Pool report #9 / arrival and AF1 gaggle

Wheels down at 2:12pm. POTUS came back to the press cabin during the first part of the flight for a gaggle that lasted about 10 minutes.

He mentioned that we would receive military escorts and later in the flight four Qatari fighter jets appeared on the right side of AF1, and it appeared a similar number on the left hand side.

Here are the highlights from the gaggle, with a major assist from co-pooler Jonathan Swan:

Meeting with Syrian president went “great,” saying he is a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

“He’s got a real shot at holding it together. I spoke with President Erdogan, who is very friendly with him. He feels she’s got a shot of doing a good job. It’s a torn up country.”

He said he thought Syria would join the Abraham Accords at some point. “I think they have to get themselves straightened up. I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to join when it’s straightened out.’ He said, ‘Yes.’ But they have a lot of work to do.”

A pooler asked Trump whether there was any conversation about a potential Trump Tower in Damascus. “No, that I haven’t heard. We’ll have to wait a little while until things calm down, a little while with the country.” “I think he’s got the potential to do — he’s a real leader. He led a charge and he’s pretty amazing.”

He said he didn’t discuss LIV golf and a deal with the PGA during his talks with the crown prince. They also didn’t discuss the 9/11families who want the Saudi intelligence agent to be extradited to the US. “I know all about it. But it didn’t come up.”

He said Putin wants him to attend meetings in Turkey, and suggested he could still be open to it: “I don’t know if he’s showing up. I know he would like me to be there. And that’s a possibility…I’ve been thinking about that. Now tomorrow, we’re all booked out, you understand that. We’re going to UAE tomorrow. So we have a very full situation. Now that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it to save a lot of lives and come back. But yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t know that he would be there if I’m not there. We’re going to find out. Marco’s going and Marco’s been very effective.”

Asked how Putin was handling things he said: “I don’t know. I’ll let you know in a week. I’ll let you know in a few days.”

He was also asked how an Emirati government backed firm doing a $2 billion deal using the Trump family company’s digital coin, and said he knew nothing about it. “I don’t know anything about it. I really don’t know anything about it. But I’m a big crypto fan, I will tell you.” He said if the US doesn’t lead in crypto and AI then China will.

He said that his trip does not sideline Israel. “This is good for Israel, having a relationship like I have with these countries; Middle Eastern countries, essentially all of them. I think it’s very good for Israel.”

On the hostage deal, he was asked what credit if any Israel deserves: “they’re fighting a long time, they’re warring, and I think they deserve a lot of credit, maybe the most credit. He wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for us, he wouldn’t be living right now, probably none of the hostages would be living right now. You probably have 20 that are living that were getting out step by step. You know we’ve gotten a lot of them out.”

“The 24 that are living is now down to 20,” he added. “And we got Edan out. It’s great. And his family is so thankful. We did a good job with him and we’ll continue to.”

He said his team had been in touch with Israel about his decision to lift sanctions on Syria. “I mean, we told them we’re doing it. The reason I did it, and I think it’s been very popular, certainly in the Middle East.” He said he talked to Erdogan and MBS who “thought it was important you do. It gives them a much better chance of survival as a country.”

He was also asked about Chuck Schumer saying that he would block Trump political nominees until there are more answers on the Qatari plane. “Schumer, you know, he’s become a Palestinian. There’s something wrong with him. You know, I’ve known him a long time and there’s something wrong. He’s lost his confidence, totally. There’s just something wrong. I don’t know what it is with Schumer.”

Asked if he’s considering secondary sanctions on Iran oil exports: “let’s see what happens over the next week. I don’t really want to answer it because I want to see what happens over the next week.”

Asked about sanctions on Russia for supporting Iran and continuing the war in Ukraine: “well, again, I don’t want to talk about it. But I’m always considering the secondary sanctions on Iran and drove them into bankruptcy. And there would have been no October 7, there would’ve been no money for Hamas or Hezbollah or anybody else. So I’m always…as you know I put secondary sanctions on Iran again. But hopefully they’re going to make the right decision because something’s going to happen one way or the other. Very simple. It’s going to happen one way or the other. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. So we’ll either do it friendly or we’ll do it very unfriendly and that won’t be pleasant.”

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Matt Viser

The Washington Post

White House Bureau Chief

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