Press Briefings

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

3:18 P.M. EST

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good afternoon, everyone.

Q Good afternoon.

Q Hi, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi. I haven’t seen you in a while.

This is a good day. You all have just heard the terrific news from the president that after 15 months of war, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal.

This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians who have been living in dire conditions, and it will reunite the hostages, including Americans, with their families after more than 8 — more than 15 months in captivity, experiencing unimaginable — unimaginable suffering.

Over the past few days, President Biden spoke with the leaders of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt to continue to push negotiations forward and reach the resolution we announced today.

The process has been steered out of the West Wing, at the direction of the president, by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and driven to completion through relentless diplomacy by Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk, who has been actively negotiating day and night in Doha.

I will note that Brett is currently in meetings with foreign leaders. And when he emerges, the National Security Council is going to host a background call to answer more of your questions.

Secretary Blinken, Director Burns have traveled regularly to the region in recent months and throughout the past year and been in close touch with the key players in the region to advance negotiations forward.

President Biden has also directed his team to work closely with the incoming administration to ensure all spoke with one voice on the need to secure a deal.

As the president said, we have reached this point because of the pressure Israel has put on Hamas, while — with the backing of the United States. Sinwar was killed. Iran’s attacks against Israel failed thanks to the support from the United States. We have built a coalition of nations to defend against Houthi attacks. We negotiated a ceasefire after Hezbollah was significantly weakened. And Iran is weaker today than it has been in decades.

These developments, which the United States helped shape, have created new conditions in the region — conditions that have led to the outcome we are seeing today.

Today, even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families — all of the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s horrific October 7th attack and the many innocent people who have been killed in the war that followed.

It is long time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin.

The families of the American hostages are at the forefront of our hearts and minds today. They have been through a terrible ordeal that I cannot begin to imagine.

Under this deal, President Biden is determined to finally bring their loved ones home.

Now, again, Brett McGurk is the best equipped to answer the specific implementation questions, as he has been directly involved in extensive negotiations, obviously, on the ground.

In the meantime, we wanted to come out here to speak to the news and also answer any other questions that you may all have.

But before I even move forward to taking your questions, I want to do one of those, as the — as the — as a — as the former senator, now president Biden would say, one — a point of personal privilege here.

Today is the five-hundred and sev- — and thirty-seventh briefing of the Biden-Harris administration. This is my 306th briefing and the final briefing of the administration.

Before I get to all your questions, I just want to say a few things and — and also just give out a few thank yous, if that’s okay.

So, we had the first briefing of this administration on Inauguration Day because President Joe Biden wanted to make clear the importance of daily press briefings and the vital role that the press plays in our democracy.

President Biden believed in returning the norm of regular briefings and communicating to all of you and the American people about what we are doing and why it was important.

The president and all of us in this administration understand that a free press is a cornerstone of our nation and that the job you do — questioning leaders and holding the powerful accountable — is important.

And as I said during my first briefing when I took over this role, we might not see eye to eye here in this room all of the time, and that is okay. The give-and-take that happens here is incredibly healthy and it is a part of our democracy.

I have been honored to partake in it with all of you. Well, most of the time I’ve been — (laughs) — I’ve been hon- — honored to take it.

But in all seriousl- — seriousness, I also said at that first briefing I would not be here today if it were not for generations of barrier-breaking people before me. I have stood on their shoulders. I benefit from their sacrifices. I have — I have learned excellence. And I am eternally grateful to them.

And now, I will pass the torch.

It is my sincere hope that I will — that I — while I may be the first for many things at this podium, behind this lectern, I am not the last. I hope my presence at this podium has served as inspiration to many young girls out there who took — who look at me and look at this job and look at what we’ve been able to do and ha- — and have a similar background as me, and hopefully they can follow their dreams and never give up and know that you can achieve great things if you put your heart and mind and be passionate about it — no matter how many barriers you may need to overcome.

Progress is not always a straight line. But we all must do our part — in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday is indeed today — “bend it towards justice” and pay it forward.

I hope that and — I and my many barrier-breaking colleagues in this administration have played a small role in doing just that.

Standing here and having served in this role for this administration and this president has truly been the honor of a lifetime, one I am grateful for and I will never forget.

But it is a job I could never have done alone. And so, finally, I do want to say a few thank yous to a few people in this room that I’ve gotten the pleasure to work with.

I want to start off by thanking the best team in the business. Emilie, Andrew, Kelly, Robyn, Angelo, Jeremy, Sonja, Chloe, Jacob, Chris — you are simply, simply the best. And thank you so much for having my back and doing this job and having the president’s back and doing it so well. Truly, the best.

You work tirelessly, passionately, and with utmost professionalism. You serve the president and this nation well. I am proud to call you all my friends and colleagues. None of this would be possible without all of you.

I also want to acknowledge some of the former team members who are with us today. They’re sp- — spread about here in the back. And, you know, as you all know, they — many of them left to continue to do some impressive work outside and obviously continue to do some work within the administration.

Chris. Vedant is here as well, who just had a baby girl. Congratulations, Vedant. I had to call you out for that, which is wonderful. You and your wife brought in a beautiful little girl. Alexandra, Silas, Allyson, Angela, Natalie. It is all good to see you, and thank you for all that you have done. Thank you for your service.

And, Jen Psaki, who’s in the back, thank you so much. I see you. I see you, and I’m so grateful that you took the time to be here. And so, thank you for your kindness, thank you for your friendship, and we’ve missed you around here, and it’s so good to see your face.

I also want to thank — I also want to thank my parents. Growing up as an immigrant family in New York, they never imagined their daughter would be standing here today. They worked day and night to give me every opportunity possible. I can’t thank them enough.

And to my parents, sorry I didn’t become a doctor, but hopefully this is okay. (Laughter.)

And to my lovely, amazing daughter, you have gone too many nights without me being around and without me being there for school drop-offs and without your mom around. And I can’t wait to spend more time with you. I call her my “pudding,” so I can’t wait to spend more time with you, Pudding. Thank you for your love and support and your patience.

And finally — finally, I do want to say thank you to President Biden and First Lady Dr. Biden for this incredible opportunity.

As I said earlier, standing at this podium, behind this lectern, sever- — serving the American people and this administration has been an honor of a lifetime, and I will be forever grateful to the president for his trust and this amazing opportunity.

And with that — thank you for your patience, all. I appreciate that.

With that, Zeke.

Q Thanks, Karine. When will the American hostages who are being held by Hamas be released? Will that be in — will they be released in phase one, or will that come in subsequent phases?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And so, the president answered this a little bit when he was speaking earlier today. He — he mentioned phase one. That’s when we’re going to be seeing that. And —

Q All the American hostages will come out in phase one?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, there will be more details that Brett McGurk will share right after this briefing.

But what I will say is — just to give you a little bit of how it will work. So, during the first phase, which will begin on Sunday, the fighting will stop, hostages will be — will be — begin to be released, and aid will surge into Gaza.

During these weeks, the second phase of the deal will continue to be negotiated to bring a permanent en- — end to this war.

If negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue to hold as long as negotiations continue.

This deal was developed by the president and — you know, and his team about eight months ago, back in May. You heard the president talk about that. So, this was the framework. And once he was able to put out the framework, it was endorsed by the world.

And so, we are certainly — as the president started off in his remarks to — to the American people, to all of you as well, this is a good day. This is a good day. This is a good step forward.

And so, Brett McGurk, after this — after this briefing, will have a call to give more details of how this is going to — to — how this is going to move forward.

But again, this is a very good step forward.

Q And then, as you mentioned, the president announced this framework back in May of last year.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yep. We did.

Q And it’s — and it’s — now it’s been — a deal has been reached five days before this administration’s term ends. It will go into effect a day before the next president is sworn in. Do- — is it clear — does the president want to give some credit to his successor and that there’s a forcing mechanism by that transition that’s helping push this deal do- — towards the finish line?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, a couple things, and you said this in — in your question to me. This is a framework that the president put forth about eight months ago, back in May. Again, it was endorsed by — by the world, when he put out this framework.

His team has worked — because of the direction of the president, obviously — has worked 24/7, night and day, to get this done. You’re going to hear directly from Brett McGurk, who’s been on the ground, who’s been in Doha at the direction of the president, obviously, with the leadership of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

And what we see this day as — this is a good day. This is a good day. Hostages are be- — are going to be able to go home, including American hostages, to their families, and
after — what? — 15 months since Hamas did something so unimaginable — launched an attack that was so dreadful.

We lost so many lives because of that attack on October 7th. And we have been working — working around the clock to get this done.

And so, that’s how we look at it. We’re going to continue — we’re going to continue to — to speak with the Trump transition. You heard even from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Monday talk about how they have been coordinating with the Trump team, keeping them abreast, having regular conversations with them about this.

And, you know, now we — we understand that this is going to be implemented by the next team. And so, we’re going to continue to work with the — until then, until January 20th, we’re going to continue to work closely with the Trump transition team.

We have to remember what we have seen from this president over the last 8 months, since — 15 months, as we — we’re talking about this particular matter, that’s what an American president does. That’s what they do. And that’s what we’ve seen from this president and his leadership.

Q And you mentioned that this deal will be implemented by the next president, and there’s coordination between the White House and — and the incoming administration. Has the president spoken at all with his successor? And outside of the very brief ceremonial tea that they will have on the morning of the 20th, does he plan on having a more substantive conversation with him about his strategy and the briefing and the relationships that went into this agreement?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, Zeke, I will remind you, when he invited the president — President-elect Trump to the White House, they — they met for more than 90 minutes. And that’s a pretty long time — a significant time to — to have a heart-to-heart, a — a bi- — bit of a conversation. So, that happened, as you know, right after the election.

I don’t have anything to read out in this time — at this time of upcoming conversation or conversations that’s happened since their meeting in the Oval Office. But, again, the Trump transition team and our team have been in constant communication, having these conversations, keeping them abreast.

This president made a — made a commitment. He made a commitment that he wanted to see a peaceful transfer of power, something that he didn’t get four years ago. But he wanted to make sure to continue that tran- — that tradition and do a peaceful transfer of power. That’s what you have seen.

He wanted to make sure the transition was effective, efficient, and that’s what we have provided. And like I said, we’re going to be in close touch with our team and — our team and their team on the next — in the next couple of days.

Q And just lastly, on a different topic.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.

Q You’ve said the president has been weighing preemptive pardons for all sorts of officials who have — who he fears may be targeted by the incoming administration. Has he made a decision? And given that this is the last briefing, if he were to decide to issue those pardons, could you commit now that there’ll be an opportunity to ask questions of the outgoing administration before noon on the 20th about any —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I —

Q — presidential actions?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — I don’t have — I don’t have anything to announce.

You are correct, I — you could expect more pardons. I’m not going to go into details of what that’s going to look like. It is not — it is not unusual for a president to — to do that, and so you’re going to — you should expect that from this president. I — I am not going to make any commitments right now. I’m not going to lock ourselves in — into — into a potential — another opportunity to ask questions about the pardons.

But what I can say is: Stay tuned, and there’ll be more to share, and I’m sure the president is going to want to continue to engage with all of you in the next couple days.

Go ahead, Weijia.

Q Thank you, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I haven’t seen you in a while. Good to see you.

Q It’s good to see you, and thank you so much for taking our questions so often.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you. I appreciate that.

Q Really appreciate it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thanks, Weijia.

Q So, in terms of implementing the terms of this agreement, how confident is President Biden that the incoming administration will do that? And have they offered any assurances that they will carry them out?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I think — look, I think there’s a commitment to move forward with this deal. I think there’s a commitment to make sure that there’s an end to this war. Obviously, hostages are going to be coming home. Obviously, we’ve been in very close touch with the Trump transition.

And the president was asked some variation of that question moments ago when he — after he spoke, and he said he is very much indeed confident.

So, look, we are — we understand this is going to be implemented by the next team. As I just stated, we are going to work closely — in close coordination with the Trump team.

As the president has said, and I has — have said also moments ago: We want this to be in one voice, right? And I think that’s what you have seen in the past couple of weeks, how we have moved forward in one voice. And this is what’s important for the hostages, to get them home, to make sure that we’re getting that humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to ending this war — ending this war that has taken a lot of innocent lives.

And so, that is the commitment — that is the commitment that you — that you can see from us, and that’s what the president is — believes that he is confident in how we’re going to move forward.

Q Tonight, President Biden is going to be delivering a farewell address. Ahead of that speech, we got a long list of what he views as his greatest accomplishments.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Can you talk —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: A few hundred pa- — over a hundred pages I believe, right? (Laughs.) Did you read ev- — did you — every word? (Laughs.)

Q We have every — yes, I have, every word.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Can you talk about what he thinks his greatest failures are and whether he will address those tonight to the American public?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, this is an important moment for the president. You know, he has been working on the speech, because, ob- — obviously, these — these are felwell — farewell remarks, but he is obviously going to be talking directly to the American people. It is not going to be partisan.

This is something that — and — and not just forget — it’s not just about the last four years of his administration. He is — he is stepping down from his career — right? — more than 50 years of public service that this president has done as senator, as vice president, as president. So, you can imagine, the president has a lot to say, a lot of thoughts that he wants to share, really touch on the moment that we’re in right now. And so, that’s what you’re going to hear from the president.

What he wants to do, obviously, is — is also be positive, talk about what we have been able to do. This is a president that speaks about possibilities and how he sees this country moving forward.

And so, that’s what I’m — could speak to. I’m not going to get ahead of what his — what — specifically what the president is going to say. I’m not going to go into — line by line, but I can say — and I love to say that from here — is stay tuned, and I will leave it from — leave it there.

Q And then finally, for you, because you’ve clearly reflected on your role —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — as press secretary. Is there anything you wish you had done or said differently during your time?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I will have a lot of time to reflect, right? (Laughs.) You’re not going to catch me up here, Weijia, today.

But I will have a lot of time to reflect on my time here. As you know, this is — and I think you’ve gotten to know a few press secretaries during your career — this is a job that’s nonstop. There’s not a lot of time to reflect.

It’s always: We have to do the job. We have to speak on behalf of the president. We have to make sure that we’re cor- — you know, communicating with all of you.

But what I can say with full heart is that this has been an honor and a privilege to do this job, and I have done it to my best of abilities on behalf of this president. And — and, you know, the best job that I will ever have. I truly believe that.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Mary.

Q Thank you, Karine. You and the president have stressed that this is the framework that he put forward last spring, but the president also made clear it was important to him to work with the incoming administration, that they be speaking in one — as one team, as he put it. Even the Qatari prime minister in his remarks personally thanked Steve Witkoff, the — the incoming administration’s Middle East envoy. So, do Donald Trump and his team deserve any credit for this?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, everyone is going to want some credit. Everybody is going to want some credit. Get that. That’s how this goes when something good happens. Not unusual. It is not unusual at all. What I can say is, the president got it done, right? That’s what I can say.

And — and what I could also say is that — and you said it in your question to me — is that there was a framework that was put — put forward, and it was put forward by the president back in May — Ma- — May 31st of last year, and it was endorsed by the world. And you see a president that has done everything that he can. This is someone who has foreign policy experience — decades of foreign policy experience. He understands what it means to bring people to- — together. He understands what it means to get a deal done.

He also said in his remarks how difficult it was to negotiate. Negotiating is incredibly hard, and this wasn’t easy, but we got it done. And so, you know, this is someone who speaks from experience, and — and this is, again, not an easy thing to get done. But, as we have said and I have said multiple times — and I think Jake Sullivan said this, obviously, recently, when he was here on Monday — we were able to work closely with the Trump transition team and coordinate with them.

But, again, this is a framework that the president put out, and negotiations aren’t easy. And this was one of the toughest negotiations that — that he experienced, and this is something that the president shared with all of you.

Q And does the president have any plans to talk to the families of the hostages, or has he talked to them today?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, as you know, the president and this administration has been in regular touch with the hostages’ family — hostage family and have obviously always communicated with them that — how much we’re with them and the work — everything that we’re doing to try to bring their loved one ho- — home. And so — and we have stayed in constant communication with them.

I don’t have anything to read out as a — a call to any of the American hostages or — or the families at this time, but I can say that the president is — as he said, this is a really good afternoon. And, you know, our hearts go out — our hearts go out to the families who have been waiting 15 months to get their loved ones home. And so, this is — this is a big deal. This is a big deal.

Q And just on a slightly more personal note. On this, your 306th briefing, what advice do you have for your successor?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I was asked this question, I think, when my successor was — was announced. And it’s pretty much the same, which is, you know, obviously I wish her — wish her the best of luck. This is a great job, an amazing opportunity to be standing at this podium, behind this lectern to take — go back and forth with all of you and — and speak on behalf of this president, the president of the United States. There’s nothing like it.

And — and I hope she enjoys the job. I hope she continues to do this, what we’ve been doing for the past almost four years. And I — really, I truly wish her well.

Hey, Steve.

Q The decision the president made to include Steve Witkoff — how did that come about?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, that is — I’m not going to —

Q And — and why did the president do it?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, look, this goes back to what the president said right after the election: a peaceful transfer of power — again, something he didn’t get four years ago — and wanting to make sure that we had an effective, efficient transition.

That’s — that’s what it looks like. The president is basically leading by example. That’s what he’s doing.

This is a president who understands norms, who understands institutions, and understands how important that is. And he wanted to respect the outcome of the election, the will of the people. And that is what you’ve seen this president do.

Q And at any point did the president think maybe this deal will not be reached on his watch?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: The president was hopeful. He was optimistic. This is, as you know — I think you know this, Steve, this is a president that tends to be optimistic and hopeful, but not just that — does the work, leans in, has the experience to get things done, which is what we saw from this president today. I think this is a great example of that.

And, you know, he never, never gave up hope — never gave up hope and — to your point, until the last minute. And we were able to get this done.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you, Karine. This is the second negotiated pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas. The first, as you know, was reached more than a year ago —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — in November 2023. Fighting then resumed just a few weeks later. So, what confidence does the U.S. have that this time will be different?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We are going to have to have confidence. Right? I think it’s important — stepping back, negotiations are hard. They’re difficult. This was a difficult one.

This took multiple — you know, multiple sides to come together. The president, as you know, spoke to Qatar — the leader of Qatar, Egypt, and even Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu recently.

And this is what diplomacy looks like: having those continued conversations, making sure that voices are heard, and having those tough, tough, tough back-and-forth.

And so, we have to be — I think it is important to also be confident in that we can continue to get this done. And, you know, Steve just asked me why did we bring in Witkoff, why did we bring in the Trump ad- — this is why. Because we know that there has to be a continuation of this.

We know that this first phase is about to start. There’s going to be a second phase and it’s going to continue. We got to get to a place where this war is done permanently — ends permanently.

And so, bringing in the Trump administration, coordinating with them, and having — making sure that they’re having the information that we all have, we are hopeful that this will continue.

Q Under the framework, negotiations for that phase two would need to begin within a matter of days after phase one begins. What is the White House’s view of the commitment of the incoming Trump team and the competency of the Trump team to go through those negotiations and get a phase two and beyond?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I would refer you to the national security advisor. Jake Sullivan talked about his relationship and back-and-forth with his counterpart and how that has gone very well. And so, I think that — I think that’s a good sign of how this is going to certainly move forward.

Again, we have been in close coordination with — with their team, and — and we’re going to continue to do that. We’re going to continue to talk through with them on the next steps, and we’re going to — and what you have seen — really, what you have seen in the past, certainly, couple of days, couple of weeks, is one voice — coming together in one voice to get this deal done.

You know, I think a lot of your questions obviously go to the transition team, and — and they can certainly answer and speak for themselves. But what we can speak to, what I can speak to is what we’ve been doing, what we have actively done for the past couple of weeks to get this — to get this done in unison, to get this done in a way that — that when the transition happens, we have that confidence that we can move this forward, continue to move this forward.

Q Can you shed any more light on other officials from the incoming administration that you and your colleagues in the West Wing have been hosting for meetings and conversations and what those have looked like?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I — I can’t shed any light on that. What I can say is that we have been working closely with the transition team. We want this to be efficient. We want this to be effective. We are doing this — the president wants to do this on behalf of the American people, and that’s what you can count on.

I’m not going to list out names of — of folks who’ve been — who — who we’ve been talking to.

Q And just finally, Karine, a new CNN poll that’s out this morning shows that just s- — 36 percent of U.S. adults say they approve of the way that Biden has handled the presidency. To what do you attribute that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, I’ve been very careful in talking about polls and not speaking to every — every poll. I understand this is a CNN poll.

What I can speak to is what the president has done to get things do- — to get things delivered for the American people, if you — if you think about beating Big Pharma; if you think about lowering health care costs; bringing manufacturing jo- — jobs back or manufacturing back here, more broadly; if you think about insulin, to- — capping insulin at 35 bucks a month for seniors. All of those things that I just listed out are very popular with the American people. They are.

And that has always been at the forefront of the — of the president’s mind: What can he do to deliver for the American people on the needs that they care about? And that’s the type of economic policy that he put forward. That’s what he wanted — to make sure we didn’t leave any anym- — anybody behind.

And, you know, many communities have felt that they’ve been left behind. That’s why we talk about building an economy from the bottom up, middle out. That’s been his — that’s been his focus.

And — and you can see the results. More than 16 million jobs created. When you think about more than 20 million small businesses started. People don’t start bui- — small businesses unless they feel confident about the economy. And that — those two go hand in hand.

And so, look, we’re going to continue to do the work, continue to make sure that we do everything possible in the last couple of days to deliver for the American people. And that’s the president’s focus.

Let’s not forget, when he walked in, there was a pandemic — a once-in-a-generation pandemic, and he turned that around. He turned that around.

And so, I’m going to — you know, the president is going to address the American people later today — farewell address — and he’ll certainly have a lot to say.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead. Go ahead, Joe Joe.

Q Thanks, Karine. (Laughter.) Yeah. Thank- —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Last time I’ll be able to say that. (Laughs.)

Q I know. I know. Thanks for taking questions these last couple of years.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, thank you.

Q Yeah, President-elect Trump, in a social media statement today, said the ceasefire deal could only have happened as a result of his election victory. What’s your response to that —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — assessment? Do you agree with that? Disagree?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look — and I think the president was asked some version of that question. I think that was the first question that he got after he spoke. And I said this: Everyone is going to want to take credit. That’s how these things work.

But the fact of the matter is: In order for this deal to have been done, there needed to be a framework. The person who provided that framework was President Joe Biden. And we have been working on this for some time. It didn’t just come together in the last cou- — couple of days. It didn’t just start the last couple of days.

And so — and not only that, he put together a framework. It got endorsed by the world. That’s not an easy thing to do.

And, you know — and it — and so, that’s part of the first thing that he was able to do.

The second part — thing that he was able to do was support Israel, and by supporting Israel, that badly weakened Hamas. You saw what happened to Hamas’s leadership and — and what we were able to do to the backers of Hamas.

And so, all of those things mattered. Our support and what we were able to do, how this president stepped in matters.

And now we are in a situation where we’re going to pass this over to the incoming administration. A lot of this is going to be implemented by the incoming administration. That is why we worked very closely with the incoming administration. And again, that is what an American president makes.

Q And — and secondly, President Biden is going to be spending his last — or final full day of his presidency in Charleston, South Carolina. Can you discuss what he’s going to be doing there?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We’ll have more to share on that, and I don’t want to dive into that right now. But we’ll certainly have more to share on what that will look like — his last couple of days.

Go ahead, Karen.

Q Thanks, Karine. Just two quick ones. Does the president intend to leave a letter for President-elect Trump before he leaves office, as Trump did for him?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I guess we’ll see. (Laughs.) We’ll see. We’ll see. I don’t have anything. That is going to be up to the president. Don’t have anything on that. But it’s a good question. I’m curious too. (Laughter.)

Q And, after Monday, what is the president’s plan? What are he and the first lady doing when they leave Washington on Monday?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And we’ll have — we’ll have — certainly, we’ll have more to share on that as well.

Go ahead. Go ahead.

Q Thank you for serving as press secretary and answering our questions for the last couple —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thanks.

Q — of years.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thanks, Peter.

Q A couple quick ones, just to clarify some things. Probably a yes or no. I know you have no readout of any calls between President Biden and President-elect Trump. Just declaratively, can you say, no, there has not been a call between them or in any of the last two weeks on this specific topic of Israel?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — look, I have not asked that question, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself here.

Q You’re still press secretary for a few days. If you can give us a yes or no (inaudible).

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.) You always give me homework, Peter. Every time I come, you always tell me, “Can you come back and tell” — okay.

Q 24/7 job for all of us. Right?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: 24/7. Yeah.

Go ahead.

Q If I can ask you briefly about tonight’s address, if you can take us into that room.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Who is going to be in attendance? I trust the first lady. Will family members be there?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Who else will be there? And is there anything else surrounding it?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It’s a very good question. We’ll have more color for you later on in the evening.

What I can say is the president is certainly looking — very much looking forward to this moment, speaking directly to the American people. It’s not every day you get to do an Oval address. He gets to do another Oval address — obviously, his last one — in prime time.

And so, we will certainly have more color of who’s going to be in the room and what that would look like as we get closer.

Q And then, last question and then I’ll leave it to my colleagues is —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — it’s tradition that at the end of the year, the president would do a news conference in advance of departure. The president would take questions on a variety of different topics. What was the decision-making? Why did this president decide not to do either of those before his departure?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I think the president, especially in the past couple of days, has — has been pretty — very much, engaging with all of you, taking questions. He did it today. He — he himself wanted to stand up a — a moment to talk about the economy but also take your questions just a couple of days ago. That is something that he wanted to do. And your colleagues took — wait, let me — let me finish. Your colleagues asked some really important questions that he was able to answer — an array of questions.

And what I can say is I don’t have anything to preview at this time, but certainly he’s going to continue to engage with all of you. And, you know, we have been — you know, he’s been very much involved in — in going back and forth with all of you in the past couple of days. And that is something that he wanted to make sure that he — he did that. He —
Q Were there any concerns about his public performance in a setting like that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — well, I mean — I think — the — the issue that I have with that question, Peter, is that he literally did a press conference with all of you days ago, with some of your colleagues, and —

Q Right. But again, I mean —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — took multiple —

Q — that’s different, you know, than an hour-long press conference.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I — I — no —

Q That’s why I asked the question.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, but he — he took questions. He took questions on an array of issues, went back and forth, and he took questions today. He’s been pretty consistent over the past couple of days in doing that, and that shows his performance. That — those are questions that he doesn’t know what you guys are going to ask, and he takes them, and he answers them. And — and I think that is something that is important to him.

This goes back to the freedom of the press, understanding how important you all are to our democracy, and und- –understanding how having that continuation of a back-and-forth, even and when we don’t — we don’t agree, is important.

And so, I’m pretty sure you all will continue to hear from him in the last couple of days of his administration, and he certainly looks forward to it.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.

Q Karine, we’re sort of dancing around who gets to take credit for this deal. You’re —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No one is dancing around here. (Laughs.)

Q Your colleague — your colleague at that the State Department briefed our colleagues —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — that President Trump was “critical” in getting this deal over the line. Do you not agree with that statement?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I mean, look, I’m not going to — to speak to a — a random person.

Q It’s literally your colleague.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I don’t know who this person is.

Q Matt Miller.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh.

What I — what I can say is, look, obviously, Matt Miller will speak for himself.

What I can say is, there is — there are steps that were taken here that is really important and critical, and that started with this president’s starting a framework that was agreed upon by the world back in May. And that was because of this president. That was because he was able to lay out his thoughts, his thinking on how to move forward with this negotiation.

What I said before — this is someone who understands foreign policy, as we — as I’m talking about the president. He understands how difficult it is, and this was not an easy one. And so, he has the experience. He was able to — to get that going, to get that started. So, this has been going on for some time. It has. I mean, that’s just the reality of it. That is just the facts of it.

Have we been coordinating and working closely with the Trump adminis- — the — the incoming Trump administration, their transition team? Yes, and we’ve been very forthcoming about that.

But the fact of the matter is: It took someone who has the experience that this president had to get this going, to get this moving, to understand what negotiations look like, and that’s what this president was able to bring to the table.

And it got done under his watch. It got done today.

Q And then, secondly, obviously, this is a really big day on the foreign policy/national security front. This is your last briefing —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — or the administration’s last briefing. Is there a reason why John Kirby isn’t here to take our questions?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I just mentioned that Brett McGurk is going to be holding — and National Security Council is holding up a call. I think that’s going to be really important. They will talk more about the implementation of this.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was just here two days ago, on Monday, and I think kind of laid out a really good framework for all of this — the thinking process, how this was going to move forward. And Brett McGurk will — he is on the ground. He has all of the information. He has been there at the direction of this president, certainly with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan leading that effort.

And so, I — he’s going to have a lot more information than any of us here will have, because he’s been on the ground, understanding, working with the negotiating — negotiators and understanding how this process has worked.

So, that’s how this works.

Go ahead. (Inaudible.)

Q You said that — that you — you wish your successor luck. Have you had any extensive conversations with her about —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, I —

Q — how this job is done, or —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — I haven’t. I haven’t.

But, you know, I’m not — I’m not the only White House press secretary or soon-to-be former White House press secretary out there, so I’m sure there are many people for her to — to connect with and speak with, but I have not had a conversation with her.

Go ahead, Jacqui.

Q Thanks, Karine. How many Americans are going to be in the first tranche, and when will they start coming out?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It’s a good question. That’s why Brett McGurk is going to be holding this National Security Council call. He will have all of that information. The president even said the same thing when he was asked a — a similar question, that we will have more details to share. And so, the National Security Council and Brett McGurk will — will share that with all of you, hopefully momentarily, once this is done.

Q I’m just confused on why we’re having the last briefing of the administration on what’s been one of the defining wars of this presidency without being able to answer those questions.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just said he’s going to hold a — he’s going to hold a press call, and he’ll take your questions on that.

Q Okay —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I think that — I think that’s important to hear directly from the person who is on the ground. I think — I think that’s an important thing to do, right?

Q Okay. We were under the impression that there were folks here in the building who had those answers, who could tell us, but —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, Brett McGurk — well, National Security Council is holding up a call so that Brett McGurk can get on that call and take your questions.

Q Okay.

Why is it that you seem unwilling —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — to extend any credit to Trump for this deal? Couldn’t he just have said, “You know, hold off until I’m in office?”

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: What I will say is that what we know to be true, what we know this process — how it has moved over the past eight months — this is a deal that happened under the framework that this president put forward and was endorsed by the world.

And this is also an administration that has had, certainly, the support, the back of Israel; that helped denigrate Hamas, their military — severely weaken them; and we created, because of — also being — doing that, we created the conditions for this deal. That is what has happened over the last eight months.

And we have talked closely, worked closely, coordinated closely with the incoming — in- — incoming administration, and that is how we’ve been able to get to this point.

And the reason we were able to do that — having that conversation with the transition team — is because this president believed — he believed in the importance of having a peaceful transfer of power — right? — of having a transition that worked for the American people, and had the American people at the forefront in trying to make sure that we got this done.

Q I guess if — we’ve heard variations of that answer through the briefing, but I guess more plainly —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — I’m wondering, you know, if you’ll just say your view, which seems to be that Trump gets no credit.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — no, I — that’s — I’ve shared my view. I don’t have anything else to share. I’ve shared how we got to this point. The president shared that moments ago. He laid out in very succinct way on how we got to this — how we got to this point. I’ve talked about Brett McGurk, who’s on the ground talking to negotiators; has been there working at the direction of this president. The leadership, obviously, of the national security advisor. This has been something that has been in the works for months — for months — way before November. That is just how this has worked.

I’m not here to talk about the transition. I’m not talk- — here to talk about who gets credit, not get credit. I’m here to talk about what this president has been able to do.

And here’s what is also incredibly important here: We’re going to get hostages who are going to go home to their family after 15 months of — I don’t even want to think the horr- — the horror that they have gone through. I don’t — I can’t even imagine it. And I think that matters.

I mean, we’re going back and forth about credit, but people are going to go home to their families, and that is so important.

And, hopefully, the phases will continue, and we’ll get to an end of war here, and that is important. And let’s not forget, increase that humanitarian aid into Gaza, because there are people there who need that aid and the assistance.

I’m going to move on.

Go ahead —

Q And last question you’ll ever get from me, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go — no, no. I’m (inaudible). I just took three of your —

Q How will grade yourself on your goal —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’m not — go ahead.

Go ahead. Go ahead.

Q — of being the most transparent administration in history?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahea- — I — I’ve — I’ve —

Q Have you achieved that goal?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’ve taken, like, three questions. I’m going to move on.

Go ahead.

Q Karine —

Q No answer there?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No. Go ahead. I’ve already taken three of your questions. I’m going to make sure some of your colleagues get an opportunity as well.

Q Could you respond to the report released by the special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden? Specifically, he talked about Biden’s claims that his son was unfairly targeted, and said “the president’s characterizations are incorrect based on the facts in this case, and on a more fundamental level, they are wrong.” He also said that “politicians who attack the decisions of career prosecutors as politically motivated when they disagree with the outcome of a case undermine the public’s confidence in our criminal justice system.”

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I mean, a couple things there. Let’s not forget why the president came to his conclusion, how he got to this point of pardoning his son. And he talked about the circumstances of this — of this prosecution and how out of norm they were.

And let’s not forget there were legal experts that agreed with this president, who shared that conclusion of this president.

And one of those was a — one of those experts is a former prosecutor, as you all know, Attorney General Eric — Attorney General Eric Holder. And he was very clear. I just want to quote him, “No U.S. attorney would have charged this case given the underlying facts. Had his name been Joe Smith, the resolution would have been — fundamentally and more fairly — a declin- — a declination. Pardon warranted.”

And if you look at what happened here, and you look at paying your taxes, the vast majority of people who don’t pay their taxes on time are not charged with criminal penalties. They’re just not. They pay their penalties and fees, and that’s what Hunter Biden did.

And so, the president wasn’t alone in this. In making that — when he made that determination, he had legal experts who also agreed with how he — with hi- — making this decision on pardoning his son, Hunter Biden.

I’m getting —

Q So, no concern that he undermines the public perception of the justice system with his comments?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just — I just answered that question. I don’t have anything else for you.

AIDE: Karine, that call has started.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Go ahead.

Q Hey, Karine. Thanks. I know that you said you don’t have details on what the president will be doing on Sunday, but can you — can you expound on why he chose to spend, you know, his last day in office in South Carolina?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We’ll have more to share. I don’t want to get ahead of that. We’ll have more to share and why South Carolina.

Q Last thing. Has the president spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu? And — or does he plan to do so in the coming days?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, as you know, he recently just spoke to him — spoke to the prime minister. And if we have more calls to read out, we certainly will do that.

I know, I have to start wrapping up.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you so much, Karine. On Monday, President Biden said he was more optimistic than ever about the future. Isn’t he afraid or concerned that part of his legacy could be or is about to be erased by the incoming president?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, when I answered this question about — I think it was a — a polling question from Kayla — I also talked about — in — in my answering that question — how popular some of the things that the president has done: CHIPS and Science Act, bipartisan infrastructure legislation, the PACT Act, and even the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. And I talked about the p- — the insulin being — the insulin at 35 bucks a month for seniors.

Those are things — all of those things that I just laid out are popular with the American people. And that is something that the incoming administration has to think about, Republicans on the other side of Pennsylvania has to think about. These are things that are incredibly popular.

Some of them — the bipartisan infrastructure legislation, CHIPS and Science Act, the PACT Act — were done in a bipartisan way. And so, to undo those successes — some of the things, again, popular with the American people — you know, that’s something that they have to seriously, seriously think about.

And, you know, what we have done in those historic pieces of legislation that obviously is now law will have lasting effects on people’s lives — lasting effect. So, he’s very confident about that.

Q And one about foreign policy, because President Biden said his presidency restored the U.S. credibility in the world. Jen Psaki actually said that in her first briefing here — that he was going to do this. But when we talk to foreign leaders or diplomats around, many say that the incon- — inconstancy of the U.S. foreign policy is make it harder to work together and really trust that U.S. can be a reliable ally. So, what do you tell them?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Wait, say that last part again. The inconsistency, you said?

Q Yeah. Is — yeah, of the U.S. foreign policy. Make it hard to work and trust that U.S. can be a reliable ally. So, what — what message do you —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And wh- — and why are they saying that? What’s the inconsistency?

Q Well, one administration come in —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh.

Q — and do a lot of Cuba and there is another and then you put it back. And now, again, it’s about to be re- — you know, undo them also.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, I — I’m not going to get into what this — the next administration is going to do, not going to do. What I can talk about is what the president wanted to make sure and that he got done in his four years here, which is restore the reputation of the United States, which he was able to do; get things done on behalf of the American people; and make sure that we really mended our relationships with our partners and allies, and that’s what you were able to do.

You don’t expand NATO if it wasn’t for this president and his relationships and his experience. Right? You don’t support Ukraine the way that it was supported by more than 50 countries, the way that it was able to get what it needed to really be on the ground. Remember, Kyiv was supposed to fall within days. That didn’t happen. That didn’t happen because of this president’s leadership.

I’m not going to get into what the pres- — what the next president is going to do or not do.

And let’s not forget today. Today was a big day in the foreign policy space to get this hostage deal done. Hostages are going to go home. We’re going to be able to get humanitarian aid surged into Gaza. And we’re hopefully going to end this war. And that is incredibly important.

All right, guys, I have to go. Thank you.

Q Quick follow-up —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — about your successor. Have you been in touch with Karoline yet?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I —

Q Were you able to —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I was just asked this question. I was just asked this question. I have not. I have not been in touch with her. But I certainly wish her luck.

Thanks, everybody.

Q Karine, why have you not been in touch with her?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Come talk to me in the back. (Laughter.)

Q Thank you.

4:09 P.M. EST

The post Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared first on The White House.

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

12:28 P.M. EST

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi. Good afternoon, everyone.

Q Good afternoon.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good to see everybody.

Today, the president — the Biden-Harris administration is approving student loan relief for more than 150,000 borrowers, bringing the total number of Americans who have had their student debt approved to be canceled by the administration to over 5 million people.

These 150 [150,000] borrowers include almost 85,000 borrowers who attended schools that cheated and defrauded their students; 61,000 borrowers with total and permanent disabil- — disabilities; and 6,100 public servant workers.

This announcement builds on the historic actions our administration has taken to reduce the burden of student debt, hold bad actors accountable, and fight on behalf of students across the country.

Today’s milestone isn’t just a number. It’s life-changing debt relief for 5 million people and their families who now have more breathing room to buy homes, start small businesses, save for retirement, and much more.

Now, turning to the latest in California wildfires, President Biden and Vice President Harris convened their team over the weekend to receive the latest updates on the firefighting and how federal resources are supporting the state and local efforts.

Local, state, and federal firefighters continue their fire suppression and containment efforts across Los Angeles. They are making progress, but, to be clear, the situation remains extremely active — active, especially as winds pick up again.

These firefighters and other emergency personnel are heroes. Many have lost their own homes and belongings and are — and are working day and night to protect communities that remain at risk.

At the president’s direction, hundreds of federal personnel, including aerial and ground support, are in California to assist with fire- — firefighting efforts and to help communities.

Hundreds of firefighters from neighboring states — including Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, and Texas — have also traveled to Los Angeles to help.

Amidst the devastation, we are also seeing bright pockets of hope and community as neighbors help neighbors by donating food, clothes, coffee, hygiene products, diapers, formula, and much more.

Volunteers are working around the clock to organize donations old and new, and Americans across the country are coming together to help those in need. The best of America shines through even in the darkest moments.

Later this afternoon, the president and the vice president will be briefed by key federal officials. Our administration remains laser-focused on helping those impacted, and we will continue to use every tool available to support the firefighting efforts.

And finally, before I turn it over to — to our national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, I just want to acknowledge April Ryan, who has been covering the White House for 28 years as of today.

Thank you for your service and congratulations on this milestone as one of the longest-serving Black White House correspondents. I always appreciate your —

Q The longest-serving.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Yes, ma’am. (Laughter.)

Q Yes.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Correct. Correction made at the podium.

The longest-serving Black White House correspondent. So, congratulations. We always appreciate your tough questions, our back-and-forths, and your persistence in this room. And so, congratulations.

And with that, I have our national security advisor, Jake Sullivan to speak more about the foreign policy speech today and any of your questions.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you very much. And good afternoon.

April, congratulations on being the longest-serving — (laughter) — Black White House correspondent. I also appreciate your tough questions, but I especially appreciate your easy questions. (Laughter.) So, if you have any of those today, I’d be happy to take them.

As Karine just noted, later today, President Biden will deliver an address at the State Department on the United States’ position in the world as he hands it off to the incoming administration.

The State Department, as many of you know, is where President Biden delivered his first foreign policy address in February of 2021, and it was a very different world then. We were still in the midst of a devastating health and economic crisis, with our alliances fraying and fragile, and our competitors and adversaries on the march, growing stronger.

And the president spoke at a ti- — at that time about the urgency of meeting the challenges of this world in a period of profound transition and change. The post-Cold War era had ended. The United States was in a contest for what comes next — economically, technologically, and with respect to our values and vision for the world.

A time of change and transition like that has brought geopolitical turbulence, technological disruption, the pressures of an energy transition, and more. We’ve had a lot thrown at us. But as we pass the baton to our successor, the president will report with confidence that America is winning that contest for the future.

If you look around the world today and you ask the question, “Which country is the most dynamic and innovative, the most attractive to partners and friends, the most capable of marshalling solutions to the big challenges we face? Who’s leading the world in technology? Who’s had the strongest economic recovery?” The answer to all of these questions is clear, indisputable, and the same: It’s the United States of America.

So, in his address this afternoon, you’ll hear the president lay this out. And basically, it boils down to a series of simple questions.

Are our alliances stronger? Yes.

Are our adversaries weaker and under greater pressure, even as they align more closely? Yes.

Did we improve our strategic position in the long-term competition with China? And did we do so while stabilizing the relationship so that we’re not tipping over into conflict? Yes.

Did we begin to reverse a long-term trend and revitalize our defense industrial base and diversify our supply chains for critical goods? Yes.

Did we strengthen the engines of American economic and technological power? Yes.

And did we do all of this while keeping America out of war? Yes.

The president fundamentally delivered on his promise to invest in America, including in our manufacturing base, to produce the world’s most advanced semiconductors and other strategic technologies.

In fact, our cutting-edge technologies — AI, biotech, quantum, and others — are the envy of the world.

When the president took office, many of you were writing that China’s economy was on track to surpass America’s economy by the end of the decade or shortly thereafter. Now, on current course and speed, they’re unlikely to ever surpass us.

America’s alliances meanwhile have actually never been stronger in Europe and in Asia. NATO is bigger, more unified, and our allies are stepping up to pay their fair share. Our Asian alliances are more robust and now more tightly linked than at any point in history.

Russia tried to conquer Ukraine, to wipe it off the map. But thanks to Ukrainian bravery and our support, Russian forces are bogged down in Ukraine — at enormous cost, with over 700,000 casualties in the war. And Ukraine stands free, Kyiv stands free, and Ukraine will emerge from this war a strong, sovereign, independent nation rooted in the West.

This has been made possible by the unity of the alliance that President Biden built and rallied, and a massive effort led by the United States on a scale not seen since the Second World War to equip a partner with the military capability it needed to defend itself against a brutal invasion by a much bigger neighbor.

Even as we competed fiercely with China, the president actually opened and deepened diplomatic channels with Beijing, including new military-to-military channels that help us manage this competition and prevent it from veering into confrontation or conflict.

In the Middle East, we’ve stood in defense of our friends and we’ve stood up to our enemies.

We built and acted alongside an unprecedented coalition to directly defend Israel in the face of Iranian aggression. Iran is now at the weakest point since 1979.

There is a ceasefire in Lebanon and the possibility of a new political future with a new president. Russia and Iran’s lackey in Syria, Assad, is gone.

And we are now at a pivotal point in the negotiations for a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza. The president spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, and just got off the phone with the amir of Qatar. He’ll be speaking soon, also, with President Sisi of Egypt.

We are close to a deal, and it can get done this week. I’m not making a promise or a prediction, but it is there for the taking, and we are going to work to make it happen.

Now there are serious and ongoing challenges in the world. The Houthis continue to represent a clear and present danger; ISIS is trying to use the fall of Assad to regenerate after years of sustained pressure and the degradation of its networks; North Korea remains the same menace it has been for many years, across many administrations; China’s cyberattacks are a continuing threat; and more. But we have the capacity and the wherewithal and the friends and allies to meet these challenges.

Finally, there are also important initiatives that the next team should carry forward, in our view, that have a strong bipartisan foundation in order to cement America’s position of strength in the world and our current lead in key areas: the work we’ve started to revitalize our defense industrial base, the steps we’ve taken to protect America’s foundational technologies from being used against us by our competitors, the major global infrastructure initiative that provides a long-term alternative to China’s Belt and Road.

Suffice it to say, it’s been an action-packed four years. But if you take stock of where America stands today, I believe deeply that the incoming administration is starting with a very strong hand.

So, as we pass the baton, we are doing so, thanks to the leadership of President Biden and his team, from a position of profound American confidence and capacity. And when you look around the world, there is no other country that has what we have to bring to both the competition we face and the challenges we need to marshal the world to help solve.

And with that, I’d be happy to take your questions.

Yeah.

Q Thanks for doing this, Jake. With regard to the hostages in Gaza, what is it that you’ve been able to make progress on that makes you feel more confident? And what is it that you still need to figure out how to address to get that deal finalized this week?

MR. SULLIVAN: Well, to answer that question, let me just take a step back. President Biden laid out a framework for a cease fire and hostage deal last June. That framework was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council and remains the operative framework for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. It is the deal that the parties right now are working off of to try to close.

So, that broad framework includes the phases. It includes prisoner exchange for hostages. It includes a surge of humanitarian assistance once the guns go quiet, which we will be able to move trucks much more rapidly.

Since June, we’ve had multiple efforts to close the deal. We’ve come close and haven’t been able to get across the line. There have been some details, particularly around the formulas with respect to prisoner releases, formulas around the exact disposition of Israeli forces, and other things along those lines — those details we have been hammering away at week after week, month after month. And now, in the last period, just over the course of the last several weeks, we have accelerated that effort to try to bring this to a close.

I was in Israel in December, and then I was in Qatar and Egypt, and I met with the leaders of all three countries basically to try to help put this on a track to get it across the line.

President Biden sent Brett McGurk out to Qatar more than a week ago. He has been camped out in Doha, day in, day out, 24 hours a day, working to tighten up these details and try to get this done.

We have also coordinated very closely with the incoming administration to present a united message to all the parties, which says it is in the American national security interest — regardless of party, regardless of outgoing or incoming administration — to get this deal done as fast as possible.

And now, we think those details are on the brink of being fully hammered out and the parties are right on the cusp of being able to close this deal. Whether or not we go from where we are now to actually closing it, the hours and days ahead will tell. But I believe it is there for the taking, and we’re going to do everything we can to push it to get it across the line.

Yeah.

Q Thanks, Jake. Historians, one day, will write the history of the Biden foreign policy and probably end up summarizing it in two to three sentences. How would you write those two to three sentences?

MR. SULLIVAN: I would say that we made our alliances stronger. We made our enemies weaker. We made America’s sources of strength stronger. And we did all of that while keeping America out of war.

Yes.

Q And I didn’t hear you mention Afghanistan in your opening at all. How is that going to be addressed in the speech? How would he explain or defend it at this point?

MR. SULLIVAN: He will address Afghanistan in the speech. And — and it was, in a sense, referenced, because I said we kept America out of war.

In fact, President Biden ended America’s longest war after 20 years. It had been passed from president to president, sending American men and women to fight and die in a foreign land, year after year after year. President Biden was not going to hand that off, and he believes that history will judge his decision to end that war as being the right decision for the United States, that America is better off today, that we are not entering now our 25th year of war of Americans fighting and dying, of billions and billions of dollars spent in Afghanistan.

And what we have been able to do instead is refocus that effort and energy and attention on the challenges of the future.

Now, when you end a war after 20 years, with all of the decisions that have piled up over that time, there are going to be challenges and difficulties. And there were challenges and difficulties in the period of the drawdown.

But people predicted once we left Afghanistan, it would harm our alliances. Our alliances are at historic highs.

They predicted that we would have a safe haven in Afghanistan for plotting terrorist attacks against the American homeland. Terrorism remains a very real concern, but President Biden pointed out before he pulled out that it’s a more defer- — diffuse and metastasized threat, including the kind of homegrown violent extremism that we saw on display in New Orleans in January.

In fact, over the course of these four years, we have seen President Biden — that was the first terrorist attack that has happened on American soil. It was not connected to Afghanistan, as far as we know. It was connected to inspiration from ISIS.

And so, President Biden believes that the decision he took has left America in a profoundly stronger position, and he will explain in his speech today why he thinks that’s the case.

Yeah.

Q Can you talk at all about this unified U.S. approach between your administration and the incoming?

And 40-plus years ago, when President Reagan took over, there was this perception that there had been an intention to deny President Carter the announcement of the U.S. hostages. These are different times, different circumstances, but were there lessons from that or a different approach to try to avoid that kind of a repeat? What is the unity piece?

MR. SULLIVAN: So, I — I don’t think that that was primarily the thing on President Biden’s mind when he directed us to start working intensively with the incoming administration.

What was on his mind is we’re in this period of change and transition, and we can’t have anything missed between the cup and the lip in the handoff between our administration and the incoming administration.

So, he told us, he told me, “Sit down with your successor as soon as you possibly can and start working through and mapping out what they need to know and how we can work together in this period of transition to put ourselves in the best position possible.”

And in fact, we’ve seen in the context of the Middle East that we have coordinated on common messaging around the ceasefire in Lebanon, and we are coordinated — very closely coordinated, including with Steve Witkoff and Brett McGurk, around trying to bring this hostage deal to a close.

And it’s because there is a spirit being brought to this work which says: These are not partisan issues; these are American national security issues. And it’s the kind of spirit that President Biden has brought to this job from the very beginning that set the politics aside, do what’s right for the country, and have our team work with the incoming team in that regard.

And I have to say, our coordination thus far, the engagement we’ve had, it’s been professional. It’s been deep and substantive, and yes, we disagree on a lot of things, and I’m sure that in the months ahead, I’ll have my share of criticisms just as Mike Waltz has had his share of criticisms of me.

And this is not about us seeing everything exactly the same way or — or coming at things from the same perspective, but it is about a shared view that a time of transition is a time of risk and that it is critical that we close ranks as Americans to say, “No one can take advantage of us, but we will try to take advantage of every opportunity available to us in this critical period.”

Yeah.

Q Are there any assurances in the latest iteration of what’s being discussed in this hostage and ceasefire deal — deal — are there assurances that the Americans who are alive will be released as part of this phase of releases?

MR. SULLIVAN: So, obviously, we have been focused on ensuring that all of the Americans ultimately come home. That is part of the objective that President Biden set forth. It is part of the phases of this hostage deal that all of the Americans come home.

Now, what they are working through and hammering out are the details of the precise sequencing of people coming out over the course of the — the weeks and months of this deal. That’s getting hammered out as one of the final details, but a paramount priority for President Biden, as for the incoming team, is ensuring that we ultimately get all of the Americans reunited with the families and the remains of those Americans who have tragically passed away are also brought home so that they can get the — the proper burial that they deserve.

Yeah.

Q So, would they be in the first phase?

MR. SULLIVAN: So, like I said, the details of how exactly this is going to play out are being hammered out in the endgame, and I can’t report to you exactly how it will play with each of the Americans.

Yeah.

Q Jake, thanks for being here. So, just real quickly on the Gaza hostage situation, how many of the 98 hostages that are still held are believed to be alive? All 98?

MR. SULLIVAN: I have to give it — refer you to the Israelis, who have been taking the — the lead in terms of characterizing their best assessment, which is combined with our best assessment, of the answer to that question. We have a good sense, we believe, with respect to the Americans, but in terms of that broader universe, particularly the Israeli hostages, they’d be in the best position to answer your question.

Q And, sorry, Jake, I just — I wanted to ask you another question that has to do with the timing and the sequencing of some of the things that the administration has been announcing.

We’ve seen oil prices jump as a result of the tightened sanctions. Was there any — you know, and then we’ve got other things happening now — sort of new restrictions on AI and chips that are all coming in the kind of final days of this administration. Can you say a word to your thinking about the timing and then, also, you know, whether you expect, from where you sit right now, that oil prices are going to stay high and that American consumers will — will, you know, sort of bear the brunt of that decision?

MR. SULLIVAN: Well, first, remember that when the Ukraine war kicked off — started in those early months in 2022, oil prices spiked way above $100. The price environment for us to put sanctions on Russia’s oil sector at that time would have meant a really significant hit to the American pocketbook and the American consumer. The price environment today is profoundly different.

And you said “spiked.” Actually, oil prices today are significantly lower than they have been, over an average, in the past few years. So, actually, we have just a fundamentally different price environment, and that is the reason for why now, because President Biden was not going to impose sanctions on Russia’s oil sector if it meant an undue burden on American working families.

He does not believe that the action he took places such an undue burden on them, and he believes, as you project out over the course of 2025 on supply and demand, that the oil market is very well supplied, that oil prices will stabilize in a place that does not impose undue burdens on American consumers, and that, on the one hand, we can hit Putin’s pocketbook without, on the other hand, taking too big a whack out of the American people’s pocketbook.

That was not an opportunity available to us one year ago. It is now an opportunity available to us, and that is why the president took this decision.

The other point that I would make is that the new team is setting up for a negotiation. And in a negotiation, you need leverage. And part of that leverage has to come from the kind of economic pressure that makes Putin see he’s going to continue to pay a significant price economically. And so, this is also in service of an effective diplomatic outcome that will produce a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.

Q Did you coordinate that —

MR. SULLIVAN: With respect —

Q I mean, did you coordinate that with the — with the incoming team?

MR. SULLIVAN: I’m not going to say we coordinated it, but we informed them of what we intended to do, because we are trying to maintain transparency through the transition and share with them the actions that we are taking in advance so that they aren’t surprised by any of them.

That also goes for the AI diffusion rule. Again, not coordinated — and I’m not — I don’t want to suggest that. But we were — we were transparent with them about the steps in that regard.

We have been working on that issue for going on a year now. It is a complicated question, because we’re trying to strike the right balance between ensuring that the frontier of AI stays in the United States of America and our close allies while also ensuring that the rest of the world can benefit from AI and get the hardware that they need to power AI applications going forward.

So, that balance required a huge amount of work and back-and-forth and many principals’ meetings, conversations with the president. It ultimately came together towards the end, but we’ve been telegraphing for some time that this rule was coming, and the key for us was making sure that we had it in place.

But we also set up a hundred-and-twenty-day comment period so that we’re not putting the next administration in a position where they immediately have to start moving out. They can take comments and they can make judgments at that point about what the best way forward is.

We think this is, in a bipartisan spirit, the way to best preserve and protect America’s lead when it comes to artificial intelligence.

Yeah.

Q Thanks. Jake, I have two questions. First, can I go back to something Josh asked at the outset, which is
why you all believe that this ceasefire deal is sort of near — near its ending point — near the finish line? Can you offer some additional specificity about what has changed? Because I feel that we have heard you all express a level of optimism many times at various points over these last several months.

MR. SULLIVAN: I have to go back and check the record about my level of optimism, at least in recent months, because, in fairness to your question, there has been a little bit of a “Lucy and the football” quality where we thought we got really close and then it just didn’t happen.

But I haven’t stood at this podium and said anything particularly optimistic about a hostage deal in quite some time, and that’s because we haven’t been in the position that I find — I think we are in today.

Why is that? It’s because the gaps have fundamentally narrowed on the key issues — the formulas over prisoner exchanges, the formulas over the details of how Israel’s forces will be postured in their pullback in the Gaza Strip, the details over how to conduct the humanitarian surge in the wake of the guns going silent. These things now, on paper — the gaps between the two sides are slowly getting removed, one by one, and issues are closing.

I think there’s a couple of reasons for why this is happening, the biggest one of which is that Israel has achieved its substantial military objectives in Gaza and Hamas has suffered catastrophic losses — military losses — over the course of the conflict. And when you put those two factors together, we believe that the time is ripe to get a deal and to have it close. And our hope is that it will happen here in the near term.

Now, I cannot predict to you it will. I cannot promise you it will. And, you know, if in five days it hasn’t happened, I will be the person who is probably least shocked by that. But I think there’s a good chance we can close this. And I think because of that good chance, we have to use every ounce of our diplomatic effort to try to get it across the finish line, because that would be good for everyone, and it’s also profoundly in the national interests of this country.

Yeah.

Q Thanks, Jake. How do you view Donald Trump’s reelection in the context of President Biden’s foreign policy legacy? And how, in your view, is it not a rejection by voters of the Biden administration’s both world view and its robust engagement with multilateral institutions, which, by your own admission, has been a cornerstone of President Biden’s presidency?

MR. SULLIVAN: Look, I’ll leave it to others to judge the reasons for why the election went the way it did. I — I’m not in a good position to be a political pundit up here, but I do not believe that the evidence bears out that foreign policy or questions of multilateralism were the central driving issue in the outcome of the election.

The American people are complex beings — human beings. We’re all complex beings. So, we can think one thing about inflation and another thing about alliances. And a vote doesn’t mean that it’s a rejection of everything President Biden has done by any stretch of the imagination. So, there will be time for us to sort all of that out.

President Trump will make his own decisions about how he wants to pursue his foreign policy. The question for us is: Are we putting him in the best possible position, where the United States is actually standing with confidence and capacity in the world?

And I think if you look at the health of our alliances, you look at the fact that we are not bogged down in war, you look at the state of our competitors and adversaries, and then you look at these fundamental underlying sources of strength — I mean, whether it’s in manufacturing or it’s in technology or the reversal of the slide in our defense industrial base — these are the things we can give to the incoming team.

What they do with that is fundamentally up to them, and then the American people will judge whether they like that or don’t like that.

We are just going to do the best we can. And then I think when history judges the baton as we pass it off, the hand as we pass it off, I think it will judge that we are leaving things to Trump, in terms of America’s core strengths, better than we found them.

Yeah.

Q Jake, as you wrap up your time as national security advisor, what do you consider to be the greatest geo- — geopolitical threat facing the United States right now?

MR. SULLIVAN: So, I — look, I think one way of answering that question is to point to the potential for China’s aggression in the coming years, to point to Russia’s continuing challenge.

But I’m going to answer the question in a little bit of a different way, which is I genuinely believe the most consequential thing happening in the world right now is the scale, pace, and breathtaking speed with which AI is going to transform the global landscape. And it’s either going to work for us or it’s going to work against us. And in order for it to work for us, we have to stay ahead and we have to shape the rules of the road.

The Biden administration put forward the first international set of standards on artificial intelligence, codified by the U.N. General Assembly. There’s more work to be done on that front.

The Biden administration has made the investments to ensure we have the lead in AI right now. But if it’s China, not the United States, determining the future of AI on the planet, I think that is — the stakes of that are just profound.

And so, I hope that the new administration — because this shouldn’t be a partisan issue at all — sees that challenge and that opportunity and seizes it so that it’s America making technology work for us, rather than adversaries make technology work against us.

Q Jake?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Thank you, Jake. When President Biden spoke at the State Department four years ago, he said that “American leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China to rival the United States and the determination of Russia to damage and disrupt our democracy.”

Now, four years later, President Biden will be leaving office and handing the reins to a man who he has repeatedly characterized as an authoritarian, as a threat to American democracy.

How can you say that, by President Biden’s metric, his administration has met those goals if he’s handing the reins off to someone who he’s described in those terms?

MR. SULLIVAN: Well, first of all, American democracy includes elections, and there was an election in 2024. President-elect Trump won that election. Unlike in past circumstances, the outgoing administration is not challenging the democratic legitimacy of that victory. President-elect Trump won the election. So, that’s point one.

Point two, you mentioned China and Russia. You know, I’m obviously biased, but I just think an objective read on the situation from when we come into today about the position of the United States in the long-term competition with China — if you look at 2021 and you look at 2025 — we are much better positioned than we were four years ago.

And we are supporting our friends and allies in the same way in both the Indo-Pacific and Europe, as well as elsewhere.

And when you look at what we have rallied to push back against Russia’s desire to remove a major country from the map in Europe, we have said we are going to stand up to Russian aggression in a serious way.

Now, what comes in the period ahead with respect to America’s democratic institutions, the choices of the incoming team, we will have to see. I can’t judge that in advance.

All I can say, again, is what we are giving that team and — and what there is to be able to work with, and that’s what the president will reflect on today.

Q One — one follow-up.

Q Jake?

Q One follow-up, Jake. AP reported recently that the incoming team under Representative Waltz is asking career civil servants, detailees who they voted for in the last election. Is that an appropriate question that civil servants should be asked?

MR. SULLIVAN: I have not heard that directly from Mike Waltz or from anyone on the incoming team, so I’m not going to answer what seems to be speculation in the media.

What I will tell you is this, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart: The National Security Council staff is made up of career professionals, by and large. There’s a small number of political appointees who will leave when this administration leaves, but the overwhelming majority of NSC staff are career professionals from the Defense Department, the intelligence community, the State Department, the Energy Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, across the board. These are patriots. They are people dedicated to the national interests of this country, and they have served without fear or favor for both Democratic and Republican administrations. And many of them have raised their hands to say, “I’m ready to stay and keep serving.”

From my perspective, when we inherited the team from the Trump administration, I said, “I want those patriots. I want those people working for us, regardless of their political affiliation.” The incoming administration will have to make its own decisions.

Yeah.

Q Jake, going back to AI and a couple of other questions. As you’re saying that it’s a huge national security issue, is there a concern about how it does not — AI is — on the national security front, is not accurately depicting or scanning people of color, because we are understanding civil rights groups are very upset about that, how it’s misidentifying. Is that a concern with national security as well?

MR. SULLIVAN: Yes, it is. Of course, it’s — if you think about the series of concerns that are raised by the advent of artificial intelligence, they range across economic, military, and social risks. One of those is bias. And there have been a lot of studies to show that bias is a genuine challenge when it comes to artificial intelligence and the ways in which that could undermine social cohesion in the United States and globally; has national security impli- —

Q And terrorism, right?

MR. SULLIVAN: — and — and terrorism — has national security implications and is something that we have to contend with. It is part of the president’s executive order on national — on artificial intelligence, alongside a number of these other risks.

Q And also, two other questions. One on hate. On the national security front, where do you see hate going in the next couple of months, next couple of years, as we’re seeing a change in administrations and a change in attitude?

MR. SULLIVAN: I think hate-fueled violent extremism of multiple stripes is something that when we came into office we saw as a real challenge. And as we leave office, we’ve built a lot of tools to try to prevent and disrupt this kind of violence. And going forward, it remains a ongoing threat, and it takes many different forms.

But I think it’s incumbent upon every leader to try to work on a bipartisan basis, on an American basis, to address their — the root causes of this hate, to try to speak to how we turn our discourse in directions that reduce the oxygen that is given to it. And that’s something that when I leave government, I will personally try to contribute to — to lowering the temperature and to increasing the degree to which people feel that they have a place and do not need to turn to this kind of violence to express themselves.

Q And lastly, Sub-Saharan Africa has a large piece of national security connected to it. During the first term of the then-President Donald Trump, Africa was not on the page. Do you believe that Africa needs to be on the forefront for — when it comes to national security for the incoming administration?

MR. SULLIVAN: Absolutely yes. And I will say that in my conversations with my successor, one of the things that he’s asked a lot of questions about are the investments in infrastructure — physical, digital, energy infrastructure — in Africa; the high-standard investments we’ve tried to stimulate and that have gotten bipartisan support from the Congress. He’s asked a lot of questions about how to carry that forward.

So, my hope is that, in fact, just given the sheer significance and stakes at play with respect to the African continent over the coming years, that that is a priority for the incoming administration.

Q Thank you.

MR. SULLIVAN: I’ll take one more. Yeah.

Q Thank you, Jake. Our office in Jerusalem is reporting that the hostage deal is imminent, and actually President Trump might go and get the American hostages on his plane. Do you believe that the threat by him of turning the Middle East into an open hell has pushed both Hamas and the Israeli government to deliver this?

And second, what’s your reaction to the election of Lebanon’s new prime minister who is anti-Hezbollah but also he’s a judge on the ICJ that opened a case against Israel for crimes against humanity and war crimes?

MR. SULLIVAN: So, for — on the second question, President Biden had a good conversation with the new Lebanese president, President Aoun. I believe there is a huge opportunity for Lebanon to turn this ceasefire and the degradation of Hezbollah into a new chapter for Lebanon that is brighter and built not on terrorism but on the future.

President Aoun has made his selection of a prime minister. Now it’s up to the parliament in Lebanon to take that forward.

I’m not going to comment here today on the particular selection, other than to say that we believe President Aoun can steward a new chapter for Lebanon, and he’s making his selections of who will be a good partner for him in that regard.

With respect to the question about President Trump and his comments, you know, he’s talked about all hell to pay, all hell breaking loose, and so forth. One — one thing I would observe is that if you’re Hamas, all hell has been breaking loose on you for 14 months. The Israelis have destroyed their military formations, taken out their top leadership, removed their military capabilities in, you know, significant dimensions. So, the Israelis have not been holding back when it comes to going after Hamas, and I’m not quite sure what it would mean to add further military pressure to Hamas beyond what has already happened.

But I do believe that the consequence of all of that degradation is that we are finally at the point, both from Israel’s perspective and Hamas’s perspective, where a deal could come together.

And then, deadlines matter. And trying to drive to do this towards the end of the Biden administration is focusing the minds of people, and we are coordinating closely with the incoming administration to make maximum use of this particular period to get this thing done.

So, I’ll leave it there.

I just will say one last word, which is, this is — I hope this is my last time at this podium — (laughter) — at least for a little while, and I don’t mean that in a negative sense. I mean the only thing that would bring me back is an unexpected event in the next few days, which, as you all know, is totally possible given everything you’ve seen over the course of the past years.

But if it is, in fact, my last time before you, I just want to say thank you for what you guys do every day. And thank you for putting up with me. It’s been an honor to be able to really try to illuminate these issues through tough, probing, and penetrating questioning. And I’ve — can’t say I’ve always enjoyed every moment up here, but I certainly have been privileged to be able to do it. So, thank you guys very much.

Q Thanks, Jake.

Q Thank you.

Q We appreciate you coming. Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, people clapping in the back. (Laughter.)

Thank you, Jake. Thank you for your service, and it’s been a — it’s truly been an honor to serve in this administration with you.

We — I wanted to give Jake as much time as possible. And we do not have a lot of time, because, as you know, the president is going to be heading out to the State Department to give his final speech on foreign policy. So, trying to figure out what’s the best thing to do here. I can take a couple questions, but we are —

AIDE: Two questions.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — we are going to have to end in about —

AIDE: (Inaudible.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, okay. I — I apologize for that.

Go ahead, Josh. Good to see you.

Q Good to see you. I’ll hit you with —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hopefully it’s not my last time I’ll see you at the podium.

Q I — I — we can do a separate briefing later.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Don’t put anything out there, please. (Laughs.)

Q True.

Some Republicans are saying that —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — wildfire aid should be tied to increasing the debt ceiling. What does the administration make of that? And what are the plans for continuity for people that are wondering about what the next week could hold for them?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. So, look, I’m not going to get into these hypotheticals and potentials of — of policies and what’s going to happen moving forward. We are very much focused on what’s happening on the ground, helping local and state officials. And certainly, we see what the brave firefighters are doing to trying to contain these wildfires, protecting lives and property. And it has been — it has been just amazing to watch this certainly unprecedented event.

And so, what we’re going to do on the federal level, as you’ve heard, this president — we’ve read out calls that he’s done, briefings that he’s done. You’ve sa- — you’ve seen him in person take questions from your colleagues about the federal response here.

And what we want to do is — is ensure that we provide every resource available to firefighters, to first responders.

And so, we will — we will — our commitment right now is to — our commitment is to continue to support the communities on the ground through different disaster assistant programs and federal government — that the federal government could have — could — could certainly provide. And so, that’s our focus.

Not going to get into what it could look like down the road. What we want to do is make sure that we are dealing with this unprecedented — again, unprecedented, horrific, catastrophic moment that we’re seeing Southern California having to deal with.

And we are very appreciative of firefighters, first responders. And — and obviously, the community that we’re seeing on the ground is certainly heartwarming.

Hi.

Q Thank you, Karine. (Laughter.) If I don’t see you again —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — well, you know —

Q — in the briefing, thank you for all what — you could have stopped taking the hard questions years ago, and you didn’t. So, we appreciate that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Over two years, my friend. This is, let’s say, one last dance. Right? I don’t know how I’m going to fill my — my dance card now. How — how will I fill that void without you?

Q Whoo! Wow.

Q You tell me. (Laughter.) You tell me.

So, a wee- —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Start some rumors in here, I guess. (Laughter.)

Q He’s getting red, too. Look at him. (Laughter.)

Q So, a week from now, it’s all over.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Ah, yes.

Q Between next Monday and 2028 —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: 2028?

Q — who’s the leader of the Democratic Party?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, my goodness. Wow. That is — honestly, that is for people much smarter than I to make that assessment, that decision. Obviously, voters will decide. That is not something for me to decide.

I could say right now, in this moment, in this room — as I’m looking at the clock, as it’s counting down, because we have to leave shortly — you have the president, President Joe Biden, who is obviously the president and the leader of the Democratic Party. I do not have a — I cannot predict the future, so that is not something that I’m going to do from here.

Q So, no leader of the party?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That’s not what I said.

Q Well, it’s not President Biden —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, my gosh. I regret —

Q — and it’s not Vice President —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’m regretting this right now.

Q — Harris and there’s no chair of the D- — DNC.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’m regretting all of this.

Q So, it’s nobody.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That’s not what I said. I said that I am — you asked me about what’s 2028 is going to look like between now and 2028. I can’t — or post — post, obviously, this president’s tenure. That’s not for me to decide. That’s not for me to speak to.

I could only speak about the here and now, and that’s why I appreciate this job and what I’m doing right now.

Q And President Biden says that he’s not going to be “out of sight, out of mind.” But isn’t that what voters basically said that they wanted, is him gone?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, this is a president that has served more than 50 years, who has given all of himself, if you will — right? — as a public servant, whether as a senator, as a local elected official, as vice president, and now as president.

I think anybody who has served that long and does it from their heart and soul because they believe this country deserves so much more, they believe that the American people deserve more and has worked day in and day in — out, and certainly as president in the last four years, I think deserves some respect.
And I think he deserves some respect. And so, I’ll leave it there.

Q Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Mary.

Q One quick one on the fires. Obviously, 24 people so far we know of have died in the fires. Has the president reached out or been in touch with any of their families directly?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I — look, our hearts and — our hearts, obviously, go out to the families who have lost a loved one in these devastating fires and certainly the victims and the community out there. It is, again, horrific.

And as you know, and you all have been reporting this, local officials obviously confirmed additional deaths over the weekend. And so, we — the president — I don’t have any calls to read out, as the president has made to — to families.

Right now, the president’s commitment — and you’re going to hear him in a couple of hours when he returns from the State Department where he does wildfire briefing with his team. What we’re trying to do is use every resource available so that we can help the — to — we can help respond and certainly save lives.

And I’m going to let, certainly, Los Angeles County speak to the numbers and how — how the — any information that they may have, I don’t have anything right now to share on any conversations that the president may have done as it relates to families and victims.

But it is devastating, and we’re doing everything that we can to offer up resources on the ground. As you know, we’ve been talking about that.

AIDE: Karine, (inaudible).

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I know. One more. Go ahead.

Q Thank you, Karine. There are reports that the Biden an- — administration this week was set to announce Medicare price negotiations. And Bloomberg is now reporting that Eli Lilly has asked the U.S. government to pause its forward march with the drug price negotiations. I was just wondering if you could provide any update to if those rollouts could be coming this week and kind of give an update to what’s going on.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don’t have any update to share at this time. Certainly not going to get ahead of any potential announcement that we may have.

As you know, the Inflation Reduction Act was incredibly important in lowering costs for Americans, as we think about — I mean, if you think about, obviously, climate change, it was the — and what we’re seeing with the wildfires, it certainly is the most proactive piece of legislation that we were able to get passed to deal with climate change.

But as you asked me about — about this particular question, look, we were able to beat Medicare. That is something that this president was able to do. Now you see Medicare is able to make negotiations.

I — I think you — you remember, about a year or so ago, Eli Lilly was able to bring down their cost on insulin. A lot of that was because of what this president did on ta- — capping insulin for — for seniors, which was — makes a big deal, makes it — makes it — is a chi- — a life-changing effort for seniors.

And so, look, not going to get ahead on any potential announcement. Don’t have anything to share. But lowering costs on medical — medical prescription drugs, making sure that we make things more affordable for Americans, that is something that the president has put at the center when he talks about his economic policy and, certainly, moving forward. I don’t have anything beyond that.

Guys, I will see you —

Q Karine —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’ll be back. I’ll be back. I’ll be seeing —

Q Karine, there’s been a lot of like —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — disinformation and misinformation about the response to the California fires. In the case of the Hurricanes Helene and Milton, there was some finding that Chinese and other foreign countries were amplifying messages or —

Do you have any evidence of that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I don’t have any evidence to share with you on — on that piece.

But what I will say about misinformation and disinformation: It is incredibly dangerous, as we all know, as we’re trying to provide resources, as we’re trying to — folks on the ground, local officials are trying to make sure that they’re tr- — they’re keeping people safe who are dealing with this wildfires. It gets in the way of that. It puts people’s lives in danger.

And so, certainly, we’re going to continue to call that out. And it is — it is something that needs to stop.

As far as if any entity, countries that are behind that, I can’t speak to that at this time. But certainly, we — we need to continue to call out the misinformation, defirmation [disinformation]. It is dangerous, it puts people’s lives at risk, and it needs to stop.

All right. Thanks, everybody.

Q Thanks, Karine.

Q Thank you.

Q You’ve going to have at least one more this week, right?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. I’ll be back. (Laughter.)

1:17 P.M. EST

The post Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan appeared first on The White House.

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

2:40 P.M. EST

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Hi, everybody.  Hi.  Good afternoon.

Q    Good afternoon.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  So, the president and the first lady continue to grieve the lives lost and livelihoods destroyed by the tragic wildfires that are burning communities in Southern California to the ground. 

Before I hand it over to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who has been on the ground in California and will provide further details on fer- — on the federal response, I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone in this room and who is watching at home that this is not about politics.  This is about people.  This is about humanity — people who have literally lost everything.  Homes, schools, and businesses, entire communities burnt to the ground.  Treasured artifacts, like personal photos, precious family heirlooms, and other priceless belongings all reduced to rubble. 

And I know there’s many of you, your colleagues out there, who are on the ground trying to cov- — to cover all of the disastrous moments that we’re seeing on the ground with this event, and I hope you all are — are being safe out there.

We need to be thinking about Californians, their priorities, and how we can all come together to support them.  From Maui to North Carolina to — to California, we have seen that these disasters do not discriminate.  So, it is on all of us to show these people, to show folks in California some compassion as they are reckoning with an unimaginable disaster.

While nothing can bring back what many have lost, the president and his administration are continuing to use every tool at our disposal to help fight these fires and ensure that the communities impacted are able to recover.  The president has received regular briefings on the fires.  And at his direction, his team has been in contact — constant contact with their s- — with their state and local counterparts from the day the fire started.

Just last night, he spoke separately with Governor Newsom, Senator Schiff, Congressman Sherman and Lou, Mayor Bass, and LA County Supervisors Solis and Barger to discuss the latest updates on the wildfires across Los Angeles.  And earlier this week, the president was in California, where he received briefings from personnel on the ground and met with firefighters who are on the front lines of this response to ensure they have the resources they need.

As soon as the fires broke out, FEMA approved Fire Management Assistance Grants to reimburse California for firefighting costs, and the pre- — president immediately approved the state’s request for a major disaster declaration for California, allowing impacted communities and survivors to immediately access funds and resourc- — resources to jump-start their recovery.

As you just heard from the president moments ago, we have made some progress over the last 24 hours.  Overnight, local, state, and federal firefighters partially contained some of the largest wildfires.  There is still a long way to go, but we will continue to be with the people of California every step of the way.

Other actions the Biden-Harris administration has taken is to support local firefighting efforts, include five U.S. Forest Ser- — Forest Service large air tankers operating in Southern California, with an additional tanker en route; over 20 federal firefighting helicopters performing operational — operations in the area in support of state and local firefighters. 

Additionally, two air firefighting system units are being deployed from each of the California and National — Nevada National Guards, and 10 Navy helicopters with water buckets are en route from San Diego.  And Colorado is providing assistance, from the mobilization of aviation assets, as well as fielding of 50 engine companies to assist with firefighting on the ground.

As always, we stand ready to provide further support as needed, and we urge residents in the affected areas to remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local officials, especially if you have been ordered to evacuate.

And to everyone impacted by this tra- — tragedy, please remember that we see you, we are with you, and we will do everything within our power to get you the help that you need.

With that, I will turn it over to the FEMA administrator, Criswell.  The floor is yours.

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Thanks, Kar- — thank you, Karine.  Good afternoon, everybody.

You know, I just want to start by telling everybody that has been impacted by these devastating fires that my heart is with each and every one of you, and I know that you continue to face these fires, as they are still working to bring them under control.  And unfortunately, this will probably be a life-changing event for so many of you. 

But FEMA is here, along with our entire federal family, to help you through this recovery process.  We are going to continue to support the state and the local jurisdictions, the local first responders as they continue to try to contain this fire and eventually extinguish this fire.

I arrived on the ground yesterday, as Karine said, at the direction of the president.  I had an opportunity to meet with Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass.  We discussed what their immediate needs were, as well as began the conversation about what their recovery needs are going to be.

The governor, the mayor, and I had an opportunity just before this to also brief the president and the vice president about what their concerns are, about what their needs are going to be, and provided an update on the current status of the firefighting operations.

Yesterday, I also had an opportunity to receive briefings from the incident command posts at the Palisades fire, as well as the Eaton fire. 

And I think the most important thing that I want to make sure I continue to get across to everyone, as this situation is still very dangerous: It is still very dynamic.  The winds have died down today, but as I just got a weather briefing at the county EOC, the winds are going to increase again in the coming days.  And so, people still need to stay vigilant.  They need to listen to their local officials.  They need to heed their advice so they can keep themselves and their families safe.

I also want to just take a minute to commend all of the amazing and heroic work that the firefighters are doing around the clock to fight these fires.  They have been working night and day. 

I had a chance to speak with several of them, some of them whose homes have also been lost or their families have had to evacuate, yet they still show up every day, supporting their communities, trying to keep them safe.

And I just want to say thank you.  I want to thank all of them for their heroic efforts, because they are making a difference.

Now, while the National Interagency Fire Center continues to provide resources to support Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County and City Fire Departments, FEMA is also supporting the recovery efforts.  We’re supporting those that have been impacted by this fire.  I even met with the SBA administrator here just briefly, who is also here to support them — businesses and individuals that have been impacted by these fires.

With the quick major disaster declaration, residents can now register and begin their recovery journey.  Some of the immediate things that we can provide to them are to cover the costs that they’re incurring as they have been evacuated, helping to support what their longer-term shelter and housing needs are going to be.  We can also help support crisis counseling and disaster unemployment. 

These are just a few of the programs that we have.  We have many more, and I encourage everyone to begin that process by registering now.

Recovery from these fires is going to be complex.  I’ve seen many disasters throughout my four years in this role.  This is certainly one of the worst that I have seen.

And the debris removal alone is going to be one of the major things that we have to accomplish — that the state has to accomplish to get this recovery journey started, and that’s why — when President Biden authorized 100 percent reimbursement for the first 180 days is really going to set the stage to jump-start this recovery for these communities. 

I had a chance to drive through some of the communities that were impacted as well, and it’s not just the homes that are lost.  We’ve seen schools that have been destroyed, businesses, small businesses, religious institutions.  These are things that we are going to be help being — are going to be able to help with temporary facilities, like temporary schools to help get children back into the schoolhouse, but also any other emergency measures as they begin the work of permanent repair.

Thousands of homes have been destroyed, and we continue to hear the numbers change, but know that this is going to be a long-term recovery for all of these individuals that have been impacted. 

And as I told the governor and the mayor yesterday and today, I assured them that our programs, our staff, the entire federal family are going to be here with them, alongside them, helping them achieve the outcomes that they need to — to not just rebuild these communities but also rebuild them in a way that’s going to make them stronger and more resistant to the types of weather events that they have been experiencing. 

This recovery journey is going to be long, but we are going to be there with them to support them every step of the way. 

And with that, Karine, I’m happy to take some questions. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thank you so much, Administrator.

Go ahead, Zeke.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, Administrator.  Hope you could speak to whether the admin- — whether your agency has enough money currently to fund the immediate response needs, or is there a need to go to Con- — Congress quickly to get additional funds.  And then, separately, 10 days out from the presidential transition, what steps are underway at FEMA to ensure that what has been done so far, what’s going to be done in the coming days is sustained at the career level and — and beyond, you know, into the new administration?  Thank you.

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Yeah, with the recent supplemental, FEMA received $27 billion, and so we are now able to continue to support the ongoing recovery efforts for all of the disasters that we have been supporting to include, now, the immediate response and the initial recovery efforts that are going to be needed here in California.  So, we’re very grateful for the bipartisan support from Congress to give us that additional funding so we can meet the needs of the individuals that have been impacted. 

And as far as going through the transition, you know, we have an amazing, dedicated workforce of women and men that are going to be able to continue to support them.  Our regional administrator here has worked many fires across several different administrations, and we are going to work day in and day out to continue to support them through the authorities that are given to us through the Stafford Act.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead. 

Q    Thank you, Administrator, for taking our questions.  I wonder, realistically, how quickly will people be able to obtain these temporary living quarters?  What are you doing to set those up?  Where are you setting them up, and how are you making sure to get in contact with people that may need those temporary shelters?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Yeah, so the first step that everybody needs to do — there’s two things.  They need to register for assistance with FEMA so they get in our system and we can continue to work with them on a case-by-case basis, because we know that everybody is going to have an individual and unique need.  And they need to contact their insurance company, because their insurance company may also provide alternate living expenses. 

We have a suite of tools, and one of the biggest tools and the best resources we have is reimbursing individuals for either the hotel costs that they’re experiencing right now, or if they find a place to rent, reimbursing them for rental assistance.  Given where we’re at right now, we know that there’s going to be a lot of rental resources, and that’s going to be the best resource and the best tool that we have to support the families that have been impacted, but we have other tools in our toolbox.

And so, again, we want to work with everybody individually because we know that everybody’s situation is going to be different, and we’re going to apply the right tool for their particular situation. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Mary.

Q    Thank you, Administrator.  I — I know you can’t, obviously, put a dollar sign on this, but can you just help us put into perspective a bit how you think the cost of this may compare to the cost of other recent natural disasters? 

And I’m hoping you could also comment on some misinformation that’s out there — we’ve seen these erroneous evacuation orders — and how concerned you are that that may lead to people to not responding to or not paying close enough attention to actual, real alerts.

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Yeah, it’s really hard right now on the — the cost of the disaster, to put a number on it, because we haven’t been able to assess how much of the infrastructure has been damaged.  I mean, we know that thousands of homes that have been impacted, but the real cost of these disasters comes from how much of the actual infrastructure has been damaged — the roads, the water system, the power — but also the soft costs and the economic impact. 

We know that this is going to be billions, and so we really want to continue to focus right now on whatever we can do to continue to support California in getting this fire suppressed and starting this recovery process. 

And, again, thanks to the bipartisan support of Congress, we have enough funding to support those recovery efforts and these response efforts.

And as far as the misinformation and the alert that went out, I mean, we want to make sure people are getting timely and accurate information.  And I will defer to the county for the specifics on what they’re doing as far as that alert, but know that it’s part of our wireless emergency alert platform that FEMA offers to state and locals, and we are providing technical assistance to them to make sure we can help them understand what happened and ensure that it doesn’t happen again, because we have to be able to send out accurate information so we — so we can give people the right information and they know to believe it. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Jeff.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Administrator, the president was referring in the Oval earlier and yesterday to, I guess, some misinformation about the fire hydrants.  Can you just spell it out clearly: Is there a water shortage?  Is there an issue with water?  And if not, what — what’s the issue?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Yeah, I mean, I would really defer to the city and the county for the specifics, but what I have been briefed is that it was an overload of the system, right?  There were so many simultaneous fires that happened at once.  There was multiple firefighting resources that were utilizing and — and putting — using the water system to put out these fires, and it put a strain on the system.  And it takes time for that system to then regenerate. 

But the specifics on it, I really just want to make sure that you talk with them.  As we heard from, you know, the — the Cal — Los Angeles City Fire chief yesterday, they have — they’ve planned for this.  They have other resources available with water tenders, and now we have the ability to fly the aircraft into these communities to help put that fire out. 

And so, it really — you talk about the multiple simultaneous fires that started, and it just put a strain on the system, from my understanding. 

Q    And just one follow-up on the coordination with the incoming administration.  Are you speaking to anyone, yourself, from — on the transition?  And has the misinformation aspect come up in those discussions?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  So, we have a whole team dedicated to be working with the transition team, and they’re providing regular briefings to them on a daily basis.  And so, we’re providing whatever information that they ask for.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    President Biden committed to 180 days of 100 percent match on — on recovery funds.  I- — how — just technically, how is he able to commit to six months when he’s only going to be in office for 10 more days?  Is that locked in, or could that change if the next administration has a different idea?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  You know, this is a practice that many administrations have utilized to help support the immediate needs in the — the response to one of these major catastrophic disasters.  And what we want to be able to do is recognize the catastrophic impact of that. 

And the president has the authority, through the statute, through law, to be able to commit this amount of funding to support the recovery efforts.  I would hope that we look at this, as I think Karine said earlier, that these are communities that have had a catastrophic impact and that we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can as a federal family to support them on this recovery journey. 

The statute, the law allows us to do exactly what we did and allows the president to make that determination.  And this is what they need.  They need this support in order to facilitate the recovery that’s going to have to happen. 

Q    And — and just a quick follow.  Does that mean that it can’t be rolled back?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  I — I mean, I’m certain that, you know, anybody can make a determination on if they want to do something or not, but this was done according to the statute, and I would think that the statute would say that this is the — the direction that needs to happen and that it shouldn’t be rolled back.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    In your — this is Arlette Saenz with CNN.  In your conversations with any of the local officials, have any of them expressed concerns about the possibility that that funding could be rolled back?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Well, I think I’ve gotten the question from several people about what’s going to happen over the transition, and — and the same thing that I’ve said to you is that we have dedicated career women and men that have been supporting disaster response for everywhere around the country, not just this administration but the previous administration and every administration before that.  And the actions that we have taken in this administration are no different than the types of declarations that have happened before. 

And I, you know, want to assure them that the law, the Stafford Act, that gives us the authority to — to provide these declarations is one that has withstood since 1979.  And — and we will continue to implement it as directed by the law. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Kelly O.

Q    Administrator, it’s Kelly O’Donnell From NBC.  Do you have concerns about the inventory of available housing for people who have been displaced and for the length of time it would take for rebuilding?  Obviously, it’s going to be some time before you can even clear parcels that people may own or what have you.  Do you see almost an extinction of some of these communities for a period of time?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  So, we’re going to work with the state to understand what the housing stock is, because, as I said, one of the — the best resources that we have is our rental assistance.  And we want to get people into that longer-term temporary situation as quickly as possible so they can continue on with their lives. 

We’re going to have to do an assessment to see what the availability is and then determine if we’re going to need to bring in other tools to help support the ongoing housing requirement for these communities. 

But know that our goal is to keep people in these communities.  We do not want them to move far from their communities.  This is where they work; this is where their schools are; this is where their family, their religious institutions are.  And so, our goal is to find everything we can as close to their communities so they can keep the community part of them intact.  Right?  The houses and the buildings might be gone, but the community stays, right?  That community spirit will always be there. 

And so, that is what our goal is, and that’s what we’ll work with the state and the county to achieve.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  In the back, go ahead.

Q    Thanks.  Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, Administrator.  The president previewed that the death toll was likely to increase.  Does the federal government have a handle on how many missing people there are, as well as any advice you have for people dealing with air quality issues at the moment?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  So, I didn’t hear the second question.  But to answer the first question, that’s something I would have to defer to the state.  All of those numbers come from the coroner to determine the number of fatalities, and the number missing is something that they’ll track. 

We’re just going to continue to support them if they need resources to help with that. 

And then what was your second question?

Q    Just about advice that you would have for people dealing with air quality issues in the area?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  With their what issues?

Q    Air quality.

Q    Air quality. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Air quality issues in the area — what’s your advice? 

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Oh, air quality.  Air quality issues.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  What’s your advice to — to folks on the ground?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Again, listening to your — your local officials.  There’s definitely air quality issues around the area.  And, you know, the beauty of the wind dying down is that they can get better control over the fires, but it also doesn’t blow the smoke out. 

And so, there are definitely a lot of concerns from across the — the area here about what the air quality is going to look like.  And so, they need to make the decisions that’s best for them.  And I know that the Departments of Public Health at both the county and the state are providing information and guidance, and I would have them listen to them for what the best resources are for them to protect themselves from the air quality impacts from these fires. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  We’ve got to wrap it up.  Go ahead.  And then to you. 

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Thank you, Administrator.  I’m curious, as you’re briefing the incoming administration, are there specific steps you are recommending that they take in this response, given how long-term it’s likely going to be?

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Yeah, that’s something that — I mean, our career staff that are here on the ground in California that are going to be back at headquarters, they will continue to work through all of the requirements to support the recovery efforts.

And as the incoming administration comes on board, we will give them an update as to where we’re at with the status and any challenges that we’re finding and — and the direction and the vision that we need to do to achieve the governor, the mayor’s outcomes for this disaster recovery, but all of the disaster recoveries.  Right?  We had 179 disaster declarations just last year alone. 

And so, our team that has been working these day in and day out for the last four years will continue to do so within the new administration. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.  Last question.

Q    Thank you, Karine.  So, as the rebuilding gets underway, will there be any requirements around fire-resistant building materials to be used and other safety measures that, you know, construction folks should adhere to?  Thank you. 

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  I — I think — I just want to make sure I heard the question: As the rebuilding begins, are there going to be requirements on how they rebuild?  Did I hear that right?  I’m sorry.

Q    Yes.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yes, you did.

Q    On fire resistance, yeah. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, fire resistance.

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Yeah.  So, one of the things that we can do to help support these communities is we do have mechanisms through our mitigation programs, whether that’s in the — the public infrastructure that’s getting rebuilt or through our Hazard Mitigation Grants that the state can offer. 

As they rebuild, we want them to rebuild in a way that helps make them more fire resistant, and so we encourage the use of that flexibility within our authorities to make sure that these communities are stronger to face any future events that they might see like this.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  All right.  Administrator, since we have 10 days left, I wanted to be sure to say thank you so much for your service.  It’s been an honor to work with you.  Please stay safe in California.

And, again, thank you so much.

ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL:  Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, everybody.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh, I have actually two more things, and then I’ll get to questions. 

So, I’ll quickly turn to Venezuela, where Maduro once again demonstrated his complete disregard for democratic norms and proceeded with his illegitimate inauguration.  As President Biden emphasized during his meeting with President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia on Monday, January 6, we believe that it is essential that the will of the Venezuelan people is respected. 

In coordination with our partners, we’ve given Maduro and his representatives every opportunity to restore democracy, but they haven’t. 

So, today, we are building on all of our previous actions and taking further major actions.  We announced new sanctions on key Maduro-aligned officials as a part of our efforts to hold them accountable, and we imposed more visa restrictions, tot- — totaling nearly 2,000 individuals.  We also increased the reward amount to $25 million for Nicolás Maduro and his so-called minister of interior as part of the Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program — only the second and third to have the largest amount allowed.

It is important to note that we are taking these actions alongside similar actions taken by Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom to demonstrate a message of solidarity with the Venezuelan people and further elevate international efforts to maintain pressure on Maduro and his representatives.

Today, Maduro finds himself more alone than ever, with few friends in the region and in the world — and around the world.

And before I get to your question, just one more thing.  I didn’t want to hi- — I did want to highlight some good news we received this morning.  The final jobs report for the Biden-Harris administration was released today, and a remarkable 250,000 jobs were created last month, defying expectations.  Additionally, the unemployment rate ticked down to a low of 4.1 percent.

This is the only administration to gain jobs every month.  We had zero months with job losses.  This was no accident.  President Biden’s administration has delivered the strongest recovery in the world and laid a strong foundation for years to come by investing in America, empowering workers and unions, lowering costs, and supporting small businesses. 

Over 16.6 million jobs created; the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years; record-high unemployment — record-high employment rates for working-age women; and lowest Black-white unemployment gap on record.  Inflation down faster than almost any other advanced economy, and incomes up almost $4,000.

And, again, this was no accident.  This is because of the president’s leadership. 

And as the president said, our nation faces an inflection point: Do we continue to grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up, or do we backslide to trickle-down economics?  And that is a question that we have to ask.

In the meantime, we’ll continue with this briefing.  Go ahead.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  First off, yesterday, the Senate advanced the Laken Riley Act.  It passed the House.  If it’s presented to him before he leaves office on the 20th, would the president sign that bill or veto it?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I’m not going to get ahead of — of what’s happening.  The proced- — I know there was a procedural vote that happened in the Senate.  I’m going to let the process play — play out, let the — let the senators do — do their work on that.  I don’t want to get ahead of that.

So, we’re going to let it play out.  I’m not going to get into a hypothetical on this right now.

Q    I mean, the administration also often puts out a statement to the administration’s policy, where it stands.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    So, you’re not putting one out here?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, the — the process is still playing out, and so we’re going to — we’re going to certainly follow all of the latest developments on this.  And so, we want to evaluate the bill.  We haven’t done that yet.  We want to evaluate the bill, certainly, at the end of that process, and then we will have more to say.  I just don’t want to get ahead of it right now.

Q    And the president, in the Oval, said he’d be speaking to us later today about Russia and some other issues.  Is —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — is that going to happen?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, we’ll have more to share with all of you on what the president is going to — to be speaking on.  Certainly, we’ll — we’ll share that shortly.

Q    The event he’ll be speaking today?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That’s what the president said, and that’s what we’re working out.  (Laughs.)

Q    And then, lastly, it is customary for presidents often to leave office with a final press conference.  Does the president — how does he — does he plan to schedule one for his final week in office?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.  So, I don’t have anything to preview right now at this moment.  As you know, as you just mentioned, the president took questions today; he took questions yesterday.  He’s going to certainly continue to engage with all of you by taking your questions, as he’s done very — multiple times recently.

I — I don’t have anything to preview about a press conference.

Go ahead, Mary.

Q    Do you or do the — does the administration have any response to Donald Trump‘s sentencing earlier today?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we’re going to focus as — one of the reasons we had Administrator Criswell in the room, as you all know and you guys have done a very good job — some of you — certainly some of your colleagues who are out there on the ground — covering this disastrous, catastrophic fire.  And so, the president wants to continue to focus on that.  That’s what we want to continue to focus on.

We’re not focused on — on what occurred today, certainly, with the court decision.  We are — and we’ve been saying this — I know it’s probably ad nauseam we’ve been saying this — that we are running through the tape, and I think we have proven that almost every day, certainly, in 2025.  We’ve ha- — we’ve been pretty busy. 

And so, that’s going to be our focus: How — what can we do to continue to deliver for the American people, what can we do to make the lives of the American people better.  And that is our focus. 

I’m not going to — to speak to the decisions made in the court today.

Go ahead.

Q    Two questions, Karine.  One on Meta.  The — Meta made a decision this week about doing away with its fact-checking for Facebook and its other platforms.  Does the White House have a reaction to that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I th- — we’ve been pretty consistent here over the last four years when a — any co- — any corporation or company makes a decision — a private company, let’s — to be more specific — makes a decision, we just are not going to comment.  So, I’m not going to comment on this.  And so, I’m just going to leave it in that realm. 

But, look, social media — I’ll say this: Social media companies make their own rules about content mod- — moderation and — but, with that said, we have been outspoken about our belief that the social media companies have an important role to play in enforcing their own rules to prevent to — spread of misinformation.  That is a responsibility that that company has, and we’ve always been pretty clear about that.

But spe- — speaking specifically to an announcement, we’re just not going to comment on that.

Q    I mean, I understand, but that is something that you guys have been outspoken about, and they’re making a change on it.  So —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, but we’ve al- —

Q    I guess it’s something I thought maybe you would want to comment on.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No.  I mean, look, we talk about social media companies having a responsibility.  We’ve always said that.  We’ve been — we’ve all been really clear about that.  We’ve also been clear that policy decisions that are made by private companies, we’re not going to speak to those specific an announcement. 

But we can speak broadly on our belief and how we see their responsibility, and that’s as far as we’ve always gone.  And we’re not just — we’re not going to go beyond that.

Q    And just briefly on another topic.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    With regard to the Russian sanctions that were announced today, does the president, does the White House have any concern that that could lead to an increase in gas prices for consumers? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we took aim today, in — in your question, at Russia’s largest resources of revenue and imposed significant sanctions on the Russian energy sector.  These sanctions certainly target both Russian oil and LNG, and we expect our actions to cost Russia upwards to billions of dollars per month.  And so, that’s important to note as well.

And these — also, let’s not forget that these are also — these sanctions really continue to — to — for us to make good on the commitment that we made — that the president made and his G7 counterparts made to target Russia’s ability to use its energy sector to fund and sustain this war.  We’ve talked about this for some time, and so now the president certainly made good on that commitment. 

So, it’s not just us.  Obviously, we won’t — we join these actions with the UK, which imposed significant and complementary actions of its own. 

And so, I — I think it is important to note that, you know, by taking these significant actions against Russia, the oil markets are in fundamentally a better place.  That’s number one. 

And, number two, the U.S. economy is a fundamentally better place as well. 

And so, that’s why we took this action now.  This is a commitment that the president wanted to uphold — not just the president but also the G7 — his G7 counterparts, and that’s th- — that’s what you’re seeing right now. 

Q    But my question was whether you’re concerned that it will lead to an increase in gas prices. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, you know, I’ve said — look, one of the things that we expect and we believe is that the supply of energy is going to exceed global demand through this year with ample capacity within the — outside of APAC — OPEC+ to increase production, if necessary. 

So, since the start of Russia’s war, benchmark oil prices have fallen almost 35 bucks per barrel, and average U.S. gasoline prices have dropped from roughly $4 to just $3 per gallon.  That’s because of the actions that this president has taken.

And so, that is what we want to continue to see, and so that’s what we also think will continue to be — like, the gas prices — you know, we’re — we believe the ca- — gas prices will continue to — to be where it is and continue to — to go down because of the pres- — the actions that the president has taken. 

Go ahead.

Q    President Biden was expected to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy when —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — he was in Rome today.  Is he planning to speak with him?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, the president did speak to President Zelenskyy moments ago.  We will have a readout for all of you. 

Obviously, the president wanted to reach out to President Zelenskyy because, as you just stated, they were supposed to meet in Rome.  It did not happen because the president decided to stay and be back here because of the catastrophic fires, obviously, that we’re seeing in Southern California.  So, the president decided to stay back. 

But they did have a conversation.  They spoke moments ago.  And so, we — I know the team, before I came out here, was going to work on a readout, and so we’ll have that out to all of you soon.

Q    Okay.  And in his interview with the USA Today earlier this week, the president talked a bit about preemptive pardons, saying that they are still potentially on the table.  Can you speak a little bit about the scope that he is considering —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — when it comes to that and if he’s any closer to a decision?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, we have been saying that the president will have more to say, more to announce on pardons and commutations.  So, that is — we have 10 days to go, so it’s — certainly, that will be very soon that we will make those announcement. 

I’m not going to get into the scope.  I’m not going to get ahead of the president, but we will be making some more additional announcements on pardons and commutations before the end of his term.

Go ahead.  Go ahead.

Q    You mentioned the president spokes with — spoke with Zelenskyy, but is he also going to have a conversation with the Pope?  I know he was also supposed to meet with him.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Or is there any thought that the Rome trip could sort of reemerge in the —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look —

Q    — final 10 days?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — I don’t have anything to say, to add, or to announce about a change in schedule.  What I can say is — I just mentioned that he spoke to President Zelenskyy.  He wanted to share with the president our continued support for Ukraine, which you’ve seen over the past three years, and so that was a part of their conversation.

As it relates to the Pope, I don’t have anything to announce about a conversation with the Pope.  And so, if we have anything to share, we certainly will share with that — with all of you. 

Go ahead, Kelly O.

Q    Has the president received any updated information about the status of his son’s home in California?  Also, his granddaughter lives there now.  He did make some reference to seeing some pictures — I couldn’t — I wasn’t quite certain I heard it correctly — related to Secret Service being burned out.  Can you give us an update on anything that relates to the family?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So — so, what I can say, Secret Service — you would have to reach out to the Secret Service to — for them to — to speak to any — any developments in what has occurred with them.

As it relates to the — to the president and his son, I don’t have anything else to add beyond what the president shared.  Just don’t have anything at this time.

Q    But is he get- — is he inquiring and getting any on-the-ground information related to that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I — I don’t have anything to share. 

What I can say is that, when it relates to Secret Service, certainly, you have to reach out to the Secret Service. 

But, obviously, he’s in close touch with —

Q    Right.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — his son —

Q    Well, I only ask about that because —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — and his family. 

Q    — he referenced that —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — and they would only be present if protectees were at issue, and — and they would be connected to the president.  So, that’s why I’m asking if he’s getting any update on anything related to that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, again, I don’t have anything else to — to add to what the president shared.

As it relates to Secret Sl- — Service and protectees and what they’re doing specifically, you would have to reach out to the Secret Service, and we’ve been pretty consistent on that. 

Q    And did he have any opportunity at all to speak to the president-elect about the fires?  And they were obviously briefly in the same place yesterday with the Carter funeral and — and so forth. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Does he see a need to — I know there’s a full transition operation.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I was going to say, there’s a full transition operation.  You heard — 

Q    Fully aware of that, but —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You heard the administrator — the administrator talk about their kind of process on that side as it relates to FEMA.  Don’t have a conversation to read out that the president had with the president-elect. 

But, as you said, there is a transition happening.  We want it to be effective.  We want to make sure that they have what they need, and so that continues. 

Q    And one last one.  As —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — as a part of transition, is an office of the former president also being stood up?  And would that be in Delaware, presumably?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, I don’t have anything to say — to say about location, but the protocols that normally occur when a form- — when a president leaves his post, it’s going to continue.  I don’t have a location for you.

Go ahead.

Q    Yeah.  Just briefly, we talked about the president’s family being affected by this.  The vice president’s home was also under an evacuation order.  Any update there on her home there in Los Angeles area?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, I mean, it — it’s devastating.  This is her — her city, her neighborhood, and — and her state.  I — I would have to refer you to the vice president’s office on any updates that they might share with — with you. 

I don’t have anything for you at this time, but, certainly, it’s devastating.  So many people are affected by this, and it’s heartbreaking. 

Q    Just a quick follow-up.  Will she travel to the Los Angeles area this weekend?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Is there any travel plan for her?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I would refer you to the vice president’s office on any travel on — on her schedule.

Q    And one more.  One more.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.  Sure.

Q    One quick — quick one, I promise.  So, we talk about the transition.  Have you hosted any conversations with your immediate successor?  And when will your final briefing take place?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Laughs.)  I’m sure you guys are all very excited about that. 

Q    No, I’m just asking for the folks (inaudible).

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I have not had a discussion with my successor.  I’m letting the transition team kind of manage that process and just doing my job, focusing on my job, on behalf of the president. 

And we will have a briefing next week, and, certainly, we will share that with all of you to — I guess, to — to say goodbye.  (Laughs.)

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Go ahead.

Q    Hi, Karine.  A couple of topics, if you don’t mind.  First, on Venezuela.  You mentioned the sanctions that the administration is putting on Venezuela in its final 10 days.  Are you in discussions with the incoming administration about policy towards Venezuela?  And are you expecting those sanctions to hold once Trump does take office?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And so, look, I can’t speak to what the next administration is going to do or not do.  What I can say is — and I believe Jake Sullivan talked about this when — the National Security Advisor talked about this a couple times, whether in a gaggle, here at the podium, saying that they’re — they are in constant communication with their incoming counterparts, the NSC is.  And so, I’m sure those conversations are happening on that side of things dur- — with the transitioning. 

I — you know, I can’t speak to what the next administration is going to do or not do, but we are in constant communication with — the transition team here is in constant communication with their transition — well, their transition team is in constant communication with our — our folks here. 

Q    Just another one on Havana syndrome —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — and AHIs.  There’s been a slight shift in the intelligence community assessment surrounding this phenomenon. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Does the White House believe that this is because of foreign actors — it’s happening because of foreign actors? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we put out a statement on this.  I would certainly refer you to the statement that came out from my colleague, out of the National Security Council.

What I will say is the intelligence — the intelligence community assessment is one element of — of an interdisciplinary approach this administration has taken to getting to the bottom of these incidents.  We believe it’s important to do so and ensuring our colleagues receive the support and care they need and that they deserve. 

So, the IC’s updated assessment is a product of ongoing analysis.  That’s basically what is stated in our — in our statement in — in — to make sure that we continue those efforts, which we welcome and which only reinforce why it is vital for the U.S. government to continue critical research, investigate credible incidents, and provide care. 

So, they’re an ongoing process.  And so, that is part of what, certainly, our statement stated, and also what the ICA said as well. 

Q    I read statement from Sean earlier —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, yeah.

Q    — and part of it said that the administration, current administration will be briefing the incoming administration about this to continue that work.  What does that kind of briefing process look like, and what does it involve?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, I’m not going to get into

private discussions or conversations.  Obviously, this is an intelligence community situation, so I’m going to leave it in their — certainly in their hands.  So, I’m not going to divulge or get into what those conversations will look like.

But like I’ve said multiple times, we are certainly keeping the transition team up to date on — on matters that ma- — that are important, certainly, to our national security, but to the American people.

Q    Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Go ahead, Josh.

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Josh.

Q    The Supreme Court indicated today that it will allow the TikTok ban or divestment ruling to proceed with the deadline of January 19th.  Does the administration have a position on whether that should happen?  Of course, the —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — incoming administration, he’s changed his view. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I — look, we’ve been very clear about our position.  Obviously, the president signed the bill, and we believe it’s not a — it’s not a ban.  It’s a divestment. 

And obviously, there are provisions in that on how to move forward.  It’s in the courts.  We’ve allowed that process to play out.  I don’t have anything else to add beyond that.

Q    Can a divestment happen in nine days?  I mean, it seems like it’s door number one at this point. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, we’ve been very clear where we stand on this.  Nine, ten days — I would certainly leave it up to TikTok to speak to that. 

Q    Going back to the Russia sanctions.  Can you walk us through the thought process on this?  Is — is this — the president-elect has obviously made clear his desire for some sort of deal to end the fighting. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Is this trying to set the table for that by ratcheting up pressure on Russia?  Another way of asking that is: Why not do this earlier than now?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, this is — as I stated, this is a commitment that was made by the president and the G7 counterparts — his G7 counterparts.  And we’ve always said that we were going to find ways to put pressure on Russia.  We’ve always said that it is up to Russia to end this war.  They can do it today. 

And we’ve been, I think, pretty clear on that.  We — this is not the first sanctions.  We’ve done multiple sanctions over the past almost three years as this war has gone on. 

And so, this was — you know, it wasn’t just us.  This was also in coordination with our allies and partners.  And so, that’s what you saw.  You saw UK make an announcement as well.

And — but we’ve — we’ve been clear — we’ve been clear that we were going to take actions.  And so, that’s what you see from — from this administration. 

But this is not the first one.  Right?  We’ve done multiple, as I just stated, actions before, and we want to make sure that we hold Russia accountable here. 

Q    But by definition, these are — you made the choice not to do these specific actions, which are pretty significant —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, they are significant.

Q    — for — for a —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You’re right.

Q    — couple of — couple of years.  So, why now?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Again, I just said —

Q    You know, why didn’t you do it a year ago?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, I hear you.

Q    Why now?  What changed?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And again, in my answer to you just moments ago, it’s not just us.  This is also being done with our G7 counterparts.  This is a — a — essentially, a group effort, and that’s what you’re seeing today.

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I know I have to — go ahead.

Q    Thank you, Karine.  Do you have updates on the American citizens that are being detained in Venezuela?  The Maduro government claims one of them is an FBI agent.  If you can confirm? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I don’t have any updates for you at this time.  I certainly would refer you to the State Department.

Look, when it comes to Americans being held hostage, wrongfully detained, you have seen from this administration our efforts to make sure that we get Americans home.  I think we have shown some success in doing that, and that is going to continue to be our commitment, even though we have 9, 10 days left. 

I don’t have an update in this particular — on this particular individual.  I certainly would refer you to the State Department.

Q    And one more.  If we can get a reaction on Indonesia becoming a full member of BRICS.  Indonesia is obviously Southeast Asia’s largest economy.  That could lend credibility to BRICS’s ambition to become the alternative to the G7, particularly as we head into the new U.S. administration, which may have a different approach towards multilateral cooperation. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I don’t have anything specific to say about this.  I would have to refer you to our — our National Security Council on that particular question. 

Go ahead, Gerren.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Meta also reportedly eliminated its DEI programs in hiring, training, and picking suppliers, and they cite the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.  I know you said that you wouldn’t comment on business policies, but the administration really went out of its way to sort of convince businesses not to interpret that ruling as anything that — further than that.  Is there a disappointment there that — that companies like Meta and McDonald’s, Walmart are rolling back these DEI policies?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, not going to comment on a specific — a specific action that a private company takes. 

But what I can say is that you’ve heard from this president.  You’ve heard from this administration.  Diversity is our greatest strength.  You have seen this not just by words, by action that this president has taken.  And certainly, that is a sentiment you’ve heard echoed by leaders across — across businesses and government, not just us. 

And so, that continues to be our stance on this.  It is important to have different voices around the table.  It is important to have different important to have different voices, you know, working on policy to make sure that we are delivering for the American people. 

And that’s what we have done.  That’s what we have shown.  And as it relates to specific companies, I’m just not going to comment on that policy. 

But I think by our actions and what you have seen us do over the last four years — our commitment to that, our commitment to making sure communities that are normally left behind have a voice or not — or don’t feel like they don’t have access, and changing that around. 

We have done that in many ways, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s lowering cost on — on drug — on sper- — prescription drugs, making sure manufacturing jobs come back, helping t- — for wages to go up.  We have done this and shown our commitment to that. 

Again, I’m not going to speak to any particular company.

Q    Just one more question.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yep.  Sure.

Q    I recently spoke to Reverend Al Sharpton, and he said that he wanted the president to issue a pardon for Baltimore County State Attorney Marilyn Mosby and Jesse Jackson, Jr.  Can we expect to hear an announcement on any high-profile pardons such as these?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, I’m not going to get ahead of the president.  He’s going to make some more announcements on pardons and commutations.  Certainly, we’ve heard from groups out there who have certainly been very vocal about what they think the par- — the president should do.  The president and his team is working through it.  They’re trying to figure out the best way forward. 

Obviously, the president believes in Americans who have shown that they can get a second chance to have that second chance, and I think you’ve seen that.  This is a president that has been pretty historic in his actions in — in moving forward with pardons and co- — commutations.  I’m not going to get ahead of him.

All right.  Go ahead, Karen.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Does the president expect that President-elect Trump will be here in the morning before the inauguration?  Has that invitation been accepted by the president-elect?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I would refer you to the transition team to speak to what the president-elect is going to do or not do on January 20th.

Q    But he extended the invitation to come here —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That is something that is a tradition, so, obviously, we are going to try to continue that con- — tradition, but I would have to refer it to his transition team.

Go ahead, Emily.

Q    Thanks.  I have a few follow-up questions on the transition process.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    To follow up on what Karen was asking, it’s also a tradition for the president — incoming president to stay at Blair House.  Is that an invitation that’s been extended?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I don’t have anything to share on if the president-elect is going to be staying at the Blair House.  What I — what I will say is we certainly are trying to continue the traditions here.  We want this to be an effected, efficient, peaceful transfer of power. 

Once we have more to share, certainly would share from our end of things.  And anything that’s related to the president-elect, I would refer you to the transition team.

Q    And then we’ve seen some moving trucks out here today.  (Laughter.)  Can you talk about where you guys are physically in the process?  And have there been any directives — because, I know, in the past, with the other administration, there’s been issues with classified documents and mix-ups, and I know you guys have said you want to be careful and follow the rules.  So —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We are going to do our best, certainly, to be careful, to follow the rules, to do this the right way, to follow traditions, obviously, as the president truly wants to do, as he showed right after the election, having the president-elect in the Oval Office, and putting everything aside and making sure that we were putting the American people first and what they wanted.  You know, respecting the results of the election, that’s what you’ve seen from this administration. 

And we have 9, 10 days left, and we’re trying to run through the tape, do everything that we can and — and get out of here in time on — on December — “on December” — on January 20th. 

Go ahead.

Q    Speaking of the days left, Monday, the president is going to deliver this capstone speech on — on foreign policy at the State Department.  I just wanted to sort of see what you could share from a preview.  Is this sort of a — a defense of his foreign policy?  Is it a warning to allies or advice that he wants to give the incoming administration?  How should we kind of view the speech that the president is going to give?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Laughs.)  Well, as I’ve stated many times already at the podium, as it relates to the pardon commutation, I’m not going to get ahead of the president.  And so, he is going — he wanted to make the speech.  There has been — you know, there’s a — there has been some key events, obviously, that has happened across the globe o- — in his — in his tenure.  And this is someone who has been — when it comes to foreign policy, that is something that has been a key pillar of who he is and how — in his career.

And — and let’s not forget, 50-plus years as a public official, elected official.  And so, he has some thoughts on the future, not just of the country but how — how this country moves forward as a leader, when you think about global events, glob- — important global issues.  And certainly, he will lay that out.

I don’t want to get ahead of him, but you could be — you could reassure there are major events happening right now: the — the — Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and many other — Indo-Pacific, many other important matters that he’s going to certainly lean into.  But I — I don’t want to get ahead of the president.

All right.  Thanks, everybody.  I’ll see you next week.

Q    Thank you.

Q    Any reaction to the Title IX ruling, Karine?

3:32 P.M. EST

The post Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell appeared first on The White House.

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Kenner, Louisiana

3:45 P.M. EST

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Sorry for the wait.  Oh, it’s chilly back here.

Q    Yeah, it’s cold.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right, I have a — a long — a long couple things at the — a few things at the top, so it’s a little long.  So, please bear with me.  Hopefully we’ll answer some of your questions. 

We are on our way to New Orleans, where the president and the first lady will attend an Interfaith Prayer Service for Peace and Healing hosted by the Archdiocese of New Orleans at the Cathedral-Bas- — Basilica of St. Louis King of France.  While there, they will grieve with the families and community members impacted by the tragic attack that took place in New Orleans on January 1st.  This time with families will be a private meeting prior to the vigil. 

Immediately following this horrific attack, President Biden directed his team to provide every resource possible to support the state and local law enforcement response as well as the victims and their families.  The president and his administration have been in contact with the governor of Louisiana, the mayor of New — New Orleans, and other state and local officials to ensure they have the support they need and deserve. 

The FBI, DOJ, DHS, and Department of Defense are coordinating on all aspects of the investigation.  The FBI is operating a command post in its New Orleans office with federal, state, and local personnel, including the deployment of additional special agents, analysts, and bomb technicians to assist in the investigation and coordinate with local authorities. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA, has also announced that small businesses and private nonprofit organizations in Louisiana may now apply for federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by this attack. 

Today, the president is committing additional federal resources to help the city of New Orleans prepare for upcoming major events, including Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl.  The Mardi Gras parades and certain related events occurring in New Orleans from February 1st [21st] to March 4th have been upgraded to a Special Event Assessment Rating of 1.  The Super Bowl event has also been upgraded to the same assessment rating.

The Biden-Harris administration has determined that these significant events require extensive federal interagency support, and we will use every tool available to fill — to fill local capability shortfalls to assure safe and secure events.  Federal assistance could include explosive detection canine teams, cyber risk assessments, venue screening and field intelligence teams, and air security and tactical operations support, in addition to the support already provided by state and local governments.

There’s no higher — higher priority to the president than the safety and security of the American people.  He will continue to ensure we do everything possible to get to the bottom of this horrific event while also ensuring that this community has the resources they need in the wake of this tragedy. 

And finally, today, President Biden took action to protect the — the entire U.S. East Coast; the eastern Gulf of Mexico; the Pacific off — off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and California; and additional portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska from oil for — from future oil and natural gas leasing. 

So, let’s be clear here.  The — the area President Biden is protecting has relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas and do not justify the environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from new leasing drilling.

As President Biden said in his statement, from California to Florida, Republican and Democratic governors, members of Congress, and coastal communities have worked and called for greater protection of our ocean and coastlines from the harms that offshore oil and natural gas drilling can bring.

From day one, President Biden has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in our country’s history.  And over the last four years, the president has conserved more than 670 million acres of America’s land, water — waters and more — more than any other president in history.

With that, Colleen.  Hi.

Q    Hi.  Okay.  A couple things real quick.  On the meeting with the families today.  Will he also meet with any first responders or law enforcement officials, or is it just for families?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, he’s — we’re hoping to also be able to say thank you to some first responders.

As you know, first responders always put their lives on the line when it comes to certainly events like this, but almost every day. 

And so, we’ll certainly have more to share.  We’ll have some pool notes for all of you as we get on the ground.  But that is — that is the hope.

Q    Okay.  And then on the offshore drilling.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Can you talk a little bit about the timing?  Because, you know, the president is leaving office in a couple of weeks.  The incoming president has been very clear that he doesn’t want any of this type of — these restrictions.  So, you know, why now?  Why not earlier, when there was more of an opportunity to push it out longer?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I think in — also, in the topper, I mentioned what the president has done, and over the last four years, he’s protected, I think, more than 46 million land and water.  Con- — you know, making sure we’re conserving that. 

So, this is — this has been a priority for the president over the past four years, and you see the success and what he’s been able to do.

So, the withdrawals have no expiration date and prohibit all future oil and natural gas leasing in areas withdrawn.  And, as I said, the — the area the president is protecting has relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas and do not justify environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from any loose le- — new leasing and drilling.

And so, look, the climate crisis continues.  It continues to be a threat to communities across the country.  And we are transitioning now to clean energy economy, as this has been a priority for this president. 

And so, we want to make sure that we protect these coasts for our children, for our grandchildren.  And so, that is what you’re seeing the president doing. 

So, previous administration also moved to protect off coast of Florida — off coasts of Florida, Georgia, South C- — South Carolina from drilling.  So, this is something that we’ve actually seen from the past administration, which is — obviously, was the Trump administration.

Q    One more.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, sure.

Q    On the — on January 6th.  So, I just wondered, the president’s op-ed in the Washington Post today talked a lot about the need to remember.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, and not — not — and to not rewrite history. 

Q    Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah. 

Q    I guess I wanted to ask: He doesn’t mention Trump by name at all in — in the op-ed.  And I wondered if that was intentional.  You know, and if we’re talking about remembering, should we also be thinking about the — the incoming president’s — you know, whatever role he may have played in January 6th?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, I think — you know, I read through — obviously, I saw the — the op-ed before it was published, and I got to — I read it a couple more times today.  And it’s incredibly powerful what the president was able to share.

Remember, he was speaking directly to the American people and wanted to make sure that we don’t forget this moment, we don’t forget what happened four years ago, and that history should not be rewritten. 

I think the American people know exactly what happened on that day.  I think he wanted to — as the day is today, he wanted to make sure that we — he — his voice was out there. 

He’s also very proud of what the vice president was able to do in certifying the election, which is, obviously — as she said herself in a very powerful video today that you all saw, talking about her duty and how she — this is — this is the norm and this is what we’re supposed to be doing. 

And I think — you know, I think the president wanted to stick to the message of what today means.  We can’t forget.  And the president says this in his op-ed.  This — certifying an election was the norm — was the norm.  And we can’t forget, as a country, as a people, that — that moments like today should be incredibly respected, and how powerful and how important it is, especially as we speak to our democracy and a peaceful transition of power, which is what the president has been trying to do and has said that he was going to do and has been doing that since the day of — since the — since the day of the election, or the results of the election.

And so, I think that’s what you’re seeing.  This peaceful — it’s not just about this being a norm, but also this continuing peaceful transfer of power. 

Q    Karine, does the — does the president or does the White House have a reaction to Prime Minister Trudeau’s announcement today about stepping aside?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, a couple of things here.  Prime Minister Trudeau has been a stalwart friend of the United States during his decade leading the Canadian government.  We have worked closely together on the full range of issues facing our countries and the world as close allies, neighbors, and as members of the G7.

The president is grateful for the prime minister’s partnership on all of that and for his commitment to defending North America from the geopolitical threats of the 21st century and the work we have done together to sustain North America’s status as the world’s most economically competitive region. 

As fellow democracies, we stand with the prime minister and the Canadian people as they select a new Liberal Party leader and organize a new government.

Q    Do you — on a separate issue, the steel companies — U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel — have filed lawsuits over the decision by the president to block that merger.  What’s his or what is the White House reaction to that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, as — as we’ve done many times, as you know, Jeff, we just don’t speak to lawsuits.  Obv- — you know, that is something that the Department of Justice will — will handle.  I’m — I’m not going to give comments on it. 

And I think the president’s statement from Friday — laying out his thought process and why he moved forward to blocking — to blocking that deal.  And so, I just don’t have anything else to add behi- — be- — besides what the president laid out. 

But as we normally do, we’re not going to speak to any lawsuits. 

Q    One question —

Q    Karine, can you —

Q    Sorry, just one last question.  Sorry, sorry, sorry.  On two things that Trump has — the president-elect has said in the last day or so.  One, there’s a report out about his — his plans on tariffs.  Wondering if this White House has any response or concerns about that. 

And two, he made a tweet — or a statement today about making Canada the 51st state.  Wondering if President Biden takes that seriously. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, I’m not going to comment on everything that the president-elect is — is going to say. 

As we know, we have about two weeks left in this administration.  The president is going to focus on what we’re doing today — right? — what we’re going to be doing in the West Coast in California.  We’re going to continue to show up for the American people, continuing to do the work on behalf of the American people. 

I — I’m just not going to comment on everything that is said by the incoming president. 

What the president believes in is what you’ve seen him do — when it comes to the economy, making sure that we don’t leave anybody behind, that we build an economy from the bottom up to — bo- — bottom to — bottom — top — from the bottom to the top and, obviously — and the middle out.  And that is something that the president is going to is — has always believed in and — and believes that is the way we move forward with an economy. 

He doesn’t believe in — in — in what Republicans have continued to say, which is giving a tax relief to — to the — to the richest, the billionaires and corporations.  That’s not what the president believes.  He wants to make sure that we give a little bit of breathing room to everyday Americans who are sitting around their kitchen table trying to make some really difficult decisions about how they’re going to move forward in their life.

And so, that’s our focus.  I’m just not — with two weeks left, I’m not going to comment on everything that the president-elect is going to say.

Q    Karine, earlier today, President-elect Trump, on Truth Social, said that the — that “Biden is doing everything possible to make the TRANSITION as difficult as [as] possible.”  I know you touched on the transition a little bit, you know, moments ago.  But is there just anything you can say from, you know, the White House’s response to his comments? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, again, I’m not going to respond to everything that the president-elect says.  What I can say is the president’s commitment — and I think — I think, hopefully, you all would agree with me — when the president, after the — the election, the president invited the president-elect to the White House.  They met for two hours — definitely more than an hour and a half, more than 90 minutes — in the Oval Office.  You guys — you all got to see them engage at the top for a f- — couple of minutes. 

And that — for the president, that was something that he wanted to bring back — right? — which is a peaceful transfer of power — something, I would, you know, put out there and remind everybody, that he didn’t get four years ago. 

And so, as you know, this is a president who is an institutionalist.  He believes in our democracy.  He believes on doing the right thing for this country, the right thing for the American people.  And he believed in the peaceful transfer of power.

Our mandate has been — from this president — is to make sure that we provide an efficient transfer, a tran- — a transition to the next incoming administration.  And it’s not about us; it’s not about this president.  It’s about the American people.

In order — it is important to do that so that we can — so that the American people can have a continuing democracy that works for — for all of us.

Q    And just one more, Karine. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Maybe this came out while — while you have been in the air, but Biden met with Venezuela’s president-elect this — this morning.  Is there any — are there any details you — you can share from —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — from that meeting and how that went?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, there’s — if it hasn’t come out, and you — I don’t even know if you all probably saw it or not — there’s going to be a readout.  If — and — and I haven’t paid close attention.  There was a readout of the meeting following the president’s meeting and the president-elect of Venezuela this morning and simply reiterated our support for Venezuelans’ democratic aspirations. 

Democracy depends that — demands, pardon me — demands that the will of the voters be respected, and the Venezuelan — Venezuelan people spoke resoundingly on July 28th making González Urrutia the president-elect.  And so, that is what you — that is what you saw.  That is basically what this meeting was all about.

And there’s a readout.  Again, I — I apologize if you all didn’t get a chance to read that, to see it, but we did put out a readout on this.

Q    Karine —

Q    Do you have any —

Q    Go ahead.  Go ahead.

Q    Do you have any reaction to Elon Musk — his repeated attacks on the British prime minister?  Just — if I could just — I mean, for example, you have him today calling Keir Starmer “despicable,” calling on King Charles to overthrow the British government. 

I mean, this is a key U.S. ally and a — you know, a political, you know, ally of President Biden.  What — I mean, what — what is your take on these?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I — I don’t have anything for you on that.  I — I just don’t.  I’m not going to comment on that.

Go ahead.

Q    Given the president’s op-ed on talking about remembering January 6th —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — from four years ago, does he have any reaction to the president-elect’s pledge to pardon the insurrectionists from four years ago and, given the president’s recent pardons himself, how that kind of contrasts?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, I’m not going to get into what the next president is going to do or not do. 

I think you’ve heard us talk about the president’s process when it comes to commutations, when it comes to pardons.  He bel- — he believes in giving a second chance to — to Americans who have shown that they can go back into the community and be part of a community, be productive in the community. 

The president certainly has taken more action than any president before him, and that is something that he believes in.  So, we will certainly — he — he’s thinking about other commutations and pardons that he will potentially announce before he leaves in two weeks. 

I just don’t have anything else to share.  I don’t want to get into what the next president is going to do, going to not do.  What I can speak to is how the president has been very deliberate, very thoughtful about this process and how he’s moved forward in it in the last couple years. 

Q    Karine, my colleagues at NBC this weekend — they reported that the president plans to give two big speeches before his term is up: one on foreign policy, one more of a farewell speech.  Do you have any additional information about that — when, where?  Anything we can expect to hear from the president?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I — I’m not going to get ahead of our — our schedule here.  Don’t have anything to confirm or to lay out. 

What I will say is the president the — I — I mentioned “two weeks.”  We have 14 days, and it’s going to be a jam-packed, certainly a jam-packed final sprint to the — to the — to the two — to the two weeks. 

As you know, we’re going to go to NOLA — New Orleans.  We’re going to go to California.  We come back, and the president is going to — there’s the Carter — obviously, the — the Carter memorial, so that will be something that the president will attend. 

And then we head out to Rome, and we — we have already laid out what the president is going to be doing on that — his final OCONUS — this coming weekend or this coming — at the end of the week.  And then we’ll have a lot more to share as we — as we get closer. 

But he is definitely jam-packed — jam-packed — as you all know, especially just looking at the weekend.  I think most of us were working every day this weekend, and so I think you can expect to see that — the president just continuing to work every day.

Q    On New Orleans and this ongoing investigation into the attack.  Have — do you have any updates, any progress on that?  I know the last time the president spoke on it is — he said he would make sure that any progress they made he would share it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, no — I mean, you’re — you’re right.  I don’t have any updates to share.  Obviously, as I stated at the top — and the president certainly continues to believe this and wants to — to get this done, which is get to the bottom of what happened.  There’s an investigation being done by the FBI.  I don’t have any updates to share at this time. 

And what — I think what you’re going to see this president do today is show up for the community, be there for the community in hardest time — right? — when you have these types of event or any type of event, whether it’s gun violence, a loss — lives lost in a community, in a family. 

This is something that the president understands: what it’s like to lose — to lose a loved one.  And the first lady — as you know, she’s with us as well.  And so they’re going to be there with the family.  They’re going to offer up — you know, grieve with them, listen to them.  And so, I think this is also an important part — he believes, this is also an important part of — of the job that he believes he — he needs to do as president and should do.

Q    And just — just quickly on January 6th.  Just to circle back to Colleen’s question.  By not naming Trump in this op-ed, is there any concern that that contributes to the ability of this incoming president to rewrite what happened and his role in there? 

I mean, you have a president — an incoming president here, a president-elect, who is posting pictures of January 6th; who is not doing anything at this point to, you know, try to explain it; who is kind of showing, “Look, I can’t be held accountable”; you know, and going as far as saying, “We’re — I’m going to pardon, you know, these people who participated.” 

Is there any concern by the president not naming him, that that allows, you know, the president-elect to skirt accountability?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And I hear your — your question, but I also think there are some — a couple things that we should focus on and what the president said, and I just want to read them really quickly.

“An unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day.  [To] tell us we didn’t see what we… saw with our — with our own eyes.”  So, the president tries to address that, obviously, in his — in his op-ed.

“But when we sh- — but what” — and this — going back to the president’s op-ed, “but what — but we should not forget.  We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it.  We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago.”

“Four years later, leaving office, I am determined to do everything I can to respect the peaceful transfer of power and restore the transi- — the traditions we have long respected in America.  The election will be certified peacefully.”  Obviously, that’s already happened, but this is from his op-ed this morning.

“I have invited the incoming president to the White House on the morning of January 20th, and I will be present for his inauguration that afternoon.” 

And I think what the president is trying to do is lead by example, calling out what happened four years ago, saying if we do not — if we do not pay attention and if we try to forget it, it will repeat itself.  And that — I think the president said that very clearly.

At the same time, the American people deserve a peaceful transfer of power.  They have spoken.  Right?  So, they — they deserve a peaceful transfer of power. 

Q    Is — is the implication there that if you were to get into naming Trump, that that puts that peaceful transfer of power at risk in some way?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I think that we had an election, majority of Americans spoke, and the president is respecting a free and fair election — something that wasn’t afforded to him four years ago.  He is doing it now. 

And he is saying, by leading by example, it is important to make sure that we have a peaceful transfer of power.  And I think what you’re — again, what I’m — what you’re seeing from this president and even this vice president today — our vice president, obviously, Kamala Harris, what she did today — was — was show that this is what — this is what the norm is.  This is what the norm is.

Q    I guess the question is: If — if the norms were broken, you know, four years ago, is the — is the idea of returning to a norm even possible anymore, you know?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, I think we showed it today.  I think the vice president showed it today.  Right?  And I think the president continues to show that, especially in this transition of power.  And so, lead — lead by example, and you see that from — from the both of them.

And I think that’s — I would — I — I think, and we believe, that’s what the American people want to see.  They want to see some norm.  They want to see a peaceful transfer of power.  It is important for our democracy.

All right, guys.  Thank you. 

Q    Thanks, Karine.

Q    Thank you.

Q    Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  See you on the ground.  Thank you, guys.  Appreciate it.

4:08 P.M. EST

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