Pool Reports by Sebastian Smith, Agence France-Presse
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| February 22, 2023 12:55 CET |
Travel pool report 1 - checking in + Ohio call Good afternoon from Warsaw where POTUS will be meeting with embassy staff (closed press) and the B9 eastern flank NATO leaders (pool spray) before flying back to Washington. Your pool is being swept. The schedule can be seen below. On a sepa note, this came in late last night from the White House: The President made five calls this evening from Warsaw to receive an update on EPA's latest actions [twitter.com] to hold Norfolk Southern accountable, in addition to receiving an update on the situation on the ground in East Palestine: EPA Administrator Michael Regan In those calls, he reaffirmed his continued commitment and his Administration's commitment to ensuring that communities impacted by the Norfolk Southern derailment have the full support of the federal government. CET 1:00 PM Out-of-Town Pool Call Time 1:30 PM THE PRESIDENT greets with U.S Embassy staff 2:45 PM THE PRESIDENT meets with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of our eastern flank NATO Allies, and with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to reaffirm the United States' unwavering support for the security of the Alliance 4:45 PM THE PRESIDENT departs en route Warsaw Chopin International Airport, Warsaw, Poland 5:15 PM THE PRESIDENT departs Warsaw, Poland en route Joint Base Andrews EST 8:20 PM In-Town Pool Call Time 8:40 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives at Joint Base Andrews 9:00 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives at the White House |
| February 22, 2023 14:28 CET |
Travel pool report 2 - Biden/embassy staff + motorcade manifest Some updates from the White House: 1. The President is greeting with U.S. Embassy staff and their families. 2. Also in domestic news side note: Last night, the President called Jennifer McClellan as she was headed to her historic win in the Virginia 4th congressional election. The conversation was warm and the President looks forward to working with the Congresswoman-elect. 3. Traveling with the President via motorcade en route the Presidential Palace, Warsaw, Poland: Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs |
| February 22, 2023 14:29 CET |
Travel pool report 3 - rolling At 2:27 pm (local) the motorcade is rolling from the RON to the presidential palace. Pool did not lay eyes on POTUS. We are driving under a heavy grey sky. As we depart, we can hear a small but well organized group across the street chanting through a loud hailer: "F16 to Ukraine." The White House hasn't yet confirmed the list of attendees, but these are the Bucharest Nine countries: -Bulgaria, Also attending is NATO Sec Gen Jens Stoltenberg. |
| February 22, 2023 14:35 CET |
Travel pool report 4 - presidential palace At 2:33 pm the motorcade arrived at the presidential palace. Many hundreds of onlookers lined the route, held back on the sidewalks by police in yellow high-vis vests. |
| February 22, 2023 14:45 CET |
Travel pool report 5 - greeting + New START quote POTUS was greeted inside the palace by the presidents of Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Asked by a reporter for a reaction to Putin announcing Russia will pull out of New START, he at first joked he didn't "have time." Then after a pause he said: "big mistake." Per White House: Greeting the President upon arrival at the Presidential Palace, Warsaw, Poland: Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland |
| February 22, 2023 15:09 CET |
Travel pool report 6 - meeting starts + quotes The president's meeting with the B9 leaders began at 2:48 pm after they did a rapid "family photo." Polish President Duda opened proceedings, saying that they would discuss "support for Ukraine." The Romanian president spoke next, saying the war had "brought nothing but suffering" and said "we need to stand firm on our commitments" and help Ukraine "to win the war." Slovakia's president spoke third and then Biden. Please check the broadcast/transcript for fuller quotes - he was rather difficult to hear, speaking quietly in a cavernous room. He mentioned Finland's acceptance into NATO and said the B9 countries are the "frontline of our collective defense." He said they knew "What's at stake in this conflict, not just for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies throughout Europe and around the world." Finally: NATO Gen Sec said: "we must break the cycle of Russian aggression." "We must sustain and step up our support for Ukraine, we must give Ukraine what they need to prevail." "We don't know when this war will end but when it comes we must ensure that history must not repeat itself." Pool was then sent out into a hold. Side note: a dark smudge is visible on the president's forehead - evidently the ash from the Catholic tradition practiced today each year, Ash Wednesday. Here is the list of everyone in the family photo: Participating in a Family Photo with the President: Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland |
| February 22, 2023 15:12 CET |
Travel pool report 7 - meeting attendees The White House sends this list of attendees at the B9 meeting: The President is meeting with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of our eastern flank NATO Allies, and with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to reaffirm the United States' unwavering support for the security of the Alliance. U.S. Delegation Leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9) Speaking Program |
| February 22, 2023 17:18 CET |
Travel pool report 8 At 5:15 pm the motorcade is rolling from the presidential palace. Next scheduled stop: airport. |
| February 22, 2023 17:39 CET |
Travel pool report 9 - AF1 The motorcade rolled into Warsaw Chopin International Airport and pulled up by AF1 at 5:31 pm. As before, crowds thronged the sidewalks for miles through the center of the city. The president boarded at 5:34. About half way up the main stairs he stumbled and fell forward. He quickly recovered, stood and continued to the door, giving a quick wave before going in. He didn't talk to the pool before. Wheels up shortly. |
| February 22, 2023 20:39 EST |
Travel pool report 10 - JBA AF1 touched down at JBA at 8:37 pm EST. No news from the flight of about nine hours (having left Warsaw at 5:51 pm local). However, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre came back to the press cabin for an OTR chat, as did NSC's strategic communications director John Kirby — twice. |
| February 22, 2023 21:04 EST |
Travel pool report 11 - Marine One President Biden disembarked at 8:49 pm and went straight to Marine One shortly after. Poolers noted that he walked a little stiffly across the tarmac. There was no gaggle and so with that, handing off now to the in-town pool. Thanks to fellow poolers on this history making trip and a shout out from the whole pool to Super Wrangler Megha Bhattacharya who was on her last AF1 flight. |
| February 22, 2023 21:37 EST |
Travel pool report 11a - M1 manifest Per the WH: Traveling with the President aboard Marine One en route the White House: Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs |
Pool Reports below by Marek Walkuski, Polskie Radio
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| February 22, 2023 12:18 CET |
Foreign pool report #1 - schedule Dzień dobry, Good morning, On his second day in Poland POTUS will greet with U.S Embassy in Warsaw staff (closed press) and will meet with the leaders of Central and Eastern European NATO members called the Bucharest Nine (pool spray). The President is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The summit of the Bucharest Nine will focus on the NSTO's response to the Russian aggression of Ukraine. The B9 leaders will also seek to work out a common stance for the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, 2023. Chief foreign policy adviser to the President of Lithuania Asta Skaisgiryte said in the interview with Lithuanian radio, Lithuania will ask Biden for "greater involvement of the US in Europe, NATO's eastern flank and more aid to Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban will not attend the summit. Hungary will be represented by President Katalin Novák. I'm going to send you the list of participants as soon as I receive it from the Polish President's office. |
| February 22, 2023 13:28 CET |
Foreign pool report #2 - B9 summit attendees Bellow is an unofficial list of attendees of the Bucharest Nine summit: Bulgaria - President Rumen Radev, President Joe Biden and NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg will join the leaders of B9. Neither the White House or the President of Poland Office published the official list of attendees yet. |
| February 22, 2023 13:56 CET |
Foreign pool report #3 - B9 background The pool is waiting in press buses to join POTUS's motorcade. The President will soon take part in the Bucharest Nine summit at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. The Chancellery of the President of Poland published the following program of the event: 14:10 PM - Welcome by the President of the Republic of Poland, the President of Romania and the President of the Slovak Republic Great Hall 14:35 PM - Family Photo, Ensemble Hall 14:40 PM - Plenary of the B9 Presidents' Summit, Column Hall Marcin Przydacz, a senior advisor to Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday that B9 leaders would adopt a joint declaration during their meeting in the Polish capital. After the summit POTUS will depart Warsaw. The Buchatest Nine The "Bucharest Nine" (B9"), which is a group of nine NATO member states located on the eastern flank of the alliance. The Bucharest Nine includes the following countries: -Bulgaria, The B9 was formed in 2015 in Bucharest, Romania, at the initiative of the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis and the President of Poland Andrzej Duda, in response to the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. The group's main goal is to enhance regional security and to promote cooperation among its members and with NATO as a whole. The B9 advocates for increased NATO presence and deterrence measures in the region. The group as a whole also plays important role in supporting Ukraine, even though some countries are more active (Poland, the Baltics for example), and other less ( e.g. Hungary). |
| February 22, 2023 15:45 CET |
Foreign pool report #4 - quotes Some quotes from the hosts of the B9 summit in Warsaw. President of Poland Andrzej Duda called Putin's invasion of Ukraine "a brutal, full scale Russian aggression": "One year later, we met in this hall to discuss the most significant challenges facing our states, facing the entire North Atlantic Alliance, and to speak about the ways to support our friends in Ukraine". Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania: "The war has brought nothing but suffering and despair, killing and displacing of millions of Ukrainians, unprecedented destruction and uncertainty. We the leaders of the eastern flank have the duty to stand firm in defense of our peace". "NATO is standing strong and showing clear commitment towards Ukraine and its people the benign is stronger than ever". Zuzana Caputová, President of Slovakia: "President Biden. Your presence here is another proof that our transatlantic unity is stronger as ever, and is an opportunity to discuss our expectations from NATO Summit (…), for example, how we ensure that there are no gray zones in our defense, or how we adapt our defense spending to our security environment, and how we ensure that Ukraine is able to defend itself as long as it takes". As the initiators of the B9 format, presidents of Poland and Romania are hosting the event at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw along with President of Slovakia, who will be hosting the next B9 summit in Bratislava. |
| February 22, 2023 18:45 CET |
Foreign pool report #5 - POTUS attended a mass in Warsaw During his visit to Poland President Biden apparemntly attended a Catholic Mass marking the Ash Wednesday. The mass took place at the Marriott Hotel, where POTUS stayed during his trip to Warsaw, and was celebrated by a Polish priest Wieslaw Dawidowski. Your pooler observed a faded cross on President's forehead during the family photo at the B9 summit held at the Presidential Palace. The Priest informed about the mass on his Facebook page and posted several pictures: of improvised altar in a hotel room, Presidential Seal and himself with President Biden. "Today is Ash Wednesday. Even the most powerful in this world take ashes - if they belong to the Catholic tradition. I had the honor today of placing ashes on the forehead of the US President Mr. Joe Biden. Everything took place in great secrecy, but now I can speak: in an improvised chapel, next to the President's apartment. We prayed for peace, the conversion of Russia and the light of the Holy Spirit for Mr. President" – he wrote. Father Wieslaw Dawidowski is an Augustinian, doctor of theology and a publicist. During martial law, as a high school student, he was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for involvement in anti-communist movement. Since the Air Force One is already in the air this pool report may arrive with a significant delay to the recipients on the White House Press Office mailing list. For the record: now it's 6:42 PM CET and 12:42PM EST. It was an honor to be your foreign press pooler during President Biden's visit to Poland. Have a safe trip back to the U.S. and see you all soon at the White House. |
Pool Reports below by Gerren Keith Gaynor, theGrio
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| February 22, 2023 | [APP Note: Report #1 does not exist or was not received by the APP.] |
| February 22, 2023 21:09 EST |
In-Town Pool #2 - M1 landing Marine One landed on the South Lawn at 9:04pm. POTUS stepped off M1 at 9:07 and jogged down the steps. He quick stepped across the lawn and waved at the pool/press. He did not answer to shouted questions. |
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Pool Reports of February 22, 2023 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/359811