Pool Reports by Hunter Walker, Yahoo! News
| Sent: | Reports: |
| July 31, 2020 10:12 |
In Town Pool Report #1 - TGIF Good morning from a rainy day here at the White House! Your pooler is on campus and has taken the rapid COVID test. All is quiet so far today. The first event on the calendar is a briefing with the press secretary at 10:30 am. Your pooler will send out an update when we have a two minute warning. |
| July 31, 2020 10:31 |
In Town Pool #2 - Briefing postponed to 10:45 At 10:30, the scheduled start time of the press briefing, a White House staffer announced via loudspeaker that "the briefing will now begin at 10:45." |
| July 31, 2020 10:51 |
In Town Pool Report #2a - Two minute warning At 10:49, the White House announced the press briefing will begin in two minutes. Please refer to live broadcasts for quotes. |
| July 31, 2020 11:34 |
In Town Pool Report #3 - Gather for Cabinet Room The pool has gathered and is currently waiting to be led into the Cabinet Room for the president's meeting with leadership from the National Association of Police Organizations. |
| July 31, 2020 12:05 |
In Town Pool Report #4 - Remarks on crime and Portland The pool was ushered into the Cabinet Room at about 11:54 am. President Trump is seated at the table next to Vice President Mike Pence. The leadership from the National Association of Police Organizations is around the table. As we came in, the president made an unprompted comment. "NBC, fake news," he said. The president went on to praise the NAPO. He then turned to the situation in Portland. Trump said the courthouse there "is in very good shape." He praised the DHS officers who came to Portland to respond to the protests. Trump said they have been strictly "defensive." "They're not allowed to be offensive unfortunately," Trump said of DHS in Portland. Trump said the issues in Portland have been caused by radical anarchists. "The ones that were the problem were absolute anarchists, in many cases professionals," Trump said. Trump said federal officers will respond with "very strong offensive force" in Portland if needed. "If it doesn't clean up were going to do something very powerful ... we have no choice," Trump said. Trump went on to say "the left wing extremists have spread mayhem throughout the streets of different cities." He then criticized Biden for supporting calls to defund the police. "Biden has been taken further left ... of where Bernie was," Trump said. The president called the policy recommendations from the Democrats' unity task force a "manifesto." He also described the situations in Seattle and Milwaukee and asked one of the representatives from NAPO what they thought would happen there. "As a result of the outrageous attacks on law enforcement violent crime has surged in certain Democrat run cities," Trump said. He specifically referred to New York and said Mayor Bill de Blasio is "radical left" and "doesn't know what he's doing." He then said the situation in Chicago is "far worse than Afghanistan." He contrasted this with "well run cities" that he said are "largely Republican." The president is currently continuing to speak. |
| July 31, 2020 12:31 |
In Town Pool Report #5 - More from the Cabinet Room The president is continuing to speak in the Cabinet Room. "In cities all across the situation weve also seen police officers assaulted," Trump said. The president listed various weapons he said the protesters have used on police molotov cocktails including frozen water that he said was the "size of a football." He claimed protesters use "cans of soup" to throw at officers and then claim it's just "soup from my family" when they are caught. "If it hits you, that's worse than a brick because it's got force," the president said of the soup cans, adding, "It's the perfect size." Trump suggested "the media" supports the protesters including buying their explanations for the soup cans. He said the media responds to violent protests by saying, "Isn't it wonderful to allow protesting?" Trump then answered that question. "No," he said.. Trump said his administration has told leaders in cities that they are "willing to help" deal with protesters and crime. He said the leaders will not except. Trump suggested there were two reasons for this including that they are "embarassed." He also theorized the leaders fear the protesters. "I actually think they're afraid of these people," Trump said. Trump said his administration has received "tremendous support from the police, the firefighters." The president is currently soliciting comments from the NAPO leadership in the room. Patrick Lynch of the Police Benevolent Association in New York spoke first. Lynch said de Blasio is a "progressive" who has had a bad effect on the NYPD. "They can charge us criminally ... It's disgraceful ... It's the upside down," Lynch said. "Rudy did a great job as mayor," Trump said, referencing his associate Rudy Giuliani. "I think this is worse than the [former New York City Mayor] David Dinkins era." Lynch concurred. A man who said he was from Massachusetts spoke next. "The next move is they want to take away immunity from the police," the man said. "The whole thing is just crazy." The man then said local officials are trying to curb police usage of various items. "They're going after our tear gas. They're going after our K9s," the man said. Trump marveled at the effectiveness of police dogs. A man from New Jersey came next. He said officials there are pushing for proportional use of force that would make arrests need to be a "fair fight." "The people of our country love you guys," Trump said, adding, "This radical left is stripping you of everything ... we're not going to let that happen." A woman who said she works for NALO and represents police nationally spoke next. Trump asked her a question. "Where are they treated the worst, the police? ... Where is the biggest onus of problem?" Trump asked. Is it New York? Is it Massachusetts?" Trump then brought up New Jersey "I know those great troopers on the highway," Trump said of New Jersey. "They've pulled me over on occasion for speeding." Trump said the police have the support of the "silent majority," which he said is actually a "massive majority." "You have tremendous public support," Trump said. The president kept going around the table. A man sitting next to him said he believed New York City's police force has the toughest situation. Lynch said crime in the cities has returned to 1990s levels. As Lynch spoke, Todd Harrison from NALO coughed loudly. No one around the table is wearing a mask and tbey are all seated roughly three feet apart. "I think the cops in New York have got to get tough again," Trump said. "They want to," Lynch said. Trump is now blasting de Blasio as "this crazy man that got appointed." Trump later turned to Portland. He said the mayor there was protected from crowds by large bodyguards, which was the only way they avoided "a funeral." Despite this, Trump said nightly news portrayed the mayor as "a man of the people" for going into the protests. The conversation is continuing. |
| July 31, 2020 12:47 |
In Town Pool Report #6 - Q&A/stimulus Todd Harrison from NALO is speaking now. He said he is from Texas. Trump suggested the situation for police is good in Texas, but Harrison said there are problems. He specifically suggested people in Texas do not want to continue serving on police forces. Trump said he was aware of that problem. "Who's going to want to take a job where you dont have the backing of the people running the city?" Trump asked. They are now discussing the disbanding of an anti-crime unit in New York. Trump suggested "the bad ones" were aware of this and were benefiting from the officers' removal. Trump is now railing against the media. "I call it the opposition party," Trump said. A man at the head of the table then discussed efforts to disband police departments. "When you guys are hearing the term abolish ... it's not just rhetoric," Trump said. The man concurred. "They're insane, but they're serious," the man said. "Defund and abolish, that's their favorite," Trump said. The president asked the man which city has "gone the furthest" towards disbanding the police. "I think Minneapolis," the man said. "And yet the leaders have armed police around their house," Trump said. "That's nice." A man then commiserated with Trump about "fake news" and said he wasn't aware of the issue until the president raised it. Vice President Pence is speaking now. He praised the membership of NALO and said he saw "the connection" Trump has "with law enforcement" from their first day together. Pebce criticized those who would refer to police in "pejorative" terms including as "stormtroopers." "It has only steeled this president and this administration's resolve to back the blue," Pence said. "We are not going to defund the police." "We're working on additional support," Trump said. "We're the opposite of defund." Trump said it would cost relative "peanuts" to increase police funding. He then turned to Lynch and said the police in New York could have shut down the protests in a single day. Trump then took questions from reporters. He was asked about stimulus negotiations and what he believes the Democrats' position is. "I think the democrats don't care about the people of our country," Trump said. "It is a disgrace that they're not negotiating." Trumo said the Democears are engaged in "a political game." He then characterized his own position. "They know what I want ... I want our people to be able to live and live well because it wasn't their fault that China brought in this pandemic," Trump said. It's China's fault." He then said China "should be paying for it." "And maybe they will," Trump added. The president is now discussing his concerns with voting by mail. "iIt'll be fixed. It'll be rigged ... people ought to get smart," Trump said. "This is going to be the greatest election disaster in history," Trump said. Trump said it will be worse than what we've seen with elections in Russia and China. The event is continuing. |
| July 31, 2020 12:47 |
In Town Pool Report #7- event over The pool was ushered out of the Cabinet Room at 12:43 pm. Just prior to the exit, President Trump was asked about the postponement of elections in Hong Kong. He didn't answer and said he wanted to focus on his concerns about the US election. As the pool left, Trump ignored a question about his comments that low income people to the suburbs could hurt the American dream. |
| July 31, 2020 12:54 |
In Town Pool Report #8 - Background and Gather At about 12:50, the White House called the pool to gether for the departure of Marine One. The White House also sent along the following background information about the NALO Cabinet Room event. Today, President Donald J. Trump will hold a meeting with the National Association of Police Organizations Leadership. The following individuals are expected to attend: The White House External Participants |
| July 31, 2020 14:05 |
In Town Pool Report #9- Marine One Departure The president left the White House at about 1:51 pm. He was asked to respond to remarks President Obama made at John Lewis' funeral saying he was "targeting minorities" and attacking voting rights. Trump said he has done "a much better job" for minorities than Obama. The president ignored a quesrion from your pooler about why he didn't attend John Lewis' funeral where Obama made those comments in a eulogy. Trump then said he was "working on a big immigration bill" your pooler could not hear what this was in response to. He also discussed preclscription prices and said America's would soon be "the lowest." Trump reiterated past comments that he is "looking at TikTok" and considering a ban. The president was asked about his tweet saying low income people moving to the suburbs would damage the way of life there. He stressed that he got "rid of" a "horrible tule" that was a "veryunfair rule for a long time" and would "destroy people that have lived in communities" in the suburbs. He blamed Joe Biden and Cory Booker for the rule. Your pooler asked the president if he was concerned Herman Cain contracted coronavirus at the Tulsa rally. Trump praised Cain. Your pooler then reiterated the question about whether Cain may have gotten sick at the Tulsa rally. "No, I don't think he did," Trump said. The president then walked onto the lawn and boarded Marine One at about 1:56 pm. He was trailed by a group of staff that included Kayleigh McEnany. Marine One was wheels up at about 2:00 pm en route to JBA for the president's trip to Tampa, Florida. Your pooler will endeavor to send a follow up with fuller quotes though we were not in a position to hear some of the president's comments. |
| July 31, 2020 14:32 |
In Town Pool Report #10 - Full South Lawn Comments By popular demand and thanks to our TV colleagues sharing clean audio, here is a full report of the president's remarks prior to the Marine One departure. This is the best audio there is but this is not entirely complete due to helicopter noise and the fact the president moved all over the line. Will send this in two parts so everyone can have what they need ASAP. Here's part one: Trump was asked for his "reaction to" President Obama saying he is "targeting minorities" and "attacking voting rights." "Well, he did a bad job for minorities. I did much more for minorities than he did. And if you look at our numbers prior to the plague coming in – and those numbers will soon be back – you'll see I did a much better job than Obama did by far for African Americans, for Asian Americans, for women, for any group you look at, far better than Obama did," Trump said. Trump clearly ignored a question on why he wasn't at John Lewis' funeral. The next question was inaudible on the audio your pooler has, but it apparently dealt with immigration. "We don't want that to happen, but people have to come in to our country legally. Right now we have 267 miles of wall. We're doing very well at keeping the drugs out and keeping people out that aren't supposed to be here, but people have to come into our country legally," Trump said. Your pooler also could not hear the next question. "We're working with representatives of DACA and we're also working on a big immigration bill, which is merit-based and something that people are going to be very happy with. We're doing a very big immigration bill and we're doing a very big healthcare bill. The other thing we're working on very strongly and is very important is prescription drug prices," Trump said. "The drug companies are not exactly happy. In fact, I am sure they'll be taking ads, but we're doing a drug prescription bill, in a sense – we've already signed it for the most part. One goes into effect very soon that's going to get us to be tied with or lower than the lowest drug prices anywhere in the world." The president continued. "Right now, the United States, because of what has happened over years, we have the highest prescription drug prices in the world. We will soon have the lowest," he said. Trump was asked if he will have "a TikTok decision today." "We're looking at Tiktok. We may be banning TikTok. We may be doing some other things. There are a couple of options, but a lot of things are happening. So, we'll see what happens, but we are looking at a lot of alternatives with respect to Tiktok," said Trump. |
| July 31, 2020 14:53 |
In Town Pool Report #10a - Part 2 of the South Lawn Here's part two of the President's Q&A on the South Lawn: Apparently the questions about immigration began with asking what the president would say to immigrants who feel more persecuted in the pandemic than ever. The president was asked about elections in Hong Kong. "We're going to have a report for you tomorrow," Trump said. The president was asked, "Why would low income housing in the suburbs destroy the suburban lifestyle dream?" "We ended a rule that was a very horrible rule for people in suburbia, in the suburbs. And that rule has been a very unfair rule for a long time and it was going to be made a lot worse by Biden and Cory Booker," Trump said. "It's a rule that, basically, you build low income housing and you build other forms of housing also having to do with zoning and destroy people that have lived in communities in suburbia. For years they've lived there, and they want to destroy their lives, and destroy what they have, and it's been going on for a long time. I ended the rule so people living in the suburbs will no longer have that problem." Your pooler asked the president if he worried Herman Cain contracted COVID at the rally in Tulsa. "Herman Cain was a great man. He did a fantastic job. He was respected by everybody, he was loved by everybody, and we will miss Herman Cain Your pooler oressed in whether Trump was worried Cain "caught COVID in Tulsa." "No, I don't think he did," Trump said. The president then boarded Marine One. See you all (much) later tonight when he returns. |
| July 31, 2020 22:58 |
In Town Pool Report #11 - travel/photo lid Marine One touched down on the South Lawn at about 10:50 pm. President Trump disembarked at about 10:53 pm. He walked into the White House a minute later after ignoring a question about Russian bounties. Your pooler tried to get him to "do a TikTok" in light of his comments vowing to ban the app. He waved. The White House called a travel/photo lid ar 10:56 pm. |
Pool Reports below by David Cloud, Los Angeles Times
| Sent: | Reports: |
| July 31, 2020 14:15 |
WH travel pool report #1—departure President Trump arrived at an overcast Joint Base Andrews on Marine 1 at 2:08 pm EST. The President exited the helicopter five was handed an umbrella and waved to press pool before climbing the stairs at 2:14 pm at the front of AF1. Took no questions. Today's trip is down and back to Tampa, Florida, where the president has an event with Florida sheriffs, participates in a roundtable on covid response and storm preparedness, and speaks at a fundraiser at a golf club in nearby Belleair, Fla. The fundraiser is closed press. We'll be departing shortly. |
| July 31, 2020 14:18 |
WH travel pool report #1A—departure President Trump arrived at an overcast Joint Base Andrews on Marine 1 at 2:08 pm EST. The President exited the helicopter five was handed an umbrella and waved to press pool before climbing the stairs at 2:14 pm at the front of AF1. Took no questions. Today's trip is down and back to Tampa, Florida, where the president has an event with Florida sheriffs, participates in a roundtable on covid response and storm preparedness, and speaks at a fundraiser at a golf club in nearby Belleair, Fla. The fundraiser is closed press. We'll be departing shortly. |
| July 31, 2020 16:20 |
WH travel pool report #2—arrival We are wheels down at sunny Tampa International Airport at 3:59 pm EST. Uneventful flight, with no remarks by POTUS or other officials to traveling press. A crowd behind barricades was waiting on the tarmac twenty yards From AF1 for POTUS. "Live and Let Die" blasted over the sound system, among other tunes. POTUS emerged clapping to Lee Greenwood song and was met with five unidentified greeters wearing masks. He didn't shake hands. He made his way to the crowd. A line of twenty or so uniformed law enforcement officers stood in front of the barricade. He's addressing the crowd now. President is met by: State Senator Wilton Simpson State Representative Josie Tomkow State Representative Daniel Perez Danny Burgess |
| July 31, 2020 17:25 |
WH travel pool report #3—airport event On the tarmac at Tampa International Airport, POTUS spoke for around 20 minutes to a occasionally enthused crowd in a pen that looked like it was set up for a far larger turnout. He opened with a joke about the tropical storm bearing down on South Florida. "It's not far. Good luck. Have a great evening," he said, adding, "We'll do whatever's necessary to help Florida." Otherwise, POTUS hit many the same themes he has touched on previously—the threat from Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress, Portland, defunding the police, the threat to public safety from protestors, his claim that the administration was doing a great job against the virus. Under a hot sun, the crowd of several hundred was close-packed into the front of the holding pen and almost uniformly maskless. They occasionally yelled out "We love you, President Trump," or cheered Trump's comments about the Democrats. One man yelled about Nancy Pelosi. "In Joe Biden's America, you will never be safe," Trump said, drawing applause. "There will be no safety, no security." Barricades kept the crowd about 15 yards from Trump, who spoke from notes but seem to deviate frequently the from his prepared remarks, as usual. The event followed the script of the former campaign ralllies but Trump seemed to yearn for more audience engagement. At one point, he said that as he came down the AF1 stairs he wanted to mix with the crowd but couldn't because of COVID19 . "I wanted to hug them and kiss them, Trump said. "Maybe in 90 days." |
| July 31, 2020 17:45 |
WH travel pool report #4—Belleair Motorcade arrived at 5:41 pm at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, FL for the COVID-19 Response and Storm Preparedness Event. Expected to participate in addition to POTUS are: Trump Administration State and Local Officials Members of Congress External Participants The motorcade route to the next event was lined with Trump supporters holding signs and cheering in larger numbers than many other motorcades. A few other pool notes: Florida Sen. Rick Scott joined POTUS on AF1. POTUS was joined at the airport event by sheriffs from Florida, including the sheriffs from Brevard and Pasco County, both of whom endorsed Trump. Pooler is seeking their names. "We proudly give our support to President Donald J. Trump," said the Brevard County sheriff. |
| July 31, 2020 18:35 |
WH travel pool report #5—Q&A Pool was ushered out of POTUS Roundtable event with Gov. DeSantis, Sen Rick Scott and other Florida officials at 6:25 pm EST. Event was live-streamed, including Q&A with pool that covered death rates in Florida, Russian bounties, and when POTUS will sign promised health care plan. Pool now holding in Pelican Golf Club restaurant. |
| July 31, 2020 20:04 |
WH travel pool report #6—fundraiser Motorcade left Pelican Golf Club at 8:01 pm EST, following closed-press fundraiser. Pool held in club restaurant while POTUS was scheduled to meet supporters and give a dinner speech at the event. Motorcade is headed back to Tampa International Airport for return to Andrews. |
| July 31, 2020 20:51 |
WH travel pool report #7—departure Motorcade arrived back at Tampa airport at 8:43 pm. Wheels up shortly. Pool glimpsed POTUS climbing steps to AF1 and waving as darkness fell. No questions at departure. Heading back to Andrews. |
| July 31, 2020 22:18 |
WH travel pool report #8—TIK TOK POTUS came back on the plane to talk with pool and put the following on the record: President Trump said Friday he planned to bar the Chinese-owned social media platform Tik Tok from operating in the United States. Trump told reporters traveling with him from Tampa that he planned to take action against the popular video-sharing app as soon as Saturday. "As far as TikTok is concerned we're banning them from the United States," Trump said. Trump said he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order to ban TikTok in the United States. "Well, I have that authority. I can do it with an executive order or that," he said referring to emergency economic powers. Trump made clear he was not in favor of a deal to let a U.S. company buy TikTok's American operations. The rest of his comments were OFF RECORD. |
| July 31, 2020 22:42 |
WH travel pool report #9—arrival AF1 landed back at Andrews at 10:27 pm EST. POTUS deplaned at 10:36 pm, boarded M1 and took off at 10:41 pm. POTUS spoke to pool for 20 minutes on the flight back from Tampa. Other than his comments on Tik Tok, he was off the record. Handing off to in-town pooler. |
Donald J. Trump, Pool Reports of July 31, 2020 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/351344