The Mirror

White House Drool Duty: President Obama Whistles While He Works

Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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Dispatches from perpetually bored White House reporters who find themselves with too little to do and too much time on their hands as the President galavants around the country and the world, leaving them in food courts, underground parking lots, a shed, a closet and perpetually waiting in the inevitable van. 

Over the weekend, Barney Jopson, Washington correspondent for the Financial Times, proved that absolutely no detail is too inane for a White House Pool Report. He reported that — no joke — that President Obama whistled while he walked and rubbed his hands together.

Jopson is hands down my new favorite White House Pool Reporter.

“At 5:40 p.m., the president touched down on the South Lawn in Marine One after his trip to Milwaukee. He disembarked a couple of minutes later and headed to the West Wing, waving briefly to the press then appearing to whistle as he walked. At one point he rubbed his hands together and as he approached the entrance to the West Wing he took off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. He was inside at 5:44 p.m. and was followed by Valerie Jarrett, Anita Breckenridge, Jen Friedman, Pete Souza and Marvin Nicholson.”

WaPo‘s Juliet Eilperin also managed to capture Washington’s suffocating, swampy heat quite nicely:

“At 5:26, President Obama disembarked from Air Force One and waved. Before DC’s sticky heat could envelop him, he walked briskly and got on Marine One. Over to you, in-town pool. Have a good evening.”