Pool Reports of April 7, 2025

In-Town Pool Note #1: Dodgers

The East Room is packed for the White House celebration of the Los Angeles Dodgers' eighth World Series championship.

The Dodgers entered at 11:34. President Trump followed at 11:37. Remarks are ongoing.

From the north side of the room, pool can just barely see the stage. Luckily, the event is being live-streamed.

Prior to the event, POTUS wrote on Truth Social that if Beijing does not remove their retaliatory tariff, he will impose "ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%." He said also that negotiations with other nations who have requested meetings "will begin taking place immediately."

In-Town Pool Note #2: Event Concludes

Trump departed the East Room and invited the Dodgers to join him in the Oval Office. Event concluded at 11:57.

Biggest cheers from the crowd, hands down, were for Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers' designated hitter.

POTUS said Ohtani "looks like a movie star" and heralded the fact that he's the first-ever player to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in a single season.

Trump teased a Series repeat, citing the Dodgers' 9-2 record this year, saying "maybe you see the same thing over again."

In-Town Pool Note #4: Arrival

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu entered the West Wing at 1:26pm.

In-Town Pool Note #5: Oval Ongoing/Israel Tariffs

Pool was brought into the Oval Office at 3:15.

President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu are seated in front of the fireplace. Vice President Vance is to his left as was Secretary of State Rubio.

Netanyahu said, "We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States...we are also going to eliminate trade barriers." He said it'll be done "rapidly."

Netanyahu thanked POTUS for inviting him to White House, calls Trump "remarkable friend" of Israel, says "you actually do the things you say you'll do."

Otter link is below and quotes to follow.

https://otter.ai/u/gLBe7PQfVL3IjSWUYwdkM9pNglk

In-Town Pool Report #6: Talks with Iran
[APP Note: This is the first of two reports numbered "6".]

Trump just said, "We are having direct talks with Iran." He adds that talks are "in Iran's best interest." Remarks ongoing.

In-Town Pool Note #6: POTUS Not Looking at Pause
[APP Note: This is the second of two reports numbered "6".]

"We are not looking at that," Trump says when asked if he is considering a pause on tariffs for negotiation.

He says of trade fight "it is an honor to do it" because other previous presidents did not.

"They can both be true," he says of some tariffs that are permanent and others that can be negotiated.

Remarks ongoing.

In Town Pool Note #7: Sharing Otter Link

A link to the otter with unrestricted access is below. Reception in Oval is spotty. Trump and Netanyahu continue to take questions. Quotes to follow.

https://otter.ai/u/gLBe7PQfVL3IjSWUYwdkM9pNglk

In-Town Pool Note #8: Oval Remarks Concluded

Oval Office bilateral ended shortly after 4:07. POTUS took numerous questions.

Your pooler has been informed that the remarks were live-streamed.

President Trump said the US is having "direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday."

"I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it," he added. "So we are going to see if we can avoid it, but it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful."

In-Town Pool Note #9: Lid

White House has called a lid.

Foreign Pool report #1 POTUS meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

Good Morning on this rainy day. I will be your foreign pooler for the visit of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

Below is a backgrounder of the visit:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington, D.C., on Sunday after concluding a visit to Hungary, where he held high-level discussions. Hungary recently announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.

Upon arrival in Washington, Netanyahu met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer. The late-night discussions focused on the recently imposed 17% tariff on Israeli goods announced by President Trump last week. The talks aimed to address the implications of the levy on Israeli exports and explore possible avenues for trade cooperation under the new terms.

He is the first foreign leader to visit Washington to discuss the tariffs announced by President Trump last Wednesday.

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump at the White House at 1:00 PM ET. This will mark their second meeting since the start of President Trump’s second term.

President Trump is scheduled to have a Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu at 2:00 PM ET.

The meeting agenda will cover:

• U.S. tariffs on Israeli goods
• Iranian nuclear and regional activity
• The situation in Gaza, including ongoing hostage concerns
• Developments in Syria
• Israel–Turkey relations

A joint press conference with President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled for 2:30 PM EDT at the White House.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to depart Washington, D.C., Monday night following the conclusion of his meetings.

Foreign Pool Report #2 PM Netanyahu Arrival

Prime Miniter Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the North Portico at 1:25 PM. He was greeted by President Trump. Prior to that he met with the President's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and discussed the situation in Gaza.

Next is Oval office pool spray.

Here is a list of the Israeli delegation:

1. Mr. Ron Dermer, Minister of Strategic Affairs
2. H.E. Jay Michael Leiter, PhD, Ambassador of Israel to the United states
3. Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, Military Secretary
4. Mr. Tzachi Hanegbi, National Security Advisor and Head of the NSC
5. Mr. Tzachi Braverman, Chief of Staff
6. Dr. Ophir Falk, Foreign Policy Advisor

Foreign Pool report #3 - POTUS with Netanyahu Oval Office spray

Headlines and answers from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Bilateral Meeting with President Trump:

On Tariffs:
We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States.

We're going to also eliminate trade barriers, a variety of trade barriers, that have been put up unnecessarily. And I think Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same.

We are going to eliminate tariffs rapidly.

On Hostages:
The hostages are in agony, and we want to get them all out. I speak to hostage families every day. We want to get them all out. We are working with Mr Steve Witkoff on another deal to get all the hostages out.

On Gaza:
We want to eliminate the evil tyranny of Hamas. We want to enable the people of Gaza to have the choice to go wherever they want and freely make a choice.

The president put forward a vision including the countries that might be amenable to accepting Palestinians if they chose to go there.

We want to give people a choice, Gazans are closed in. Whether it's Ukraine or Syria, people could leave. Gaza was the only place where people are locked in. We didn't lock them in. There are countries that are saying, if Gazans want to leave, we want to take them in. I think this is the right thing to do. It is going to take years to rebuild Gaza, in the meantime people can have an option. The President has a vision, and countries are responding to that vision. We are working on it, I hope we will have good news for you.

On Syria/Turkey:

We don't want to see Syria being used by anyone including Turkey as a base to attack Israel.

Turkey is a country that has a great relationship with the United States. The President has a relationship with the leader of Turkey. We discussed how we can avoid this conflict in a variety of ways.

On Iran:
We and the United States are both united in the goal that Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons. If it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing.

Foreign Pool report # 4 Oval Office Spray

The pool entered the Oval Office at 3:08 p.m. President Trump was seated next to the Israeli Prime Minister. The President spoke first, followed by the Prime Minister, who did not directly answer any questions, as most were directed at the President. He spoke only in English.

Halfway through, the Prime Minister addressed a question regarding countries that might accept Palestinians from Gaza, though he did not name any specific nations.

The President took several questions, including one from your pooler about direct contact with Iran. He stated that high-level discussions will take place on Saturday but declined to disclose the location.

At the end of his remarks, the Israeli Prime Minister said he agreed with the objective of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The Oval Office spray was carried live on the White House Youtube page and concluded at 4:07 p.m.

The Israeli delegation was seated opposite the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Vice President. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff spotted in the room.

Ron Dermer handed the Prime Minister a white paper, most likley had the topics discussed.

President Trump noted that the U.S. provides Israel with approximately $4 billion annually.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's motorcade departed the White House at 4:47 PM.