Pool Reports of November 15, 2024

Travel Pool Report No. 1 - rolling

Good morning from Lima. I’ll be your print pooler for President Joe Biden’s first full day at the APEC conference.

The motorcade is rolling from the RON as of 10:47 a.m.

Pool was told the host country pushed back the time of the greeting, as other leaders were running late, so that’s the cause for the delay.

Travel Pool Report No. 2 - APEC arrival

Throngs of bystanders were out waving and filming the motorcade. There was a military band along the route.

Motorcade arrived at 10:58 a.m.

We're pre-setting now. More TK.

Travel Pool Report No. 3 - APEC opening session

Pool was pre-set in a room where the leaders are seated around a large circular wooden table.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was bouncing around greeting President Boluarte and others as the session was getting started.

Biden walked in at 11:04 a.m., extending a hand to the leader of Thailand as he sat down. He's seated between Thailand and Vietnam.

Boluarte had already started her remarks as he arrived. She's speaking in Spanish.

Secretary Blinken is seated behind the president.

Press was asked to exit at 11:10 a.m.

The People's Republic of China seat was empty.

From the White House:

Greeting the President on arrival to the Lima Convention Center:

H.E. Dina Boluarte Zegarra, President of the Republic of Peru

Travel Pool Report No. 4 - the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue details

From the White House:

The President is participating in the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue with Guests.

U.S. Delegation
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State

APEC Economy Leaders
T.H. Anthony Albanese, MP, Prime Minister of Australia
H.M. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei Darussalam
T.R.H. Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada
H.E. Gabriel Boric Font, President of the Republic of Chile
H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China
H.E. John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, China
H.E. Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia
H.E. Ishiba Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan
H.E. Yoon Suk Yeol, President of the Republic of Korea
T.H. Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia
H.E. Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, Under Secretary for International Trade, United Mexican States
T.H. Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand
T.H. John Rosso, Vice Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea
H.E. Dina Boluarte, President of the Republic of Peru
T.H. Cristina A. Roque, Department of Trade and Industry Secretary of the Republic of the Philippines
T.H. Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
H.E. Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore
H.E. Lin Hsin-i, Former Vice Premier of Chinese Taipei
H.E. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
H.E. Luong Cuong, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Guest Represenatives
H.E. Reem Bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, United Arab Emirates
Qu Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations
Sergio Díaz-Granados Guida, Executive President of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean

Pool is holding.

Travel Pool Report No. 5 - travelers with POTUS

Missed this one as we were running into the convention center – from the White House:

Traveling with the President via motorcade en route to the Lima Convention Center:

Secretary Antony Blinken, Department of State
Former Senator Chris Dodd (CT)
Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Communications
Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Press Secretary
Ryan Montoya, Assistant to the President & Director of Scheduling & Advance
Ethan Rosenzweig, Acting Chief of Protocol of the United States
Ashley Williams, Deputy Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Strategic Outreach
Ariana Berengaut, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor
Dan Benaim, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Speechwriting and Strategic Initiatives
Dan Erikson, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Western Hemisphere
Julia Reed, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
Charles Fromstein, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Visits & Diplomatic Affairs, National Security Council
Jacob Spreyer, Special Assistant to the President & Personal Aide to the President

Travel Pool Report No. 6 - Japan pull aside

The pull aside with Japan started at 2:27 p.m. Pool is not in the room for this.

Here are details from the White House:

The President is participating in a pull aside with Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru of Japan. This is the first meeting between the leaders since Prime Minister Ishiba took office. The leaders spoke on October 1 on the phone shortly after the Prime Minister took office.

U.S. Delegation
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President & National Security Advisor

Japanese Delegation
Mr. Tachibana Keiichiro, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Mr. Akiba Takeo, Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat

We're holding to go into the trilateral with Japan and South Korea.

Travel Pool Report No. 7 - trilateral with Japan/South Korea

Pool entered at 2:44 p.m.

The Japanese delegation is to the right and the South Koreans to the left.

Biden brought up North Korea's "Dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia."

He talked about how it's an era of political change - referencing PM Ishiba's win - and noted it would likely be "my last trilateral"

Jake Sullivan and Antony Blinken are seated on either side of Biden.

Yoon spoke first and then Ishiba.

At 2:50 p.m. pool was pulled. Biden stayed tight lipped as reporters asked about North Korea, what he's telling leaders about a Trump administration and whether he was concerned with Trump's appointments.

I'll send better Biden quotes shortly.

Travel Pool Report No. 8 - more quotes, more details

As promised – full Biden quotes from the trilateral with Japan and South Korea:

"It's a great group. Fifteen months ago we held the first-ever leader level summit, our three countries at Camp David, back in the United States. And it inaugurated a whole new era of cooperation among our three countries.

"It's part of a much larger effort, these past four years, to bring together America's Pacific allies."

"I'm proud, I'm proud of how far we've come since that historic meeting. Promoting development in southeast Asia and the Pacific islands, linking arms to secure the technologies of the future and countering North Korea's dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia."

"We've now reached a moment of significant political change. I congratulate the prime minister for – on his taking office and this is likely to be my last trilateral meeting with this important group, but I am proud to have helped be one of the parts of building this partnership. And I think it's built to last. That's my hope and expectation."

The President is holding a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea.

U.S. Delegation
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President & National Security Advisor
T.H. Dan Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Mr. Drew Arveseth, Director for Korean Peninsula and Mongolia

Japanese Delegation
Mr. Tachibana Keiichiro, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary
Mr. Akiba Takeo, Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat
Mr. Funakoshi Takehiro, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr. Namazu Hiroyuki, Director General for Asia and Oceania

Korean Delegation
Mr. Cho Tae-yul, Foreign Minister
Mr. Shin Wonsik, Director of National Security
Mr. Chang Hojin, National Security Advisor
Mr. Kim Taehyo, Principal Deputy Director of National Security

Travel Pool Report No. 9 - South Korean pull aside

From the White House:

The President is participating in a pull aside with President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea.

U.S. Delegation
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President & National Security Advisor

Korean Delegation
Mr. Cho Tae-yul, Foreign Minister
Mr. Shin Wonsik, Director of National Security

Pool is getting in place for the bilateral meeting with Peru.

Travel Pool Report No. 10 - Peru bilateral

First off - he didn't respond to a question about what his message would be to allies on the incoming Trump administration. He smiled at the shouted question.

Pool was led into the room for Biden’s bilateral engagement with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte Zegarra at 3:46 p.m.

Members of both delegations were mingling when we came in. The Americans were lined up on the left and the Peruvians on the right.

Biden and Boluarte were seated at 3:48 p.m. Biden made some joke as he tried to get his translator to work but he wasn't mic-ed, so pool could not hear it clearly.

Boluarte spoke first in Spanish.

"My only concern is my colleagues are not going to come with me," he said, complimenting the beauty of Peru.

"With your permission," he said, he wanted to highlight three areas of cooperation.

He the articulated the $65 million in Black Hawks to assist with drug trafficking and the 150 Caltrain cars going toward Peru's metro system.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was in the room and Biden referenced him.

"Every time my wife thinks I'm getting out of hand, she says I'm going to call him and have him send you to space," Biden said.

Please check transcript.

We were pulled at 3:52 p.m.

Travel Pool Report No. 11 - Peru bilat details

From the White House:

The President is holding a a bilateral meeting with President Dina Boluarte Zegarra of the Republic of Peru.

U.S. Delegation
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
T.H. Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President & National Security Advisor
T.H. Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath, U.S. Ambassador to Peru
T.H. Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator
T.H. Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
T.H. Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President and Director of Communications
T.H. Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President and Press Secretary
T.H. Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs
T.H. Chris Dodd, Special Presidential Advisor for the Americas
T.H. Dan Erikson, Senior Director for Western Hemisphere, National Security Council
Ms. Paloma Gonzalez, Director for the Andes, National Security Council

Peruvian Delegation
Gustavo Adrianzén, President of the Council of Ministers
Ambassador Elmer Schialer, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Walter Astudillo, Minister of Defense
José Arista, Minister of Economy and Finance
Rómulo Mucho, Minister of Energy and Mines
Raúl Pérez Reyes, Minister of Transport and Communications
Angel Manero, Minister of Agrarian Development and Irrigation
Julio Demartini, Minister of Development and Social Inclusion
Úrsula Desilú León, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism
Ambassador Roberto Rodríguez, Director General of America - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
María Eugenia Echeverría, Director General of Economic Affairs – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador

Travel Pool Report No. 12 - SAO gaggle on trilateral

A senior administration official gaggled with your pool on the trilateral meeting with Japan and South Korea.

We were told Trump did not come up at all in the meeting - which was heavily focused on the growing North Korea/Russia alliance.

Here is the Otter link: https://otter.ai/u/frWRltLNCULpNBLm8be1Q4CyQmI

Travel Pool Report No. 13 - leaving APEC

The motorcade is rolling from APEC at 4:26 p.m.

We didn't see the president depart the convention center.

More TK.

Travel Pool Report No. 14 - false alarm, still at APEC

We had appeared to be rolling and now we've stopped again.

Will send another one when it appears we've actually left APEC.

Travel Pool Report No. 15 - now we’re rolling

Motorcade now appears to be leaving APEC as of 4:52 p.m.

And just a note of clarification, the shouted question about Trump during the Peruvian bilat came after Biden's remarks and as we were being asked to exit the room - not at the top of the meeting.

I mentioned it first for its newsworthiness.

Travel Pool Report No. 16 - RON arrival

Motorcade came to a stop at 5:02 p.m.

We didn't have eyes on Biden.

There was at least one protester - on Gaza - that a co-pooler spotted along the motorcade route.

Pool is heading to a hold.

Travel Pool Report No. 17 - SAO gaggle on Peru bilat

A senior administration official gaggled on-background with the pool at the RON about Biden's bilateral meeting with Peru.

They said that the meeting lasted 50 minutes – and Trump, again, was not a focus.

"No it really focused on the current U.S. bilateral relationship."

"President Biden did underscore the importance of respect for democracy and – and strengthening democratic institutions, as he does in all of his meetings with democratic counterparts around the world. But it was, it was a meeting that was very much focused on the, frankly, the accomplishments that the Biden administration has had with Peru over the past four years."

Q – so Trump didn't come up at all? In any sense

"Not explicitly, no."

The senior administration official was also asked about the mega-port that China's President Xi Jinping opened at the start of this trip.

"President Boluarte did mention the port. But in reference to the fact that she also saw a greater U.S. support and investment in infrastructure in Peru. Infrastructure is one of her principle priorities. President Biden did caution that it's important for countries to maintain very high standards of transparency in – in their dealings with other partners around the world including China."

Pool continues to hold at the RON.

Travel Pool Report No. 18 - rolling to the gala

The motorcade is rolling as of 6:55 p.m. Pool spotted the Beast go by.

As you likely saw in the updated guidance, we are headed to the Government Palace of Peru so Biden can attend tonight's gala.

Just a reminder that this event is closed press.

Travel Pool Report No. 19 - gala arrival

The motorcade stopped at 7:08 p.m. We don't have eyes on Biden.

Pool is holding in the vans.

Travel Pool Report No. 20 - gala greeters

From the White House:

Greeting the President on arrival to the Government Palace of Peru:

Ambassador Luis Escalante Schuler, General Director of State Protocol and Ceremonies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru
General Gonzalo Borda, Secretary of Security, Government Palace of Peru

Travel Pool Report No. 21 - rolling

The motorcade was rolling from the palace as of 8:38 p.m.

Travel Pool Report No. 22 - RON arrival

The motorcade arrived at 8:53 p.m.

A number of people tried to cross the street through the motorcade but otherwise nothing noteworthy to report.

Travel Pool Report No. 23 - lid

The White House called a lid at 8:55 p.m.

Thanks to co-poolers Lauren Egan and Patsy Widakuswara for some vital assists today.

Have a great rest of your night!