Pool Reports of August 14, 2025

In-town pool report #1: checking in

Good morning from the White House. I'll be your in-town pooler today.

See below for the schedule. Also passing along this social media post from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: "TODAY AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Trump will issue a Presidential Proclamation honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, which will tout his administration's achievements in improving the program."

EDT
9:00 AM In-Town Pool Call Time

11:00 AM THE PRESIDENT receives his Intelligence Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

1:00 PM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks
Oval Office
White House Press Pool

In-town pool report #2: lunch lid until 12:15pm

The White House press office has called a lunch lid until 12:15pm.

In-town pool report #3: gathered for Oval

The pool is gathered outside the Oval Office doors for President Trump's remarks on the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act. He is expected to issue a presidential proclamation honoring its anniversary, per the White House.

The remarks will be livestreamed, and I will send color/toplines later.

In-town pool report #4: Trump underway in Oval

The pool entered the Oval Office at 1:28pm.

President Trump is sitting at the Resolute Desk and is joined by SSA Administrator Frank Bisignano.

In-town pool report #5: Trump comments on US-Russia summit

After signing a proclamation honoring the anniversary of the SSA, Trump took questions on his summit with Putin in Alaska, DC crime, and more.

Q: Are you prepared to offer Vladimir Putin access to rare minerals to incentivize him to end the war?

Trump: "We're gonna see what happens in that meeting. It's gonna be very important for Russia and very important for us."

On Putin: "I think President Putin will make peace."

On DC: "Sadly, what I guess the mayor did, but whoever it was, they asked the numbers to be fudged so they would show less crime. The fact is, it's worse than it has ever been."

On SSA: "We cleared 12.4 million names listed in the social security database, over 120 years of age. Think of that. Is that right? That is a hell of a statement. I have a feeling that really did not happen."

On Elizabeth Warren: "She was all excited and jumping up and down. She has got to take a drug test. There's no way somebody can act that way and be normal"

More TK

In-town pool report #6: Oval spray over

The pool was ushered out of the Oval Office at 2:12 pm.

More quotes TK.

In-town pool report #7: more Trump quotes from Oval spray

Here are some additional quotes from President Trump's spray in the Oval Office.

Trump would not comment on reports that he's considering offering Putin a deal involving Alaskan or Ukrainian minerals in exchange for ending the war in Ukraine: "As far as rare earth, that's very unimportant relative. I'm trying to save lives."

Trump said the "more important meeting" will be the one that includes President Zelensky: "We have a meeting with President Putin tomorrow. I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, myself, and maybe we'll bring some of the European leaders along. Maybe not."

On where the negotiations stand: "We're going to see what happens. And I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they can get along, and if they can, it'll be great."

"You know, I've solved six wars in the last six months, little more than six months now, and I'm very proud of it. I thought the easiest one would be this one. It's actually the most difficult."

On hopes for the meeting: "We're going to find out where everybody stands. And I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes left, we tend to find out whether or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting. And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly, and if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future."

Asked if his potential incentives for peace could end up rewarding Putin for his invasion of Ukraine: "I don't think it's a reward. I think that what we have is a situation that should never have started… It didn't start under me, and for four years, it wasn't even discussed. And I could see it was going to happen after I left... Everything that [Biden] did was wrong, everything that was done was wrong. Everybody's to blame. Putin's to blame. They're all to blame."

On the National Guard: " I heard [Maryland Gov. Wes Moore] today talking about how the National Guard or the military is not trained in police, but they're trained in common sense, and they're trained in not allowing people to burn down buildings and bomb buildings and shoot people--all the things." Adds that if he didn't call the National Guard to quell protests in Los Angeles earlier this summer, "it wouldn't be existent today. We would have had to cancel the Olympics if I let that go on."

On crime stats in DC: "They are under investigation right now. They are giving us phony crime stats, just like they gave other stats in the financial world with their phony crime stats. Washington, DC is at its worst point, and it will soon be at its best point. You're going to have a very safe, you're going to have a crime free city. I mean, I say that--virtually a crime free city."

In-town pool report #8: lid & press logistics note from WH for Fri/Sat

Lid called at 6pm.

Also passing along the following note from the White House on press logistics for tomorrow and Saturday in DC: "There will not be a Marine One lift tomorrow, or Saturday for the return, so the out of town travel pool will cover both departure and arrival back to the White House. The press briefing room and press gate will remain open from 5am Friday - 6am EDT Saturday. Residence lighting will remain on for live hit purposes at the appropriate times."

Have a good evening,
Nik