Pool Reports of September 18, 2025

Out-of-town pool report #1 - farewell from Windsor Castle

Good morning from Windsor Castle, where the temperature is 65 degrees and the drive in through a gorgeous Windsor Great Park was marked by repeated sightings of herds of deer, some cows and some geese. We arrived at 9:54 am.

The president's and First Lady's farewell to King Charles and Queen Camilla is indoors and restricted to photo pool; your poolers are holding in vans outside the castle, awaiting a walkout of the building by POTUS and King Charles.

The First Lady has a separate schedule from the president today. We are expecting to travel to a helicopter landing zone for a brief ride to Chequers, where the president will meet with the prime minister.

Will update when we depart the castle grounds.

Out-of-town pool report #2 - leaving Windsor grounds

King Charles and POTUS emerged from the wooden doors of Sovereign's Entance at Windsor Castle at 10:20 am. They shook hands and chatted; pool couldn't hear the discussion. POTUS clasped the king's hands with both of his, pausing to look at cameras and call the king "a great king" and a "great gentleman."

In the arched entranceway, a gold chandelier hung from the ceiling and gently swayed in the wind. Sec of State Marco Rubio was seen getting in his car as we waited.

A royal guard stood on the quadrangle inside the castle grounds, behind the Beast, as we awaited the departure; one played a bugle as the Beast rolled slowly out. POTUS departed at 10:23 am.

We are off to the Windsor landing zone by car.

Out-of-town pool report #3 - Chequers arrival

POTUS arrived at the Chequers landing zone at 10:47 am.

Marine One lifted off from the Windsor landing zone at 10:35; pool didn't see either take off, although Marine One could be seen traveling behind pool helicopter from the open back.

We are walking into Chequers and holding.

Out-of-town pool report #4

At 10:54 am, POTUS pulled into the driveway of Chequers, where pool and some cameras waited. He walked from an SUV with a presidential seal to meet Keir Starmer and his wife, who stood at the steps to greet him. The three posed for cameras; POTUS said his night at the castle was "great, really great, thank you."

The president was accompanied by Sec of State Rubio, Susie Wiles, James Blair, Stephen Miller, Walt Nauta, Margo Martin.

Royal Air Force Aviators, eleven in total, in blue dress uniforms and caps flanked the doorway to Chequers. Two bigpipers stood near one of them. UK and American flags were positioned behind them.

At 10:56 am they went inside. Pool is holding as photogs are led inside.

Out-of-town pool report #5

Just a planning note - we are told the tour that POTUS and the prime minister are taking of Churchill artifacts, and their subsequent bilat, will be closed to press.

We are not expected to see POTUS and Starmer again until the business round table, which will be followed by their joint press conference. The presser is to be streaming on the White House YouTube channel, but pool will send color and some quotes as it happens. If the other events are opened up, pool will send an update.

Out-of-town pool report #6 - business leaders'

Pool was led into the reception tent at 1:08 pm. Pool recognized Jensen Huang of Nvidia, sitting in the left front row.

The setup is a large white tent with a draping roof, held up by wooden pole, and flags in shades of red, white and blue strung from pole to pole. Gussets are seated in fabric-covered white chairs, and a table draped in dark blue cloth, with two microphones and two seats, is positioned in front of a sign saying "tech prosperity deal."

At 1:13 pm, Starmer and POTUS entered to a standing ovation. Both sat, with binders opened in front if them.

"You are among friends," Starmer said, before referrinf to the strong relationship between the UK and the US.

"The deals and announcements you're announcing today break all records," Starmer said, saying it involves $250 billion pounds across the Atlantic and is expected to create 15,000 jobs.

Trump smiled most times Starmer complimented him or the US; his eyes sometimes traveled to various attendees in rhetoric crowd or the press at the back of the room behind a rope line.

"We punch above our weight," Starmer said of the UK economy.

"It's a win for both sides," Starmer said of the trade deal the UK and US reached in May.

Starmer said they've struck a new deal on civil nuclear power.

"This is a very distinguished group," Trump said, saying that before politics he would have to "deal with all of you" as he led his real-estate business.

Reading from remarks in his binder, the president highlighted again that he was honored with a second state dinner here. "It's always nice to have a fist," he said.

He described the bond with the UK as "unbeatable," "regardless of what we're doing here today." As he spoke, the wind kicked up outside and sent some of the flags hanging outside audibly flapping against the tent.

POTUS called this the "next logical step" in deals between the country. He said AI is "taking over the world," chuckling and looking at Huang.

Trump said there is $136 billion in investments from Blackstone, then looked at Steve Schwartzman, seated in the first seat in the first row of the right side of the space.

"One year ago our country was in serious trouble," Trump said, adding that the king of Saudi Arabia said that to him a that now it's the "hottest" country. POTUS then said there's a "totally closed border" in the US now and that "bad" people haven't gotten in. He looked down at his binder throughout but seemed to be speaking off the cuff at points.

He praised the US advances in cutting regulations and said it will now be "sane regulation."

The president then ticked off a list of industries that are "coming back" before going back on script and thanking Starmer, saying it's a "real honor to be with you."

Monica Crowley and a UK official brought over a signing document; POTUS asked Bessent, jokingly, "should I sign it, Scott?" He then joked he would blame Bessent if it didn't work out.

Also in the tent: Rubio, Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick, Stephen Miller, Karoline Leavitt, Walt Nauta.

Pool was led out at 1:33 pm as a question was being told of an investment by Google in AI.

Pool has asked White House staff for a full list of attendees at this event, will update if we get one.

Otter here, please check audio against transcript. Next up is the press conference, which will stream on YouTube.

https://otter.ai/u/62pHVWVbNrYmaXirongQQkBDemI

Out-of-town pool report #7 - skydivers

Between the business leaders' reception and the press conference was a presentation of skydivers, seven of them, who jumped out of a plane and unfurled US flags and the British flags.

At 2:25, from a different entrance to Chequers, emerged:
Marco Rubio

Howard Lutnick
Susie Wiles
Karoline Leavitt
Stephen miller
Steven Cheung
Scott Bessent
James Blair
among others. They lined up under a tree to watch.

At 2:29 pm the PM and Lady Starmer emerged, holding hands, followed by POTUS and FLOTUS doing the same.

POTUS appeared to be listening as Starmer pointed off to another area of the property. At another point POTUS gave the photos a thumbs up. The wind was a bit aggressive on everyone's hair.

At 2:35 pm the demonstration ended and everyone went back inside. Pool now waiting to re enter a different area of the property for the joint presser, which is running late.

We are having some WiFi issues on this property so forgive delays.

Out-of-town pool report #8 - presser starting

POTUS and Starmer came to their side-by-side podiums in a room close to the entrance of Chequers at 3:09 pm.

They are in a relatively small room, covered with a large rug and adorned with paintings of royals, all stacked fairly close together and close to the ceiling, and wooden arches at the back.

Behind the presidents are UK and US flags. The podiums both say "tech prosperity deal," underscoring the main diplomatic business behind the visit.

Again, presser is airing live.

Out-of-town pool report #9 -- presser ends

The presser ended; POTUS took three questions from the US side, Starmer took roughly a half-dozen from the UK press.

Before the press conference started, reporters asked the White House chief of staff about the president's private discussions with King Charles, which were frequent throughout Wednesday. She said, according to one reporter, that she didn't hear them discuss foreign affairs, but that she wasn't present for all of their conversations.

Pool is waiting for our move to the airport to return to the USA.

Out-of-town pool report #9a - correction on potus discussions

Reporters were discussing with the WH chief of staff POTUS conversations with PM Starmer today at the bilat, not King Charles yesterday. Apologies for the mixup.

Out-of-town pool report #10 - leaving Chequers

Marine One left the Chequers landing zone at 4:56 pm.

Pool did not see POTUS enter the helicopter. He left after saying goodbyes to the PM and Lady Starmer and taping a previously announced interview.

Next stop, Stansted Airport

Out-of-town pool report #11/Stansted arrival

Marine One was wheels down at Stansted Airport at 5:19 pm.

For those asking, there's been no additional information about the president's announcement on Bagram, will update if it comes.

And a clarification about how many questions the president took - while POTUS took three questions from reporters sitting on the US side, the first was from a reporter for GB News, which is a UK-based outlet. She was seated in the second row of the US side.

Out-of-town pool report #11a - no marine one at airport yet

Correction earlier, it's just the press staff who have landed in our helicopters. Marine One is not with us. Will update.

Out-of-town pool report #12 - potus landing at airport and takeoff for JBA

One of the presidential helicopters landed at Stansted at 5:36 pm. It wasn't immediately clear why there was a delay.

At 5:39, Susie Wiles walked off the helicopter with Ambassador Stephens, followed by POTUS and FLOTUS holding hands. POTUS smiled and greeted someone near the front stairs to AF1. Then he said goodbye to the ambassador, before climbing aboard the plane at 5:41 pm. He stopped to wave and point to reporters.

Out-of-town pool report #13 - departing Stansted

No gaggle with POTUS and we are rolling at 5:47 pm. Next stop JBA.

Out of Town Pool Report #14 — Leavitt statement about Marine One

Out of town pooler Maggie Haberman called from Air Force One to pass along a statement from Karoline Leavitt about the delay in Marine One landing at Stansted airport: "Due to a minor hydraulic issue, and out of an abundance of caution, the pilots landed at a local airfield before reaching Stansted airport. The president and first lady safely boarded the support helicopter."

Out-of-town pool report #15 - JBA arrival/Marine One departure/handoff

AF1 touched down at JBA at 7:52 pm against a night sky with a bit of a jolt. POTUS and FLOTUS, who was wearing sunglasses, deplaned at 8:03 pm, holding hands for part of it.

About 50 minutes after takeoff from Stensted Airport, POTUS came back and gaggled for nearly 20 minutes. Audio should have been broadcast in the briefing room, but thanks to co-pooler Nikki Schwab, I'll send a transcript of most of it in a separate email.

Marine One and support helicopter were wheels up to the White House at 8:12 pm.

Handing off to in-town pool. Have a great night.

Out-of-town pool report #16/gaggle transcript

POTUS: I hope you had a good time everybody. We had a good – think it was a really good day and a half. Very intensive.

Q – what was the best part?

I don't know, I think just being with King Charles. He's a wonderful guy. I got to know him very well. I knew him before but now I know him a little better. The artwork. I saw more paintings than any human being has ever saw and statues. But they treated us great. They treated our country great. I view that as being really respect for our country the way they did it because last night was beautiful. And we had the biggest people in the world there. That was respect for our country.

Q – have you had conversations with Secretary Rubio or any of your military leaders about possible regime change in Venezuela?

No, I haven't.

Q – you haven't had any discussions about plans or how to make it happen?

No, I haven't.

Q – you mentioned in your remarks at the press conference something about Bagram and bringing it back to the U.S.?

I would like to get Bagram back.

Q – do you know how you plan to do that sir?

Uhhh they need a lot from us and I'd like to get it back. It should have never been given. Bagram. It should have never been given. … It was gross incompetence to give that up. You know it's one of the most powerful bases in the world in terms of runway strength and length. The strength. You could land anything on there. You could land a planet on top of it. Can you imagine? They gave it up for nothing. It's an hour away … (inaudible)

Q – It's been a month since your meeting with Putin, is it time for a ceasefire?

It's been a month? It doesn't feel like it. But at the right time I'm going to have to do it, it will be harsh.

Q – Mr. President regarding Antifa …

Who are you with?

Q – NPR, sir.

NPR. Oh my God. Are they still here? Are they still here? Congratulations.

Q – Regarding designating [Antifa] as a terrorist organization – when they don't have defined leadership or membership how do you target them?

Wait, who doesn't?

Q – Antifa.

Uhhh we're going to find out. We'll see. People have been talking about it for a long time. We're going to see. Did they have anything to do with your network? Antifa?

Q – No.

We're going to find out.

Q – You said earlier this week that the women who yelled at you, who were protesting, when you were at Joe's Stone Crab should be in jail. Do you actually think that that is an offense that deserves jail time?

I don't know how they got in there. But certainly, I thought it was very inappropriate. And they said things that were very – and it was a question of – when you take a look at the way they acted, the way they behaved, yeah, I think they were a threat.

Do you agree with that? (Trump motions to Brian Glenn of Real America's Voice)

Brian – I think they're a nasty organization.

Q – but you think they deserve jail?

(crosstalk)

Q – Zohran Mandani said he would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he comes to New York City because of the ICC warrant, would you intervene?

I think that's inappropriate. Yeah, I would. Yeah. It's inappropriate.

Q – Rep. Ilhan Omar was censured. I want to get your reaction to that?

They did censure her? When did this happen? I think she's terrible. I think she should be impeached. I think she's terrible. Is she originally from Somalia? So how's their government doing with that president? Do they have a council, do they anything? I love there people that come from these places with nothing, nothing. No anything. And then they tell us how to run our country. If she got censured that's great. If she got impeached that's even better. They impeached me twice for nothing. … She should be impeached and it should happen faster.

Q – Are you going to ask Brendan Carr to weigh in on other late night hosts that you have asked to be taken off the air?

You know what, a late night host is on network television. There is a license. I'll give you an example. I read someplace that the networks were 97 percent against me. I get 97 percent negative. And yet I won in, easily, I won all seven swing states. Popular. I won everything. And if they're 97 percent against and they give me only bad publicity, press and they're getting a license, I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It would be up to Brendan Carr. I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He's a patriot. He loves our country. And he's a tough guy. So, we'll have to see.

Q – why is that not a free speech issue?

When you think about this, 97 percent of the stories are opposed and I win easily the election? That's amazing when you think about it. That shows they have no credibility.

(crosstalk)

Some of the old days, I remember the old days, every four, five years, a network would reapply for its license. And their license is free, they get this valuable thing for free. And they would reapply for a license and if they did something wrong – well, I beat George Stephanopoulos, Slopadopoulos I call him, George Slopadopoulos. They had to pay me $15 million for what he said. I beat CBS for much more money than that, including advertising and other things, much more money. Because they totally changed the answer that Kamala gave. They didn't change it, they took it out and put a different answer in. And they didn't want to go to court for that, that's a tough one to go to court on. So no I think that, if you remember years ago, I remember as a kid, they would file, it was a big deal, every four, five years … they would have them file for a license extension. I don't hear about that. The only one I've even heard bring it up was Brendan Carr. I think Brendan Carr is doing a great job and I think he's a great patriot.

Q – What do you think you attend an event in England, a state visit, and yet the mayor of London can't be there?

I didn't want him there. I asked that he not be there. I think the mayor of London, Khan, is among the worst mayors in the world, and we have some bad ones, if you look at Chicago, Illinois but I think he's the equivalent of the mayor of Chicago. I think he's done a terrible job. Crime in London is through the roof. The mayor of London, Khan, Mayor Khan. He's done a terrible job and on immigration he's a disaster. No, I asked that he not be there. He wanted to be there, as I understood it, I didn't want him. I've not liked him for a while. I just think, I have a certain pride in London, the U.K., my mother was born in Scotland as you know. When I see Mayor Khan do a bad job, the stabbings and the dirt (inaudible) it's not the same.

Q – Did Starmer try to talk to you about Ukraine?

He did. Well, he was really a little bit embarrassed that I caught Europe, you know, NATO countries, EU countries, you could call it either way because they're very similar, but I caught them buying oil from Russia. And he said that's not good. He appreciated that I said that, but he said that's not good. How about that? We're supposed to do all this stuff and they're buying oil from Russia. That's not good. Do you agree?

I would do something. But also they have to stop buying oil from Russia.

Q – did he say he would be willing to do sanctions?

He said he would do sanctions, yes. And he's not one of the culprits in terms of the [Russian oil].

Q – Gov. Josh Shapiro said your administration was cherry-picking violence that's OK and that's not OK, what is your response to that?

(Inaudible) Look, in D.C. we took one of the most dangerous cities in the world and you can walk – you can take your husband, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, whoever you want to take. You can take them out to dinner tonight in D.C. and you're going to be safe. It's really safe. We did a great job. We're going to do the same job in Memphis. And we're going to Chicago. And I told you the head of the Union Pacific, who's a great gentleman, a great businessman, started as a low-level [railroad worker] 25 years later he's the chairman of the Union Pacific. He said sir you have to save Chicago. It's a great city. You can't let it go. And when he said that, I said I don't really have time to wait a couple of months. Last weekend they lost 11 people were murdered and 28 people were shot. That's not shot at, that means actually hit. A hundred were shot at and missed. That's what I call dangerous. And Pritzker is going out and saying, we've got crime under control. Now it went down a little bit because for four months, five months ago, I put the FBI there and they've done a good job, but that's limited what they can do. What you really need is a - big, strong soldiers to get them into shape. We're not letting Chicago fail and we're going to get started in Memphis. We'll be very successful. Just like we were in D.C. And we're going to have to stay in D.C. for a while because, you know, you leave, and people have a tendency to go back. … If they come back you're just wasting your time.

Q – Mr. President, just one more, who would you like to see replace Kimmell on late night?

A lot of people. Anybody could replace him. The guy had no talent. Kimmell had – look, he was fired, he had no talent. He's a whack job. But he had no talent and more importantly than talent - because a lot of people have not talent, they get ratings – he had no ratings. His ratings were worse than Colbert, I think. They got rid of Colbert, which was a good thing to do. Look, that's something that should be talked about for licensing too. When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that's all they do. If you go back and you see they haven't had a conservative on in years, I think somebody said, when you go back take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They're licensed. They're not allowed to do that. They are an arm of the Democrat Party. Thank you everyone.

Q – why are they not allowed to do that? Why is that not free speech?

Q – Isn't that a free speech violation?

You know why I say that, because I'm on the flight. Otherwise, I wouldn't care.

(crosstalk)

Q – can we just have one word on how beautiful all the women looked last night – Karoline? And your wife and Catherine?

I'm not allowed to say that because it could be the end of my career. However, I'll say it anyway. The women looked beautiful. You looked beautiful. (To Karoline Leavitt.) The women looked really beautiful. And your super-star over here looked great. (Points to Karoline Leavitt.) Has she done a good job? Everybody looked great. Even the men looked beautiful. It's hard not to look beautiful in that room. That was one of the coolest rooms – that room was built for a table. With the table happen to be carrying 200 people.

Q – what did you eat?

Whatever the hell they served us.

Q – Did Melania enjoy her time with Princess Kate?

She did. She thought she was great. I did too. I sat with her last night, Melania went with her today, she thought she was great. A very wonderful person. She went through a lot too – but hopefully that's all gone.

William is wonderful. And I knew Charles as a prince and now I know him as a king and he's doing very well. It was a lovely trip and I thought the press was really nice.

The president also sounded off about windmills and Joe Biden and was asked again about Starmer's Christianity.

In-town pool report #1 - POTUS gaggling on AF1

Passing along from the WH:

POTUS gaggling now on Air Force One. The audio is being played in the Press Briefing Room.

In-town pool report #2 - Otter of gaggle

Here is an Otter of the gaggle from my colleague Christian, who is in London, while we wait for something more official:

https://otter.ai/u/rnowpMExynYvGG19ECHQKknR9Vw

In-town pool report #2a - Official recording of gaggle

From the WH:

Link to the gaggle today on Air Force One: https://youtu.be/JqUAyCbKtp4

In-town pool report #3 - Gathering for POTUS arrival

Pool was called to gather at 8 p.m.

In-town pool report #4 - M1 touchdown

M1 touched down on the WH's South Lawn at 8:21 p.m.

POTUS and FLOTUS disembarked at 8:24 p.m.

POTUS waved, pointed, and held hands with FLOTUS as they walked from M1 and entered the WH at 8:25 p.m.

He did not answer shouted questions about sending troops to Afghanistan to retake Bagram Air Base.

Tiffany Trump and husband Michael Boulos, in addition to Natalie Harp, also entered the WH shortly after the first couple.

In-town pool report #5 - Lid

WH called a lid at 8:29 p.m. Have a good night!