Travel pool report #8 — Remarks to service members

At 5:09 pool was walked into another room where President Trump and Melania were seated behind a table. This event was also being live-streamed.

Trump, reading from pages in a binder in front of him, started with a general message to service members thanking them and telling them most of them should have gotten their tax-exempt “special warrior dividend” of $1,776.

He said six units were calling in including one from Iraq.

Trump boasted that drug trafficking by sea was down 96% and said “now we’re going after the land.”

He said “I also want to recognize the crew of the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier. That's an interesting place to be right now, in the Caribbean Sea.”

He had just begun to receive video calls from service members when the audio and video went down.

“I think that’s the enemy doing it” he said after which the pool was quickly directed out at 5:19. We are holding.

Aishvarya Kavi

The New York Times

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