Subject: WH out of town pool #1
Trump arrived at JBA at 1:08 pm.
He waved to reporters as he walked toward the plane’s staircase.
Accompanying the president on the plane are Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Andrew Wheeler and Bill Wareham of the EPA. Ernst, Fischer, Wheeler and Wareham briefly spotted by the press cabin to say hello before POTUS arrived.
Staffers spotted boarding the plane include Emma Doyle, Scavino, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
FYI: George Stephanopoulos is also flying on AF1 to Iowa (sitting in one of the front cabins). He declined to say why he was making the trip. A WH official said he is scheduled to interview POTUS and that the interview should air on Sunday.
Wheels up for Iowa shortly at 1:12pm.
Subject: In-town Pool Report No. 4 – More from departure remarks
Marine One lifted off at 1pm after POTUS spoke to pool for approximately 20 minutes. He was followed onto the helo by Sarah Sanders, Dan Scavino and Emma Doyle.
Asked about his trip to Iowa this afternoon, POTUS said he’s “the best thing that has happened to the farmers.” He referenced his administration’s efforts to lift restrictions on ethanol in gasoline, saying, “We gave them ethanol, which nobody was ever going to do, which Biden didn’t do in eight years as vice president.”
He ignored questions about whether he instructed staff to lie about his poll numbers. Instead, he responded: “My poll numbers are great. The amazing thing is all I do is get hit by this phony witch hunt.”
On Pelosi/Democrats: “Nancy is a mess... they are guilty of many, many crimes. All they do is waste time where there is no obstruction, no collusion. And in the meantime, we can’t get anything done. We need them to work on illegal immigration, on drug prices, on infrastructure.”
“Pelosi attacked me. She made a horrible statement that I’m sure she wished she didn’t make... while I was with the Queen of England, while I was with the president of France, and you’re not supposed to do that, OK?”
POTUS declined to say if Mexico, as part of their agreement with his administration, will become a safe third country for asylum seekers. “I don’t want to say and you can just figure it out yourselves. A lot of people are saying that – good luck. I’m not going to say one way or another.”
On China, he said he and President Xi Jinping still have a “very good” relationship, but that both leaders are firmly representing their countries. “I think that China, I can tell you China would like to make a deal very badly.”
He also mentioned Biden comments about China. “Joe Biden thought China was not a competitor of ours. Joe Biden is a dummy. China made $500 billion over a short period of time against Obama, Biden. China is a major competitor and right now China wants to make a deal very badly. It’s me right now that’s holding up a deal.”
Finally, POTUS was asked about the status of Patrick Shanahan’s nomination for Defense secretary. He repeatedly said he already nominated him after reporters asked why Shanahan’s nomination hasn’t been submitted to the Senate.