Pool Reports of August 4, 2020

In-town pool report no. 1

Good morning on a sodden Tuesday

Your pooler was called to the White House at 9a and tested for Covid-19.

POTUS schedule so far shows a 10:30a signing ceremony for HR 1957, The Great American Outdoors Act. Preset happening now. He has lunch with the Secretary of State at 12:45p and ann intelligence briefing at 2p, both of which are closed to press.

A briefing with the press secretary is scheduled for noon.

In-town pool report no. 2

POTUS has entered the East Room (to a sustained applause) for the HR 1957 signing ceremony, which will be streamed live here: https://whitehouse.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c97630621baff8c44f...

Ivanka Trump is here, as is VPOTUS and interior secretary David Bernhardt. Your pooler can also see Sen. Cory Gardner and Sen. Rob Portman. There is a portrait of Teddy Roosevelt on a horse set up onstage, to one side of the desk.

In-town pool report no. 3

The White House sends this along on today's bill signing ceremony, which is being live-streamed by the White House.

Today, President Donald J. Trump will give remarks and sign H.R. 1957 – The Great American Outdoors Act, one of the greatest conservation acts in decades, into law.

The Great American Outdoors Act requires full, mandatory funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and addresses the maintenance backlog facing America's national parks and public lands.

The following individuals are expected to attend:

The White House
President Donald J. Trump
The Vice President
Mark Meadows, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the President
Jared Kushner, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor
Marc Short, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Amy Swonger, Assistant to the President and Acting Director of Legislative Affairs
Mary Neumayr, Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality

Trump Administration
Secretary David Bernhardt, Department of the Interior
Secretary Sonny Perdue, Department of Agriculture
Aurelia Skipwith, Director, U.S. Fish and Wild Service, Department of the Interior
William Perry Pendley, Acting Director of Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior
Chris French, Deputy Chief, U.S. Forest Service
Doug Crandall, Director of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Forest Service
Tara Sweeney, Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Indian Affairs
Cole Rojewski, Director of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, DOI

Members of Congress
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Senator Steve Daines (R-MT)
Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Senator John Hoeven (R-ND)
Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ)
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-LA)
Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

External Participants
K.C. Walsh, Founder Simms Fishing, Property and Environment Research Center and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Board Member
Tim Cors , Director of Lands, The Nature Conservancy
Lesley Kane Szynal, Director, Outdoors America
Alan Front , Chief Executive Officer, Conservation Pathways
Jay Leutze, Director of Government Relations, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
Whit Fosburgh, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Jeff Crane, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation
John Nau, Board Member, National Park Foundation
Johnny Morris, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bass Pro Shop
Rob Keck, Director of Conservation, Bass Pro Shop
Joe Bartozzi, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Shooting Sports Foundation
Laird Hamberlain, Chief Executive Officer, Safari Club International

In-town pool report no. 4

Signing ceremony is over. Sen. Alexander, wearing a red flannel mask, handed POTUS a tall walking stick, which POTUS himself carried out of the East Room. He did not stop to answer a shouted question about evictions.

In-town pool report no. 5 -- briefing moved to 12:30

The press secretary's briefing has been moved back half an hour to 12:30.

Also, pool report no. 3 included a list of the guests at the signing ceremony that was provided by the White House. That list contained a mistake -- Rep. Jeff Fortenberry represents Nebraska's First District, not Louisiana.

In-town pool report no. 6 -- two minute warning for briefing

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

In-town pool report no. 7 -- "This is the real 2-minute warning"

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

in-town pool report no. 8 -- POTUS to hold covid briefing at 5:30p

per Kayleigh McEnany's ongoing briefing

in-town pool report no. 9 -- lunch lid until 3p

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

In-town pool report no. 10

Pool has been told to gather at briefing room doors.

In-town pool report no. 11

Pool has been escorted to the Oval Office for the swearing in of General Charles Q Brown, Jr. as the new chief of staff of the US Air Force.

This was on VPOTUS schedule today but was apparently transferred to the West Wing.

"I said this was the big leagues and we have to have you and your family celebrate" POTUS says.

In-town pool report no. 12 -- resending

*Apologies if this is going out twice, but I got a bounce-back when I first tried to send this.*

Standing in a very crowded Oval Office, POTUS joked to General Brown "this is your last chance" to get out, to laughter. He added, "You're a great gentleman, a great man... this is an amazing achievement."

After VPOTUS administered the oath and the defense secretary Mark Esper said a few words, Trump added:

"Greatest country in the world, you have all those brand new F-35s."

POTUS did not take any questions; pool was quickly ushered out of the Oval.

In-town pool report no. 13 -- briefing moved to 5:50...

...per announcement over the loudspeaker.

In-town pool report no. 14 -- two-minute warning for POTUS briefing

[APP Note: No additional text was included in this report.]

In-town pool report no. 15 -- Briefing begins

It's being live-streamed here and elsewhere: https://whitehouse.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c97630621baff8c44f...