Pool Reports by Jim Puzzanghera, The Boston Globe
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| May 31, 2022 10:17 |
In-town pool report #1 Good morning from the steamy White House grounds. Below is POTUS' schedule. Also, I'm passing this on about today's briefing. BTS is scheduled to meet with POTUS after the briefing. From a White House official: Global K-pop phenomenon BTS will join Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the top of today's Press Briefing, where the Grammy-nominated musical group will deliver brief remarks. The briefing can be viewed at whitehouse.gov/live/. DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR In the morning, the President will receive the President's Daily Brief. This meeting will be closed press. Then, the President will hold a bilateral meeting with The Right Honorable Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand. The President and the Prime Minister will continue to advance the U.S.-New Zealand partnership and their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. This bilateral meeting in the Oval Office will have a pool spray at the top. At noon, the President will have lunch with the Vice President in the Private Dining Room. This lunch will be closed press. In the afternoon, the President will meet with Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell to discuss the state of the American and global economy, and the President's top economic priority: addressing inflation as we transition from a historic economic recovery to stable, steady growth that works for working families. This meeting in the Oval Office will have a pool spray at the top. After, the President will welcome BTS to the White House to discuss the need to come together in solidarity, Asian inclusion and representation, and addressing anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination, which have become more prominent issues in recent years. This meeting in the Oval Office will be closed press. In-Town Pool Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg EDT 9:30 AM THE PRESIDENT receives the President's Daily Brief 10:45 AM In-Town Pool Call Time 11:00 AM THE PRESIDENT holds a bilateral meeting with The Right Honorable Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand 12:00 PM THE PRESIDENT has lunch with THE VICE PRESIDENT 1:15 PM THE PRESIDENT meets with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to discuss the state of the American and global economy, and the President's top economic priority: addressing inflation 3:00 PM THE PRESIDENT meets with BTS to discuss the need to come together in solidarity, Asian inclusion and representation, and addressing anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination Briefing Schedule 2:30 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre |
| May 31, 2022 10:54 |
In-town pool report #2 Pool is gathering for spray of POTUS' meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. |
| May 31, 2022 11:28 |
In-town pool report #3: POTUS says he will meet with Congress on guns At the end of the pool spray in the Oval Office with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, POTUS responded to a question about whether he would meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on guns by saying, "I will meet with the Congress on guns, I promise you." He did not respond to a question about when that would happen. |
| May 31, 2022 11:39 |
In-town pool report #4-- More from spray with New Zealand PM POTUS and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sat in chairs in front of the Oval Office fireplace. POTUS said "we need your guidance" and listed several issues including climate change, violence and extremism online, referencing the 2019 Christchurch mass shooting. POTUS said "there's an awful lot of suffering" in the US, referring to mass shootings like the one in Uvalde. Adern said, "Can I bring the sincerest condolences" for the shootings in Texas in New York. She also said she acknowledged POTUS' leadership on the new Asia Pacific economic partnership and his "significant leadership" on Ukraine. |
| May 31, 2022 11:56 |
In-town pool report #5: Some more from spray with New Zealand PM POTUS and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern both spoke about the importance of climate change. POTUS said Ardern's leadership has been "galvanizing action on climate change." Noting that climate change is "one of the greatest threats we face," Ardern said there was an opportunity for both nations to work together on "this incredibly difficult issue that will only be resolved if we work together." POTUS said he wanted to emphasize working together. "We are not coming to dictate or lay down the law." "I think there's a lot of opportunity to make the world safer, and deal with the environment," POTUS said. The White House also passes this along: Participating in the President's bilateral meeting with The Right Honorable Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand: U.S. Manifest New Zealand Manifest |
| May 31, 2022 12:13 |
In-town pool report #6: NEC Director Brian Deese also will be at today's press briefing The White House passes along that, in addition to BTS, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will be joined by National Economic Council Director Brian Deese at today's press briefing. |
| May 31, 2022 13:26 |
In-town pool report #6: Gathering for Powell spray [APP Note: See reporter's note in the following report about the numbering for this report.] The pool is gathering for the spray of POTUS' meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. |
| May 31, 2022 13:34 |
In-town pool correction The previous report on gathering for the Powell spray should have been #7, not #6. |
| May 31, 2022 13:39 |
In-town pool report #8: Powell spray POTUS met in Oval Office with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and said addressing inflation was his top priority. The plan "starts with a simple proposition: respect the Fed." POTUS promised not to interfere with the Fed's work to bring down inflation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who preceded Powell as Fed chair, also attended the meeting. |
| May 31, 2022 13:53 |
In-town pool report #9: More from Powell spray. POTUS began the spray by congratulating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on his recent Senate confirmation to a second term as Fed chair. Please check against the video. "I'm meeting with the chairman today and Secretary Yellen to discuss my top priority, that is addressing inflation in order to transition from historic recovery to a steady growth for American families. And my plan is to address inflation, starts with a simple proposition: respect the Fed, respect the Fed's independence, which I have done and will continue to do." POTUS said his job as president was to nominate highly qualified people for the Fed and "give them the space they need to do their job, not interfere with their critically important work/ that has dual responsibilities, one full employment, two stable prices." "Chair Powell and other members of the Fed have noted at this moment they have been laser focused on addressing inflation like I am and with a larger complement of board members now confirmed" POTUS said he knows that monetary policy will "address the crisis for the American people." POTUS also said he looked forward to Chairman Powell's continued leadership at the Fed and for the Senate to consider his final Fed nominee, Michael Barr "in the near future." Also joining POTUS, Powell and Yellen in the Oval for the meeting was National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, who your pooler did not see initially. |
Pool Reports by Mineko Tokito Abe, The Yomiuri Shimbun
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| May 31, 2022 10:04 |
Foreign Pool Report #1 Background ahead of the US-New Zealand Bilateral Meeting Good morning and Kia ora! I'm Mineko Tokito Abe with The Yomiuri Shimbun Japanese newspaper and it's my pleasure to serve as your foreign pooler today. At 10:30AM ET, Vice President Harris is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Ardern which is billed as Closed Press. At 11AM ET, President Biden is scheduled to meet New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who has been on a whirlwind tour of the United States visiting New York, Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and then back to Washington DC in the span of a little over a week. First Time Visit Since 2014: Prime Minister Ardern's invitation is the first time a New Zealand Prime Minister has visited the White House since 2014. The last US President to visit New Zealand was President Bill Clinton in 1999. President Biden, in his capacity as Vice President, visited New Zealand in 2016, where he was greeted by a "small but hardy band of anti TPP(A) protesters" upon arrival. Prime Minister Ardern has said the chance for an in-person meeting with President Biden is "invaluable," after engaging with him via telephonic and online exchanges, the most recent online engagement being at the Indo Pacific Economic Framework launch in Tokyo, Japan on May 23rd. She has also said, "That political engagement is really important to us and this time, making sure we have strong relationships with the United States while we have the war in Ukraine and increasing tension in our region is important." https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/05/27/ardern-heads-to-white-house-on-same-day-as-k-pop-stars-bts/ Prime Minister Ardern's Visit to the United States: Prime Minister Ardern's impressive and robust travel schedule both with a business and diplomatic angle has included meetings with UN Secretary Antonio Guterres, a "launch event for sustainable meat exports," a taping of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," meetings with members of Congress, a Harvard Commencement Address and reception of an honorary degree, signing an International Climate Partnership alongside Governor Newsom of California, and meetings with top technology executives from Twitter, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. She also held private meetings with Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Council Coordinator for Indo-Pacific, Dr. Kurt Campbell. And this is just the highlight reel! https://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/rt-hon-jacinda-ardern Instagram: @jacindaardern https://nz.usembassy.gov/pm-jacinda-arderns-harvard-address/ Logistical Logjams: This is not to say that the Prime Minister's tour has been without its hiccups. According to the undoubtedly exhausted press contingent traveling with Prime Minister Ardern, the 29 year old RNZAF Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing (nicknamed Old Faithful Betty by the media) carrying the delegation broke down in DC during the last leg of the tour, leaving the group to seek out commercial flights for their return to New Zealand. In addition to this misfortune, three members of the Prime Minister's official delegation tested positive for COVID-19, including Chris Seed, the chief executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Prime Minister Ardern's chief press secretary Andrew Campbell. According to the NZ Herald, the absence of a chief press secretary led to the Prime Minister arranging her own press conference with the traveling media. (Story below) The Prime Minister herself recently recovered from COVID-19 in mid-May and remained in isolation until shortly before her trip to the United States. All members of the delegation in DC were PCR-tested upon arrival, and will be tested again prior to Prime Minister Ardern's Oval Office meeting with President Biden. Gun Control: Although the main mission of her trip was originally focused on promoting New Zealand's exports and its reopening to international tourists later this summer, the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas last Tuesday has shifted the mood and tone of her visit. The massacre dominated her interview with Stephen Colbert and made her Harvard Commencement speech that touched upon New Zealand's swift response to gun violence following the 2019 terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, tragically timely. "In the wake of the 2019 shooting, New Zealand banned almost all semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles. The law change was passed near-unanimously, with a single dissenting vote." https://www.axios.com/2022/05/29/ardern-biden-meet It is also likely that although President Biden and Prime Minister Ardern are slated to discuss a range of issues from the war in Ukraine to IPEF to trade to climate change, the discussion on "countering terrorism and radicalization to violence both on and offline" may be brought to the forefront. On gun reform, the Prime Minister "has resisted saying what she thought the US should do, saying she can only share what New Zealand did" but that if the topic comes up in the Oval Office, she will be "open to sharing New Zealand's experience." Other agenda items are, but are not limited to, continued US engagement in the Indo-Pacific. According to NZ media, Prime Minister Ardern said, "we will be continuing to encourage the United States to really continue and strengthen engagement in our region, including economic engagement, which is really critical to our region." She continued, "what's really important is that all of our relationships in the Pacific need to be built in their own right, not because another country is present. This cannot all be about China." With Vice President Harris, Prime Minister Ardern plans to discuss space and cybersecurity. "Vice President Harris also has specific portfolios around space...so that is an incredibly important part of our relationship with the United States and also cybersecurity. So I'm expecting to have conversations around some of the issues that we've talked about throughout this week." About Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: Prime Minister Ardern, 41, was born in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand, and grew up rurally. She has been the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. She became the world's youngest female head of government at age 37. She gave birth to her daughter Neve in 2018, making her the world's second elected head of government to give birth while in office. She considers herself a social democrat and a progressive. She was raised as a Mormon, but left the church in 2005. https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/jacinda-ardern.html https://www.lottie.com/blogs/strong-women/jacinda-ardern-biography-for-kids Thank you for reading. |
| May 31, 2022 11:44 |
Foreign Pool Report #2 —Biden-Ardern bilateral Pool and traveling NZ press were ushered into Oval Office at 11:15am. Prime Minister Ardern arrived at the White House around 10:25am and met with VP Harris prior to her meeting with POTUS. P.M. Ardern wore a light beige coat and a lovely patterned summer dress, and sat intently listening to President Biden as he spoke first, commending her leadership, mentioning Christchurch and recounting his recent visit to Uvalde. If I heard correctly, he called the shooting a preventable, also using the word devastation. He asked for guidance on issues ranging from climate change, online extremism President Biden then spoke of his personal connection to the Pacific. P.M. Ardern spoke next, offering condolences to the Uvalde shooting as well as "anything that we could share that could be of value", bringing up how NZ was a significant advocate for CPTPP. She also spoke on the "significant opportunity to build economic resilience" in the Indo Pacific region, and commended President Biden on his leadership globally and on Ukraine, "as we look to make sure that we've strengthen the international response towards the threat to our values" She also brought up climate change as "an incredibly difficult issue that will only resolved if we work together." President Biden spoke emphatically about the importance of working together, bringing up his recent trip to Korea and Japan and the Quad. Please check against official transcript. Pool was ushered out at 11:22am. POTUS nor PM Ardern at first did not seem to be answering any of the shouted questions but P.M. Ardern looked bemused at the sudden cacophony that erupted after the quiet on camera dialogue between the two leaders. I understand that POTUS did respond to a question on a possible meeting with Senate Minority Leader McConnell, promising to meet with Congress on guns, but did not give a date. |
| May 31, 2022 11:48 |
Foreign Pool Report #3 ---Participants in the President's bilateral meeting with PM Ardern From a White House official: Participating in the President's bilateral meeting with The Right Honorable Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand: U.S. Manifest New Zealand Manifest |
| May 31, 2022 13:12 |
Foreign Pool Report #4 —P.M. Ardern's stakeout Prime Minister Ardern emerged from the West Wing at 12:43pm. She spoke of the already established working relationship with the US, challenges in the region and how she had a good conversation about IPEF. She said CPTPP continues to be a significant focus for NZ and gave an emphatic no when asked if she had "given up" on US joining CPTPP. Gun control came up, and she again emphasized that she could only talk on New Zealand's experience with gun violence and its response. She went on to say that her job was always to strengthen the relationship and that todays meeting was an "extension of conversations that we've already had," where the two leaders discussed their shared challenges. She said she and President Biden spoke for close to 1.5 hour, a little over the allotted time. She said she invited POTUS and VPOTUS to New Zealand, and said she spoke extensively on space cooperation with VP Harris. She did raise the tariffs on steel and aluminum with President Biden. On her whirlwind tour, she said, "we have done what we have come to do" On gun control, again, the Political system very different, we were able to have almost unanimous support on banning assault weapons She also said that "absolutely has an interest on what is happening to people of Ukraine" Please check against transcript. |
| May 31, 2022 14:53 |
Foreign Pool Report #5--BTS is the Briefing Topper Sensation The Livestream for this event can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEFMNXap8hk (The viewership was at 190,167 and climbing as I typed, prior to BTS taking the podium) BTS came out at 2:36pm, all in spiffy slim cut black suites and took to the lectern shortly after Karine Jean-Pierre introduced them: "Okay, so today on the final day of Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I'm excited to welcome some special guests to the briefing room today. While many of you may know BTS as Grammy nominated international icons, they also play an important role as Youth Ambassadors promoting a message of respect and positivity. After this briefing, they will join President Biden in a discussion about Asian inclusion, representation and diversity as well as addressing an anti Asian hate crimes and discrimination. As many of you know the President has led a historic whole of government approach to combat racism, xenophobia and tolerance intolerance facing a and H P i communities beginning his first week in office when he issued a presidential memorandum leveraging the power of the federal government to stand against this. The President also signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law signed an executive order to reestablish the White House Initiative on Asian Americans Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and funded critical research to prevent and address xenophobia against AA and NHPI communities. So without further ado, I will I will let the band take it from here." They each delivered a message. RM spoke first in English: "and it is great honor to be invited to the White House today to discuss important issues of anti Asian hate cons Asian inclusion diversity" The other members gave short uplifting messages on solidarity in Korean, which were then translated. RM closed the members remarks with: "Lastly, we thank President Biden in the White House for giving this important opportunity to speak about the important causes remind ourselves of what we can do as artists. Once again thank you very much." Interpreted remarks: "Today's the last day of the NHPI heritage month we joined the White House to stand with the A NHPI community and to celebrate. We were devastated by the recent surge of hate crimes, including Asian American hate crimes, to put a stop on this and support the cause. We'd like to take this opportunity to voice ourselves once again to say we are here today. Thanks to our army our fans worldwide, who have different nationalities and cultures and use different languages. We are truly and always grateful. We still feel surprised that music created by South Korean artists reaches so many people around the world transcending languages and cultural barriers. We believe music is always amazing and wonderful unifier of all the things she has said it's not wrong to be different. The quality begins when we open up and embrace all of our differences. Everyone has their own history. We hope today is one step forward to respecting and understanding each and every one as a valuable person. " There were shouted questions, and then a "BTS Paiting!" (good luck) shouted by a Korean journalist. Per a White House official, BTS filmed content with the WH digital team and also received a tour of the White House, prior to joining Karine Jean-Pierre at the top of today's White House daily press briefing. Quite a large Korean and Japanese press contingent showed up to cover BTS in the briefing room, virtually rendering the briefing room into standing room only. Fans have lined up outside the White House to catch a glimpse of the global phenomenon as well. https://twitter.com/josh_wingrove/status/1531700371973935104?s=20&t=ZoLQ... https://twitter.com/katiadmi/status/1531689695771500546?s=20&t=ZoLQ1IWQn... The BTS visit has also prompted the RNC to release a statement BTS left the podium around 2:43pm and now NEC director Brian Deese is briefing on inflation, although the press presence in the room has experienced significant deflation. |
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Pool Reports of May 31, 2022 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/356242