Vice Presidential Pool Reports of April 24, 2025

VP pool report #1 4/24: Leaving Jaipur

Good morning from Jaipur, India. The vice president is departing from here to return to Washington today.

VP Vance's motorcade began heading to Jaipur International Airport at 7:05 a.m.

The sun was coming up and the city was beginning to start the day when pool set out at 5:30 a.m. to hold outside the VP's hotel, where several peacocks could be seen resting in the trees. Your pooler noticed for the first time a bucket and packet of toilet tissue in the pool van today, which likely was there the whole time but thankfully remained unused.

We're in for roughly 18 hours of travel, if pool math is correct. Air Force Two is expected to stop to refuel at Ramstein Air Base in Germany — it's unclear exactly how long that stop will be — before flying from there back to Joint Base Andrews, due to arrive around 6:30 p.m. ET.

VP pool report #2 4/24: AF2 bound for Germany

The second family boarded Air Force Two at 7:20 a.m., walking down a red carpet flanked by what appeared to be a line of military members on both sides. Your pooler has not received clarification on who they are.

The three children boarded first, walking down the carpet and up the stairs one at a time, with the VP and second lady following side by side. 
They stopped briefly to speak with three officials waiting at the end of the red carpet. Two of those individuals were: Chief secretary of Rajasthan Sudhansh Pant, and Rajyavardhan singh Rathore, cabinet Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Department for Rajasthan.

AF2 will depart imminently for Ramstein Air Base to refuel on the way back to Washington.

VP pool report #3 4/24: Landed at Ramstein

Air Force Two landed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany at 1:26 p.m. local time, after 9 hours and 20 minutes of flying.

We've stopped to refuel for the remainder of the journey home, but the vice president and his family will also visit with U.S. service members while here.

The stop is scheduled to last a couple hours.

The second family exited AF2 at 1:50 p.m., and were greeted by U.S. Air Force General James B. Hecker and his wife, Mrs. Terrie Hecker. Gen. Hecker is the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Africa and the Allied Air Command stationed here at Ramstein, among other roles. He oversees air and missile defense of 32 NATO member nations.

The vice president has put on a green casual jacket with his khaki pants, while his children have coats on over their shorts. It's roughly 55 degrees here.

This is Vance's second time in Germany since becoming vice president; the first was in February when he attended the Munich Security Conference.

During the flight, the vice president shared on X a screenshot of President Trump's Truth Social post criticizing Zelensky's remarks that Ukraine will not recognize Russian occupation of Crimea.

VP pool report #4 4/24: Beer in the hangar

Pool entered a hangar where 100 or so members of the Air Force, Army and Space Force were waiting, enjoying beer in plastic cups, cans of soda and what appears to be paper plates filled with hot dogs, chips and cookies. "Gloria," a staple song on the Trump rally soundtrack, was playing over the sound system as pool ran into the hangar. Next on the playlist was "The Power of Love," which confirmed to your pooler that this is not the Trump rally playlist.

At one point before VP came out, Merle Haggard's "America First," which Vance adopted as his walk-up song during the 2024 campaign, also played.

The Vance children received a tour of a C-130 aircraft, though your pool was kept outside the plane and did not see the tour take place.

The vice president began speaking at 2:20 p.m., staying in the hangar just under an hour. The otter linked below started recording a couple moments after he began speaking due to a technical issue, but the thing he said before was that he and his family had just completed a trip to Italy and India, and "I have no idea what the hell day it is, what time it is, but we're glad to be here with you guys."

More quotes/color:

"I guess as a small token of appreciation, I'm going to serve you guys some beers."

The VP held up a classic German painted stein with a metal lid, preparing to give a toast. He joked that he should chug the beer.

"That would go viral, and not in a good way, my friends."

He took a regular sip. "To the airmen of this base, the airwomen of this base and all of our troops serving overseas, God bless you guys. Cheers."

VP Vance then began serving drafts to them form a keg, shaking service members' hands as he handed them plastic cups of beer.

Your pooler could hear some of his conversations with airmen and airwomen. Some asked to take photos with the VP, who is in a dark green Patagonia jacket.

One man asked him about how the flight had been. "It was 9 hours and 20 minutes with three little kids and as good as it could be," Vance said as he pulled back the lever on the tap. "I'm not giving everybody a full pour here." 

"What's up man?" Vance said to another. "Drinking on the job here, now that your tour's over?"

He asked another airman where he was from, and Vance could be heard replying, "New York City?"

To another: "Are you old enough to drink this beer?" The young man revealed he was also from Ohio.

*To another man, the VP sounded as if he were mentioning how hot it was in India yesterday at 104 degrees as his family was outside sightseeing. (Your pooler is including at the bottom an addendum with some color about how hot the kids were saying it was yesterday…)

The second family is now eating lunch elsewhere on the base.

Greeting the vice president in the hangar, according to a Vance spokesperson, was:

Brigadier General Adrienne L. Williams
Commander, 86th Airlift Wing and Installation Commander Ramstein Air Base

Rodney B. Williams
Spouse of Brigadier General Williams

Chief Master Sergeant Louis J. Ludwig
86h Airlift Wing Command Chief

Christi Ludwig
Spouse of Chief Master Sergeant Ludwig

Lieutenant Colonel James 'Brony' Morris
37h Airlift Squadron Commander

Lieutenant Colonel Kelly Womble
86 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Commander

Captain Patrick 'Rope' Halloran
C-130J Pilot

Staff Sergeant Gregory Sirovina
C-130J Dedicated Crew Chief

Pool was also just told that last night at his hotel in Jaipur, VP posed for photos with US and Indian law enforcement officials and others who assisted with providing security on the trip.

—
*To illustrate the heat and sun VP was referring to, when they were at the Taj Mahal, VP was trying to get  his kids to pose for a photo (he also posted on X about this), but they were saying it was too sunny.

A staff member behind the photographers were trying to get the kids to look forward.

"Hey Miry, can you put your hands down?" he said to his daughter, who was squirming on his lap and rubbing her eyes as photographers were snapping shots. (VP seemed to be using a nickname for Mirabel, though your pooler is unsure of the correct spelling. The person behind the camera called her Mira, as well!)

On his right, Ewan squinted too, and said he couldn't keep his eyes open.

"You can. I know, buddy, it's hard. Just do it for a few seconds. OK, 1, 2, 3 …"

VP pool report #5 4/24: Trump dance, autographing kegerator

Some more color from speaking to airmen here:

The airman who built the kegerator that the beer was being served from, Air Force Master Sgt. Anthony Davis, asked the VP to sign it. 

"To Anthony, this is great! A work of genius!! JD Vance" (the autograph portion is in cursive)

Benediktiner Hell lager beer was being served from the kegerator fundraiser for and built by Davis for an event for the 86th maintenance group (MXG).

Davis said Vance said "this thing is awesome" when Davis asked him to sign it.

Your pooler was also told by two people present that a female airman asked the VP to do Trump dance with her, and he said absolutely. Your pooler did not see this occur.

Subway sandwiches are being served to the pool at a picnic table in the hangar while we wait for the second family to finish their meal elsewhere.

VP pool report #6: Earlier audio link, leaving Ramstein

The second family boarded Air Force Two at 4:28 p.m. local time. He was sent off at the steps by Gen. Hecker. We're headed shortly to Joint Base Andrews.

Aforementioned Otter from "beer in hangar" report that your pooler forgot to include before sending! https://otter.ai/u/d9XFNVPOJHQl0DaNjdd-vwEglT4

Also, please pardon the typos in my last email, sent as I was hurriedly leaving the hangar. Should have said: "Benediktiner Hell lager beer was being served from the kegerator, which was fundraised for and built by Davis for an event for the 86th maintenance group (MXG)."

and

"Your pooler was also told by two people present that a female airman asked the VP to do the Trump dance with her, and he said absolutely."

Will update you when we're back to JBA.

VP pool report #7 4/24: Landed at JBA + transcript from earlier

Hello from just outside Washington. Air Force Two touched down at Joint Base Andrews at 7:07 p.m., after another 8+ hours of flying.

I will update you on the vice president's departure, but for now, here's a transcript from Vance's brief remarks to the airmen earlier, before he did individual meet and greets in the hangar.

—
Transcript of Vance's remarks on the mic at Ramstein Air Base, an Otter link to which was previously included:

"And as the general said, we know that you guys are one of the most important parts of how we project power overseas. We refuel our missions. We deliver cargo. We deliver weapons, if we have to. We deliver humanitarian assistance to the people who need it. So I'm just so grateful to you guys for what you do. 

And as an Iraq war veteran myself, I know this is the place that a lot of wounded warriors came before they came home. So whether you're getting cargo where it needs to go, or taking care of our troops who've gone off to war, we're grateful to you guys. We're thankful for what you do. 

And I guess as a small token of appreciation, I'm going to serve you some beers. Thank you all. God bless you. Thanks for having me. I've got, I've got a great — this is a stein, is that what this thing's called? OK, well, we are in Germany here, and I would chug — you guys want some beer? — No, that would go viral, and not in a good way, my friends.

Alright, but here, what kind of beer we got here? Good German beer.

Alright, to the airmen of this base, the air women of this base and all of our troops serving overseas, God bless you guys. Cheers. Great. Thank you. 

Now, I think if you don't have a beer, I'm happy to serve one. Is it the red tap, I guess, that's on? We'll see how my pouring abilities are here."

VP pool report #8 4/24: M2 departed + signing off

The second family exited Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews at 7:21 p.m. The VP was carrying Mirabel. Ewan and Vivek walked ahead to Marine Two as their parents followed behind.

M2 was off the ground at 7:28 p.m.

And with that, we have a wrap on the vice president's seven-day trip to Italy, India and a brief stop in Germany. It was a pleasure serving as your pooler. Thanks for following along, everyone.