Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander recaps President Joe Biden’s big foreign policy push before the first debate. Plus, politics managing editor Amanda Terkel dives into the often emotional fundraising appeals from Donald Trump’s campaign.

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Foreign policy dominates Biden’s agenda before the first debate

By Peter Alexander

We’re now two weeks away from the first general election presidential debate, and we’re also just days removed from the guilty verdicts against Donald Trump and Hunter Biden. 

But if there’s been a set of issues that have dominated President Joe Biden’s time and schedule during this crucial stretch, it’s been foreign affairs and international relations. 

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Last week, Biden traveled to France for a state visit and the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. 

And while part of that trip had a fixed eye on America’s domestic audience — especially Biden’s speech on democracy and freedom — so much else was focused on foreign affairs. 

Covering that trip for NBC News, what struck me most — of course, after what may be the last formal gathering of D-Day veterans — were the public discussions about who will be guiding the U.S. less than a year from now. Even along the hallowed ground at Normandy American Cemetery, some of those in attendance for Biden’s speech — in which he denounced isolationism — were donning red MAGA hats. 

Behind all the powerful imagery of that place and the stories of a unified Western alliance in World War II was the stark reality that Americans, 80 years later, are deeply divided.

Then this week — just days after his son’s conviction — Biden flew to Italy for the G7 meeting of leading Western nations and Japan. 

At the top of Biden’s agenda there was a 10-year U.S. security agreement with Ukraine, as well as a $50 billion loan to Ukraine in its war against Russia. 

“Again and again and again, we’re going to stand with Ukraine,” Biden said Thursday in Italy. 

Yet underscoring the policy stakes of the 2024 election, the future of that U.S.-Ukraine security agreement could depend on the winner in November, given Trump’s past rhetoric on Russia and Ukraine. 

In election years, these international trips can bolster a commander-in-chief’s image back at home — and allow him to plant America’s flag abroad (as both Ronald Reagan and Biden did in D-Day speeches that were 40 years apart).

But with polls showing the economy, inflation, immigration and democracy ranking as American voters’ top concerns for the upcoming election, it’s quite likely that these were Biden’s final trips abroad before the election — especially as the 2024 campaign truly heats up with the first debate this month.

From hugs to guillotines, Trump’s fundraising emails are a roller coaster

By Amanda Terkel

“You’re on my mind.”

“Do you need a hug?”

“I love you.”

“They want to sentence me to death!”

No, these aren’t increasingly desperate attempts at romance (albeit with a terrifying swerve at the end) from someone you met on a dating app.

They are fundraising emails from Donald Trump.

“It’s like a reading multiple-personality battery test. I’m not sure exactly what they’re aiming for,” said Democratic strategist Tim Lim. 

But for the Trump campaign, the answer is clear: “a personal feel.”

“The Trump campaign cares about supporters and every single American. President Trump’s supporters appreciate messages that have a personal feel, in addition to messages highlighting Crooked Joe Biden’s record of failure and weakness,” said Caroline Sunshine, the Trump campaign’s deputy communications director.

Politicians (and scammers) have long leaned on emotional appeals to get people to part with their money. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee became the scourge of donors’ inboxes with frequent, dire fundraising emails like, “URGENT” and “We’re on the verge of the Dem-pocalypse,” beseeching loyal Democrats to give money before it was too late.

Then-President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign helped bring the country to this point when it realized the effectiveness of casual subject lines that sounded like they were coming from a friend. Things like “Hey” and “I don’t usually email” raked in big bucks.

But if Obama was your laid-back pal up for grabbing a cup of coffee, Trump’s vibe veers from intimacy to fear and back again.

Read more on Trump’s fundraising pleas →

That’s all from The Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

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