Pool Reports of September 30, 2025

Supplemental pool #1 — gathering for departure

Pool is on the South Lawn for President Trump's departure. He's headed to the Pentagon to address military brass.

Tktk

Supplemental pool report #1a - correction

POTUS is delivering remarks to the Department of War in Quantici, VA, not at the Pentagon. Apologies

Supplemental pool report #1b — correction 2

**Quantico, VA

Supplemental pool #2 — POTUS emerges

POTUS walked out of the residence at 8:30am and began taking questions.

Pool will send full quotes after departure

https://otter.ai/u/mKFKYqbIdEmx6lD_oWBZw_-2API

Supplemental pool report #3 — M1 lift

POTUS, wearing a dark suit and red tie, spoke to the press for roughly 5 min, before walking to Marine One and boarding. He lifted for Quantico at 8:39am

Highlights of the Q&A below, full quotes to follow.

Trump said they may fire "a lot" of federal workers if the government shuts down

On Gaza, the president said he would give Hamas "three or four days" to agree to the ceasefire

Will Trump launch strikes against drug gangs in Venezuela? "We'll see what happens with Venezuela."

Why gather all the generals for Tuesday's speech/meeting/event? "These are our generals, our admirals, our leaders, and it's a good thing, a thing like this has never been done before, because they came from all over the world. And there's a little bit of expense, not much, but there's a little expense for that we don't like to waste. We'd rather spend it on bullets than rockets…

We have great people. We have our real warriors over there. And when they're not good, when we don't think they're our warriors, you know what happened? We say you're fired. Get out. We had some real bad ones. I rebuilt the military, the entire military, but I had a couple unbelievable people to do that. You have to. But I had unbelievable people in there. But I also had some bad ones at the top, like Milley, Mattis Adams, and Esper… what we have now is the best.. and if I don't like somebody, I'm gonna fire them right on the spot"

Supplemental pool report #4 — full quotes

How many federal workers do you plan to lay off?
[POTUS] Well, we may do a lot, and that's only because of the Democrats. And as you know, they want to be able to take care of people that have come into our country illegally, and no system can handle that, and so we're totally opposed to that, but we can't take it. We just can't do it. I'd love to do everybody. I'd love to do the whole world, but our country can't handle people that come into our country illegally, and they want to give them full health care benefits. They want to open the wall again. Can you believe it? I can't even believe it. They want to open the wall. They haven't taken away boys playing in women's sports. They haven't done that. Men playing in women's sports. It's like they don't change. They lost an election in a landslide, and they don't change.

How long does Hamas have to respond to ceasefire proposal?
We're going to do about three or four days. We'll see how it is. All of the Arab countries are signed up. The Muslim countries are all signed up. Israel is all signed up. We're just waiting for Hamas, and Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it's not, it's going to be a very sad end.

Can you negotiate with Hamas or is it take-it-or-leave-it?
You know, with Hamas, we want it very simple. We want the hostages back immediately, and we want some good behavior. And, you know, pretty, pretty simple. You don't get simpler. Think of it. We've signed every country in the Middle East. This is like an impossible thing. It's never been done before. This is more than Gaza. Gaza is mixed up, but this is Gaza is a piece of it.

And if they reject the deal, you said that Israel has your backing to do everything they need to do —
I would let them go and do what they have to do. You know, we've killed about 25,000 Hamas. So certainly they paid a big price for October 7. And this is a whole new group. You know, they come in and they come in and they keep coming. But this is a whole different group, and their leadership has been killed three different times, so they paid a big price. We hope that they're going to have a nice, calm life. Maybe it won't happen, but if it does, it'll be one of the greatest things ever to happen. We'll have actual peace in the Middle East.

Are you preparing to take strikes against drug gangs inside Venezuela?
We'll see what happens with Venezuela. Venezuela has been very dangerous with drugs and with other things, and they've been very, very dangerous. So we'll see what happens with Venezuela. We had a lot of drugs coming in through water. We call it water drugs just a simple term. We don't have any boats on the water. There are no boats. There are no fishing boats. There are no anything. So we hit a number of boats. You probably saw that, and since we did that, we have absolutely no drugs coming into our country via water, because it was lethal. And now we'll look at cartels. We're going to look very seriously at cartels coming by land.

What will you tell the Department of War. Why gather all the generals in one place for this speech?
This is only an esprit de corps. Do you know what that is, an esprit de corps? This is only a spirit. We're going to be talking to him. Pete Hegseth is talking right now. I'm going to have to leave because I have to talk too. But these are our generals, our admirals, our leaders, and it's a good thing, a thing like this has never been done before, because they came from all over the world. And there's a little bit of expense, not much, but there's a little expense to that. We don't like to waste it. We'd rather spend it on bullets and rockets, frankly. But this was the one time we had to do a great spiritizing. It's going to be great. I've seen it already. We have every general, every Admiral. We have great people. We have our real warriors over there. And when they're not good, when we don't think they're our warriors, you know what happens? We say, you're fired. Get out. We had some real bad ones last time, you know. I rebuilt the military, the entire military, but I had a couple of unbelievable people to do that. You have to. But I had unbelievable people in there. But I also had some bad ones at the top, like Milley and Mattis, and Esper. I called him to always too late Jesper. He was horrible. So, but I learned, because, you know, that was I was just in there, and I put these people in, they were recommended by rhinos and others. And then I did well, but what we have now is the best. But even despite that, I rebuilt the military in my first term. We had a great first time. We had the greatest economy ever, and it's being beaten by a lot this time, so I'm going over. I'm going to be meeting with generals and with admirals and with leaders, and if I don't like somebody, I'm going to fire him right on the spot.

Supplemental pool report #5 — WH arrival

M1 touched down on the South Lawn right at 11:15am, and POTUS disembarked two minutes later.

He did not answer questions but gave a brief statement on his Pfizer drug pricing announcement (11am) and said he would "have a news conference" in the Oval

Will send full drug statement quote if possible before pool is brought into the oval… here is a highlight and public otter link

"I think it's one of the biggest things that we'll do. We'll be reducing drug prices by 100% in some cases, 300% or more"

https://otter.ai/u/ROWhdicsa8--lALsrUGXdtIN9Oo

Supplemental pool report #5a — POTUS admires the Rose Garden

Before walking into the Oval, POTUS took a few moments to admire the additions to the Rose Garden and colonnade. He stood behind a rose bush for several minutes, partially blocking the pool, and appeared to be checking out the line of frames presidential portraits, and one autopen photo

Supplemental pool report #5b — Lutnick, RFK

Secretaries Lutnick and Kennedy also walked out onto the colonnade at 11:25am and met Trump. They are still outside, chatting, and pool is holding on south lawn

Supplemental pool report #5c — Susie Wiles/back in Oval

POTUS, Lutnick, Kennedy, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and White House aide Natalie Harp (both of whom made it out onto the colonnade) walked back into the West Wing at 11:38am

Pool is now moving back inside ahead of the Pfizer event

Supplemental pool report #6 — gathering for Pfizer event

Pool is gathering as of 11:44am.

The event will be live streamed on the WH website, so pool will not send quotes

Tktk

Supplemental pool report #7 — event begins

Pool entered the Oval at 11:48am

https://www.youtube.com/live/VAOMy0jehMI?si=vYqC6lLAWeBpWhfg

Tktk

Supplemental pool report #8 — event concludes

POTUS concluded his remarks/Q&A at 12:49pm

He fielded one off-camera question from Bloomberg

Are you still planning on sending troops to Portland?
"Ya, it's a war zone"

WH in-town travel pool report #1/ POTUS arrives at Quantico

Greetings from Quantico, a Marine Corps base in Virginia. Marine One touched down at 8.57am.

WH in-town travel pool report #2/ POTUS disembarks at Quantico

POTUS disembarked Marine One at 9.04am and stepped into a waiting limousine. Motorcade is rolling in Quantico.

WH in-town travel pool report #3/ Awaiting POTUS remarks

POTUS's motorcade stopped at 9.10am after a short journey on the base, passing by brick buildings and neat lawns. A group of uniformed service members stood in line and saluted. Three service members stood with rifles.

Pool is now sitting in the Warner Auditorium, which is full to capacity with members of the military. POTUS's lectern is set up with a big US flag and black curtain behind, and 10 various flags on either side. The stage is framed by a red curtain. The ceiling and walls are wood-panelled.

TV cameras and other media are sitting at the back. Military music was playing and Secretary Hegseth is now introducing POTUS.

WH in-town travel pool report #4/ POTUS begins speech

"Hail to the Chief" played and POTUS entered from the right at 9.25am. He shook hands with Secretary Hegseth and began speaking from the lectern on stage.

POTUS joked with the audience that they can do what they want, including walking out. "There goes your rank, there goes your future."

He described the US military as "the greatest and most elite fighting force in the history of the world".

POTUS said he has "settled" seven wars. "Hamas has to agree" to his Gaza peace deal. "War is very strange. You never know what's going to happen with war."

Remarks are ongoing. Livestream here:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

WH in-town travel pool report #5/ Some POTUS highlights so far

POTUS condemned wokeness in the military, Joe Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan and those who refuse to embrace the name Gulf of America. Some other highlights so far:
On ending wars: "The easiest one of them all is Putin. I said, number one, it's a war that would have never happened if I were president. If the election weren't rigged…That one's turned out to be the hardest of them all."

On the Department of War: "The name change reflects far more than the shift in branding – it's really a historic reassertion of our purpose, our identity and our pride... Together, we're reawakening the warrior spirit."

"In this effort, we're a team and so my message to you today is simple: I am with you, I support you and, as president, I have your backs 100%. You'll never see me waver a little bit... We are going to make our military stronger, tougher, faster, fiercer and more powerful than it has ever been before."

On nuclear weapons: "I rebuilt our nuclear... We have to hope we never have to use it because the power of that is so incredible."

"We were a little bit threatened by Russia recently and I sent a submarine... We're 25 years ahead of Russia and China in submarines... They're coming up and you don't have to be that good with nuclear."

On nuclear: "We can't let people throw around that word. I call it the n-word. There are two n-words and you can't use either of them. Frankly, if it does get to use we have more than anybody else."

On military recruitment: "Over the past eight months new enlistments have surged to record highs."

POTUS criticised the quality of paper at the White House and said of Biden: "I call him the autopen... It turned out almost everything he did was signed by autopen except when he gave his son, Hunter, a pardon."

POTUS said that, if his Gaza peace plan works out, he will have solved eight wars in eight months but added: "Will you get the Nobel prize? Absolutely not. They'll give it to a guy that didn't do a damn thing. Give it to a guy who wrote a book about the mind of Donald Trump."

Speech is ongoing.

WH in-town travel pool report #6/ Audience color

POTUS's audience comprises men and women of various ages wearing military uniforms and neat haircuts. They are much more still and quiet than he is accustomed to at political events or campaign rallies.

Pool can see several officers sitting in a row looking expressionless and inscrutable with few smiles. POTUS's attacks on Joe Biden have been met with silence. Some of POTUS's lines are eliciting polite ripples of laughter.

One man in a naval uniform is taking notes in a book. Another is rolling his head and looking restless as POTUS rails against the media.

WH in-town travel pool report #7/ Some more highlights

POTUS has now been speaking for an hour. Some more highlights:

"We must be so strong that no nation will dare challenge us, so powerful that no enemy will dare threaten us and so capable that no adversary can even think about beating us."
"We are bringing back a focus on fitness, ability, character, and strength... The purpose of our military is not to protect people's feelings. It's to protect our republic and it's a republic that we dearly love...We'll not be politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom."

"I've committed to spending over $1 trillion on our military in 2026... That's a hell of a lot of money."

"We've brought back the fundamental principle that defending the homeland is the military's first and most important priority. Only in recent decades did politicians somehow come to believe that our job is to police the far-reaches of Kenya and Somalia, while America is under invasion."

"Washington DC went from our most unsafe city to our safest city in just about a month... The Democrats run most of the cities that are in bad shape... The radical left Democrats."

POTUS criticised crime in Chicago. "They need the military desperately."

He said Portland "looks like a war zone" and he told the governor it looks like a "nightmare".

On allowing the military to retaliate against protesters: "I say they spit, we hit."

Trump noted that last month he signed an executive order to establish a National Guard quick reaction force. "This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room because it's the enemy from within. And we have to handle it before it gets out of control."

Circling back to Washington DC, POTUS claimed: "We haven't had a crime in Washington for so long."

"America is respected again as a country. We were not respected with Biden. They looked at him falling down stairs."

POTUS claimed that Biden fell down stairs "every day" and riffed on the perils of this for presidents. He admitted that President Obama dealt with stairs well.

On the Ukraine war: "I'm so disappointed in President Putin. I thought he would get this thing over with." POTUS said he asked Putin: "Are you a paper tiger?"

WH in-town travel pool report #8/ POTUS finishes speech

POTUS defended his deployment of the military to US cities. "Our history is filled with military heroes who took on all enemies foreign and domestic. You know that phrase. That's what the oath says -- foreign and domestic. Well we also have domestic. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland... and others all used the Armed Forces to keep domestic order and peace... So today, I want to thank every servicemember who has bravely helped us secure the nation's capital and make America safe for the people."
Other highlights:

"Together with the leaders here today, we're also restoring a needed focus on defeating threats in the Western Hemisphere. Throughout this region, cartel terrorists have been allowed to wage a relentless campaign of death and destruction on our country... Under our leadership, the military is now the knife's edge in combatting this sinister enemy."

Gaza: "We're gonna get that done." POTUS noted that he will head a board of peace that will keep the territory non-volatile. "We want to save you for other things... You're the most lethal fighting force in the world."

POTUS said Nato is now spending a lot of money it should have been spending in the past. "I think Putin was a wake up call for them."

POTUS finished speaking at 10.37am after 72 minutes. The audience rose and offered polite applause, faces still expressionless. POTUS raised a hand as a military band played then left the stage.

WH in-town travel pool report #9/ POTUS departs Quantico

POTUS stepped out of a limousine and boarded Marine One at 10.51am. Pool was a long distance away so no opportunity for questions. Marine One lifted off from Quantico base at 10.56am.

WH in-town pool report #10/ Lunch lid

A lunch lid was called until 2pm.

WH in-town pool report #11/ Pool gathers

Pool has gathered outside the Oval Office for an executive order signing.

WH in-town pool report #12/ EO on pediatric cancer

Pool entered the Oval Office at 4.02pm where POTUS, sitting at the Resolute Desk, said he is signing an EO to massively accelerate pediatric cancer research, including by harnessing the power of AI.

He is joined by a group that includes Robert Kennedy Jr and children affected by cancer. POTUS said: "We are going to defeat childhood cancer once and for all." Remarks are ongoing.

WH in-town pool report #13/ POTUS takes questions

POTUS went around the room, asking retired wrestler Stephanie McMahon, her mother Linda McMahon and others to speak about pediatric cancer. Robert Kennedy Jr said the administration will study the causes of an increase in childhood cancer.

POTUS talked about lowering drug prices, including one coming up that will be "1,000% reduction" in price.

Questions began at 4.23pm. POTUS blamed Democrats for a potential government shutdown and said: "We'll be laying off a lot of people."

Questions ongoing.

WH in-town pool report #14/ End of Q&A in Oval Office

POTUS discussed topics including trade and cracking down on crime in Chicago, then had a lengthy exchange with reporter Brian Glenn. He invited children who survived cancer to speak before concluding the event at 4.39pm. Pool did not see him sign the executive order.

More to follow.

WH in-town pool report #15/ More details on shutdown and other comments

Here are some more comprehensive highlights from POTUS's event in the Oval Office announcing an executive order on pediatric cancer research and AI.
POTUS took questions from the pool and was asked why it is necessary to link more federal job cuts to the imminent government shutdown.

POTUS said: "Well, the Democrats want to shut it down. So, when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs so we'd be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected and the Democrats, they're going to be Democrats.

"As you know, this country - no country can afford to pay for illegal immigration, healthcare for everybody that comes into the country. That's what they're insisting. And obviously, I have an obligation to not accept that. That would affect everybody."

He criticised President Joe Biden and added: "We're doing well as a country so the last thing we want to do is shut it down. But a lot of good can come down from shutdowns. We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn't want and they'd be Democrat things.

"They want open borders. They want men playing in women's sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop. They don't learn. We won an election in a landslide. They just don't learn. So we have no choice. I have to do that for the country."

There was a question about Harvard, which POTUS said would be paying about $500 million and operating trade schools. There was also a question about drug prices and how the US got here.

POTUS observed: "We got here by incompetent people sitting behind this desk." He went on to talk about the successes of his first term.

Later he made a reference to California governor "Gavin Newscum" and vowed: "We're going to have safe cities again. We're going to be very safe.

"We're going to be going to Chicago pretty soon. Because a friend of mine, a great guy, the head of the Union Pacific, he said, sir, you have to save Chicago. It's going bad. It's gone bad for us and it's a great city. He's right. It's a great city. I know it very well. And we have to save Chicago. So we're going to Memphis, Tennessee right now. We've had a home run in DC."

After an exchange with reporter Brian Glenn about crime in Washington, POTUS added: "The restaurants are booming. The town is booming. It's clean. You know, the National Guard actually went out and started cleaning all that crap out of the parks. The tents are knocked down."

Earlier POTUS announced the executive order directing the federal government to use AI to analyse vast datasets to discover new treatments, cures and prevention strategies for pediatric cancer. He said this builds on the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative, launched in 2019, by immediately doubling its investment with an additional $50 million.

POTUS said: "I'm thrilled to sign a very historic executive order to massively accelerate pediatric cancer research and harness the extraordinary potential of artificial intelligence to fight this terrible disease."

Several officials and supporters, including Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr and Stephanie McMahon, praised the order, with Kennedy noting the urgency given what he said is a 40% rise in cancer incidence in children since 1975.

Jay Bhattacharya, director of the NIH, said: "We're building a future where every child's data contributes to faster diagnosis. Artificial intelligence will help us uncover faster, more precise treatments, improve quality of life, and better survival."

Also, Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spoke about an agreement with the pharmaceutical industry, starting with Pfizer, to implement "most favored nation" drug pricing. He said this aims to dramatically lower drug costs for Medicaid recipients, with a goal of applying this standard to 95% of all pharmaceuticals by the end of POTUS's term.

The event culminated with remarks from parents and children about their experiences with cancer.

Josh Armstrong, a father from West Virginia, said: "What you are doing today gives parents like me and children like [my daughter] the one thing that we most desperately need and that's hope."

One boy told POTUS: "I've had a brain tumor since I was four months and I'm doing great. I'm 15 now and I'm going to 10th grade." POTUS quipped: "And you're going to be a football player – offensive lineman!"

Carolyn Hendrix, 16, a pediatric bone cancer survivor, said of the executive order: "What you're doing today, Mr President, means that kids like me will get better options and so much more hope for the future."

Your pooler did not see POTUS sign the executive order but is told he did so as the last members of the pool were departing.

C-SPAN video here:
https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-signs-executive-orders/666507