Pool Reports of March 11, 2025

In town pool report #1 - 2 min to briefing

At 1:12 pm, White House announced a 2 minute warning for the briefing.

In town pool report #2 - Upcoming Trump photo op with a Tesla

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during the briefing that President Trump intends to invite the pool to see him inspect a Tesla at the White House this afternoon.

(President Trump is scheduled to depart the White House at 4:40 pm to speak at the Business Roundtable offices, per the White House daily guidance. So, the Tesla photo op will likely be sometime before his departure.)

In town pool report #3 - Pool gathered for Tesla photo op

Pool is gathered on the South Lawn driveway. Five Teslas are arranged in a row in front of the South Portico, including one Cybertruck.

We are expecting President Trump to walk out of the Oval Office to look at the Teslas.

In town pool report #4 - Trump Tesla quotes

President Trump walked out of the Oval Office with Elon Musk. Trump said he would buy a Tesla. He said he would not be driving it because he is not allowed to. He said the Tesla would be used at the White House.

Trump said about Elon Musk: "I think he's been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people. And I just want people to know that he can't be penalized for being a patriot."

Trump, asked about the stock market drop:
"Markets are going to go up and they're going to go down but, you know what, we have to rebuild our country."

He is still speaking.

More to come

In town pool report #5 - Trump quotes on Ukraine and self driving Cybertruck

Elon Musk is standing next to Trump. Musk's son is with him and is holding a black toy truck.

Trump and Musk both talked about Teslas. Trump talked about what he is doing with tarrifs. He took some questions from reporters.

On his own, Trump brought up Ukraine. Trump:
"Ukraine. Ceasefire. Just agreed to a little while ago."
"Ukraine has agreed to it, and hopefully Russia will agree to it."

Is Zelensky invited back to the White House? "Sure, absolutely."

Musk said a new Cybertruck won't have a steering wheel because Tesla is so confident in the "self-driving" technology.

Trump: "I'm going to pass on that."

He is still talking. More to come.

In town pool report #6 - Trump comments on Putin and Tesla sales, Musk on how long he will stay

Trump sat in a red Model X. Trump: "That's beautiful."

The two walked to a Cybertruck. Musk: "This is bullet proof."

A reporter asked Musk is he would remain CEO of Tesla while working with Trump.

Musk:
"Yea. I am CEO of Tesla and yea."

Trump pointed to Musk:

"This man is a great patriot and you should cherish it."

Musk was asked if he could guarantee there would be no interruption to be Social Security benefits. Musk:
"We are going to be very careful with any benefits. In fact, only by tackling waste of fraud can we actually preserve those programs for the future."

Trump was asked if he would talk to Putin about a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.

"I'll talk to Vladimir Putin." "It takes two to tango." He said he expected to talk to Putin this week.

The one I pick is that one. He pointed to the red Model X.

Trump: "I don't want a discount." He said he would pay with a check.

Trump was asked if he thought buying a Tesla would help Tesla sales. Trump:
"I hope it does."

Musk was asked how long he would work with the government. Musk: "I'll stay as long as it's useful."

Ended at 3:26 pm. Trump walked back toward the Oval.

In town pool report #7 - Correction - Trump sat in a Model S (not not a Model X)

Trump sat in a red Model S, not a red Model X, as I wrote in pool report #6. Sorry about the error. More quotes coming.

In town pool report #8 - Otter link for Trump Tesla appearance

Here's an Otter link for the President Trump and Elon Musk appearance:
https://otter.ai/u/hP15h9ASsrJDNkv5Ee8vI9a9kyA?utm_source=copy_url

In town pool report #9 - rolling, statement on Canada tarrifs/ Ontario Premier

President Trump walked out of the South Portico and stepped into the Presidential limo at 5 pm. Heading to Business Roundtable event.

From the White House Press Office--

"After President Trump threatened to use his executive powers to retaliate with a colossal 50 percent tariff against Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford spoke with Secretary Lutnick to convey that he is backing down on implementing a 25 percent charge on electricity exports to the United States. President Trump has once again used the leverage of the American economy, which is the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people. Pursuant to his previous executive orders, a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum with no exceptions or exemptions will go into effect for Canada and all of our other trading partners at midnight, March 12th." – WH Spokesman Kush Desai

In town pool report #10 - Trump at Business Roundtable

Trumo walked into the room full of CEOs at 5:15 pm. He sat on stage with Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco Systems. Other CEOs sat in chairs in the room. Robbins said this was the largest attendence they've had at a Business Roundtable annual meeting.

Trump about the CEO's in the room:
"A lot of friends in the audience. A couple I don't like very much."

Robbins asked Trump about Elon Musk and his work in government.

Trump on Musk:
"He wants to see the country straighten out, and he's done a fantastic job. He's found massive fraud, abuse, waste."

"We're trying to get to a trillion dollars. He did have an ability to do something a lot of people didn't think of. He'd come in with bigger ideas. We'd say, we want you to cut down the size of your agency by 2% and we thought that was good. He came in and said 80% and I said, what the hell's going on? 80% and largely--- We had to it carefully and we had some little hiccups, not big hiccups, but we saved a tremendous amount of money into the future."

Pool ushered out of the room at 5:22 pm. Pool will be holding in the motorcade.

More quotes to come.

In town pool report #11 - quotes on Ukraine and tariffs

**Correction: previous report said this was a Business Roundtable annual meeting. It is a quarterly meeting, not an annual meeting.**

More quotes

CEO Chuck Robbins of Cisco: "Congratulations on the ceasefire from Ukraine and Russia today. That was hugely significant."

President Trump: "Well it's Ukraine. But we hope to get Russia. You know, I've been saying Russia is easier to deal with than Ukraine, which is not supposed to be the way it is but it is. We hope to get Russia."

Robbins asked what the thread is that ties together his actions on trade and tariffs and the "large scale effort to root out wasteful spending in the federal government."

Trump: "Well, it's basically Make America Great Again. We have a bloated, very dishonest, in many cases, federal government and bureaucracy. That's been a long time coming. Somebody should have done this a long time ago. And we're cutting numbers nobody's ever seen before."

Trump describe his effort to get companies to build more factories in the US.

Trump: "Also very importantly, the tariffs. They don't want to pay 25% or whatever it may be, it may go up higher, maybe go up higher. Look, the higher it goes the more likely it is they are going to build and ultimately the biggest win is not the tariff. That's a big win. That's a lot of money. But the biggest win is if they move into our country and produce jobs. That's a bigger win than the tariffs themselves."

As the pool was being ushered out, Robbins asked what is strategy was to lower the overall cost of living and make everyday expenses more affordable. Your pooler could not hear Trump's answer.

In town pool report #12 - return to White House

President Trump's motorcade started moving from the Business Roundtable meeting at the Wharf at 6:21 pm.

As Trump's motorcade pulled away, a few pro- Palestine protestors chanted. One held a sign that read:
"Drain the Swamp Stop Funding Israel."

The motorcade rolled onto the White House grounds at 6:24 pm. Trump walked out of the limo ans into the South Portico at 6:25 pm.

In town pool report #13 - lid

White House press office called a travel photo lid at 6:43 pm.