Thank you so much for the videos and pictures!! I missed the whole thing live. :-)
*Subject:* *Travel pool #5: Pearl Harbor/lid*
As an orange sun set over the Hawaiian islands and dark gray clouds gathered around nearby mountains, POTUS made a somber and short visit to the USS Arizona Memorial about 13 hours before wheels-up to Japan. POTUS & FLOTUS spent about 20 minutes at the simple yet stark shrine to the 1,177 crewman who died during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
The pair stood for about a minute in front of the white marble wall etched with the names of the fallen during a wreath laying ceremony. The first couple adjusted the wreath slightly before two soldiers placed it near the wall. The Trumps then threw white pekake flower petals into the water where the remains of more than 900 Arizona crewmen rest.
As POTUS left the main room, and his staff and White House press followed, his chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, slipped in and wordlessly took in the wall.
While Kelly absorbed the memorial, POTUS & FLOTUS stood in front of a plaque describing it. POTUS asked one of his hosts a few questions and nodded during the answers. Your pool was kept at a distance at which neither side of the conversation could be heard.
POTUS was escorted to the memorial on the Pacific Fleet admirals barge, a sharp looking boat with a blue hull, white cabin and adorned with US flags. A second, smaller barge, the Remembrance, carried much of the presidents staff. Most of the presidents top staff traveling with him joined the tour, including HR McMaster, Dina Powell, Rob Porter, Hope Hicks, Sarah Sanders, Matt Pottinger, Bob Lighthizer, Michael Anton, and Jared Kushner.
With the pool holding in vans, POTUS received a second private military briefing from Pacific Command leaders after his tour, and briefly attended a reception on Pearl Harbor Base at PACOM Commander Harriss residence. At the social, the President and First Lady visited w PACOM staff and listened to marine band, said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.
From his first tweet this morning at 6:51am Eastern, to the return to his Honolulu hotel at 7:33 p.m. Hawaii time, thats nearly a 19-hour day for POTUS on the first day of his 12-day trip halfway around the world.