Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day With The President

The press piled into the presidential motorcade, which had parked just feet from the U.S. Capitol. Within seconds, we were zipping through the D.C. streets, lights flashing, on our way back to the White House.

President Donald Trump had just finished the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon on Capitol Hill. Bagpipes echoed through the halls as an Irish ensemble performed for the president, White House staff and members of Congress. In a few hours, he’d head to the East Room for the traditional Shamrock Bowl presentation.

“This is the best St. Patrick’s Day ever,” I told the other reporters as we waved to tourists lining the sidewalks, snapping photos of the iconic motorcade. Heads nodded in agreement.

One correspondent pointed out where she and her family were standing when she was a child visiting D.C. on St. Patrick’s Day. She had seen the presidential motorcade that day, and today she was in it.

St. Patrick’s Day has always been my favorite holiday. A few years ago, my perfect celebration meant green outfits, friends and a few pints. I’ll still squeeze that in this weekend, but nothing will ever top spending the day shadowing the president.

The day began with a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office between the Taoiseach of Ireland and President Trump. These meetings are particularly crowded. Any time another world leader comes to visit, their press also makes a trip over.

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Photo by Reagan Reese/Daily Caller

Oval bilaterals are usually press-pool only, and I was in the rotation that day. For anyone new to my columns, the press pool is the small, rotating group of reporters who cover the president’s every public move. Bigger events might open up to more outlets, but tight venues like the Oval or Air Force One stay limited.

Foreign press are always pushy and eager to see their leader. Tuesday was no different. Despite holding my spot at the front of the line to get into the Oval Office for nearly two hours, Ireland’s press corps pushed past me and the other U.S. press that had been in the front.

This left me with a tough spot, in the back of the room with really no view of the president. There was a velvet rope that the press is supposed to stand behind. Right in front of the rope was a perfect spot to stand.

And so I did what any good reporter would do.

As the president turned his head in my direction, I snuck in front of that velvet rope to where he could see me. He spotted me and pointed in my direction. I had the next question.

Just moments before we entered the Oval Office, the president’s Director of National Counterterrorism resigned. Joe Kent wrote that he was resigning because he couldn’t support the president’s war with Iran.

I asked the president for his reaction.

Trump told me “it’s a good thing” Joe Kent has resigned since he didn’t think Iran was a threat. He added that he is a good guy but thought he was weak on security.

“When somebody is working with us that says they didn’t think Iran was a threat — we don’t want those people,” he added.

And with that, a White House aide yanked me back behind the velvet rope. I joked to some colleagues that I was put in “time out.” It was worth it.

Once we wrapped up in the Oval Office, we headed out to the presidential motorcade. Like I mentioned earlier, we went to the hill for the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon.

There was just an hour or so of free time between the lunch and the president’s evening event: the Shamrock Bowl Presentation.

With only an hour or so between that and the evening Shamrock Bowl ceremony, I used the downtime to chase the Kent story. I texted sources for more context beyond the administration’s line.

In the hours after Joe Kent resigned over the Iran-U.S. conflict, two Trump officials told me that he had been kept out of all discussions on Iran.

One senior official alleged that Kent was even removed from Trump’s daily intelligence briefings months before because he was a known leaker. But the two sources differed on whether the White House was asking for Kent to be fired.

One official told me that the White House never pushed for Kent’s dismissal, and that Gabbard would have done it if they had requested it. The second admin official, one with senior status, said that the White House did want Kent fired over suspected leaks, but he never was.

The day wrapped in the packed East Room, where the Taoiseach presented President Trump with the Shamrock Bowl, a crystal vessel filled with fresh Irish shamrocks, symbolizing friendship. Visibility was tough from my spot, so I spent much of the ceremony drafting the Kent story on my phone.

But I did snag this photo of myself next to the giant Martha Washington portrait. When you’re in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day, you have to soak it all in.

From motorcade waves to Oval scoops to a front-row seat on major news breaking in real time, this was one for the books. Here’s to more days like this (and maybe a green beer or two this weekend).

Photo showing Daily Caller White House Correspondent Reagan Reese beside the portrait of First Lady Martha Washington in the White House. Photo by Reagan Reese/Daily Caller