Pool Reports of April 3, 2020

In-town pool report #1

Good morning from the White House — I'll be your print pooler today.

POTUS currently has 1 public event on his schedule, the coronavirus task force briefing at 5pm ET. He has a closed press meeting with energy executives at 3pm ET — will let everyone know if that opens up ahead of time.

Feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions. Happy Friday.

In-town pool report #3 — more from Kudlow

We broke at 10:52

On the meeting with oil execs and "production cuts": "President Trump, talking on a number of occasions with President Putin and MBS of Saudi Arabia, and the President, President Trump believes they have given agreement on their commitments, ending their spats with each other and stop artificially throwing oil on the market which is already vastly oversupplied... as far as the oil meeting today, I don't want to get out in front of that."

On 3M: "I cannot speak to it. I am not familiar with what 3M said.

On unemployment numbers: "I would just say generally, the whole pandemic and its consequences have come on exponentially faster than anyone frankly" expected. "So are they worse? I don't know if they're worse. We've been gearing up for really bad... again I will acknowledge the facts on the ground. Those numbers, and those hardships, are going to get worse before they get better, but that's an acknowledgement. That's why we have to try to do what I do. Again, this is temporary."

On glitches with Phase 3 rollout: "One of the things that PResident Trump has done is involve the private sector in ways that have never been done before in a crisis like this... I think that that has helped it, and I think it was speeded to a positive conclusion. These free enterprise people are very smart, and I know they're gonna be glitches, I get that. But they're real smart and they're helping us enormously."

In-town pool report #4 — lunch lid

... until 2pm ET.

In-town pool report #4 — Macron readout

Passing along from deputy press sec. Judd Deere

Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France to discuss the latest coronavirus developments. President Trump conveyed that the United States stands with the French people and expressed condolences for those who have lost their lives in France as a result of the pandemic. President Trump and President Macron discussed convening P5 leaders soon to increase UN cooperation on defeating the pandemic and ensuring international peace and security. The leaders also discussed important regional and bilateral issues.

In-town pool report #5 — pool gathering

Pool called to gather at 3:12 pm ET for (I assume POTUS' meeting with energy execs). Event was originally closed

In-town pool report #6 — pool gathering

Pool all received temperature checks and green stickers before being ushered into the cabinet room at 3:18. POTUS began speaking immediately with "world leaders" in the energy sector. More to follow

In-town pool report #7 — attendees at energy meeting

From Judd Deere

Today, President Donald J. Trump will meet with executives in the energy industry to discuss the impact of COVID-19 and recent developments in energy markets.

The following individuals are expected to attend:

The White House
President Donald J. Trump
Vice President Mike Pence
Mark Meadows, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
Jared Kushner, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor
Marc Short, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Larry Kudlow, Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council
Dan Scavino, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Digital Strategy

Trump Administration
Secretary David Bernhardt, United States Department of Interior
Secretary Dan Brouillette, United States Department of Energy
Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative

Members of Congress
Senator John Cornyn, R-TX
Senator Kevin Cramer, R-ND
Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX
Senator Dan Sullivan, R-AK
Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-CA

External Participants
Greg Garland, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips 66
Dave Hager, President and Chief Executive Officer, Devon Energy Corporation
Harold Hamm, Executive Chairman, Continental Resources
Jeff Hildebrand, Chief Executive Officer, Hilcorp Energy Company
Vicki Hollub, President and Chief Executive Officer, Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Mike Sommers, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Petroleum Institute
Kelcy Warren, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Transfer Partners
Mike Wirth, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chevron Corporation
Darren Woods, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Exxon Mobil Corporation

In-town pool report #8 — Some quotes from energy executives meeting

Trump riffed on the general pandemic — "The entire world is shut down trying to get rid of this scourge" — before turning things over to the attendees to introduce themselves

Present in

Trump: "I know you all... from the covers of the business magazines"

"We'll be looking at an infrastructure package for our country, which will be so important"

Added he had spoken with both Putin and MBS about oil production

More to follow

In-town pool report #9 — more from energy meeting/Cruz joke

Sen. Ted Cruz somehow lost his seat at the table and was mingling behind pool.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pointed it out, and trump notes, "he's gone over to the other side," earning laughs from the room

Trump: "We're filling up the national reserves as you know... at these prices you'd think we'd want to fill up every cavity" we have in America.

More to follow

In-town pool report #10 — more energy quotes

Energy Sec. Dan Brouillette announced a potential "negative" price — they might be "paying us" — on refilling the reserve

Trump says the news conference, originally scheduled for 5:00pm ET might be bumped to 5:15.

When asked by pool about meeting attendees and new White House visitors being tested, POTUS asked attendees if anyone wanted to be tested. Pool agreed he seemed not to be aware of new WH directive on visitors (requiring tests for those in close proximity to Trump)... "if anyone wants to be tested, they'll be tested"

... apologies for the limited quotes, my recording device failed

In-town pool report #10b (pool ushered out of meeting)

Apologies for not including in previous report, but pool was ushered out of cabinet room just before 3:40 pm

Shoutout to WSJ for letting me know

In-town pool report #11 — pre-briefing temp checks

WH staff began doing temperature checks (4:44pm ET) and handing out stickers (yellow) for those who passed the test.

The task force briefing is still currently scheduled for 5:00 pm ET, though POTUS said during the oil exec meeting it might be 5:15 or later.

You can watch the briefing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BtuIfEAJ5s&feature=emb_title

I will send along any off-camera color as it happens.

In-town pool report #12 — briefing pushed to 5:30

Just FYI.

You can stream it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BtuIfEAJ5s

In-town pool report #13 — briefing start

POTUS entered the room at 5:25 and began speaking immediately before handing it over to "future Speaker of the House" Kevin McCarthy

Trump retook the podium at 5:27

In-town pool report #14 — travel/photo lik

The briefing concluded at 6:44 by my watch. Travel/photo lid issued at 6:47.

Enjoy the rest of your Friday with responsible social distancing and a quarantini or two