Subject: Out of town pool report #1 — Boris Johnson bilat/gaggle
Good morning from Biarritz, France where POTUS has a full day of meetings at the G-7.
Pool arrived at the Hotel du Palais around 7:35 a.m. for the first meeting, a working breakfast with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Around 8:05, a smaller pool was brought into a hallway to observe the two leaders entering.
POTUS and Johnson appeared together at 8:16 atop the grand curving, blue-carpeted staircase and walking down to the main lobby.
They stopped on one of the bottom steps and offered brief remarks.
“You know who this is?” Trump said, gesturing toward Johnson. “He’s going to be a fantastic prime minster.”
Johnson said he expected a US/UK trade deal once “we work a couple things out.”
“We’re working on a very big trade deal and I think it’s going to work out,” Trump said.
Steve Mnuchin, Mick Mulvaney, Robert Lighthizer, Jared Kushner, John Bolton all cane down the stairs just before the principals.
Full pool followed them all into a small white walled room with blue carpet and G-7 signage and flags positioned at one end. The two delegations were seated across from one another at a rectangular table.
Then there was roughly a 10-minute gaggle following brief remarks.
Asked about what advice he might have for Johnson on Brexit, Trump said: “He needs no advice. He’s the right man for the job. I’ve been saying that for a long time. It didn’t make your predecessor happy...” but he’s the right man for the job.
“He’s on message there,” Johnson quipped.
Trump touted a “very big trade deal, bigger than we’ve ever had” is in the offing “quickly.”
Johnson said “I know there will be some tough talks ahead” but was optimistic. “There are clearly huge opportunities for the UK to penetrate the American market.”
Trump was asked about inviting Russia to next year’s G-7. He responded: “That I don’t know. It’s certainly possible.”
He was also asked if other allies have questioned his recent escalation of the trade war with China.
“No...what they’ve done is outrageous,” he said about China. “Nobody’s told me that. Nobody would tell me that.”
Then he was asked if he’s had second thoughts about escalating with additional tariffs on China and appeared to say yes. Asked a second time in order to make sure he’d heard and understood the question, he affirmed that he had and was perhaps rethinking his latest actions.
“I have second thoughts about everything,” he said.
Trump also said he’s not worried about the dip in the stock market.
“The market’s doing great,” he said. “The country is doing great. People were telling me yesterday, people are trying to copy the formula.”
Addressing the media, he added: “You people want a recession because you think maybe that’s the way to get Trump out.”
Johnson interjected to congratulate the president on the economy, but then also noted that the UK over 300 years has “benefitted massively from free trade.”
Trump asked him how he’s been doing “the last three years.”
Johnson was also asked if Britain’s NHS is off the table in any trade deal and said both he and Trump agreed that it is. “There’s complete unanimity on that,” he said.
Trump also said the US is “very close to a major deal with Japan.” He said the two sides have “been working on it for five months.”
Pool was ushered out around 8:30 and is on the move to the waterfront casino, where other bilats and official G-7 meetings will take place.
Please check all rush quotes against transcript. More TK.
Eli Stokols
LA Times, Washington Bureau
Subject: Out of town pool report #2 — Soon: POTUS arrival at G-7
A smaller pool has moved into place for POTUS’s arrival at the Centre de Congress Bellevue, situated atop a cliff at the southern end of the main beach. This is where meetings and bilats will be taking place.
The motorcade is due to arrive momentarily. POTUS will pull into a secure and potentially curtained off carport.
Moments ago, French President Emmanuel Macron walked through the gate and into the building with a large entourage.
We will be following POTUS shortly into the G-7 Working Session on the Global Economy, Foreign Policy, and Security Affairs.
And a big thanks to co-pooler Gabby Orr for sending out some of the longer quotes from the Trump/Johnson bilat earlier.