Pool Reports of February 7, 2022

In-town pool report #1: Good morning

Good morning,

I'll be your pool reporter today. Reach out if you have any questions. Below is the president's schedule.

10:15 AM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT receive the President's Daily Brief
Oval Office
Closed Press

1:00 PM In-Town Pool Call Time

1:30 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a bilateral meeting with H.E. Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
Oval Office
Restricted In-House Pool Spray at the Top (Gather 1:15 PM - Brady Press Briefing Room)

3:15 PM THE PRESIDENT and H.E. Scholz participate in a joint press conference
East Room
In-House Pool and Pre-Credentialed Media (Gather 2:55 PM - Palm Room Doors) [RSVP here by 9 AM]

Briefing Schedule

1:45 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki

In-town pool report #2: Gathering for Oval spray

The pool is gathered to go into the Oval for the bilat spray with President Biden and Chancellor Scholz.

In-town pool report #3: Oval comments

The pool was brought into the Oval at 1:38 pm. President Biden and Chancellor Scholz were seated together, with a fire in the fire place behind them.

Biden started by saying that "Germany is one of America's closest allies. We're working lock step" to address Russian aggression.

"We've got a lot to talk about," Biden continued.

"I'm looking forward to working closely together with you" on a variety of issues, he said.

Biden turned it over to Chancellor Scholz.

Scholz called US and Germany "closest allies" (check w video/transcript)

Said he was here to talk about "fighting against Russian aggression against Ukraine" among other issues.

Pool ushered out at 1:40 pm. President did not respond to shouted questions.

In-town pool report #4: Bilat participants and Oval spray audio

Thanks to our colleagues at VOA News, here is audio of the brief Oval spray:

https://otter.ai/u/z3rncI4WkSwcBXKtAsHmT1YByHU

And from the White House:

Participating in the President's bilateral meeting with H.E. Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany:

U.S. Manifest
The President
The Vice President
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
T.H. Daleep Singh, Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council
T.H. Dr. Karen Donfried, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
T.H. Dr. Amanda Sloat, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for European Affairs, National Security Council

German Manifest
His Excellency Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
H.E. Steffen Hebestreit, State Secretary and Spokesperson of the Federal Republic of Germany
H.E. Dr. Jörg Kukies, State Secretary of the Federal Republic of Germany
H.E. Dr. Emily Haber, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany
Mr. Jens Plötner, Foreign Policy and National Security Advisor to the Chancellor
Mr. Alexander Schiemann, Deputy Head of the Chancellor's Office
Mr. Alexander Eberl, Head of Division, Federal Chancellery

In-town pool report #5: Two minute warning for briefing

Two-minute warning for the White House press briefing. Watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQtfCF8pTI

In-town pool report #6: Fuller Oval spray comments

Following up with fuller comments/color from the roughly two-minute Oval spray. Going on the audio sent previously, but again check tape.

President Biden and Chancellor Scholz both wore masks while the pool was in the Oval. Biden waited for the press, which included a large contingent of German media, to assemble before making his brief remarks.

"It's good to have a chance to get to know you more personally," Biden said.

Cleaning up part of a quote from first Oval pool note:

"And, you know, to state the obvious, Germany is one of America's closest allies, working in lockstep," to "further deter Russian aggression in Europe, and to address the challenges posed by China and promote stability to vote in the Western Balkans."

Biden then said: "We then have to take on a pandemic, climate change and many others issues. So we have a lot to talk about."

Biden also said he was looking forward to working with Germany at the G7 summit this year.

Chancellor Scholz then spoke for less than a minute. He started by thanking Biden for the White House invitation.

Scholz said, "I appreciate very much that we have the chance to discuss all the topics you raised. They are very important. We are closest allies and working intensely together."

He ended by saying that "this is necessary for doing the steps that we have to do, for instance, fighting against Russian aggression against Ukraine. So it's an important meeting at a very, very important time."

In-town pool report #7: Gathered for joint presser

The pool is now gathered at the Palm Room doors for the joint press conference with POTUS and the German chancellor.

In-town pool report #8: Joint presser starts

President Biden and Chancellor Scholz entered the East Room at 3:40 pm and took their places behind two podiums.

You can watch the joint press conference here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaY9G0kv7Gg

In-town pool report #9: Joint presser done

President Biden and Chancellor Scholz ended their press conference and walked off the dais at 4:07 p.m.

There was one shouted question from the pool to Biden as he left about whether he believed there was still an "off-ramp" available to avoid Russian escalation in Ukraine.

The president paused, said "Yes," and walked out of the East Room. He did not respond to a shouted follow-up question asking him to elaborate.

The pool was ushered out of the East Room at 4:10 p.m.

In-town pool report #10: Lid

A travel/photo lid has been called. Good evening, all.

In town pool report #11: News -- Dr. Lander resignation

Just in from the White House, which also included Dr. Lander's resignation (attached):

From Press Secretary Jen Psaki:

The President accepted Dr. Eric Lander's resignation letter this evening with gratitude for his work at OSTP on the pandemic, the Cancer Moonshot, climate change, and other key priorities. He knows that Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead.

Foreign pool report POTS German Chancellor

Bilateral POTUS and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Oval Office

In his extremely short statement at the beginning of the in meeting with POTUS German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in his trademark low voice that he appreciates the opportunity to discuss all topics of importance, that President Biden mentioned in his statement before from fighting the pandemic to climate change and of course the crisis around Ukraine.

Scholz stated that US and Germany were close allies and that they would fight "Russian aggression" together.

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This is Olaf Scholz's first visit to the White House. The 63-year-old was sworn in as German Chancellor on December 8 of last year. He leads a three-party coalition of his social democratic party SPD, the Greens and the libertarian FDP.

In December he got under criticism at home and abroad when he characterized the North Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany as a mere "private-sector project" despite Russia's threats against Ukraine. Since then the Chancellor said that in terms of possible sanctions everything would on the table.

The German delegation comprises of the Chancellors key advisors Jens Plötner (foreign affairs) and Jörg Kukies (economy) and the government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit plus Emily Haber, German Ambassador to the US.