Pool Reports of December 25, 2021

White House In-Town Pool Report #1

Good morning & Merry Christmas –

Despite a sharp uptick of the omicron variant throughout Washington, D.C., your pooler has tested negative for COVID-19. There are no planned public events on the POTUS schedule for December 25, 2021. It is a quiet day at the White House, as of now, with partly cloudy skies. A photo is attached below, taken at 11:40 a.m. est.

White House In-Town Pool Report #2

Good morning –

POTUS and FLOTUS plan to speak with U.S. service members at 1 p.m. est, virtually from the White House. Please note it will be livestreamed here.

A White House official shared the following:

At 1:00 PM, the President and the First Lady will meet virtually with service members serving around the world to thank them for their service and wish them a Merry Christmas. The service members meeting the President and the First Lady represent the six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.

Military Units Participating

Army – 734th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB)
Location: Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar
Represented by Lieutenant Colonel James Hewitt, U.S. Army

Marine Corps – Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5TH Marine Expeditionary Brigade (TF 51/5)
Location: Kingdom of Bahrain
Represented by Brigadier General Ferrell Sullivan, U.S. Marine Corps

Navy – US Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System Romania
Location: Deveselu, Romania
Represented by Commander Frederick Hettling, U.S. Navy

Air Force – 379th Expeditionary Communications Squadron
Location: Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar
Represented by Airman First Class Tyler Nester, U.S. Air Force

Space Force – 2nd Space Warning Squadron
Location: Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado
Represented by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Mariner, U.S. Space Force

Coast Guard – Combined Task Force 150
Location: Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Represented by Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Davne, U.S. Coast Guard

White House In-Town Pool Report #3

Good afternoon—

A cluster of press ranging from photojournalists to hard-nosed political reporters have assembled for a pool spray at the South Court Auditorium ahead of a planned POTUS and FLOTUS virtual event. You can watch the event here.

POTUS and FLOTUS also shared the following Christmas message today (which reads in part):

"We are also keeping in our prayers all of you who have lost loved ones during this pandemic and for whom this Christmas falls on heavy hearts. We pray for you to find strength from sorrow and purpose from pain. We pray for our service members and their families, and thank them for their service and sacrifice…."

White House In-Town Pool Report #4

POTUS & FLOTUS speaking to troops now with their new dog.

"Merry Christmas," POTUS says, noting he understands that empty chair in homes due to family members being deployed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…"

White House In-Town #4

Good afternoon—

There are 17 journalists currently at the South Court Auditorium — awaiting POTUS & FOTUS for a three minute pool spray at 1 pm est.

[APP Note: This report should probably be labeled as Report #5.]

White House In-Town Pool Report #6

Press has been booted from the 1pm virtual event with no reporters asking questions – as the first family was turned around on the couch speaking to troops. You can watch the remarks here. Standard remarks with no mention of hot topics of the day such as inflation or "brandon."

White House In-Town Pool Report #7

Good afternoon ---

The White House has called a travel/photo lid for December 25, 2021.

If the lid is lifted, you will hear from me again.

Happy Holidays,

White House In-Town Pool Report #8

Good evening –

Please note the following two points of White House related information for Dec. 25th, 2021. First, the Christmas Day virtual call with U.S. troops lasted 32 minutes today. Feel free to reference The Daily Beast's report here.

Secondly, yesterday both POTUS and FLOTUS "participated in Holy Trinity's Christmas Eve Mass virtually in the East Room," a White House official shared.

Please feel free to reach out to me here with any questions or concerns.

Happy Holidays