White House Gaggle

By Scott McClellan
Office of the Press Secretary
(Crawford, Texas)
April 11, 2005

For Immediate Release
Crawford Middle School
Crawford, Texas

3:30 P.M. CDT

MR. McCLELLAN: All right, let me -- I just came over here to kind of


give a little bit more of a readout on the meeting and answer whatever
questions you might have on it.

First of all, I would describe the meetings as very warm and friendly.
They had a very warm and friendly visit, both during the meeting at the
President's office, which you all covered afterwards, and then at the
lunch, as well. And the focus, really, of the meeting was on how to
move forward in the Middle East and how to make the Prime Minister's
disengagement plan work. You heard some of the discussion during the
Q&A with the pool. And you heard the President talk about the
importance of Israelis and Palestinians coordinating on this effort.



And Prime Minister Sharon, as you heard in the remarks, made an offer to
coordinate with the Palestinian leadership. And the President urged the
Palestinian leadership to accept Israel's offer to coordinate on the
withdrawal. And that was really where a lot of the focus of the initial
-- of the meeting was at the President's office, there on the ranch.



And they also spent time talking about the importance of improving -- of
Israel working to improve the situation for the Palestinians in the West
Bank area, and the importance of working together with President Abbas
and supporting his efforts to move forward on building the institutions
for a viable democracy to emerge.



So that was where much of the discussion was focused. They also talked
about Lebanon and Syria; they talked about the importance of helping
democracy succeed in a sovereign Lebanon. They spent a good bit of time
talking about the broader Middle East, too, and they talked about the
historic change that is occurring in the region. They talked about the
elections that are taking place. They talked about the democratic
progress in different parts of the region. And they talked about the
potential to extend freedom and democracy in the region, which will help
lead to long-term peace. And they talked -- in that context; they
talked about the progress being made in Iraq, as well. And then they
had some discussion about the internal political situation in Israel, as
well, where the Prime Minister talked a little bit about that.



Then, following that, they had the press avail. You all had plenty of
questions to get their views on the various issues there. The President
took him on -- took the Prime Minister on a tour of the ranch, did some
windshield ranching. And then they came over to the house, the
President and Mrs. Bush's house, where they had lunch. They spent a
good bit of time there talking about Iran; that's where the discussion
on Iran came up. And the President talked about the diplomatic efforts
by the Europeans to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. And
they talked about their shared concern about Iran's intentions with
their nuclear program. And so they had quite a bit of discussion about
that.



And if you want the menu -- here, I'll just give you the menu for the
lunch. They had arugula and blood orange salad, pecan-smoked beef
tenderloin -- which was very good -- grilled asparagus and roasted
seasonal vegetables, some homemade peach sorbet, and then topped it off
with some brownies.



And that's really what I've got.



Q Did you get the sense that Prime Minister Sharon -- how long was
the meeting?



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the meeting was -- started about 10:00 a.m., up
until the time they really walked out to see you all -- I guess about 10
or 15 minutes before that. So I think it was around an hour and a half,
probably.



Q And the lunch went for how long?



MR. McCLELLAN: And then the lunch -- it was a good hour, at least. I
didn't check the exact time. But the Prime Minister -- probably a
little bit more than an hour. The Prime Minister left right about 2:00
p.m.



Q Does the President feel that Sharon heeded his warning not to
expand settlements --



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you heard directly from Prime Minister
Sharon, and he expressed his commitment to the roadmap. And they also
talked about Israel's views. I mean, I think, you know, Israel,
obviously, has certain views when it comes to some of the settlements
and final status discussions. You heard the President's view on the
final status negotiations, as well. He reiterated our view that he
expressed a year ago back at the White House, when he met with Prime
Minister Sharon, and he talked about the importance of supporting the
Prime Minister's bold initiative on disengagement. And he also talked
about the new realities on the ground, and how those have to be taken
into account in the final status discussions.



Q But the President sounded very unequivocal, saying no expansion,
and the Prime Minister -- there seemed to be some ambiguity as to
whether he's saying the roadmap says we shouldn't expand, or whether
he's saying we're going to kick this down the road.



MR. McCLELLAN: No, the roadmap -- and I think you heard the point the
President was making, that the roadmap has obligations for both parties,
and it's important that parties follow the roadmap. The roadmap is the
way forward to achieving the two-state vision. And Prime Minister
Sharon reiterated that -- the commitment to the roadmap as a way to
achieve the two state vision. But right now, as the President iterated
in his comments, we've got a real opportunity before us with, with
Israel committing to move out of Gaza. And the opportunity before us in
Gaza can help show us what is possible if it succeeds. And it's
important to keep the focus on making sure we succeed in Gaza.



Now, it's more than just Gaza, in terms of the President's views. You
heard in his opening remarks it's not just Gaza, but there's more to do,
as well. But Gaza provides an opportunity -- the withdrawal from Gaza
provides an opportunity to move forward to achieve the two state vision,
if it is successful. And that's where we want to make sure that the
parties are coordinating the disengagement plan, and working together to
build confidence. And that's what the President talked about in the
press avail at length.



Q So immediately after Sharon's translated remarks in which he seemed
to suggest that he intended the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement should be a
part -- would continue, Bush jumped in and made the strongest statement.
Did you talk to him at all afterward about that and the message --



MR. McCLELLAN: They talked about it during --



Q -- whatever message he was trying to send? Did you get the
impression, or did the President tell you that he jumped on that to send
a message?



MR. McCLELLAN: They talked about it during the meeting. The President,
as you heard him say last week, reiterated our views when it comes to
settlement activity. And our view is that Israel should not take steps
that run counter to the roadmap when it comes to settlement activity.
The roadmap spells out what needs to be done. There are other
obligations that must be met in the roadmap, as well, and we want all
parties to meet their obligations.



Q Was he suggesting that that was outside --



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you heard directly from the President what his
views were, that the roadmap makes it very clear what is called for in
terms of settlement activity. We expressed our views. As I said,
Israel has certain views when it comes to settlements and how they
should be addressed in final status discussions. And we've said that
we're not going to prejudice the outcome of the final status
negotiations, but that certain realities should be taken into account,
as well.



Q Scott, the Israeli position is that the roadmap allows for natural
growth of settlements and that this plan to expand Ma'aleh Adumim is
naturally growing. What's the -- is that part of the roadmap?



MR. McCLELLAN: You can look at the roadmap for yourself.



Q No, I'm asking the United States government --



MR. McCLELLAN: What the roadmap says is an end to the settlement
activity -- that's what the roadmap spells out.



Q Can I ask a follow up question?



MR. McCLELLAN: Sure.



Q Is it fair to assume that you consider Ma'aleh Adumim as one of the
realities on the ground, but you are forced to the expanding of natural
growth, as it's called, in the settlement? Is this right to assume?



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, and go back to what the President said.
The President talked about that in his opening remarks, when he
reiterated what we had said a year ago, that you have to take into
account the new realities on the ground when it comes to final status
discussions. But we're not going to prejudice the outcome of those
final status discussions. And that's the President's view.



Q But would you agree to keep these settlements, the major ones?



MR. McCLELLAN: You're asking me to prejudice the outcome of the final
status discussions, and the President said we're not going to do that.
In his remarks he specifically said that final status agreement will be
achieved only on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect the
realities on the ground. And he reiterated what we had said a year ago.



Q Scott, did Prime Minister Sharon give the President any assurances
that these expansions that we're talking about and the question of
Jerusalem would be delayed or held up or something like that, that
nothing would happen right now?



MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, that what?



Q That nothing would happen right now on those.



MR. McCLELLAN: In terms of?



Q Did he give the President assurances that they would delay any kind
of expansion at this point, but keep the option open?



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think he gave a commitment that he made
publicly, in private. He made the same commitment in private that he
made publicly, which was that Israel was committed to the roadmap and
their obligations, committed to meeting their obligations in the
roadmap.



Q But they have a different interpretation of the roadmap, right?
The President does, isn't that the case?



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, and, Tom, that's why -- I mean, what the President
said about why the opportunity before us right now is so important.
There is a lack of confidence between the parties because, given the
past history in the region; and there are going to be difficult steps to
take along the way and there are going to be difficulties along the way.
But we have a real opportunity before us to move forward in a way that
can lead to the two state vision. And that's why the President talked
about the importance of making sure that the withdrawal from Gaza is
successful and that you can put in place a self-governing entity there
to take the place of Israel once the people leave that part of the
region.



Q That's not to say that there are not differences between the United
States and Israel.



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, that's what I -- I mean, you heard me say that
obviously Israel has certain views that they carry with them into any
final status negotiations. I mean, I think that's to be expected. But
the President reiterated what our view was when it comes to settlements.
And you heard directly from Prime Minister Sharon, too, express his
commitment to removing unauthorized outposts and his commitment to the
obligations in the roadmap.



Q Let me try again. Prime Minister Sharon did not say that his
government would stop its plan to expand the settlement of Ma'aleh
Adumim, correct? He did not say that?



MR. McCLELLAN: You heard what he had to say. And I think that's what
he expressed to the President, as well.



Q So he -- what he said was, we'll abide by the roadmap, right?



MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, you heard that in his remarks.



Q But his government is planning this gigantic expansion of
settlements, which is --



MR. McCLELLAN: I mean, look, Terry, this was -- they had a very good
discussion about a range of issues and they had a particularly good
discussion when it comes to the disengagement plan. And the President
was very clear in what our views were, in terms of the roadmap, and I
think Israel understands that and Israel expressed their commitment to
the roadmap as the way forward to achieving the two state vision. And
you heard the Prime Minister talk about that during the press avail.



Q But Sharon never explicitly said, okay, and under the roadmap we
won't do this gigantic expansion of settlements. The President never
got that promise?



MR. McCLELLAN: You heard what he said. I mean, I'm not going to try to
speak --



Q We're in Texas, though --



MR. McCLELLAN: -- I'm not going to try to speak for the Prime Minister,
beyond what he said publicly.



Q A little plain talk here in Texas, that's all.



MR. McCLELLAN: And I'm giving it to you. That's what was expressed.
And you heard from them directly.



Q Scott, you said that the President and the Prime Minister talked at
some length about Iran. Did the Prime Minister discuss plans for Israel
to take a pre-emptive strike against Iran if it goes forward with its
nuclear plan?



MR. McCLELLAN: That was not -- the discussion focused on the diplomatic
efforts that are ongoing right now by the Europeans with Iran, and then
they talked at length about the concerns that we both have about what
Iran's intentions are when it comes to a nuclear program. We believe
that they're seeking nuclear weapons under the guise of civilian nuclear
program, and there was a lot of discussion about that. That's really
what the focus was. No, there really wasn't a discussion about what
you're bringing up.



Q And no discussion about what happens if diplomacy fails?



MR. McCLELLAN: No, there was some discussion about if they don't follow
through on their international obligations. And we've talked about
that, as well, that then, obviously, you have to talk look at the next
step. The next step is looking toward the Security Council.



Q Did the President tell the Prime Minister when he would welcome
President Abbas to the White House, or in Crawford?



MR. McCLELLAN: Did what?



Q Did the President tell Prime Minister Sharon when he would welcome
President Abbas to the White House?



MR. McCLELLAN: We look forward to welcoming President Abbas back to
Washington at some point. As you know, the President has extended an
invitation, and we're just working out a time that is convenient for
President Abbas to come to Washington.



Q Since Sharon was in Waco last night, was there any reason why he
wasn't given an invitation to spend the night at the ranch?



MR. McCLELLAN: No, there really wasn't. I mean, I don't think it was
ever an issue. He decided to come in a day ahead, and they had always
planned to stay in Waco. There was never any discussion of anything
else. As you're aware, when Prime Minister Martin was here, the day
before he stayed in Temple. So it just wasn't an issue.



Q Can you tell us about the Fort Hood visit tomorrow, anything to
sort of look forward to?



MR. McCLELLAN: Sure. As you're aware, this is an event that was
rescheduled from last Friday, since we had to go to Rome for the Pope's
funeral. But this is an opportunity for the President to personally
thank our troops at Fort Hood who have served and sacrificed in the war
on terrorism. So I think a good bit of his remarks will focus on
thanking the troops at Ford Hood for all that they've done to help put
Iraq on the path to a brighter democratic future. The 4th Infantry
Division is there, you also have the 1st Cavalry Division and other
divisions that have played an integral role in the war on terrorism.
And so the President will make remarks to the troops.



And it's also an opportunity to talk about the progress that is being
made by the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people are making important
progress to lay the foundation for a brighter future that is built on
democracy. And I expect the President will talk about the progress that
they're making in different areas, including the progress they're making
on the political front. Last week was a historic week, with the naming
of the leaders of the Transitional National Assembly. And this is --
this speech is also coming at a time period that was right around the
two-year anniversary of the liberation of Baghdad -- or the liberation
of Iraq from the regime of Saddam Hussein. So it's an opportunity to
mark that occasion and to talk about the progress that has been made in
just two years to put Iraq on a path to democracy and freedom. And
that's really what the focus of his remarks will be.



Q Have you been tracking these ethics allegations against Tom DeLay?
Do you think he has some explaining to do, or as Congressman Shays says,
should he step aside?



MR. McCLELLAN: I think you've heard from the President, what he has
said on the matter, that Majority Leader DeLay is someone the President
considers a friend, and he is someone that he has worked closely with to
get things done in Washington. And the President looks forward to
continuing working closely with the Majority Leader to get things done
on behalf of the American people. And that's what we will continue to
do. We support the work that he is doing on behalf of the American
people.



Q Did the Prime Minister ask for financial support for the Gaza plan,
because there's been a figure of a billion, three billion --



MR. McCLELLAN: I imagine that's something that -- you heard the
President talk about in his remarks about supporting the development in
Negev and Galilee, in the Negev and Galilee regions. And I imagine that
they'll be continuing discussions on that. That wasn't really the focus
of this meeting, but I imagine there will be continuing discussions
between our two governments about how we can support those efforts.



Q Scott, since the Vice President and Secretary Rice were there,
could you tell us a little bit about what their involvement was in the
discussions during the day, and kind of give us a little bit of what the
scene was in the new office?



MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. I think that in the office there, there was a lot
of discussion -- it was a very relaxed atmosphere. Like I said, it was
very warm and friendly, in terms of the discussion. And I think staffs
on both sides were openly expressing some of their thoughts during the
discussion. That's the way I would describe it.



Q Somebody asked you yesterday, and I didn't hear this question very
well -- did Sharon seek any financial assistance for the --



MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's the question that was asked here, and that's
what I pointed back to, how the President expressed our support for
developing the Negev and Galilee regions. And I imagine that those --
that there will be continuing discussions about how we can support those
efforts to help with Israel's economic prosperity.



Q (Inaudible.)



MR. McCLELLAN: No, not that I'm aware of.



Q Any mention of the Palestinian elections scheduled for July?



MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?



Q The Palestinian elections?



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, they talked broadly about the broader Middle East
and the elections that have been taking place from the Palestinian
territories to Iraq. No, I'm not aware that there was a specific
discussion on that. The discussion really focused more on how to move
forward on the Prime Minister's disengagement plan in a way that is
coordinated closely with Palestinians, so that it will be successful.



Q When did they finish the new office?



MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know the exact time. I think it was before
Christmas, though.



Q Is it a Bush-owned building on the ranch, or is that a government
building?



MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's the President's building.



All right, thanks.



* * * * *



MR. McCLELLAN: Just to add tomorrow, the President will make remarks to
the troops and then he will have lunch with the troops, and then a visit
with some families of the fallen. I think there are around 30 --
probably more than 30 families that will be present, and many more --
well, in terms of the numbers of actual family members, it will be quite
higher than that number of 30 or so. So I just wanted to let you know
that.



Q So it's like 30?



MR. McCLELLAN: Thirty family -- I think they're expecting more than 30
families of fallen to be present that he will visit with privately,
following the lunch, I believe, is when that happens.



END 3:59 P.M. CDT