Pool Reports of January 23, 2020

In-Town Pool Report #1

Good Morning from your in-town pooler...

So far no changes to POTUS' schedule...his in-town movements are available below. Will keep you posted if anything changes.

Cheers,

Laura

12:00PM        THE PRESIDENT receives his intelligence briefing

Oval Office

Closed Press

2:45PM        THE PRESIDENT departs the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews

South Lawn

Open Press

10:00PM        THE PRESIDENT arrives at the White House

South Lawn

Open Press

In-town Pool Report#2 -- Gidley Gaggle

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley gaggled with reporters on the driveway a bit ago...some highlights below.

Asked about the president's comments at Davos that "we have all the material, they don't", Gidley said POTUS "wasn't" bragging as some House Democrats have said.

"What the president was clearly saying was that the evidence was all on our side."

Asked about reports that Saudi Crown Prince MBS hacked into Jeff Bezos' phone, and whether U.S. businesses should be warned about dealing with Saudi Arabia.

"Saudi Arabia is obviously an important ally. I'm aware of the reportsÉI don't have any more information than that. Obviously we take this situation seriously."

Would not say if there are plans for the U.S. to investigate the hacking

On Wuhan Coronavirus

Said POTUS has been briefed and "remains consistently vigilant in making sure that this doesn't spread throughout our country."

"We've sent more entities to airports."

Asked about reports of a Middle East peace plan being announced as soon as tomorrow

Gidley said he had no information "at this time."

On Trump's involvement in Friday's March for Life

"You've heard a lot of religious leaders and a lot of Republicans say that this president is the biggest champion for life...the biggest advocate for the pro-life movement in history."

In-Town Pool Report #3 -- Lunch Lid until 1:30

Bon Appetit colleagues...

In-Town Pool Report 4 - Departure - No News

POTUS walked out of Oval Office at 2:58pm.

Did not stop to answer questions from reporters.

In-Town Pool Report 5 - Marine One bound to JBA

Marine One departed South Lawn shortly after 3pm. POTUS was joined by WH Counselor Kellyanne Conway.

Housekeeping note: Washington Examiner's Rob Crilly will cover POTUS 10pm South Lawn arrival.

Travel pool 1

Greetings.

President Trump boarded AF1 (the bigger plane) around 320 PM without taking questions from your assembled pool. We shouted questions about impeachment. He waved but did not walk over.

We are en route to his Doral resort near Miami, where he is expected to speak to RNC members around 6 pm. The event is supposed to be closed press but your pooler is asking for access.

Traveling with the president: campaign manager Brad Parscale, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser Dan Scavino and spokesman Judd Deere.

We are rolling shortly.

Pool 2 - Middle East plan coming, gaggle on plane

We landed in Florida around 530 ET. POTUS made some news near the end of the flight.

POTUS said he planned to release his version of a Middle East peace plan shortly.

"Sometime prior to that," he said of the meeting next Tuesday at the White House. "Probably we'll release it a little bit prior to that."Potus said he believed it could work and had spoken to the Palestinians "briefly."

"We've spoken to them briefly. But we will speak to them in a period of time," he said, asked if he had spoken to the Palestinians. "And they have a lot of incentive to do it. I'm sure they maybe will react negatively at first but it's actually very positive for them."

"I was surprised that both of them came off the campaign trail," he said of the Israeli meeting at the White House.

"I'd love to be able to do that deal. They say that's the hardest of all deals," he said. "I love doing deals."

"It's a great plan. It's a plan that really would work," he said.

"We have both candidates coming - unheard of," he said.

He gaggled for 9 minutes off the record and agreed at the end to put his Middle East answers on the record. He stood at the front of the press cabin, with Kellyanne Conway and Brad Parscale behind him.

Pool has asked to be allowed into the speech in Florida. Unclear if he will be allowed.

Thanks to co-pooler Alex Leary for helping quickly transcribe the quotes.

travel pool 4 -- holding at Doral

The president is speaking now to RNC members at his Doral golf club and resort here. The word "TRUMP" is emblazoned in many places across the resort, mostly in gold.

The lobby is filled with Republican supporters, diners and what appear to be a few golfers. We are holding in a private dining room at BLT Prime inside the club. The pool did not see the ballroom where the president is speaking, the president enter the ballroom, the attendees in the ballroom or anything else for that matter.

The people outside our private room at the BLT bar seem to be having a rowdier time than your pool.

To answer a couple questions about the flight: During the flight down, the TVs on Air Force One were tuned to Fox News the entire time. For more than an hour, it was was simply Rep. Adam Schiff presenting his case. POTUS came back just around 5 p.m. and stayed for nine minutes.

Travel pool 5 - heading back to Andrews

We are rolling at 753 PM to the Miami airport after the president's remarks at his Doral resort.

We did not see the president on the premises of his resort, and the White House did not offer a readout of what he told supporters here. We were on site for about 90 minutes.

Will advise if there is news on flight home.

Travel 6 - home sweet Andrews

Air Force One stopped rolling at 1004 pm, and POTUS soon came off the plane and walked to Marine One. The president did not talk but waved at the pool. He was on the helicopter by 1010, followed by a coterie of aides.

It was a pleasure being with you all.

In-Town Pool Report #6: South Lawn arrival/lid

Marine One wheels down at 22:25.

POTUS disembarked and walked directly to the residence, waving a couple of times to Pool on the way in.

And that's your travel/photo lid at 22:32.

Good night