Karine Jean-Pierre Holds Briefing on Air Force One 5/08/24

Hello. Okay. So as you all know, we’re en route to Racine, Wisconsin to showcase a community that underscores the president’s Invest in America agenda. Today, President Biden will announce a 3.3 billion investment by Microsoft to build a new AI data center in Racine, creating 2300 union construction jobs and 2000 permanent jobs. Over time, Microsoft will also provides scaling opportunities for thousands more Wisconsinites in the digital economy. You may remember this is the same location as a failed $10 billion investment from Foxconn that the previous administration touted six years ago that fail deal ultimately left behind Wisconsin residents and workers. Today’s announcement is just the latest example of how President Biden’s agenda is bringing innovation hubs to every corner of the country. President Biden is delivering on his promise to create good jobs that will have a lasting impact on communities and families, and with that.

Two quick things. Okay, going to Racine, so you were mentioning that the former president’s investment didn’t go through. How can Biden guarantee that this investment will go through when the other one failed?

So look, so I’m going to obviously let Foxconn speak to their hiring. What I can say is that the massive multi-billion investment is employing 13,000 workers that the previous administration promised never materialized. Instead, today we’re headed to the very same site where instead of Foxconn, Microsoft will announce a major investment in this community. So this is an American company making a long-term investment in this community. So Microsoft isn’t just investing in this data center, they’re investing in job training in the wider community and building an AI ecosystem in Wisconsin.

The U.S. paused the shipment of bombs to Israel. I wondered if you can say anything about how Israel has responded to the pause.

I’m not going to give any comment to the press reportings out there. You’ve heard us say many times over the past couple of days that our commitment to Israel’s… Israel’s security is ironclad. I’m just not going to speak to the press reportings out there at this…

There are reports today that the administration will miss a deadline to deliver a report assessing Israel’s actions in Gaza to Congress. Can you comment on that and will the report be issued soon?

So look, this is something that the state department is working very hard on. I was asked a similar question yesterday. My colleague at the State Department, Matt Miller, spoke to this in his briefing yesterday. They are working very hard to get this done and so I would refer you to the State Department on that particular question.

Just on the ceasefire negotiations, Netanyahu said that Hamas’ offer was very far from where Israel is right now. What is the president’s outlook on the possibility of a ceasefire? Is he still optimistic or is this hanging by a thread?

I think what’s important to note are two things. That’s our top priority to get to a hostage deal that would lead to a ceasefire, obviously bring home hostages. Some of those hostages include American hostages, create an environment where we can search humanitarian aid. Those things have been priorities for this administration. The talks continue, the talks are ongoing, and I think that’s important to note as well. I said this yesterday, and I’ll say it again. A close assessment of the two sides’ positions suggests they should be able to close the gap, the remaining gap. So we are going to continue to support that process, and that’s where we are right now. It is a top priority for this president.

Karine, [inaudible 00:03:54] was just on CNN saying that maybe if Burns isn’t able to close this deal, he’s been going for months, maybe it’s time to send someone else. Are you throwing any other diplomats or other government officials at this issue? Is the president growing more frustrated with Benjamin Netanyahu for not listening to his entreaties?

A couple of things there. Look, I just said that our assessment is that the two sides, what remains, the gap that remains could be closed, and that is our assessment. That’s what we believe. So we’re going to support that process, and we’re going to continue to push that process along. It is a top priority and so let that happen. The talks are continuing, that’s important, and the president has confidence in his team to continue supporting that process so we can get to an incredibly important hostage deal.

You’ve been close before. You’ve said you’re close. You keep saying, “We’re close.” Are you closer now than you were a week ago?

Look, here’s the thing. I’m not going to get into point by point here. This is a priority. This is a top priority. We’re talking about creating an environment so that we can search humanitarian aid. We know how dire the situation is in Gaza. We want to continue to get that humanitarian aid and we want a cease fire, we want a cease fire. You’ve heard that from the president directly. Let’s not forget we got to get these hostages home. We have to get them home to their loved ones and to their families. So we’re going to continue to be optimistic. We’re going to continue to make this a priority. We know how important it is to get this done. Look, we believe that what exists, the gaps that exist between the two from our assessments can close. So I think the most important thing, we believe the most important thing is to supporting that process and to be optimistic about it and be very, very clear about what we want to see to all of you.

Will the president call Netanyahu again?

So as you just said, again, they spoke earlier this week on Monday. The president had a 30-minute conversation with the Prime Minister. It was constructive, it was direct as many of their conversations have been, certainly since October 7th. The president talked about the Rafah Crossing, talked about the importance of opening Kerem Shalom as we review all our reporting, and we have been told by Israel that that has been opened. It is important to get those trucks in. It is important to get that aid into Gaza, so that’s what we want to see, and so that worked. That moved forward. So look, we’re going to continue to have our conversations with our Israeli counterparts, and we certainly will let you know if there will be or if there is another conversation with the Prime Minister.

Is delaying arm shipments a tool that the administration’s willing to use to try to get Israel to follow American requests?

I’m not going to speak to the press reportings out there. What I can say is, and I said this yesterday, you’ve heard this from my NSC counterparts as well, is that our support for Israel continues to be ironclad. Israel’s security continues to be ironclad, and I just don’t have anything else to share.

Is that something that the American government could do conceivably without specifically commenting on the report?

[inaudible 00:07:14] hypotheticals. Here’s what I will say is that we have been engaging in a dialogue with Israel in part through the Strategic Consultative Group format on, for example, how they’re going to meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah. That’s something, as you know, that’s been certainly a concern for us and how to operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza. Those discussions obviously are ongoing and those are going to continue. As we can say, they have not fully addressed our concerns and so I’m going to leave that there, but I’m not going to speak to the press reporting out there.

Did the president direct that those weapons shipments be delayed?

I’m just not going to speak to the press reportings out there. I’m-

… administration official.

I hear you. I’m telling you I’m not going to speak to the press reportings out there. What we will continue to say is that we are support for Israel’s security is ironclad.

Can I ask about a couple of the regulatory things that are being rushed through this… You’ve got an ongoing 301 Tariff review. You know we’re very interested in that. Any update on the timing of the president’s thinking on that? Well, the president announced a bit of it in Pittsburgh to wet our appetite a little. Any update you can share?

… update on timeline at this point.

Is he planning one announcement or little ones like that?

I’m just going to be mindful, let that process continue. I just don’t have anything to share beyond what the president shared in Pittsburgh.

On the marijuana rescheduling, does he have a position on that? Does he support moving it-

We’re going to let the review process continue, so I’m not going to get ahead of that. The president has been very clear about marijuana possession. He doesn’t believe any American that possesses marijuana only should go to jail. That has been his position certainly over the past couple of years we’re going to… and that’s why he directed HHS and DOJ to review the rescheduling marijuana. That bed process has moved; went through HHS, now it’s at DOJ. I just don’t want to get ahead of that.

Can I ask you a domestic question?

Yeah, sure.

So overnight police closed down the encampment at GW University. Tear gas was used. There were some arrests made. These kind of encampments are continuing, but also the police action against the encampments has been quite aggressive, and there’ve been concerns raised about policing obviously since George Floyd’s murder and long before that. Are you taking a look at any of the police actions or have you asked the Justice Department to make sure that they’re staying within bounds?

So as we’ve said many times, especially over the past week, is that when it comes to decisions of what’s happening on the ground, that’s certainly up to the university leaders and local police enforcement and that certainly continues to be the case, even with what we see happening at GW. You all heard the president repeat that message he’s had throughout this last week. The right to dissent is fundamental to who we are, but it cannot lead to disorder and violence threats, vandalism, trespassing and/or shutting down campuses. Students have the right to be safe and anti-Semitism is repugnant, and we’ve been very clear about that. So look, what’s happening on the ground, what’s happening locally is something that that assessment is being made by university and colleges and obviously law enforcement. So we leave that to them to make that decision on how to move forward. But we want to make sure that students feel safe, that they feel safe to be able to learn, to have an academic experience that they should be having. So I’m just going to leave it there for now.

Do you think the protesters would be appeased if there were some moves to bring Palestinian refugees in? There’s some discussion, we understand the administration is looking at some moves to bring in Palestinians from Gaza.

So I don’t have any news to share about those discussions, obviously. As you know, very early on when we had learned that there were about 1800 Palestinian Americans in Gaza, we did everything that we can to get them out if they wanted to and we were able to do that. The State Department certainly will have more to share there. I just don’t have anything to share beyond that. No announcement on news as it relates to that.

The House will vote this week on a bill that will add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census. Does the administration believe that non-citizens should be counted toward Congressional and Electoral College?

I’ve not talked to anybody on the team about that. That’s new to me, so I don’t want to get ahead of our team.

Just one on Russia, Russia fired 50 cruise missiles and drones at Ukraine’s power system last night. Is the administration looking at ways of bolstering the energy system within Ukraine to protect it? It’s been a major target.

We’ve talked about our concerns there over the past almost two years, more than two years about when it comes to obviously Russians’ actions on the grid. Look, we have been very clear. We want to make sure that we provide Ukraine the security assistance to defend themselves, right? They are fighting back against Russia’s aggression. This is obviously an example of that, and so we’re doing everything that we can. We were very grateful for that National Security Supplemental to go through. The Ukrainian obviously component was incredibly important. As we saw, Ukraine was losing ground because of Congressional inaction, so we’re going to continue to provide Ukrainians what they need to defend themselves. Obviously, that’s a concern. When it comes to energy grids, we’re going to continue to monitor that, and we’re going to continue to work with Ukrainians to make sure they have what they need to continue to fight the battle that they have to on the ground.

15 House Democrats wrote a letter to the president urging him to take executive action on immigration. Is that something he’s still considering doing?

Here’s the thing, two times and more than two times, but the first day that the president walked into the administration, he took action, put forth a comprehensive immigration plan. We know that the immigration system has been broken for decades, and we need to address that. Congress didn’t act, didn’t take action. Then most recently, you’ve heard me talk about this over and over again, that was that Senate bipartisan agreement that came out, obviously out of this… would’ve been the toughest, the fairest piece of legislation or law if. The president had signed that, that would’ve been… to deal with the broken immigration system. It got held up. It was held up because of the former president telling… we want to see that moving forward. That’s what we want. The president has taken many… We continue to review that, but we’re going to be consistent. We need legislation. We need legislation to actual deal with this broken system, that’s what we want to see.

Have you noticed a difference since the president… measures to tighten the… yet?

… that our relationship with the president of Mexico has led to actions to help mitigate what we’re seeing. Obviously, there’s more actions to be taken, but we believe… has led to actions that is going to be helpful. But we need legislation here. We need to see more. We need to see more, and we’re appreciative of the president.

If that doesn’t happen, is there any owe or do you think you don’t have executive…

… just looking at all of our options as always, just don’t have anything to share at this time. We’re going to continue to push for that Senate bipartisan agreement and get that in the hands of the president so he can sign it. Thanks, everybody.

Thank you, Karine.

Thanks, Karine.

I got to sit down.