In-town pool note 2: fuller quotes from gaggle

Fuller quotes from POTUS gaggle before he boarded M1. He seemed more unhappy with Israel than Iran over ceasefire violations. Big thanks to pJohn Bennett of CQRollCall for the assist in getting quotes, and to Fox News (TV pool) for providing good audio. Questions are paraphrased.

Otter link: https://otter.ai/u/Ua0pXwBi17-ilbVV5htkpSmcCkw?tab=chat&view=@@POOL_LINK_0@@

Q. reax to fighting after ceasefire

“I'm not happy that Israel is going out. Now, there was one rocket that I guess was fired overboard. It was after the time limit, and it missed its target, and now Israel is going out. These guys got to calm down. Ridiculous.”

“I didn't like plenty of things I saw yesterday. I didn't like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal. They didn't have to unload, and I didn't like the fact that the retaliation was very strong. But in all fairness, Israel unloaded a lot, and now I hear Israel just went out because they felt it was violated by one rocket that didn't land anywhere. That's not what we want. I'll tell you, and I'm telling you I'm not happy about that Israel either.”

“All I do is play both sides. I'm going now, as you know, to NATO, some of you are going with me, and I think it's going to be successful. We’ll see, I’ll let you know.”

Q. women in the Middle East.

“It's getting a lot better. Things are happening at a high level. And you know, Saudi Arabia has done a really good job. It's coming out far, far faster than I thought. So we're very happy about what's happening with women in the Middle East.”

“We have to have Israel calm down because they went on a mission this morning. I gotta get Israel to calm down now.”

Q. you urged both sides not to violate the ceasefire.

I think they both violated it. I don't think, I'm not sure they did it intentionally. They couldn't rein people back. I don't like the fact that Israel went out this morning at all, and I'm going to see if I can stop it. So as soon as I get away from you, I'm going to see if I can stop it.

Q. re reports that Iran nuclear facilities weren’t fully destroyed

“I think it's been completely demolished. I think the reason we're here is because those pilots, those B-2 pilots, did an unbelievable job. And you know, the fake news like CNN in particular, they're trying to, you know, they're trying to say, Well, I agree that it was destroyed, but maybe not that destroyed.

“You Know what they're doing, They're really hurting great pilots who put their lives on the line.”

“CNN is scum, and so is MSDNC. They're all, and frankly, the networks aren't much better. It’s all fake news. They should not have done that. These pilots hit their targets, those targets were obliterated, and the pilots should be given credit.”

“They're not after the pilots, they’re after me, they wanna try and demean.”

Q. can Iran rebuild?

“Iran will never rebuild its nuclear… From there? Absolutely not. That place is under rock. That place is demolished. The b-2 pilots did their job. They did it better than anybody could even imagine. They hit, late in the evening, it was dark with no moon, and they hit that target with every one of those things, and that place is gone. But when I see CNN, all that move is obviously, well, maybe it wasn't really as demolished as we thought. … That place is gone.”

“If you take a look at the pinprick, then you see that place is gone. And I say, I think CNN ought to apologize to the pilots of the B-2s. I think that MSDNC ought to apologize. I think that these guys, and these cable networks, are real losers. You really are.”

“They’re gutless losers. I say that to CNN because I watch it, I have no choice. I’ve got to watch this garbage. It’s all garbage, it’s all fake news. But I think CNNis a gutless group of people. And the people that run it, no one even knows this because it’s been sold so many times, but the people that run it ought to be ashamed.”

“MSDNC, a guy named Brian Roberts, he heads it, he’s a disgrace. He’s a weak, pathetic disgrace.”

Q Did Iran violate the ceasefire?

“I do. They violated it. But Israel violated it, too. … Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’d never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel.”

“When I say, ‘Okay, now you have 12 hours, you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran, either. But I’m really unhappy if Israel’s going out this morning because of one rocket that didn’t land, that was shot perhaps by mistake, that didn’t land. I’m not happy about that.”

Q: Multiple reporters, shouting. Inaudible questions.

“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing. Do you understand that?”

POTUS then turned and walked to Marine One. He ignored more shouted questions.

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Linda Feldmann

Washington Bureau Chief

The Christian Science Monitor

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