Pool Reports of July 29, 2020

White House pool report 1/ Navarro gaggle/no news

Good morning.
Presidential adviser Peter Navarro gaggled for about 10 mins on the driveway.

Topics were his view that hydroxychloroquine is effective and safe as an early treatment for covid-19 and his complaint that the FDA and the media have unfairly maligned it.
He also addressed the president's use of the Defense Production Act "with a soft hand" and promised clarity on the number of times it had been used.
He waved off a question about the views of Dr. Stella Immanuel as retweeted by President Trump.
One quote:

"... we're in the middle of a pandemic where over 1000 Americans died today. 1000 Americans died yesterday. And if you have a medicine that there's relatively little or no downside risk and possible upside; why would you not let the American people have it? And right now the American people really can't have it because I can't ship it to distributors or hospitals, because the FDA doesn't allow it to off label use, and almost half the states have strict regulators, who won't allow doctors to prescribe."

Pool has been Covid-tested and is now awaiting the gather for Marine 1 departure.

White House pool report 2/departure gaggle/stimulus/Kamala Harris/FBI building/TicToc and more

POTUS spoke for about 15 mins. Flanked by Mnuchin and Meadows

Topics include those above.
Couple quotes:
On Harris:
"I think she'd be a fine choice," for Biden.

Says negotiators are far apart on most of the stimulus bill but the eviction moratorium and direct payments should be resolved now and then the test could be discussed later.

Repeated threat to go in To Portland:

"These radical, these anarchists, are controlling the mayor."
"These are bad people. They are anarchists. They are agitators."

"Either they're going to clean up Portland soon or we're going in to do it for them"

Pool was staged differently due to the Rose Garden renovation. We were arrayed sideways across the South driveway to the right of the East Wing steps and balconies.
He boarded M1 9:31 am followed by McEnany, Scavino, Brooke Rollins and others.
M1 lifted 9:35

White House pool report 3/ more gaggle/ CARES Act quote

As always check against transcript and broadcast.

On CARES Act:
"You gotta work on the evictions, so people don't get evicted. You work on the payments to the people. The rest of it we're so far apart we don't care. We really don't care. We want to take care of the people. The Democrats aren't taking care of the people. The payments aren't enough. The payments aren't enough. They're not making the payments; they're not making them high enough. The Democrats are not taking care of the people. Nancy Pelosi takes care of herself but she doesn't take care of anyone else. You look at what's going on with Schumer. So when Schumer and Pelosi can get together and take care of the people we'll do something. In the meantime we want to stop evictions."

White House pool report 4/ full Harris

Q: How do you rank Kamala Harris as a VP?

POTUS: "I think she'd be a fine choice, Kamala Harris. She'd be a fine choice."

White House pool report 5/ TikToc / Russia and bounties

"We're looking at Tik Toc," Trump said when asked about possible action against the firm over its ties to China.
Mnuchin then said he is doing a review of the company and would make a recommendation to Trump this week.
No details on the review from either of them.

Trump on whether he now thinks Russia did not put bounties on the heads of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan:

"As I told you, I have certainly read about it and since then I've talked about it.
Colin Powell says it's not true and Colin Powel's not exactly someone that I'm a big fan of, Colin Powell says it's not true, other people say it's not true, if it were true I'd be very angry about it."

Says Russia lost "a fortune" and many men in Afghanistan and he doesn't know why Russia would want to do this now, "but if you tell me they are doing it I will certainly take that under consideration."

Consequences?
"I would respond appropriately. Nobody has been tougher on Russia, nobody has been tougher on China, nobody has been tougher on Iran than me."

White House pool report 6 / Germany/NATO/Troops

Asked how removing US forces from Germany is being tough on Russia:"Germany's delinquent. They haven't been been paying their fees, they haven't paid their NATO fees. They're way off and they've bene off for years, and they have no intention of paying it and the United States has been taken advantage of, on trade, and on military and on everything else, for many years. And I'm here and I've been straightening it out. But Germany owes billions and billions of dollars to NATO, and why would we keep all of those troops there, and now Germany says it's bad for their economy. Well, it's good for our economy."

White House pool report 7/ CSPAN link

Or friends at C-SPAN have posted the departure video here:https://www.c-span.org/video/?474336-1/president-trump-white-house-depar...

I will send a few more quotes.

White House pool report 8/ FBI building quote

"The FBI Building, they've been trying to build a new building for many years, many, many years, and they were thinking about going very far away. But you have to be near the Justice Department, you don't want to be too far away where you have to drive for an hour, hour-and-a-half. They had sites way out in Virginia, way out in Maryland, I said the best place is right where it is, it's the best piece of property in Washington. I'm very good at real estate. So I said, we'll build a new FBI Building, let's build a new FBI Building. Either a renovation of the existing, or even better would be a new building. So we have that in the bill. It should stay. People have wanted a new FBI Building now for, 15 or 20 years."

Q: But Republicans don't want it in the bill.

POTUS: "Then Republicans should go back to school. You need a new building. It's a bad building, it's a dangerous building."

White House pool report 9/ email delay issue/ Stella Immanuel/hydroxychloroquine

Not sure why these reports are sending so slowly to the WHCA list – there seems to be about a 15-minute lag between when I send. WHCA President Zeke Miller is aware and we are trying to speed things up.

That said, here's POTUS on the hydroxychloroquine doctor:
"I was very impressed with her and other doctors who stood with her. I think she made sense, but I know nothing about her – I just saw her making a statement with very respected doctors. She was not alone."

White House pool report 10/WashPost email problem/ Robert O'Brien/ Arms control

Sorry folks, you're going to get some of these twice in my effort to get around an email problem at the Post that is preventing timely transmission to email addresses outside our system.
The Post is working on it.
I apologize for the inconvenience.

POTUS was asked about NSA Robert C. O'Brien. He said he had called O'Brien on Tuesday.
"I wished him well. I haven't seen him in awhile. But he went on vacation, he came back, he wasn't well. Tested positive, he's doing very very well."

He was asked whether he had spoken with Russia about a coronavirus vaccine and reports that Russian actors are trying to steal research.He didn't address that directly but said his recent conversation with Putin was largely about arms control. He said the U.S.-Russia efforts on that front are going well.
"We're in formal negotiations with Russia on arms control. On nuclear arms control."
Q: What about bringing in China?
"We'll talk about that later."

White House pool report 11/ arrival

Marine 1 touched down on the South Lawn at 8:53 pm. Skies are clear and the night is lovely.
POTUS Emerged at 8:57 pm. He walked alone to the East Wing door, with a wave and thumbs up to the pool. He did not pause for questions.

Goodnight and apologies again for the email delays this morning. It was a WaPo problem and your pooler regrets the inconvenience.

WH travel pool report 1 — departure

President Trump stepped out of Marine 1 at 0948, four minutes after it had set down on the tarmac Joint Base Andrews and rolled to a stop about 50 yards ahead of Air Force 1.
The walked the 45 paces to the front of the plane and climbed the steps after waving to the press pool gathered beneath the port wing. He did not respond — or possibly may not have heard — to a shouted question about why he has so few intelligence briefings.

Today's trip is to Midland, Texas, where the president is hosting a fundraiser in nearby Odessa before visiting an oil rig run by Double Eagle Energy in Midland.

The fundraiser is closed press. Pool will attempt to get details of hosts, ticket price, etc. The oil rig event is open to pre-credentialed media and will be carried on the White House web site.

It is a three-hour flight outbound, with arrival at Midland International Air and Space Port scheduled for 1130 CDT, 1230 EDT.

As Trump arrived at Andrews, directly ahead of his plane was the Air Force jet that was to ferry civil rights icon John Lewis's body to Georgia for his funeral. Trump did not go to the Capitol to pay his respects to Lewis over the past two days, and did not appear to acknowledge Lewis's plane.

Per the Dallas Morning News' Todd Gillman, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is flying with Trump today.

We are traveling aboard the large plane, the modified Boeing 747, tail number 28000.

We should be aloft shortly.

WH travel pool report 2 — Arrival in Midland

President Trump was greeted at the base of the stairs of the plane by Gov. Greg Abbott, new Texas GOP chair Allen West and a line of others at 1152 CDT.

The 2 hour, 45 minute flight was uneventful, with no visitors from the front of the plane. Pool did note the presence of Dr. Ronny Jackson, former White House physician and now the Republican nominee for a Texas congressional seat. He was chatting with Secret Service agents in the section directly forward of us. He was not wearing a mask (neither were any of the agents).

Air Force 1 took off at 0957 EDT and set down on the runway at Midland's airport at 1142 CDT. It is very flat here, and big. And dry.

The president climbed into his black SUV at 1154 after waving to several dozen supporters behind a barricade about 100 feet away. Pool was hustled into the press vans at the back of the motorcade, and at 1156 we are underway toward Odessa and his fundraiser.

WH travel pool report 2a — list of greeters

Per the WH:

The President is Met By:

Governor Greg Abbott (Tarmac)
Governor of Texas

Former Governor Rick Perry (Tarmac)
Former Governor of Texas

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (Tarmac)
Lieutenant Governor of Texas

Chairman Allen West (Tarmac)
State Chair of the Republican Party of Texas

Wesley Hunt (Air Force One)
Candidate for United States Representative from Texas's 7thCongressional District

Ronny Jackson (Air Force One)
Candidate for United States Representative from Texas's 13thCongressional District

August Pfluger (Air Force One)
Candidate for United States Representative from Texas's 11thCongressional District

Troy Nehls (Air Force One)
Candidate for United States Representative from Texas's 22ndCongressional District

Tony Gonzales (Air Force One)
Candidate for United States Representative from Texas's 23rdCongressional District

Beth Van Duyne (Air Force One)
Candidate for United States Representative from Texas's 24thCongressional District

Genevieve Collins (Air Force One)
Candidate for United States Representative from Texas's 32ndCongressional District

Mauricio Marquez (Tarmac)
Odessa High School Head Principal

Jeff Ellison (Tarmac)
Permian High School Head Football Coach

Harper Terry (Tarmac)
Permian High School Football Player

Brissa Hinojosa (Tarmac)
Odessa High School Cheerleader

WH travel pool report 3 — arrival in Odessa

The president's motorcade completed the 25 minute drive and arrived at the Odessa Marriott at 1219.

Occasional clumps of Trump supporters holding Trump 2020 signs and waving flags were scattered along the trip, most prominently just outside the airport and then more heavily on our arrival in Odessa. The vast majority were not wearing masks, but they were all outside.

There were also lots of oil rigs amid the scrub. A dust devil here and there.

The fundraiser here is closed press.

WH travel pool report 4 -- fundraiser

The fundraiser is taking place in the ground-floor ballroom of the Odessa Marriott, where attendees – most maskless – were lined up to enter as the pool was led past to a hold room.

Per the RNC, the event was expected to raise $7 million for Trump Victory, which is jointly run by the RNC and the Trump campaign, and also distributes money to 22 state Republican parties.
According to reporting from KOSA TV in Midland, tickets are $2,800, with $50,000 needed to get a photo with him and $100,000 for a seat at his "round-table" discussion.
One fundraiser related note: RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel flew aboard Air Force 1 from DC and got into a vehicle in the motorcade, so she is presumably here.

WH travel pool report 5 – leaving Odessa

The presidential motorcade left the Marriott at 1431 for the half hour drive toward an oil rig operated by Double Eagle Energy, a Fort Worth-based oil and gas company.
The president is planning to tour the site, deliver remarks and sign "President Permits," according to the White House schedule released last night.
The remarks are scheduled for 1520 CDT , 1620 EDT, and are to be live-streamed on the White House web site.
Two coronavirus related items: Congressman Louis Gohmert tested positive and did not fly on Air Force 1 to Texas with the others. And the GOP candidate for House District 7, Wesley Hunt, reported on Twitter that he tested positive on his way to the events here and returned home, as noticed by co-pooler Emily Goodin.

https://twitter.com/WesleyHuntTX/status/1288547827476463616?s=20

Perhaps relatedly, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Texas GOP chair Allen West and House candidate/former WH physician Ronny Jackson all piled into a van with about four others. None of them was wearing a mask

WH travel pool report 6 — arrival at drilling rig and "tour"

The motorcade pulled into Double Eagle Energy's Rig 43 at 1513 after a drive back on I-20, but past the airport, about 10 miles east of Midland. Groups of onlookers along parts of the route, holding up cell phones as the line of SUVs and vans passed, but not as many as on the drive earlier.

There are two tall derricks at the site. An enormous US flag is flying from one crane; a nearly as big Texas flag from another.

We are in a dirt lot surrounded by trucks. The president climbed up on a stage at 1516. He stood for some photos, not more than a minute, then got back in the motorcade. It drove a few hundred feet to a tent where he is to give remarks.

Apparently standing on the platform for those seconds was the entirety of the "tour" he is going to take here.

Pool walked over under the direction of staff. There is Trump rally music playing. Elton John. There are a few hundred gathered in the tent standing in front of small white folding chairs.

The remarks should start momentarily.

WH travel pool report 7 — remarks

An official from Double Eagle took the stage at 1524 and explained about his company.

He introduced Trump at 1528, who took the stage to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."

The remarks are being carried on the White House web site.

WH travel pool report 7a — participant list

Per the WH:

Today, President Donald J. Trump will travel to Texas to participate in a tour of Double Eagle Energy's Oil Rig, and give remarks on his Administration's actions to increase American dominance in energy.Double Eagle Energy is a mid-sized crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, and production company operating in the Midland Basin of West Texas. The company employs 160 workers, supports thousands of additional ancillary jobs, and produces approximately 50,000 barrels of oil per day.The following individuals are expected to attend:

The White House
President Donald J. Trump

Trump Administration
David Bernhardt, Secretary of the Department of the Interior
Dan Brouillette, Secretary of the Department of Energy

Members of Congress
Ted Cruz, United States Senator from Texas
Mike Conaway, United States Representative from Texas' 11th Congressional District
Jodey Arrington, United States Representative from Texas' 19th Congressional District

State and Local Officials
Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas
Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas
Rick Perry, Former Governor of Texas
Terry Johnson, Midland County Judge
Patrick Payton, Mayor of Midland, Texas
David Turner, Mayor of Odessa, Texas

External Participants
Cody Campbell, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Double Eagle Energy
John Sellers, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Double Eagle Energy
Garrett Martin, Executive President of Engineering and Planning, Double Eagle Energy
Blake Carpenter, Chief Operating Officer, Double Eagle Energy
Bob Lange, Vice President of Drilling, Double Eagle Energy

WH travel pool report 8 — use of "official" event for political remarks

Trump spoke for 24 minutes about his pro-energy policies, his withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, his opening up ANWR for drilling, his extension of LNG exports through 2050, his work to get OPEC to reduce production.

About 15 minutes in, Trump began using this official event, paid for by taxpayers, into a political event, attacking Democrats and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Biden by name.

"I don't think Biden is going to do too well in Texas."

Trump then spoke about Portland, said he had saved the suburbs from the "hell" of housing rules.

He claimed Democrats want to abolish religion.

Trump finished his remarks at 1553 and pool is being herded back into the vans as Trump signs some documents that he says will be great for the energy industry.

WH travel pool report 9 — back at Air Force 1

Motorcade left the site at 1600 en route back to Midland airport, as Village People's YMCA was playing in the official event/rally tent.

We passed the groups of supporters at the entrance to the drilling rig property, still waving and holding signs and again at the airport.

In an hour and a half in the motorcade, pool did not notice a single person who was visibly protesting the president.

The president's SUV and the dozens of other vehicles in the motorcade arrived at Midland airport at 1632. He was already aboard by the time the press vans came to a stop.

We should be airborne soon for the three-hour flight back to Andrews.

WH travel pool report 10 – in-flight remarks from Ted Cruz, off-record visit from POTUS

About halfway through the flight back, the president and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz came to the aft of the plane. Trump chatted off-the-record for just under five minutes.
Cruz remained for an additional four minutes and answered a few questions, including an explanation of Rep. Gohmert's positive coronavirus test, which he said took place at the White House Wednesday morning.
"At the White House. I didn't see Louie this morning so I found out - I found out when he didn't get on the plane."

Asked about what he thought of lawmakers wearing masks and do you need to wear them in the Capitol:

"I think the question of masks is overly politicized. I wear a mask regularly particularly when I go out in public and when I'm on the Senate floor I usually wear a mask. When I'm out at the grocery store I wear a mask. I think it's strange to see masks treated as this political talisman. I don't particularly understand folks who say I'll never wear a mask no matter what but I also don't understand a lot Democrats who treat a mask as a sign of virtue."

Cruz also acknowledged that his home state is competitive in this year's presidential race.
"I think Texas is in play. The whole country is divided right now, and the hard left is angry."
He said Democrats were able to increase their turnout dramatically in the last election, and the Republicans were able to keep pace. He acknowledged Republican problems with the suburbs across the country, and said voters in Texas' suburbs are moving the same way. "Texas is one of the most urban and suburban states in the country."
Nevertheless, he said he believes Trump will hold the state. "I think we'll win in Texas."
Cruz also gave a brief update on negotiations on the coronavirus legislation.
"There continue to be sharp disagreements." He added that he did not discuss the FBI building issue with Trump. "I didn't but I don't think it should be in the bill. I've said that as well."

WH travel pool report 11

Air Force 1 set down at Joint Base Andrews at 2029 following a 2 hour 42 minute flight.
Apart from the brief visit from the president and Sen. Cruz, the trip was uneventful.
The president stepped through the forward door on the plane at 2039 walked to Marine 1 parked a short distance in front of the plane and climbed aboard.
The helicopter was in the air at 2044, headed for the White House.Handing back to in-town pool.
Also — many thanks to co-pooler Emily Goodin for help, particularly with transcribing on the plane
Good evening to all.