Pool Reports of November 18, 2024

Travel Pool Report #1: Jon Finer briefing

Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer is conducting an on record briefing with reporters to preview the G20 meetings and President Biden’s activities in Rio de Janeiro.

You can listen in here:

https://pitc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_sPveIRXNSpC8XGQhRYc3ew

Travel Pool Report #2: pool holding & scheduling note

The travel pool has been swept and is holding at POTUS RON ahead of the president’s departure for the G20 Summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro.

Resharing the schedule below in local time (we are +2 hours ahead of EDT). Of note: there are currently no open or pooled press events on the president’s schedule today. POTUS has no bilateral engagements listed, although Jon Finer told reporters this morning during an on record briefing that the White House is working to schedule pull asides for President Biden on the margins of the summit. If those come together, the White House will provide readouts of those conversations, he said.

10:00 AM THE PRESIDENT attends an event launching the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty
Museum of Modern Art

10:20 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in the first session of the G20 Summit
Museum of Modern Art

6:00 PM THE PRESIDENT attends the G20 Leaders Reception
Museum of Modern Art
Closed Press

Travel Pool Report #3: Rolling to the G20

Motorcade is rolling to the G20 site as of 10:20 am local time, some 20 minutes behind schedule. First up is the POTUS hunger and poverty event.

As POTUS left the RON, dozens of people lined the sidewalks, holding up phones to take pictures of POTUS in the motorcade.

En route to the site, the press corps repeatedly saw individuals waving Chinese flags. In the distance, Christ the Redeemer could be seen towering over the city on the motorcade route.

Travel Pool Report #4: Summit arrival

Resending this pool report, which did not go through previously:

POTUS motorcade arrived at the G20 Summit site at 10:34 am local time.

Travel Pool Report #5: travelers

(Cell and internet service at the summit site is challenging, please expect delays and apologies if these reports are coming out of order. POTUS has arrived at the Summit site.)

Traveling with the President via motorcade en route to the Museum of Modern Art:

Secretary Antony Blinken, Department of State
Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, Ambassador of the United States to the Federative Republic of Brazil
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
Jon Finer, Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
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
Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President & National Climate Advisor
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
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 #6: surprise pool spray at poverty event

A few members of the pool were able to get into President Biden's remarks at the first session. He began speaking at 11:26 am. TV pool was the last to get in, so video will be partial.

Some quick quotes:

On hunger and poverty, he said:

"Since day one of my administration I put this issue front and center in my administration as well," he said.

He said that in the last four years, he has invested $160 B in global development.

He said crises have been exacerbated by covid, conflict and climate change and will take everyone at the table to step up.

He encouraged every one seated at the table to do more and mobilize private capital at scale.

Biden said that too many nations are forced to choose between investment and debt repayment.

He also made a point of bringing up the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan:

He said, "The United States strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should as well.

He also said, "Israel has a right to defend itself after the worse massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. But how it defends itself...matters a great deal."

"We're going to keep pushing to accelerate a cease-fire deal that ensures Israel's security and brings hostages home and ends the suffering of the Palestinian people and children."

"I ask everyone here to increase their pressure on Hamas, which is currently refusing this deal."

He called Sudan one of the world's "most serious humanitarian" crises.

He noted it was his last G20. He said this group has within its power to usher in a new era of sustainable development."

He spoke for 6 minutes.

Pouts was seated between Macron of France to his right, and Modi of India, to his left.

Leaders were around a very long oval table.

Three members of the pool -- a photographer, pool cam and print pooler -- were able to get in to the spray.

Per the WH:

Greeting the President on arrival to the Museum of Modern Art:

H.E. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Federative Republic of Brazil

Mrs. Roseângela "Janja" Lula de Silva, First Lady of the Federative Republic of Brazil

Ambassador Mauro Furlan, Chief of Foreign Ministry Protocol

Travel Pool Report #7: additional color from POTUS remarks

Following up on the Hunger and Poverty session, after reviewing the photos taken from the still photographer a few points:

As President Biden made his remarks, China’s Xi Jinping was in the room.

So was Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (who is representing the Russian delegation.)

Xi was four down from Biden on his left; Lavrov was near the very end of the long table, seated on the same side of the table as POTUS and out of eyeline.

Biden was near the center of the table, two to the right of Brazil’s Lula (only Modi was in between them for context)

The White House shares the following list of participants and background on the session:

The President is attending an event launching the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and is participating in the first session of the G20 Summit.

U.S. Delegation
T.H. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America
T.H. Jon Finer, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
T.H. Daleep Singh, Deputy Assistant to the President & Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics & Deputy Director NEC

G20 Member Countries
H.E. Javier Gerardo Milei, President of the Argentine Republic
T.H. Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia
H.E. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil
T.R.H. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China
H.E. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Macron
H.E. Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
H.E. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India
H.E. Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia
H.E. Giorgia Meloni, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic
H.E. Shigeru Ishiba, Prime Minister of Japan
H.E. Yoon Suk Yeol, President of the Republic of Korea
H.E. Claudia Sheinbaum, President of the United Mexican States
H.E. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
H.H. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
H.E. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa
H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye
T.R.H. Keir Rodney Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission
H.E. Ursula von deer Leyen, President of the European Commission
H.E. Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Guest Countries:
H.E. Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola
H.E. Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia
H.E. Gabriel Boric Font, President of the Republic of Chile
H.E. Gustavo Petro, President of the Republic of Colombia
H.E. Adbel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
H.E. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See
T.M.H. Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia
H.E. Jacinto Januario Maguni, Ambassador of the Republic of Mozambique to the Federative Republic of Brazil
H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
H.E. Jonas Gahr Store, Prime Minister of Norway
H.E. Santiago Pena, President of the Republic of Paraguay
H.E. MNasrcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic
H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar
H.E. Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of the Republic of Singapore
H.E. Pedro Sanchez, President of the Government of Spain
H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania
H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates
H.E. Omar Ignacio Paganini Herrera, Minister of Foreign Relations of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
H.E. Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

International Organizations:
Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group
H.E. Sergio Diaz-Grandados, Executive President of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean
Mr. Klass Knot, Chairman of the Financial Stability Board
Dr. Qu Dongyu, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
Mr. Ilan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Development Bank
Dr. Gilbert Houngbo, Director General of the International Labor Organization
Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund
Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States
H.E. Dilma Roussef, President of the New Development Bank
H.E. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Ms. Rebecca Grynspan, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
Mr. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization

Travel Pool Report #8: leaders photo -- without Biden or Trudeau

At 3:34 pm leaders began arriving at a platform in front of the water for a photo. This is not an official family photo, as I understand it, rather a hunger and poverty alliance photo.

A print pooler and pool photographer were positioned on a riser and saw President Biden arrive late --- with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at 3:42 pm -- just after the photo concluded and after leaders were already dispersing.

As the leaders were leaving, Italy's PM, Meloni came over to talk to Biden and Trudeau. I have pics that I will put in a link and pass on -- we are in the motorcade currently -- she apparently missed the photo, too. It wasn't immediately clear why or where she had just come from when she was spotted talking to Biden and Trudeau.

Biden was outside for about 2 minutes laughing and chatting with them. He had his Aviators on. It's a hot and humid 81 degrees in Rio this afternoon.

For the photo itself, China's Xi Xi Jinping was in the front row, so was Lula of Brazil, Modi of India and Albanese of Australia. Not immediately clear who set the order they were arranged in.

In the second row, center: Macron of France and Scholz of Germany, among others.

The text affixed to the platform read in all caps: GLOBAL ALLIANCE AGAINST HUNGER AND POVERTY

In a second line of text just below: RIO DE JANEIRO - 2024

Sugar Loaf Mountain and its cable cars were going up and down are in the background.

Motorcade was rolling from the G20 site at 3:58 pm for a break in the schedule.

Travel Pool Report #9: photo issue explanation

POTUS arrived back at the RON around 4:08 pm.

Pool is currently in a hold.

A senior official immediately came to speak on background after arrival about Biden missing the group photo: "Due to logistical issues, they took the photo early before all the leaders arrived," the person said.

The official said that this was purely a logistics issue and not about Biden avoiding a photo with Lavrov.

On another issue, earlier today, as leaders entered, there was a ramp entrance that Biden didn't take it -- and neither did some of the other leaders, per the source -- when he entered (out of view of press) because of "security" concerns.

A second official is briefing at the pool hold currently on Biden's agenda at the G20 and a debt financing and poverty fighting pledge.

More TK from the second briefing.

Travel Pool Report #10: SAO comments on investment pledge & earlier photos link

From the second administration official on Biden and the International Development Association Pledge following on the alleviating hunger and poverty session:

"This was a really important session for us, because it lifts up a lot of our priorities that we've been working on, not just in the G20 and for the summit, but throughout the last four years," the person said.

On the World Bank: there has been a push to make multilateral development bank systems bigger and more effective in fighting poverty. The big push right now is the replenishment of the International Development Association, which is the part of the World Bank for the poorest countries. Biden announced today that the US would pledge $4 billon over three years toward that replenishment, which concludes in December and Treasury is leading on when it comes to the negotiations.

"He's joining a few other countries that have already made an announcement, but we're hoping that you know catalyzes further announcements over the next couple of weeks on ambition," the person said.

The Biden administration pushed "hard" at the G20 to get countries to provide net positive financing to countries pursuing ambition reforms and feels it make "some progress" at getting countries on board but there wasn't "full consensus" and that will be reflected in the declaration. Biden called on creditors of all types to "step up their support" (not just the World Bank and IMF), the person said.

There wasn't time for a photo with Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, but the SAO said thy are still hopeful

The person also noted Biden's remarks on Ukraine, and Hamas and Sudan earlier today.

On climate: COP isn't usually taking place at the same time as the G20, so the SAO said that negotiations are taking place in Baku. Here, in Rio, they approached it by expressing ambition and support at the leaders level and left the details of the discussions to the forum that's taking place in Baku.

On taxing high income individuals: "We were really supportive of lifting that up in the declaration….The messages were very much in line with the fiscal policy that the president has been supportive of throughout the entire administration."

On the "pledge" and what that means for the next administration: US makes new pledges regularly, it is a regular line item, and the money comes year by year. "It would be in a future budget request," the person did clarify. IDA replenishments have come under Republican and Democratic administrations. It's "a fairly well supported initiative" and one of the "most effective and efficient tools we have to fight poverty," the person said.

Will any part of that $4 billion go out the door in the next 2 months? No. This is a negotiation with other World Bank members on the replenishment and reforms that they want to see. It's not just about money.

Anything that can be done to Trump proof?

"IDA has been strongly supported -- it's a bipartisan tool."

The person said that if they had a chance to make the case to the Trump administration that's the case they would make – it's not just budget support, the World Bank is helping countries make governance reforms, improve their social safety net, and helps with "competition with strategic rivals."

Also here's a file with the images of the leaders and their photo, sans Biden et al, and images of the president, Trudeau and Meloni entering after the photo had already taken place.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/tjee3ylryksyrkrubiy00/AFZCiltaqMaU8VzgRUKQIeY?rlkey=us9x67xfvu637pnj8b2qw4qdk&st=llhxcmcw&dl=0

Travel Pool Report # 11: holding and ramp quote

The pool is holding in a bus outside POTUS RON ahead of his expected departure for the leaders' reception at the summit site.

Following up on POTUS not using the ramp during the am greeting, in response to a question:

"That was due to security concerns. Several leaders from...countries that face high threats did not take the open ramp," the SAO said.

Travel Pool Report #12 rolling to reception

At 6:47 local time POTUS was rolling to the leaders' reception.

Travel pool report #13: arrival and holding

POTUS arrived at the leaders reception at 6:57, exactly 10 minutes after departure from the RON.

Pool is holding on the bus. The reception is closed press, and we don't expect to see POTUS.

Travel pool report: headed back to the RON

Motorcade was rolling from the leaders reception back to the RON at roughly 8:11 pm.

Travel Pool Report #15: RON arrival/LID

Motorcade arrived back at the RON at 8:23 pm local time. We have a lid. Night all.