Source on cspan. Unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. From the nations capitol to wherever you are. Because the a million because the opinion that matters the most is your own. This is what democracy looks like. Cspan, powered by cable. Announcer First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive for covid19. Her office says her symptoms are mild. President biden is negative and will keep his plans to travel to new delhi for the g20 summit in vietnam later in the week. This from what has National Security advisor Jake Sullivan and press secretary Karine John Pierre during todays briefing. Happy tuesday. Good afternoon, everyone. Before i turn things over to jake i have a couple of updates at the top and then we will get this going. This afternoon President Biden will award the medal of honor, americas oldest and highest recognition for valor, to captain larry taylor United States army. On june 18, 1968 then First Lieutenant taylor led a Helicopter Team in vietnam that rescued a fourman army patrol units. Which had been surrounded by nearly 100 enemy forces. First lieutenant taylor and his wingman braved intense ground fire from more than 30 minutes to provide aerial fire support until they were nearly out of ammunition. With the enemy Still Closing in on the patrol, First Lieutenant taylor courageously decided to extract the team of american soldiers on the ground using his two man cobra helicopter, a feat that had never been accomplished or even attempt at pick First Lieutenant taylor he successfully rescued the patrol team and carried them to a safe location. First lieutenant taylors gallantry and profound concern for his fellow soldiers and his actions which went above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest tradition of military service. In recognition of his service, he will be awarded the medal of honor here today at the white house this afternoon. Now, as you all know, the president believes that Education Beyond High School should unlock doors to opportunity, not leave borrowers stranded with debt, they cannot afford. Thats why from day one, the Biden Harris Administration has been working to fix the broken student loan system, make college more affordable, and cancel loan debt for millions of borrowers. In fact, to date, the Biden Harris Administration has canceled more than 117 billion in loan debt for 3. 4 million borrowers. And earlier today, the Biden Harris Administration announced that more than 4 million student loan borrowers are enrolled in the administrations new income driven repayment plan, the saving on a valuable education or save plan. This includes those who were transitioned from the previous revised pay as you earn or repay plan. Save is the most affordable repayment plan ever and will save millions of borrowers money on their monthly payments. Student borrowers can visit studentaid. Gov save to sign up today. The application takes less than 10 minutes to fill out for most. And finally an update on the president and the first lady since she tested positive for covid19 last night. I can tell you that the first lady is experiencing mild symptoms and will remain in delaware for the week. President biden tested negative last night for covid19 and tested negative again today. Hes not experiencing any taking, you will be masking and as has been the practice in the past, the president will remove his mask indoors and outside when distant from others. Guidelines recommend a combination. The president is doing all of that in close consultation with his physician. There are no updates to protocols. We continue to work closely. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I would like to take a few minutes at the top to set the scene for the g20 to elevate the partnership with vietnam. On thursday, the president will travel to india to attend the g20 leaders summit, he will participate in a bilateral meeting, on saturday and sunday the president will participate in the official sessions of the g20 summit. The president is committed to working with emerging market partners. That is what we believe the world will see this weekend. United states commitment has not wavered and we believe the worlds Major Economies can Work Together even in challenging times. As we head into new delhi, our focus is on delivering for developing countries, making progress on key priorities and showing our commitment to our partners. We are looking forward to warmly welcoming the African Union as a permanent member of the g20. We believe here at home, President Biden will work to rebuild by the bottom up by making Smart Investments while tackling Climate Change and empowering workers. We can countries we think countries can benefit from a similar approach and support them in tackling the challenges they face, that is one of our main focuses, delivering on an agenda of fundamentally reshaping and world bank of the imf. We know that these institutions are some of the most effective tools we have for mobilizing developing countries and that is why the United States has championed a major effort underway to evolve these institutions so they are up to the evolving challenges of today and tomorrow. Just last month, President Biden asked congress for additional funds that would have the impact of increasing World Bank Financing by more than 25 billion, and we are working to make sure other partners follow our lead. At the g20, we have been leading an effort that we hope will see the g20 endorse this level of ambition and deliver a Broader Vision of Multilateral Development banks that are better, bigger and more effective. President biden will also be calling on g20 members as leaders in the Global Economy to provide meaningful debt relief, so low and middle Income Countries can regain their footing after years of extreme stress. He will be clear that the United States expects Real Progress on ongoing cases by the world bank and imf annual meetings in merrick cash next week, and he will be clear we need all g20 members to be constructive and at the table with no exceptions. We will also be making progress on other key priorities including a more Digital Transformation and responsible path and approach to ai development. In addition, we will spotlight the progress we are making in Global Infrastructure investment. We will have some announcements we are excited about. We know there will be continued focus on how the g20 deals with russias war in ukraine. The reality is the illegal war has had devastating social consequences and the poorest countries on the planet are bearing the brunt of that. Essie is them before, President Biden will call for a just and durable peace. Principles of the u. N. Charter. He will continue to emphasize that the United States will support you for as long as it takes to redeem these principles. Last but not least, you will see that the United States will make it clear that we remain committed to the g20 as a Critical Forum for economies to come together for global problemsolving. At a moment when the International Economy is suffering, its more important than ever that we have a working form at the Worlds Largest economy. United states is looking forward to hosting g20 in 2026. Turning briefly to vietnam. The president will travel to vietnam to meet with the general secretary and top leadership. Building on the stream of diplomatic successes but there is remarkable stop and the strengthening of ties and the role vietnam will play in the indo pacific. Handinhand to promote reconciliation, work in light of the friendship with senator john mccain. As we survey challenges, the and vietnam elevated and energized partnership. Vice president harris will be traveling to indonesia to engage with leaders crossing the pacific. It will be her third visit to southeast asia. Throughout her work, she has focused on strengthening partnerships. To having her report back to the present as the president embarks on india and vietnam. I told you that i made good on my promise so with that, i would be having to take questions. We understand the president is negative in case he does test positive, did he attend any of these meetings virtually . That is beyond me. We have long experienced in which covid plays a role. Weve seen various leaders participating virtually. On sunday, the president said he was disappointed president she is not attending but said he will get to see him. The president has said before he is looking forward to picking up the conversation he had with president xi. Following up on not born, do you think the conversation might take place in the coming weeks or months . I cant. Kundera, there are reports on north korea, there are reports about russia. [indiscernible] what is the latest assessment . Actively captures it well. The current analysis is discussions between north korea and russia with respect to north korea providing military support for russia, that those discussions are advancing, most recently we saw the defense minister of russia make a trip to pyung young in essence to ask for weapons, and we have indications that kim jongun has some expectations to continue as we go forward, including leader level discussions, perhaps in person. I cant get into all the details, but that is what we are seeing. Ongoing discussions where we have information that the leadership of north korea sees this as engagement, and i would add we have been discussing publicly the possibility of north korea supplying weapons to russia for quite some time, and the reason why there is intense effort to generate this kind of support is we have continued to squeeze the ants Industrial Base and they are now looking to whatever source they could find. Thats what we see and we will continue to call it out and call on north korea to abide by public commitment to not supply weapons. [indiscernible] over time, we have not seen them actively supply large amounts of munitions of military capacity, i cannot protect what will happen, i can only say the discussions have been advancing in the russians will be viewing them with an increased intensity as reflected that the number one guy in the defense establishment flew there to try and push this forward. Just to follow up, do you think part of this has to get with them getting less than they want from beijing, do you think the u. S. Has any leverage in terms of what it could do . I can speculate on north korea i cant speculate on north koreas motives. Grain silos, heating infrastructure as we head into winter, to try and conquer territory, this will not reflect well on north korea, we have also imposed sanctions to try and disrupt any effort to use north korea as a conduit, we did so as recently as midaugust and we have continued to convey privately and asked allies and partners to do the same, the view that they should abide by commitments that they will not abide by these weapons. What has changed is not something i can speak to an kim jongun will be the ultimate decisionmaker. We will look for opportunities to dissuade north koreans and get others to do the same. We are seeing discussions taking place between these 2 [indiscernible] media, threats of violence, arrest. First of all, the ability of the American Press to cover the g20 in an unencumbered way is something that has been a serious priority as recently as this morning and we are putting money and access that they need. President biden himself spoke to questions related to democracy and human rights, the United States is clear, when it comes to the trip to vietnam, we believe and we will deliver broader security decisions. Freedom of expression, religion and basic human rights, this trip will be no exception. What does it say about russia that they are asking for north korea . We have asked our intelligence community, its a good question, quality of stocks is somewhat constrained. It is something we will continue to look at carefully. There is an open question about how much material and quality if it were to be provided. I think it says a lot. In september of 2023, russia is going to north korea to get munitions to try and continue to grind out on the battlefield. Is the president scheduled to meet with any other leaders . I laugh because i dont know who fits on the list of who you might be interested in. [indiscernible] we dont have a bilateral schedule with either of those leaders at this time, im not going to speak to how the schedule will shape up, but as you know there is a dynamic element with the leaders in a confined space. The following communique said most members of the g20 condemned the war in ukraine. What progress has been made to get india and china india signed onto the statement, most members. It was as i recall russia who was the Main Objective to the proposition that so many members signed onto. I dont express expect russia will flip its position. To get absolute consensus is challenging because you have russia seated at the table because prudent is not going to be there. The fact that most members of the g20 continue to hold the position that russias war was illegal in violation of the charter and the war must and on terms consistent with the charter, that is a result of months of diplomacy and continues to reflect where international sentiment is. [indiscernible] we are working closely with congress on a supplemental funding package the president has submitted seeking funding through the end of the year, we have been working with the senate and house, have had constructive negotiations in both chambers, im going to speak to assurances but the conversations have been constructive and substantive constructions. World bank reforms, you talked about it not being about a specific country or china, but on the other hand you say you need an alternative. How could it be about china and not be about china . We believe theres to be High Standard lending options available to low and middle Income Countries. Its also a fact that World Bank Reform is not about china because china is a shareholder. It is four we believe more capable middle Income Countries and china would benefit from that. Is there a part of it focused on china . This is an affirmative agenda about providing transparent, sustainable resilient funding stream but middle Income Countries dealing with the stresses of climate, covid and migration, the war in ukraine, access to capital that they could take advantage of. That is an agenda that has been embraced not just by the United States but by a wide range and diverse set of countries and we believe it will be embraced how does that change . It will not change the pitch. President biden will reinforce it, the United States is going to put forward the same straightforward case for why this is so important and more importantly, we will put on the table that we are asking the congress for financing to make sure the United States is not just talking the talk but walking the walk. [indiscernible] crude went above 90 per barrel. Does that of the antifor meeting with the saudis . First question, i will leave it to others to speak with other market impacts. Its a continuation of cuts for three months as opposed to one month. As far as im concerned, the most important thing the president is focused on is trying to do everything in his toolkit to get lower prices for consumers at the gas pump in the United States. It is the price of gas, not the question of which country is doing what that is going to be his ultimate metric. Secondly, as i said before, we dont currently have bilateral meetings scheduled at the g20 to announce with any leaders. I dont think the announcement today is going to we will make our decisions on that on the basis of a broader set of considerations of anyone policy. [indiscernible] with the energy minister, with leadership will continue. The thing we ultimately stand for is effective supply of energy to Global Markets so we can deliver relief so we do this in a way [indiscernible] im wondering how concerned you are. Im going to withhold comments on the chip in question until we get more information, and from my perspective the United States should continue on its course, focus on National Security concerns. In terms of characterizing the chip in question, that is something we need to gain more information from. Do you see the vision from india and china with the climate issue, perhaps if you allow me [indiscernible] should be read into this . Think i have answered your last question. They speak with these leaders occasionally but not every month. But also does not portend any eminent breakthrough or action with respect to the question of normalization. It is an important moment given his relationship with both men. As far as the question of tensions between india and china, thats up to china. If china month to play the role of spoiler, i think what every member will do is encourage them on climate, multilateral form, set relief, set aside geopolitical questions and focus on problem solving. Thank you. [indiscernible] i dont have a specific comment, they are prone to be making information, we are studying tests and making determinations accordingly and we are responding to that through increasingly tight, trilateral cooperation as evidenced in the president s summit. With respect to the comments by schaeuble on military exercises, as far as we are concerned, it is a broader pattern of activity across the indo pacific, security cooperation, exercises, the Work Together to ensure a prosperous indo pacific with a Broad Network of allies and partners i believe has enhanced the security of that region and 2023 has been a year of substantial progress. We are quite hopeful about the progress we have made in enhancing our own capabilities and we will let other countries can you update us on saturdayisrael, u. S. Diplomacy talks . This trip is focused on broader regional issues. One of the main things that has brought him there along with the assistant secretary of state and our special envoy for yemen is to talk about the war in yemen. We are entering a 17 or 18 month of a truce, the longest in yemen in years, which has been delivered through painstaking u. S. Diplomacy. We not only want to keep that going, we want to deepen it and get to a Permanent Peace in yemen. He will also be meeting with the crown prince of bahrain in advance of his trip next week. And then he will speak to the palestinians about the range of issues relative to the israelipalestinian file. Normalization will be one of the topics on the agenda but its not the main thrust of this trip. Like i said before, with respect to the, secretary blink inmate, we dont expect any imminent announcement. Does the Administration Support palestinian public demand that they will accept nothing less than statehood . I wont negotiate from the podium on the question of normalization and how the various pieces fit together. It seems like every administration, when it gets to complaints about the problems inherent from the previous administration, how do you defend the rule and the issues like russia, china, north korea, iran, it seems like in all of those cases our relationship is worse than it was before. First of all, russia decided to launch a massive land war in ukraine. United states has mobilized not just the west, but a coalition of dozens of countries. Or their 100 countries have voted for you and General Assembly resolution condemning what russia did. If you look at the u. S. Leadership in that regard, we have stopped russia from being able to take over a sovereign state. We have ensured ukraine has a sovereign democracy out into the future in this apart we have given to the brave and courageous ukrainians on the front lines. I think the story of how the uss stood up to russia and galvanized the world to do so, is a significant achievement of President Biden and when we expect to continue. Im not sure i would agree with your characterization of the previous administration, but im not interested. We are taking our own approach, which is to ensure we can compete intensively to put United States and the Strongest Division possible while at the same time managing that competition so it does not to the conflict. We believe we are managing the competition effectively. From the question of what we inherited where we are today, if you look at the u. S. Economy and chinas economy, if you look at the u. S. Alliance and the strength that we have built up in the endo pacific done beyond, we fell good about the strategic position of the United States, in terms of the unfolding competition. With respect to iran, i would just point out that under the administration before the previous guy, Irans Nuclear program was in a box. The last guy let it out of the box. We are now trying to manage the results of that decision and we are doing so while deterring iran from going for a nuclear weapon. We have thus far been able to do that, something we remain vigilant about. With respect to north korea, the previous ministration believed that if it simply engaged in summit level diplomacy, it could end north koreas Missile Nuclear program. By the time we took office the programs accelerated dramatically. The first text from the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile did not happen on joe bidens watch. We are dealing with the inherent not just the last of ministration, but multiple administrations. We are drawing more closely together the u. S. , japan and korea a historic summit that has strengthened our capacity to deter and defend the interest of the United States and our allies Going Forward. If you look at the position of the United States as it relates to those four countries as it relates for broader alliances and partnerships on the underlying sources of national strength, manufacturing, infrastructure, technology, all of this we believe we will leave better than we found it by the time President Biden exits this office. I want to return to ukraine supplemental and you said you would believe you could secure the supplemental funding. I was hoping you could talk about that and whether its getting harder to get those supplementals through congress and why the ministration doesnt feel the need to do more . On the first question, our view is that the strong bipartisan support for ukraine in the congress, in both the house and the senate, has been on evidence, has been on display, not just in the pass votes for ukraine funding but in the current public statements of critical members of both parties and really important positions. In the senate, as well as key chairs and committees in the house. So we believe that there is still while there is some dissident voices, a strong core on a bipartisan basis of support for ensuring that we continue to provide ukraine with the support that it needs because its fundamentally in Americas National interest to do so. And with the question of selling it, the president has made clear repeatedly since this conflict began what the stakes are for the American People that letting russia run roughshod over ukraine would put europe at risk and we know what happens when an aggressive, hostile power places the continent of the earth at military risk. Because our greater cause, not just at american treasure but americans lives later, but lets make the investments now to make sure we uphold the fundamental rules of the international order. The president has made that case repeatedly. Believe if you actually look at where Public Attitudes are, that they have been surprisingly resilient, despite the constant assertion that the bottom will fall out from underneath them. We believe support will hold up in the congress for us to be able to continue to provide ukraine with the support that it needs, but we dont take that for granted. Its something we need to work out every day, consult with members, ensure we answer their questions, ensure accountability, ensure that our allies and partners are stepping up and doing the burden sharing so they carry their fair share of load and we do all those things. I think in a dynamic discussion with the congress, we believe we can secure a good funding package when all is said and done. It still study rather than eroding in terms of monetary support for ukraine. But i will say is we believe there is still a strong base of bipartisan support in the congress to pass a material package that ukraine needs to be able to not just sustain its gains on the battlefield, but also to ensure that those gains can be consolidated and not rolled back as we go forward. A member of your team said in recent days that you are actively negotiating with the regime of venezuela about exchanging it for concrete steps towards democratic elections. Do you believe that they have any actual interest . Im not going to speak to promises, pledges, hopes for the future. You ministration administrations position has been clear for a long time. We are prepared to engage in discussions about specific sanctions relief in return for concrete steps that lead us towards a free and fair election. Our measurement is not about promises, its not about what we may get. It is about getting clear, concrete benchmarks and steps along the way. I wont characterize any current amount of discussions in that regard just to state that that is our northstar. We will judge by actions, not by words. Thats how we approach our sanctions policy, not just with respect to venezuela, but other countries as well. With the General Assembly coming up, what kind of priorities is hit to pass a resolution through the Security Council that would operationalize the multilateral force, and what kind of force to want to have the ability to go into the streets we are looking to support a Multinational Force that is fundamentally policing a support mission, not a military mission and one in support of the Haitian National police not taking over this and seeing capacities from the Haitian National police. In terms of the precise operational elements, how they will operate physically in portauprince and other parts of haiti, i will defer that question because the experts are engaging to work out what an Operational Plan would look like. In terms of new york, it is certainly our priority to get the necessary backing that we feel we need to build for a Multinational Force in to get the resources necessary. Is that we are willing to put forward a substantial investment to do that and we are asking other countries to do the same. Last question. Given that you said a bolstering the world bank is not about encountering china, in this Country Credit card delinquencies have spiked, inflation remains on the federal deficit this year has almost tripled. The president wants to increase funding through the world bank. How is that fair . I think citizens in scranton recognize the problems that happen overseas dont stay overseas. They come here. Covid came here from overseas. When there is massive debt or instability or conflict elsewhere, it has a drag on the Global Economy and america is part of the Global Economy. So our so our perspective is for a modest investment from the point of view of the overall size of the u. S. Budget, to put into ensuring greater stability, greater prosperity, greater capacity in the rest of the world, that is going to end up reducing the cost and burdens on working people in scranton, minneapolis or any of those towns. That is not some novel idea, that has been a bipartisan commitment of the United States for decades, and even the last administration, the biggest skeptics of all of this, made investments in foreign aid because those investments are in the selfinterest of the United States as well as being the right thing to do. Thank you. Thank you, jake. I just have two things, and then we have a few minutes to take a couple more questions. The first one, i dont see her in here. April ryans birthday, i thought she would be here. Shes not here. Happy 21st birthday, april. [laughter] second thing, i want to say congratulations to Kristin Walker on her last day. We were talking earlier and you said you have covered the white house for about a decade. Which makes you, 30 years old. 30, thats great. In all seriousness, we will miss you, and we are incredibly thrilled and excited for you and your new adventure in a different washington institution, if you will. We will be watching. Please keep in touch. Of course, but seriously, this is for me personally, it has been a joy working with you and im so thrilled to see you in this new role that little girls and boys are going to watch you and hopefully be inspired by everything that you do every sunday. As they have been these past 10 years. Lexa has been an incredible honor to work at the white house for the past decade. Thank you for that, i really appreciated and thank you to my incredible colleagues. Go forward. Happy birthday. Its my birthday. Rex alright, happy birthday, dan, hope you have a wonderful day. Not to talk about news the covid protocol, is he going to test every day he gets on the plane, i think the protocols for the g 20 arent i wonder what will happen Going Forward with the president while we are watching . The president is going to test on a regular cadence in accordance to his physician. All travelers, including the president will test before traveling to india. That is something the president will do. As i mentioned, the cdc is following cdc guidelines. The cdc does not recommend testing every day after close contact. That is their recommendation, we will follow the cdc guidelines. They recommend a combination of things, which is masking, testing and monitoring for symptoms. He has no symptoms. So we are going to continue to follow those guidelines, he will have those close consultations with his physician, and thats all i can share at this time. Regular cadence is up to consultation with his physician. I could tell you now, all travelers are going to test before they head out to india. Thats including the president. That is something that is happening we leave on thursday, there you go. Are these pcr tests the president is getting . That is something the physician would have. What is the protocol for anyone meeting with the president . Any time we are around any of the principles, we do test. That has been the way we have moved forward for the past almost two years. That has not changed. No white house protocol is going to be changing at the top, but when we do have close engagement with the president , senior staff, as you all know, or anyone, we do test. We recently did an interview with dr. Deborah bursting, she said leaders are living in a fantasy world amid the latest covid search. She said the next vaccine booster is coming way too late. Whats your response to that and what she shares with others. Arent you confident you are as prepared you can be for this booster . We know that we have made a historic progress in this nation and in the ability to manage covid. In a way that is no longer meaningful and disrupting our daily lives. That is because of the work that the president has done, the work that the administration has done , and we actually believe we are in a better place than we have ever been to deal with covid, thats because we have tools in our toolbelt. We will have those midseptember vaccines, which will be incredibly important. We have these at home test, which is absolutely important. We have these treatments that we know are effective so that we can reduce severe illness, we can reduce hospitalization and death. We listen to the experts, the scientists, thats what we do here, and we are going to be continuously working with them, certainly in coordination. Cdc and fda announced these midseptember it passed, so im safe. So, these midseptember vaccines, which will be incredibly important. Lets not forget, the flu vaccine in the rsv vaccine, all of those things are important and this is the sump this is something the president has made sure is available. We feel we are in a good position to deal with covid19 in the fall, and we are going to continue to listen to the experts as we move forward. J noted you had experience on attending summits. You look ahead to what the next week looks like and could look like, are you actually thinking should the president test positive im not going to get ahead of that. What i can say now is that we do not have any changes to any updates or changes to his travel. The president tested negative yesterday, he tested negative this morning, and he has no symptoms, hes feeling good. You will all see him in about an hour and see for yourself. Of course hes going to be very cautious, and he is going to wear a mask. As the cdc guidelines suggest or request. That is how we are going to move forward, we just dont have any updates and changes. Im just going to repeat what my colleague jake said, we know how to move forward in these situations, but again, we feel we dont have any updates in any schedule in the president is feeling fine and we will move forward. Just a followup on that, the president did have a bit of a cough during his speech, im just wondering if he had any other symptoms or concerns around that . No symptoms thats related or that would be related to this current conversation that we are having. You mentioned the midseptember vaccine and im just wondering if there is this site happening, is there any concern that that is coming just a little bit too late in terms of the immunization question mark immunization . The experts feel again, listen to the experts, cdc, fda has to go through their process in getting these vaccines done and ready to go. Thats midseptember. We are wet, september 5, right . We are not far from that, midseptember. We will do our job every time when it comes to new vaccine or any of the tools that are out there, we will make sure we encourage americans to get those vaccines. We know that these vaccines work, we know when people stay uptodate with their vaccines, that works. So thats where i will certainly leave that, but we have seen we have experienced increases in covid19 during the last three summers, so its not surprising that we see an uptick in this long time of decline, declining rates, so this is not surprising. But, we are going to make sure that in these midseptember vaccines are available, that we will certainly give them the information that they need, and remind them to take your flu vaccine and rsv shots, all three will be key and critical as we get into the fall. President biden if he tests positive, we assume he wont travel to india . Theres no update to the schedule. He tested negative last night, he tested negative today. Thats what matters. His not having any symptoms. I wont get into hypotheticals. When should we expect the next test update from you. You said the cdc is saying not every day but he is doing doctors recommendations . Would he get tested tomorrow . This regular cadence will be up to his physician. All travelers, including the president is going to get tested before we go to india. We leave for india on thursday, today is tuesday. I have nothing further to share. Just shared with you that he tested last night, and today, that is up to the physician. We are going to continue to follow cdc guidance. On uaws possible strike. The president said, im not worried about a strike until it happens, i dont think its going to happen. The head of uaw said he must know something we dont know. Why is the president confident a strike will not happen . As someone who has followed this president closely for some time, he is optimistic, is an optimistic person, and hes going to continue to remain optimistic as these negotiations continue. And that it will result in a winwin. This is a president that believes in collective bargaining. He believes in both sides coming to the table, and with the uaw being at the heart of an electric vehicle feet future with good paying union jobs, we believe that this is incredibly important. So, we believe, as well, autoworkers should get their wages and benefits they deserve. This is the president that has been very consistent and has said that over the last two years. So, he is optimistic that both sides are going to come to the table and come to an agreement, as weve seen with other situations where there was collective bargaining were both sides came in and resulted in a good outcome. So, hes going to be very optimistic. He believes in collective bargaining, and thats what we hope to see, that both sides continued to have that conversation. You all know this, i think you have reported on this, james has played the lead on having those discussions as well as julie sue, so we have been having conversations, so he is updated by julie sues white house senior staffers here, thats how he stays uptodate. When are the boosters available and we expect them to get that, will they do it publicly . I cant speak to a schedule but both of them will get their updated vaccines, like all americans who are eligible should do so. On the potential Government Shutdown, i understand the action how does the president see this role for the Government Shutdown . I said this over and over and will continue to say this. There is no reason for conversation. Absolutely none. They should keep their word and they should do their job. Which is keeping the government open. And we have to, it is critical, it is important. It is important to find these incredibly vital programs that American People need and also our troop needs and America Needs that we have. And so there should not be a reason to shut down the government. We believe congress should do their job. It is their job to get this done. The president have these conversations could we expect this . I cant speak to any conversations hes had, many conversations we try to keep them private, and you heard from jake, he said that theres been extensive conversation on the supplemental specifically to ukraine on both the house in the senate side and how we truly want to see this continue to be a bipartisan effort moving forward, and just more broadly as you are asking me about the budget, youve heard me say that omb director has been very much involved in these conversations, our legislative Affairs Office has been very much engaged in those conversations, and that certainly going to continue because it is crucial and it is important that we continue to fund these vital programs. There was public reporting he would support the shortterm. Is that the case he would sign the shortterm . We believe that it is going to be up to congress what they decide to do. Certainly defer to them, but, again, the government should not be shut down. It should be funded, vital and critical programs that American People need. I will say this, its clear because the fiscal years is coming to an end that congress will need to pass a shortterm resolution to keep the government running. That is clear thats where we are now and i think ive said this before, omb has provided technical assistance. I talked about this last week to make sure there are no disruptions to american programs that americans rely on. I would have to refer to the congress on that specific thing. President biden is the oldest president in u. S. History, white is white house staff treat him like a baby . No one treats the commanderinchief like a baby, thats a ridiculous claim. The president , rather than owning his failure, he fumed to friends about how hes chewed it treat it like a toddler. I will say this. Theres always going to be a range of books about every administration, as you know, that will have a variety of claims. That is not unusual, it happens all the time and we wont litigate those here. Thats something we are not going to speak to. There is one thing i do want to, because i thick i was asked this last week about this particular excerpt that they will they were referring to. We did see the expert excerpt in the context of the excerpt, and it seems to be making the opposite point about how the value of his experience and wisdom resulted in rallying the free world against authoritarianism, which is important, we have seen this, you all have seen this, and passage of the most historic agenda in history, handling the Foreign Policy like rallying the world around ukraine. As you just heard from our National Security advisor who laid out, in really good questions that your colleagues asked, about how the president is moving forward, about ukraine, about leaning into these conversations you will have at the g 20. Why do you think a wall street journal poll, two thirds of democrats think President Biden is too old to run again . Heres what i can speak to, i could speak to that a president who has wisdom, i could speak to a president who has experience, i could speak to a resident who has done historic taken historic action and has delivered historic pieces of legislation. And thats important. When the last guy who was in the oval office talked about infrastructure week, it was a joke, and the president passed a pretty important piece of legislation in a bipartisan way because of his wisdom and experience in that we have infrastructure decade. It does not stop there. Last week we talked about how the president beat big pharma. Something that elected officials and politicians have been trying to do for 33 years, hes been able to do that and we introduced the first 10 drugs that medicare can now negotiate on. Its going to save money for our seniors, for americans across the country. The gentleman that introduced the president , paying 16,000 a month, 16,000 a month just to stay alive because he has cancer and diabetes and he cannot retire because he has to pay 16,000 a month. And because of the work that this president has done, he doesnt have to that anymore. I will say one last thing, i know you have a followup, probably five more. I want to say that the interesting thing about this is that the president has done historic pieces of legislation whether its the American Rescue plan, whether its ships and signs after the inflation reduction act. There are some republicans in the house and in the senate that did not look for any of these legislations that i just laid out who go back to their state go back to their district and take credit for something that the president did. This is not unusual, they did this in 2019, they did this in 2020 and they did this in 2022 and the president continues to prevail. The president said he hasnt had the occasion to go to east palace team, i just havent been able to break, the derailment was on february 3. President biden has not had a break since february 3 . The president will go to east palace team, he promised that he would and he will. So he was not on a break in lake tahoe . I will say this again, the president will go to east palace nessie has said he is committed to do. You saw him just this saturday visit a rural area that was devastated, some parts were devastated by hurricane idalia, and he was there with the first lady, they were able to hear directly from the American People and he was able to talk about what is it that they need from the federal government. So, the president is going to go to east palace seen, i dont have a time or date to announce that, but he will go. Given recent events, is there a plan to alter the Vice President scheduled . I dont have any details or updates to share on travel. I have a question, can you explain why you cap share or wont share the president s testing with us . Quickset has nothing to not share the cadence. I just shared with you he took a test and it was negative, today he took a test and it was negative. The cdc does not recommend testing every day after cold contact. Im just saying, you told us he tested previously, so it would be helpful if we know. Because it already happened, right, so therefore i could tell you he took a test because it already happened. And im telling you right now it is up to the physician in consultation with the physician. Cdc guidance from cdc recommends that or says someone with a close contact does not have to test regularly or everyday. So ok, there should be no confusion, we just explained that he tested. Just explained that he tested yesterday. I just wanted an explanation is why you dont want to share. I just explained it. The cdc recommends does not recommend testing every day. We are following cdc guidance. I just was in close consultation with the physician. The physician will decide when the testing is going to happen. Thats it, thats the answer, and dont have anything else. Thats the answer im giving you in close consultation with his physician, cdc does not recommend testing every day, thats it. Go ahead. I know jake wouldnt speak to the components of the agreements between saudi arabia and israel, but they said the issue of palestine is more of a checkbox in the negotiation, does the white house agree with that . I will not go beyond, jake laid out pretty well about opposition there, the meeting that brett is doing in the region, especially as it relates to palace seen as well. I dont have anything, i wont go beyond or further to what the National Advisor shared. I am going to go around and take one go ahead, brian. The federal deficit is expected to increase this year over last year during by instrument decrease in the first two years, whats President Bidens response to that, and whats his assessment of the reasons of the federal deficit . A couple of things and i know my colleagues have spoken to this before, it can be volatile, and that is how we have tracked that, but the reality is, the president has a real plan, as we have laid out multiple times, to reduce the deficit, and we dont see republicans as having aeroplan. The deficit has fallen by more than 1 trillion under this president , and he assigned legislation to cut the deficit by another 1 trillion. The president s budget would reduce the deficit by further 2. 5 trillion by cutting wasteful spending on special interest in making big corporations and the rich pay their fair share. Thats what we are trying to do and by contrast what we see from our republican colleagues on the other side is that, especially when President Trump and congressional republicans, what they did airing his administration is that they added to trillion dollars to the deficit with a tax cut used to the wealthy and large corporations. What we are going to do is continue to fight social security, fight for medicare and health care. We will continue to make sure we do what we can. The president believes in moving forward with his economic plan in a fiscally responsible way and thats what we will continue to do. I just said, it can be very volatile. He said in march, our plan is working in increasing the deficit. And we have seen the deficit fallen by more than 1 trillion under the deficit. As i stated at the top, it could be volatile, thats why the president has taken action. More than 2 trillion to lower the deficit. Thats what he will continue to do. What we know for sure is that trickledown economy does not work. We hear it talked about all the time when we talk about bidenomics is building the economy from bottom up, middle out. Thats what the president will continue to do. He will do it in a fiscally responsible way. All you have to do is watch with the president has done the last two years. I just laid out it can be very volatile. I talked about how the president s deficit thats the way it is from yeartoyear it can be volatile. That is talk to an economist and dont tell me specifically what i can speak to is what the president have done over the last two years with seeing the deficit go down by a trillion dollars. He signed another piece of legislation with the deficit will go down another trillion. Thats the president s focus, thats why we believe bidenomics is so important. I will see you tomorrow, thank you very much. Thank you. 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