Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max For years, the Atlantic Festival represented a classic elite D.C. tradition: a yearly confab where power players in media and politics schmoozed, took in panel discussions, ate from the high-end candy bars, and generally basked in each other’s praise and presence. This year, the festival returned as an in-person gathering. And, for the Biden officials who descended upon it, that was proof of the triumph of their administration. “This event is in person,” declared White House chief of staff RON KLAIN , the headliner at the Atlantic Festival on Thursday. “That wasn’t the case last year or the year before,” he said, touting Covid-19 boosters, tests, and treatments the administration has rolled out. “What the pandemic meant to us in 2020 is over, it is behind us.” There are certainly greater pandemic era breakthroughs than the return of a three-day festival sponsored by one of the country’s longest running prestige magazines. But there was still an air of triumph from administration officials at the event, which is being held at the Wharf in Washington this week and featured a mix of political, business and climate leaders. One after another, top figures in the administration used the festival to take victory laps. Klain cracked jokes and spoke in the past tense about the challenges the White House had overcome to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the infrastructure bill, and the CHIPs act. In an appearance at the festival on Wednesday, ANTHONY FAUCI, often America’s bearer of bad health news over the past several years, backed Biden’s declaration that the pandemic is over (the fact that all attendees were required to wear masks and that there was unfortunately no food or candy to be found notwithstanding). Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN may have noted the U.S. faced a number of economic problems related to supply chain concerns and Russia’s war with Ukraine. But she also said she believed inflation would fall without seriously damaging the strong labor market — and that Biden’s recent legislative victories would strengthen America’s manufacturing and ultimately help the economy. Earlier in the day on Capitol Hill, House Speaker NANCY PELOSI wouldn’t directly answer a question about whether Biden should run for re-election, but the tone was quite different at the festival. Panelists said Biden still would be the best bet versus DONALD TRUMP in 2024. Asked about whether he was eyeing an Oval Office run, Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) immediately replied that “Joe Biden is running for president, and I will be supporting him.” A left-of-center publication, the Atlantic has occupied a unique place in the media ecosystem for major figures in the Democratic party. It was a favorite publication of former President BARACK OBAMA, who has regularly sat down with top editor JEFFREY GOLDBERG during and after his administration. While Biden doesn’t turn to the magazine with the same type of regularity that his Democratic predecessor did, he has carved out special space for some of the publication’s authors. In 2021, the president gave his first post-inaugural interview to then-Atlantic writer EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, though the piece did not run for several months. During his campaign, Biden also gave the publication a powerfully personal interview about his lifelong struggle with stuttering. He was invested in how the piece turned out, according to two people familiar, and it was generally well received by the Biden campaign (although Biden himself wasn't as big a fan of the final product). There are deeper ties as well between the publication and the president. The Atlantic’s owner, LAURENE POWELL-JOBS, was a major financial backer of the president during the 2020 race and maintains close ties to Biden world. She was at the White House this summer to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of her late husband, STEVE JOBS, and huddled with Vice President KAMALA HARRIS in Washington earlier this year. But even on Thursday, as some at the festival celebrated Biden’s recent political wins, not everyone was so rosy. Klain’s appearance at the festival was immediately preceded by a panel, “Trump’s Second Term,” which outlined the strong possibility that Trump could run again and win, and speculated about what the former president would do if he defeats Biden in 2024. MESSAGE US — Are you THOMAS ISEN, senior adviser to the Cabinet secretary? We want to hear from you and we may publish your response tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.
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