Karine Jean-Pierre Press Gaggle on Air Force One 3/13/24

At the top. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. We’re en route to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the president will announce $3.3 billion to reconnect and rebuild communities in more than 40 states, including those that were divided by transportation infrastructure decades ago and have long been overlooked. These projects will increase the access to healthcare, schools, jobs and will strengthen communities by covering highways with public spaces, creating new transit routes, adding sidewalks, bridges, bike lanes, and more. Today the president will announce that $36 million of the funding will go to Milwaukee Sixth Street ‘Complete Streets’ project. This project will reconnect communities along more than two and a half miles of the Sixth Street corridor and make the roadway and surrounding communities safer, greener, and more welcoming.

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Many other communities will receive funding under this initiative including Atlanta, Georgia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Portland, Oregon, Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan. Today’s announcement will take place at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, a community hub at the heart of the community’s disrupted by the 1960s freeway construction. Historic investments in transportation infrastructure, especially highway construction, cut too many Americans off from opportunity, dividing and demolishing communities and perpetuating economic and racial injustices. The president is committed to righting those wrongs and reconnecting those communities. It’s part of his broader vision he talked about last week in his State of the Union to invest in all of America and make sure we are leaving no community behind. With that, I am happy to take your questions.

Can I start with one about TikTok?

Start with what?

Start with one about TikTok? I know you said in the past the President’s going to sign any bill that Congress gives him, but it seems to me that-

Congress, I’m sorry.

This issue, right, he signed what Congress gives on this issue. Is there any fear that banning an outlet like TikTok is something an authoritarian government would do?

Let’s be mindful. You heard the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan talk about this. This is not about banning any platform. So let me just say a couple of things since it did pass, I think, 352 to 65 out of the house, it’s going to the Senate.

The practical effect would be a ban, right?

Sorry?

So the practical effect would be a ban basically.

Let me just take this on for a second. So we are glad to see this bill move forward. We will look to the Senate to take swift action. As we have said, and this is something that National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan said, this bill is important and we welcome the step and ongoing efforts to address the threat posed by certain technology services operating in the United States that put at risk Americans’ personal information and our broader national security including through the manipulation by foreign powers of Americans’ views and beliefs. The National Security advisor was very clear yesterday. Jake Sullivan, he said, “Do we want private data that Americans have to be here or in China? Do we want companies to be owned here or in China?” That was what he said, and I want to be also very clear here. This bill would not ban apps like TikTok, period.

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What it would do is to ensure that ownership, as I just stated, of these apps wouldn’t be in the hands of those who can exploit them or to do us harm. So it’s going to go through a process. We hope the Senate takes action and takes this up very quickly and we have said this before on every legislation that’s worked in Congress that we are involved in, we provide technical support and that’s what we did during the house process and we’re going to certainly do that during the Senate process. So just-

Karine, you’re okay with the bill as it stands, just to be clear?

We are going to provide technical support. Obviously it’s going to go to the Senate, so the Senate’s going to look at, they’re going to do their process, we’re going to support it in a technical way obviously, and look, we want to make sure that this bill ensures the threats we face is on the strongest possible legal footing. That’s also very important and so I’m not going to get ahead of any of those discussions from here, but we want to see the Senate take swift action.

Are you not concerned that doing this and for the president to be supporting this move could jeopardize the sort of fragile thaw in relations with China? You’ve worked really hard. You’ve sent a bunch of cabinet members to China. They’re going back again.

You just said they’re going back again. So we are going to continue working with our relationship with China. That’s not going to stop, but the president has always been clear. National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan has always been clear. When it comes to our national security, when it comes to data that’s coming from Americans, we’re always going to make sure that we’re addressing those threats that we face. And so that doesn’t stop that work and there’s going to be things with any country that we’re going to agree with on and there’s going to be disagreements and that’s why we continue to have these diplomatic relationships. That’s important.

On Haiti, Karine, let’s start with the 48-hour deadline that CARICOMP set up for transitional government. What happens if they bust to the deadline? And then also some of the criminal groups in Haiti would like a seat on that transitional council. Where does White House think they should sit?

So a couple of things on the first question. I know you talking about the 48 hour, right? And so look, we will let the Haitian people speak to their efforts and timelines. The National Security Advisor, again, Jake Sullivan said this yesterday, that Haitians should be able to choose their leaders and determine their future. So we have been clear, we remain committed to supporting Haitians and their efforts to create the transitional presidential council to restore security and to pave the way to free and fair elections, which is something that we believe is incredibly important here. Look, in that council, in that kind of proposal that they put forward, there is language in there, there’s a declaration, a CARICOM declaration that lays out who could join that council, so I will leave it there.

Karine, there’s been reporting that the president has serious concerns about the Nippon US steel deal. Do you know his thoughts about that deal?

I don’t have anything to share with you on that.

And a question on Poland. Obviously the president met with President Duda yesterday. What was his thoughts about his request for the NATO defense requirement to be raised from 2% to 3%?

So a couple of things. Obviously, it was an important bilateral meeting that he had with the Poland leaders and so let me just step back. At the Vilnius summit last summer, NATO allies agreed that spending more than 2% would be required to address shortfalls and respond to changing security dynamics. This year for the first time since the alliance creation, 19 NATO allies are set to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense spending, which is a sixfold increase since 2014. We expect that number to increase before the Washington Summit, and if you combine NATO’s European allies’ collective GDP, they will spend 2% of their collective GDP on defense. This is a major milestone and a clear demonstration that allies recognize the need to invest more in security following Putin’s reinvasion of Ukraine. We are confident allies will continue to dial up their defense investments to meet challenge. We will continue to encourage progress on this front and so I’ll just leave it there.

You said that you expect the number of NATO members who are reaching that 2% level to increase in time for the summit, which is just two months away. So what’s your target for how many NATO members will have that?

Different NATO members… I think what I just laid out is the increase that we have seen, which is important, especially as we’re seeing the reinvasion of Ukraine by Mr. Putin’s aggression. So I think it’s important that we are seeing it. I mean since 2014 we’ve seen an increase and I think that matters. I don’t have a target to lay out for you. Obviously we’re very hopeful that we’ll see more before the summit as you just stated, which is going to be two months from now.

Was the president briefed on the Putin interview and his comments about nuclear weapons and being ready to respond?

So the president certainly is aware. I can say that… Look, we understand that Mr. Putin was restating Russia’s nuclear doctrine. This was a question that he was asked, right? Nevertheless, Russia’s nuclear rhetoric has been reckless and irresponsible throughout this conflict. It is Russia that brutally invaded Ukraine without provocation or justification and we will continue to support Ukraine as they defend their people and their sovereign territory from Russian aggression. And so again-

On Gaza, what’s the administration’s position on Israel restricting access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month?

Say that one more time. What was last part?

The administration’s position on the Israeli government possibly restricting access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque during this holy month. And then does the president plan to meet with members of the Arab community on the ground on this trip?

Look, are you talking about in Wisconsin or in Michigan when you say on the ground?

I could go with either.

So Michigan is going to be a political trip, so I would refer you to the campaign, kind of just laid out what the president’s going to be doing in Wisconsin. I’ve not seen those reports that you just stated, so I can’t really speak to that, so I’m just going to leave it there.

Is the president concerned at all about the prospect of Aaron Rodgers joining the RFK Jr carving votes away? I mean he was a popular quarterback in Wisconsin for a long time.

Look, I’ll say this, I got to be careful. You’re asking me a question about upcoming election, obviously 2024, so don’t want to speak to that.

There are campaign events on this in Milwaukee.

I know. Yes, I know, there are campaign events. You’re absolutely right. They’re happening in Michigan and the campaign is running those events and so that particular question is for the campaign to speak to.

What’s your take away from the Robert Herr testimony yesterday?

It’s a case closed. You heard from my colleague yesterday, Ian Sams who is the spokesperson of White House counsel. I just don’t have anything else to add. The case is closed.

On Russia, I will have a follow-up. So you said Putin just repeated his nuclear posture. Does that mean there is no need for the United States to adjust its own assessment of threats?

So we have not seen any reasons to adjust our own nuclear posture, to your question, Aurelia nor any indication that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

And another Russia-related question, a close ally of Alexei Navalny was brutally assaulted in Lithuania. The Lithuanian authorities have accused Russia of being behind this aggression. Can you comment on this attack and do you share this assessment that Moscow might be responsible?

I want to make sure that I have the reporting correct, so I would have to just check in with our team at the National Security Council. I just want to be nice on you.

Yesterday, Josep Borrell from the EU said that Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war in Gaza. I know that you have worked to increase humanitarian aid. Do you agree that Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war and what can be done to accelerate the work? I know you’re building this bridge, but are there more airdrops planned? Are you providing assistance to the Jose Andres flotilla that’s going in?

So look, we have been very clear that it is important to increase the humanitarian aid going into Gaza. We’ve seen innocent Palestinian civilians needing important essentials, food, water, and medical assistance, and that is something that we want to make sure that we can get as much assistance in because there’s a humanitarian crisis, period, happening in Gaza, and so that’s why we’ve done the pier, that’s why we’re doing the airdrops. That’s why we’re doing everything that we can to get more trucks. That’s what we’re working with Israel to make sure that we are getting more humanitarian aid. We have said… The president has said that Israel needs to do more.

Why not condition the aid then?

We are doing everything that we can to get this hostage deal, right? It is important that we get this hostage deal so that, again, it would be accompanied by a temporary ceasefire, right? We have talked about this for six weeks so that we can get that humanitarian aid, so that we can make sure that we get those hostages home. There are about six American hostages. You heard National Security Advisor speak to this yesterday. We want to get them home and so we’re going to do everything we can to continue getting that hostage deal and that is a priority.

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24/7 you see this administration working on this, the president is focused on this. We believe by getting that done, the hope is to get to a longer, more permanent ceasefire. And so that is the work at hand and we are doing everything that we can. We are upping our efforts. You’ve seen us announce almost every week ways that we’re trying to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. You also have heard us not too long ago announce more humanitarian aid funding, the $53 million that came out of USAID. We’re taking every step that we can to do that. It is important that we get those essential needs to the people in Gaza, to the Palestinian people.

And on-

You said that… I’m sorry.

A Fulton County judge dismissed several charges against Donald Trump in the election interference case in Georgia. Any reaction to that? Is the White House concerned?

That’s not an ongoing case. Just not-

The White House usually comments on election integrity and protecting the vote.

Donald Trump, as you know, is a current candidate. I’m just not going to comment.

Can I ask you one more about the trip? There’s been a lot of polling and other suggestions since the State of the Union that he hasn’t really gotten a political bump from it. I think part of the reason why he is going to these states is to announce continuations basically of some of the priorities you talked about in the speech. Is there any fear that this isn’t going to break through, especially at these critical states?

Look, the State of the Union was successful, more than 30 million Americans watched, which is important, that they got to see the President of the United States talk about his vision and obviously how he sees the future of this country and how he’s going to build on the successes that he’s had the last three years. I think that’s important. We’ve heard that. We’ve seen people respond incredibly positive to it. The president barnstorming the country, if you will, going on trips after a State of the Union is not unusual. That is something that all presidents do. He wants to take that message that he delivered from that successful State of the Union and take it directly to the American people. That’s what he’s doing. And he also has said he wants to continue to build on his success. So that’s what this announcement is, $3.3 billion to make sure that we’re reconnecting communities in 40 states.

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That’s in 40 states. That’s huge. That’s huge when you think about how disproportionately the communities that are affected by these types of infrastructure… Projects that were done decades ago, they predominantly affect black and brown communities, low-income communities. So this is really important. This is something that we believe Americans want to see. As it relates to the polling, I’m going to answer your question, but I just want to preface it by saying that I’m going to be careful not going to speak to 2024. Here’s what I’ll say and looking backwards here. In 2022, we were told that there was going to be a red wave and it was the President’s policies that helped us be successful and there wasn’t a red wave, right? In 2023, we saw the same.

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Just about a month and a half ago or so, we saw New York Three. It’s a special election, the congressional election. We turned that from a red district into a blue district. Why? Because of the President’s policies and what he believes and what he believes the majority of Americans care about, whether it’s fighting for our democracy, whether it’s women’s healthcare, fighting for reproductive rights, whether it’s making sure that we’re working to get a bipartisan deal on the border, which is part of what New York Three was all about, that a bipartisan deal coming out of the Senate and making sure that the president showed leadership and actually met where majority of Americans are. So that’s kind of how we see things, right? It’s like people say, “Hey, this is how it’s going to turn out.” And then, look, the President’s policy continue to be popular and Democrats have done well in the past couple of years. So I’ll just leave it there.

You referenced this question about meeting with Muslim and Arab groups in Michigan to the campaign. But what the people in Michigan have said very loudly to the campaign is, “We don’t want to talk to the campaign. We want to talk to the policy people.” So the White House sent in policy people-

I was about to say we did. Thank you for saying that.

The President is the policymaker-in-chief. Does he have any plans to meet with the community there while he’s already in the state and engage? He said, a couple times now, “Let them speak,” when pro-Palestinian disruptions have occurred at events.

I was trying to figure out when the question was going to end. Sorry. So a couple of things. The President has had an opportunity to meet with leaders in the Muslim American community, Arab-American community, Palestinian American community obviously, and had a very good back and forth engagement too long ago. I think it is important about the President sending his White House officials, senior advisors, senior aides, to go into the communities to hear directly from them. They have had multiple conversations, multiple meetings, and we are engaging and that is important as well. I don’t have a meeting the president’s going to have with leaders of the community and another meeting obviously because he’s already had one with leaders of the community.

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I will say it is important, I think it is incredibly important that White House leadership, White House senior aides have been sent out there to meet with leaders of those communities to listen to their pain. We understand that this is an incredibly painful time for people and as you just stated, when there are disruptions or protest, the President always says, “Let them speak.” And we’re very clear. We think it’s important for people to peacefully protest, make sure that their voices are heard. That’s why the President has sent White House officials to listen and hear directly from them.

What about the members of the black community? I mean tomorrow we’re going to Serena Williams and Stevie Wonder’s hometown. Is he going to meet with any prominent members of those-

I will leave that to the campaign to speak to.

I just want to quickly follow up on NATO. It sounds like you said that the President supports increased defense spending, but will he specifically support the 3% threshold as a proposal?

So we certainly do not have any plans for changes to the Defense Investment Pledge at this time. What I was trying to say is we have seen an increase of countries and then obviously in NATO meeting their obligation of that 2%. And we think that’s a good thing, especially if you look at the increase since 2014. So that’s important.

On the $3.3 billion in investments, can you give us a timeline? How long would it take for those communities to really see the effect of those policies? Are we talking months, years?

I mean honestly, Aurelia, it’s going to be different for each community, right, how quickly it gets started and it’s going to be a process, but I think what’s important here is that this is incredibly important to reconnect communities, the communities that have been divided by an interstate because of projects that were put in place decades ago and it’s important. And again, as I mentioned, it’s disproportionately affected black communities, it’s disproportionately affected low-income communities, communities of color, and let’s not forget, what it takes away when you do that. It takes away healthcare, hospitals, it takes away jobs, it takes away schools. That’s what happens. And it creates an unfortunate scenario for communities. Now by doing this, by this $3.3 billion in 40 states, it’s going to help reconnect those communities so that their kids can feel safe, so that their kids can have access to schools and hospitals. And so I think it’s an important project. Obviously you’ll hear more from the president later today. As far as timelines, it’s going to be different for each community. So I can’t speak to cities and states and how quickly they’re going to move.

Just to clarify, you said the President has met recently with the Arab and Muslim groups. My understanding is that the one meeting that he had took place in November. That is not recently. Has there been a subsequent meeting? Sorry.

I mean everybody sees timelines differently. The point that I’m trying to make, whether it was in November or in December or in January, the point is the President did have a meeting with leaders of the different communities, the Muslim American, Arab American, and Palestinian Americans, that he did engage with them. It is important to note, I really want to reiterate this, it’s important to note that White House officials at the highest levels in the White House have had long extensive engagement with these communities to hear them out, to listen to them. And I think that’s important when the president does that, right? I think as you all know, we speak for the President of the United States me as a White House press secretary and obviously as someone who are a senior advisor or senior aide for the President. So that representation is important. And guess what? The President hears what is being said from these meetings. So that’s incredibly important.

Karine, to follow up on that, that meeting was before voters registering their opinions in the primary election. Shouldn’t he have another meeting with them? That’s one. Two, he’s met with other groups. How come this group is not getting a meeting with him, specifically?

He met with this group. What do you mean this group not getting a meeting with him? He did. He has met with the group.

Things have changed. I mean the president’s own words have changed. He’s using the word “ceasefire” now.

He’s been using that word “ceasefire,” to be very clear, since November. Let’s be very clear about that. So as we talk about language… Hold on a second. It does not change the fact that his White House officials, senior aides have had multiple engagement with those communities. That matters. And the president has met with leaders of those communities. So to say that he hasn’t, he actually has.

As regularly. But when he met with them, 30,000 people had not been.

Let’s not add that “as regularly.” He has done it and his White House official aides have been doing it on his behest because the President wants to make sure… His policy is to make sure the top level of the White House hear directly from the community. That matters. That matters. And I don’t want that to be the discounted as we go back and forth.

In this interview this weekend, the President was asked about red lines and he said, “Well, another 30,000 people shouldn’t be killed,” which seems to imply that it would be acceptable short of thirty-

No, I disagree with that. Look, I’m not going to rehash that. What I can say is the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, went back and forth with some of your colleagues in the briefing room about that, so I would certainly refer you to that, to what Jake Sullivan said yesterday. All right, guys.

Has the President had any contact with the UK about Kate Middleton?

I’ll say this-

Has he been briefed on the photograph?

I’ll say this. I have not spoken to the President about Kate Middleton. I will say. We certainly wish her a speedy recovery. She has asked for privacy. Her family has asked for privacy. And we’re certainly going to respect that. Thanks, guys.