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Today, the President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr., welcomed the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani, to the White House.  The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the enduring strategic partnership between Iraq and the United States and discussed their visions for comprehensive bilateral cooperation under the 2008 U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement.  The President and Prime Minister agreed on the importance of working together to advance regional stability and reinforce and respect Iraqi sovereignty, stability, and security.

President Biden and Prime Minister Sudani affirmed that a diversified and growing Iraqi economy, integrated with the region and the global economic system, is the foundation for lasting stability in the region and prosperity for the Iraqi people.  The two leaders exchanged views on how political, economic, and security cooperation between the United States and Iraq could advance shared goals, including the development of a strong and stable Iraqi nation that promotes peace and progress throughout the broader Middle East.

Energy and Environment

President Biden applauded Iraq’s progress towards energy self-sufficiency, and the two leaders discussed Prime Minister Sudani’s interest in future opportunities for cooperation to ensure Iraq becomes self-sufficient by 2030, with help from U.S. companies.  President Biden affirmed continued U.S. support for Iraq’s efforts to modernize its energy sector, reduce methane emissions, improve public health, more reliably provide electricity for the Iraqi people, and complete the electrical grid connections with neighboring countries, including the ongoing efforts to connect Iraq’s grid with Jordan and GCC countries.  The two leaders discussed future plans to develop Iraq’s resources in a manner that ensures all Iraqis benefit from their country’s natural wealth, consistent with Iraq’s constitution. 

Prime Minister Sudani and President Biden affirmed the importance of ensuring Iraqi oil can reach international markets and expressed their desire to reopen the Iraq-Turkiye Pipeline. 

Regional Integration and Political Cooperation

President Biden reaffirmed U.S. support for Iraq in strengthening relations with the international community and states of the region to ensure security, stability, and enhanced prosperity for its peoples.  President Biden pledged continued U.S. support for greater economic integration of Iraq with the Middle East region. 

President Biden and Prime Minister Sudani discussed their shared view that the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) is integral to Iraq’s overall prosperity and stability.  In that vein, the President commended the Prime Minister’s and Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) efforts to reach durable agreements that resolve longstanding challenges, including the recent arrangement to pay two months of KRG civil servant salaries, and encouraged continued progress.  The President also affirmed U.S. support for strengthening democracy in Iraq, including free, fair, and transparent regional elections in the IKR.

Economy and Finance

President Biden and Prime Minister Sudani discussed Iraq’s progressive efforts to reform the financial and banking sector to connect Iraq to the international economy and increase trade while shielding the Iraqi people from the harmful impacts of corruption and money-laundering.  Through 2023 and 2024, banks in Iraq have expanded their correspondent relationships with international financial institutions to enable trade financing, with the majority of trade finance now occurring through these channels.  The two leaders affirmed the importance of these and other measures to improve the investment climate in Iraq to attract foreign capital and promote economic growth.  The United States and Iraq commit to strengthen their cooperation to achieve greater transparency and collaboration against money-laundering, financing terrorism, fraud, corruption, and sanctionable activity that could undermine the integrity of both countries’ financial systems.  The two sides also committed to support the Central Bank of Iraq to fully wind down the wire auction mechanism by the end of 2024 and transition to direct correspondent relationships between Iraqi and international banks, a transformation that will connect Iraqi people and businesses with the international economy.

The Lasting Defeat of ISIS

President Biden and Prime Minister Sudani discussed their commitment to a stable and secure Iraq.  They agreed that Iraq’s security forces must be able to ensure that ISIS can never again reconstitute inside Iraq to threaten the Iraqi people, the region, or the international community, including the United States.  President Biden reiterated his belief that a strong Iraq, capable of self-defense, is critical to regional stability and committed to bolstering the capabilities of security forces across all of Iraq to secure the country’s territory and people.

Nearly ten years after establishing the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, the two leaders discussed the Coalition’s successes in both Iraq and Syria, where all Iraqi security forces including in Kurdistan were critical to the territorial defeat of ISIS.  Both leaders paid tribute to the sacrifices made by Iraqi, United States, and other friendly countries’ military personnel serving side-by-side as partners during the historic campaign against ISIS, as well as the civilians killed by ISIS, including the massacres at Camp Speicher, Mount Sinjar, and Hit.  Prime Minister Sudani emphasized the national effort that was required to defeat ISIS and discussed his affirmative agenda to continue rebuilding Iraq and restore its position as an engine of stability and growth for the broader Middle East.  President Biden noted that the enduring defeat of ISIS would help ensure Iraq’s, the region’s, and the world’s security in the future, as well as its ability to fulfill the Iraqi people’s aspirations to develop economically, attract foreign investment, and provide regional leadership.

Enduring Bilateral Security Cooperation

President Biden and Prime Minister Sudani also discussed the natural evolution of the global D-ISIS Coalition in light of the significant progress that has been made in ten years.  The two leaders expressed their commitment to the ongoing Higher Military Commission (HMC) process and its results, and the three working groups that will assess: the continued threat from ISIS, operational and environmental requirements, and bolstering Iraq’s security force capabilities.  The two leaders affirmed they would review these factors to determine when and how the mission of the Global Coalition in Iraq would end, and transition in an orderly manner to enduring bilateral security partnerships, in accordance with Iraq’s Constitution and the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement.

The leaders further affirmed their intent to convene later this year the U.S.-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue (JSCD) for talks on the future of the bilateral security partnership.

Strategic and Enduring Partnership

President Biden and Prime Minister Sudani renewed their commitment to bilateral partnership for the benefit of their two nations and decided to expand cooperation in all areas discussed in the Higher Coordinating Committee (HCC) meetings co-chaired by the U.S. Secretary of State and Iraqi Minister of Planning.  The two leaders affirmed their intent to continue their consultations on a shared vision for comprehensive, productive partnership to advance common goals.

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The post Joint Statement from the Leaders of the United States and the Republic of Iraq appeared first on The White House.

Today, the President and First Lady released their 2023 federal income tax return. After restoring the bipartisan tradition of sharing presidential tax returns with the public, President Biden has now shared a total of 26 years of tax returns with the country. Once again demonstrating his commitment to being transparent with the American people, President Biden has released the most tax returns of any commander-in-chief while in office.
 
President Biden believes that all occupants of the Oval Office should be open and honest with the American people, and that the longstanding tradition of annually releasing presidential tax returns should continue unbroken.
 
The President and First Lady filed their income tax return jointly and reported federal adjusted gross income of $619,976. They paid $146,629 in federal income tax, and their 2023 effective federal income tax rate is 23.7 percent.
 
The President and First Lady also reported contributions of $20,477 to 17 different charities. Among those gifts to charity was a $5,000 contribution to the Beau Biden Foundation, a public charity dedicated to ensuring that all children are free from the threat of abuse. They also donated to St. Joseph on the Brandywine, their home parish, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation, among other charities.
 
The President and First Lady also released their Delaware income tax return and reported paying $30,908 in Delaware income tax. The First Lady also released her Virginia income tax return and reported paying $3,549 in Virginia income tax.
 
View the President and First Lady’s tax returns here.
 
The Vice President and the Second Gentleman also released their 2023 federal income tax return, as well as state income tax returns for California and the District of Columbia. Including today’s release, the Vice President has published 20 years of tax returns. 
 
The Vice President and the Second Gentleman reported federal adjusted gross income of $450,299. They paid $88,570 in federal income tax, amounting to a 2023 effective federal income tax rate of 19.7 percent. They also paid $15,167 in California income tax, and Mr. Emhoff paid $11,599 in District of Columbia income tax. They contributed $23,026 to charity in 2023.
 
View the Vice President and Second Gentleman’s tax returns here.

###

The post The President and Vice President release their 2023 tax returns, setting new record for transparency appeared first on The White House.

Today, the President and First Lady released their 2023 federal income tax return. After restoring the bipartisan tradition of sharing presidential tax returns with the public, President Biden has now shared a total of 26 years of tax returns with the country. Once again demonstrating his commitment to being transparent with the American people, President Biden has released the most tax returns of any commander-in-chief while in office.
 
President Biden believes that all occupants of the Oval Office should be open and honest with the American people, and that the longstanding tradition of annually releasing presidential tax returns should continue unbroken.
 
The President and First Lady filed their income tax return jointly and reported federal adjusted gross income of $619,976. They paid $146,629 in federal income tax, and their 2023 effective federal income tax rate is 23.7 percent.
 
The President and First Lady also reported contributions of $20,477 to 17 different charities. Among those gifts to charity was a $5,000 contribution to the Beau Biden Foundation, a public charity dedicated to ensuring that all children are free from the threat of abuse. They also donated to St. Joseph on the Brandywine, their home parish, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation, among other charities.
 
The President and First Lady also released their Delaware income tax return and reported paying $30,908 in Delaware income tax. The First Lady also released her Virginia income tax return and reported paying $3,549 in Virginia income tax.
 
View the President and First Lady’s tax returns here.
 
The Vice President and the Second Gentleman also released their 2023 federal income tax return, as well as state income tax returns for California and the District of Columbia. Including today’s release, the Vice President has published 20 years of tax returns. 
 
The Vice President and the Second Gentleman reported federal adjusted gross income of $450,299. They paid $88,570 in federal income tax, amounting to a 2023 effective federal income tax rate of 19.7 percent. They also paid $15,167 in California income tax, and Mr. Emhoff paid $11,599 in District of Columbia income tax. They contributed $23,026 to charity in 2023.
 
View the Vice President and Second Gentleman’s tax returns here.

###

The post The President and Vice President release their 2023 tax returns, setting new record for transparency appeared first on The White House.

Greensboro, North Carolina

Thank you, Governor Cooper. During the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to see first-hand how your leadership is pushing this state forward – from strengthening our workforce to investing in women’s health and helping us end cancer as we know it.  Roy, you are an incredible governor and Joe could not ask for a better partner in North Carolina.

Dr. Clarke and Dr. Oakley, thank you for the warm welcome to Greensboro and GTCC today.  

I am glad to highlight your Early/Middle College so more students might enroll!

It’s a question every high school student knows all too well. On birthdays, in school hallways, at the dinner table – it can seem like the only thing anyone wants to talk about.

“Well, what do you plan to do next?”

For many students, the answer to what they want to do next isn’t only “I don’t know” – it’s “I don’t know where to start.”

Nearly 60 percent of graduating high school students don’t go directly to a four-year college.

Six out of 10 students.

As a community college professor, I teach students who are part of that 60 percent.

And I see every day how they are still struggling to figure out their next steps, still searching for an answer to that persistent question. Because for most people, a high school diploma alone isn’t enough to find a great career. But that doesn’t mean there’s only one path to success.

President Biden is helping young people and their families find answers.

Last month, he announced Classroom to Career, an ambitious new proposal, partnering with states, giving every student in America the opportunity to take community college courses in high school through dual enrollment.

Classroom to Career reimagines high school education, giving young people a pathway to their careers by exposing them to job training earlier. Or, a head-start on a two- or four-year degree, making college more affordable.

Career-connected learning—programs that bridge the gap between what students learn and the careers they will eventually find—is not a new idea.

Dual enrollment is not a new idea. Many states offer it in some form.

What is new is that President Biden’s entire Administration is committed to making it a reality for all students through unprecedented collaboration and historic investments.

He sees that this pipeline of support from high school to college to career is the future of our workforce. And that’s why we’re here today.

North Carolina has been a leader in providing those opportunities, and is exemplary in transforming high school into a place that prepares students for jobs.

In just a moment, we will have the opportunity to hear from students and administrators about how these programs are doing just that.

And it’s not just happening in Greensboro, or Asheboro, or Dobson. It’s all across the state.

I just visited Pitt Community College. I met incredible high school students in their college classrooms:  One was getting his associate degree – training to repair cars, and another showed us how she’s learning to detect impurities in medications in her biotechnology class.

These are the skills that are needed for their future careers.  And, they’re getting them in high school!

This isn’t a Democrat or Republican idea. It’s an American idea, championed by leaders from all sides of the political spectrum.

Joe ran for president to help rebuild the middle class, and in the last three years he’s created more than 15 million jobs.

Industries like biotechnology, manufacturing, and clean energy are thriving in North Carolina, and businesses are looking for workers.

Classroom to Career is the link that will give high school students the skills they need to fill the jobs Joe created.

This is going to change lives, lift up families, and grow our economy.

It’s what we need to do today to open up all the possibilities of tomorrow – for our young people, our communities, and our country.

I can’t wait to hear more about your experiences.

Thank you for spending time with me today.

###

The post Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at Visit to Guilford Technical Community College appeared first on The White House.

Greensboro, North Carolina

Thank you, Governor Cooper. During the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to see first-hand how your leadership is pushing this state forward – from strengthening our workforce to investing in women’s health and helping us end cancer as we know it.  Roy, you are an incredible governor and Joe could not ask for a better partner in North Carolina.

Dr. Clarke and Dr. Oakley, thank you for the warm welcome to Greensboro and GTCC today.  

I am glad to highlight your Early/Middle College so more students might enroll!

It’s a question every high school student knows all too well. On birthdays, in school hallways, at the dinner table – it can seem like the only thing anyone wants to talk about.

“Well, what do you plan to do next?”

For many students, the answer to what they want to do next isn’t only “I don’t know” – it’s “I don’t know where to start.”

Nearly 60 percent of graduating high school students don’t go directly to a four-year college.

Six out of 10 students.

As a community college professor, I teach students who are part of that 60 percent.

And I see every day how they are still struggling to figure out their next steps, still searching for an answer to that persistent question. Because for most people, a high school diploma alone isn’t enough to find a great career. But that doesn’t mean there’s only one path to success.

President Biden is helping young people and their families find answers.

Last month, he announced Classroom to Career, an ambitious new proposal, partnering with states, giving every student in America the opportunity to take community college courses in high school through dual enrollment.

Classroom to Career reimagines high school education, giving young people a pathway to their careers by exposing them to job training earlier. Or, a head-start on a two- or four-year degree, making college more affordable.

Career-connected learning—programs that bridge the gap between what students learn and the careers they will eventually find—is not a new idea.

Dual enrollment is not a new idea. Many states offer it in some form.

What is new is that President Biden’s entire Administration is committed to making it a reality for all students through unprecedented collaboration and historic investments.

He sees that this pipeline of support from high school to college to career is the future of our workforce. And that’s why we’re here today.

North Carolina has been a leader in providing those opportunities, and is exemplary in transforming high school into a place that prepares students for jobs.

In just a moment, we will have the opportunity to hear from students and administrators about how these programs are doing just that.

And it’s not just happening in Greensboro, or Asheboro, or Dobson. It’s all across the state.

I just visited Pitt Community College. I met incredible high school students in their college classrooms:  One was getting his associate degree – training to repair cars, and another showed us how she’s learning to detect impurities in medications in her biotechnology class.

These are the skills that are needed for their future careers.  And, they’re getting them in high school!

This isn’t a Democrat or Republican idea. It’s an American idea, championed by leaders from all sides of the political spectrum.

Joe ran for president to help rebuild the middle class, and in the last three years he’s created more than 15 million jobs.

Industries like biotechnology, manufacturing, and clean energy are thriving in North Carolina, and businesses are looking for workers.

Classroom to Career is the link that will give high school students the skills they need to fill the jobs Joe created.

This is going to change lives, lift up families, and grow our economy.

It’s what we need to do today to open up all the possibilities of tomorrow – for our young people, our communities, and our country.

I can’t wait to hear more about your experiences.

Thank you for spending time with me today.

###

The post Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at Visit to Guilford Technical Community College appeared first on The White House.

Oval Office

3:35 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, Mr. Prime Minister, welcome.  Welcome, welcome, welcome. 

I was reminiscing with the Prime Minister very briefly as you walked in the door.  Twenty-five years ago, almost to the day, I was standing on the Senate floor arguing for the admission of Czechoslovakia, at the time — the Czech Republic — into NATO.  Twenty-five years.  I was a pretty smart guy.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  (Laughs.)

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  The best decision we made.  You’ve been a great, great ally.  And we’ve only grown closer and stronger as nations, both the United States and the Czech Republic.

Together, we’re deepening defense cooperation to ensure the security of our people, as well as including the modernization of your military force with the purchase of F-35 aircraft and helos.  It’s just amazing what you’re doing.

And together, we’re going to bolster our energy security and expand our clean power.  We’re going to get to talk about that in some detail in a little bit.

And together, we’re standing — and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your outspokenness and the support of the people of Czechoslova- — the Czech Republic with defending the people of Ukraine, as defined by what you’ve done.  You continue to just speak out. 

I want to thank you for helping — Mr. Prime Minister, for helping secure nearly 1 million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine.  And I’m committed to — we’re committed to doing our part. 

The Congress has to pass the continued funding — (coughs) — excuse me — which has significant from the United States and pass our bipartisan national security bill.  They have to do it now — now.  There’s overwhelming support in the House and Senate if they’ll — the Speaker will just let a vote take place. 

And, you know, because as the Czech Republic remembers: Russia won’t stop in Ukraine.  Russia will not stop in Ukraine.  The impact on NATO would be significant.  And Putin is going to keep going, putting Europe, the United States, and the entire world at risk if we don’t stop them in Ukraine.

And so, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you, again, for being here today.  I look forward to our discussion.  I’m really delighted you’re here — really delighted you’re here.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Thank you.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  The floor is yours.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Mr. President, thank you very much for your invitation and warm welcome.  It’s nice to be here.

The relations between our countries are now very strong.  And they have also a long tradition.  The United States — States had a main role in founding of independent Czechoslovakia.  Our first president, Masaryk, had an American wife.  And the Czech community in the U.S. is largest we have abroad.

Here, I can mention Madeline Albright —

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  — is an excellent example.  She was the U.S. Secretary of State but also a Czech native from Prague.

We are part —

THE PRESIDENT:  And let me know it all the time.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Yes, yes, yes.

We are partners in NATO.  And we work together in defense and business.  And most importantly — it’s most important that we share the same values: human rights, freedom, democracy.

And we need to deal with challenges like Russian aggression in Ukraine, terrorism, difficult situation in the Middle East.  And in such a situation, deep security cooperation between democratic countries is a must. 

Mr. President, I appreciate your leadership in support of Ukraine.  We are also doing our best to help Ukraine and to stop Putin’s aggression.

In 1968, I was a little boy.  In 1968, I saw Russian tanks in the streets of my town.  And I don’t want to see this again.

So, we must continue to support Ukraine as long as possible.  That is the reason why we started Czech Ammunition Initiative.  It will provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells very soon.  It will happen in next few weeks and months.

And Czechia is also country with most Ukrainian refugees per capita in Europe — maybe in the world.

The international situation is very difficult globally, and our cooperation is very important for stability in Central and Eastern Europe.

And you mentioned: I am glad that my government made some important decisions in defense and security.  We agreed on the Defense Cooperation Agreement, and we decided to get F-35 fighter jets for Czech — Czech army.  This is very important.  It will make our cooperation and security much stronger.

Also, business relations are developing very well.  Our trade exchange is bigger every year.  And we have now some Czech companies investing millions of dollars in the U.S. and employing thousands of — thousands of Americans.  I’m very proud of that.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  So are we.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Mr. President, I — I believe my visit will make our nation stronger and will bring more benefits for our countries. 

I look forward to our meeting, and I will be happy to discuss these things in detail.

Thank you, once again, Mr. President, for your invitation and kind, welcoming words.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  You’re a great ally.  Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Thank you.

(Cross-talk.)

Q    President Biden, are you watching any of the Trump trial?

(The President shakes his head no.)

  3:43 P.M. EDT

The post Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic Before Bilateral Meeting appeared first on The White House.

Oval Office

3:35 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, Mr. Prime Minister, welcome.  Welcome, welcome, welcome. 

I was reminiscing with the Prime Minister very briefly as you walked in the door.  Twenty-five years ago, almost to the day, I was standing on the Senate floor arguing for the admission of Czechoslovakia, at the time — the Czech Republic — into NATO.  Twenty-five years.  I was a pretty smart guy.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  (Laughs.)

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  The best decision we made.  You’ve been a great, great ally.  And we’ve only grown closer and stronger as nations, both the United States and the Czech Republic.

Together, we’re deepening defense cooperation to ensure the security of our people, as well as including the modernization of your military force with the purchase of F-35 aircraft and helos.  It’s just amazing what you’re doing.

And together, we’re going to bolster our energy security and expand our clean power.  We’re going to get to talk about that in some detail in a little bit.

And together, we’re standing — and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your outspokenness and the support of the people of Czechoslova- — the Czech Republic with defending the people of Ukraine, as defined by what you’ve done.  You continue to just speak out. 

I want to thank you for helping — Mr. Prime Minister, for helping secure nearly 1 million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine.  And I’m committed to — we’re committed to doing our part. 

The Congress has to pass the continued funding — (coughs) — excuse me — which has significant from the United States and pass our bipartisan national security bill.  They have to do it now — now.  There’s overwhelming support in the House and Senate if they’ll — the Speaker will just let a vote take place. 

And, you know, because as the Czech Republic remembers: Russia won’t stop in Ukraine.  Russia will not stop in Ukraine.  The impact on NATO would be significant.  And Putin is going to keep going, putting Europe, the United States, and the entire world at risk if we don’t stop them in Ukraine.

And so, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you, again, for being here today.  I look forward to our discussion.  I’m really delighted you’re here — really delighted you’re here.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Thank you.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  The floor is yours.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Mr. President, thank you very much for your invitation and warm welcome.  It’s nice to be here.

The relations between our countries are now very strong.  And they have also a long tradition.  The United States — States had a main role in founding of independent Czechoslovakia.  Our first president, Masaryk, had an American wife.  And the Czech community in the U.S. is largest we have abroad.

Here, I can mention Madeline Albright —

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  — is an excellent example.  She was the U.S. Secretary of State but also a Czech native from Prague.

We are part —

THE PRESIDENT:  And let me know it all the time.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Yes, yes, yes.

We are partners in NATO.  And we work together in defense and business.  And most importantly — it’s most important that we share the same values: human rights, freedom, democracy.

And we need to deal with challenges like Russian aggression in Ukraine, terrorism, difficult situation in the Middle East.  And in such a situation, deep security cooperation between democratic countries is a must. 

Mr. President, I appreciate your leadership in support of Ukraine.  We are also doing our best to help Ukraine and to stop Putin’s aggression.

In 1968, I was a little boy.  In 1968, I saw Russian tanks in the streets of my town.  And I don’t want to see this again.

So, we must continue to support Ukraine as long as possible.  That is the reason why we started Czech Ammunition Initiative.  It will provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells very soon.  It will happen in next few weeks and months.

And Czechia is also country with most Ukrainian refugees per capita in Europe — maybe in the world.

The international situation is very difficult globally, and our cooperation is very important for stability in Central and Eastern Europe.

And you mentioned: I am glad that my government made some important decisions in defense and security.  We agreed on the Defense Cooperation Agreement, and we decided to get F-35 fighter jets for Czech — Czech army.  This is very important.  It will make our cooperation and security much stronger.

Also, business relations are developing very well.  Our trade exchange is bigger every year.  And we have now some Czech companies investing millions of dollars in the U.S. and employing thousands of — thousands of Americans.  I’m very proud of that.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  So are we.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Mr. President, I — I believe my visit will make our nation stronger and will bring more benefits for our countries. 

I look forward to our meeting, and I will be happy to discuss these things in detail.

Thank you, once again, Mr. President, for your invitation and kind, welcoming words.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  You’re a great ally.  Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER FIALA:  Thank you.

(Cross-talk.)

Q    President Biden, are you watching any of the Trump trial?

(The President shakes his head no.)

  3:43 P.M. EDT

The post Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic Before Bilateral Meeting appeared first on The White House.

Oval Office

12:19 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, Mr. Prime Minister, welcome.  Welcome to the White House.  Welcome to the Oval Office.

The — before I begin, I want to discuss some of the events that took place in the Middle East the past weekend.

As you know, Iran launched an unprecedented aerial attack against Israel, and we mounted an unprecedented military effort to defend Israel.  Together with our partners, we defeated that attack.

The United States is committed to Israel’s security.  We’re committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and prevent any conflict from spreading beyond what it already has.

We’re also committed to the security of our personnel and partners in the region, including Iraq.  The partnership between Iraq and the United States is critical.  We’ve seen over the last decade as our troops have served side by side to help defeat ISIS, and we’ve seen this in our Strategic Framework Agreement as well. 

And I want to personally thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for your focus on strengthening Iraq’s economy and energy independence.  That’s a goal we share today with you, and we’re going to discuss that later today.

Mr. Prime Minister, thank you again for being here.  Thank you for making the effort to be here. 

Simply put, our partnership is pivotal for our nations, for the Middle East, and, I believe, for the world.

Again, welcome, and the floor is yours.

PRIME MINISTER AL-SUDANI:  (As interpreted.)  Thank you, Mr. President, in the name of God.  Thank you, Mr. President, for this invitation that comes at a sensitive time.  Despite your domestic engagement in the light of the developments on the international stage, this shows the importance of this visit and meeting.

This visit and meeting are significant in the history of the bilateral relations between our two countries.  The relationship between Iraq and the United States is at an important juncture. 

We aim to discuss the sustainable foundations for a 360-degree strategic partnership, ensuring a smooth and systematic transition from a military security-based relationship to a comprehensive economic, political, environmental, educational, and security partnership according to the Strategic Framework Agreement.

The war against ISIS/Daesh formed the foundation of our relations over the course of the past decade.  Mr. President, we have fought together and we have achieved victory together.  And we have achieved a remarkable victory thanks to the sacrifices of the Iraqi people and the unity of all the components and the support of the international community and the global coalition.

Iraq today is recovering, witnessing service projects, infrastructure repairs.  And we are going to discuss today our sustainable partnership according to the Strategic Framework.

We have laid down the transition methodology, according to the HMC military committee.  The HMC — that is tasked to assess the level of a threat operation on environmental requirements and the capability of the ISF, Iraqi Security Forces.  And we will be committed to the outcomes of this committee.

And we also have a Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue that will lay the foundation for a sustainable bilateral relationship between the two partners in the security and military fields.

Most importantly, the HCC, the High Coordination Committee, is actually — have met today — today and discussed many things.  My government is very serious about activating the

Strategic Framework Agreement.  There are many benefits that are going — coming out of this for the two friendly countries of us. 

Mr. President, I came today carrying the concerns of my people, who aspire for services for prosperity.  And — but that — that does not mean that we forget about our humanitarian responsibility, about what’s happening in the region.

And in the spirit of partnership, we may — our views may be divergent about what’s happening there in the region, but we agree certainly about the international law, the international humanitarian law, and the responsibility to protect the law of war.  And we reject any aggression against the civilians, especially women and children.  And we encourage the commitment not to — about respecting international norms and diplomatic relations.

As humanity, we need a system that respect these laws.  And we think if we kept silent about what’s happening, that we will establish a precedent that will be followed, whether it is bad or good precedent.

We’re actually very eager about stopping this war, which claimed the life of thousands of civilians — women and children.  And we encourage all the efforts about stopping the expansion of the area of conflict, especially the latest development.  And we encourage all — for restraints and to protect the safety and security of the region.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Thank you.

12:30 P.M. EDT

 

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Oval Office

12:19 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, Mr. Prime Minister, welcome.  Welcome to the White House.  Welcome to the Oval Office.

The — before I begin, I want to discuss some of the events that took place in the Middle East the past weekend.

As you know, Iran launched an unprecedented aerial attack against Israel, and we mounted an unprecedented military effort to defend Israel.  Together with our partners, we defeated that attack.

The United States is committed to Israel’s security.  We’re committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and prevent any conflict from spreading beyond what it already has.

We’re also committed to the security of our personnel and partners in the region, including Iraq.  The partnership between Iraq and the United States is critical.  We’ve seen over the last decade as our troops have served side by side to help defeat ISIS, and we’ve seen this in our Strategic Framework Agreement as well. 

And I want to personally thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for your focus on strengthening Iraq’s economy and energy independence.  That’s a goal we share today with you, and we’re going to discuss that later today.

Mr. Prime Minister, thank you again for being here.  Thank you for making the effort to be here. 

Simply put, our partnership is pivotal for our nations, for the Middle East, and, I believe, for the world.

Again, welcome, and the floor is yours.

PRIME MINISTER AL-SUDANI:  (As interpreted.)  Thank you, Mr. President, in the name of God.  Thank you, Mr. President, for this invitation that comes at a sensitive time.  Despite your domestic engagement in the light of the developments on the international stage, this shows the importance of this visit and meeting.

This visit and meeting are significant in the history of the bilateral relations between our two countries.  The relationship between Iraq and the United States is at an important juncture. 

We aim to discuss the sustainable foundations for a 360-degree strategic partnership, ensuring a smooth and systematic transition from a military security-based relationship to a comprehensive economic, political, environmental, educational, and security partnership according to the Strategic Framework Agreement.

The war against ISIS/Daesh formed the foundation of our relations over the course of the past decade.  Mr. President, we have fought together and we have achieved victory together.  And we have achieved a remarkable victory thanks to the sacrifices of the Iraqi people and the unity of all the components and the support of the international community and the global coalition.

Iraq today is recovering, witnessing service projects, infrastructure repairs.  And we are going to discuss today our sustainable partnership according to the Strategic Framework.

We have laid down the transition methodology, according to the HMC military committee.  The HMC — that is tasked to assess the level of a threat operation on environmental requirements and the capability of the ISF, Iraqi Security Forces.  And we will be committed to the outcomes of this committee.

And we also have a Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue that will lay the foundation for a sustainable bilateral relationship between the two partners in the security and military fields.

Most importantly, the HCC, the High Coordination Committee, is actually — have met today — today and discussed many things.  My government is very serious about activating the

Strategic Framework Agreement.  There are many benefits that are going — coming out of this for the two friendly countries of us. 

Mr. President, I came today carrying the concerns of my people, who aspire for services for prosperity.  And — but that — that does not mean that we forget about our humanitarian responsibility, about what’s happening in the region.

And in the spirit of partnership, we may — our views may be divergent about what’s happening there in the region, but we agree certainly about the international law, the international humanitarian law, and the responsibility to protect the law of war.  And we reject any aggression against the civilians, especially women and children.  And we encourage the commitment not to — about respecting international norms and diplomatic relations.

As humanity, we need a system that respect these laws.  And we think if we kept silent about what’s happening, that we will establish a precedent that will be followed, whether it is bad or good precedent.

We’re actually very eager about stopping this war, which claimed the life of thousands of civilians — women and children.  And we encourage all the efforts about stopping the expansion of the area of conflict, especially the latest development.  And we encourage all — for restraints and to protect the safety and security of the region.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Thank you.

12:30 P.M. EDT

 

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James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:39 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Good afternoon, everyone.

Q    Good afternoon.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I just have a — just something really quick at the top. 

Is the — the mics are always funky.  Is it funky?

Q    It’s normal.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No?

Q    You sound good.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh, okay.  (Laughter.)  Let’s get going.

With all seriousness, though, it was obviously a very busy weekend at the White House.

The President spent hours in the Situation Room, closely monitoring the latest developments in the Middle East with his national security team.  He was engaged in extensive diplo- — diplomacy, speaking with the Israeli Prime Minister on Saturday night and convening a call with G7 leaders on Sunday morning.

The President also organized a joint statement with the G7 that strongly condemned Iran’s brazen and unprecedented attack.

Today, the President received an updated briefing from his national security team and, as you all know, met with the leaders of Iraq and will meet with the leaders of the Czech Republic later this afternoon.

With that, we have my NSC colleague, Admiral John Kirby, who’s here to do a much deeper dive and also take your questions on the Middle East.

(A laptop computer chimes.)

MR. KIRBY:  Somebody is due soon.  (Laughter.)

Good afternoon.

Q    Good afternoon.

MR. KIRBY:  As you all know and certainly Karine restated it, Iran and its proxies operating in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq also conducted an unprecedented attack on the State of Israel with over 300 weapons, including more than 100 ballistic missiles, as well as land-attack cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. 

President Biden instructed the United States to defend Israel to the maximum extent possible and defeat that attack, and we did.

With the support of our partners, the United States enabled Israel to spectacular- — spectacularly defeat it. 

Despite launching more than those 300 weapons from Iran and the region, Israel and a coalition of partners were able to defeat 99 percent of the attacks.  There is virtually no infrastructure damage to Israel. 

But their attack requires an unequivocal condemnation from the international community.  And so, as Karine said, the President convened the G7 yesterday, and they have forcefully condemned that attack and urged for calm and de-escalation. 

And I’d like to take just a few minutes to correct the record on a few points that have come out in the last several hours.

I’ve seen reporting that the Iranians meant to fail, that this spectacular and embarrassing failure was all by design.  I’ve also seen Iran say that they provided early warning to help Israel prepare its defenses and limit any potential damage.

All of this is categorically false.  To coin the phrase from the President — or steal a phrase from the President, it’s “malarkey.”

This attack failed because it was defeated by Israel, by the United States, and by a coalition of other partners committed to Israel’s defense.

So, let’s be straight.  Given the scale of this attack, Iran’s intent was clearly to cause significant destruction and casualties.

Iranian leaders launched so many missiles and other munitions because they knew that many were going to be defeated, but the aim was to get as many as of them through Israeli — Israel’s defenses as possible.  

Now, I’ve also seen this speculation about messages passed forth and warnings.  We did receive messages from Iran, and they received messages from us too.  But there was never any message to us or to anyone else on the timeframe, the targets, or the type of response. 

In fact, before yesterday, it was presumed that 100 ballistic missiles might overwhelm even the best defensive systems.  That was Iran’s intent.  And as you all saw for yourself, it didn’t work. 

This attack was defeated thanks to our preparations, to a coalition of committed partners, and to Israel’s remarkable defensive systems.

And I want to focus on that last point for just a moment.  Israel today is in a far stronger strategic position than it was only a few days ago. 

Iran’s vaunted missile program –- something it has used to threaten Israel and the region –- proved to be far less effective. 

Israel’s defenses, on the other hand, proved even better than many had long assumed.  Israel’s defense was strengthened by a coalition of countries led by the United States and working together. 

The United States has never before so extensively and so directly defended Israel from attack.

To ensure that that continues to be the case, the House of Representatives must urgently pass the national security supplemental, which has already passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.  That supplemental includes funding that the President requested for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling system — systems that saved countless lives this weekend and have saved many lives from Hamas and from Hezbollah rockets over the past six months.

Passing that bill is the fastest and surest way to get Israel the aid it needs.  And we must act urgently to replenish Israel’s air defenses, just as Congress must act urgently to replenish — replenish Ukraine’s air defenses, which also continue to be attacked every single day, with the same Irania- — Iranian-made drones.

Now, finally, much of the world today is standing with Israel. 

When the President spoke to G7 leaders yesterday, they were unified in their condemnation of Iran and their determination to hold Iran accountable. 

At the President’s direction, our teams are now following up with G7 capitals on new multilateral sanctions to target Iran’s missile and other nefarious programs.  G7 countries that had yet to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization are now considering doing so.

And going forward, we will be working to further isolate Iran internationally and increase economic and other forms of pressure.

So, that’s the upshot here: a stronger Israel, a weaker Iran, a more unified alliance of partners.  That was not Iran’s intent when it launched this attack on Saturday night — not even close.  And again, they failed.  They failed utterly.

Now, as you also know, President Biden is welcoming both the Iraqi Prime Minister and Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic to the White House. 

The President and Prime Minister al-Sudani from Iraq will discuss the U.S. and Iraq’s shared vision for our broad, multifaceted relationship.  During the meeting, these leaders will reaffirm their commitment to advancing regional stability, to expanding opportunities for Iraq’s people, and reinforcing Iraq’s sovereignty, security, and stability. 

The Iraqi Prime Minister will be here for almost a week.  And in that time, he will meet a range of administration officials, including both Secretary Blinken at the State Department and Secretary Austin at the Defense Department.  He will have opportunities to share his priorities and vision for Iraq with a variety of audiences here in Washington and in other parts of the United States.  

Now, of course, the President will be taking the opportunity to discuss how we will continue to work with Prime Minister Sudani to defuse regional tensions and to prevent Iraq from being drawn into conflict.  Iraq, the President firmly believes, is central to the region’s stability. 

And then, later, as Karine previewed, he’ll have a chance to meet with President — I’m sorry — Prime Minister Fiala to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Czech Republic as a NATO Ally. 

Over the past 25 years, our alliance has grown stronger and the relationship between our two countries have grown even closer as we’ve deepened defense cooperation, including through the Czech Republic’s purchase of 24 F-35 fighters earlier this year.

The President will congratulate the Prime Minister on legislation that Czechia recently passed requiring it to spend at least 2 percent of its GDP on defense, which, as you know, is the NATO goal.

Lead- — the leaders will also discuss their strong support for Ukraine, and the President will thank the Prime Minister for leading an effort to help secure nearly 1 million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine.

And one more thing, if you’ll just bear with me.  I’m almost done.  Today marks the one-year conflict in Sudan.  Since fighting erupted a year ago, civilians have been forced to bear the brunt of this senseless conflict: thousands have been killed and wounded; women and girls have been kidnapped and assaulted; hundreds of thousands of families have been displaced; communities and livelihoods have been utterly destroyed; and famine, now, is threatening to take hold.

That’s why the United States continues to commit resources to create conditions for a potential peace process, to hold accountable actors who are seeking to sow more violence, and to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the civilians who urgently need it. 

We reiterate our calls for all parties in this conflict to lay down their weapons and put an end to this intolerable violence for the future of Sudan but, most of all, for the future of the Sudanese people.

Thank you.  Appreciate your patience.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Seung Min.

Q    Israel’s military chief just said, quote, “There will be a response to the attack from Iran.”  So, does the U.S. have any indication of what those next steps are from Israel?

MR. KIRBY:  We would let the Israelis speak to that.

Q    Does the U.S. expect to be consulted in advance of them taking any next steps?

MR. KIRBY:  I — I won’t get into our diplomatic conversations or expectations.  The Israeli government will determine for themselves if there’s going to be a response and what that response is going to look like. 

Q    And are you able to discuss the specific roles played by other members of the regional coalition from over the weekend, specifically Jordan and Saudi Arabia, whether they helped shoot down missiles or what other actions they may have done over the weekend?

MR. KIRBY:  No, I think we’ll let other members of the coalition speak for themselves.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    John, Israel is reportedly looking at options that would send a message to Iran but not cause casualties.  Is the administration presenting alternatives to Netanyahu?

MR. KIRBY:  This is a — these — this is an Israeli decision to make, whether and how they’ll respond to what Iran did on Saturday.  And we’re going to leave it squarely with them.

Q    Their decision to make, but are you making suggestions?

MR. KIRBY:  We are not involved in their decision-making process about a potential response.

Q    And just — is the President — does he have any plans to speak to Netanyahu again?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t have anything on the calendar to speak to.  But, look, I mean, they’ve — they’ve spoken frequently over the last six months.  They’ll absolutely speak again at the appropriate time.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    Thank you, Karine.  John, just one day before the attack, President Biden issued a warning to Iran: “Don’t.”  And now the U.S. is not taking any part in an Israeli reprisal.  So, does that signal to Iran that it can defy the U.S. without facing any consequences?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t know, man.  If I’m sitting in Tehran and I’m taking a look at what just happened on Saturday night, I don’t think I’d be betting that the United States is not willing to get engaged here and help defend Israel.  I mean, you had American fighter pilots in the air, in combat operation, shooting down drones and missiles that were heading towards — towards Israel, as well as U.S. Navy destroyers at sea, knocking them down from there.

So, the message should be very clear to anybody: When the President says we’re going to take our commitments to the region seriously, when we’re going to help Israel defend itself.  We got skin in the game, and we proved that.

Q    I understand what you’re saying about deterrence.  But what about the consequences? 

MR. KIRBY:  As I just said and Karine also lead in, he had a conversation with G7 leaders.  He’ll be engaging with other allies and partners.  We have achiev- — we have seen swift condemnations about what Iran did from the international community.  And we’re going to be working with international partners to — to work up options to hold Iran appropriately accountable.

Q    And then just on the logistics of this.  With roughly 300 drones and missiles shot down, can you talk about how you will assess the debris fields and the shrapnel and how much that impacted people on the ground? 

MR. KIRBY:  Well, we’re not going to be doing any kind of an assessment of the impact on the ground.  The Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli officials have already been out and about looking at the impact on the ground.  There were very few missiles that got through, and the only damage that was done — it was very minor damage to one airbase in — in Israel that did not even put that airbase out of commission.

The Israelis have already spoken to this.  I believe they’ve already released imagery of some of the things they found on the ground. 

Sadly, a young girl — an innocent civilian, less than 10 years old — was severely wounded.  That was the only casualty that we’re aware of.

Q    Thank you, John.

Q    Thank you.  John, a couple of questions on Iran and then on Iraq, on the Prime Minister visit.  You just said that the White House were not informed of the timing of the Iranian attack on Israel, but the President told us that he — the attack is going to be sooner than later, and almost a day after, the attack happened.  So, just can you explain this one?

MR. KIRBY:  I never said we didn’t have an idea.  I never said we didn’t have information that — that we could — that we could act on and speak to our Israeli counterparts about. 

What I said was: Iran never delivered a message giving us the time and the targets.

Q    The exact timing, you mean?

MR. KIRBY:  No, no.  No, no, no.  No timing.  I mean, I want to be clear: This whole narrative out there that Iran passed us a message with what they were going to do is ridiculous.

Q    Okay.  Do you believe that Iranian nuclear sites is a legitimate target?

MR. KIRBY:  You’re — I’m not going to get into targeting discussions here from the podium. 

Q    Okay.  Let me ask you about the Prime Minister.  Is the White House satisfied with the way that the Iraqi government is reining in the militias in Iraq, considering they are one of the proxies of the Iranian regime?

MR. KIRBY:  We’re going to — we’re going to have an in-depth discussion with the Prime Minister and his team about the continued activities of militia groups in Iraq.  And — and we’ll reinforce our views about how seriously we take the force protection of our — our troops and our facilities there. 

And we’ll also expect — I fully expect that — that we’ll talk with the Prime Minister about the counter-ISIS mission in Iraq and its — and its potential future. 

Q    And finally, just when he said, “in the spirit of partnership, we disagree with the United States,” and he mentioned something like “we need a new system for international law — to respect international law, international humanitarian law, protection of civilians, and diplomatic missions.”

So, he’s hinting at the Israeli attack in Damascus.  He’s also hinting about not doing enough to respect international law.  Is this a point of disagreement between you and the Iraqi government? 

MR. KIRBY:  You’ll have to talk to the Prime Minister about what he meant by those comments.  Iraq is a — a key partner, one we really value.  We wouldn’t be having this meeting today, he wouldn’t be having meetings this week if it wasn’t an important relationship.

As I said, the President believe — believes that Iraq is critical to regional stability.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Danny.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, Admiral.   You said just now that this — that Iran’s attack was a spectacular and embarrassing failure.  Do you and does the President believe that Israel should now take this as a win and show restraint? 

MR. KIRBY:  I — I know where the context of the question is coming in.  During his conversation with the Prime Minister on Saturday night, first of all, he congratulated the Prime Minister for the exceptional effort by the Israeli Defense Forces and, of course, commended, as you would expect the Commander-In-Chief to do, the participation of U.S. forces in this coalition and the great work that was done. 

I mean, it’s easy to — you know, I was looking some — looking at some of the video before I came out here that’s running on some of your networks, and, you know, it’s easy to look at that like it’s some kind of a computer game, right?  It looks so simple — things getting knocked out of sky.

Let me tell you something: It’s not simple.  It’s hard.  And a lot of planning and preparation had to go into that and a lot of coordination.  And the President talked to the Prime Minister about that. 

He also noted that this was an extraordinary success, a military success.  And that that success alone, just for itself, speaks volumes about Israel’s standing in the region — that they — they don’t stand alone, that a coalition came to help them defend themselves.  It also says a lot about Israel’s military superiority, and it says just as much about Iran’s military inferiority when it came to this particular set of attacks.

And the President urged the Prime Minister to think about what that success says all by itself to the rest of the region.  He — he —

Q    You mean in terms of thinking about — I mean, but — think about the restraint about, you know, the — maybe this should not go further than — you know, further escalation?

MR. KIRBY:  All I’ll — all I’ll say is: The President, from the beginning of this conflict on October 7th, has been steadfast and consistent.  We don’t want to see a war with Iran.  We don’t want to see a broader regional conflict.  We will do what we have to do to defend Israel.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Asma.

Q    Yeah, does the — this administration believe Israel will indeed strike Iran?  I mean, is it your assessment that that is inevitable at this point? 

MR. KIRBY:  That’s going to be up to the Prime Minister and the War Cabinet to speak to.

Q    But your assessment or the administration’s assessment?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not going to provide intelligence assessments from here.  As I — as far as I know, the War Cabinet is still debating and talking about their next steps.  I think I’m going to let them speak to whatever their next steps might be. 

Q    And if I may also ask one question on Gaza.  What is the administration’s assessment of the timeline for a Rafah invasion, given the conversations that you all have been having?

MR. KIRBY:  Again, you’re asking me a question that really should be asked to the Israeli Defense Forces and the Prime Minister, not —

Q    No, but I know —

MR. KIRBY:  — not to the United States. 

Q    — you guys have been having conversations.  I just want to get a sense of are these, like, ongoing conversations still?  Are you (inaudible)?

MR. KIRBY:  (Laughs.)  I — I — yes, of course we’re talking to the Israelis all the time.  Now, obviously, in the last 48 hours particularly, the conversation has been about what Iran did.  But yes, we have — continue to talk to them about what’s going on down in Rafah.  And we expect — hope in coming days to be able to have yet another round of discussions with them about what their intentions are with respect to Rafah, but the focus, rightly, right now is on what Iran just did.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  J.J.

Q    On the U.S. military.  Given whatever the White House and President Biden know about what’s going to happen next in the Middle East, are there any fresh U.S. military preparations?

MR. KIRBY:  Fresh — fresh military preparations for?

Q    Whatever.  (Laughter.)

Q    Wide open. 

MR. KIRBY:  Yes.  I mean — (laughter) — we — we’re always looking at force protection in the region.  We’re always looking at our force posture.  We’re always evaluating it based on the threats and the challenges.  You can expect that Secretary Austin and the entire team over there at the Department of Defense is going to stay vigilant to whatever the threat might be.

Q    Thanks.  You said a moment ago that it’s ridiculous –this narrative that Iran provide — provided some advanced notice about specifics here.  But where we’re hearing that from, you know, specifically is U.S. Ally, Turkey; U.S. partner, Iraq.  That’s where that information is coming from.  So, what is the discrepancy exactly that’s happening there?

MR. KIRBY:  I can’t possibly answer that question, Trevor.  All I’m telling you is it’s nonsense.  I — I mean, it — think about this for a minute.  Can you imagine a world in which Iran would pick up the phone and say, “Hey, we’re about to try to swack Israel with 300 cruise missiles and drones.  We just wanted to let you know it’s coming.  And oh, by the way, here’s what we’re going to hit.”  I’m sorry.  It just didn’t happen. 

I can’t account for what sources might be telling you all about what they heard.  I’m telling you what we heard. 

And while we did get a message from Iran and we passed messages to Iran as well, which I won’t get into the details of, none of it was, “Here’s the targets.  Here’s the timeframe.  Here’s the munitions we’re going to put on target.” 

Q    And on that subject of communications with Iran generally, you’ve said, without preconditions, you’re willing to sit down with North Korea.  Does the same apply to Iran and to reopening some diplomatic discussions —

MR. KIRBY:  No.

Q    — with them?

No.  And do you want to elaborate on —

MR. KIRBY:  No.

Q    — why that is?  (Laughter.)  Okay. 

As far as sanctions in response to Iran, Iranian oil production is now higher than it was two years ago.  Is there a reason that you aren’t taking more steps against Iranian oil exports?  And does it have to do with domestic political pressures around gas prices?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t have any — as you know, we don’t preview sanctions.  And I’m not going to start doing that today, except to note what I said in my opening statement, that part of the discussion with the G7 leaders was the possibility of additional sanctions on Iran unilaterally and — and hopefully multilaterally, but we’ll see where that goes. 

Q    And anything on — on where the oil prices or oil — oil experts are coming from Iran and — and whether you want to stop that?

MR. KIRBY:  Again, I won’t get ahead of economic pressure tools that we might be applying in the future.  We’re working our way through that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    A U.S. official told CNN over the weekend that the Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, asked his Israeli counterpart to notify the U.S. ahead of any potential response to the Iran attack.  Is there a confidence that Israel will provide that advanced certification to the U.S.?

MR. KIRBY:  I’ll just tell you that we are and will remain in very close contact with our Israeli counterparts. 

Q    So, do you expect to get an advance notification?

MR. KIRBY:  We will stay in close contact with our Israeli counterparts.

Q    On the hostage talks.  Hamas rejected the latest proposal.  The U.S. has said that Hamas rejecting it — has rejected the deal.  But do you think Israel needs to allow Gazans to return home unrestricted, and should the IDF pull back so they can do that, that being a sticking point?  

MR. KIRBY:  First of all, we don’t consider it a dead letter.  As far as we’re concerned, there’s a viable proposal on the table and Hamas ought to take it.  And we’re not letting up on the idea of negotiating for a hostage deal so we can get a ceasefire, so we can get more aid in, but that’s still very much an active football in our — in our heads.

And as for movement north, we — what we’ve talked to the Israelis about is you got a million and a half people that are seeking refuge down in Rafah.  It’s by far the largest concentration of Palestinians in Gaza.  They need to be accounted for.  Whatever kind of military operation they’re thinking about doing in Rafah or anywhere else, to your point about moving north, they have to provide safe venues for them to do that.  They have to provide food, water, medicine, shelter.  All that has to be baked in to whatever future military operations happen on the ground in Gaza.

Q    That does sound, though, like you’re saying that Israel should consider allowing Gazans to move up north, which has been a sticking point in those hostage talks.

MR. KIRBY:  We want to see them — we want to see them account for the future safety and security of the more than a million refugees that are now taking refuge down near Rafah with whatever — baked in to whatever military plans they might have for operations on the ground.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Francesca.

Q    On the ceasefire negotiations.  A U.S. official said yesterday that the latest proposal included almost everything that Hamas had asked for.  And so, how is it that the negotiations are at a standstill at this point?  Is the U.S. planning another counterproposal?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t know of a new proposal.  There is a very good proposal on the table that CIA Director Bill Burns helped negotiate in Cairo a week or so ago that the Israelis were able to get behind.  And now it’s time for Hamas to step up and take that deal.  It will allow for dozens of the hostages — the most at-risk pool of them — to get out, and it’ll allow for about six weeks of a ceasefire so we can get some calm and we can increase humanitarian assistance.

There’s a deal on the table.  That’s what Hamas needs to take.

Q    And when the President spoke yesterday to congressional leaders, did he receive any sort of a commitment from House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the bipartisan national security supplemental bill to the House floor this week?

MR. KIRBY:  I’ll let the Speaker speak to whatever his plans might be.  Certainly, we heard from Leader McConnell and from — and from Leader Jeffries about the importance of — of mak- — of passing this supplemental and getting it — and getting it on — on its way.

And as I said in my opening statement, the fastest way — I mean, you’ve got — you got two good friends here — Israel and Ukraine — that — very different fights, to be sure, but active fights for their sovereignty and for their safety and security.  And time is not on anyone’s side here in either case.

So, they need to move quickly on this.  And the best way to get that aid into the hands of the IDF and into the hands of the Ukrainian soldiers is to pass that bipartisan bill that the Senate passed. 

Q    I understand that that’s the — your pref- –preference, the bipartisan bill that the Senate passed.  But is the White House opposed to an approach that takes the issues separately — Israel only or —

MR. KIRBY:  We are opposed to a standalone bill that would just work on Israel.  As we’ve seen proposed, we would — we would oppose a standalone bill, yes.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Gabe.

Q    Admiral, I know you said it was Israel’s decision.  But ask it bluntly: If Israel retaliates against Iran, would the U.S. support that?

MR. KIRBY:  To answer bluntly: I’m not going to get into hypotheticals.  We don’t want to see a war with Ukraine [Iran].  We don’t want to see a wider conflict.  As the President said to the Prime Minister on Saturday night, we will continue to do what we have to do to help Israel defend itself.

But you’re asking me to get ahead of, as far as I know, a decision that the War Cabinet hasn’t even made.

Q    But if it were to happen, does —

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah, it’s a — it’s a terrific hypothetical, Gabe, that I’m just not going to entertain.

Q    Thanks.  John, has President Biden considered maybe beefing up the public Iran posture to be more than just one word?

MR. KIRBY:  You’re — you’re referring to “Don’t”?

Q    Yeah.  Because he said, “Don’t” —

MR. KIRBY:  And so, let’s talk about —

Q    — and they did it anyway.

MR. KIRBY:  And let’s talk about —

Q    So, now what?

MR. KIRBY:  — what we did, Peter.  Let’s talk about “don’t” and “did.”  Let’s talk about Saturday night.  He made it clear that he didn’t want to see escalation in the region.  And —

Q    And then there was —

MR. KIRBY:  Let me finish.  He added military resources to the region right after October 7th.  And then, when we had an inkling that this kind of thing was coming, he added even more military resources to the region: more destroyers that were capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, fighter s- — a fighter squadron that was able to shoot down drones.  And that’s what we did.

So, you can talk about the “don’t” word all you want.  But let’s talk about what did happen.  And what did happen was Iran utterly failed.  And if I’m sitting in Tehran right now, I’m betting that President Biden takes it pretty seriously.  When he says “don’t escalate,” he’s going to act to make sure that you can’t.  And they didn’t.

Yes, they fired an unprecedented amount of munitions.  But how much of a success did they have, Peter?  None, zero, very little infrastructure.  It was an embarrassing failure for the Supreme Leader, for the IRGC.

Q    Now that we know that the Iranians do not listen to President Biden’s public warnings, is there any regret here about unfreezing billions of dollars for Iranian leaders during the President’s administration?

MR. KIRBY:  What unfreezing are you talking about?

Q    He unfroze billions of dollars.  There was a —

MR. KIRBY:  For Iranian leaders?

Q    Yeah.

MR. KIRBY:  Really?  I don’t think so.

Q    Okay.  You guys say —

MR. KIRBY:   So, first of all —

Q    — it’s for humanitarian purposes.  But doesn’t that —

MR. KIRBY:  But you don’t believe me.

Q    On — well, doesn’t that free up money for them to spend on other stuff?  Where do you get the money for an unprecedented number of munitions to — to fire at Israel?

MR. KIRBY:  So, first of all, I’m betting if they’re sitting in Tehran, they’re taking it seriously when President Biden says he’s going to defend Israel.  We put skin in the game — a whole heck of a lot of it — and knocked almost everything out of the sky.  So, I’m betting they’re taking it pretty seriously.

And as for this — this unfreezing, that — none of that fund — none of those funds — funds set up in an account, by the way, by the previous administration — goes directly to the Supreme Leader of the IRGC.  It can only be used for humanitarian purposes.  And we’re watching that account very, very closely to make sure that that’s what happens.

Q    And you guys often defend all the trips to Delaware by saying, “The President is not on vacation.  He’s working.  He can be the President from anywhere.”  So, why did he have to come back on Saturday?

MR. KIRBY:  Well, we got indications — shortly after arriving, we got better, firmer intelligence and information about the specific timing of what we expected to be this Iranian attack, and the President didn’t bat an eye before getting back on that helicopter and coming back.

And he was here all Saturday night in the Situation Room, from mid-afternoon until late at night, getting real-time updates from General Kurilla and from his defense team all throughout the night, including calling Prime Minister Netanyahu right from the Situation Room.

And as Karine mentioned, on Sunday, he was right back at it again, working the G7, calling King Abdullah.  I don’t know what else to tell you.  He had a very busy, full weekend.

Q    John, on Iran.  What is the current thinking on whether Iran’s Revolutionary Guard should be designated as a terrorist organization?

MR. KIRBY:  We already have. 

Q    And then, just do you have any update on getting additional humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza?  You had said —

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah.

Q    — last week that you added 300 trucks on Wednesday.  Within where — where the weekend (inaudible)?

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah.  Forgive me. 

Q    (Inaudible.)

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t know if Karine might have already briefed this out to you guys.  But, you know, over the last week or so, more than 2,000 trucks have gotten in.  And even throughout the course of the weekend, as Israel was dealing with a quite daunting attack by Iran, they were still able to get some trucks into Gaza.

So, in these early days, after the previous phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu where the President talked about the need to increase humanitarian assistance, we have seen Israel take steps to in- — to — to do exactly that. 

Now, as we’ve also said, it’s still not enough.  The — the need is dire.  And what we’re going to be doing is watching for a sustained commitment to doing that over time.  But — but thus far, there has been an increase in humanitarian assistance.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Just one on the timing of the wa- — of any type of warning.  So, are you saying Iran never told a U.S. partner — Switzerland, Oman, any of them — Turkey, Iraq — never gave them any information about the attack they were preparing to launch and that that information never reached the U.S.?

MR. KIRBY:  The United States had no messages from Iran or from anybody else, as I said in my opening statement, that — that offered a specific timeframe or a specific set of targets or the types of weapons that they were going to fire.

Q    So, just concretely, why would U.S. partners in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq lie about passing along Iranian messages about any forthcoming attack to the U.S.?

MR. KIRBY:  Look, I’m not — I’m not calling anybody a liar here.  I’m telling you, from our perspective, what we knew and what we didn’t know.  And we were able to help with Israel’s defenses because we had information that we had received and Israel had received through our own — our own efforts, but it never came as some sort of message from Iran with, I mean, the — the timing and the target.

I — it’s — it’s — it kind of boggles my mind that anybody would believe that Iran would pick up the phone and tell the United States, who — who they know —

Q    (Inaudible) the United States.

MR. KIRBY:  — who — who they know has been very, very directly involved with helping Israel defend itself and very public about doing that, and detail the times and the targets.

Look, this to me seems like a lot of, you know, Monday morning quarterbacking kind of stuff — would have, could have, should have.  And — and maybe they want to make it appear like, you know, this was some sort of small pinprick of an attack that they never meant to succeed. 

You can’t throw that much metal in the air, which they did, in the timeframe in which they did it and convince anybody, realistically, that you weren’t trying to cause casualties and you weren’t calling — trying to cause damage.  They absolutely were.

Q    And just one more.  Is the meeting with Israli — Israeli officials on Rafah still — is that happening this week?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t have a date for you.  We’re still trying to get that nailed down.  As I said earlier, we’d like to continue those conversations.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    Thank you, Karine.  Hi, Admiral.  House Majority Leader Scalise said on Friday that Speaker Johnson was negotiating with the White House modifications to the Ukraine aid package.  Are you — what is being negotiated?  And you just categorically said that the White House opposes a standalone Israel bill —

MR. KIRBY:  That’s right.

Q    — supplemental.  Are you also opposed to changes to the supplemental?  For example, changing —

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah.  I —

Q    — aid to alone —

MR. KIRBY:  I know it would make your jobs a lot easier if I negotiated this thing up here in public.

Q    (Laughs.)  No, I just —

MR. KIRBY:  But I’m not going to do that.  You’re right.  The President did have an opportunity to speak with Speaker Johnson and other congressional leaders, including — including McConnell and Jeffries.  And he made it clear that the best and the fastest way to stand by our allies and partners is for the House of Representatives to take up the bipartisan bill that the Senate passed.

Q    But are you also opposed to the modifications and changes, as you oppose the standalone?

MR. KIRBY:  I’ve answered the question.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    Thank you so much, John.  First of all, thank you for your dedication this weekend in keeping us all informed.  I think we all saw more of us than our own families, which was really cool.  I got —

MR. KIRBY:  You certainly saw more of me than my family did.  (Laughter.)

Q    I got two questions.  First of all, administration officials told us on Sunday that they had help from India, China, and Iraq.  Can you just detail, you know, some — give us some of the details on that?  And does that represent a move forward in U.S.-China relations, that you were able to cooperate on (inaudible)?

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah, as I said earlier, I think I’ll let other countries speak to their participation and cooperation and the degree that the — that they’re comfortable doing that.  I can only speak for the United States and what we did.

Q    Does this represent a step forward for the U.S.-China —

MR. KIRBY:  I think it — what it — I think what it says is — without getting into the specific contributions of other countries, as I said in my opening statement, it shows that Israel is not standing alone, that — I mean, that, unlike Iran, which is increasingly isolated on the world stage, Israel has friends.  Israel has great skill, great professionalism, great military capability.  And that’s not by accident.  All of that comes from the support that they get, particularly from the United States, but other countries as well.

Q    And then, if the U.S. can — and allies can help shoot down Iranian drones over Israel, why can’t they do the same over Ukraine?

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah, I knew this question was coming too.  Look, different conflicts.  Different conflicts, different airspace, different threat picture.  And the President has been clear since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the United States is not going to be involved in that — that conflict in a combat role.  And we haven’t. 

We have been providing Ukraine the tools that they need to help defend their airspace.  And, unfortunately, we can’t do that right now because we don’t have that national security supplemental funding that — that they so desperately need.

Q    The Assyrian Christians are the indigenous people of Iraq.  And before liberation, they had about two and a half million, and they’re down to nearly 200,000.  And just last month, the Iraqi Supreme Court removed all of their — had five seats in the Kurdish parliament for many decades, and those were renewed — were removed.  Have you — has that come up in any of the discussions?

MR. KIRBY:  I’ll take the question.

Q    Thank you.

Q    Thank you, Karine.  And thank you, John, for all you did over the weekend.  I have two questions.  First, you mentioned the shipping of aid to Gaza from Israel.  Do we have a U.S. consular official at the border who is confirming that the aid actually gets there?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not aware of a consular presence at the border.  But we’re in, as I said, constant touch with our Israeli counterparts.  We — you know, we also have David Satterfield, who is the President’s Special Envoy, for that exact purpose.  And, I mean, he’s — he’s like Waldo.  I mean, he’s all over the place — (laughter) — constantly up and down, I mean, making sure that that stuff is getting in and keeping the President and the whole team fully informed.

Q    My other question is that: Given the recent developments with Iran, is the U.S. going to step up its contacts with the opposition to the current regime in Tehran?  And I mean, specifically, exile groups in the United States, plus, on the ground, the Baluchi, Azeri, the Kurds, and the Sunni, who are in opposition to the regime.

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t know of any such efforts in the wake of the — the attacks. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  A couple more.  Way in the back, go ahead.

Q    Thank you, John.  Why is the U.S. not going to participate in a counteroffensive?

MR. KIRBY:  Again, I think I’ve answered this question.  The President had a good chat with the Prime Minister.  We talked about the incredible success that the — that we and they achieved on Saturday night and the message that success sends not only to the region but also to Iran as well. 

And as I’ve also said and as the President has certainly said, we’re not looking for a war with Iran.  We’re not looking to broaden and deepen this conflict in the region.

Q    How exactly is he trying to de-escalate this situation?

MR. KIRBY:  Everything the President has been doing since the 7th of October has been designed to try to de-escalate and to try to keep the conflict from widening and deepening.  And that includes the moves that he made in the last 10, 12 days to add resources to the region so that we could help Israel better defend itself. 

And, my goodness, it all paid off.  I mean, instead of having a hundred ballistic missiles land inside of Israel and cause untold damage to infrastructure and to human lives, none of that occurred.  And the reason none of it occurred was because the President was ahead of the problem set.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Brian.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  John, just a couple of follow-ups.  The coalition to put together limiting Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, is that still solid in the face of what’s going on?

MR. KIRBY:  As the President has said, we’d love nothing better than to be able to solve Iranian nuclear progress — nuclear weapons progress through diplomacy.  Unfortunately, that’s not an option right now because the — the Iranians, well before any of this, just weren’t negotiating in good faith.  None of the diplomatic efforts were — were paying off.

And so, that effort kind of fell moribund as we look for other ways to increase pressure on Iran. 

The President has also said that while he would prefer to deal with this threat diplomatically, he also will make sure that he’s got options and choices available to him —

Q    But —

MR. KIRBY:  — to ensure that Iran never achieves a nuclear weapons capability.

Q    But the countries that were backing that coalition — still a member?  They’re all — China, Russia —

MR. KIRBY:  I mean, you’re talking about a process that’s just moribund right now, Brian. 

Q    Okay.  And —

MR. KIRBY:  I mean, it —

Q    And so, the other follow-up: the container ship.  Was there — there have been rumors.  Is there any — the container ship that was seized by Iran, was there anything of a sensitive nature on it?  Do we know what was on it?

MR. KIRBY:  I think I’d refer you to the Pentagon on that.  I don’t have an update on the cargo.

Q    I — finally, I — well, I want to thank you for using which “swack” and — and, of course, “Where’s Waldo?” 

MR. KIRBY:  I’m going to hear about that one from my wife.  (Inaudible.)  (Laughter.)

Q    But the — but at the end, you understand the reason why the question about advanced knowledge, because the President did come back early.  And I think you spoke to it —

MR. KIRBY:  I didn’t say — I never said we didn’t have an advanced sense of what the — I —

What I said was: We didn’t get that sense from the Iranians sending us a telegram.

Q    Right.  But — but, as Peter asked, I believe, there was — we were told not specifics, but that something was going to occur.

MR. KIRBY:  No.  I don’t — 

Q    Clear that one up for me.

MR. KIRBY:  It’s not about being told.  I think you all understand: We have lots of tools and vehicles, through intelligence and other information methods, to glean in- — to glean a picture of what an adversary may or may not do.  Now, sometimes it’s right.  Sometimes it’s not 100 percent right.

We had a good sense of what Iran was planning to do, and we achieved that level of situational awareness on our own and working with our Israeli counterparts.  The notion — the idea that Iran sent us an email or picked up the phone and told us what they were planning to do is just ludicrous.  It didn’t happen.  I don’t know how else to be more clear about it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Andrew.   And then we’ll wrap it up.

Q    Thank you, John.  And Happy Tax Day.  (Inaudible) here.  (Laughter.)

MR. KIRBY:  (Inaudible.) 

Q    There’s been reporting — there’s been reporting that — (laughter).

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Inaudible.)

MR. KIRBY:  She’s right.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Right?

MR. KIRBY:  You’re right.

Q    Okay.  So, there’s been reporting that the President suggested to the Prime Minister that Israel take the win and not go further with an offensive response. 

MR. KIRBY:  I’ve seen that report, yeah.

Q    I — I have colleagues who are reporting that Israel is very much in the process of planning an offensive response to — to these — to this weekend’s attacks.  Given the political situation in Israel — Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition, some of which is a bit extreme, and his own situation — does the President have faith that the Prime Minister will not escalate the situation out of his own political interests, as opposed to genuine Israeli security interests?  And then I have an unrelated one for you.

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not going to be able to get into Prime Minister Netanyahu’s psychology or his political calculations or what’s going into his decision-making process.

Q    I’m asking if the President is concerned about this, though.

MR. KIRBY:  What I would tell you is that the President and the Prime Minister speak frequently, certainly as appropriate.  And the President has been consistent publicly and privately that he doesn’t want to see the war between Israel and Hamas escalate any more than it — than it already has and he doesn’t want to see a broader regional conflict.  And he’s certainly not looking for a war with Iran.  And I am confident that the Prime Minister is aware of the President’s concerns.

Q    Okay.  And on — on Gaza.  This morning, you said that Israel has been doing things the President asked them to do, but we really need to see it sustained over time.

MR. KIRBY:  And you want to know how long is that time.

Q    No, sir.

MR. KIRBY:  Okay.  (Laughter.)

Q    That would — that would imply that — you didn’t want to call it an ultimatum, but the — the conditions that the President laid out in his prior phone call with the Prime Minister, that — about the aid workers, the conditions on the ground for humanitarian workers, and aid getting into Gaza — that that needed to change or there could be changes in U.S. policy towards Gaza. 

Can you just lay out here whether the President is considering that — you know, that set of circumstances and Israel’s defense against future attacks from nation-states such as Iran to be — to be separate things?  That that — that when you say we need to see it sustained over time, that that — the possibility of policy changes is still a reality separate and apart from the President’s, as he calls it, “ironclad” commitment to Israeli security?

MR. KIRBY:  I’ve said many times that both things are and can be true.  You can be a staunch defender of Israel’s defense.  And we are — and I think he proved that to a fare-thee-well Saturday night — and still be able to have some tough, candid conversations with the way in which they are fighting Hamas inside Gaza. 

And those conversations are continuing, and, as I said, hopefully, we’ll get to be able to sit down again with our Israeli counterparts about the — whatever their thinking are — whatever the thinking is about — about Rafah.

So, both things are true; both things can be true.  And — and those are the discussions that we’re having.  You can — you can be a good friend of — of Israel.  In fact, I would argue that only a good friend can do what we did Saturday night and yet still be willing to have tough conversations with the Israeli government about the prosecution of the — of the operations they’re conducting inside Gaza.

Q    So, they’re being considered separate matters?

MR. KIRBY:  I think I’ve answered the question. 

Q    Okay. 

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you for your patience.  Appreciate it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No worries.

Q    Thanks, John. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Hi.  Oh, I don’t know.  Seung Min.  I feel like you guys got all the news of the day.  (Laughs.)

Q    Yeah, well, Happy — Happy Tax Day to you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Happy Tax Day.  I did take care of my taxes.  (Laughter.)  I don’t — I don’t have a wife to take care of my taxes.  (Laughter.)

Q    Ouch.

Q    Can you — just on the other sort of big news of the day.  Is the — is the President going to be paying any sort of attention or will be briefed on — on the criminal proceedings of former President Trump in New York?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, as you know, the President is pretty busy today.  He has two bilats, as you know, with the — as you just saw, with the Iraqi Prime Minister and one with the Czech Republic.  So, it’s a busy day focusing on, obviously, our national security priorities and continuing the strong alliances that we have with these two leaders — obviously, two separate meetings — and continuing to — you know, continue to deliver for the American people.

I — I’m sure he’ll — he’ll, you know, get an update at some point today, but his focus right now are the meetings that he have — he has and what he continues to do every day.

Q    Right.  And setting aside the fact that the former President is the — is the current President’s general election candidate or challenger for this year, what is the Pre- — what is President Biden, the White House’s reaction to this moment in time? 

I mean, it is a historic occasion — “occasion” is an odd word to say — but it — you have a former President going on criminal trial for the first time in history.  So, what is the White House’s reaction to that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I do want to be super mindful, even me commenting on that.  It is an ongoing case.  I just want to be super, super mindful and not comment on an ongoing case, even if it’s asking an opinion about the, you know — the historic nature of what’s happening and what’s going to occur over the next couple of weeks.  So, do want to be mindful.  And he happens to be, as you just said, a candidate — a presidential candidate for 2024, so going to be mindful.

The President is going to continue to focus on — on the week ahead.  He’s going to be traveling, as you all know, to Pennsylvania.  He has two important bilats today.  And it’s always about the American people for this President, and that’s going to be his focus.

Go ahead, Mary.

Q    As you just mentioned, the President is heading to Pennsylvania again this week.  He’s making multiple visits to the state.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Can you just give us a sense of what we can expect in the coming days?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, it’s a three — coming day or coming —

Q    Days.  (Laughs.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay, days.  I didn’t know if you said “weeks.”  I’m like, “Wow, weeks.” 

Coming days — it’s a three-day swing to Pennsylvania.  He starts it off tomorrow.  He’s going to start his trip in his hometown of Scranton, where he’ll deliver remarks at — at a campaign event.  So, that’s obviously a campaign event, so they will provide more details.

On Wednesday, he’s going to travel to Pittsburgh, where he’ll deliver remarks again on other pieces of the economic agenda.  So, you can foc- — you can imagine a very strong focus on the economy this week.  And so, we’ll have more on that from us tomorrow on what Wednesday is going to look like. 

And then on Thursday, which is, he’ll — obviously, he’ll continue his swing.  He’ll travel to Philadelphia for more campaign events, and certainly the campaign will provide any details on that particular day.

So, it’s Tuesday and Thursday are the campaign priorities, obviously, and they’ll speak to that.  And then there’s an economic focus on Wednesday, and so we’ll have more to share tomorrow on that.

Go ahead.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  So, first of all, with the Iraqi leader here, lawmakers in that country are set to vote on a bill that includes a death penalty or life in prison for same-sex relations.  Would passing such a bill harm U.S. ties?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, you saw the Iraqi Prime Minister and the President have a bilat today, and I think it shows the importance of that alliance and the continued diplomacy engagement that we’ve done — the President continues to do just across the globe, obviously.

The President has been very, very — I think, very vocal about any type of — well, supporting the LGBTQ+ community and has spoken out about any type of humanitarian — or human rights, I should say — any — you know, any human rights violations that we see from here.  And they — we always have those honest conversations with — with leaders, and the President always has, again, those honest conversations. 

I’m not going to get into — I’m not going to get ahead of what’s happening currently in Iraq, but we’ve been pretty — we’ve been pretty clear about making sure that human rights — human rights — any human rights violations or if we see anything that is — you know, that — that we think needs — we need to speak to, we do, but I’m just going to be —

Q    And the President will raise that issue today?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I — look, the President always raises human rights issues if it warrants with a — with a leader.  I’m going to be really mindful.  We’ll have a readout, obviously, of these two bilats. 

I’m — I can’t say for sure that that’s going to come up, but the President has never backed down from having these types of frank, honest conversation and where he stands, and we know where he stands with that community — with LGBTQ+ community.

Q    And then one other topic.  Tesla is laying off more than 10 percent of its global workforce — falling sales and intensive price war for EVs.  Does the ongoing turmoil in the EV market and the very slow consumer transition away from internal combustion engine vehicles make you doubt your full-throated commitment to this space?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look — and I think I’ve talked about this before.  You — look, when it comes to EV, we’ve saw an E- — we’ve seen EV sales, obviously, rise — a record high.  And EVs are more affordable than ever, and I think that’s important. 

Last year, EV sales surpassed 1 million for the first time ever, a 50 percent increase.  And under this President, EV sales have more than quadrupled.  Sales of hybrids and EVs are now record high of 18 percent of all light-duty vehicle sales.  Average price of EV is down 20 percent a year ago.

And so, look, the President has always talked about — one of his priorities, as it relates to the economy, is lowering costs.  And we see that with — with these EV sales, obviously, and also creating a — manufacturing jobs in order — if you’re seeing the EV sales go up — right? — you’re going to see a continuation of manufacturing jobs that are needed.  And so, that is important.  We can — we believe it’s going to create jobs. 

I can’t speak to Tesla’s decision.  They are a private — obviously, a private company.  

But we believe what we’re trying to do and what we’ve been trying — trying to do in last couple of years — whether it’s manufacturing, whether it’s dealing with the climate crisis by making sure EVs are — are available and creating EVs — more EVs and lowering those costs — is working. 

And so, that’s what’s going to be the President’s priority.

Go ahead.

Q    House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he’ll move forward with the vote on additional Israel aid.  If Congress were to pass additional aid for Israel and only that, will President Biden reject it?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, we’ve been very clear — my colleagues from here just moments ago — that we will not accept a standalone.  A standalone would — would actually not help Israel and Ukraine.  It would actually delay the needs that they — the — the needs that — the needed aid that they obviously need to fight. 

When you see what was happening in Ukraine — obviously, the brave people of Ukrainian [Ukraine] are fighting against a tyrant.  We need to make sure that they have the assistance that they need. 

We saw what happened in Israel just over — over the weekend and the leadership that this President has shown.  It would — it would actually — it would actually not help them if we do a standalone, and we do not support a standalone. 

What we want to see is that bipartisan national security supplemental that passed overwhelmingly, 70-29, in the Senate.  And we believe if the — if the Speaker were to put that on the floor, it would pass overwhelmingly. 

And so, that’s what we want to see.  The President made clear to the — in that conversation that he had just yesterday with Leader — Leader Schumer, Leader Jeffries, and the Speaker, he was very clear about that.  We need — the Speaker needs to move forward on the bipartis- — on the national security supplemental, which we believe would get a bipartisan — overwhelming bipartisan support. 

That’s what we want.  That’s what we have to see.  A standalone, we do not support.

Q    Did the President think that that conversation moved the needle at all?  I mean, this supplemental has been at a standstill in Congress.  So, in that conversation with House Speaker Mike Johnson, did he receive any sort of commitment that these two would move together?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, you s- — you heard from Leader — Leader Schumer.  You heard from Leader Jeffries.  They called on the Speaker to move forward.  We saw what happened over the weekend.  We see what happens every day in Ukraine — every day.  And if they want to move qui- — quickly, if they want to do this in an easy way — if the Speaker wants to do this the easiest way pas- — possible, the fastest way possible, there is a — there is a national security supplemental that is waiting, that is ready to be put on the floor. 

We know it would get bipartisan support.  We know this.  We’ve heard from Republicans.  We know where Democrats stand. 

And so, they have to put this on the — put this on — you know, they’ve got to put this on the floor.  The Speaker has to move quickly — has to move quickly.

Q    On another topic.  The Baltimore bridge crash is now under federal criminal investigation.  Has the President been briefed on that?  And has he been in touch with anyone in the Maryland delegation?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, what I will say is the President is regularly updated on what’s happening in Baltimore.  Obviously, the port, moving forward with that is really important, getting the bridge back up.  As you know, the Department of Transportation, in the early days, announced $60 million to help in that effort.  We’re going to continue to talk with the Maryland delegation of what they need and how much this is going to cost to get that going. 

But the President does get regularly updated.  There’s investigation happening, as you just stated.  I’m not going to get in — you know, I’m not going to comment to that.  I’m going to let that independent investigation move forward.

Go ahead. 

Q    Thank you, Karine.  Earlier this month, did President Biden tell Xi Jinping to stop supporting Russia’s assault on Ukraine?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I’m not going to get into diplomatic conversations.  We had a readout of that call that he had about 10 days ago with President Xi.  It was an important call.  It talked — it was a continuation of their summit that they had in San Francisco a couple of months ago.  And so, I’m just not going to get ahead of or go into details about private conversation.  I think the President and we have been very clear.

Q    Okay.  So, the U.S. has announced some sanctions and an executive order to address the support that China has given Russia in those months between the summit and now but also said we are prepared to take further steps.  So, is the administration going to do more to deter Beijing?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, you know, the President certainly is — is — he’s going to underscore — he’s going to continue to underscore the concerns — right? — that he has to China, while also reiterating our readiness to conduct diplo- — diplomacy with North Korea — right?  That’s a part of this too — in our determination to take steps to deter further provocations by the DPRK, obviously. 

And also, you know — so, we’re always going to be very clear about that.  You spoke about the executive action.  I’m just going to be super careful about what — what was said between the two leaders.  We did a readout, and we’ve been always very clear — always very clear to speak — to speak very directly about our concerns and underscore our concerns to China. 

Q    But just to be clear —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — it came up?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I’m just going to be really careful.  You have the readout.  I’m going to leave the readout to speak for itself. 

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Jared.

Q    Is the White House satisfied with the FISA renewal bill that passed the House and is headed to the Senate?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I think it’s important that it moved out of the House, and now it’s going to go to the Senate.  And we’ve talked about that.  There was a deadline, as you know, and it needs to — we’ve got to get going with the FISA.  It’s really important to get that done.

Q    Some of the changes that the White House is okay with — the reforms —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, we’re — we’re — I think we’re — we’re satisfied that it has gone — it is moving.  It’s going to go to the Senate.  We’ll see what happens there.  But it is — we — you’ve heard from us.  You heard from even National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who talked about that the last time he was at the podium.  It’s — it’s important to our national security that we move forward with FISA.  Now it’s in the Senate.

Go ahead, Ed.

Q    Yeah, thanks, Karine.  I want to ask about gas prices.  They’ve been going up: over the last month, 20 cents a gallon.  Is the President considering any new actions, like releasing more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Res- — Reserve?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, don’t have — I don’t have any new actions to read out. 

I will say — I will note that gas prices remain well below their peak back in 2022.  I think that’s important.  And the — the average gas price right now is cheaper than this time last year.  And that’s because of what this President has been doing over the last three years, including the SPR. 

And, look, let’s not forget: Jobs are up, wages are up, clean energy manufacturing is up — all of these things are incredibly important — because of this President’s historic investment that he has made. 

And so — but I would — I think it’s important to note that it remains well below the 2020 peak — 

Q    But —

MS.  JEAN-PIERRE:  — 2022 peak, pardon me. 

Q    But it’s only three cents lower than a year ago.  It’s up 52 percent from when President Biden came into office.  Any, then, talk about changes in policies that — to encourage the future investment in oil and gas (inaudible)?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, the President is committed to lowering costs.  He is.  That is something that you see at the center of every economic policy.  When he’s here giving remarks, he’s talking about lowering costs.  He understands how the American people are still being squeezed. 

And so, the reason that it remains below 2022 — the gas prices, as you’re asking me — is because of the historic investment that this President has made. 

So, of course, we’re going to continue to monitor and do everything that we can to answer those questions by the American people: What else can we do to lower costs?  But it is important that it is cheaper — it is cheaper to get gas than it was a year ago.  And that’s because of the — of what this President has been doing, because of historic investment that he’s taken. 

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Is there — to follow up on that, is there any indication that when the President asked for the richest Americans to pay their fair share, that inflation and the rise in gas prices are linked to that request?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Say that one more time.

Q    Do you think that it — the rise in prices of gas and inflation, which is still rising, is linked to the President’s request that the richest Americans pay their fair share?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, what I — here’s what I will say: The way we see the economy is very different than the way Republicans see the economy and how we make sure we have an economy that works for all.  Making sure that the we- — the wealthiest among us — the billionaires and corporations — pay their fair share we believe is the way to go here, not putting that burden on everyday Americans. 

That’s an economic policy that we believe in and a policy that br- — builds the economy from the bottom up, middle out, not trickle-down. 

And so, we’re going to continue to lower costs.  And we’re going to ask those billionaires and corporations to actually pay their fair share.  That’s something Americans want to see.  That’s something Americans want to see. 

As — as it relates to inflation, we look at a trend here, and we have seen inflation moderate over the past several months.  And that’s important, as well, to note.  But, look, we see it very differently.  We want to make sure we’re protecting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, lowering costs.  Republicans don’t want to protect that, and they want to give billionaires and corporations a tax break.  That’s not how we see this. 

Q    And to fo- —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, sure.

Q    Quick follow-up.  Earlier, there was reports that the administration released that the Department of Justice — and they haven’t commented on it — may have reached — the courts are reaching out to Julian Assange for a plea deal.  Any update from you guys here as to whether or not there would be a pardon or you would support a plea deal?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That’s a Department of Justice question. 

Q    But — but the President —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That — that is a Department of Justice question.  I ca- — I’m not going to get into it.

Q    And they’re not responding to it, so would you —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I would refer to Department of Justice. 

Go ahead. 

Q    Thank you.  So, this week, a ton of people will be here for the National Cannabis Policy Summit, and there’s currently still a patchwork of state marijuana laws to regulate the drug safety, including whether there are traces of lead in products.  Since marijuana is still illegal at the federal level but becoming more common at the state level, is the administration doing anything to try to improve safety regulations of products or any consideration of legalizing marijuana moving forward at the federal level?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I will give you a little bit of an update.  So, as you all know, the President asked — asked Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General to initiate the administrative process to review how marijuana is scheduled.  HHS has concluded their independent review, guided by the evidence.  The scheduling review is now with DOJ.  And any input should be certainly directed to them at a time and in a manner they say is appropriate. 

So, this is a matter, at this point, once — now that HHS has do- — has completed their review, it’s in Department of Justice, and they can speak to where — where marijuana rescheduling is at this point. 

All right.  Oh, go ahead.  Go ahead, Jon.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  I’m just wondering, looking backwards, the 2020 election cycle — so, you’re not impacting the upcoming election cycle. 

Q    No, no, no.  (Laughter.)

Q    Looking backwards —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Let’s see where this is going.

Q    No, you don’t — actually don’t know where it’s going.   (Laughter.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, I didn’t say that.  I said, “Let’s see where this is going.”  I have no idea where this is going.  (Laughter.)  I have no clue. 

Q    I’m going to help you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I — yeah, I know you will. 

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I know you will.

Q    In — in 2020, do you think that the American electorate was helped by seeing Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the same stage —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh.

Q    — at the same time —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I knew this was — now I know where this is going.  (Laughter.)

Q    — at a presidential debate?  Was that helpful, do you think, in terms of people making that decision?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You know, that — that’s a question for the American people.  I can’t speak to that from here.  I can’t. 

Q    Yeah.  And the — now —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And 2020 was a different time. 

Q    Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  It was a different time. 

Q    And looking ahead to this upcom- — upcoming election cycle.  Do you think it would be helpful to see these two — (laughter) — candidates who are in a rematch —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So slick.

Q    — on the same stage —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So slick. 

Q    — at the same time also competing against each other in a presidential debate?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  As the President would say, you can’t kid a kidder.  (Laughter.)

What I will say is that is a question for the campaign.  They will gladly, I’m sure — gladly take — take that question. 

All right, everybody.  Thank you so much. 

Q    Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thanks for your patience.  I know it was a long one.

 2:41 P.M. EDT

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

On April 12, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs hosted 30 local leaders from across 15 states in response to the Vice President urging states to use federal funding for the implementation of existing red flag laws, which allow family members or law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily take away access to guns if there is evidence a person may harm themselves or others.

Last month, Vice President Harris encouraged states to use Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) funding to implement existing red flag laws. While the Biden-Harris Administration has made $750 million in federal funding available to implement state crisis intervention programs –which includes red flag programs – much of this funding remains unused. Of the 21 states that currently have passed red flag laws, only six are using BSCA funding to implement them.

During the virtual event, senior Biden-Harris Administration officials along with state and local government leaders and gun violence prevention experts highlighted the impact BSCA funding can have on the implementation of red flag laws across the country and encouraged other states to take up the Vice President’s call, in order to protect their communities and save lives.

Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Stefanie Feldman, Deputy Director Rob Wilcox and Deputy Director Greg Jackson were joined by Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Executive Director Delrice Adams, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Technical Director Maureen Brennan, Brady Chief Programs and Policy Officer Christian Heyne, Ad Council Vice President Allison Baum, Illinois Department of Public Health Deputy Director Lauri Sanders, Illinois Department of Public Health Chief Operating Officer Shannon Lightner, and San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott.

Today’s convening comes on the heels of the Biden-Harris Administration announcing a new rule that will save lives by reducing the number of firearms sold without background checks. This action is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s strategy to stem the flow of illegally acquired firearms into our communities and hold accountable those who supply the firearms used in crime.

###

The post Readout of the White House Convening on Implementing Red Flag Laws appeared first on The White House.

On April 12, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs hosted 30 local leaders from across 15 states in response to the Vice President urging states to use federal funding for the implementation of existing red flag laws, which allow family members or law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily take away access to guns if there is evidence a person may harm themselves or others.

Last month, Vice President Harris encouraged states to use Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) funding to implement existing red flag laws. While the Biden-Harris Administration has made $750 million in federal funding available to implement state crisis intervention programs –which includes red flag programs – much of this funding remains unused. Of the 21 states that currently have passed red flag laws, only six are using BSCA funding to implement them.

During the virtual event, senior Biden-Harris Administration officials along with state and local government leaders and gun violence prevention experts highlighted the impact BSCA funding can have on the implementation of red flag laws across the country and encouraged other states to take up the Vice President’s call, in order to protect their communities and save lives.

Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Stefanie Feldman, Deputy Director Rob Wilcox and Deputy Director Greg Jackson were joined by Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Executive Director Delrice Adams, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Technical Director Maureen Brennan, Brady Chief Programs and Policy Officer Christian Heyne, Ad Council Vice President Allison Baum, Illinois Department of Public Health Deputy Director Lauri Sanders, Illinois Department of Public Health Chief Operating Officer Shannon Lightner, and San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott.

Today’s convening comes on the heels of the Biden-Harris Administration announcing a new rule that will save lives by reducing the number of firearms sold without background checks. This action is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s strategy to stem the flow of illegally acquired firearms into our communities and hold accountable those who supply the firearms used in crime.

###

The post Readout of the White House Convening on Implementing Red Flag Laws appeared first on The White House.

House Republicans Want the Tax Code to Work for the Wealthy; President Biden Wants It to Work for the Middle Class

This Tax Day, President Biden is fighting for hardworking families, while House Republicans continue to side with the wealthy and big corporations. Since taking office, President Biden has made the tax system fairer: cutting taxes for families and workers, enacting a minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations, and investing in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) so that it can better serve taxpayers and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. If Congress enacted President Biden’s tax plan, tens of millions of workers and families would have their taxes cut, nobody making less than $400,000 would pay a penny more in taxes, and the wealthy and big corporations would finally pay their fair share—which would fully pay for the President’s tax cuts and investment agenda.

In sharp contrast, the Republican Study Committee—which represents 80% of House Republicans and 100% of their leadership—just released an extreme budget that sides with the wealthy and large corporations, with $5.5 trillionin tax cuts skewed to the richest Americans, doubling down on the failed approach of the Trump tax cuts. If their extreme proposals became law, millions of families would face higher taxes and higher costs, and receive worse customer service from the IRS. Meanwhile, billionaires and the biggest corporations would get huge tax cuts and get away with cheating on their taxes. House Republicans would help billionaires while hurting families by cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other programs hardworking Americans count on.

President Biden Would Make the Wealthy and Big Corporations Pay Their Fair Share, While Cutting Taxes for Working Families and the Middle Class

The President’s plan would build on his progress to date, including proposals to:

• Make corporations pay their fair share by raising the corporate tax rate to 28% and the Inflation Reduction Act’s corporate minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations to 21%, cracking down on tax avoidance by large multinationals and Big Pharma, denying corporate tax breaks for multi-million-dollar executive compensation, quadrupling the stock buybacks tax, and cracking down on corporate jet loopholes.
• Make the wealthy pay their fair share by requiring billionaires to pay at least 25% of their income in taxes, modestly raising taxes on the wealthy to fund the Medicare trust fund permanently, and ending the Trump tax cuts for the richest taxpayers.
• Cut taxes for working families and the middle class by increasing the Child Tax Credit for 66 million children, which would lift 3 million children out of poverty; cutting taxes for 19 million working-class Americans by strengthening the Earned Income Tax Credit; and making permanent the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that are lowering health insurance premiums by about $800 per year for millions of Americans. These tax cuts are fully paid for by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.
• Make sure the IRS works for Americans by continuing to improve customer service and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. This filing season, the IRS has achieved a 3-minute call wait time, saved taxpayers 1.4 million hours of hold times with expanded call back availability, increased in-person tax preparation support by more than 200,000 returns, and successfully launched a Direct File pilot that lets Americans file their taxes online easily and for free, directly with the IRS. The IRS has also collected more than $500 million in unpaid taxes from around 1,000 delinquent millionaires and billionaires, launched enforcement action against 25,000 millionaires who have not filed a tax return since 2017, and cracked down on high-end tax evasion like deducting personal use of corporate jets as a business expense. President Biden is fighting to continue investing in the IRS, which will enable it to collect hundreds of billions of dollars in additional revenue over the next decade.
• Ensure no one earning less than $400,000 a year sees a tax increase, while rejecting plans to extend tax cuts or restore tax breaks for those making more than $400,000 a year, and fully paying for all tax cut extensions by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, not tax increases on the middle-class or magical growth assumptions.

House Republicans Would Slash Taxes for the Wealthy and Big Corporations, Raise Taxes on Millions of Americans, and Cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

The extreme Republican budget proposes $5.5 trillion in tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and big corporations, including:

• Cutting taxes for the wealthy by making Trump tax cuts permanent, resulting in an average tax cut of at least $175,000 a year for the top 0.1 percent and costing $3 trillion.
• Cutting taxes for businesses by more than $600 billion on top of the massive Trump tax cuts, which have completely failed to trickle down to workers.
• Cutting taxes for billionaires and worsening wealth inequality by eliminating the estate tax, which currently applies to only the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans, those with assets over $13.6 million per person ($27.2 million per couple).
• Reversing two of President Biden’s major achievements for tax fairness: a 15% minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations and a tax on stock buybacks that encourages companies to invest in their workers and the American economy rather than windfalls for investors.
• Blocking the President’s global minimum tax agreement in order to keep taxes low for big multinationals, including Big Pharma.
• Rewarding wealth, not work, by cutting capital gains taxes, overwhelmingly benefitting the wealthiest Americans.
• Making it easier for the wealthy and big corporations to cheat on their taxes by eliminating the Inflation Reduction Act’s investment in the IRS.

While cutting taxes for billionaires, the extreme Republican budget would make devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other programs hardworking Americans count on, and raise taxes on millions of middle-class families, including:

• Eliminating the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credit would raise the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans by an average of about $800 per year, including older people and self-employed workers.
• Repealing the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits, which would raise taxes by thousands of dollars for families installing a heat pump or solar panels.
• Making it harder for honest Americans to pay their taxes by rescinding the funding that has enabled the IRS to reduce phone wait times from 28 minutes to just 3 minutes, answer nearly 3 million more calls than two years ago, and serve 200,000 more taxpayers in person.

###

The post FACT SHEET: This Tax Day, the Tax Contrast Couldn’t Be Clearer appeared first on The White House.

I signed the CHIPS and Science Act to restore U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and ensure America’s consumers, businesses, and military maintain access to the chips that underpin our modern technology. But well before the law was passed, I was working to address our supply chain vulnerabilities. This included my trip to the Republic of Korea (ROK), where I visited Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus to see one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world.

Now, nearly two years later, I’m pleased to announce a preliminary agreement between Samsung and the Department of Commerce to bring Samsung’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing and research and development to Texas. This announcement, will unleash over $40 billion in investment from Samsung, and cement central Texas’s role as a state-of-the-art semiconductor ecosystem, creating at least 21,500 jobs and leveraging up to $40 million in CHIPS funding to train and develop the local workforce. These facilities will support the production of some of the most powerful chips in the world, which are essential to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and will bolster U.S. national security.

Today’s announcement of Samsung’s investment in the United States is another example of how my Investing in America agenda and the U.S.-ROK Alliance is creating opportunity in every corner of the country.

###

The post Statement from President Joe Biden on CHIPS and Science Act Preliminary Agreement with Samsung appeared first on The White House.

House Republicans Want the Tax Code to Work for the Wealthy; President Biden Wants It to Work for the Middle Class

This Tax Day, President Biden is fighting for hardworking families, while House Republicans continue to side with the wealthy and big corporations. Since taking office, President Biden has made the tax system fairer: cutting taxes for families and workers, enacting a minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations, and investing in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) so that it can better serve taxpayers and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. If Congress enacted President Biden’s tax plan, tens of millions of workers and families would have their taxes cut, nobody making less than $400,000 would pay a penny more in taxes, and the wealthy and big corporations would finally pay their fair share—which would fully pay for the President’s tax cuts and investment agenda.

In sharp contrast, the Republican Study Committee—which represents 80% of House Republicans and 100% of their leadership—just released an extreme budget that sides with the wealthy and large corporations, with $5.5 trillionin tax cuts skewed to the richest Americans, doubling down on the failed approach of the Trump tax cuts. If their extreme proposals became law, millions of families would face higher taxes and higher costs, and receive worse customer service from the IRS. Meanwhile, billionaires and the biggest corporations would get huge tax cuts and get away with cheating on their taxes. House Republicans would help billionaires while hurting families by cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other programs hardworking Americans count on.

President Biden Would Make the Wealthy and Big Corporations Pay Their Fair Share, While Cutting Taxes for Working Families and the Middle Class

The President’s plan would build on his progress to date, including proposals to:

• Make corporations pay their fair share by raising the corporate tax rate to 28% and the Inflation Reduction Act’s corporate minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations to 21%, cracking down on tax avoidance by large multinationals and Big Pharma, denying corporate tax breaks for multi-million-dollar executive compensation, quadrupling the stock buybacks tax, and cracking down on corporate jet loopholes.
• Make the wealthy pay their fair share by requiring billionaires to pay at least 25% of their income in taxes, modestly raising taxes on the wealthy to fund the Medicare trust fund permanently, and ending the Trump tax cuts for the richest taxpayers.
• Cut taxes for working families and the middle class by increasing the Child Tax Credit for 66 million children, which would lift 3 million children out of poverty; cutting taxes for 19 million working-class Americans by strengthening the Earned Income Tax Credit; and making permanent the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that are lowering health insurance premiums by about $800 per year for millions of Americans. These tax cuts are fully paid for by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.
• Make sure the IRS works for Americans by continuing to improve customer service and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. This filing season, the IRS has achieved a 3-minute call wait time, saved taxpayers 1.4 million hours of hold times with expanded call back availability, increased in-person tax preparation support by more than 200,000 returns, and successfully launched a Direct File pilot that lets Americans file their taxes online easily and for free, directly with the IRS. The IRS has also collected more than $500 million in unpaid taxes from around 1,000 delinquent millionaires and billionaires, launched enforcement action against 25,000 millionaires who have not filed a tax return since 2017, and cracked down on high-end tax evasion like deducting personal use of corporate jets as a business expense. President Biden is fighting to continue investing in the IRS, which will enable it to collect hundreds of billions of dollars in additional revenue over the next decade.
• Ensure no one earning less than $400,000 a year sees a tax increase, while rejecting plans to extend tax cuts or restore tax breaks for those making more than $400,000 a year, and fully paying for all tax cut extensions by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, not tax increases on the middle-class or magical growth assumptions.

House Republicans Would Slash Taxes for the Wealthy and Big Corporations, Raise Taxes on Millions of Americans, and Cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

The extreme Republican budget proposes $5.5 trillion in tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and big corporations, including:

• Cutting taxes for the wealthy by making Trump tax cuts permanent, resulting in an average tax cut of at least $175,000 a year for the top 0.1 percent and costing $3 trillion.
• Cutting taxes for businesses by more than $600 billion on top of the massive Trump tax cuts, which have completely failed to trickle down to workers.
• Cutting taxes for billionaires and worsening wealth inequality by eliminating the estate tax, which currently applies to only the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans, those with assets over $13.6 million per person ($27.2 million per couple).
• Reversing two of President Biden’s major achievements for tax fairness: a 15% minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations and a tax on stock buybacks that encourages companies to invest in their workers and the American economy rather than windfalls for investors.
• Blocking the President’s global minimum tax agreement in order to keep taxes low for big multinationals, including Big Pharma.
• Rewarding wealth, not work, by cutting capital gains taxes, overwhelmingly benefitting the wealthiest Americans.
• Making it easier for the wealthy and big corporations to cheat on their taxes by eliminating the Inflation Reduction Act’s investment in the IRS.

While cutting taxes for billionaires, the extreme Republican budget would make devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other programs hardworking Americans count on, and raise taxes on millions of middle-class families, including:

• Eliminating the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credit would raise the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans by an average of about $800 per year, including older people and self-employed workers.
• Repealing the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits, which would raise taxes by thousands of dollars for families installing a heat pump or solar panels.
• Making it harder for honest Americans to pay their taxes by rescinding the funding that has enabled the IRS to reduce phone wait times from 28 minutes to just 3 minutes, answer nearly 3 million more calls than two years ago, and serve 200,000 more taxpayers in person.

###

The post FACT SHEET: This Tax Day, the Tax Contrast Couldn’t Be Clearer appeared first on The White House.

I signed the CHIPS and Science Act to restore U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and ensure America’s consumers, businesses, and military maintain access to the chips that underpin our modern technology. But well before the law was passed, I was working to address our supply chain vulnerabilities. This included my trip to the Republic of Korea (ROK), where I visited Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus to see one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world.

Now, nearly two years later, I’m pleased to announce a preliminary agreement between Samsung and the Department of Commerce to bring Samsung’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing and research and development to Texas. This announcement, will unleash over $40 billion in investment from Samsung, and cement central Texas’s role as a state-of-the-art semiconductor ecosystem, creating at least 21,500 jobs and leveraging up to $40 million in CHIPS funding to train and develop the local workforce. These facilities will support the production of some of the most powerful chips in the world, which are essential to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and will bolster U.S. national security.

Today’s announcement of Samsung’s investment in the United States is another example of how my Investing in America agenda and the U.S.-ROK Alliance is creating opportunity in every corner of the country.

###

The post Statement from President Joe Biden on CHIPS and Science Act Preliminary Agreement with Samsung appeared first on The White House.

National Security Council

Via Teleconference

(April 14, 2024)

MODERATOR:  Thank you so much.  Good afternoon, everyone.  Sorry for the delayed start, and thanks for joining the call. 

As a reminder, this call is on background and it’s embargoed until the completion of the call.

For your awareness, not for your reporting, on the call today we have [senior administration official].  He will be a “senior administration official” on the call.  We have [senior Defense official], who will be our “senior Defense official.”  And [senior military official], who will be our “senior military official.” 

Our speakers will have a few words at the top, and we’ll turn it over to Q&A. 

With that, [senior administration official], I’ll turn it over to you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks.  So, I’m going to go through just kind of an opening and talk a little bit about not only what happened last night, but also really over the last 10 days of preparation and try to give a little bit of color, then turn it over to my DOD colleagues.  Then, I’m happy to take some Q&A. 

So, last night, as you know, Iran conducted an unprecedented attack on the state of Israel with over 300 munitions, including, remarkably, over 100 ballistic missiles, as well as land-attack cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. 

President Biden, probably about 10 days ago now, had instructed all of us — the United States to defend Israel to the maximum extent possible and defeat the attack, ensuring all authorities were in place, all assets were in place.  And now that the attack has concluded, that’s exactly what we did as a country.  

With the support of a number of partners, including the UK and France, the United States enabled Israel to spectacularly defeat this unprecedented attack. 

Despite launching over 300 munitions from Iran and other points in the region, Israel and a coalition of partners were able to defeat 99 percent of these munitions.  There’s virtually no infrastructure damage to Israel at all. 

And just for context, President Biden is the first American president to directly defend Israel.  He followed and directed, really, every detail of this response, starting nearly two weeks ago as we began to receive word and indications that Iran was preparing for a large-scale attack. 

Iran’s intent clearly was to cause significant damage and deaths in Israel.  We believe this requires an unequivocal condemnation from the international community.  The President this morning convened the G7, and they have forcefully condemned the attack.  I think that statement is now out. 

And all the leaders on that call were totally united in the condemnation of Iran and the need to hold Iran to account for this unprecedented and defeated assault, and also the support for the defense of Israel was very much unanimously stated by all the leaders on that call, which I was on here earlier this morning. 

We’ve been mindful in the preparations that led to last night that if successful, this attack could have caused an uncontrollable escalation of broad regional conflict — something we have worked day and night to avoid since October 7th, over the past six months. 

I mentioned in the last 10 days of preparations.  And just to provide some examples: In addition to the forced posture adjustments, which we can discuss, administration officials have been in constant, ongoing, continuous contact with Israelis, with other partners in the region, as well as Iran with a series of direct communications through the Swiss channel and other relevant players in anticipation of the events that transpired last night.  

Secretary Austin — and I think my colleague can talk more about this — had regular consultations, obviously, with his Israeli counterparts — other counterparts throughout the region; Secretary Blinken, counterparts throughout the region, as well as Turkey and China; the chairman with his Israeli counterpart and others; Jake Sullivan, myself with Israelis up and down the system almost constantly.

Even last night, just as the attack was underway before we went to join the President, Ambassador Mike Herzog and the Israeli Defense Attaché visited me here at the White House to kind of walk through where we were, even as the attack was underway.

Constant engagements with G7, Quad, Gulf counterparts and, again, Chinese, Indians, Iraqis.  This was an ongoing effort over the last 10 days. 

And, of course, General Kurilla, our CENTCOM commander, was in the region, able to provide real-time updates and, of course, in very close coordination with the Israelis and all of our other partners.  

So, all along, President Biden was kept updated by his national security team — multiple times a day, really, over the last 10 days or so — behind the scenes of other events.

For example, preparations for what we believe was coming were continuous and ongoing.  Just one example: On the margins of the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit, Secretary Austin and Jake briefed the President on the possibility for additional military deployments, including an additional missile destroyer, which the President immediately authorized. 

Yesterday, of course, the President returned from Delaware and then gathered with his team throughout the evening in the Situation Room as events unfolded in real time.  So, he was in the Situation Room getting real-time updates as this unfolded, including at the time of missile launches. 

And just to kind of set the scene, I mean, at one point, we knew there were over 100 ballistic missiles in the sky — a very short period of travel time to Israel — a period of, really, minutes.  And the results of the defenses, of course, were unclear until all was said and done. 

As the results of the defenses came in, which is when we knew the preparations and planning had succeeded, there was a bit of — a bit of relief.  But you can imagine those tense moments. 

And at nine — nine o’clock p.m., the President spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu.  And, again, just to set this scene, he, of course — the Prime Minister is with his — his War Cabinet in the war room as this was also unfolding in real time for them.  So, you know, the context for that call — it was shortly after we believed the attack was largely defeated.  The President reaffirmed our unwavering support for Israel’s defense. 

But, again, the context for the call, I think, keep in mind, both leaders had just gone through the 10 days of preparations and then the results, which were just becoming to be known, and we were feeling pretty good about where we were. 

But he told — the President told the Prime Minister that Israel really came out far ahead in this exchange.  Israel took out the IRGC’s — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ leadership in the Levant.  Iran tried to respond, and Israel had clearly demonstrated its military superiority, defeating this attack, particularly in coordination with — with partners — first and foremost, the United States and others. 

This morning, we met the President here early in the Situation Room — Jake Sullivan, Secretary Blinken, Jon Finer, myself, and others — again, to review the results of the attack.  The President spoke with the G7 leaders, as I mentioned, followed by a call with King Abdullah. 

The President and King Abdullah obviously go back many, many years, and the President values his wisdom and counsel.  And they talked about kind of broader regional situation and a number of broader issues.  

The President then spoke with [redacted], the commander of the 494th Fighter Squadron, a unit based in the UK, and [redacted], commander of the 335th Fighter Squadron unit from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.  These two squadrons had dozens of aerial takedowns last night, saving lives, reducing the risk of a broad regional conflict. 

The President expressed his thanks as their Commander-in-Chief for, really, their extraordinary airmanship and skill that was displayed throughout this multi-hour engagement over the course of last night. 

As for Iran, the President has been cleared — clear that their actions end here, and the same applies to Iran’s proxies.  If they take action against us, we are fully prepared to defend our people, our interests, and to hold Iran accountable, as we have shown a number of times over the last six months of this crisis.  

And just to conclude, I think the events of the last 10 days have demonstrated that while we may have some disagreements, the United States of America stands with Israel, and there’s no question that we will come to their defense when they are attacked.  Last night demonstrated that fact.  And when the President — what the President calls an ironclad commitment for the United States is just that.  And I think we showed that last night in real time in a truly unprecedented manner. 

So, with that, I think I will end the opening, turn it over to my DOD colleagues.  Then I’m happy to take questions.  

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  Good afternoon.  This is [senior Defense official] as the senior defense official. 

So, just to add a couple of notes to [senior administration official]’s opening: Over the last 48 hours, Secretary Austin has been receiving regular updates from his senior commanders and staff concerning Iran’s attack against Israel.  Throughout the weekend, the Secretary was in close communication with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Israel.  In addition, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been in touch with the IDF Chief of Staff, General Halevi.  And, of course, CENTCOM Commander, General Kurilla, is in the region and has been in continued contact with his Israeli counterparts as well. 

I think [senior administration official] cited the unprecedented nature of this attack against Israel.  Over 300 munitions, including over 100 ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles and UAVs.  These attacks were launched from locations in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen against Israeli territory.  And it was the first-ever direct attack on Israel from Iran — from Iranian soil. 

So, the Secretary, the Chairman, and other senior leaders from the Department joined the National Security Council from the White House in — in monitoring events in real time, as — as [senior administration official] described. 

Following the end of the attack, the Secretary again spoke with Minister Gallant and reinforced the U.S. ironclad commitment to Israel’s defense.

In coordination with the Israeli government, U.S. forces in the Middle East successfully intercepted many of these missiles and UAVs targeting Israel.  My colleague will detail some of the — the numbers. 

We are incredibly grateful here in the Department of Defense for the professionalism and skill of the brave U.S. troops who took part in these actions and who continue to stand guard to prevent further conflict or escalation.  

Iran’s attack is completely unacceptable and reckless and risks dragging the region into broader conflict.  These attacks also violated the airspace of neighboring Arab countries. 

So, let me be clear: Iran intended to cause significant damage in Israel, and they failed in their mission to do so, which is a testament to Israel’s military superiority and our collective defense. 

It’s undoubtedly a team effort, and with the support of our partners, we — together with the Israelis — were able to defeat this egregious attack.  And that was also made possible by decades’ worth of cooperation and investment in defense technologies. 

Our goal remains to de-escalate immediately and halt any further attacks.  We do not seek conflict with Iran, but we will not hesitate to act to protect our forces and support the defense of Israel.  And the President and the Secretary have been very clear that our support for Israel’s defense is ironclad and our forces remain postured to provide further support for Israel’s defense and to protect U.S. troops in the region.  

I’ll now turn it over to the joint staff for further operational updates. 

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL:  Hey, good afternoon, and thanks for joining this call.  This is [senior military official]. 

As mentioned earlier, we currently assess Iran launched more than 300 air threats to include more than 100 medium-range ballistic missiles, more than 30 land-attack cruise missiles, and more than 150 one-way attack drones towards Israel. 

Also, as mentioned earlier, we currently assess there is no significant damage within Israel itself.

At the direction of the President and the Secretary of Defense, U.S. forces assigned to U.S. Central Command and U.S. European Command actively engaged a number of the threats. 

The USS Arleigh Burke and USS Carney, operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, engaged and destroyed between four and six Iranian ballistic missiles during the attack.  U.S. alert aircraft in the region shot down more than 70 Iranian one-way UAVs headed toward Israel. 

A U.S. Army Patriot missile battery shot down one ballistic missile in the vicinity of Erbil, Iraq, assessed to be en route to Israel.  It is assessed that that missile was not targeting U.S. or coalition forces. 

There were no U.S. casualties or damage, and our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support to protect U.S. forces in the region. 

And I’ll be happy to take your questions.  

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  [Operator], if you could remind folks on how to queue up for questions, we’ll take your questions now. 

[Operator provides instructions.]

OPERATOR:  First person in our queue is Zeke Miller from the AP.  Please, go ahead.  

Q    Good afternoon.  Thank you for doing the call.  I was hoping you could give us a sense of what you were expecting next from the Israelis?  What has been the U.S. messaging to the Israelis about taking their own retaliation against Iran? 

And then in terms of the G7, was there any agreement on any sort of specific sanctions or other consequences that the international community, that the U.S. wants to emplace on Iran in the days ahead? 

And any additional messaging since this attack between the U.S. and Tehran, either through the Swiss channel or any — any others?  What would the nature of that messaging be?  Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Let me try to — try to break those down.  On the G7, there was a discussion — a fairly detailed — a fairly detailed and, I think, constructive discussion about Iran.  And I don’t want to speak for, obviously, the other capitals, but a discussion of some of those countries designate — designating the IRGC as a terrorist group — things like that — but also a coordinated effort on some sanctions measures that we had been discussing.  Some of the things that had hit some hurdles that I think we’re going to look to — look to move forward on, but I don’t want to get ahead of that process. 

It was discussed in some detail, and I think we have a decent way forward.  And I think the statement that the — I believe, the Italians have — have it out — speaks to some of that.  But so, that’ll be coming. 

You know, on the Israelis, look, we are committed to defending Israel.  We would not be a part of any — of any response they do.  That’s very consistent policy. 

The discussion between the leaders last night, again, was in the context of just having come through this incredibly intense period of hours and, I thought, a pretty good discussion about kind of where you go from here and different — kind of calculating appropriately. 

But I think John Kirby spoke to this as well today, and I think I’ll leave it at that. 

Our aim is to de-escalate regional tensions.  We do not want a broader regional conflict, but our focus has been to contain this crisis to Gaza.  That’s been a focus since October 7th.  That remains the focus. 

And part of our efforts, of course, in helping Israel — in the defense of Israel is just about that.  Helping to defend Israel — that is something that remains — I know it’s overstated, but it’s actually true — ironclad.  I mean, that is a true statement.  And I think what you — what you saw last night is what that means in practice.  We were ready for that.  We’re prepared.  And we’ll do it again if we have to. 

The Iranians did send us a message, but I don’t want to characterize it one way or the other.  We have decent ways to communicate with them, but I think we are speaking very publicly and openly about what happened last night and that there needs to be some consequences here.  And I think that was a — that was a good subject of discussion with our G7 counterparts.

OPERATOR:  Our next question is Jennifer Jacobs from Bloomberg.

Q    Hey.  Thanks, everybody.  Two things.  Hello, this is J.J., Jennifer Jacobs, from Bloomberg News.  On the 100 ballistic missiles that were in the air at the same time, if you guys could offer any more details on that — on how you went about countering that, just any inside details would be appreciated. 

And then also, as you push for de-escalation, what options is the U.S. steering Israel towards?  Can you say like, you know, are you making, you know, suggestions for alternative routes for them?  Thanks very much.

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL:  This is senior military official.  With regard to the ballistic missile attack, it was a substantial number — as pointed out, more than 100 at one single time.  It was a, you know, extremely phenomenal display of the defensive capability of Israel in this regime. 

They were of course supported by U.S. forces, in particular our two destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean.  The targeting and ultimate shots that are taken are deconflicted between the U.S. and Israel in these sorts of engagements, but the overwhelming majority of those intercepts of ballistic missiles was by Israeli systems.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, just on Israel, Jennifer, I don’t think I’m going to go much deeper than I’ve — than I’ve said.  I mean, look, we — we were — when the Israelis were here, we had a meeting on the Rafah process that we kicked off about two weeks ago, and it was shortly after — shortly before that meeting began that we actually had a VTC with the Israelis on their side, but we had the Israeli Ambassador here and their Defense Attaché here in the White House. 

When we learned of their — of their strike in Damascus against the IRGC Levant leadership corps — and, of course, that leadership corps is focused on organizing regular and ongoing attacks against Israel.  But we — Jon Finer, myself, and Jake — were pulled aside to be informed specifically about details of that strike.  We were not a part of that strike, obviously. 

But we didn’t — we knew that that would have repercussions, and that kind of has played out here over the last — over the last two weeks. 

I think Israel has made clear to us they’re not looking for a significant escalation with Iran.  That’s not what they’re looking for.  They’re looking to protect themselves and defend themselves.  And so, that’s an ongoing discussion we’re having with the Israelis, but I don’t want to talk about specific pathways or anything else. 

I just think the President was very clear that we’re going to help defend Israel.  And he made very clear to the Prime Minister last night that we do have to think carefully and strategically about, you know, the risks of escalation.  And that’s something I think has been an ongoing conversation here with the Israeli side and others even throughout the — throughout today.

OPERATOR:  We have Andrea Mitchell from NBC News.

Q    Hi.  [Senior administration official], this is Andrea Mitchell from NBC News.  [Senior administration official] and [senior Defense official] and [senior military official] —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Hey, Andrea.  How are you?

Q    Hi.  First of all, could you tell us whether you think that they decided not to strike back, as has been reported by the New York Times, after the President’s call?  Do you think that there was a cause and effect? 

And participating in the call as you did, did you think — from hearing the call, did you — did you think after that call that they were going to strike back?  If you — even if it weren’t — if it wasn’t cause and effect, but did you think that they made that decision partly influenced by the President’s call?

And how much of a risk do you think it would be if they do take such steps now, given some of the regional partners with whom you’ve dealt and obviously had some quiet cooperation?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think, Andrea — I mean, I have not seen that report.  Again, Israel here will make its — make its own decisions.  But we made our views known.  And I think the President — again, this call came at a moment in which we had just gone through this incredibly intense period of time.  And from the Israeli side, I mean, they were living through the same thing in real time, knowing that there are 100 ballistic missiles on their way to Israel. 

So, it’s a — it’s a period of kind of heightened emotion.  And I think the President, you know, had a discussion about trying to slow things down, think through things; given what we just went through, let’s assess kind of where we are. 

And in the light of day, as the sun came up this morning in Israel — and Jack Lew actually visited one of the Arrow counter- — counter-missile batteries with Israel’s Minister of Defense to kind of review the aftermath.  And I think the kind of spectacular success — I don’t use that word lightly — really — really became known in the light of day.  I mean, when you could really see that there was almost no damage at all, took down almost all of these things, it’s extraordinary. 

And I think when a call was — took place last night, when the President was in the Situation Room and we had been there for a period of hours, we knew we had largely defeated the attack, but the full extent of the — of how successful it was was not fully known.  And I think it was a very useful call just to kind of talk through where we are and next steps.  And, you know, nobody wants to run up the escalation ladder here. 

So, on the one hand, this is an unprecedented Iranian attack, as we’ve said a number of times.  It was also an extraordinary feat of military prowess and cooperation with partners in defeating it.  And I think Israel has to think through carefully what it does next, but as I said in my opening, I think, you know, they’ve kind of gotten the best of it here.  That’s very much our — our view.

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  This is the senior defense official.  I’ll just add one thought to that.  You know, as I mentioned in my opening, the success that was achieved was, in part, the product of years of investment and cooperation in developing these missile defense technologies, including the ones that Ambassador Lew visited. 

And one of the great advantages of these technologies is not only, of course, the lives they save and the damage they prevent in defeating attacks, but in the flexibility they give leaders in how to respond to these situations. 

And so, that’s — that’s been borne out by the success of — of their missile defenses and ours that — that were additive.  And, of course, all the work that all the participants in the defense of Israel did last night is that it creates space and flexibility for decisions on next steps.

OPERATOR:  Our next question is from Jeff Mason from Reuters.

Q    Hi.  Thanks very much.  Can you gentlemen confirm that

Iran gave a 72-hour heads-up to other countries in the region about its attack?  And did it do the same to the United States through the conversations that you referenced with regard to Switzerland? 

And do you interpret that heads-up as a — as a sign that they wanted — that they were not looking for escalatory action or that they were — well, I guess my question is: How would you interpret that heads-up? 

And, lastly, if I can add one more, can you confirm that the President told Prime Minister Netanyahu that the United States would not participate in a counteroffensive?  Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  On Iran, no, that is absolutely not true.  We — they did not give a notification, nor did they give any sense of, you know, “These will be the targets, so evacuate them.”  They were clearly intending to destroy and to cause casualties.  That was their intent.

And the fact that they didn’t, I think they might want to now say that, “Well, we didn’t mean to.”  But you launch 100 mis- — 100 ballistic missiles, you know, targeting certain locations, that was clearly their — their intent.  They just didn’t succeed.  And so, no, there was no such forewarning or anything like that. 

They were very clear that so- — you know, they would be responding and that was, you know, clearly going to happen.  The level, scope of it was something that was discussed throughout the week.  Their Foreign Minister would say something completely different than others, which is not an uncommon practice with them. 

But no, there was no kind of, like, warning as a way to kind of fire missiles but somehow not hurt anybody.  That was not — that was not their intent. 

Sorry, your second question?

Q    The second ques- —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah.

Q    The second question was about the call and whether President Biden said to Prime Minister Netanyahu that the U.S. would not participate in a counteroffensive. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Oh, yeah.  I think that’s — again, (inaudible) going back to the Damascus strike, for example, we had nothing to do with that.  You know, we — we believe Israel has freedom of action to protect itself and defend itself in Syria or elsewhere.  That’s a common — that’s a longstanding policy, and that remains.  But, no, we would not envision ourselves participating in such a thing.

OPERATOR:  Our next question is from Peter Baker with The New York Times.

Q    Oh, hi, guys.  Just to follow up on Jeff’s question.  The — putting aside the idea of a 72-hour notice, they certainly telegraphed publicly for more than a week that they were going to do this.  Everybody knew they were going to do this.  You all had those 10 days to get forces in the region.  I mean, does that not tell us anything? 

And in terms of the scope of what they did fire — more than 300 missiles and drones — is that on the high end, low end of what you expected?  What was your anticipation?  How do you — how do you — what context do you see that — that?  And do you think they still have plenty of munitions still to go, or what — does this deplete their ability to continue further attacks?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, Peter, I think it’s fair to say the scope of this attack is on the high end.  Launching 100 medium-range ballistic missiles — over 100, that is definitely on the high end, and makes it harder to defeat — to defeat when you have that many missiles in the sky. 

And, again, I think it was due to the preparations, everything else.  I don’t think that the characterization is Iran gave us time to prepare.  They needed the time to prepare for themselves to do this. 

So, we — we took advantage of the time from the moment we had any sort of information something could be coming.  We got assets in place.  We got coordination in place.  And my DOD counterparts can talk more to this, but a truly extraordinary level of military coordination to be prepared for this — I mean, unbelievable.

And what General Kurilla did and everything else, in getting our assets in place and the President making sure we had all the authorities, everything in place, good to go — you know, my counterpart here in this call talking multiple times throughout — every day throughout the week, making sure everything was — was ready.  But until — you know, until it comes, you never — you never fully know. 

But just to kind of put a period on this: yeah, the high end, in my view. 

And we used the time wisely to prepare.  And I think — but I would not characterize it as if Iran gave us the time to prepare.  Their intent was clearly to be highly, highly destructive.  And that is in their public rhetoric, and I think it’s borne out by what they tried to do last night.

OPERATOR:  Our next question is from Yuna Leibzon from Channel 12 News Israel.  

Q    Thank you.  Yuna Leibzon from Channel 12 News Israel.  So, just following up on previous questions about the call and the message that the U.S. will not participate.  What exactly did the President say about any response from Israel? 

On one hand, we hear that there is an understanding that there’s supposed to be some sort of response, no escalation.  But what was the exact term that was used for the U.S. and its support or not support for an Israeli response to this attack?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, so sorry.  I think — no surprise — first, I don’t have direct notes or a transcript in front of me, and I wouldn’t provide the exact terms, in any case, of the call. 

I think — I think I’ve described the call.  I think John spoke to the call this morning.  And we read out the call last night with the President’s statement.  So, I think it was very clear. 

I mean, of the — I would also say their last call 10 days or so ago, which had a number of issues to it — including, obviously, the situation in Gaza — humanitarian situation — the first issue discussed on the call was indications of this potential attack.  So, this has been ongoing communication with the Israelis from — from that level, but also through — through our systems. 

But last night, as I’ve mentioned, was really coming out of the immediate aftermath of the attack, kind of assessing where we were and thinking through carefully about the next steps.  So, I’m not going to characterize it beyond that.  

OPERATOR:  Our next question is from Gordon Lubold from The Wall Street Journal.  

Q    Hi there.  I wondered, [senior administration official], particularly, if you could just expand a little bit on how you brought this coalition together — a little bit of color would be welcome — in the last 10 days or whatever, as you began to see what — what was imminent. 

And, also, a little bit more about what General Kurilla’s role was in Israel the last 48 hours.  What was — what was his message?  How did he coordinate?  Thanks. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think anytime you’re talking about a coalition action, every capital has different legal standards, authorities.  And to make sure all of that is in place is — takes a, you know, military diplomatic effort. 

Here, I think we had the French and the — and the Brits were obvi- — they fly with us in — in this theater all the time and — and were very — very clearly ready.  But then also bringing in our additional assets and then ensuring everything was coordinated, that’s really done at a — at a mil-mil level.  And then kind of, you know, who takes down what and the organization for the defense was really done at a — at a military-to-military level. 

From time to time, there’d have to be political engagement in capitals, but also make sure we had all the accesses we need and everything else in order to — to defeat what we thought — thought to be a large-scale attack.  And as I mentioned in response to Peter’s question, this was on the high end, I think, of what we were — what we were anticipating. 

But I don’t know if my DOD colleagues might have — might have more.

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  Well, this is the senior defense official here.  Secretary Austin was in, you know, pretty much daily contact with General Kurilla, as were many of us and others throughout the CENTCOM system.  And it was really quite impressive to see the — the level of coordination and trust that that obviously requires between our CENTCOM colleagues and their Israeli counterparts. 

General Kurilla was able to meet, as well, with Minister Gallant and other Israeli leaders to keep them informed about his coordination with their military.  And — but it — it gets down into very, very fine details of coordination to be able to execute what happened last night, as [senior administration official] sort of alluded to.

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL:  Yeah, senior military official.  General Kurilla makes, you know, fairly routine visits to the region.  He has had an increased number of visits, you know, since October the 7th. 

While in Israel, he ensured that we were — we were prepared to deconflict and coordinate our supporting efforts to the defense of Israel.  He also discussed with them our pending operations to support the delivery of humanitarian aid from the sea into Gaza. 

But this was, you know, in light of Iranian rhetoric and to ensure that we were — we were best postured to support their defense.  

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I’d just add, Gordon — I mean, it’s a good question, but to kind of — thinking through this, you know — one thing, we have a — we have a robust naval coalition, as you know, dealing with the Houthis.  And that has already provided a lot of, I think, the touchpoints, patterns of interaction, you need to be quite effective. 

But, also, I just — I think — I don’t think I’ve mentioned on the call — I should have — the Houthis did try to engage last night.  But because we have that so well covered, I think we destroyed a ballistic missile on a launchpad.  And the other — other stuff they launched obviously did not make it to the target because we — we just have that area so well covered.  And that’s with a number of coalition partners.  So, what we’ve done there, we’ve done elsewhere — just standing mechanisms. 

You know, there’s a — there’s a — between the Quad — with the French, the UK, and the Germans — I think Jake’s had a number of calls with his Quad counterparts to kind of coordinating this whole thing, particularly with the French and the Brits.  And then the — just the regular touchpoints between these capitals brought it together pretty quickly.  

OPERATOR:  Next in queue is Liz Friden from Fox News.  

Q    Thank you.  Jennifer Griffin here.  I’m just trying to understand.  You had a hundred ballistic missiles fired at Israel, and you say that four to six were shot down by naval assets in the eastern Med.  What shot down those other ballistic missiles, and was it, before it got in — they got into Israeli airspace? 

And if you could talk a little bit about how many U.S. fighter jets or aircraft were involved in stopping these drones, et cetera.  

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL:  Yeah, this is senior military official.  The — the majority of those missiles were engaged by the Arrow system — Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 — in Israel — Israeli system. 

The intercepts themselves took place not — not only over Israeli airspace, but over neighboring countries as well.  It was a — it was a pretty broad engagement zone. 

There was, as you mentioned, between four and six — we’re still conducting analysis, but between four and six were confirmed by U.S. destroyers.  And then there was one that was confirmed by a U.S. Patriot battery as it flew near — in the vicinity of Erbil, Iraq. 

And the number of — as far as the number of aircraft, I — I can’t get into the — into the specific numbers and, you know, reveal how many forces we had there.  But it was — it was a number of aircraft, both land-based and from — from the sea.

OPERATOR:  Our next question is from Alexander Marquardt from CNN.  

Q    Thank you all for doing this.  [Senior administration official], I appreciate you don’t want to get into the specifics of — of the Iranian messaging, but I’m wondering if you could characterize how different it is — this is the direct message to the United States — how different that was in private to what we’ve heard in public — which was essentially, you know, “We’re done here,” and “The United States, don’t get involved” — and at what time or what stage in the process that messaging came in and whether there was a direct U.S. response in private back to Iran. 

And if I may, could you give us a sense of how you think this is going to play into Israel’s plans for Rafah and the ongoing ceasefire talks, which feel like they’re going a bit round and around?  We have today this latest rejection by Hamas to the latest proposal.  Thanks.  

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks, Alexander.  Yeah.  So, we — we received a message from the Iranians as this was ongoing, through the Swiss, basically suggesting that they were finished after this, but it was still an ongoing attack.  So, that was their — that was their message to us.  I think they’ve said that publicly as well. 

So, yeah, on — on Rafah, we have a process with the Israelis.  As we’ve discussed, I think, a number of times, I think, the complexities of Rafah, given Egypt, given the humanitarian dimension, given the density of the population there, given what it’s going to take, is extreme- — extraordinarily complex.  So, we have a process with them we kicked off about two weeks ago. 

I think, obviously, this situation delayed that a little bit.  But we look forward to pick- — picking that back up as early as next — this coming week, as it’s important.  Our expert teams have been — have been working through it, particularly on the humanitarian side and — so that we can provide our — our input, which the Israelis have agreed to do. 

They’ve also told us a number of times that anything there would be conditions-based, particularly with having the humanitarian situation set.  So, that’s a tall order of business.  And so, that’s something we’re continuing — continuing to work through. 

But I don’t think there’s a direct — just to answer your question, how does this — how does one affect the other, I think, if anything, it — you know, attention has been focused on this — this most immediate threat.  But we will get back to the situation with the hostages.  We have to get the hostages out of Gaza. 

It is outrageous that Hamas basically has an offer on the table that is everything they had asked for.  And I’m not going to confirm one w- — one way or the other what their response is, but pretty clear that Sinwar wants to hold hostages, including these young women, when releasing them and releasing old people and sick and wounded would result in an immediate ceasefire and all sorts of other things that are in this deal. 

So, it really is — it kind of speaks to everything you need to know about Hamas.  I have to think that answers the question.  

OPERATOR:  We have Alex Ward from Politico.  

Q    Yes.  Hi.  I guess just to ask a question very directly: I mean, does the U.S. not want Israel to respond to Iran at this point?  Should — should Israel just not do anything and take the defensive success as the win?  Thanks.  

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I’m just not going to say that so definitively.  I think it’s a — it’s a calculation the Israelis have to make.  This was an unprecedented attack from Iran against Israel. 

At the same time, we think in the overall exchange here — as I said in my opening, I think that the Israelis came out clearly very much on top and demonstrated their ability to defend their country in coordination with us and others — speaks for itself.  And I think a big question is not only — not only whether but what Israel might choose to do. 

And so, this is a decision — decision for them.  But I’m not going to answer it that specifically.  And I think the conversation between the President and the Prime Minister was really kind of thinking through strategically where we are after having just come through this very intense period of hours last night.  So, I’m not going to say that so definitively, no.

OPERATOR:  We have time for one more question.  We have Nadia Charters from Al Arabiya on the line.  

Q    Thank you.  Nadia Bilbassy-Charters, Al Arabiya.  Do you all expect a new set of sanctions on Iran?  And, also, Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the political wing of Hamas, congratulated the Iranian regime, and there was reports that Sinwar was holding in the hostage deal, waiting for the Iranian attack.  So, I know you touched on it a little bit, but do you believe that this attack will make it harder or easier for Hamas leaders to negotiate?  Thank you.  

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks, Nadia.  Hamas has been, since October 7th, trying to ignite a regional war.  That is what they want to do.  They say it publicly, and we know that’s what they’re trying to do. 

They have tried to do it through working with the Iranians.  They’ve tried to do it through Ramadan.  It’s in their public statements of what they tried to do and hope would — would happen over the course of Ramadan in Jerusalem.  It did not happen. 

I think they hope this incident would have — do — do the same.  So, that is what they want and, again, speaks to what they’re trying to do. 

Haniyeh was in Tehran about two weeks ago.  And, yeah, you know, they work closely together and coordinate.  And this is one reason why Israel faces very real threats from the IRGC and from the Houthis and from the proxies that are — you know, have a desire to encircle Israel.  And we’re going to ensure that they cannot succeed. 

So, what I just said in my opening: Look, we have dif- — we have differences and disagreements with Israel on a number of things, including, in particular, on Gaza.  And those are things we’re continuing to work through. 

But when it comes to the defense of Israel against Iran, as I said in my opening and as my DOD counterpart said, that commitment truly is ironclad. 

And I think I’ll end the call with a point that I think we demonstrated that last night, and we will continue to do so going forward.  

MODERATOR:  Thanks.  Thank you, everyone, for joining.  That’s all the time we have for today. 

As a reminder, this call was on background, and the embargo is now lifted. 

On this call today, we had a senior administration official, senior defense official, and senior military official. 

Thanks, everyone.  Hope you have a good rest of your day.  

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President Biden spoke today with His Majesty King Abdullah II about the situation in the Middle East. President Biden strongly condemned the attack launched by Iran that also threatened Jordan and the Jordanian people. Both leaders noted that they continue to monitor the situation and will remain in close touch over the coming days. They also discussed the situation in Gaza, and reaffirmed their cooperation to increase critical humanitarian assistance to Gaza and to find a path to end the crisis as soon as possible.

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President Biden spoke today with His Majesty King Abdullah II about the situation in the Middle East. President Biden strongly condemned the attack launched by Iran that also threatened Jordan and the Jordanian people. Both leaders noted that they continue to monitor the situation and will remain in close touch over the coming days. They also discussed the situation in Gaza, and reaffirmed their cooperation to increase critical humanitarian assistance to Gaza and to find a path to end the crisis as soon as possible.

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We, the Leaders of the G7, unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack against Israel. Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel. Israel, with the help of its partners, defeated the attack.

We express our full solidarity and support to Israel and its people and reaffirm our commitment towards its security.

With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation. This must be avoided. We will continue to work to stabilize the situation and avoid further escalation. In this spirit, we demand that Iran and its proxies cease their attacks, and we stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilizing initiatives.

We will also strengthen our cooperation to end the crisis in Gaza, including by continuing to work towards an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas, and deliver increased humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in need.

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