Pool Reports of March 17, 2025

In-Town Pool Report #1 -- Homan Gaggle

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the White House, where I will be your pooler for the day. Tom Homan gaggled with the press for a few minutes this morning. Here are some quotes and full Otter recording attached below.

On why the plane was not turned around

"The plane was already over international waters with a plane full of terrorists and significant public safety threats and turn the plane around over international waters and refuel over international waters, come back with terrorists back to the United States.

THe president did exactly the right thing."

"We removed terrorists. That should be a celebration in this country. "

https://otter.ai/u/LicesqeXaXuzGRHorraWzffsya4

In-Town Pool Report #2 -- Lunch lid

There is a lunch lid until 12:30.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

In-Town Pool Report #3 -- Two Minute Warning

A two-minute warning for press briefing issued at 1:12

In-Town Pool Report #4 -- Briefing Starts

The White House press briefing started at 1:15

In-Town Pool Report #5 -- Briefing Ends

The briefing ended at 1:46 and latest roughly 30 minutes. A total of 21 reporters asked questions.

In-Town Pool Report #6 — Rolling to the Kennedy Center

The motorcade is departing from the White House South Lawn to the Kennedy Center at 2:38.

Your pooler did not lay eyes on POTUS.

In-Town Pool Report #7 — now rolling

The Motocade arrived is now rolling at 2:41.

An early pool report mistook the motorcade moving along the South Lawn driveway as rolling. Your pooler regrets the confusion

POTUS was spotted leaving the Oval Office and entering the beast.

In Town Pool Report #8 — Arrival at Kennedy Center

The motorcade arrived at the Kennedy Center at 2:48

It was an uneventful ride over with a handful of onlookers photographing/videoing the motorcade.

In-Town Pool Report #9 — Kennedy Center

The pool was brought into an auditorium very briefly where POTUS was was talking to Ric Grennell, who he named as Kennedy Center Chair.

POTUS did not take any questions and the pool was ushered out as quickly as we where brought in

In town pool Report #10 — POTUS gaggle

https://otter.ai/u/j8RRWugYN0gaHJlNFvR_2UHF1f8

In Town Pool Report #11 — Board meeting

Full qoutes to come on gaggle but the pool Keeps getting rushed from spot to spot. POTUS attended a board meeting. Among the board members spotted by the pool included

Usha Vance
Lee Greenwood
Maria Baritolomo
Laura Ingram
Susie Wiles
Ric Grennel

In-Town Pool Report #12 — Quotes from board meeting

POTUS — talks about cleaning up DC, complains about the graffiti on statutes and improving roads

"the Kennedy Center is a very big part of it" he said of DC.

POTUS said "top people under underneath President Xi and he'll be coming in the not too distant future.

"I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing but I thought it was important because I've been hearing reports and I thought it was very important to make this good. It's a very big part of the fabric of Washington DC and we're going to make our Capitol Great Again."

"just like we're going to make our country great again. April 2 is liberation day for our country."

In Town Pool Report #13 — Full quotes from Gaggle

POTUS gaggled with the press for roughly eight minutes in the basement of the Kennedy Center where cell phone service ranged from non existent to terrible. I sent out an otter. Here are full quotes

On Metting

We're here to have our first board meeting. Kennedy Center is in tremendous disrepair, as is a lot of the rest of our country, most of it because of bad management. This is a shame, what I've watched and witnessed. They spent a fortune, two, $50 million and they built these rooms that nobody's going to use, rooms underground. And I've often wondered, what are the big cubes that they have outside the Bucha, the cubes with a door in them so that people can get down to rooms that nobody's going to use. And it's a shame. It's a shame. The other thing is, I have a little problem with some people that work here.
Lee Greenwood wanted to sing a little song today, and because of the cost in the union structure for him to sing a song just for the board, it's the board meeting cost $30,000 at this except they wanted $30,000 to move a piano, so you can't have to fix it up. But it's really emblematic of our country at the Kennedy Center, you look at the columns outside, you look at it's supposed to be covered by something, whether it's marble or whatever granite or whatever covered they were painted. But bring it into more modern times, a lot of money has been given to it, and the money has not been proposed as they built rooms underground where no one does, no nothing that will not be used ever. We're not going to have people using such a waste of money, such a terrible waste, but we'll make it we'll bring it back. We'll make it great again. But it is so much like what I'm witnessing in other places.

We have open borders, we have men playing in women's sports. It's all the same thing. It's all the same mentality and thinking. So I'm very disappointed when I look around the bottom line, it has tremendous potential. And we'll work with Congress, as you know, it's very public, a very public facility, and we'll do what has to be done. We'll be having a meeting with the speaker in the not too distant future. I think it's important to save this structure of this building. I think maybe we close up some of the work that's been done and built because it was done terribly. The concept was very bad.

On why he came to KC today

This represents a very important part of DC, and actually our country, and I think it's important to make sure that our country is in good shape and is represented well. When people look at this, I've been hearing for a long time that they come here, and they're very disappointed when they come here. We want them to be excited. We're bringing a big move on to Washington, DC. We're going to stop the crime. We actually worked with the mayor. We took down a lot of tents, and we're all over the place in front of the State Department, and they did a good job of that. I was very happy with what the mayor did. He was able to get him out quickly at my direction and at the direction of the administration. This a big part of Washington DC.

On Shows he wants to see at KC

I never liked Hamilton very much. I never liked it, but we are gonna have some really good shows. I would say this, come here and watch it, and you'll see, over a period of time, it'll improve very greatly physically. And we're going to get some very good shows. The thing that does well are Broadway hits. And we have some beauty, I guess we have Les Mis coming, and we have some others, but the Broadway hits have done very well, so I'm going to spend some time we have a good board. In the meantime, we're running the country, and we're running it well. We have tremendous things to report.

On Putin Call

Tomorrow, I'm speaking with President Putin with Russia to save some soldiers who are in deep trouble. They're captured, essentially, they're surrounded by Russian soldiers. So I give it to you a lot of different I give you a lot of different things in one news conference, but it's a big deal. They're surrounded by Russian soldiers, and I believe it was divorced, and for me they would be, they wouldn't be here any longer. I was able to get them not to do anything at this moment. But it's a bad situation in Russia, and it's a bad situation in Ukraine. What's happening in Ukraine is not good, but we're. Going to see if we can work a peace agreement, a cease fire and peace and I think we'll be able to do it. I'm speaking to President Putin tomorrow morning.

On Ukrainian forces being pulled out of Western Ukraine and of pause on intelligence sharing contributed to loss of growth

Really the opposite. I think it was appreciated. And we have to understand that. You have to understand that if I see somebody doing something bad, that's going to cause a lot of death. The only reason I'm involved, and this is Russia and Ukraine, but a lot of people. It's humanity. I'm involved in humanity. A lot of people are being killed over there, and we had to get Ukraine to do the right thing. It was not an easy situation. You got to see a little glimpse at the Oval Office. But I think they're doing the right thing right now. And we're trying to get a peace agreement done. We want to get a ceasefire and then a peace agreement so strongly so we're going to see how it all works out. This was Joe Biden's deal. This isn't Trump's deal. This is Joe Biden's deal. He gave $350 billion to Ukraine and. And he shouldn't have done it. It wasn't secure. Europe gave $100 billion and it was in the form of a loan. They get their money back, and they should, they should actually have much more in it than us. But Joe Biden was grossly incompetent, and was a shame. But they did $350 billion we could have rebuilt our entire Navy for that kind of money

Hunter Biden still having secret service protection

I would say if there are 18 with Hunter Biden, that will be something I look at this afternoon. Okay, sir, I just heard about it for the first time.
South Africa, as you know is on a watch list,
because what they're doing to people is brutal, and I've stopped having money go to South Africa. You know that billions of dollars. So he's in South Africa. That's really interesting. All right, I'm going to take a look at

In-Town Pool Report #14 — Otter Board meeting

The pool was rushed in and rushed out of the meeting so the Otter is a little jumbled but here is the other recording from the board meeting.

https://otter.ai/u/B3bFm1ogHmFWVn_o2QI93MMs9SQ

Pool Report 14a — Resending board otter

Told this didn't go through so trying again

https://otter.ai/u/B3bFm1ogHmFWVn_o2QI93MMs9SQ

In Town Pool Report — #15 News on Kennedy Files

President Trump just announced he will released 80,000 undetected files from the Kennedy assassination tomorrow afternoon.

More to come.

Pool Report #15a — correction

Auto correct changed unredacted to "undetected." The correct word should be unredacted

In Town pool Report #16 — quotes on Kennedy files

You got a lot of reading. I don't believe we're going to redact anything. I said, just don't. But we're going to be releasing the JFK files

They've been waiting for that for decades. And I said during the campaign I'd release them and I'm a man of my word so tomorrow you have the JFK files.

The president said it will be about 80,000 pages and he described the files as "interesting."

More TK

In Town Pool Report #17 — Rolling from Kennedy Center

You got a lot of reading. I don't believe we're going to redact anything. I said, just don't. But we're going to be releasing the JFK files

They've been waiting for that for decades. And I said during the campaign I'd release them and I'm a man of my word so tomorrow you have the JFK files.

The president said it will be about 80,000 pages and he described the files as "interesting."

More TK

In Town Pool Report #18 — Kennedy Files otter

Otter of POTUS remarks on Kennedy Files

https://otter.ai/u/eRE6luNQ8rvuU6vnEM2r8zLyMSg

In Town Pool Report #19 — Arrival at WH

The motorcade returned to the WH at 4:38 pm.

POTUS entered the Oval Office at 4:40. He waved to the press before entering the Oval

As we were leaving the Kennedy Center, POTUS was asked a question about Ukraine.

Q: Mr. President, Ukraine has already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Would Russia agree to that as well?

A: "They would."

My thanks to co-pooler Jon Decker for flagging the question and answer for me.

We have a travel/photo lid at 6:22.

I hope everyone has a wonderful St. Patrick's Day and enjoys their evening.
It was a pleasure being your pooler on this very newsy day