Pool Reports of August 8, 2025

Pool Report 1/Lunch lid until 12:30

We have a lunch lid ahead of a busy afternoon with the visiting leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Pool Report 2/Armenia arrival and schedule

In a change of plans, we are now expecting a single event (the trilateral in the State Dining Room, though timing is unclear).

Armenian PM Pashinyan's vehicle arrived at the north entrance to the West Wing at 2:54. President Trump greeted him and gave the press a thumbs up. He did not seem to answer a shouted question on persecution of Armenian Christians.

Pool Report 3/Heading to Oval

In another update, the pool is heading to the Oval Office now.

Pool Report 4/Oval spray off

The Oval spray has been canceled. We just spotted the Armenian PM walking down the colonnade toward the WH residence apparently for the State Dining Room event.

Azerbaijan's President Aliyev should be arriving soon at the north entrance to the West Wing.

Apologies for the confusing pool reports, the plans keep evolving.

Pool Report 5/Aliyev arrives

Azerbaijan's President Aliyev arrived at the northern entrance of the West Wing at 3:24.

President Trump greeted Aliyev and said he was "very confident" there would be lasting peace.

Pool Report 6/Holding

The pool is holding in the East Room ahead of the anticipated trilateral in the State Dining Room.

And apologies to WHCA members for my misremembering of our new listserv name for the scheduling updates today. I hadn’t realized the old one was retired.

Pool Report 7/State Dining Room

The pool is now in the State Dining Room. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff just arrived.

Please pull up CSPAN or WH YouTube feed to watch the event live.

Pool Report 8/Event starts

President Trump and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan entered the State Dining Room at 3:55.

Please pull up your video feeds.

Pool Report 9/Remarks

President Trump, seated between the two visiting leaders, spoke first, calling it "a big beautiful honor" and a "great thrill to me" to host the peace event.

Trump praised Rubio, saying, "I call him Henry Kissinger who doesn't leak."

Both guests appeared to attempt to stifle their laughter, Aliyev with less success, when Trump bashed "Sleepy Joe Biden" for his foreign policy.

Trump teased "more information for you a little bit later" on Russia before asking Aliyev to speak, which he is doing now in English.

Event ongoing...

Pool Report 10/Guest leader remarks

Aliyev expressed his "pride and gratitude" for Trump and Witkoff, saying the deal would create economic opportunities and end the region's "preoccupation" with the long-running conflict. He said he expects both countries' people to reconcile.

Trump spoke next, saying Aliyev's 22 years in power mean he is "tough and smart."

PM Pashinyan, also speaking in English, said Trump's role "gives confidence and assurance" about the future and said the new Trump Route through his country was going to be a significant benefit to Armenia. He quoted the Bible's praise for peacemakers.

The three men had a memorable three way handshake. I recommend checking out the photos.

Pool Report 11/Qs and end

President Trump started taking press questions after the three leaders signed the trilateral deal.

Trump said he intends to meet "very shortly with President Putin" but that he feared saying a location now would overshadow today's deal signing.

He said there was "a shot" at resolving the Ukraine war.

During Q&A, Pashinyan and Aliyev both said they want Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize. They expressed interest in writing a joint letter and said they want to attend the award ceremony.

Both sidestepped a question about whether Armenians would return to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Trump said he was looking into potentially recognizing Somaliland's independence in exchange for the breakaway republic accepting Gazan refugees.

He did not confirm that Witkoff received an award from Putin.

He said he would be interested in visiting the Caucasus. "I'm going to have to get over there" to visit the corridor named in his honor, Trump said.

Trump invited the leaders to call him if they ever need him to mediate and gushed profusely about their leadership and the possibility they will have friendly personal relations.

The event ended at 4:40.

Pool Report 12/Lid

We have a travel/photo lid!

FOREIGN POOL REPORT #1 - BACKGROUND

Good morning,

I will be your foreign pooler for the visits of Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to the White House today.

Today's meetings at the White House are part of a diplomatic push to take serious steps towards a peace treaty which would end nearly four decades of conflict between the two south Caucasus nations. It is also part of the president's efforts to bring about an end to international conflicts.

White House Itinerary
2:30 PM THE PRESIDENT greets the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia (Stake-out Location / Open Press)

2:35 PM THE PRESIDENT Participates in a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia (Oval office / White House Press Pool)

3:05 PM THE PRESIDENT Participates in a Bilateral Signing with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia (Cabinet Room /Closed Press)

3:10 PM THE PRESIDENT greets the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Stake-out location /Open Press)

3:15 PM THE PRESIDENT Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Oval Office /White House Press Pool)

3:45 PM THE PRESIDENT Participates in a Bilateral Signing with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Cabinet Room/Closed Press)

4:15 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a trilateral signing with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (State Dining Room / White House Press Pool)

Background on the conflict
The two former Soviet republics have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh - an Azerbaijani region with a mostly ethnic-Armenian population - broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.
The First Karabakh War (1988-1994) saw more than 30,000 people killed and more than a million displaced. Armenia ended up in control of Nagorno-Karabakh itself as well as swathes of seven surrounding districts.
After decades of intermittent skirmishes, Azerbaijan began a military operation in 2020 that became the Second Karabakh War. It won a decisive victory in 44 days, taking back the seven districts and about a third of Nagorno-Karabakh itself.
In September 2023, Azerbaijani forces launched a new offensive against Karabakh, which quickly agreed to a ceasefire and capitulated to Baku. Almost all the remaining 100,000 or so Armenians in the region fled to Armenia as refugees.

Key Topics on the Agenda
1. Peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan:
Yesterday President Trump wrote on Truth that today's meeting will be a "historic peace summit". Pashinyan and Aliyev met for negotiations in Abu Dhabi last month, though no resolution was announced. The two sides said in March they had agreed on the text of a draft peace agreement, but obstacles remained. Today they will sign a joint declaration - a "peace roadmap" - committing to a peace deal, rather than a full peace agreement. A US senior administration official said that it is "the first peace declaration signed by the two countries after the end of the Cold War". Armenia intends to announce U.S. development rights to a transit route to be called the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)" (Formerly referred to as the Zangezur corridor): a proposed transit route that would run roughly 43 km (26 miles) through Armenia and link Azerbaijani territory with Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani exclave situated between Armenia and Turkey. The control, the potential routes and even the name of the corridor have been points of contention. Russia and Iran have also expressed their concern about this corridor. A US senior administration official pointed out that Trump "changed the language" and "takes the politics out of the picture" so that "commercial prosperity will ensure peace".
The TRIPP would provide unimpeded commercial access for Azerbaijan from its mainland to Nakhchivan, while maintaining Armenia's legal control over the territory. TRIPP is being framed as a commercial rather than military or security project.
The two countries will also sign a joint letter withdrawing their countries from the OSCE Minsk Group. The mediation format, co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States since 1997 is viewed as ineffective in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. There are remaining obstacles for peace, including: Azerbaijan demands for Armenia to eliminate language from its Constitution that may be interpreted as territorial claims, as well as Armenia's demand for the release of its prisoners in Azerbaijan, and the official demarcation of the borders between the two countries. The Biden administration had also tried to bring the parties closer to a treaty.

2. Bilateral priorities: economic partnership, energy and infrastructure development. Trump will sign bilateral agreements with both countries. On August 7 Aliyev also met with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, after the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) and ExxonMobil.

Strategic Significance

• Increasing US influence in the South Caucasus through the Middle Corridor, a transport route that connects China to Europe through Central Asia and the South Caucasus. This route supports US plans to build alternative trade paths that avoid Russia and Iran. A peace deal could transform the South Caucasus.
• U.S. officials believe a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan could prompt negotiations on the entry of Azerbaijan into the Abraham Accords. Azerbaijan already has a close strategic relationship with Israel on defense, energy, and trade. In 2023 Azerbaijan opened an embassy in Israel. Joining the Abraham Accords is not an easy decision: it could increase tensions with Iran; not all countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (of which Baku is a part) support the Abraham Accords.
• The peace talks are seen as a precursor to further progress in Turkey-Armenia relations. Turkey and Armenia are currently engaged in the process of normalizing relations, including the potential reopening of their shared border, which has been closed since the 1990s.

Trump's involvement
Ahead of his election, Trump vowed in an October 2024 Truth Social post to "protect persecuted Christians," and blasted his opponent Kamala Harris for doing "NOTHING as 120,000 Armenian Christians were horrifically persecuted and forcibly displaced." Trump said he would "work to stop the violence and ethnic cleansing, and we will restore PEACE between Armenia and Azerbaijan."

In February-March Witkoff traveled to Azerbaijan and met with Aliyev, followed by other 4-5 visits by US officials in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In February Pashinyan met with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington.

FOREIGN POOL REPORT #2 - updated schedule and timing

2:40 ARMENIA ARRIVES
2:45 AZERBAIJAN ARRIVES
3:20 WHITE HOUSE PRESS POOL GATHER AT THE NORTH PORTICO DOORS
3:35 TRILATERAL SIGNING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN IN THE STATE DINING ROOM

FOREIGN POOL REPORT #3 - Arrival and Oval

The president of Armenia arrived at 14:54. Trump stepped out to greet him. A journalist shouted : "Mr President do you have a message for persecuted Christians of Armenia?" But he did not respond.

Pool is now gathering for the Oval Office. Plans have changed and we are going in for the bilat.

FOREIGN POOL REPORT #4 - gathering

New update. The pool was initially called for the Oval spray during the bilateral with the prime minister of Armenia but then the gaggle was cancelled and we were sent out. As we wait for the arrival of the President of Azerbaijan, pool is now gathering for this event:

3:35 TRILATERAL SIGNING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN IN THE STATE DINING ROOM.

FOREIGN POOL REPORT #5 - Arrival of the President of Azerbaijan

President Trump welcomed President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the White House. A journalist asked: "President Trump, how confident are you that there can be a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan?". President Trump: "Very confident".

FOREIGN POOL REPORT #6 - Quotes

Please, find some quotes from today's event. I checked against the recording, but please check yourself against the audio linked below.

President Trump sat in the center between Pashinyan and Alieyv. Trump called them "visionary" leaders. Alyiev mentioned that this is also a historic day in the bilateral relationship between Azerbaijan and the US, because in the next few months they will elaborate the text of a new strategic partnership between the two countries. Armenia signed a document with the Biden administration (just days before the Trump inauguration) that upgraded US-Armenian relations to "strategic partnership".
Trump announced the TRIPP, along the lines of what I wrote this morning in the backgrounder. The US is also lifting restrictions on defense cooperation with Azerbaijan.
He mentioned the Abraham Accords: "I think a lot of people are going to be joining" them.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE
Trump said he will provide information "a little later" because he didn't want to overshadow the announcement re: Armenia and Azerbaijan.

On a Russia-Ukraine deal, Trump said repeatedly: "I think we're getting close".

Question: Who is holding up this Ukraine ceasefire Summit? Is it Putin or is it Zelensky?
Trump: "We've been working on a lot of these deals and closed every single one of them all throughout the world…. A lot of people are dying, and I think we're getting very close, and we're going to be announcing later we're going to have a meeting with Russia. And we'll announce the location. The location will be a very popular one, for a lot of reasons, but we'll be announcing that a little bit later".

On Putin
"I'll be meeting very shortly with President Putin. It would have been sooner, but I guess there's security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make. Otherwise I'd do it much quicker. He will too be glad to meet as soon as possible."

Question: is this Russia's last chance to achieve peace?
Trump: "I think we're getting close. I mean, this was not my war, this was Biden's war, but the European Union has been great. As you know, the purchasing equipment from us. They have a lot of money, and they are spending a lot of money in buying equipment… The European leaders want to see peace. President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace. And Zelenskyy wants to see peace now".
He added that "President Zelenskyy has to get everything he needs, because he's going to have to get ready to sign something, and I think he is working hard to get that done".

Will Zelensky have to give up territory? "You're looking at territory that's been fought over for three and a half years... a lot of Russians have died, a lot of Ukrainians have died. So we're looking at that, but we're actually looking to get some back and some swapping. Complicated. It's actually nothing easy. It's very complicated. But we're going to get some back. We're going to some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both and but we'll be talking about that either later or tomorrow or whatever".

Both Alyiev and Pashinyan said that they think President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, and they will promote that. Pashinyan said he hopes to be invited.

https://otter.ai/u/Vx9wvX4OY2LLwQByx5skFBvxgiM