Former President Trump thinks, talks and acts like no other politician in our lifetime. There's a Rosetta stone that demystifies how his mind works, his closest friends tell us: his Mar-a-Lago Spotify playlist, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write.

• At his oceanside retreat in Palm Beach, Trump controls the surround-sound stereo system on the breezy dining patio with his big iPad and its Spotify list. Regulars jokingly call it the "Deejay T" performance.

Why it matters: To those who know him best, Trump spinning through his golden oldies provides a telling lens into his style on much bigger stages. It captures his obsession with a few familiar hits — controlling the volume, never changing.

The backdrop: Whether Trump's in office or out, there's an unchanging patio scene at Mar-a-Lago. The regulars all know each other, and feel free to drop by Trump's table.

• There's sometimes a velvet rope next to Trump's chair. But it more signifies his throne of honor than keeping anyone away. Members tell him how great he's doing. He'll often show them a printout of a poll that shows him as the greatest.
• The hotelier in Trump is very proud of the dinner buffet. He pushes the specials.

But it's the musical ritual that really captures Trump:

1. He alone controls the volume. Most nights when he's home, he walks downstairs to the ground floor of Mar-a-Lago. Like clockwork, the crowd rises in applause, greeting the guest of honor — and sometimes complimenting his ear for music.

• Trump shakes hands as people pass his table near the front. After dinner, he'll open his iPad and play the hits. Sometimes it's so loud that people have trouble talking. He marvels at the sound quality filling the garden.
• The same is true at his campaign events. He has no interest in switching topics, tone or volume.

2. The songs stay the same. At Mar-a-Lago — and on the patio of his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. — the music is always "big names and songs people recognize," a member of his inner circle tells us.

• It's Trump's golden oldies: "Phantom of the Opera" ... "Jesus Christ Superstar" ... and Elvis, including "Suspicious Minds." Plus "Hello" by Lionel Ritchie ... Guns N' Roses' "November Rain" ... and the duet by James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti, "It's A Man's Man's Man's World."
• Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a favorite. REM snuck in a couple of weeks ago. Elton John's another favorite.
• His campaign rallies and interviews are no different. The playlist rarely shifts: The election was stolen ... The "deep state" hates him ... Build the wall ... Biden is senile ... and true oldies: "Lock her up!" Unlike other politicians, he doesn't mix up his speech topics very much. That's why his rallies often feel like reruns.

3. His excitement never fades. He seems like a kid with a new toy every time he turns on that iPad. It feels like the first time he's heard or shared the crooning of Sinatra or the life-hard-lived edge of Cash.

• Same at rallies. He has been playing the same tunes for eight years and never tires of it — even when others beg him to change the station or follow the teleprompter.

4. It'll never change. One friend, explaining the Spotify spectacle, said Trump's brain is a series of "titanium tubes" filled with a specific set of grievances, crowd-pleasing lines and taunts.

• The pipes are impenetrable. No matter the topic or tune, you always end up stuck in one. He's the same in interviews: No matter what you ask, Trump often simply opens one of the tubes and riffs.

The bottom line: One of Trump's playlist favorites is the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." But, most nights, Trump's trusty iPad grants his every wish.

• 👀 Click here for a sample Trump Spotify list, as conjured by Axios' Noah Bressner ... Share this story.

Former President Trump is on track to raise $43 million at a fundraiser in Palm Beach on Saturday, in what many billionaire Republican donors are considering the kickoff for the general election, campaign sources tell me.

Why it matters: That haul would eclipse the $26 million raised by President Biden last week at his celebrity-studded Radio City Music Hall event, which was billed as the largest fundraiser in political history.

Trump's "Inaugural Leadership Dinner," led by hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson, tops out at a "Chairman level" of $824,600, which includes "dinner seating at President Trump's table."

• The event will feature former first lady Melania Trump and three of Trump's former primary opponents — Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
• A source familiar with the planning tells Axios: "This event is greatly exceeding expectations and shows the Republican Party is united behind President Trump."

💡 How it works: Sources tell me the eye-popping total was achieved with personal phone calls by Trump, "peer-to-peer asks" (in this case, some literal billionaire-to-billionaire conversations) and a persuasive deck about the electoral outlook by campaign co-manager Susie Wiles.

🥊 The other side: A source involved in Biden's fundraising was skeptical of the total being touted for Saturday's event, telling me that "getting everyone to max out in April" is "not a sustainable way to fund a campaign."

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President Biden's planned phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning is expected to be tense, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.

• Biden is "outraged" about the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an Israeli air strike in Gaza earlier this week, four U.S. officials said.

Why it matters: Chef José Andrés, who established the nonprofit, is a longtime Biden supporter who the president knows personally.

"Biden is pissed. The temperature regarding Bibi is very high," one U.S. official said.

• Both U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios they are highly concerned the deadly attack will erase recent initial progress in improving the flow of aid into Gaza.

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Former President Clinton will be out Nov. 19 — two weeks after the election — with a new memoir, "Citizen," about his personal and political life after Jan. 20, 2001.

• Why it matters: The book's launch comes right after a major test for the last two Democratic former presidents — whether or not they can help give Biden the second term they each won, Axios' Noah Bressner writes.

Clinton's rare look into post-presidential life includes his feelings on Vladimir Putin, the pandemic, enduring culture wars and Hillary Clinton's loss to Trump in 2016.

• "I knew as I entered this new chapter of my life that I'd keep score the way I always have," Clinton says in the announcement.
• "Are people better off when you quit than when you started? Do our children have a brighter future? Are we coming together instead of falling apart?"

Clinton is represented by Robert Barnett and Michael O'Connor at Williams & Connolly.

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AT&T is putting an additional $3 billion by 2030 toward projects aimed at closing the digital divide in the U.S., Axios' Hope King reports.

• Why it matters: American consumers pay some of the highest prices for internet among developed countries.

Lower-income and rural households are less likely than wealthier and urban Americans to have high-speed internet — putting them at a disadvantage in education, entrepreneurship and employment.

• "Anything that has to do with economic development — is just so fundamental to have scaled access to the internet," AT&T CEO John Stankey tells Axios.

Stankey told us he's pushing the government to get "the policy right to make sure the public policy matches private investment to solve this problem."

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Top diplomats from NATO's member states, gathering today on the alliance's 75th birthday, will be talking about the threat posed by Moscow — and from the potential next occupant of the White House.

Why it matters: NATO has two new members and a resurgent sense of mission after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Axios' Dave Lawler and Zachary Basu write.

• But with Donald Trump waiting in the wings, the alliance could be on course for another existential crisis at a much more dangerous time for Europe.

At this week's gathering in Brussels, NATO foreign ministers are expected to discuss a plan to Trump-proof Ukraine aid.

• The proposal would put a U.S.-led organization overseeing weapons shipments to Ukraine under NATO control.
• There are also ongoing discussions about ways to ensure European militaries can match some responsibilities that currently fall on the U.S., says Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO.

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Amazon's decision to shut down its grocery stores' flashy Just Walk Out technology delivered a slap in the face to some of the most extreme prognostications about AI, Axios' Scott Rosenberg writes.

• Why it matters: AI is still not ready to operate on its own in complex physical environments full of people, like grocery stores or roads.

The Just Walk Out system let shoppers bypass checkout lines by tracking their purchases with cameras and sensors.

• Like many AI systems, it relied a lot on old-school human labor.
• Amazon used workers in India to label the data that trained its object-recognition AI. They also served as backup reviewers for problem transactions.

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Family members of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will make a rare visit to Memphis — where the civil rights leader was assassinated — today to mark the 56th anniversary of his murder, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.

• Why it matters: King family members say they're going to Memphis to draw attention to what they see as a rising threat of political violence today.

King's surviving family members don't often go to Memphis to mark the day he was killed. His son, Martin Luther King III, tells Axios the family feels it's important to be there this election year.

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