Pool Reports of April 11, 2023

In-Town Pool Report #1 for April 11th 2023

Good morning, from Washington—

This morning, there is a 9 AM EST in-town call time, with press gathering at 9:05 AM EST at the stakeout location. President Joe Biden will depart at 9:30 AM EST to Joint Base Andrews via the North Lawn for Belfast.

In-Town Pool Report #2 for April 11th 2023

The in-town pool is now gathering for a 9:30 AM EST POTUS motorcade departure from the north lawn.

In-Town Pool Report #3 for April 11th 2023

POTUS' motorcade is on the move to Andrews. The in-town pool spotted Valerie Biden Owens.

In-Town Pool Report #4 for April 11th 2023

POTUS is aboard what is now Air Force One. POTUS approached the out-of-town pool before boarding the aircraft, but it was out of earshot of the in-town pool.

Below is the following folks that traveled to Andrews with POTUS:

Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Oval Office Operations
Mike Donilon, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President
Jon Finer, Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President & Press Secretary
Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President & Director of Communications
Curtis Ried, Deputy Assistant to the President & NSC Chief of Staff & Executive Secretary
Joseph Kennedy III, U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs
Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
Travis Dredd, Special Assistant to the President & Trip Director

In-Town Pool Report #5 for April 11th 2023

While aboard Air Force One set for Belfast, a White House official shared the following two points:

—Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will be joined by NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby for today's gaggle en route to Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

—The President and Joseph Kennedy III placed a call to Ethel Kennedy from Air Force One to wish her a happy 95th birthday.

In-Town Pool Report #6 for April 11th 2023

5-minute warning on Air Force One gaggle.

In-Town Pool Report #7 for April 11th 2023

In-town pool number 7 here from Washington, D.C. I am not aboard Air Force One, so I may not have all the answers to questions. (Still happy to field them though.)

That said, the White House shared the following about President Biden speaking with Northern Ireland's political leaders:

As a follow up to the gaggle aboard Air Force One today, the President will have the opportunity to engage with each of the leaders of Northern Ireland's five main political parties ahead of his speech tomorrow at Ulster University, but there will not be a formal group meeting.

Travel Pool Report #1 — Departure for Belfast

Good morning from Andrews.

POTUS arrived in motorcade at 10:05 am ET and made a few remarks to the press.

Asked about whether he had tried to get in touch with the family of Evan Gershkovich, the WSJ reporter detained by Russia, POTUS said that he had tried on Monday but that he hasn't yet connected. He said he would "try them from the plane." He called the detention "totally illegal" and "out of bounds." Asked about his trip, he said his top priority was making sure the "Irish accords and the Windsor agreement stay in place." He said he is traveling with two members of his family.

Please check against transcript; it was difficult to hear.

After speaking to reporters, POTUS quickly boarded AF1 for the approximately 6 hour flight to Northern Ireland.

Your pool expects a gaggle at some point during the flight from Karine Jean-Pierre. We are rolling at 10: am.

Your in-town pooler spotted Valerie Biden Owen, POTUS's sister and Hunter Biden, the president's son. White House officials have said FLOTUS is not traveling with POTUS on this trip.

According to the White House, the following staff are traveling with POTUS aboard AF1:

Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Oval Office Operations
Mike Donilon, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President
Jon Finer, Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President & Press Secretary
Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President & Director of Communications
Rob Flaherty, Assistant to the President & Director of Digital Strategy
Ambassador Rufus Gifford, Chief of Protocol
Ryan Montoya, Deputy Assistant to the President & Director of Scheduling & Advance
Curtis Ried, Deputy Assistant to the President & NSC Chief of Staff & Executive Secretary
Joseph Kennedy III, U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs
John Kirby, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications
Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
Travis Dredd, Special Assistant to the President & Trip Director
Carlyn Reichel, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Speechwriting & Strategic Initiatives
Amanda Sloat, Special Assistant to the President & NSC Senior Director for Europe
Katie Fricchione, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Staff
Charlie Fromstein, NSC Director for Visits and Diplomatic Affairs

Travel Pool Report #2 — Belfast arrival. Flight / Gaggle & minor corrections

AF1 landed in Belfast at 9:16 pm local time after an uneventful flight. There was a gaggle by Karine Jean-Pierre and John Kirby about three hours into the flight. See below for highlights of some small news made during the gaggle, though the transcript is likely to be out before you read this.

POTUS came out of the plane at 9:26, followed by Joseph Kennedy, Valerie Biden Owen's and Hunter Biden. He talked with the greeters, including PM Sunak, for about 10 minutes in the brisk, rainy weather. See greeters below.

A minor correction for Travel Pool #1 — Your pooler misheard one of the questions and thought POTUS answer about being "out of bounds" was in reference to Russia's detention of the WSJ reporter. In fact, it was in reference to a question about the abortion pill ruling in Texas. His answer to that was: "My thoughts are: it was completely out of bounds what the judge did." Also, AF1 began rolling at 10:16 am ET.

Gaggle highlights:

• Karine announced that POTUS had a telephone conversation earlier during the flight with the family of Evan Gershkovic. Karine said: "The president made it clear that his national security team has been and will remain focused on securing Evans release, as well as that of Paul Whelan, both of whom are wrongfully detained in Russia." She called the charges against Evan "completely baseless" and said he should "be released immediately."

• On the national security leaked documents: Kirby repeated that the DOD and Justice are investigating and said that the US government is having conversations at "very high levels with the relevant allies" about the leaks.

• On Evan, Kriby said: "I think you can understand why I wouldn't talk about any discussions we might be having with the Russians about his release or Paul's release. Certainly wouldn't do that." He added that "Internally we're we're certainly having discussions about what we can do to get him released again I don't want to go into details about these internal deliberations."

• On Egypt, Kirby said: "Egypt is a significant security partner" and thanked the country for helping in discussions between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

• On meetings with the leaders of the political parties in Northern Ireland, Kirby said: "So he's going to meet with the political party leaders of all the parties, all together in an engagement." NOTE: Kirby later came back to say he misspoke and that POTUS would not be meeting with the leaders together but would have an opportunity to engage with each one individually. The White House said they would be putting out a clarification, which you should have in your inboxes already.

• On signing the ending of the Covid emergency, Karine gave two examples of the impact it will have: 1. the end of mortgage forebearance programs at HUD, and the end of special, covid-related flexibility for caregiving caregiver assistance from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. It will not affect the end of Title 42, she said.

• On a fake briefing room for influencers, Karine said: "That is not in the works."

• On POTUS not having a news conference in Ireland: She said there will not be one, and defended the administration by claiming that POTUS has taken more questions from reporters than the last three presidents. She claimed that POTUS has answered more than 320 questions from reporters since taking office.

• On decision to have Democratic convention in Chicago: referred questions to the DNC

Greeting the President upon arrival at Belfast International Airport:

T.R.H. Rishi Sunak, MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Mr. David McCorkell, KStJ, The Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim
H.E. Dame Karen Pierce DCMG, His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States
T.H. Jane Hartley, Ambassador of the United States to the United Kingdom
Mr. Paul Narain, United States Consul General, Belfast
T.R.H. Chris Heaton-Harris, MP, The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Brigadier James Senior, Commander 38 Irish Brigade & Northern Ireland Garrison

We are rolling to the RON at 9:36 pm local time.

Travel Pool Report #3 — arrival at RON / lid

POTUS motorcade arrived at the RON at 10:20 pm local time. The White House called a lid for the night, ahead of three busy days.

Have a good night everyone.