Karine Jean-Pierre White House Press Briefing on 9/18/24

Okay. Good afternoon, everybody.

Good afternoon.

Okay. Got a few things going on today. So I’m joined today by my colleague, Luisana Perez Fernandez, who will speak for a few minutes on Hispanic Heritage Month. Luisana, over to you.

Hi everybody. Thank you, Karine. Gracias, Karine. [foreign language 00:00:34]. Gracias.

Gracias. Gracias, gracias. Gracias, Luisana, thank you so much for coming.

(03:56)
And to echo my colleague, today we celebrate the first week of Hispanic Heritage Month. A time to recognize that diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths. This month we honor the rich history, culture, and contributions the Hispanic community brings to our nation.

(04:16)
This afternoon the president and the first lady will host leaders and members of the Latino community at a reception to celebrate their achievements and contributions in the United States. Tomorrow, the president will attend the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute gala, where he will honor Latino excellence and the contributions of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. In his remarks, President Biden will highlight how, since day one, he and the vice president have been committed to promoting opportunities and equality for all, or equity for all, including the millions of Latinos across the country.

(04:53)
Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have lowered Latino unemployment to the lowest rate on record. Supported Latino small businesses, which are now experiencing the fastest growth rate in 30 years. Doubled the amount of SBA-backed loans for Latino entrepreneurs. Hispanic ownership has climbed to about 50%, with over 9.5 million Hispanic households owning their own homes. Lowered drug prices for 5 million Latinos with Medicare. Expanded affordable and quality healthcare coverage to Latino families, including to DACA recipients, from the Affordable Care Act. Created a federal government that reflects the diversity of the United States with our four Latino members serving in the cabinet. Helped Puerto Rico’s economy by investing over $140 billion and adding more than 100,000 new jobs. Vigorously defended the DACA policy and taken steps to keep married couples together, where one spouse is a US citizen and the other has been in the US for 10 years or more.

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This month is also an opportunity to celebrate the Latinos in the Biden-Harris administration and the White House, who have worked on our administration’s priorities, canceling student debt for millions of people, expanding access to quality healthcare, reducing drug cost, and taking action to eliminate gun violence in our communities.

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This national Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate the progress and prosperity we are continuing to create for Latino communities since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office. And we reaffirm our commitment to supporting Latino families and communities. And, let’s remember, Hispanic Heritage Month is American heritage.

(06:49)
Now, my colleague from the National Security Council, Admiral John Kirby, is here to talk to you about the president’s upcoming Quad Summit in Delaware, in Wilmington, Delaware to be specific, and also the UN General Assembly next week. Admiral.

Try to do this without butchering my own English here. But good afternoon. We got a busy few days ahead of us here on the foreign policy front, and if you’ll just bear with me, I’ll give you an overview.

(07:23)
This weekend, as Karine noted, in Wilmington, Delaware, the president will host the leaders of Japan, Australia and India for the fourth annual Quad Leaders Summit. Now, over the last three plus years, President Biden has made it a priority to invest in rebuilding our network of alliances and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific. And in the process of doing that, he has strengthened not only existing relationships, but he’s helped forge new ones altogether. So think about AUKUS for instance, or the trilateral Camp David Summit with Japan and South Korea, or the first ever US-Japan-Philippines Leaders Summit in April, and of course the Indo- Pacific Quad.

(08:01)
Back in 2021, President Biden elevated the Quad to the leader level for precisely those reasons. He understood that bringing four leading Indo-Pacific democracies, with shared priorities, mutual security interests, and strong bonds of friendship between our peoples, would make for a safer and more prosperous region, and quite frankly, a safer and more prosperous United States.

(08:23)
Now, this particular Quad Summit will be the first time we’ve hosted foreign leaders in Wilmington, the president’s hometown, and he’s very excited about that, about showing them a place and a community that shaped so much of the public servant and the leader that he became. It’s also a reflection of his belief that, like politics, foreign policy is also personal. And the president is enormously proud of the personal relationships that he has with each of these four leaders, or these three leaders, sorry, Indian Prime Minister Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, and Australian Prime Minister Albanese. The president will meet individually with each of them and they will also gather together in a larger plenary session where they will discuss expanding cooperation across a range of critically important issues.

(09:04)
We believe that you’ll see coming out of this summit that the Quad is more strategically aligned and more relevant than ever before. I think you can expect a robust agenda, aimed at delivering concrete benefits to the people of the region as they all identify priorities such as health security, natural disaster response, maritime security, quality infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, climate and clean energy, and cyber security. You’ll also see some announcements that demonstrate our intention to make sure that this special partnership, the Quad, endures and in fact thrives over the long term. We’ll have more details, of course, to share on the specific deliverables as we get a little closer to the weekend.

(09:43)
Looking ahead to next week, on Monday, the 23rd of September, President Biden will welcome the president of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to the White House. Now this will be the first ever visit by a president of the UAE to Washington, so it’s a historic one. The vice president will also meet separately with President Mohammed.

(10:04)
Both the president and the vice president have spoken with or met with President Mohammed at multiple points throughout the administration, and we look forward to the opportunity to have face-to-face discussions here. In particular, the president and the vice president will discuss a number of bilateral and regional matters together with areas of deepening cooperation and advanced technology, clean energy, space, supply chain resiliency, and critical infrastructure investments.

(10:28)
The UAE has made a number of recent announcements with respect to strategic investments in climate and clean energy, all of which build on the partnership to accelerate transition to clean energy, or otherwise known as PACE, which we signed with the UAE two years ago. We look forward to expanding this collaboration over the coming months and years. The UAE is also, we might add, a leading partner in the president’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investments. Advanced technology, I think, will also be a focus of this discussion, including efforts to advance responsible artificial intelligence goals.

(11:01)
Now, in the region, President Biden and Vice President Harris will discuss with President Mohammed, obviously the crisis in Gaza, the UAE’s essential role in addressing the humanitarian crisis there. And the crisis in Sudan, where, as the president’s statement made clear last night, we all… All… must increase efforts to open routes for humanitarian assistance and ultimately to secure a ceasefire. The president and the vice president look forward to this important engagement with a strategic partner at a very important time.

(11:30)
And then finally, the president, as you know, will be traveling to New York City on Monday afternoon for the 79th meeting of the UN General Assembly. Throughout all his engagements up there in New York, he will reaffirm America’s leadership on the world stage. He’ll rally global action to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, including climate, the opioid epidemic, mobilizing resources for developing countries, managing the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence, and helping end the brutal wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, among many other critically important issues.

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Specifically, on Tuesday morning, the president will deliver an address to the UN General Assembly outlining his vision for how the world should come together to solve these big problems and defend fundamental principles such as the UN Charter. The president will also meet with UN Secretary General Guterres, talk about how the partnership between the United States and the United Nations in advancing peace and safeguarding human rights can endure and to prosper.

(12:27)
On Tuesday afternoon, the president will host a summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats. We established this coalition ourselves, just last year, to drive international action in order to disrupt the global supply chain of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs. This event will be an opportunity for leaders to drive progress on one of the most lethal global health and safety challenges of our lives. The meeting reflects the president’s vision of countries working together to deal with problems that cross borders. Now, in this case, the coalition is playing a vital role helping our country deal with the fentanyl crisis here at home. The president will also have engagements with foreign leaders on Wednesday, and we’ll have more to share on that agenda as we get a little closer. Thank you. Appreciate your patience.

Admiral, what’s the White House response to the exploding walkie-talkies in Lebanon today? I know Karine addressed the pagers yesterday, but what’s the latest US assessment and does the US consider this a justifiable escalation?

What I can tell you is we were not involved in yesterday’s incidents or today’s in any way, and I don’t have anything more to share.

Has the Israelis let you know about these operations?

I don’t have anything more to share today.

Can you confirm that it’s the US assessment, that the Israelis were behind all this?

Nothing more to share.

The Israeli defense minister said today that this is a new era of the war. What’s the White House’s response to that, and how concerned are you that this will cause this escalation?

All I’ll say is that we want see the war end and everything we’ve been doing since the beginning has been designed to prevent the conflict from escalating. We still believe, for instance, that there is a diplomatic path forward, particularly near Lebanon. And we still believe that, while it is increasingly difficult, and we are certainly no closer to finality, that we believe a ceasefire deal and a negotiation to get the hostages out is still the best outcome and we’re going to keep pursuing that.

But how do these events move forward? Any diplomatic solution here?

It’s difficult for me to stand up here, Gabe, and tell you exactly how incidents over the last couple of days are going to affect outcomes in the next few days. All I can tell you is we’re still putting our shoulder to the wheel to get the hostages home and get a ceasefire in place, as daunting as that is today. And we are still involved in intensive diplomacy to try to prevent a second front from opening up on that border with Lebanon.

Thank you. Given the rhetoric and the attacks in the last few days, it seems like a full-out conflict is inevitable at this point. Do you agree with that assessment and is the US government preparing for an evacuation of American citizens in Lebanon and, or in Israel in that case?

I think we’ve learned through experience, particularly over now what’s going on almost a year here, that nothing is inevitable when it comes to that particular part of the world and this particular conflict. And we’re going to, as I said to Gabe, do everything we can to see if we can end it and get those hostages home.

(15:37)
And your second question was evacuation. I don’t have anything with respect to evacuation preparations to talk about. I mean, that’s a better question really put to the State Department. I think you know, Laura, particularly from covering the Pentagon, on the shelf we have evacuation plans available for places all over the world, but I wouldn’t lead that to believe that we’re in a moment now where we think we need to imminently call for that or act on that right now.

What has been the impact of the latest attacks on the potential for a ceasefire deal in Gaza?

I think it’s too soon to know if what happened over the last couple of days is going to have any effect on where we are with the ceasefire deal. Sadly, we aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago. So it’s difficult to see any immediate impact of these incidents, but I think it’s just too soon to know in general.

Previously officials have said we were 90% there, is that still the case?

I think in terms of the agreed framework and the language, that’s still the case. The framework has been agreed to. The major architecture of the deal had been agreed to by both sides. But as we said, once you get down and niggle and over that last 10% and you’re in that kind of horse trade, it gets real hard and the details get real specific. And that’s where we have run into some

Some resistance and we’re not any closer today than we were a few days ago.

Thanks. CBS News, at least has learned that the Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin spoke yesterday with the Israeli defense minister two different times. We’ve been told no specifics were given about the operation that happened yesterday. Was there any heads-up given yesterday that there would be more attacks in Lebanon today?

Well, I refer you to the Defense Department to speak the conversations that the secretary had with Minister Gallant. As I said, there was no US involvement and either of these incidents and I have nothing.

That’s one thing though, but awareness it was coming is another.

I recognize the question. I have nothing more to add.

If you’re someone who owns a pager like this that’s been blown up in Lebanon in recent days, whether it was made by the Taiwanese company or the Hungarian company that may have had a licensing deal with this, should you be concerned it could blow up?

Again, Ed, I have nothing more to add on this.

Our sources have confirmed to us, it’s been widely reported that Israel is responsible for this, but notably you still won’t say that. Why is that? Is it because that’s not your assessment or because you don’t support what they’re doing here?

It’s because I don’t have anything more to add on this issue. As I said, there was no US involvement and I’m not going to go beyond that today.

Then let me ask this. These kinds of tactics, blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies, is this type of warfare acceptable to the United States?

Again, Mary, I appreciate the question. I’m simply not going to be able to address these incidents over the last couple of days in any level of detail one way or another.

Okay, let me try one other thing, please. Everyone keeps urging all parties involved not to escalate this. Isn’t this an escalation already? Isn’t this Israel doing exactly what you’ve been warning them not to do?

Again, I’m not going to speak to the details of these incidents. I understand that’s frustrating. I get it and I understand where all your questions are coming from. They’re all valid, they’re all fair. I’m just not going to get into this. I will add, if I could and restate a little bit to what I said to Gabe, we still don’t want to see an escalation of any kind. We don’t believe that the way to solve where we’re at in this crisis is by additional military operations at all. We still believe that the best way to prevent escalation to prevent another front from opening up in Lebanon is through diplomacy, which is why Mr. Hochstein was over in the region this week and we’re still going to pursue those kinds of outcomes.

If a state actor was involved in any way in what took place in Lebanon, is that acceptable behavior by a government?

Look, that’s a great hypothetical, Trevor, that I’m simply not going to engage.

So it’s not the case, that it was a state actor?

I have nothing more to add on these incidents. I understand the question. I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals or speculate about what did or didn’t happen or who might be responsible.

Is there any current intelligence assessment as to who was responsible?

I’m not going to get into intelligence estimates and assessments from here, either.

Secretary of State Blinken expressed frustration at the escalation of the remarks earlier today saying it threatens to slow it to stop a ceasefire deal. Is that the White House’s assessment as well, that it’s close to being stopped or derailed?

Look, as I said earlier, I think looking at the last couple of days, it’s just a little too soon to know what kind of impact those incidents are going to have in the region at large, particularly when it comes to the tensions up at the border with Lebanon. On the ceasefire deal, and trying to get both sides back to the table, we’re still working at that. Nothing’s changed. We’re still trying to get that done. We understand that even before the incidents of the last couple of days doing that was real hard, that there wasn’t a lot of momentum to be had there or inertia. We recognize that, but we’re still working to try to see if we can get that done because we still believe the best way to get those hostages home is through a negotiated arrangement.

(21:09)
On the tensions with Lebanon, again, too soon to know what these incidents are going to mean to the already high tensions between Israel and Hezbollah up at that border, the blue line specifically. All I can tell you is even as recently as a couple of days ago, Amos Hochstein, our envoy was in the region having discussions to do everything we can from a diplomatic perspective to prevent those tensions from escalating into all out conflict.

Can I ask one more just on Wilmington this weekend? Does the president intend to press Prime Minister Modi on human rights abuses while they’re talking one-on-one?

There’s not a conversation that he has with foreign leaders where he doesn’t talk about the importance of respecting human and civil rights, and that includes with Prime Minister Modi. He did when the Prime Minister was here in the United States, and I’m sure that as appropriate he’ll do going forward. I’m not going to get ahead of the conversation, but he never shies away from talking about our concerns over human and civil rights anywhere in the world.

Thanks. You said a lot of time, especially about this region, that it’s very important for this administration that the rules of war or international humanitarian law is being followed. Why won’t you make an assessment whether these operations that we are seeing in Lebanon indeed are in accordance with international humanitarian law?

I can appreciate that you all want answers to these questions, and you want them now. I get that. We’re talking about incidents that allegedly happened today, apparently happened today, and something that happened yesterday. I’m just not going to get into intelligence assessments one way or another about this. I would also add that as we have said from the very beginning, Israel has a right defend itself. How they do so matters to us and we don’t shy away from having those kinds of conversations with the Israelis as appropriate.

You’re saying Israel is behind these operations?

I did not say that.

Do you think that Israel, whoever committed this attack is undermining US efforts at avoiding an escalation in the region? If so, what is the next move to try and prevent that from happening?

We’re going to keep at the work of intense diplomacy to see what we can do to de-escalate, to try to prevent this from becoming a bigger conflict than it already has.

One more. Over the weekend, the Palestinian ministry in Gaza submitted a report with the names, IDs, ages of 34,000 people who’ve been killed since October 7th, over 7,000 more whose identities have not been verified. The first 14 pages of the report are babies under the age of one and two people over the age of 100. Has the White House seen that report and do you have any comments beyond far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed in this conflict?

Let me take the question for you so I can get you back a good substantive answer. I don’t know if we’ve seen that report. I haven’t, but that doesn’t mean that somebody here hasn’t. Why don’t you let me take that back and get you a better answer.

Thank you.

Yes, ma’am.

On US Steel and Nippon Steel to CFIUS review, that’s now been I guess delayed or extended and another 90 days. Can you explain a little bit why that process is taking so long and if it signals any shift in the President’s thinking about concerns he’s expressed about this merger?

CFIUS runs an independent process. As far as I know, there’s been no delay or extension, that process is ongoing as I understand that to be the case. Look, President has said already what he believes that the future of US Steel ought to be. He’s made that clear, but he also respects the CFIUS process and again, that process is ongoing.

[inaudible 00:25:02] John.

Thanks, Karine. John, to what extent will China be a focus of the Quad meeting this weekend?

Well, I think it’ll certainly be high on the agenda, John. There’s not an opportunity when you get together with these particular leaders, the Indo-Pacific Quad, where in fact it would be irresponsible if they didn’t talk about the challenges that still exist in the region caused by aggressive PRC military action, for instance, unfair trade practices tensions over the Taiwan Strait. I have no doubt that all those issues will come up.

Do all four Quad countries view China as a threat to the Indo-Pacific region?

I think you’d have to talk to the leaders about their particular view of the PRC, but I think we all have a common understanding about the challenges that the PRC is posing, but each of them are sovereign countries. They get to decide for themselves what their relationship is going to be with the PRC and how that looks. Each of them has a different relationship with the PRC, including us.

Thank you. Great. Admiral, there’s been a decided shift in confidence among US officials about the ability to reach a ceasefire deal in the near term. Today National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is meeting with hostage families again, and I’m wondering what the administration’s message is to them.

Well, number one, that we haven’t forgotten their loved ones. Number two, that we’re going to do everything we can to get them home where they belong back with their families. Number three, that even though we haven’t found purchase here with this deal, we’re not going to stop trying, that we’re still working very hard every day. I had a chance to talk to Brett McGurk earlier today. I can assure you he’s still working to see what we can do to try to move this forward. It doesn’t appear right now, and I don’t want to get ahead of Jake or speak for him, but I would imagine that he’ll also convey to them, and it doesn’t appear that Mr. Sinwar is serious at all about moving this forward and to come into closure on it, but it doesn’t mean we’re giving up on him.

Then in the events in the region more broadly, given what happened in Lebanon in previous instances where there’s been the possibility of wider escalation, we’ve seen the US new military assets, vessels, aircraft in the region. Is there any of that going on right now?

We have a robust presence in the Middle East right now and have sustained that, as you know, over the last few weeks when there was concern about escalation, what I can tell you is that force posture is still there, still robust. We look at it every single day against the threat, and we make adjustments as we need to. Not all those adjustments make headlines or do we announce them, for understandable reasons, but the President is confident that we maintain sufficient military capability in the region to defend our interest and, of course, our allies and partners as appropriate.

Just quickly, if I may, on UNGA last year, the President’s message was largely about Ukraine and the need for more funding for Ukraine’s defenses. October 7th happened just a couple of weeks later. How much will that figure prominently in the President’s events next week?

Well, without getting too far ahead of the President’s speech, I think you can expect him to talk about the modern crises that we’re facing right now. Certainly, Ukraine and Gaza are two of the chief ones there, and how American leadership matters, how coalition building matters and has made a difference in both conflicts and how we have to stay at that work.

Thank you.

Thank you, John. Next week, President Zelensky of Ukraine will present his victory plan to President Biden. Has the president had a chance to review this plan and would you call it victorious?

We’ve not been fully briefed on it.

Will President Biden host President Zelensky in New York or here at the White House?

I don’t have a meeting to announce today, but stay tuned.

Ukrainians have requested a meeting, according to our sources, with the vice president Harris, did she accept this request?

I’m afraid of Vice President Harris’ staff. She has met with President Zelensky face-to-face on a couple of occasions. I know she’s spoken to him on the phone. I have little doubt that if the opportunity presents itself and both of them can have another conversation, they will. But you’d have to talk to her staff on it.

Getting back to Lebanon. Those communication devices were reportedly made in Japan and Taiwan. Have you reached out to your Japanese and Taiwanese counterparts in that matter?

I’m aware of no such communication.

Okay, Jonathan.

Thank you, Karine. Admiral, staying on the subject of Russia, the government of Armenia today said that they fully plot Russian forces to try to stage a coup in their country. Is the White House aware of this and have any comment?

I won’t get into intelligence assessments specifically Jonathan. I would just say writ large, and we’ve talked about this before, Russia has proven adept and certainly interested in interfering in democratic institutions around the world, certainly here at home, no question about it, but overseas as well. It is a constant topic of conversation between us and our allies and our partners and we’re doing everything we can working with them to try to disrupt that interference.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Can you address the famine incident? John, can you address the famine, please?

I think if I could just briefly point you to the President’s statement last night.

How serious is it? How dire is it?

I don’t know of a famine that’s not dire. It’s dire. Millions of people have been pushed out of their homes. Hundreds of thousands of them are facing incredibly violent circumstances. Yes, there’s real famine and real hunger and that’s why we are working incredibly hard. That’s why the president himself wanted to make that point about last night about that town, Al-Fashir, and the RSF’s basically siege of it. It’s got to stop. Both sides have got to start coming together, sitting at the table and doing what’s right by the Sudanese people. I’ll tell you something else. He’s not going to stop fighting for the people of Sudan. We’re not going to stop trying to find a way to end this conflict.

The President has called on the belligerents to come together. Are they listening, John?

Okay, thanks Admiral. Appreciate that. Okay, I just have one last thing and then we’ll get to questions. As we announced this morning, the First Lady will lead the President’s delegation to the inauguration of Mexico’s first woman President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo on October 1st. The full list of the delegation members will be announced at a later date. President Biden and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have built a strong and constructive partnership and we look forward to building on this partnership under the President-elect to advance our economic migration and regional security cooperation. With that, Will?

Thank you. I know we’re going to have the economic club interview tomorrow with the President. I’m wondering if we’re going to hear from him on the rate cut that the Fed has announced and is there any chance that he’ll speak to possible political influence this close to the election?

So let me just give you a little bit of flavor, if you will, on tomorrow. As you just stated, the President is going to speak at the DC Economic Club, so he’s going to deliver remarks on the important moment we’ve reached inflation. Interest rates are a falling and the economy remains strong, which many critics thought was impossible. I’m sure you all remember claims that we’d need a recession to lower inflation with some going so far as saying that there was a hundred percent chance of a recession. The President will discuss what falling inflation and interest rates mean for American consumers and workers and businesses. The cost of buying a home, a car and so much more will go down. Starting a family or a new business will be easier. The President will discuss how he will continue to lower costs by building millions of homes, making child care more affordable, capping prescription drug costs for all and cutting taxes for families.

(33:04)
He’ll contrast that approach with what we’re seeing from congressional Republicans, their plan to raise costs by nearly $4,000 for middle class families with a national sales tax while blowing up the debt with more tax cuts for the very wealthy and never seeing that actually trickle down. That’s what you’re going to hear from this president. As far as your question about the politics, the political pieces of this. Look, we’re going to let the Fed speak for themselves. As you know, and we’ve been always very clear about this and very respectful of the independence of the Federal Reserve, unlike other administrations, we’ve been, I think, pretty steadfast about that and have been continuous in making that clear. Go ahead, Ed.

Was there any surprise here at the White House by the size of the rate cut?

So I’m not going to get

I’m not going to get into private conversations or discussions. Look, I think what’s important here is that it’s a moment of progress. I think that’s how we see this. And also a recognition of how far we have come. And so I think that is what we think is important here. And I just mentioned at the top or in that question that I was asked by Will, how this is important for families, businesses. Now, prices are going to go down if you think about being able to buy a home. And these are important, important items for the American people. And so that’s how we see this. We see as a moment of progress.

A few other quick things. The former president is now under what the Secret Service says is a pretty substantial security footprint. Pretty much on par with what the sitting president gets. Is President Biden satisfied that President Trump is now getting the protection he needs?

So, look, I’m just going to kind of reiterate what you heard from the director just yesterday. What you heard from the director, but also in the aftermath after July 13th, the president was very clear. He wanted to make sure that the former president should have the highest level of protection. That’s what he offered by the Secret Service. That’s what he wanted to see. President Biden wanted to see that.

(35:25)
And he has also repeated, over and over again, that the Secret Service needs to make sure, that we need to make sure that they have the resources, the capabilities. What their mission is, it’s critical, what they’re trying to do. And so since July 13th, the Secret Service has greatly enhanced that security for the former president.

(35:43)
And so, honestly, they are the only ones who can speak to the specifics on what that looks like. But again, the acting Director Rowe spoke to this yesterday. I think you also heard from Secretary Mayorkas on this as well. And so I certainly would leave it to them. I’m sorry, not Secretary Mayorkas, Department of Justice Secretary. Yeah, Secretary Mayorkas. I’m so sorry. Secretary Mayorkas, that’s who you heard from yesterday. I’m going back and forth on that.

I could have asked the admiral, but I’ll ask you. The fact that this summit is being held in Wilmington as opposed to New York or here or Camp David, what should the world, what should we read into the fact that he’s taken them to his hometown?

Look, I think that people should look at this as politics, whether it’s foreign or domestic, is indeed personal, right? It is very much local. It is very much personal. And if you think about this, it’s that over three-and-a-half years and more, the president has developed a relationship with these leaders. And so he wanted to continue on that diplomacy, if you will, by bringing them to Wilmington.

(36:57)
And I think it’s important. I think it’s important show of how those relationship has grown. It’s important to show how much the president really focuses on foreign policy. And I think that’s what you should see from that. It’s politics, not just domestic but also foreign. Foreign policy is very much local. And I think that’s what you’re going to see from this president.

Is holding it in Wilmington, or hosting any world leader in Wilmington, something he’d considered previous to now, or that he would’ve done more of had there been a second term? I mean-

Look, I mean-

This is a city that’s gotten used to him and the footprint being there every weekend or every other weekend. So why now?

Look, it is indeed, Wilmington, Delaware is his home. It is a place that he talks about often, as you stated, that he went back every weekend, every day, as you know, when he was a senator, raising his boys. And so this is what you see from this president when he goes to Wilmington.

(37:57)
And, look, I’m not going to go into what the president was thinking before he decided to not run for reelection. I’m not going to go into that. What I’m going to go into is that he thinks it’s important in the relationship that he has built with these leaders, to bring them to his hometown.

(38:16)
And again, not just politics, but domestic policy, foreign policy as well, as it relates to the American people, it’s indeed very local. And so he’s looking forward to bringing them to his hometown. I think they will enjoy Wilmington as much as you all do when you go to Wilmington with the president. Go ahead.

Can neither confirm or deny.

I don’t know. I think you love it. I think you love it. Go ahead.

Is the White House concerned at all that the Fed is predicting that the unemployment rate is going to rise by the end of the year?

So, look, I’m going to let certainly the Fed speak for itself, as they have. I’ll say this, as their statement said today, the economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace. And the unemployment rate remains low. And as Chair Powell just said moments ago, the labor market is actually in solid condition.

(39:17)
It is clear that our economy remains strong. As we’re talking about foreign policy, we have the strongest economy, leading the strongest economy in the world. Unemployment is still low at 4.2%, with the lowest average of unemployment of any administration in 50 years. 142,000 jobs created last month. Nearly 16 million jobs created under the Biden-Harris administration. Wages are going faster than prices are.

(39:45)
So I think these are important data and points to also lift up as well. But again, the Fed also spoke for themselves, in speaking to the strength of economy and the economic activity as well.

And I know you can’t speak to politics, but the Teamster today decide not to endorse any candidate in the election. Can you just speak to the administration’s relationship with the Teamsters? Obviously you guys have done a lot with them, $36 billion in aid. Is the president surprised at all by that decision?

So, look, I’m not going to get into endorsements from any organization including, today, the Teamsters. That is certainly something that the campaign could speak to. As you know, this is a president and a vice president that has fought hard for unions throughout their administration.

(40:31)
This administration in the past three-and-a-half years, he has been called the most pro-union president ever. The president is very proud to have that title, if you will. And let’s not forget, he’s brought American manufacturing back home, creating close to 800,000 manufacturing jobs, and by creating the first Made In America Office. And so these are things that he’s incredibly proud of. And he believes the union labor built the middle class, you hear him say that all the time.

(41:06)
And so can’t speak to any sort of endorsements. That’s for the campaign to speak to directly. But this is a president who really, when it comes to union and bringing jobs back to America, he has put that front and center of his economy, his economic policy. Go ahead.

You’ve described the Fed’s announcement today as a moment of progress. But just to put a finer point on it, does the president agree with the assessment of many that this cut essentially declares that the battle on inflation is won?

I mean, look, all we have to do is… I don’t even have to look at or speak to what the Fed has done. I mean, the data shows, right? The fact is that we have seen inflation coming down. That is something that we have seen in the data that I continuously talk about, speak about from here, whether it’s from me or my colleagues who join us in this room.

(42:03)
And so it is obvious. It is obvious that we have seen interest rates have fallen, that inflation have fallen. And so I’m going to let the Fed obviously speak to more specifics about their monetary decision. But we have seen inflation going down. I think that’s important. That’s important to the American people. That’s important for families, for businesses.

(42:26)
And so I think the progress being made at this time is critical. And we have said, this was coming. I stated earlier that there was a time where folks were saying that we needed a recession. And this has proven, through the President’s economic policy and what he’s been able to do, that we didn’t need to do that, right? We needed to make sure that we really focused on the needs of the American people.

And can I just get your reaction and the President’s reaction to the Senate’s move yesterday, failing to advance the bill to protect IVF?

Look, I mean, the president… We put out a statement on that. I talked about it at the top just yesterday. It’s shameful. It’s shameful that I think more than 40 Republican senators decided not to give protections to IVF. And the reason that bill is even put on the floor for a vote is because of what Republicans did, the former president did in undoing Roe v. Wade, with the Dobbs decision.

(43:29)
And the Dobbs decision, while it took away a constitutional right that was around for almost 50 years, which is Roe v. Wade, it led to now families, people who want to start a family, not have that ability to do so. And that’s what it led to.

(43:48)
And they can pontificate and talk about how some of them may want to protect IVF, but they certainly didn’t vote that way. And it’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that now families are being taken away, their rights are being taken away, their decisions to start a family is being taken away because Republicans are blocking it, are getting in the way.

(44:11)
And so this is something, when you think about abortion rights, when you think about reproductive healthcare, when it comes to the Biden-Harris administration, we are going to continue to fight for those freedoms. We believe that it is important to do so. And so we’re going to do everything that we can to continue to make that progress.

Followup on that please, Karine? Followup.

Go ahead.

Can I get your followup?

Thanks, Karine. Do you have any thoughts about the increasing prospects of a strike with the UAW and the Jeep manufacturer?

Yeah. And as I started off moments ago, about how this president has certainly led in the efforts of making sure that as we talk about the middle class, the union built the middle class. So a strike authorization vote, as it relates to this particular question, does not mean that union will strike. It often precedes continued negotiation between employers and unions.

(45:07)
But I will say that President Biden respects the right to strike. You’ve heard me say that many times. He has said that. President Biden is proud to have stood on the picket lines with UAW workers, and he believes they deserve a fair deal. He also believes in collective bargaining and will continue to encourage the parties to stay at the table and negotiate, to do it in good faith.

(45:26)
And so we are certainly in touch with UAW and the company, as we are often. And so certainly I will direct you to the parties involved here, but collective bargaining is something that the president believes in. Just as long they come to the table and they do it in good faith. And so the President is always going to make sure he has the back of union workers.

And then one more on the Fed. They said in their statement today that the economic outlook is uncertain and that they’re attuned to both sides of the coin there, in terms of positive surprises and negative. You’ve emphasized the positive trajectory that you see. Are you also attuned to the possibility that we are witnessing a weakening labor market, a weakening growth trajectory?

And, look, as you heard me lay out some of the positive things that they have said about the economy and about certainly the unemployment remaining low, which is incredibly important. The labor market continues to be in a solid condition. I think that’s important to note.

(46:27)
Look, we see this as a moment of progress. We really do. We see this as inflation going down, interest rates going down. I’m going to let certainly the Fed speak for itself, but the economy does remain strong. That is still the case. It remains strong. And that is because of the work that we’ve been able to do, this administration has been able to do in the past three-and-a-half years, making sure that we are addressing the issues of American families and American people across the country. And so this is progress and I think what we saw from the Fed today shows how far we’ve come.

Thank you. Just to followup on my colleague, the market is now interpreting the Fed’s rate cut as perhaps a sign that the economy is weakening more quickly than even the Fed thought possible a couple months ago. So how is the White House monitoring that economic data and the possibility for a recession?

So, look, as we’ve stated many times from here before, whether it’s one of our economists who have come to the podium or myself, the stock market is not our economy. We got to be really mindful about that. What we believe is the economy is resilient. The data still shows unemployment is low at 4.2%. We have a strong economy. It continues to be strong. And I think what we’re seeing is a moment of progress, as I’ve stated many times before.

(47:45)
We’re still continuing to see jobs, more than 140,000 jobs just last month. GDP grew 3% just last quarter. And so this is important. This is important, when we look at all of the data together, that we are continuing to see a strong economy. The stock market is up more than 40% under this administration, but that is not our economy.

(48:09)
And so we’re continuing to see progress. We’ve come a long way, a long way since this president and this vice president walked into this administration. The economy was in a tailspin, a tailspin. And we’ve managed to turn that around. Now, as you hear us say all the time, is there more work to be done? Yes, there’s more work to be done. We want to continue to lower costs for the American families and Americans across the country. And we’re going to continue to do so. And you’re going to hear from the president tomorrow, directly.

And on Teamsters, I know you can’t talk about the endorsement specifically, but the union also put out its internal polling that showed that there was a pretty wide margin of rank and file membership that supported former President Donald Trump. To what extent is that a referendum on the work of this administration?

Look, I’m not going to speak to their poll. I’m not going to speak to the rank and file. Look, we’re talking about a 2024, obviously an election that is just a few weeks away. I can’t speak to that. I can’t speak to their decision to endorse, not endorse. Oh, I guess in this case not endorse.

(49:15)
What I can speak to is what this president and this vice president has done in the last three-and-a-half years. This president has been called the most pro-union president ever. And I think-

But in that data, Trump outpolled President Biden when he was [inaudible 00:49:31].

I hear you. I mean we’re talking about-

How does that reflect on the administration’s work?

I mean, we’re talking about one union, right? We’re talking about the Teamsters.

1.6 million people.

Yeah. I hear you. But we’re still talking about one union. And I’m not going to go into their data, I’m not going to go into their polling. But what I will say is many other labor unions have said, and they’ve been very clear about what this president has been able to do. Thinking about manufacturing jobs, you’re thinking about building an economy that leaves nobody behind, you’re thinking about what we’ve been able to do to make sure that we’re bringing back American jobs here. Made In America, obviously here. We created an office to do just that.

(50:12)
And so the president has certainly not just done the talk. He’s walked the walk. And I think there are many labor unions out there who have seen that from this administration. I’m not going to dive in or double down or get into a particular polling that’s out there.

Karine, following up on Mary’s question. Back in August, I asked the president whether he thought the US had beat inflation. And he responded with an emphatic, yes. Today, Jerome Powell was a bit more cautious. And he said, we’re not saying mission accomplished. So I want to ask you again, does the White House believe, does the president believe that the US has beaten inflation?

So what we believe is that we’ve seen progress. That’s what we believe. We believe that inflation indeed

… deed has gone down, right? That is something that we have seen over the past several months. Inflation has gone down. We cannot forget where we were when we walked into this administration. A once-in-a-century pandemic, and the economy was in tailspin. We did not have a comprehensive plan on how to deal with the pandemic. That’s something that the former administration did not leave us. And so we see that inflation is going down. Not just us, it is indeed the data is showing that. And now interest rate is going down. I’m going to let the president speak for himself. He’s going to speak tomorrow at the DC Economic Club and he’ll have a lot more to say.

Right now you’re not going as far as the president did in office?

I’m going to let the president speak for himself. That’s what I’m saying. I’m saying I’m going to let the president speak for itself. And what I can say is that it is a fact that inflation and interest rate are indeed going down. That is what we see. And we’re just stating the obvious. This is not talking about the monetary decisions that the Fed has made. This is just stating the obvious, and the fact I’m going to let the president speak for himself.

Thanks, Karine. Donald Trump suggested yesterday that he wants to eliminate the cap on state and local tax deductions which he signed into law a few years ago. Generally speaking, what is the administration’s position on this cap? Should it be removed? And why or why not?

Look, I’m going to just let the campaign speak to that as it is related to his priorities as a candidate. I’m just going to let them speak to it. Okay.

Karine, thank you. The president has had a long career on the world stage as chairman of the Senate Farm Relations Committee, as vice president, and of course as president. And I’m wondering, going into these summits, the Quad summit and the UNGA meeting, how much will we see him speak in a personal way about his legacy, his vision? This will be his final talk, his final address to an UNGA group. And also thinking about the speech tomorrow, you said that the president will discuss how he’ll continue to lower costs by building millions of homes, making childcare more affordable, capping prescription drugs, et cetera. How much does he think he can realistically accomplish in the waning days of his presidency?

Certainly I’m going to let the president speak to that and more. I was just giving you a little bit of a taste of what the president wants to talk about. And look, lowering costs has been something that has been at the center of his economic policy, a priority for him in the past three and a half years. And so that is something that we’re going to continue to do. And I think under this administration we have been able to build homes for people in an affordable way, and that’s something that we’re going to continue to do. We’ve been able to deal with childcare, especially the child tax credit. That is something that we were able to do with the American Rescue Plan, which only Democrats voted for in Congress. And that actually made a difference. So you’ve seen some of the approaches that the president has been able to do.

(54:18)
We have already beat big pharma, and so you have seen prescription drugs go down because of the work that this president has done with the Inflation Reduction Act. Again, only Democrats voted for that. And that was something that you’ve heard from elected officials for years that they wanted to beat big pharma. This president was able to do that. So I’ll let him speak more to that tomorrow and what that’s going to look like, and lay out his plan and his thoughts. As it relates to the world stage, the president has been a leader in the world stage, on this stage, not just throughout his Senate career, as you just stated, as VP, as president. You think about how he’s been able to bring partners and allies together on really important moments, critical moments in the past three and a half years-

Is he [inaudible 00:55:09] about policy? You know, in a personal way, how does he approach this?

No, I hear the question. What I will say to you is I’m going to let the president speak to that and speak to his own personal views and look back, if you will, of his 50-plus year career and what he’s been able to do on the world stage and also here domestically. So I’m going to let the president speak to that. But I think he is very proud of his accomplishments and what he’s been able to do. And he’ll speak more to that. So I’ll let that go.

Grady?

Go head, VOA in the back.

Great. Again, next week President Zelensky will meet with President Biden, be it in New York or in DC. Can you talk to me about President Biden’s expectation from this meeting, given that this might be their last in-person interaction before President Biden leaves?

I’m not going to get into details or specifics or his behind-the-scenes thoughts of how he’s thinking about it. As you know, he has met President Zelensky many times. And I think President Zelensky has appreciated his leadership. And we’ve been incredibly impressed by the bravery of the Ukrainian people as they continue to fight for their democracy, their freedom. And so you have seen an unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, and certainly the president has led, and more than 50 countries getting behind the Ukrainian people as they fight for their sovereign territory. And so certainly that’s what you’re going to continue to see. And I’ll just leave it there.

Is that going to be in DC or in New York? Just [inaudible 00:56:51].

I don’t have anything to add.

And one more, if I may. Senator John Kennedy accused Arab American activist Maya Berry of supporting Hamas, even though she denied it. So the senator told her, I can quote, “You should hide your head in a bag.” Do you have any reaction to such an intent-

Yeah, I do actually. I’m glad you asked the question. Look, fighting hatred of all kinds, of all kinds, including anti-Arab sentiment and Islamophobia was a core tenet to the president’s campaign and continues to be a driving force of his time here in office, as you all ask me about his last four months. And speaking to this specific moment that we saw, that we all witnessed, it was shameful. It was shameful insults and abusive treatment of an Arab American Institute executive director, Maya Berry at yesterday’s senate hearing. And they were deeply troubling and demonstrate why we need to fight against hate, fight against discrimination of all kinds, of all kinds. It is bigoted and dangerous and very wrong to call someone a terrorist sympathizer based upon their heritage or their religion.

(58:12)
And so we have seen troubling rise in anti-Semitic hatred attacks since October 7th. And we’ve seen a distressing rise in hatred and attacks aimed at Arab and Muslim Americans. And it is upon all of us, especially leaders, national leaders in particular in this country, to call that out and to condemn that type of hatred, that type of bigotry. And this is something that you’re going to continue to see from the Biden-Harris administration. We’re going to condemn that type of hateful speak. Any forms of that type of hatred, we have to speak against it. And it was shameful. It was a shameful insult that we saw yesterday in that hearing. All right, I’m going to start wrapping it up. Go ahead.

Thank you. And somebody may have asked this before, and if they did, I apologize, but I would love to give an answer anyway, which is back in July, late July, you said that the White House was recalibrating in the wake of the president’s decision. And I’m wondering if that recalibration is done and have you got a flow chart? What does this last four months want to do?

No, fair enough, fair enough. Look, and I think it was fair to say that we were recalibrating, as you can imagine. What we saw in the end of July was historic, had never seen before. So what I can say more broadly is that the president is focused on the American people. He is. Whether it’s the economy, healthcare, foreign policy, and many more other issues that Americans care about, that’s what he wants to put at the forefront. That’s what he wants to continue build on the successes that we have seen over the last three and a half years, and wants to continue to make sure… You’ve heard me just talk about the Inflation Reduction Act. You heard me talk about the American Rescue Plan. There’s so many other things. The bipartisan infrastructure legislation, the CHIPS and Science Act, right? The PACT Act. There’s so many historic pieces of legislation that we want to continue to implement and get done. So that is critical and important too.

(01:00:25)
The president is making sure that his teams and the different agencies are on it, are on top of it, on getting that done on behalf of the American people. And so it is a wide range of issues that matter to him because it matters to the American people. And you’re going to hear from him next week at UNGA. You’re going to hear from him this weekend at the Quad summit. And there’s going to be a lot more. Stay tuned. There’s going to be a lot more that you’ll hear directly from this president about what else he’s doing and what else he wants to continue to do.

(01:01:01)
But I think if anything, we’ve been taking those actions, we’ve been giving those speeches, he’s been giving those speeches, whether it’s SCOTUS, you heard him talk about the reform there. So tomorrow he’s going to talk about the economy. He’s going to talk about lowering costs. He’s going to talk about what else he wants to get done. I was just asked, the little bit that I shared about with home ownership and lowering costs and certainly prescription drugs, how is he going to get that all accomplished? He’ll speak to that tomorrow as well.

Karine? [inaudible 01:01:33].

All right. All right. Good ahead, John.

Thanks a lot, Karine. I saw some polling yesterday that caught my attention and I wanted to get your views on this polling.

Okay.

It indicated that nearly half of Republicans say they won’t accept the results of the presidential election if their candidate loses. Nearly a quarter of Democrats won’t accept the results of the presidential election if their candidate loses. And the polling also indicated that 14% of Republicans would take action to overturn the election if their candidate loses. What’s your reaction to that? Is that concerning that there seems to be such distrust with the election system to get these types of results?

So here’s what I will say, and I have not seen that polling, so I don’t want to speak directly to the polling, but more broadly. And you’ve heard the President say this, it is important that it shouldn’t matter if you win or lose, you should respect the results of the election. You’ve heard him say that directly. And he respects our election process. He respects free and fair elections. It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you sit in or you believe you believe in, it is important that we respect this process.

(01:02:58)
Peaceful transfer of power is incredibly important. Respecting the results of the election is incredibly important. And you’re going to continue to hear that from this president. He’s going to continue to fight for our democracy. And you heard him say that on January 6th, after what we saw on the Capitol, after violence was incited, when you saw 2,000 people trying to overturn an election because of what the former president said. And he denounced that. And you just didn’t hear that from a Democratic elect president. You heard that from the judges, who more than 60 of them were Republican judges, who said it was indeed a free and fair election. And so he believes as a leader, as the President of the United States, it is important to be very clear in protecting our democracy and fighting for our democracy. And you’ve heard him say this. And so I’ll leave it there. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Thank you, everybody.

An IVF bill, critics say it violates religious freedom. Can you address that?