VP Travel Report #2 - Azerbaijan - Gaggle and wheels up

The Vice President took several questions on the tarmac before boarding Air Force Two. We were wheels up at 10:56am. Please check the quotes to tape.

On him getting booed at the Olympics:

“I had a great time at the Olympics, and I think the media made much ado about nothing with the fact that, yes, in a crowd of 30,000 people, there were certainly some people who disagreed with my policies or the policies of the administration.”

On the President criticizing a US Olympian:

“Yes, you're going to have some Olympic athletes who pop off about politics. I feel like that happens every Olympics. My advice to them would be to try to bring the country together, and when you're representing the country, you're representing Democrats and Republicans, you're there to play a sport, and you're there to represent your country and hopefully win a medal. You're not there to pop off about politics. So when Olympic athletes enter the political arena, they should expect some pushback.”

On Howard Lutnick facing calls to resign over his appearance in the Epstein files:

“I've been pretty occupied the last couple of days. I haven't seen Howard getting calls to resign. We'll follow the story a little bit closely, more closely, as I get on the plane. But you know, fundamentally, I think the Epstein files, what they reveal is, certainly, you had a lot of very wealthy and powerful people who were involved in some very disgusting behavior. But I do find it's interesting that the congressional Democrats are so focused on attacking the president United States.”

On whether the President should apologize for posting the racist video:

“For posting a video and then taking it down? No, I don't think so. I think people post things on social media, and if you post something you don't like it, you can just take it down, and that’s what he did.”

On the status of the negotiations on new START:

“Yeah, I talked to Marco about it a couple of days. I mean, this is like an ongoing negotiation. Obviously, one of the hallmarks of the President's foreign policy is that he hates nuclear proliferation. And I think for the American people, this is the worst thing that can happen, is more and more regimes across the world getting nuclear weapons. The START treaty is an important part of that. It's going to change compared to where it was, and that's part of the negotiation that we're going that we're engaging in with the Russians. So, you know, we're going to keep on talking to people. We're to keep on trying to limit nuclear proliferation, and I'm sure that we're going to eventually get a good outcome for the American people that limits the spread of nuclear weapons.”

On the President talking about potentially sending a second carrier strike group towards Iran and whether he’s still confident in diplomacy:

“Look, the President has told his entire senior team that we should be trying to cut a deal that ensures the Iranians don't have a nuclear weapon. But if we can't cut that deal, then there's another option on the table. So I think the President is going to continue to preserve his options.”

Does he want to see regime change in Iran?

“I mean, if the Iranian people want to overthrow the regime, that's up to the Iranian people. What we're focused on right now is the fact that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. That's been the focus of the President's policy, even going back to the first administration.”

On reports that Vance opposed the Venezuela raid:

“Yeah, it's interesting. On any major foreign policy decision we've taken, I've seen reports in the media that either supported it or opposed it. I think the takeaway from it is that the press should be a little bit more mistrustful of anonymous sources.”

“My attitude towards the President's foreign policy is, number one, my job is to provide honest counsel, which I always do. And number two, when the President makes a decision, I support it and support it fully.”

https://otter.ai/u/Xz2MCfHBA8La4q-Ls1Tey1GcUEY

We are expecting a 6 hour and 45 minute flight to Shannon, where we will stop to refuel before heading on to Washington.

Kate Sullivan

White House Correspondent

Bloomberg News

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