Pool Reports of March 29, 2020

In-town pool report #1

Pool just gathered for a spray in the Cabinet Room.

In-town pool report #2

Pool (after holding in hallway) was ushered into Cabinet Room at 4:05 p.m.

President Trump had been scheduled to meet with "supply chain distributors" at 3:30 p.m. today per daily guidance.

Trump was seated at table with 9 other officials spaced several feet apart, including VP Pence and company officials. Gina Adams of FedEx, Ed Pesicka at Owen & Minor, and Charles Mills of Medline were name cards pooler spotted.

Trump spoke about 2,900 beds at Javitz Center in NY. More quotes to come.

White House sends following:

Today, President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will meet with supply chain distributers in The Cabinet Room to discuss the response to COVID-19.

The following individuals are expected to attend:

The White House
President Donald J. Trump
Vice President Mike Pence
Mark Meadows, Incoming White House Chief of Staff
Jared Kushner, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor
Marc Short, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Tim Pataki, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison

Trump Administration
Adam Boehler, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
Brad Smith, Deputy Administrator & Director, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation
Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, Vice Director for Logistics, J4

External Participants
Gina Adams, Senior Vice President for Corporate and Government Affairs, FedEx
Bradford Connett, President, U.S. Medical Group, Henry Schein
Mike Kaufmann, CEO, Cardinal Health
Laura Lane, President, Global Public Affairs, UPS
Charles Mills, CEO, Medline
Ed Pesicka, CEO, Owen & Minor
Brian Tyler, CEO, McKesson

In-town pool report #3

Trump spoke for several minutes outlining some of the administration's efforts to combat Covid-19 to date.

Skipping ahead, Trump didn't take questions from reporters at the end. WH task force briefing still scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

Please check quotes against transcript.

In the next 100 days, America will make or require three times more ventilators than we normally do in an entire year and far more than that, depending on what happens with the Defense Production Act and some of the companies where we're using it.

Trump thanked General Motors, which really seems to be working very hard. Also praised Boeing, Ford, Honeywell & Hanes. Many others are repurposing factories to produce respirators and protective masks.

Trump asked company officials to speak about their efforts. Remarks concluded at 4:25 p.m.

Only notable back and forth by the president was on the issue of sterilizing and reusing masks, which is something the administration is looking at.

In-town pool report #4 - Rose Garden

The scheduled 5:00 p.m. WH Coronavirus Task Force press briefing has been moved outside to the Rose Garden.
Folding chairs were set up maybe two feet apart. A few more than the usual 14 scheduled reporters are attending.

In-town pool report #5

Pool is advised the task force briefing will begin at 5:30 p.m.

In-town pool report #6

The White House Coronavirus Task Force approached the podium set up in the Rose Garden at 5:41 p.m.

Just prior to start of briefing, aides set up another row of chairs in front of WH press corp.

Members of the task force sat in the front tie of chairs, including VP Pence, Drs Birx and Fauci, Seema Verma and others.

Trump started speaking at 5:43 p.m.

Pool urges all to watch this highly rated programming via livestream at www.whitehouse.gov/live or favorite news outlet.

In-town pool report #7 - correction

Typo in pool report #6—task force members are sitting in the front *row* of chairs.

In-town pool report #9 - lid

A travel/photo lid was called at 7:22 p.m. Stay safe all.