the first-ever Thirsties, for those who excel in Washington’s signature art form: trying to get on your TV screen tonight.” Featuring: Reps. RITCHIE TORRES (D-N.Y.), RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) and ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.), among others.

3. “Jim VandeHei, From ‘Win the Morning’ to ‘Choose Joy,’” by Michael Schaffer: “The surreal spectacle of Washington’s most surprising leadership column, and what it says about how the knowledge industry works now.”

1776 REDUX — Last night, POLITICO kicked off WHCD weekend by hosting “The Great Playbook Debate” at the British Embassy to mark the launch of London Playbook PM. Your D.C. Playbook team took on the London Playbookers in an Oxford-style debate over which country’s politics are more absurd: America’s or Britain’s?

POLITICO CEO GOLI SHEIKHOLESLAMI and British Ambassador KAREN PIERCE opened up the event by recognizing WSJ reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH, who remains unjustly detained in Russia.

Then, POLITICO Europe’s editor-in-chief JAMIL ANDERLINI presided as the Brits (JACK BLANCHARD, KATE DAY and ROSA PRINCE) made their case and Rachael, Eugene and Ryan argued the opposite. Obviously — and thanks to jokes about JOE BIDEN, DONALD TRUMP, MATT GAETZ and GEORGE SANTOS — the OG Playbookers won.

SPOTTED: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Reps. Ben Cline (R-Va.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.), UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, Ned Price, Neera Tanden, Jan Bayer, Ralph Buchi, John Harris, Matt Kaminski, Josh Dawsey, Sam Feist, Andrea Mitchell, Robert and Elena Allbritton, Karen Knutson, Glenn Fogel, Missy Owens, Shannon Ricchetti, Ian Sams, Sena Fitzmaurice, Jacqueline Alemany, Scott Mulhauser, Lisa Monaco, Eric Fanning, John McCarthy, Ned Price, Dan Koh and Amy Sennett, Josh Rubin, Ryan Berni, Will Wu, Elizabeth Falcone, Heather Podesta, Sam Runyon, Kate Cooksey Noyes, Sanam Rastegar, Gevin Reynolds, Rachel Palermo, Tate Mitchell, Liza Acevedo, Ernie Apreza, Ben Haas and Morgan Dwyer, Caitlin Conant, Annie Clark, Jonathan Lemire, Jonathan Martin, Karen Travers, Todd Gillman, Garrett Haake, Carol Lee, Mark Ein, Mike Donilon, Steve Clemons, Jeff Mason, Ben and Ashley Chang, Jennifer Beals, Patrick Steel and Lee Satterfield, Matt Gorman, Scott Sloofman, Rebecca Blumenstein, Mike Memoli, Andrew Bleeker, Carrie Budoff Brown, Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson, Jacqui Heinrich and Olivia Nuzzi.

SCOOP: GERSHKOVICH AND TICE RELATIVES TO ATTEND WHCD — Amid the fizzy wash of parties in Washington, it’s easy to lose sight of what the WHCD is ostensibly all about: a celebration of the First Amendment. And with Gershkovich locked up in Russia and AUSTIN TICE still in captivity 11 years after his kidnapping in Syria, it’s vital that we not take press freedoms for granted.

That message will be a throughline of the entire WHCD weekend, including tomorrow’s dinner.

— The Wall Street Journal will hand out pins with Evan’s name on them during its pre-reception at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, aiming to make them ubiquitous in coverage of dinner (and in all photos/videos from it).

— We’re told Gershkovich’s parents, sister and brother-in-law are expected to attend the dinner as guests of the Journal, and that Tice’s mom is scheduled to attend with the Washington Post.

— NPR’s TAMARA KEITH, the current president of the White House Correspondents’ Association board, told Playbook she is “going to reference both” Tice and Gershkovich in her speech before the thousands of attendees at the Washington Hilton, noting that they are “among hundreds of journalists around the world wrongfully detained in countries where there is no such thing as a free press.”

The dinner, says Keith, is “the biggest platform of the year to speak to the nation about the importance of journalism more broadly. And never is that in more stark relief than when journalists are imprisoned just for doing their jobs.”

A White House official tells Playbook that Biden will address the plight of wrongfully detained journalists in his remarks tomorrow night.

Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

WE NEED YOUR HELP — Heading to an event this weekend around the White House Correspondents’ dinner? Playbook will be your go-to for all of the happenings, but we’d love to have as many eyes and ears on the ground as possible. See a surprising pair having a chat in the corner? Watch some celebrities rubbing shoulders with White House officials? Let us know, and send pics! Save 202-556-3307 as “Playbook” in your contacts now, and when you see something interesting, just shoot us a text! One of us will be on the other end to text you back. Or, you can always email tips to us at [email protected]. (And don’t worry, we’ll keep you anonymous.)

THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: BEN SMITH — This week in Washington — more so than anytime in Biden’s presidency — the news has been all about … the news.

Fox News fired TUCKER CARLSON, their top-rated host. Within an hour, DON LEMON announced he was parting ways with CNN, where he had worked for 17 years. BuzzFeed News, the onetime colossus of viral reporting and the entity that published the infamous Steele Dossier, announced that it was shutting down for good. Vice News, another struggling pioneer of 21st century digital news, became the latest media company to lay off some of its best known reporters.

These are all isolated events with circumstances specific to each newsroom. But in an excellent new book called “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral” ($30), Ben Smith argues that we are indeed at the end of an era in media, but that the next one might be something to look forward to.

That’s a forceful prediction coming from Ben, who was a longtime reporter at POLITICO, the top editor at BuzzFeed News, a New York Times media columnist and now is the editor-in-chief of Semafor. He’s also this week’s Playbook Deep Dive guest. Ben joins Ryan to answer questions we all have about why our political culture is so fragmented, and whether there is any hope that we can return to a place where Americans agree on simple things — like facts. Listen here … Download and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

PHOTO OF THE DAY

2024 WATCH

DeSANTIS’ DOUGH — “The one big advantage Ron De$antis has: Tons and tons of cash,” by Sally Goldenberg and Jessica Piper: “As he prepares to enter the presidential race in the coming weeks, DeSantis sits atop accounts poised to support his candidacy that total more than $110 million, according to public filings and people who represent the entities. And that’s all without him opening an official campaign committee account.”

How it stacks up: “DeSantis’ financial advantage looms over the Republican field: Most contenders have cash balances on orders of magnitude lower than his. It far outpaces lower-polling contenders like the pair of South Carolinians, former U.N. Ambassador NIKKI HALEY and Sen. TIM SCOTT. Even the super PAC backing Trump, MAGA Inc., reported $55 million on hand as of the end of 2022 — a hefty sum, but far short of what’s in the bank for DeSantis.”

Related reads:

— “DeSantis Hates the Media — But Not This One Outlet,” by Holly Otterbein in Tampa: “To circumvent the ‘legacy’ reporters that he hates — and that his base loves him for hating — DeSantis has forged his own press corps in the Sunshine State.”

— “DeSantis’s Miscalculation: ‘Disney Is Playing the Long Game,’” by WSJ’s Arian Campo-Flores and Robbie Whelan: “Some Republicans privately said Mr. DeSantis’s approach is increasingly looking like a personal vendetta and heavy-handed government intervention into the affairs of one of the state’s largest employers. Publicly, cracks are emerging.”

TEFLON DON RIDES AGAIN — “As Trump rallies in New Hampshire, legal woes play in real time,” by Lisa Kashinsky in Manchester, N.H.: “For almost any other candidate in any other campaign, a criminal indictment and a civil trial over a rape accusation would sound a death knell. For Trump, it’s barely a blip. The former president’s polling lead over his 2024 Republican rivals has grown as his legal morass deepens.”

THROW THE BOOK AT THEM — “Biden’s team is leaning into this culture war staple,” by Eli Stokols and Adam Cancryn: “The president’s team has made the issue of book banning a surprisingly central element of his campaign’s opening salvos.”

TRUMP CARDS

WHO’S TALKING — “Former Vice President Pence testifies to federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump and January 6,” by CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Devan Cole: Former VP MIKE “PENCE testified for more than five hours, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, and while adviser MARC SHORT did not confirm the appearance on Thursday, he addressed the legal back-and-forth over the testimony [in an interview with NewsNation yesterday].”

AT THE TRUMP TRIAL — “E. Jean Carroll, under pointed questioning from Trump lawyer: ‘He raped me whether I screamed or not,’” by Erica Orden in New York

STRIKE TWO — “A second firm hired by Trump campaign found no evidence of election fraud,” by WaPo’s Josh Dawsey

MORE POLITICS

JONESIN’ FOR ANOTHER RUN — “Brutal Dem primary could pit ex-lawmaker against gov’s sister,” by Nicholas Wu and Ally Mutnick: “MONDAIRE JONES is gearing up for a potential run for his old House seat, which could tee up a ugly primary with the sister of Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER in must-win territory for Democrats. While the ex-congressman is publicly saying he’s undecided, four people familiar with his plans say he’s prepping a run for his former New York seat. That’ll likely pit him against LIZ WHITMER GEREGHTY, who has filed federal campaign paperwork and is slated to officially launch her bid soon. Democrats are bracing for the showdown — in one of several New York districts they need to claw back their House majority — to get nasty.”

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP — “Top Republicans Balk at WinRed’s Plan to Charge More for Online Donations,” by NYT’s Shane Goldmacher

THE WHITE HOUSE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — On the heels of crackerjack reporting from our colleagues detailing how House Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY was pushed to the right on the GOP’s debt limit and spending bill, we have an exclusive preview of just how the Biden White House aims to use the vote as a cudgel against Republican candidates in 2024.

“Nearly every House Republican just voted for an extreme MAGA hostage-taking proposal that their very own members admit is a ‘tax increase,’ and that the business community warns will kill the historic wave of manufacturing jobs President Biden is bringing back to America,” White House spox ANDREW BATES says in a new statement shared with Playbook.

“Even more concerning is that after copying-and-pasting the Freedom Caucus plan, Speaker McCarthy has promised he will let the ultra MAGA elements of the caucus make the next version of the Default on America Act even more partisan.”

Bates on Sens. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) and RON JOHNSON (R-Wis.): “The influence of these two MAGA Senators helps explain why the bill … would raise taxes, threaten retirement security and health care, and send new manufacturing jobs back to China. And they’re threatening to unilaterally cause an economic downturn to make it happen.”

WHO’S AT DEFAULT, PART I — “White House regroups after McCarthy’s debt ceiling success,” by Adam Cancryn, Sarah Ferris, Burgess Everett and Olivia Beavers: “The White House and congressional Democrats are preparing to ramp up attacks on House Republicans over the bill, targeting swing-district members for endorsing policies that would strip investments in their home districts and gut funding for popular programs. Biden’s party insists it’s feeling little pressure to now deliver on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s biggest ask — a true negotiation over the debt ceiling.”

CONGRESS

WHO’S AT DEFAULT, PART II — “The Real Debt Limit Fight Is Yet to Come,” analysis by NYT’s Carl Hulse: “Fig leaves might be in order to protect Mr. McCarthy from criticism that he gave too much ground on spending and to allow the White House to say it had not abandoned its refusal to negotiate over the debt limit. Some Republicans believe the dire threat posed to the economy should both sides remain locked in their positions opens the door to a bargain, though they acknowledge it will most likely cost them conservative votes.”

MEET THE NEW ERA, SAME AS THE OLD ERA — “Senate GOP blocks measure looking to prohibit sex discrimination in Constitution,” by Daniella Diaz

POLICY CORNER

STREET SIGNS — “Wall Street gives administration earful over antitrust enforcement,” by Josh Sisco and Sam Sutton: “One senior administration official — who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations with business leaders — told POLITICO that they view the objections as a sign that Biden’s competition policy and staffing choices are working.”

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

LEAK LATEST — “Denied a Gun License Over School Threat, Accused Leaker Jack Teixeira Later Got Top-Secret Clearance,” by WSJ’s Nancy Youssef and Sadie Gurman: “Prosecutors are seeking to keep Airman Teixeira jailed while his court case proceeds, arguing he is a dangerous flight risk who might still have access to sensitive material that could aid foreign adversaries. He has been jailed since his arrest earlier this month.”

TANKS, BUT NO TANKS — “Biden gets bipartisan blowback on getting U.S. tanks to Ukraine faster,” by Connor O’Brien

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

ABORTION FALLOUT …

In South Carolina: “Senators defeat latest push to ban nearly all abortions in SC, ending possibility for 2023,” by the Post and Courier’s Seanna Adcox

In Nebraska: “Six-week abortion ban dies in Nebraska Legislature,” by the Omaha World-Herald’s Erin Bamer

AWFUL NEWS — “Three dead after two Army Apache helicopters crash in central Alaska,” by WaPo’s Andrew Jeong

MEDIAWATCH

TUCK THAT GUY — “Tucker who? GOP establishment says meh to TV gadfly’s demise,” by Anthony Adragna

SUNDAY SO FAR …

ABC “This Week”: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise … Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). Panel: Donna Brazile, Will Hurd, Jonathan Martin and Asma Khalid.

CBS “Face the Nation”: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) … Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).

CNN “State of the Union”: Asa Hutchinson … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Panel: David Urban, Adam Kinzinger, Lis Smith and Ashley Allison.

FOX “Fox News Sunday”: RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel … Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). Panel: Jason Chaffetz, Horace Cooper, Marie Harf and Josh Kraushaar. Panel: Carrie Severino, Stephen Saltzburg, Megan Wold and Elizabeth Wydra.

NBC “Meet the Press”: Vivek Ramaswamy. Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, Claire McCaskill and Lanhee Chen.

MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki”: British Ambassador Karen Pierce … Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.).

MSNBC “The Sunday Show”: Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones … Maya MacGuineas … George Hahn … Joan Walsh.

CNN “Inside Politics”: Panel: Astead Herndon, Heather Caygle, Harry Enten and Eva McKend.

Jamie Raskin’s cancer is in remission.

Danny Jativa bore witness to a brutal Hill intern breakup.

Jon Tester and Cory Booker are breaking walls down in Congress — literally.

Jerome Powell was duped by Russian pranksters posing as Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Donald Trump offered a new interpretation on how to pronounce Vladimir Lenin’s name.

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the 10th annual Washington Women in Journalism Awards hosted by Story Partners and the Washingtonian at the Larz Anderson House last night, where Gloria Borger, Kelly O’Donnell, Jacqueline Alemany and Asma Khalid were honored with awards: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), John McCarthy, Matt Shay, Susan Neely, Molly Ball, Yamiche Alcindor, Abby Philip, Anna Palmer, Jane Adams, Alex Gangitano, Steve Clemons, Wolf Blitzer, Sam Feist, Joe Crowley, Rita Braver, Kellyanne Conway, Jacqui Heinrich, Betsy Fischer Martin, Andrea Mitchell, Bill Anaya, Kevin Keane, Katherine Lugar, Jeanne Wallock, Kristen Welker, Carol Lee, Peter Alexander, Mike Memoli, Cesar Conde, Emma Carrasco, Rebecca Blumenstein, Carrie Budoff Brown, Ken Strickland and Chloe Arensberg. Pic

— SPOTTED at Bytes and Bylines at Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason’s residence last night hosted by Susanna Quinn, Allen Gannett, Eric Kuhn, Sarah Kate Ellis, Shua Goodman and Stellene Volandes: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Gene Sperling, John McCarthy, Dan Koh and Amy Sennett, Chasten Buttigieg, Herbie Ziskend, Ned Price, Amy Shecter, Will Acevedo, Curtis Ried, Hilary Rosen, JP Saxe, Katie Petrelius, Stacy Eichner, Ruben Gonzales, Charlotte Clymer, Reggie Greer, Reese McCranie, Tom Quinn, Adrienne Elrod, Hannah Bristol, Weija Jiang, Elvir Klempic, Alex Thompson, Jesse Rodriguez, Alexander Marquardt, Thomas Wright, Ben Haas, Abby Livingston, Emma Grazado, Stephanie Cutter, Neera Tanden, Evan Ryan, Norah O’Donnell, Eric Schultz, Joe Crowley, Mike Allen and Karen Tumulty.

— The Congressional Black Caucus hosted an event yesterday evening to celebrate Black journalists ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. SPOTTED: CBC Chair Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Symone Sanders-Townsend, Vincent Evans, Freedom Alexander Murphy, Feven Solomon, Maureen Edobor, Miguel Ayala, Kamau Marshall, Alencia Johnson. Terrance Woodbury, Rachel Scott, Tia Mitchell, Eugene Scott, Nikole Killion, Shaniqua McClendon, Richard Fowler, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Kadia Goba, Reecie Colbert, April Ryan, Gerren Keith Gaynor, Nolan McCaskill, Juanita Tolliver, Cheyanne Daniels, Carissa Smith, Eva McKend, Adisa Hargett-Robinson, Michael Jones, Jarrell Dillard, Ashlee Banks, Charlene Richards, Aris Folley and Sierra Kelley-Chung.

— SPOTTED at the Power to the Patients WHCD Kick-Off Event, featuring performances by Fat Joe, French Montana, Rick Ross and Busta Rhymes: Cynthia Fisher, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Steve Benjamin, Reps. Cat Cammack (R-Fla.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Rashida Jones, Fred Humphries, Nicole Venable, Abby Phillip, Mike Allen, Autumn VandeHei, Anna Palmer, Jim Acosta and Liz Landers, Ryan Lizza and Olivia Nuzzi, Igor Bobic and Valerie Chicola, Eugene Goodman, Alexa Miranda, Fin Gomez, Alayna Treene, Olivia Beavers, Andrew Sollender, Melanie Zanona, Ryan Nobles, DJ Judd, Ben Jacobs, Sara Cook and Nikki Schwab.

— SPOTTED at the White House Foreign Press Group’s annual reception last night at the at Meridian International Center hosted by Kethevane Gorjestani, Raquel Krähenbühl, Taka Abe and Nadia Bilbassy-Charters, featuring music by Suspicious Package: French Ambassador Laurent Bili, German Ambassador Emily Haber, EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, Finnish Ambassador Mikko Hautala, Amanda Sloat, Reema Dodin, Ricardo Zuniga, Saloni Sharma, Sean Savett, Kevin Munoz, Andrei Vasilescu, Zeke Miller, Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Jim Acosta, Fin Gomez, Weijia Jiang, Matt Kaminski, Christina Sevilla, Tim Burger, George Conway, Ellie Warner, Nikki Schwab, Eric Martin and Puru Trivedi.

— Semafor hosted a party last night at Umbertos Clam House in New York City to celebrate the release of co-founder and editor-in-chief Ben Smith’s new book, “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, And Delusion In The Billion-Dollar Race To Go Viral” ($30). SPOTTED: Arianna Huffington, Chris Licht, Risa Heller, Brian Stelter, Brad Lander, Maggie Haberman, Max Tani, Joe Weisenthal, Jodi Kantor, Michael Wolff, Michael Calderone, Carolyn Ryan, Ryan Kadro, Jodi Kantor, Gina Chua and Noah Schactman.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sarah Potts Ashton is joining FGS Global as managing director. She previously was global director of policy comms at Gopuff and is an Obama White House and Uber alum.

MEDIA MOVE — Kevin Robillard is taking over as politics editor at HuffPost. He currently is a senior politics reporter and is a POLITICO alum.

TRANSITION — Jamie Simpson will be chief policy officer and counsel at the Council for Innovation Promotion. She previously was chief counsel on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, IP and the Internet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Justice Elena Kagan … Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) … former Secretary of State James Baker III (93) … Zoe Garmendia … Josh Schwerin of Saratoga Strategies … Maurice Daniel … Ed Pagano of Akin Gump … Kristine Kippins … POLITICO’s Ben Weyl and Erin Peck … Time’s Chris Wilson … Carrie Hessler-Radelet … Daniel Keylin of Sen. Thom Tillis’ (R-N.C.) office … Susan Katz Keating … Nikki Reeves of Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) office … NYT’s Karoun Demirjian … Anastasia Khoo of Conservation International … Ben Garmisa … NPR’s Deepa Shivaram … Mort Kondracke

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.