Biden made the final decision last Friday, believing that the risks, while there were, were tolerable.

He came to this conclusion after a lively meeting Friday in the Oval Office of the White House with his advisers and members of his cabinet, some of whom were on the phone with Jonathan Feiner, the White House’s “number two” national security officer. Advice.

Keyword: golf tournament

Once the decision was made, the entire machinery of the United States government was set into motion.

One of the most delicate decisions the White House had to make was whether to invite journalists on the trip and how many to include in the retinue, which had to be especially small for not arouse suspicion.

Biden is usually accompanied by a group of 13 or 14 journalists, photographers and cameramen, known as the “pool”, who have historically had the mission of accompanying the US President to any event and reporting what they see to thousands of reporters interested in the topic. . . .

However, this time the White House decided that only newspaper journalist Wall Street Magazine and agency photographer Pennsylvania They will accompany the president.

White House Director Kate Bedingfield called them into her office on Friday and asked them to keep the secret. Soon, he warned them, additional travel instructions would arrive in an email with the subject line: “Instructions for arriving at a golf tournament.”

From a small plane to “Rail Force One”

The journey started on Sunday morning. In the middle of the night, members of the retinue arrived at Andrews Air Force Base (Maryland), on the outskirts of Washington.

One by one, they boarded a plane normally used for domestic flights, smaller than the model used by the president for international travel. The plane’s windows were rolled down.

In the middle of the darkness, the plane took off and headed for Poland. Landed a few hours later at Rzeszow airport.in southeastern Poland, and from there Biden drove to the Przemysl railway station, from where he boarded a train to Kyiv, the journalist later said. Wall Street Magazine.

Although not all the details are known, the logistics of securing Biden on the train were not easy, and as a sign of pride, the Ukrainian railroad company dubbed the train the president rode on. “Rail Force One”referring to Air Force One aircraft.

After nearly ten hours on the trainthe president finally arrived in Kyiv.

He announced almost half a billion dollars in additional military aid and was walking downtown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as air raid sirens constantly reminded him of the war that began almost a year ago, on February 24, 2022.

“Kyiv,” Biden said before returning to the train. I must admit that you captured a piece of my heart“.

EFE