Pool Reports of June 17, 2024

In-town pool report #1: lunch lid till 1:45

Good afternoon, the WH called a lunch lid until 1:45 p.m.

In-town pool report #2: John Kirby to join briefing

The WH has shared that National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby will join today's press briefing with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Pool report #3: Briefing starts

Today's press briefing began at 2:10 p.m.

Pool report #4: Briefing ends

Today's press briefing with Karine Jean-Pierre and John Kirby ended at 3:09 p.m.

Pool report #5: Gather for POTUS bilat with NATO Secretary General

At 4:05 p.m., the WH called us to gather at the Brady room ahead of the Oval Office bilateral meeting with President Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, which is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Pool report #6: details on Biden-Stoltenberg meeting

From the WH:

The President is hosting a bilateral meeting with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

U.S. Delegation
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Jon Finer, Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
T.H. Kathleen Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense
T.H. Julianne Smith, Ambassador of the United States to NATO
Mr. J.P. Feldmayer, Director for NATO and European Affairs, National Security Council
Mr. Ernesto Alfonso, Director for the NATO Summit, National Security Council

NATO Delegation
Mr. Stian Jenssen, Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General
Ms. Benedetta Berti, Head of the Policy and Planning Unit, Office of the Secretary General
Ms. Farah Dakhlallah, Spokesperson for the NATO
Mr. Jahn Jeffrey, Deputy Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General
Brigadier General Gjermund Eide, Military Assistant to the Secretary General
Ms. Sissel Kruse Larsen, Strategic Communications Advisor to the Secretary General

Pool report #7: Biden sits down with Stoltenberg

President Biden sat down with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office at 4:13 p.m.

Biden thanked Stoltenberg for his work making NATO stronger, noting that more than 20 member countries will meet the spending commitments (2 percent of GDP) that were set and reaffirmed in previous years. Biden said he was looking forward to next month's NATO summit, the 75th.

More complete remarks from POTUS to follow.

Stoltenberg and Biden finished speaking at 4:18 p.m. and neither addressed questions from reporters.

Pool report #8: Partial transcript of Biden's remarks during Stoltenberg meeting

See below for a partial transcript below of President Biden's remarks during his bilateral Oval Office meeting this afternoon with NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg.

A big thanks to today's foreign pooler Richard Latendresse, whose recording helped supplement mine.

• I have to say ahead of time, we're going to miss you. [Stoltenberg's term as NATO secretary general ends in October.]
• NATO was founded 75 years ago. One of the lessons we learned then, and by standing together to defend [against] and deter Russia, have been consequential
• Together, we've deterred further Russian aggression in Europe
• We stood for NATO's eastern flank, making it clear that we'll defend every single [...] territory
• We have a very important announcement to make today: A record number of allies are meeting NATO's commitment to at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense
• And, in fact, the number has more than doubled since we took office, since I took office, and we look forward to building on all of this progress next month when we have our 75th meeting here in Washington
• And I look forward to our discussion [...] I want to thank you for being here, and we've got a lot to talk about, and I want to thank you for being here [...]

Pool report #9: Lid

The WH called a lid at 5:45 p.m.

Have a great evening!

Foreign Pool Report – Backgrounder on NATO Sec. Gen.'s Visit

Good afternoon,

I will be the Foreign Pooler for NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's Visit to the Oval Office this afternoon, scheduled for 3:30p.

The former Norwegian Prime Minister has been assuming the office of NATO Secretary General since October 1st, 2017. So, he has worked with President Obama, President Trump and President Biden. He is almost a regular at the White House.

NATO Secretary General Previous Recent Visits

The Secretary General has made a habit of visiting the White House in the weeks preceding the main annual NATO summit to prepare for the discussions. The upcoming NATO Summit will be in Washington DC on July 9-11.

He met President Biden here on June 13th, 2023, to prepare for the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on 11-12 July 2023.

At that occasion, "the Secretary General thanked President Biden for his leadership and the U.S.'s commitment to NATO in the most dangerous security situation in a generation." https://bit.ly/45rxm1c

He was also at the White House on June 2nd, 2022, ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on 29-30 June.

At that occasion, following the decision by Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership, Stoltenberg stated that "President Putin wanted less NATO and therefore he invaded Ukraine. But he is getting more NATO, with more NATO presence in the eastern part of the Alliance and also with more members." https://bit.ly/3KOLcBk

NATO Sec. Gen. Stoltenberg also visited the White House on June 7th, 2021, to discuss preparations for Joe Biden's first NATO Summit as President on 14 June in Brussels, Belgium.

At that occasion, following Donald Trump presidency and during the pre-Ukrainian war 'peaceful days', "the Secretary General thanked President Biden for his leadership and the 'powerful commitment' of the United States to NATO, saying that he welcomed the President's 'strong message on the importance of alliances.'" https://bit.ly/4eCbd4u

In the News

In an interview to The Telegraph published yesterday, Sec. Gen. Stoltenberg "revealed there were live consultations between members on taking (nuclear) missiles out of storage and placing them on standby as he called for transparency to be used as a deterrent."

He also "defended new plans to Trump-proof weapons deliveries to Ukraine."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/06/16/nato-jens-stoltenberg-nuclear-weapons-deployt-russia-china/

According to our Reuters colleagues, "This is nothing but another escalation of tension," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the NATO secretary general's remarks.

NATO later sought to clarify Stoltenberg's remarks, saying there were no significant changes to its nuclear posture.

NATO Secretary General Schedule in the US and Canada

The Secretary General spends 17 June in Washington DC.

Besides meeting POTUS, he also gave a speech in the morning followed by Q&A at the Wilson Center.

On 18 June, the Secretary General will meet with Secretary of State Blinken. A joint press conference is scheduled for 11:15pm.

Afterwards, he will meet members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He will also engage with US senators, including the Senate Minority Leader, Mr Mitch McConnell and members of the Senate NATO Observer Group (SNOG).

On 19 June, he will travel to Ottawa, Canada, to meet with Canadian PM, Justin Trudeau.

On 20 June, he will travel back to Washington DC, where he will meet with Jake Sullivan.

He will also meet with Congressman Mike Turner and Congressman Gerry Connolly.

Correction to Foreign Pool Report – Backgrounder on NATO Sec. Gen.'s Visit

The joint press conference by Secretary General Stoltenberg and the Secretary of State Blinken is scheduled for 5:15pm (CEST) on Tuesday, June 18 i.e. 11:15am ET.

Source is NATO Press Office.

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_226738.htm

Foreign Pool Report #1 - Bilat Biden-Stoltenberg / The Sec.Gen.'s perspective

NATO Sec. Gen. Jens Stoltenberg spoke after the President for a little more than 3 minutes.

He thanked POTUS for his "personal commitment. to NATO, to our transatlantic alliance, and also many thanks for hosting the NATO Summit here in Washington DC next month."

He described new figures for defense funding. "They show that across Europe and Canada, our NATO allies are this year increasing defense spending by 18%. That's the biggest increase in decades. And 23 allies are going to spend 2% of GDP or more on defense."

It "demonstrates that European Allies and Canada are really stepping up and taking their share of the common responsibility to protect all of us in the NATO alliance."

He thanked PTOS for "your strong leadership on Ukraine and congratulations on the bilateral security agreement you signed with President Solinsky with Ukraine."

"And I expect that when we meet next month, we will agree to have a NATO role in providing security assistance and training can also allies for agreed to step up financial support to Ukraine. This will reduce the burden on the United States and strengthen our support to Ukraine."

Here's the Otter of their comments:

https://otter.ai/u/oaAR0vfCVkOzS_6YV0Y_Q3U0ViE?tab=chat&view=transcript