Pool Reports of December 4, 2025

report 1 - checking in

Good morning from the White House, where today the president has two public events on his schedule that pool will be covering:

1) A signing of a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo that President Trump says has ended decades of fighting. This will take place at the United States Institute of Peace, a congressionally created entity that Trump's State Department announced it has renamed to honor Trump.

2) The lighting of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse.

If anything else springs up, pool will alert you ASAP.

report 2 — flag atop WH at half staff for Sarah Beckstrom

At 1058 the US flag atop the WH mansion was lowered to half staff.

This is in honor of Sarah Beckstrom, the National Guard member who was fatally shot in Washington DC.

report 2A -- more on flags

The WH press office noted this proclamation on the WH web site:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/honoring-the-memory-of-specialist-sarah-beckstrom-west-virginia-army-national-guard/

Also, the other two US flags on the White House grounds, the new, larger ones on the North and South Lawns, were also lowered to half staff in the minutes after the one atop the mansion.

report 3 – motorcade waiting

Pool was escorted to the press vans at 1135 are now awaiting our departure to the Institute of Peace seven blocks away for the signing of a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Leaders of both nations arrived at the White House on the South Lawn driveway but without any media coverage at around 1100.

The signing ceremony is to be carried live on C-SPAN and most likely on the White House Youtube channel.

Pool will provide color and key quotes.

report 4 — motorcade rolling

At 1248 the presidential motorcade is underway.

The president left the Oval Office accompanied by Sec Rubio, Sen Lindsey Graham and someone no one in the pool van can identify.

report 5 — arrival at Institute of Peace

The motorcade arrived at the Institute of Peace at 1252.

Pool was led into the building’s atrium at 1253.

Scattered onlookers with phones held to record the passing cars and vans.

A protest of some kind in front of the State Department visible a block away.

NOTE: The administration is referring to this place as the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace. However, the statute that created it in 1984 refers to it as the Institute of Peace.

report 6 — color from the room

We are in the high-ceilinged atrium that faces south onto Constitution Avenue.

There is a stage set up with a blue banner hanging behind it proclaiming: "DELIVERING PEACE: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - REPUBLIC OR RWANDA PEACE DEAL."

There is a table with three chairs on the stage and to its right, a lectern with the presidential seal.

There are four rows of chairs, painted silver, set facing with stage for invited guests, with the press riser behind those.

The PA system was playing Roxanne by the Police as we entered, softly, and then Burning Love, Elvis.

We continue to hold.

report 7 — program begins

President Trump entered room with DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame at 1310.

The event is being carried live on C-Span and elsewhere.

report 8 — Trump still talking

Trump began praising his "very detailed, powerful" peace agreement and said the two leaders had told him wonderful things back stage and he wanted them to come up and speak and repeat them to everyone."

"It's a great day for Africa, a great day for the world."

Trump said off mic to the African leaders that they building they were in cost "a lot."

He is now welcoming other foreign leaders in attendance, some from Africa, and also Qatar and UAE.

To Sec Rubio:

"Thanks for putting that name on the building."

He finished thanking others in attendance and began explaining how previous leaders failed to end the war.

remarks ongoing

NOTE: Acoustics here are terrible. Please check recordings off mic for accuracy

report 9 — Trump on making "a lot of money," invites African leaders to speak

Some quotes:

" We're sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries, and we're going to take out some of the rare earth, take out some of the assets, and pay and everybody's going to make a lot of money."

Trump has repeated claims about stopping eight wars and tariffs bringing in "trillions" of dollars.

At 1324 Trump invited up President Kagame followed by President Tshisekedi.

report 10 — Kagame and Tshisekedi speak

President Kagame finished speaking at 1331.

President Tshisekedi took the lectern and is speaking in French.

( Your pool understands the gist but does feel qualified to offer quotes for publication.)

report 11 — pool moved back to vans

The president offered other leaders from Africa the opportunity to speak, and four came up from the audience to do so.

(The first spoke in Portuguese, the fourth in French.)

Trump retook the lectern at 1353, recognized the head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, in the audience, bragged about ticket sales and the draw taking place on Friday at the Kennedy Center. He then said it was time to sign.

President Trump and the leaders of Rwanda and Congo then signed the "Washington Accords" to formalize the peace agreement notwithstanding the ongoing fighting and violence.

Trump took a question from a reporter but it was difficult to hear it or his off mic answer. It appeared to be about when fighting would actually end.

Pool was hustled back into the vans at 1400.

Also in report 10: should read "does NOT feel qualified."

report 11A -- Question and answer about when there will really be peace

As mentioned previously, the president took a single shouted question, from a reporter from Angola state television known for her effusive praise of Trump in previous interactions.

Trump said: "I know you and you're very friendly so I'll take it, otherwise I wouldn't take it. Go ahead."

Q: "Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, we are witnessing a historic moment for Africa. My question to you is when we will see the withdrawal of Rwanda's troops from DRC, and when we will see the real peace? Because even now, we are witnessing historical peace deal, but people have been still killed in DRC, because the troops continue there. When? Because this is to be real, the troops need to withdraw from DRC, when we will see the withdrawal?"
A: "I think you are going to see very quick – very quickly I think you're going to see things happen. This is something that was not doable, according to a lot of people, that not - not only is it doable, I think it's going to be a great miracle. These two gentlemen are leaders. They're great leaders, and they're going to prove that in the coming months and years, and I think you'll see very immediate results. I have confidence that that's what's going to happen."

12 — motorcade rolling

At 1404 the motorcade was on its way back to the White House.

report 13 — back at WH

The motorcade was back on the White House grounds at 1407.

The president was not visible by the time the press vans stopped and pool was allowed to walk past the vehicles and back to the West Wing.

report 14 -- lunch lid

At 1417 the WH press office announced a lunch lid until 1515.

report 15 — pool moving to Ellipse

The pool is being escorted the Ellipse and the tree lighting.

report 16 — pool at Ellipse

Pool did the .33 mile (26 cals) walk from the WH in 8 min and is in place for the National Christmas Tree Lighting 2025.

A stage has been set up under an arched cover.

There are what appears to be a few thousand seats set up on the grass facing the stage, the lit-up White House behind.

Attendees are listening to the Army band play, bundled against the cold. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum just spoke.

Awaiting the president’s arrival.

report 17 — list of participants

Per the WH:

PARTICIPANTS:
THE PRESIDENT
The First Lady
Secretary Doug Burgum, Department of the Interior
Gabby Barrett, Country Music Singer
Jon Pardi, Country Music Singer
Alana Springsteen, Country Music Singer
Matthew West, Christian Music Singer
Brett Young, Country Music Singer
Warren Zeiders, Country Music Singer
The Beach Boys, American Rock Band

ATENDEES:
The Vice President
The Second Lady
The Second Family
Secretary Scott Bessent, Department of Treasury
Secretary Pete Hegseth, Department of War
Jennifer Hegseth, Wife of Pete Hegseth
Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Justice
John Wakefield, Guest of Pam Bondi
Kathryn Burgum, Wife of Doug Burgum
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Department of Health and Human Services
Cheryl Hines, Wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Director Tulsi Gabbard, Department of National Intelligence
Abraham Williams, Husband of Tulsi Gabbard
Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Small Business Administration
Jeff Sprecher, Husband of Kelly Loeffler

report — Trump remarks
[APP Note: This is report #18.]

The president and first lady took the stage at 1829.

He counted down from 5 and the tree lit up behind them.

He thanked members of his Cabinet in attendance, Wayne Gretzky and The Beach Boys.

Talked about the peace deal he signed this afternoon.

Brought up the "rigged election."

"I'm so happy that our presidency was delayed. Be sitting home watching television, not being invited, I would be extremely upset. And remember, we have not only the 250 years, but we have, this is a big one. We have the World Cup, and we have the Olympics coming up, all within this four year period. They didn't rig the election, I would have been sitting because, can you imagine, I wouldn't have any of them, and I probably wouldn't have been invited. I would have been very upset by that."

Spoke about the National Guard troops who were shot in DC.

"They paid, in one case, the ultimate and the other, Andrew is getting better. Sarah, unfortunately, is watching from a high, watching from heaven."

Full remarks on the YouTube channel.

Pool is not certain, but this may be Trump's first visit to Ellipse since 6 Jan 2021.

The pair walked off the stage at 1837.

report 19 — lid

The WH press office announced a travel photo lid for the night at 1854.

Have a good evening, all.

Foreign pool report #1 - backgrounder

Hello all!

I will be your foreign pooler for the campus-based activities today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda take part in the ceremonial signing of a US-brokered peace and economic agreement.

PRINCIPALS

DRC - President Félix Tshisekedi (CHI-SIC-AY-DEE)
Rwanda - President Paul Kagame (KA-GAR-MAY)

The deal was initially signed on June 27th 2025 at the State Department by the foreign ministers of both countries and was overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Today's signing is being framed as a final accord to tie together previous commitments and bind all parties involved to one enforceable agreement.

There have been 2 concurrent peace talks and agreements being negotiated between different at-odds factions. The US oversaw a deal between the DRC and Rwanda (today's signing), and Qatar has aided the US in brokering a deal between the DRC government and the M23 rebel group which is widely regarded as being back by Rwanda - a claim Rwanda denies. A Congolese official says these two deals are intertwined.

CONTEXT

The decades of conflict in DRC are very complex and have resulted in the deaths of around 6 million people, the displacement of 7 million and 21 million in need of aid. The fighting comprises a web of different warring factions including the Congolese army, rebel groups, smaller local militias as well as foreign forces. For brevity, I will focus on the main actors; the Congolese army, Rwanda and the M23 rebel group.

The current fighting in eastern DRC has its roots in the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda, when violence between ethnic groups erupted. During the Rwandan genocide, Hutu extremists (ethnic Hutus accounted for about 85% of the Rwandan population) killed almost 1 million people - mostly people belonging to the Tutsi minority ethnic group (which made up around 14% of the ethnic population) and moderate Hutus. In the wake of the genocide - and indeed during it - almost 2 million Hutus crossed the border into neighbouring DRC and settled in camps situated in North and South Kivu provinces. Among that large number was a small number of extremists who started militias.

After years of violence and power struggles (you can read an in-depth but digestible history of the conflict here), an ethnic Tutsi rebel group called the March 23 Movement - or simply M23 - came to prominence in 2012 - forged from a mutiny of ex-militia members who had merged into the DRC government's army. Within months, they had become such a significant force that UN troops were sent to DRC to aid the government's army fight the rebel group. As mentioned before, it is widely believed and accepted that the rebel group has been backed by Rwanda's government, but Kigali (the capital of Rwanda) denies backing the group.

The UN-backed efforts led to the defeat of M23 and a ceasefire deal was agreed to in 2013. In recent years however, the group reorganised and there has been a resurgence in attacks and violence. Things escalated dramatically in early 2025 when M23 took control of Goma - the largest city eastern DRC - and expanded across vast areas in North and South Kivu provinces. Rwandan troops are in the ground in eastern DRC; between 3-4,000 of them. Kigali points to the ongoing activity of some of the Hutu factions responsible for the 1994 genocide as justification for the presence of Rwandan troops. But Kinshasa says that Rwanda is backing the rebels and engaging in the theft of unprecedented levels of DR Congo's natural mineral resources - a claim echoed by the UN.

THE PEACE/ECONOMIC DEAL

Seeking an end to the conflict, the DRC approached the US and pitched a minerals-for-security style deal. Along with Qatar, the US engaged in mediation efforts between the parties.

The deal calls for/includes:

- Rwanda to withdraw its troops from eastern DRC

• A provision which would end support for M23 and FDLR (a Rwandan faction active in eastern DRC) rebel groups

• DRC and Rwanda to establish an 'economic integration framework' within 90 days which provides a shared economic incentive for last peace. The idea here is to expand foreign trade and investment in the region centred on critical minerals (namely coltan, cobalt and lithium). The framework looks to link up DRC and Rwanda with the US government and US private investment to increase global competition for minerals and secure stability.

• The creation of a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days (which would oversee the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and the disbandment of FDLR and M23)

• Humanitarian provisions - the allowance of people to safely return to their places of origin, allowance of aid and aid agencies into the area as well as allowing oversight by a 'Joint Oversight Committee' (with representatives from the US, Qatar and the African Union)

At a press conference on Wednesday, Congolese officials were asked whether the US has requested DRC to accept non-Congolese nationals deported from the US as part of this deal. Initially, one official said that so far the US had NOT asked DRC to accept deportees but that they were expecting President Trump to potentially raise the notion during the bilateral today. When asked to clarify whether that would include non-Congolese nationals, the official said 'we are not sure, we don't know what's going to be on the table'.

The peace and economic deal brokered by the US may have been signed in the summer, but implementation has been anything but swift. Violence continues, and both sides continue to accuse the other of breaking the terms of the deal or not truly seeking peace. Key parts of the deal have seen no movement, including the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from eastern DRC. One Congolese official told me 'only once mutual trust is re-established can we implement greater economic integration which will benefit everyone in the Great Lakes region.'

That's it for now!

Let me know if you need anything,

Fraser