Welcome to the online version of Political officeAn evening newsletter that brings you the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Policy team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign campaign.
In today’s edition, Henry J. Gomez interviews the vice-president JD Vance in Rome. In addition, Steve Kornacki breaks down the last surveys showing that Andrew Cuomo at the top of the Democratic primary for the mayor of New York.
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JD vance to meet the new pope, his role as a foreign policy and his relationship with Marco Rubio
By Henry J. Gomez
Rome – Vice -President JD Vance mixed the presidents and the Prime Ministers this week, tending to complicate relations with the American allies and perplexed on two wars.
But it was his meeting on Monday with Pope Leo XIV newly installed that could prove to be the most consecutive on the world scene, said Vance in an interview with NBC News.
Vance, who is Catholic, said that he had found the “extremely sweet” pope. He described their conversation as substantial – a promising sign since Leo had, in his previous service as a cardinal, reported the disapproval of the Trump administration immigration policies.
Here are some of the strengths of our interview with Vance.
Search for a diplomatic partner: Vance spoke of Leo as a key potential partner in President Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine and other areas of conflict.
“We have talked a lot about what’s going on in Israel and Gaza. We have talked a lot about the situation in Russia-Ukraine,” said Vance about the almost an hour’s public as he and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio had with Leo. “It is difficult to predict the future, but I think that not only the Pope, but the whole Vatican, expressed the desire to be really useful and to work together to facilitate, hopefully, a peace agreement meeting in Russia and Ukraine.”
An expanding wallet: Vance has now gone to Italy twice as vice-president. He also visited India, represented the White House during the Paris and Munich conferences and approached in Greenland to strengthen Trump’s interest in annexing Denmark Island. And the White House almost sent Vance de Rome during a last -minute mission to Israel, but said that logistics could not be developed in time.
“I really think that the president has a lot of self-confidence, and I am honored by that, and I think that makes me a more effective vice-president,” said Vance. “Many people have always asked me between the elections and the inauguration: what would be my role? I would always say … I think it will be an additional set of eyes and ears for the president, doing things he thinks that I have to do, and it is largely as it worked.”
Relationship with Rubio: The vast role of Vance placed him alongside Rubio, the chief diplomat of the administration, as a face of Trump’s foreign policy. But Vance rejected any concept of competition or friction.
“My attitude is that if I end up running in 2028, I am not entitled,” said Vance. “But I really think Marco and I can do a lot together in the coming years. This is how I think about our friendship and our relationship. And I would be shocked if it thought about it differently.”
Learn more about the interview →
The coalition feeding a potential return of Andrew Cuomo
By Steve Kornacki
Andrew Cuomo’s attempt at political return is on the right track, at least for the moment.
With just over a month until the primary mayor Democrat in New York, the former governor retains a dominant advance on a crowded field of candidates. And he can plan to benefit more from the recent increase in one of his rivals, the deputy Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who draws from a set of demographically narrow voters.
THE Last poll from Marist University Mamdani watch separating from the rest of the pack but still dragging Cuomo.
As part of the New York classified choice system, voters are invited to list their favorite candidates in order on the ballot. Once the initial votes have tabuated (and assuming that no one crosses 50%), the lowest voting is eliminated and its votes are reassigned on the basis of the second selection of preference. The tab continues, around the Tour, until a candidate receives a majority of votes.
Used, Marist’s survey asked the respondents to classify their preferences, then simulated this process. Even if it took several laps, the contours remained consistent: Cuomo and Mamdani remained in the first two slots in each turn, with Cuomo at around 20 points in front of Mamdani, who himself remained well away from the rest of the peloton. In the end, Cuomo reached 53% in the fifth round, with Mamdani at 29%.
This is similar to what happened in 2021, the first time New York has used this system. During this year’s Democrat primary, the final survey now put the mayor Eric Adams to come, with Kathryn Garcia and Maya Wiley, the second place – the same dynamic that prevailed when the real voting took place.
In other words, although the classified choice system is certainly complicated, it does not mean that it produces chaos. And this makes the Marist survey even better for Cuomo, because it suggests that Mamdani could become the clear candidate for second place.
The climb of Mamdani, 33, is propelled by a coalition which is not well suited to victory. With voters under the age of 45, he turns on the ground. But the main electorate joins forces much more, with more than two thirds likely to be over 45 years. He has an almost majority support for voters who say they are very liberal, but they represent only a quarter of the electorate. And it is best done with white voters, who will most likely be in 2 to 1 numerical inferiority by non -white voters in primary.
Cuomo, on the other hand, marks with groups that generally provide primary victories, is wrong with older voters, the working class and less ideological. Its giant margin comes from non-white voters, in particular African-Americans.
Without a doubt, Cuomo’s enemies will spend next month to increase heat on him and remind voters his controversial manipulation of Covid as governor and sexual harassment that brought him out of his functions. The media review figures to also intensify, and television advertisements will arise in a good place.
It is also possible that another Cuomo rival is gaining ground, one with a larger attraction than Mamdani, making Cuomo path at 50% more perilous.
But one month, Cuomo’s position appears as strong as when he entered the race.
🗞️ The best stories of today
- ➡️ Embring in the big cannons: During a closed-door meeting, Trump pushed the Republicans to the blue state to give up their salt requests and warned the conservatives: “not F — with Medicaid”. But it is not clear if his trip to Capitol Hill managed to influence one of the Républicains in the Chamber who takes care of supporting the party’s massive bill for his agenda. Learn more →
- ☑️ Surprise vote: The Senate unexpectedly adopted the “No Tax on Tips Act” by unanimous consent after senator Jack Rosen, D-NEV., Brought it to earth. Learn more →
- 🛡️Golden Dome: Trump officially announced his plans for a new anti -missile defense system, saying that he should be fully operational by the end of his mandate. Learn more →
- 💸 Writing: Elon Musk said he was planning to spend “much less” on political causes after being one of the largest donors in the 2024 elections. Learn more →
- ⚖️ Fallout du New Jersey: The Ministry of Justice charged the representative Lamonica Mciver, DN.J., of two chiefs of aggression, resistance and empire of law enforcement officials following a confrontation this month in a federal immigration detention center in Newark. Learn more →
- 🩺 Change of tone: Trump’s allies quickly moved their comments on the diagnosis of Biden cancer of goods wished to the suggestions that the former president hid his state while he was in power. Learn more →
- 🪑 On the hot seat: The Secretary of Health and Social Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., returned to Capitol Hill for his third hearing in the congress in one week to face more lively issues of the legislators on the drastic financing reductions of his department. Learn more →
- 👀 Pressure test: FBI leaders, Kash Patel and Dan Boningo, are under pressure from Maga voters to act on their claims according to which the Biden administration and corrupt actors of “the deep state” “armed” the agency against Trump. Learn more →
- 🗳️ 2026 Watch: The former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha launches Bottoms, has become the deepest democrat to participate in the race for the Governor of Georgia. Learn more →
- 🗳️ Watch 2026, Suite: Democratic representative Jared Golden announced that he presented himself to a re -election in the 2nd district of Maine, which Trump carried in 2024, crushing the speculations according to which he would present himself to the governor or the Senate. Learn more →
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It’s all of the political bureau for the moment. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Bridget Bowman.
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