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With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray Good Monday morning. This is Jack Blanchard, bracing for the hottest day of the year in D.C. Thanks for all your great tips on father-daughter camping in Shenandoah -- we swam the river, toasted (and burnt) marshmallows and saw Jupiter and Venus ascendant in the western sky. I'm happy to report that she wants to go again. Get in touch. In today's Playbook ... -- Thomas Massie confronts new political forces in Kentucky. -- What Donald Trump got out of his summit with Xi Jinping. -- The Boldfaces: Pete Hegseth, Ed Gallrein, Lindsey Graham, Mike Johnson, JD Vance, Chris Coons, Mark Kelly, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Nicki Minaj, Mickey Mouse and more. FINAL COUNTDOWN: It's the last day of campaigning in the most-expensive House primary in history. Cabinet secretaries are hitting the campaign trail, Trump is hammering away on Truth Social, long-suffering residents are besieged by a blitz of TV ads. For the next 48 hours, Kentucky's 4th Congressional District will be the center of the political world. Polls open at 6 a.m. tomorrow, and we'll get the results early tomorrow night. Massie's moment of truth: As a seven-term member of Congress, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has faced primary battles before, but nothing like this. More than $30 million has been lavished on this extraordinary campaign, as Trump marshals the full force of the MAGA machine to oust another one of his political enemies from the Republican conference. Power test: After a near clean-sweep of the Indiana state senators who opposed him on redistricting, and then Saturday's resounding defeat of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) -- who finished a distant third and didn't even make the runoff -- Trump is now looking to go three for three. And given recent results, the mood in the White House is buoyant. "Looking forward to another RINO going down!" one official gleefully texted Dasha last night. The case for the defense: Entering the fray with 24 hours to go is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who in an unprecedented move will fly into Kentucky today to campaign alongside Massie's MAGA-endorsed challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. The pair will be on stage at an America First Works event in Hebron at 1 p.m. This is a big deal: Even by Hegseth's standards, it's nakedly political -- the Pentagon chief taking time out from an actual war to campaign for the ouster of a member of Congress. POLITICO's Pentagon reporter Paul McLeary tells Playbook he's never seen a serving Defense secretary hit the campaign trail. But Hegseth's team rejects any suggestion of impropriety. What they told us: "Secretary Hegseth is attending this event in his personal capacity," chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told Playbook in a statement. "No taxpayer dollars will be used to facilitate his visit. His participation has been thoroughly vetted and cleared by lawyers, including the Department of War Office of General Counsel, and does not violate the Hatch Act or any other applicable federal statute." Hegseth's critics likely won't agree. Truth bombs: Trump meanwhile is campaigning as only he can -- via a torrent of messages on Truth Social. In the past 36 hours the president called Massie "a disloyal, ungracious, and sanctimonious FOOL," "the worst and most unreliable Republican Congressman in the history of our Country," and "a totally ineffective LOSER." Expect more today, including at Trump's White House event on cutting health care costs this afternoon. The bigger story in Kentucky is the sheer volume of cash that's been spent -- not just from MAGA-affiliated sources, but also from several pro-Israel groups. As POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky reports, AIPAC and other pro-Israel interest groups have poured more than $9 million into this race, sensing their chance to pick off one of the GOP's most persistent critics of the Israeli government. "He's the most anti-Israel Republican in the House," United Democracy Project spokesperson Patrick Dorton said of Massie. "We think there's an opportunity here." Judo throw: Massie is trying to use the force of his opponents' attacks against them, telling ABC's "This Week" that Hegseth's eleventh-hour trip shows his opponents are "panicked" and "haven't been able to gain a lead." Trump's social media posts actually turn people off, Massie claimed, and trigger extra donations to his own campaign -- while the millions rolling in from pro-Israel groups will only make this primary "a referendum on foreign policy." He added: "You can tell that I'm ahead in the polls and they're desperate." Really? The polls we've seen so far paint an opaque picture, with some showing Massie marginally ahead and others showing him behind. Trump's recent record with endorsements certainly make Gallrein the favorite -- as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said yesterday, "this is the party of Donald Trump." Polymarket also fancies Gallrein's chances -- for whatever that's worth. THE POLITICO POLL -- Just one problem with these endorsements: Massie's district has voted Republican for more than 20 years. But in swingier seats, Trump's backing quickly switches from a net positive to a net negative in a general election campaign, new data from The POLITICO Poll suggests. "That's because Trump's endorsement moves the other side, too," POLITICO's Jessica Piper writes -- and in great numbers. "Across all voters, a Trump endorsement was more detrimental than helpful," she notes, "a warning sign for the president's potential involvement as Republicans look to hold on to the House and Senate this fall." On today's Playbook Podcast: Jack and Dasha discuss Massie's chances in the Bluegrass State. THE HOME STRETCH: This will be a crucial week for lawmakers trying to advance key policy priorities before Memorial Day and the advent of campaign season, POLITICO's Kelsey Brugger reports. Republicans will try to move their immigration enforcement and college sports bills, plus potential action on housing, energy permitting and cryptocurrency taxation. There's "genuine interest in making progress on long-stalled measures," but there's also Trump's bombast -- and Speaker Mike Johnson's negotiations with the hard right -- to contend with. VP ON THE ROAD: VP JD Vance will head to Missouri today for a manufacturing-focused event at a Kansas City facility. THE AFFORDABILITY PUSH: Trump will hold an event focused on health care affordability at the White House at 4:30 p.m. as Republicans seek to show progress on a top voter concern. Behind the scenes in Washington, the pharma and insurance lobbies are working to steer lawmakers' ire toward hospitals -- painting them as the chief culprit for high costs, POLITICO's Amanda Chu reports. CHINA FALLOUT: The White House put some meat on the bones of agreements from Trump's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, POLITICO's Ari Hawkins reports. Beijing committed to annual purchases of at least $17 billion in farm goods for the next few years and is taking steps to improve access for U.S. beef and poultry. Meanwhile, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te urged Trump to maintain his approach to Taiwan, POLITICO's Phelim Kine reports. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Delaware Sen. Chris Coons is the latest to wade into Michigan's blockbuster Senate Democratic primary, backing Rep. Haley Stevens over state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed. Coons joins Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) in backing Stevens. Watch the clip 2028 WATCH: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) swung through South Carolina on Saturday to speak to more than 250 people in Hartsville for a luncheon hosted by Davita Malloy and the Democratic Women's Council of Darlington County, and was introduced by former state Sen. Gerald Malloy. Kelly also visited Mullins for a meet-and-greet hosted by Edla Vaughn, Marion County's NAN president, who he met at the NAN conference in New York in April. 1. WAR REPORT: Though the ceasefire is holding, a U.S.-Iran deal to make peace and reopen the Strait of Hormuz looks distant, per Bloomberg. Trump lobbed another existential threat on Truth Social: "For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them." Iranian news agencies indicated that Washington's latest demands wouldn't go anywhere. He'll be back in the Situation Room tomorrow to consider strike options. 2. HEADS UP: The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has exposed multiple Americans, with at least one possibly symptomatic, Stat's Helen Branswell reports. The U.S. is considering plans to get citizens out of the country quickly to be quarantined -- though the separate hantavirus response at some of the same facilities may complicate things. Trump critics pinned the weekslong spread in part on USAID and CDC cuts. 3. WHAT HAVANA IS READING: Classified U.S. intelligence says Cuba considered using a stash of hundreds of military drones to attack Guantánamo Bay or even Florida, Axios' Marc Caputo scooped. He notes this "could become a pretext for U.S. military action" as a Raúl Castro indictment looms Wednesday. 4. GERRYMANDERING DEEP DIVE: An analysis from NYT's Nate Cohn and Eve Washington shows the weakening of the Voting Rights Act wouldn't have to mean the end of Black and Hispanic political power in the South -- if the U.S. stopped partisan gerrymandering. Simulations of congressional district lines using simple compactness standards show Democrats winning just one fewer seat across the region than they did in 2024. 5. THE NEXT BEST BET? CBS' "60 Minutes" last night reported on another possible case of Polymarket insider trading connected to U.S. military actions. Per Jon Wertheim and colleagues, an analysis from Bubblemaps tabbed nine linked accounts that placed correct bets on key surprise moments in the Iran war -- netting more than $2.4 million. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- The next D.C. Democratic mayoral debate takes place at 7 p.m. via Georgetown's Institute of Politics and Public Service and FOX 5 DC. And it's crunch time for the race to succeed Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) -- in which the primary presages a major generational shift in the role, POLITICO's Riley Rogerson reports. D.C. Council Members Robert White and Brooke Pinto, among other candidates, would likely ramp up the publicity to draw more national attention to D.C. Statehood remains the dream. ANOTHER RENOVATION -- Trump is now eyeing a potential helipad on the South Lawn to protect the grass from Marine One helicopters, WSJ's Meridith McGraw and Marcus Weisgerber scooped. YESTERDAY IN D.C. -- "Trump-backed faith event features conservative Christians as critics decry blurring of church-state lines," by Reuters' David Hood-Nuño and Julio-Cesar Chavez: "Thousands of people attended the nine-hour program, called 'Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,' for a mixture of popular worship music and speakers from evangelical Christianity and conservative Catholic traditions. ... Sunday's events included video messages from members of the Trump administration." WHAT THE BARBZ ARE READING -- WSJ's Erich Schwartzel and colleagues trace how Nicki Minaj became a big Trump supporter: She quietly called him to tell him she was a fan during the 2024 election, but didn't go public with her backing until later, aided by Alex Bruesewitz. And her political evolution began with vaccine skepticism during the pandemic. GOING VIRAL -- "7News cameras capture brawl, chairs thrown inside Navy Yard Chipotle," by Christian Flores: "Saturday night's fracas inside the Chipotle took place just one day after U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said she would prosecute parents of juveniles taking part in so-called 'teen takeovers.'" OUT AND ABOUT -- Blue Star Families, Disney and the Library of Congress hosted the 25th Blue Star Books event for military children and their families yesterday -- the largest such gathering ever, for the semiquincentennial. Kids got free Disney and National Geographic books and took part in story readings and activities alongside characters like Belle, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Sofia the First. SPOTTED: Kathy Roth-Douquet, Bill Bailey and Carlos Del Toro. TRANSITIONS -- Erin Maguire is joining Perspective Strategies as a partner. She is a GOP strategist and co-host of the "Party Lines" podcast and "Rising" on The Hill. ... Zach Gaumer will be VP of health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He previously worked at Health Management Associates. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Matthew Yglesias ... former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) ... Josh Lederman ... Ernesto Apreza of Amazon ... Seven Letter's Erik Smith ... Tim Chapman ... Libby Nelson ... POLITICO's Melanie Mason, Chelsea Harvey and Angel Yamini ... Simona Lightfoot ... Cristiano Lima-Strong ... Anduril Industries' Sofia Rose Gross ... Gabrielle Shea of Wells Fargo ... Laura Morgan-Kessler of Carpi & Clay ... AP's Meg Kinnard ... Farah Melendez ... Pete Boogaard ... Eric Trager ... Jonathan Glickman ... BBC's Felicia Figueiredo ... Ezra Cohen ... Robin Winchell ... Clyde Haberman ... former Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) ... Javier LLano ... Bryan Bender ... Ryan Hofmann ... Lance West ... Querry Robinson ... Alex Witt ... Matt Gorman ... Joseph Davis ... Maddie Sugg ... Allison Lees of the Herald Group Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross.

Jon Holmes of Radio 4 recounted informing his kids about his heartbreaking cancer diagnosis and disclosed that he was only screened for the illness because he was adopted. After being urged to get examined by Stephen Fry, who had prostate cancer in 2017, the 57-year-old co-creator of Dead Ringers was diagnosed with the condition in 2023. Jon recalls telling his girls about his diagnosis. Jon and his wife Nicki have two daughters, Isla and Maisie. "They [doctors] were very upfront about the level of it, and they were very sort of, "You're not going to die," which is the first thing I told my kids when I told them," he revealed in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail. "I believe they were let down, but that's the most crucial thing you should tell yourself and other people." He went on, "They were aware of cancer because we had a close friend pass away from the disease a few years ago, and there are friends who have had it and are doing well." After telling his kids about his awful cancer diagnosis, Radio's 4 Jon Holmes recalled preparing a will and disclosed that he was only tested because he was adopted (shown in 2023). Jon had a radical prostatectomy -- the surgical removal of the entire prostate gland, surrounding tissue, and seminal vesicles -- after receiving his diagnosis. "We're going back three or four years." In the kitchen, I told them, simply saying, "Look, I've been for some tests." "I told them when it was diagnosed, not during the procedure." I've had several tests, and the results show that I have cancer, but it's treatable.I didn't have to explain what a prostate was to them, and I didn't need two girls since it wouldn't happen. Instead, I told them that it was in a place that could be fixed, that I would have surgery, that I was considering surgery, and that there were other choices. Everything will be alright.The youngest one then simply remarked, "All right, is that it? "May I please have an apple?" "Yes, and that was it," he chuckled. Jon had a radical prostatectomy -- the surgical removal of the entire prostate gland, surrounding tissue, and seminal vesicles -- after receiving his diagnosis. He said that he still considered death even after being informed that his disease was treatable. "I think you find yourself confronting mortality because there's always a "what if" isn't there," he explained. "There are a lot of "what ifs," so I made a will. "I organised that the day before my surgery because I'd never done that before." "It does make you realise that you only get one shot at this, I suppose, which is a cliché, I know, but it puts things into perspective a bit." You are compelled to consider topics that you previously believed you wouldn't consider for several decades. "You do begin to wonder, "What will happen with the kids?" and so forth. "Yeah, I did consider it, but I just hoped for the best." Fortunately, the procedure went well, and Jon said he was cancer-free in July 2024. But if he hadn't chosen to get tested three years earlier, his narrative would have turned out quite differently. Jon acknowledged that he had been "too busy" to get checked, so the news was shocking. Jon disclosed that his doctor eventually consented to a blood test since he is adopted, even though he was first denied testing because he had no symptoms. "I spoke to the GP, who said there isn't a national screening program for this," he recalled. "There isn't a program where men over 50 get tested, but what you're seeing is some awareness campaign."It's not the same as breast cancer, which is now a common occurrence for women. It simply doesn't happen. He went through a checklist that basically asked, "Do you constantly get up in the middle of the night to use the loo? Do you have erection issues? Do you have this, this, this? 'And the answer to all of them, I'm pleased to say, was no. 'So we got to the end of it and he said, 'well, then no, you don't need a test because we do it if there's a symptom, basically.' "Before you go, one final question: is there any of it in your family, family history, medical history? And I said, 'I have no idea, I was adopted.' 'And he went, "In that case, let's get you in," and that's what got me through the door. 'So had I not been adopted, I'd now have prostate cancer without even knowing about it until it was probably too late. 'I genuinely wouldn't have gone for that unless I'd been adopted because the answer at the moment from the NHS is, 'come and see us if you have symptoms.' 'But if you've got symptoms, it could be too late.' To encourage more men to get tested, Jon has teamed up with GenesisCare for the new Mind the Gap campaign, highlighting gaps in understanding around prostate cancer treatment options To encourage more men to get tested, Jon has teamed up with GenesisCare for the new Mind the Gap campaign, highlighting gaps in understanding around prostate cancer treatment options. The campaign includes an infographic outlining the treatment options available following a diagnosis and how those decisions can affect future treatment if the cancer returns. Having undergone a prostatectomy, Jon admitted he had no idea the cancer could come back, something that happens in 20 to 50 per cent of men, or how his treatment choice could affect future options. Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with more than 63,000 new cases every year. GenesisCare is also launching a new quizcast, The Big C QuizCast, hosted by Jon, designed to support prostate cancer patients and their families. Jon said: 'It's a simplification of a process and filling what is essentially a knowledge gap because there's stuff I didn't know, even now. 'I thought I knew most things about prostate cancer and its treatments, but it turns out I didn't. 'Ask all of the questions, go through whatever treatment, ask for all the options so you've got a choice - and an informed one.' Visit https://www.genesiscare.com/uk/mind-the-gap to learn more about navigating your prostate cancer treatment journey. How many people does it kill? More than 11,800 men a year - or one every 45 minutes - are killed by the disease in Britain, compared with about 11,400 women dying of breast cancer. It means prostate cancer is behind only lung and bowel in terms of how many people it kills in Britain. In the US, the disease kills 26,000 men each year. Despite this, it receives less than half the research funding of breast cancer and treatments for the disease are trailing at least a decade behind. How many men are diagnosed annually? Every year, upwards of 52,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK - more than 140 every day. How quickly does it develop? Prostate cancer usually develops slowly, so there may be no signs someone has it for many years, according to the NHS. If the cancer is at an early stage and not causing symptoms, a policy of 'watchful waiting' or 'active surveillance' may be adopted. Some patients can be cured if the disease is treated in the early stages. But if it is diagnosed at a later stage, when it has spread, then it becomes terminal and treatment revolves around relieving symptoms. Thousands of men are put off seeking a diagnosis because of the known side effects from treatment, including erectile dysfunction. Tests and treatment Prostate cancer tests are random, and reliable instruments are just now starting to appear. Since the tests have been too unreliable for years, there is no nationwide prostate screening program. Making treatment decisions is challenging because doctors find it difficult to differentiate between aggressive and less dangerous cancers. A "PSA" blood test, which provides clinicians with an approximate assessment of a patient's risk, is available to men over 50. However, it is not trustworthy. A biopsy, which is likewise not infallible, is typically performed on patients who receive a positive result. Although the exact origin of prostate cancer is unknown, age, obesity, and inactivity are known risk factors. If you have any questions, you can visit prostatecanceruk.org or call the professional nurses at Prostate Cancer UK at 0800 074 8383.