In-Town Pool Report #2: Gaggle Quotes

President Trump began by touting healthy economic numbers, noting that in comparison to the Biden-era "we have very modest inflation, which is what you want." He then took a number of questions.

Asked to explain sending a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Middle East, POTUS replied, "well, in case we don't make a deal, we'll need it." If a deal is achieved, he continued, "it'll be leaving very soon."

On the state of DHS negotiations, Trump said of Republicans, "I know what they want; I know what they can live with." He continued, saying that "the Democrats have gone crazy. They're radical left lunatics. That's why their cities are so unsafe."

Asked about his appetite for cutting a deal on the DHS shutdown, Trump replied, "we'll see what happens. We always have to protect our law enforcement," before pivoting to highlight reduced crime numbers.

Asked why the FBI hasn't taken over the Nancy Guthrie case, Trump said, "it was a local case originally, and they didn't want to let go of it, which is fine--it's up to them; it's really up to the community--but ultimately, when the FBI got involved, I think, you know, progress has been made." And asked later if the cartel or a foreign nation was involved in the kidnapping, he replied, "somebody either knew what they were doing very well, or they were rank amateurs, either way, it's not a good situation."

On the state of Ukrainian-Russian negotiations, POTUS said "Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensky is going to have to get moving, otherwise he's going to miss a great opportunity. He has to move."

Asked if Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would receive a pardon, Trump said, "I do think so yeah."

Asked if he would visit Venezuela, Trump replied, "I'm going to make a visit to Venezuela" but did not offer any additional details.

Thank you to CNN for lending the audio.

Best,

Philip Wegmann

White House Reporter

RealClearPolitics

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T: @PhilipWegmann