Pool Reports of June 24, 2020

In-town pool report #1 -- lunch lid

At 12:33 pm, the White House called a lunch lid until 1 p.m.

It's a relatively quiet day at the White House so far. The pool has been tested for Covid-19 and is awaiting the president's meetings with Polish President Duda later this afternoon,

In-town pool report #2 — pool called

The pool was just called unexpectedly. We're waiting outside the Oval Office

In-town pool report #3 — False alarm

After waiting outside the Oval for more than 20 minutes, the White House informed the pool that there will be no spray. We are now back in the press room.

In-town pool report #4 -- EO signing

The White House says the president signed an executive order. The pool was not there to see it.

>From Judd Deere:

The President signed an Executive Order that will enhance our child welfare system and promote permanency for children in the foster care system nationwide.

In-town pool report #5 — Duda Oval spray

Pool entered oval at 2:30 and left a few minutes later

POTUS:
“I don't think we've ever been closer to Poland than right now”
POTUS said he and Duda would be at talking about military, economic development and other things

Duda said it was a “privilege and an honor” to be at White HouseHe said he hoped to discuss the “nextstep in our relations” and to build an even “stronger alliance”
Asked why he did the meeting with Duda, Trump noted it was the first since the pandemic.

“I have a very good personal relationship with the president,” Trump said.

He then shifted to Flynn:

“I'm very happy about general Flynn. He was treated horribly.”

“What happened to general Flynn should never happen again...he was persecuted”

“He's been exonerated. I want to congratulate him.”

POTUS did not answer questions about whether he had spoken to Flynn.

In-town pool report #6 -- waiting for presser

The pool is waiting in the Rose Garden for the Duda-Trump press conference. The press conference will be carried live, so your pooler will only send along color that might not have been captured by the TV cameras.

The seats for journalists are separated, but they appear to be less than six feet apart. Two podiums are set up on a stage in front of several American and Polish flags.

There are two rows of reserved seats at the front. If you're facing the stage, Polish journalists are on the left side and U.S. journalists are on the right.

It's sunny and 84 degrees.

In-town pool report #7 -- Presser starting now

Spotted in the front row: Mike Pompeo, Wilbur Ross, Matt Pottinger,

In-town pool report #8 -- press conference over

The president started his press conference at 3:48 pm, and ended at 4:25 pm.

In-town pool report #9 -- lid

At 5:06 pm, the White House called a travel/photo lid. Have a good night

foreign pool report #1 Oval

When the pool entered the Oval Office, President Donald Trump and President Andrzej Duda were engaged in a conversation. After President Trump's opening remarks, President Duda said that it was a privilege and honor to be at the White House - as the first President of a foreign country visiting after the shutdown, at the end of the coronavirus pandemic. He expressed his hopes that the talks would lead to "the next step in our relations. And I hope that we will build together a stronger alliance between Poland and the United States of America."

Also present in the Oval Office were Polish Ambassador to the USA Piotr Wilczek, President Duda's Chief of Staff Krzysztof Szczerski and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak. Many thanks to my colleague Marek Walkuski, WH correspondent for Polish Radio, for his help.

According to the Polish Press Agency, President Duda said prior to his visit that he wanted to focus the talks on defense and military cooperation. In September last year, Duda and Trump signed a Joint Declaration of Defense Cooperation which involved the deployment of 1,000 US troops in Poland, on top of the 4,500 already stationed in the country. Other topics on the agenda of the visit: trade and energy, including the use of nuclear energy, as well as telecommunication security, 5G network development and technological cooperation.

It's President Duda's third visit to the White House and his fifth meeting with President Trump.