Pool Reports of September 30, 2020

In town pool report #1: Good morning

Beautiful day at the White House. Pool has been tested for Covid-19.

Not currently tracking any changes to guidance. So far.

POTUS is scheduled to travel to Minneapolis this afternoon, with departure set for 14:30.

McEnany and Navarro have both had TV hits this morning but declined to stop and talk to pool.

In town pool report #2: Lunch lid

?We have a lunch lid until 2pm.

In town pool report #3: South lawn

?Pool is gathered on south lawn for departure.

In town pool report #4: POTUS talking

?POTUS exited Oval Office at 14:33.

On debate

"We got tremendous reviews on it.
I see the ratings were very high"

"I don't know who the proud boys are"

"Whoever they are they need to stand down"

In town pool report #5: on white supremacy

?On white supremacy
'i've always denounced any form of any of that"

"Joe Biden has to say something about Antifa. It's not a philosophy."These are people" that hit people over the head."

Heads for Marine 1 after about five min

In town pool report #6: Marine One wheels up

?Marine One wheels up at 14:43

Also travelling Dan Scavino, Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks, Stephen Miller.

In town pool report #7: More Potus on Proud Boys

?As ever please check against audio

"Thank you very much we're going to Minnesota...
"I thought the debate last night was great. We got tremendous reviews on it. We're hitting what people want, law and order .
"Biden was unable to talk about it... because he'd lose the radical left..."But I thought it was a great evening

"I think the ratings were very high. And it was good to be there, felt very comfortable, and I appreciate all the good words.

QUESTION - WHAT DID YOU MEAN LAST NIGHT
"I don't know who the Proud Boys are, if you want to give me a definition... Because I really don't know who they are. I can only say they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work. Law enforcement will do their work, more and more.
"As people see how bad this radical liberal democrat movement is and how weak ... the law enforcement is going to come back stronger and stronger.

"But again I don't know who Proud Boys are. But whoever they are they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work.

In town pool report #8: More POTUS

?CONTINUES ON PROUD BOYS QUESTIONS

"They have to stand down, they have to stand down. Whatever group you are talking about.
"Let law enforcement do the work. Now Antifa is a real problem. The problem is on the left. And Biden refuses to talk about it. He refuses to issue the words law and order. You saw that last night when he choked on... He can't say the words because he'll lose the left.
"So he's got to condemn Antifa

"I want law and order to be a very important part, it's a very important part of my campaign. And when I say that, what I'm talking about is law and enforcement and police has to take care... and they should stop defunding the police like they have done in New York.

WILL YOU DENOUNCE WHITE SUPREMACISTS?
"I always denounce them, any form, any form of that. ...
"Joe Biden also has to say something about Antifa. It's not a philosophy
"These are people that hit people over the head with baseball bats. He's got to come out and he's got to be strong, and he's got to condemn Antifa. It's very important."

In town pool report #9: Final tranche of POTUS from departure

?DO YOU WANT TO DEBATE AGAIN?
"I hear he doesn't want to go forward, but that's up to him.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?
"I would like to. By every measure we won the debate easily last night. I think he was very weak. He Looked weak. He was whining. Yeah, we won the debate by almost every poll that I saw.
"If you look at the various polls -- I looked at about six of them -- we won every one of them.
"I don't mind debating him. I hear he wants to get out of the debates. I don't know, that's up to him.

DO ARMED RIGHT WING MILITIAS ON STREETS CONCERN YOU?
"Yeah, it does concern me and crime generally concerns me. Any form of crime. And let law enforcement take care of it."

WHY ARE YOU SCARED OF THE ELECTION?
"We had a problem in New York, we have 100,000 ballots that are a mess. They are all confused. They are all mixed up. Now they say they are going to redo them. But what are they going to do with the 100,000 ballots that have already been sent?
"This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's a big, big scale problem, 100,000 ballots went out to New Yorkers with the wrong names on them, wrong envelopes, wrong everything."

WH travel pool 1 — departure

?The president's helicopter set down on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews at 1450 on a beautiful, breezy autumn afternoon.

He stepped off Marine 1 theee minutes later and walked to the forward staircase, giving a thumbs up to the pool beneath the port wing but not otherwise engaging.

He waved from the top of the stairs at some photographers filming his departure and stepped aboard at 1454.

We are flying to Minnesota, first for a fundraiser at a private home in a Minneapolis suburb, and then a rally at the Duluth airport.

Both airports have long runways, and we are accordingly taking the large plane, the modified 747, tail number 29000.

Flight time should be just over two hours, and we should be aloft shortly.

WH travel pool 2 — Minneapolis arrival

Air Force 1 touched down at 1608 CDT at Minneapolis-St. Paul Internatonal Airport.

Several dozen supporters were gathered behind barricades across from the plane, in the Minnesota National Guard part of the airport.

It is chillier here, with sprinkles falling from the scattered clouds, or at least the one cloud above us.

The president emerged from the plane at 1623, walked down the steps and chatted briefly with a handful of greeters. Names to come.

He then went to the barricade separated from the supporters by a 10-foot buffer. He spoke to them for less than a minute before getting into his limousine. Pool could not hear a word. Local TV may have audio.

His motorcade is underway at 1628. Destination: a private home in Shorewood, which is hosting a fundraiser for his campaign and the RNC.

WH travel pool report 2a — greeters

? Per the WH:Met By:

State Senator Paul Gazelka
Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate and State Senator from Minnesota's 9th Senate District

Maralee Gazelka
Spouse of Leader Paul Gazelka

Leader Kurt Daudt
Minority Leader of the Minnesota House andRepresentative from Minnesota's 31st Congressional District

Jason Lewis
Republican Nominee for Senate from the State of Minnesota

Major General Shawn Manke
Adjunct General of the Minnesota National Guard

Col James Cleet
Wing Commander, 133rd Air National Guard

Chief Master Sargent Mark Legvold
133rd Air National guard

WH travel pool 3 – arrival at fundraiser

?The president's motorcade arrived at the home at the northwest corner of Edgewood Road and Grant Lorenz Road at 1702 after a 34-minute drive from the airport.

The drive was uneventful, passing clusters of Trump supporters along the way, along with the occasional group of Biden supporters.

This changed as we entered the Shorewood Pond subdivision, where boisterous pro-Biden groups predominated. Hand-letter signs included: LIAR and Worst POTUS. The largest sign – about four feet by eight -- read simply UNFIT, with the depiction of a large yellow tuft of hair combed over the top.

Chants of "Liar!" could be heard despite the closed windows.

According to a Republican National Committee official, the event is expected to bring in $7 million for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee run by and benefitting the Trump campaign and the party.

Pool will attempt to learn more about the host and attendees. The street address could possibly be on Birch Bluff Road. The mailbox at the entrance had the number: 26310.

WH travel pool 4 – fundraiser details

?The home at 26310 Birch Bluff Road is owned, according to Hennepin County records, by DMA Investments LLC.

DMA Investments is linked to Martin Davis, a prominent GOP donor and a member of a wealthy Minnesota family with a number of businesses, including Cambria USA, a quartz countertop maker, and Davis Family Dairies.

The house itself, on the south shore of Lake Minnetonka, was built in 2015 and has an assessed value of $16.3 million.

According to Realtor.com, it has 37,000 square feet. According to city council records, the property was given permission to build a batting cage there, so long as trees were planted so that it was not visible by neighbors.

Pool did, in fact, observe a batting cage as the press vans drove past it, despite the shielding trees.

WH travel pool 5 – Shorewood departure

?The motorcade left Birch Bluff Road at 1835, bound for the Minneapolis airport, and from there to Duluth for the president's rally.

WH travel pool 6 – Minneapolis departure

The motorcade arrived back at Minneapolis-St. Paul Internatonal at 1906.

The president was already out of his limo and climbing the fold-out stairs at the front by the time the press vans came to a stop.

We should in the air shortly for the quick flight north.

WH travel pool 7 – Duluth arrival

?Air Force 1 set down at Duluth International Airport at 1959 still in Central Daylight Time.

Pool was escorted to a work area outside a hangar as "Gloria" pounded at high decibels.

There appear to be several thousand here, almost all of them outside. Many wearing face masks, most not. It is very chilly, with a cold breeze. Rain is likely within the hour.

The stage is set in front of a set of bleachers and near an arrangement of cut logs. A large US flag hung from a pair of cranes.

The stepped out of the plane at 2014, came down the stairs, and took the stage at 2017.

The president's rally is open to pre-credentialed press and is being carried live on C-span and possibly others.

WH travel pool 8 – Rally over, back aboard AF 1

?The president wrapped up his remarks – 45 minutes of attacks on Joe Biden, false and exaggerated claims about his accomplishments, etc. — at 2102.

Pool began packing up to head back toward the plane as he got to the part of the speech where residents are said to be descendants of pioneers and great patriots, and there is a naming of various towns and cities in that particular state.

Trump was back aboard at 2106 and we should be airborne within a few minutes for the two-hour flight back to Washington.

WH travel pool 9 — Return to Andrews, Meadows visit

?Air Force 1 landed at Joint Base Andrews at 0004 EDT.

Chief of staff Mark Meadows came to visit with a couple of pieces of news halfway through the 1 hr, 44 minute flight back.

First: The CR was delivered to the WH Wednesday afternoon, and the president was planning to sign it immediately upon his return to the White House.

Second: Meadows characterized the White House offer on the stimulus package as "extremely generous" and said he hopes an agreement can be found quickly, particularly in light of the news that American Airlines is moving forward with furloughs and other airlines might follow suit. He said the $20 billion for the airlines in the WH offer would let them continue paying their workers for another six months.

The president stepped through the forward door of the plane at 0013, walked down the steps and walked the 51 paces to where Marine 1 was waiting. He climbed aboard the helicopter, and it was airborne at 0020, heading back toward the White House.

Handing back to the in-town pool.

If you're still awake, I'm questioning your life choices.

Bonne nuit.

In town pool report #10: White House return

?Marine One was wheels down on south lawn at 00:30.

POTUS emerged a couple of minutes later saluted the guard, gave a wave to pool, followed by a thumbs up, and walked directly to the residence.

In town pool neglected to count the paces.

In town pool report #11: lid

?Travel/photo lid called at 00:38.

Good night.