Pool Reports of February 14, 2020

In town pool report #1: Lunch lid

Greetings from the White House, where I'm picking up pool duties after a switch-out. Lost in the shuffle was the lunch lid, called shortly after noon, and effective until 1:30pm.

Next up is a 2:30 event for in-house pool: POTUS remarks to the National Border Council. And the president is scheduled to depart the WH at 4pm today for Florida.

In town pool report #2 / entering

Pool has entered the South Court Auditorium for the National Border Patrol Council event.

In town pool report #3 / National Border Patrol Council event

POTUS was introduced beginning at 2:44 by the newly re-elected National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd. The NBPC, under Judd's leadership, endorsed Trump in 2016.

POTUS entered the South Court Auditorium, a large room resembling a lecture hall that is located in the OEOB, at 2:47 pm, to a rousing standing ovation and a quick chant of "four more years!" Crowd of perhaps 100 — many of them border agents.

Trump says new numbers from Gallup "just came out," reporting that 90 percent of Americans "are satisfied with their personal life."

He cites optimism about the economy and approval of his handling of coronavirus.

Says he took criticism for "closing our borders" i'm response to the virus but "now everyone's saying that we did a good job."

Repeats "theory" that warm weather may kill the virus.

POTUS held up several aerial photos of border wall construction.

He is describing the design and construction of the wall, says it is "virtually impossible to climb over the top."

Still going.

Some background from the NBPC website:

https://bpunion.org/about-npbc/

The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) is the exclusive representative of approximately 18,000 Border Patrol Agents and support personnel assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol. The U.S. Border Patrol falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Under DHS, the Border Patrol is under the direction of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

In town pool report #4 / POTUS on wall construction

Trump is discussing construction of the border wall, aided by photos.

He is giving a highly detailed explanation, including the detail that black spray paint on the wall will make it "virtually untouchable ... because of the sun hitting it. The black absorbs the heat."

Says you "not only have to be a very good climber," you have to bring a hose to cool it down first, an added challenge since water is scarce at the border.

Says the wall has been "virtually 100% effective and that cameras, drones and "a lot of different contraptions" make it nearly impossible to breach or jump.

"I made your jobs a lot easier," he told the agents assembled here. "Say, ‘Thank you Mr. President!'"

More Tk.

In town pool report #5 / attendees

Judd Deere sends along the following:

Today, President Donald J. Trump will deliver remarks to members of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The following individuals are expected to attend:

The White House
President Donald J. Trump
Vice President Mike Pence
Jared Kushner, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor
Stephen Miller, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Policy
Tim Pataki, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison

Trump Administration
Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, Department of Homeland Security
Deputy Commissioner Robert Perez, Customs and Border Protection

External Participants
Brandon Judd, President, National Border Patrol Council
Approximately 220 NBPC members and family members

In town pool report #6 / more POTUS, victim relative

After opening with extemporaneous remarks, POTUS turned to pre-written ones, with many digressions, thanking the border agents and their families and touting his record on border enforcement.

He boasted that illegal border crossings are down over 75% since last spring and have dropped eight months in a row.

He made several references to what he calls Democratic support for "open borders" and complaints about unnamed individual governors.

In reading from his remarks about the "criminal alien" who raped and murdered 92yo Maria Fuertes in Queens, NY, this winter, POTUS came across the word "alleged" in his text and stopped, saying "the lawyers" had added the qualifier and that he would omit it.

He then invited Fuertes' granddaughter to speak. Fighting tears, she gave a tearful call for "preventive measures," saying "this could have been avoided had there been no sanctuary law" in NY. POTUS gave her at least one light comforting touch as she choked up.

POTUS concluded and exited at 3:18pm.

In town pool report #7 / more detail from border event, no questions

POTUS solicited no questions, and exited quickly amid applause before reporters had a chance to shout any.

Fuller quote from POTUS's previously mentioned account of Maria Fuertes' murder by an undocumented Guyanese national in January:

"I'll take the word 'allegedly' out. Do you mind if I do that? See, the lawyers put it in. If you don't mind, I'll leave it out," he said.

Trump introduced Fuertes' daughter as what sounded like Daria Ortiz. Pool is seeking to confirm spelling. Quote from her: "Our family would like to thank the administration for acknowledging our family's tragedy."

(A reminder that POTUS mentioned the Fuertes killing during his SOTU speech.)

Unrelated but also perhaps of note, POTUS digressed earlier into his political standing with women.

"People say, do you think Trump will get the women vote? Remember last time? They said, he'll never — will any woman vote for Trump? A woman in the whole country? And then I got a tremendous number of women,. They said one of the reasons I won was women."

"Fake news, fake polls, whatever they can do," POTUS added. "Men, I don't have to tell you about."

We will be gathering in a few minutes for his scheduled 4pm departure, en route to Florida.

In town pool report #7a / Daria Ortiz spelling

The White House confirms the name of Ms. Fuertes' granddaughter as Daria Ortiz.

In town pool report #8 / waiting for departure

Pool is assembled and waiting for what was scheduled as a 4pm South Lawn departure. Mostly clear skies but air is brisk.

In town pool report #9 / no questions

POTUS emerged from the Oval Office at 4:14 pm with FLOTUS and walked slowly to Marine One without taking questions.

In town pool report #10 / departure

Marine One was wheels up at 4:19pm.

The president is en route Joint Base Andrews for the flight to Palm Beach. Handing off to travel pool.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

Out-of-town pool report #1

Good afternoon from Joint Base Andrews. I'll be your pooler through this Valentine's Day weekend for POTUS' visit to Florida.

The President landed at JBA on Marine One at 4:29 pm and boarded AF1 at 4:33 pm. He boarded the plane without addressing reporters, followed onto the plane by the First Lady and senior adviser Jared Kushner.

Your pool is boarding now; flight time is just over two hours. Wheels up shortly.

Out-of-town pool report #2

Air Force One touched down at Palm Beach International at 6:39 pm. It was an uneventful flight; POTUS did not come back to speak with your pool.

Out-of-town pool report #3

POTUS emerged from AF1 with the First Lady at 6:49 pm, waving to a crowd gathered at the Palm Beach airport chanting, "USA, USA." He entered the motorcade at 6:51 pm.

We're rolling.

Out-of-town pool report #4

It was an uneventful ride. As the motorcade proceeded toward Mar-a-Lago, admirers and protesters lined the streets. Some waved, one danced, and others heckled; spotted signs included "Blacks for Trump 2020" and "Russian Stooge."

POTUS' van entered MAL at 7:02 pm. We had a lid. Good night, everyone.