Oct. 26, 2026 Pool Report #2

AF1 landed at Selfridge Air National Guard base at 1:38. Uneventful trip on the new, Qatari-donated AF 1, your pooler’s first chance to test out the comforts of the new plane and press area. (Better seats, more legroom, better screens, based on three decades of riding the older Boeings.) No visitors.

WH says among the passengers are:

Massad Boulos

Representative Jack Bergman

Representative John Moolenaar

Steven Cheung

Ross Worthington

Richard Walters

Walt Nauta

Chris Ambrosini

Matt Brasseaux

Joshua Hoyt

Natalie Harp

Margo Martin

A smattering of additional quotes from the under-the-wing gaggle at Andrews:

Trump was asked about a picture of Dr. El-Sayed appearing “in a white coat, despite the fact that he never completed the qualifications after medical school to be a licensed doctor.” POTUS responded: “Well I think he’s practicing illegally, from what I’ve been told.” He later said that El Sayed “was supportive” of the Muslim Brotherhood.” [El-Sayed addressed these issues at length in recent days.]

On Hubbard, the president said “He should have never been detained, and I got him back by asking Vladimir Putin to have him back and I gave nothing in return because Putin thought it was a reasonable request.”

On the deals he is now discussing with Russia, including the Alaska gas deal and Lukoil, he said, “we’re not going to be hostage with the oil industry over something, that, frankly, should hae been settled. It never should have started, the Ukraine-Russia war, and it wouldn’t have if the election we’ren’t rigged.” [He appeared to be discussing the 2020 election.]

“The election was rigged and stolen, and because it was rigged and stolen you have a war start that never should have started. And we’ve got to get that war ended.”

David Sanger
New York Times

David E. Sanger
White House and National Security Correspondent