Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and John Kirby 12/14/23 Transcript

Here we go.

Good afternoon everyone.

Good afternoon. [inaudible 00:00:08].

So President Biden vowed to lower prescription drug costs for seniors and families and he’s delivering on that promise. Today the president will visit the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda Maryland to announce that dozens of pharmaceutical companies raise prices faster than inflation, triggering rebates to Medicare for outrageous, outrageous price hikes. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act that every single congressional Republican voted against, we’ve taken steps to cap the cost of insulin at $35 bucks for seniors, allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices and lock in $800 dollars per year in health insurance savings for 15 million Americans.

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The Biden-Harris administration is also continuing to use fair pricing clauses to keep prices low for new treatments created with taxpayer dollars. Our work is not done. President Biden remains focused on making sure families can access the medicine they need at affordable prices and you’ll hear directly from him shortly. Now today we remember the 26 souls who lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary 11 years ago. 20 1st graders were mercilessly gunned down with a weapon of war and six brave educators were also killed sacrificing their lives to protect their students. The president and the First Lady are praying for the moms and dads who lost their young children that day.

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For the family members and survivors in the Newtown Community, so many of them have courageously gone on to fight for change and end the gun violence ripping apart lives and communities. As the President said this morning, we should not live like this. This administration is doing everything it can to stop the epidemic of gun violence, but we need Congress to act. We need Congress to act. We need universal background checks. We need a national red flag law and we must ban assault weapons like the one used to kill these innocent children. Looking ahead to next week, I have two pieces of news to share.

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On Tuesday, December 19th, President Biden will travel to the National Cathedral here in Washington D.C. to deliver remarks paying tribute to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at her funeral service. Justice O’Connor dedicated her life to public service and a relentless pursuit to strengthen our democracy by finding common ground, reminding all Americans that there is far more that unites us than divides us. And on Wednesday, the President will travel to Milwaukee Wisconsin to discuss how Bidenomics is creating a small business boom, lowering costs for hardworking families and building an economy from the middle out and bottom up. He will also discuss how under this administration, Americans have filed a record 14.6 million new business applications including 178,000 in the state of Wisconsin. With that, the Admiral is back in the briefing room to give you an update on what’s happening in the Middle East and take some questions.

Afternoon, everybody.

Afternoon.

I think as you all know, national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, is in the Middle East for discussions about the conflict in Gaza. Since arriving, he’s had a chance to meet with Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, where they discussed a range of issues including work that was already underway between Saudi Arabia and the United States over recent months to work towards a sustainable peace between Israelis and the Palestinians, as well as to increase the flow of food, water, medicine, and fuel into Gaza. In Israel, Jake had the chance to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet. His message was consistent. The United States will continue to support Israel and its fight against Hamas, and we will continue to do everything we can to help broker another pause so that the remaining hostages can be reunited with their families.

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As I said yesterday, Yahya Sinwar and Hamas started this war. They can end it right now by letting those people go, by ordering their fighters to lay down their arms and by turning in everyone responsible for the October 7th attacks. Jake also discussed the next phase of Israel’s military campaign and he asked hard questions as we have been doing about what all that could look like. Of course, Jake also discussed efforts Israel’s now undertaking to be more surgical and precise in their targeting and efforts that they are taking to help increase the flow of aid. This is Jake’s second visit to Israel since the conflict began and it’s part of our ongoing engagement with both Israel and our regional partners. He’ll remain there tomorrow and we’ll provide more details and readouts of his meetings and engagements then.

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If I could turn to Ukraine. Today, Vladimir Putin in his annual press conference doubled down on his goal of conquering Ukraine and subjugating its people. Nearly 20 months after he launched his brutal and barbaric invasion, Mr. Putin said today that his aggression in Ukraine will not end and there will only be peace, “When our goals are achieved.” We all know what that means, but I sure hope that those House Republicans who have for months held hostage critical assistance to Ukraine heard Putin’s message loud and clear. Instead, they’re heading home for the holidays while Ukrainians are heading right back into the fight. They’ll face more shelling, more air attacks, more cold, dark nights, and just over the last 24 to 48 hours we’ve seen seen additional airstrikes by Russia on critical infrastructure and they’ll face more death and destruction to their families and their homeland.

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They need our help and they need it right now, not after the eggnog. If that’s not enough to move you or change your mind, think about our own interests here. We know that what happens in Ukraine doesn’t just happen to Ukraine. It’s no foreign war. Putin is challenging the very international order that we helped build. He’s challenging the UN Charter. He’s challenging the very notion of sovereignty. He’s challenging democracy itself. Russia seeks to remake the international order to create a world conducive to its highly personalized and repressive type of autocracy that would have profound effects on freedom and prosperity everywhere. So in short, we cannot afford not to help. Imagine the cost and blood and treasure, and the lives of our own troops and those of our NATO allies, if we just walked away from this effort, if we just let Putin take Ukraine, wipe it off the map as an independent country.

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As President Biden has said, we know from history that when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they just keep on going and make no mistake, Putin is not only one watching what’s going on here and how this plays out. Other nations, friend and foe alike, will certainly learn lessons from our ability here to stand up or our inability to stand up. Inaction is action too. It’s well past time for us to act in defense of our national security interests. Now just quickly, I think today you also saw we announced joint treasury and law enforcement actions against a notorious transnational criminal organization. Malas Mañas engaged in the smuggling of people and illicit fentanyl into the United States from Mexico. This is part of the administration’s ongoing efforts coordinated with the government of Mexico to tackle the global threat posed by the scourge of human smuggling and drug trafficking into the United States.

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Specifically, treasury-issued sanctions against this notorious transnational criminal organization and two human smugglers associated with this organization under the President’s 2021 Executive Order, which targets those involved in global illicit drug trade. Separately, the Department of Justice also unsealed a combination of human smuggling, money laundering and drug trafficking charges against five individuals including the head of Malas Mañas. Today’s actions of course, were based on a joint investigation by DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Thank you.

Gabe.

Admiral, Israel’s ministry of defense said that the war will last several more months or that it’ll take several more months to defeat Hamas. Does the US find that timeline acceptable?

It’s consistent with what they’ve been saying since almost the very beginning, that this could take some time and certainly they’ve talked about it in terms of months. There’s nothing new there. That’s very consistent with what they’ve been saying.

And then separately, a senior Israeli diplomat is saying that the country will not accept a two-state solution. That runs contrary to US policy. What’s your reaction to those comments?

We still adhere to the promise and the vision of a two-state solution. Nothing’s changed about our policy. I’ll let the Israelis speak for themselves. We still believe, The President still believes it’s not only possible it’s in the best interest of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.

But how is peace at all possible if the Israelis cannot accept that?

As I said yesterday, Gabe, a two-state solution may seem elusive right now. We’re not fooling ourselves. We know that everybody’s focused right now on the fight against Hamas, but it requires leadership, a two-state solution. It requires leadership on all sides here to be able to roll up their sleeves and do the right thing, not only for their people but for everybody in the region. The President is an optimist and he still believes that it’s the right answer, the right solution, and he still believes it’s achievable.

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Nobody thinks we’re going to pull a rabbit out of a hat here and get to it tomorrow, especially while they’re in a fight for their lives right now, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to give up on the efforts. And just one more thing and then I promise I’ll shut up. When he was in Riyadh, this was an idea. This notion was brought up by Jake with the Crown Prince and as you know, before October 7th, we were working towards normalization between those two countries and the indications that we’ve gotten from the Saudis that they’re still interested in pushing forward on that.

You said it requires leadership. Does it require more leadership on the part of Benjamin Netanyahu?

It requires leadership across the board.

Mackenzie.

Thanks. Following Gabe’s question, you mentioned the Israelis have been consistent about running additional months for this campaign. Is that acceptable now at this stage to the United States for this continue on for more? It’s been two plus months now.

I think, look, we all want it to end as soon as possible and as I said in my opening statement yesterday and today, it could end today if Sinwar did the right thing and just laid down his arms and surrendered and gave the hostages back. That doesn’t look likely right now, this war that Hamas started, and Israel has a right and responsibility to continue to conduct this war, to protect their people and to protect their nation. Again, how long that’s going to take I can’t predict, and we’re not dictating terms to the Israelis about how long it has to take. It has to take as long as they feel they need to take to be able to eliminate this threat. But obviously we all want it to be over as soon as possible.

The US decision in the last several months has been that in a post-war environment, that Gaza must be controlled by a revitalized Palestinian authority. What gives the US any sense that people of Gaza want the Palestinian authority involved in the Gaza Strip or even in the West Banks since the majority wants Abbas to go? Does Abbas need to go?

We believe that the Palestinian authority should be involved in the governance of Palestinian areas, including Gaza and that we believe that that’s best achieved through a reformed and revitalized Palestinian authority. We’re not, again, dictating who’s in charge, but we do believe that there needs to be a regional effort, a effort that we’re willing to participate in, to help the Palestinian authority become reformed in such a way that they can manifest themselves in terms of governance of Gaza.

Then lastly, yesterday you suggested that Jake was be talking about new humanitarian aid corridors in Gaza and you said you might have some news for us today as well if you have an update on that.

I don’t.

[inaudible 00:12:22].

Okay.

Just one more time on the timing here. I understand obviously you want this to end as soon as possible. Everyone does. But there are reports that Sullivan told Netanyahu that Israel has to end this current phase of fighting in weeks, not months. Is that part of the message that he’s delivering?

I’m not going to divulge private conversations that we’ve had and we’ll continue to have with the Israelis. Obviously, one of the things that Jake did talk to him about was progress in the war and where the Israelis think it’s going to go. He did talk about possible transitioning from what we would call high-intensity operations, which is what we’re seeing them do now, to lower-intensity operations sometime in the near future. But I don’t want to put a time stamp on it. I think you can understand that the last thing we’d want to do is telegraph to Hamas what they’re likely to face in coming weeks and months.

I know this came up yesterday, but I just want to be clear, does the administration agree that indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law?

If attacks obviously are not done with due concern to civilians, then obviously that’s a deep concern.

But you have stressed that the President speaks for American foreign policy, he has said that Israel is engaged in indiscriminate bombing in Gaza. So then wouldn’t it stand to reason that this is a violation?

I’ve answered that question I don’t know how many times yesterday. I have nothing more to add on that. The President was referring to concerns that he has and that we have, that we know the intent is there by the Israelis to limit civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, but sometimes the results don’t always come out that way. That’s what he was referring to.

But you keep stressing their intent, that it’s Israel’s intent to minimize civilian casualties, but that intention isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground right now by the President’s own admission. They’re bombing indiscriminately. So are you saying that their intent is somehow more important than the result?

Both are important. Obviously the most important thing is the results and outcomes, but it has to be driven by a sincere intent to limit civilian casualties. So both are important. Look, I don’t think it’s useful to revisit the whole discussion from yesterday because you’re not going to get a different answer out of me. We don’t want to see a single more innocent civilian killed or wounded. One is too many. We’ve said that over and over again and we’re working hard with the Israelis and Jake’s doing that right now, to get a better sense of what they can do, as I said in my opening statement, to be more surgical, to be more discriminant in their targeting. That’s important. At the same time, it’s important that they have the tools and capabilities they need to go after a truly genocidal threat represented by Sinwar and these Hamas terrorists.

You said that Jake was encouraging the Israelis to start transitioning from a high-intensity to lower-intensity operations in the near future. I know you don’t want to get into the timeline, but how would the US describe low-intensity operations?

I think that’s best left to our discussions with the Israelis and for the Israeli defense forces to describe. This is something that they have said they’re going to do and they’ll do it in their due course. But again, I don’t want to get into too much detail here from this particular podium about that.

And if they weren’t to transition into those lower-intensity operations in the coming weeks, would the US reconsider it support for Israel in this war?

That’s a great hypothetical. I’m not going to engage.

And then you also said that the US remains committed to trying to get back to the table to broker a potential pause to get these negotiations, to get hostages out, but the Israeli government called off a trip by the head of the Mossad to travel to Qatar to restart these hostage negotiations, the War Cabinet saying that they felt conditions are not right. Does the US agree with that assessment?

We’re still working by the hour to try to get a pause back in place so that hostages can get released. I’ll let the Israelis speak to their negotiators and where they are and what they’re going to focus on. I can tell you one of the things Jake’s doing in the region, if you need proof that we still want to see a pause, just look at where the National Security advisor is today. We are engaging at all levels to try to get that back in place and we still believe it’s possible.

Roger. Yeah, John, I just want to follow up on the West Bank violence. So 275 people have been killed there since October 7th, including 12 just over the last three days in Jenin. Are you worried about the violence that you’re seeing there and that it could escalate, that it could basically engulf and move the conflict from Gaza, the enclave in the south, to a broader region across the West Bank and potentially even including Palestinians inside of Israel?

Yes, and the president has from a very early time in this conflict talked about that exact concern, that exact worry. These numbers are troublesome as well, and we are deeply concerned about that and that is yet another thing that we continue to talk to our Israeli counterparts about.

So what exactly is the US plan to help these 2.7 million people that are displaced in Gaza right now? Nearly all of them have been forced from their homes. Winter is coming, it’s getting colder. There’s no food. People are-

That’s why even when the pause fell apart, we continued to urge for a flow of humanitarian aid and assistance that was about at that level. Now, we haven’t always reached it every day, but we’ve been trying very hard to keep that level of assistance up and we’re going to continue to do that. The United States literally is leading the international effort to get food, water, medicine and fuel into the people of Gaza and we know that as winter comes, that’s going to be even more important and we’re not going to lay off that task.

Can you air drop supplies then?

Air drops can be done, but-

Is there anything-

The best way to do it in Gaza, just because it’s so densely populated and so densely urban, the best and safest way to get it in there, in terms of volume as well, is through trucks.

Okay, and then just one quick question. Today there was an attack reported on a Maersk cargo ship. Do you know anything more about that? Can you give us any details?

I don’t have any details on that particular, are you talking about something in the Red Sea?

Yeah.

I’m not familiar with that particular attack.

Okay, J.J.

On the President’s phone call with Turkey and President Erdogan today, can you share any details about their discussion about Turkey’s request for the F16 fighter jets?

We’ll have a more detailed readout for you here shortly, I think. President appreciated the time that President Erdogan gave him. They certainly talked about a range of issues, including what’s going on in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. They talked about NATO and Sweden’s accession and I do believe just the general support for, again, we’ll wait for the readout, but certainly wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was also raised that we continue to support a modernization program for their F16s

On the defense budget. Are you worried that the extension of FISA, which gives the FBI the power to conduct warrantless spying, surveilling on our foreign citizens and Americans who they interact with, do you think Americans are also also at risk of being spied by the government?

Are you talking about 702?

Yeah, 702. Yeah.

Look, we have talked about this for quite some time. We believe that 702 gives us very important tools and capabilities to protect the American people by focusing on the collection of useful intelligence overseas. And that’s what it’s designed to do. And again, we’re watching what’s going on in the house. The House Intelligence Committee is put forward a full reauthorization of 702 that we think is worth looking at and we urge everybody in the house to look at it seriously. There’s some reforms in there that I think, as I said earlier, might be a little bit difficult for us to sign up to. But in general, 702, look, Zawahiri, right? The Colonial Pipeline. I could go on and on of things we were able to help improve our safety and security and to go after threats to that safety and security that 702 gave us. So it’s really important.

From your experience after 20 years of war in Afghanistan, fighting also ISIS, do you think that Israel is really going to dismantle Hamas with US cooperation?

Our own experience tells us that if you can go after the leadership of a terrorist network, and this isn’t just a terrorist network, it’s also a military organization as well, that you can have a very significant effect on their ability to plan, train, resource, recruit, retain, and execute attacks. We saw that with ISIS. We saw that with Al-Qaeda. So the idea of going after their leaders make sound military sense. Now, are you going to eliminate the ideology? Probably not. ISIS still exists in Iraq and Syria and Al-Qaeda still exists in places, although they’ve metastasized somewhat. Both groups are radically diminished in terms of their ability to threaten our national security because we focused so much on their leadership, so it can have a profound effect.

Patsy.

Thank you, Karine. John, you told me yesterday that a future governance in Gaza must exclude Hamas, requires reform in the Palestinian authority and represent the Palestinian people. Can you explain what the administration believes to be Israel’s role in supporting this, especially if one is to believe allegations that Prime Minister Netanyahu has been working to divide leadership in the Palestinian people essentially by choking the Palestinian authority, while also supporting Hamas by allowing foreign funds to be received by them?

I don’t think I can really improve upon what I said yesterday. We believe that whatever governance in Gaza looks like, it’s got to meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people. We know Hamas does not represent the vast majority of the Palestinian people. And so what we believe, as I said earlier, is that the best way to get at that kind of governance is through reformed and a revitalized Palestinian authority, which Secretary Blinken has spoken to quite well that we’re going to continue to work on.

Do you believe that Israel has a role in that?

Of course, Israel would have a role in helping us move towards that outcome as well as other regional partners and Arab states in the region as well.

And on Jake’s visit, with him meeting the Saudis and the administration saying that normalization between Saudi and Israel will bring the goal of a two-state solution together, can you break that down for me please? How does that work in the current post October 7 reality?

Again, Patsy, we know that a two-state solution right now is going to seem elusive to a lot of folks. We understand that given what’s going on since the 7th of October, but that doesn’t mean you give up on it. And in his meetings in Riyadh, one of the things Jake talked about with the Crown Prince was the idea of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This is an idea we had been pushing forward before the 7th of October, and we have indications that the Saudis are still interested in having that conversation going forward. That’s a positive thing. Are we going to get there tomorrow? No, of course not, but that’s, as I said yesterday, it’s an important milestone to perhaps getting to a viable two-state solution.

And one last one please. The Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has called on the Biden administration to respond to reports that the Israeli military has shot women, children and babies in quote “execution style” after they sought refuge in a school in Gaza. Is there any truth to those claims?

I have no indication to verify those accusations.

Just take you to two other parts of the world real quick. In that Marathon news conference, Vladimir Putin said that Moscow and Washington are in fact in contact over the fates of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, which is different than what has been said by you and others here about the request to get them back being rebuffed. He said, “We have not refused to return our Wall Street Journal colleagues.” So what is the status of talks between the US and Russia in terms of those two?

Well, he’s right that we continue to talk to Moscow about getting Evan and Paul home where they belong, that those discussions are ongoing and they’re ongoing actively, I’m not going to detail them from here. He’s absolutely wrong that his government did not rebuff a serious proposal. There was one put forward and they rebuffed it. He’s just wrong, flat-out.

One other thing in this hemisphere. How is the White House monitoring today’s talks between Venezuela and Guyana over what could become a minor land war in South America?

There’s no reason for it to ever get to that point, Ed. We’re watching that very, very closely. We know that the history here goes back to the late-1890s here and an arbitration that was done to set that boundary. We believe that arbitral award should be respected. We don’t want to see this come to blows. There’s no reason for it to, and our diplomats are engaged in real time on this.

Is there anyone down there for those talks?

I don’t know that we were participating in the talks, but our existing diplomatic structure down there is involved.

Janice.

Thanks. John, if I can go back to the Middle East, you said that the administration has made it very clear to the Israeli government about the need to limit, minimize civilian casualties. Is it your sense that the Israeli government is heeding that advice and can you give us some clarification on how you make that assessment?

We talked about this a little bit yesterday. Happy to revisit it. We have seen them be receptive to those messages. We have seen them act on those messages in terms of the scope and scale of the ground force that they used to go into North Gaza, much reduced than what they had originally planned. We saw them beginning to rely less on airstrikes and because they’ve got troops inserted and when you have troops inserted on the ground, you are able to target in a more precise way. You also take a higher risk to your forces. They lost 10 of their soldiers a day or two ago, largest loss in a single day. So there’s a risk to your forces when you do that. And we’ve also seen them, as I’ve said before, telegraph their punches a little bit by publishing a map online in Southern Gaza where people can go and where they can’t go.

(26:46)
They’ve also opened up humanitarian corridors from the north to the south, again, at our urging. That doesn’t come without risk as well. And by the way, they agreed to a week-long pause in the fighting, a week-long pause that saw no civilian casualties because there wasn’t fighting going on. And of course that week-long pause potentially allowed Hamas to regroup, re-equip, restore themselves. So they are taking steps. Jake’s message to them is obviously gratitude for the steps they’re taking, but also to continue to urge them to take more because we want to see them be more precise, more surgical, more deliberate, more cautious going forward.

In the back. Go ahead.

Admiral, I’m wondering if you can explain to us why the administration is slow walking, the transfer of rifles, M4s, M16s made in the US to Israel.

I would have to refer you to the State Department to speak to that. That’s their purview.

John, why would somebody around here leak that the Vice President is upset with the President about Gaza?

And that’s a great question because if I could answer a question why somebody would leak, that would make me pretty smart and a lot smarter than I am. Just give me a second here. You’ve seen us officially and on the record, not in a leak, refute the basic premise of the story that there’s some sort of daylight between the Vice President and the President. I found the headline of the story interesting that the Vice President is pushing the White House to, you fill in the blank, XYZ. Last I looked, the Vice President is part of the White House. She’s part of the team, and if she wasn’t offering her advice and counsel to the president on innumerable issues, that would be a story. Her job is to provide advice and counsel to the president.

So she does want President Biden to show more concern publicly for humanitarian damage then, in Gaza.

We have, I think we’ve already pushed back on the premise of the story that there’s some sort of daylight between her and the president. I would say that the entire leadership team here in the administration, Peter wants to see no civilian casualties, wants to see the Israelis be more surgical, more precise, wants to see that humanitarian aid is increased into Gaza. And obviously as the Vice President has said herself, we all want to make sure that Israel has the tools and capabilities they need to defend themselves.

Is President Biden okay?

Yes, he is.

That’s good. That’s a big story for us. Is the President okay-

And only.

… that people from the Vice President’s team are going to the press with this?

The President is comfortable and confident that in Vice President Harris he has a real teammate, and a significant leader who understands the foreign policy direction that he’s trying to take this country and our leadership on the world stage and is candid, forthright, educated, smart, and willing to tell him exactly what she thinks. I’m not going to talk about what her advice and counsel is to the president. I would just tell you that the entire leadership team here all understands the importance of making sure Israel is more precise, more cautious, and more deliberate in their targeting, even as we are sure and certain that Israel continues to need our security assistance and support to go after Hamas.

Go ahead, Nadia.

Thank you Karine. CNN is reporting that according to US intelligence assessment that nearly half of the Israeli munition dropped on Gaza are imprecise, what they call a dump bomb. Does this support what the President said yesterday that the Israelis are using indiscriminate bombing in Gaza? What’s your reaction to that?

I cannot confirm the reporting on that, I’d refer you to the Israeli defense forces to talk about the types of munitions.

But this is [inaudible 00:30:51].

I would refer you to the Israeli defense forces to speak to the types of munitions that they’re dropping and the strikes that they’re conducting. I have said, I don’t know how many times here, I’m not going to armchair quarterback every single strike and every single attack that they conduct.

Another question you just said that this war can end if Hamas lay down their arms. Hamas political wing in Qatar indicated today that they will be willing to be part of the PA to end the war. Is this acceptable to the US?

What needs to happen to end the war today is the conditions I just laid out, and there’s three of them and they’re not that difficult. Lay down your arms, turn over those who are responsible for the October 7th attacks and give up all the hostages. Three simple things and this thing can be over. It could be over today.

[inaudible 00:31:35].

Thank you. I have two quick questions. First, I wanted to follow up on your comments about the Palestinian authority remaining in governance. I’m just curious, as Congress puts together an aid package for Ukraine in Israel, does the President want to see the Taylor Force Act remain in effect or is he open to US aid going directly to the Palestinian Authority there?

You’re going to have to refresh my memory on what the Taylor Force Act is.

Taylor Force Act prohibits direct funding to the Palestinian Authority so long as their policy of sending aid to the families of deceased terrorists is in effect.

Look, this is all part of what we believe should be a reformed and revitalized Palestinian authority so that they can be credibly and authentically in charge of governance over Palestinian Territories.

And then second question, any comment on Argentinian President Malay’s proposal to dollarize their economy there? Is that something that the White House welcomes?

I’ll take the question. Don’t have an answer for you.

Thanks sir.

Going to wrap it up [inaudible 00:32:44].

Thanks, Karine. Thanks, Admiral. On Ukraine, the European Union has just agreed to open membership talks for Ukraine. I just wondered if you’ve got any reaction to that. And also does that mean that Europe might ultimately be a more reliable partner than the United States at the moment, given the current problems of supplemental funding?

Europe is already a very reliable partner to Ukraine and we would fully expect that that will continue. There’s been terrific unanimity with our European allies about supporting Ukraine. The EU can speak to their decision-making here in terms of inviting Ukraine or not. I’ll let them talk about that. That’s not something that we would comment on. We are focused on making sure Ukraine, as I said at the top, has what it needs, particularly in these tough winter months. Or also, there was just a conference here last week over at Commerce working on making sure that long-term Ukraine has an ability to both develop a more resilient organic defense industry and a defense industrial base as well as tap into the defense industrial base of the United States and some of our European partners so that there’s long-term, that they can meet their own long-term security commitments. And the last thing I’ll say is here we’re also working with President Zelenskyy, as you saw this week, on his idea for a just peace and what that has to look like and operationalizing that with nations around the world.

[inaudible 00:34:00].

All right, last question.

On Ukraine, there’s a small working group on Capitol Hill, Senators Lankford, Sinema, and Murphy say that they’re making some progress when it comes to the dispute at the heart of what’s going on on Capitol Hill, which is over changes in border policy. They say they’re making progress. This may or may not, of course end up extending their time here in Washington before they go home for the holidays. But just having them say they’re making progress, is that enough to start the ball rolling and to assuage some of the concerns that the US isn’t doing anything?

Is just saying they’re making progress enough to get the ball rolling?

In terms of assuaging the concerns about the international community that is watching and trying to follow the US lead regarding aid to Ukraine.

I think what will be most effective to that end is actually getting a deal done. And we certainly wouldn’t dispute the senator’s take that there’s progress and we’re going to continue to engage again in good faith in these negotiations. I’m obviously not going to get into the details from the podium, but the processes moving forward and that’s a good thing. But what really will send a strong message, not just to our allies, but to Mr. Putin who just today said he still wants to wipe Ukraine off the map, is actually getting the funding to support Ukraine. And yes, we recognize that that requires compromise and discussions over border policy as well as border security and the President and his team were willing to engage in those discussions. Thanks.

Thanks Admiral.

[inaudible 00:35:36].

Thank you.

Have a right to defense.

Okay. Go ahead.

Thanks, Karine. I heard from Kirby minutes ago, hear that colorful line, they need our help right now, not after the eggnog. I’m just wondering-

Is that wrong?

So the White House is trying to camp the pressure on congressional Republicans, it seems. Why do you think that’s an effective strategy? And given that you’re saying that the Hill’s not doing enough, can you talk about what the President himself is actually doing, because we haven’t seen him too much?

So look, as you know, the President has been in regular contact, regular touch, and he said this with congressional leaders from both sides, from the Republican and Democratic side of the leadership.

[inaudible 00:36:17].

I’m sorry?

Has he talked to the speaker?

I’m not going to get into specifically who he’s called.

[inaudible 00:36:23].

But obviously congressional leaders, right from the Republican side and also the Democratic side, both parties. And as you know, staff has also been on the Hill. Our staff, his staff has been also on the Hill negotiating on his behalf, and they met on Tuesday, they met again on yesterday. And we believe it’s going in a productive place. We believe it’s heading in the right direction. We believe that that conversations, that fact that it’s continuing, its encouraging and we’re seeing progress. And that’s because obviously, of the President, we believe continuing to certainly negotiate, have those conversations. And this is a president who knows how to negotiate. We’ve seen him do it multiple times over the past, almost three years in this administration, being able to negotiate across the aisle and working on legislation, making things happen on behalf of the American people.

(37:12)
Look, it’s going in the right way. We understand that we have to find a bipartisan compromise to get this done. And we’re talking about the policy side of it and the funding side of it as we talk about the border in relation to the border. And so we’re going to continue to have those conversations. It continues on the Senate side. You heard us talk about how, and The Speaker said this himself, how they’re going to go on vacation. They’re going to go on vacation while the Senate side continues to work, and that’s not delivering for the American people when you go on vacation and go on Christmas recess.

So you mentioned the President’s negotiating. How is he a part of these negotiations? Is he personally evaluating proposals [inaudible 00:37:58]?

He’s in regular touch with Congressional leaders. Don’t have any specifics. Not going to negotiate from here. Obviously his staff has been on the Hill, Tuesday and yesterday, having those conversations on behalf of this president, negotiating on behalf of this president. And so that’s where we are. It is going in the right direction we believe, because those conversations continue and that’s what matters as we talk about the border security and moving forward with making sure we get the supplemental done.

Going in the right direction, does that mean that a deal gets done when?

I don’t have a timeline on the deal. Obviously we needed to get it done before the end of this year. That’s our timeline here, but I don’t have a specifics on if it’s going to happen tomorrow, the next day, we just know it’s going in the right direction. That’s what matters. Okay, J.J.

All those Ukraine border deal negotiations, what is your message to those democratic lawmakers and immigration activists who are worried that the White House is giving up too much in these negotiations?

So look, we’ve been in constant communication with Democrats and obviously the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. I know that they have put some concerns out there or been very clear about their thoughts, don’t have anything to read out on those conversations. Look, here’s what the president believes. He believes we need to fix what’s happening with the broken immigration system. He believes that that needs to get done, that needs to get fixed, and he’s willing to find a bipartisan compromise to get that done.

(39:28)
And that’s the direction and that’s the path that we’re taking to try to figure out how do we fix this broken immigration system, something that he has been really talking about since day one with his comprehensive immigration legislation that he put forth. And so that’s the direction this conversation is going in. How do we find a bipartisan compromise to get this done as we talk about the policy and the funding as it relates to border security. Got it.

Thanks Karine. I want to ask you about inflation. So you mentioned the price of eggs, milk and gas are down over the past year, but what do you say to Americans who are looking at the month that President Biden came into office, eggs are up 24%, milk is up 17%, all types of gas is up 37% and the prices overall are up 17%.

The president actually spoke to this not too long ago, I believe on Tuesday actually, just a couple days ago, and he says we know there’s more work to be done and that things are still unaffordable. And so while the prices, as you just mentioned, of eggs and gas and milk and toys and TVs are down, especially in this time as we’re headed into a holiday season, as we’re in a holiday season, there’s more work to be done. And that’s important. That’s why we’re fighting to lower insulin. That’s why we talk about junk fees and how we can save Americans money. That’s why we continue to talk about health insurance premiums. That’s why the President’s going to make announcement about what we were able to do with one of the provisions that’s in the Inflation Reduction Act that only Democrats voted for, not Republicans, in order for seniors to get rebates on their Medicare.

(41:00)
So all of those things are truly important and so that’s why he’s doing everything that he can to do that. And you have Republicans on the other side of the aisle who are talking about cutting taxes for the wealthy, big corporations who are talking about cutting social security, Medicare, Medicaid. So the president’s going to continue to fight for the American people, continue to make sure they have a little bit of breathing room. Is there more work to be done? Absolutely. But we have seen some prices go down in all of the products that I just listed. We have. There’s still more work to be done and we’re going to continue to do that work.

But I want to ask you about the transition.

And that matters, right? It matters that we’re not in-

Well, [inaudible 00:41:39] your office’s policy.

Wait, it matters. Let’s not forget what has been happening almost two years now, right? Putin, right? Putin’s war.

That was a year into the president’s administration.

But that has caused inflation, that has caused prices to go up. And so the president took action to make sure gas prices went down, which they have. And we are coming out of this pandemic. So all of those things have been part of where inflation is, but inflation is moderating. The President’s going to continue to make sure that we lower cost and lower prices on those goods that you just listed out.

I want to ask you about the transition. The White House is asking today to speed up the transition to Force Electric. And one of the things they announced is the federal employees would take the train, it’s 250 miles. There’s a list of things. I’m wondering if the President is thinking about making the Beast Electric.

So that’s certainly a question for GSA and Secret Service obviously, but we are committed to boosting public and private access to electric vehicles. And today’s announcement would save taxpayer dollars and help tackle the climate crisis. But as it relates to the Beast, that’s something for GSA and Secret Service to speak to.

So the cabinet members would take the train?

That, again, I would refer you to GSA and also the Secret Service as it relates to the Beast and any other questions? Go ahead, Zola.

I know you’ve said ledge affairs in different parts of the White House are involved in the negotiations on the Hill, but who’s the highest ranking White House official that’s physically on Capitol Hill?

Look, you’re talking about the OMB director, right? Shalanda Young, who’s been in this briefing room multiple times, having conversations with members on the Hill. Talk about OLA, Office of Ledge Affairs. You have Shalonza, who runs that. You talk about the President’s senior advisors. There have been a lot of people involved and all of those folks have the trust in the president to get this done and to do these negotiations. Remember, we have done negotiations multiple times here and have gotten things done for the American people and many times in a bipartisan way. So that’s important, that the president has a team that he trusts that has done this before in the past two years, even more, and getting these bipartisan kind of conversation compromises done. And so he entrusts in that whole entire team to get that done. And sometime it’s Jake Sullivan, sometimes it’s Shalonda Young has obviously been involved in this more consistently and OLA and others, but that’s how it works. We work as a team, we work as a unit to get things done on behalf of the American people.

Has his chief of staff been in the room on the Capitol Hill release?

Look, I’m not going to start listing names, but obviously his senior advisors have been very, very involved in this and the chief of staff. Yes, I can say the chief of staff has been involved, but again, he has a team of folks who have been a critical component of getting this done and having these conversations.

Just to clarify, he’s been on Capitol Hill?

Look, not everybody’s been on Capitol Hill. People have picked up the phone, have conversations, members of leadership in Congress call on this side wanting to talk to maybe the chief of staff and others who are part of the President’s team. And so conversations certainly have been had. I don’t have a list of who’s been back and forth from here to the Hill. So it’s been, again, this is the President’s team who has done this many times before on negotiating and finding compromise, especially on important issues that matter to the American people. Go ahead, Karen.

Thanks. Two questions if I can. How concerned is the White House that there seems to be very little movement on appropriations bills and that when lawmakers get back into town after the holiday recess, that first funding deadline of January 19th will be very quickly approaching?

So look, let’s not forget that that deal that was made as we’re talking about finding, negotiating and the President’s team being able to deliver and working with congressional members on the Hill, one thing that we want to be real clear, House Republicans should respect that bipartisan budget agreement that was made. This is two-thirds of House Republicans voted on that bill and it got bipartisan support obviously from the house and from the Senate, and it is now law. It is something that they passed it out of the House, out of the Senate, the President signed it into law and it is the law of the land. It is still in effect. So that should be honored and that certainly they should abide by that full agreement.

Second question. This is a local story, but a pretty big local story. Does the White House have any reaction to the possible move of two professional sports teams, the Wizards and the Capitals, and what that might mean for the revitalization of downtown D.C. after COVID?

So I’m going to be very careful. They’re private organizations, so don’t want to comment on a private organization. But what I can say more broadly, and I know you all are aware of this, that the White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients, sent a memo to Cabinet secretaries earlier this year on the importance of returning to the office. So I’ll let D.C. government speak to its plans for downtown, but the White House has called for federal agency to aggressively execute plans to return to work and to obviously return to the office. So that’s how we’ve done our part here on the federal government. But as it relates to private organization, I’m just not going to comment on their decisions here. Okay.

Karine, there’s an interesting problem brewing in Maine where the IRS has reversed its position in terms of taxing an energy subsidy that was paid to people in the state. It’s not a huge amount of money, but it is really a frustration for the people there who are angry about what they say is a switch in position in the IRS. Have you had any contact with Maine about this, or is there you could say?

Certainly I would refer you to the IRS on that particular question. I saw some of the reporting. I haven’t had a chance to talk to the team about this particular situation in Maine, so I’d have to go back to the team and ask them that question. But in the meantime, I would certainly refer you to the IRS on this.

Okay. And then I just have a question on this ongoing question about inflation and how Americans feel about prices. This year, the Biden administration made a big effort to push Bidenomics and go out into the country. Do you anticipate doing more of that to try to hammer home this message? And is there, especially in some of the bigger categories, rental, is there anything that you can do in addition to what’s already being done to just alleviate pressure for Americans feeling the sustained brunt of this crisis? So inflation is coming down.

It’s moderating.

But prices are still high.

Yeah, yeah.

Across the board.

I totally understand that. That’s why the President said himself, things are still unaffordable, right? That’s what he said just recently, just a couple days ago on Tuesday, and he said he’s going to continue to do the work to make sure that we lower cost for the American people, which he has done. We’ve talked about gas prices, we’ve talked about the products that people, whether it’s a grocery store or a TV or what have you, to make sure that costs go down. We talked about junk fees where he’s going to talk about these rebate as it relates to Medicare and Inflation Reduction Act is so important in that vein and the things that it’s been able to do to lower cost. Look, as it relates to Bidenomics, the President, I just announced at the top of the briefing, he’s going to go to Milwaukee.

(48:57)
He’s going to talk about Bidenomics investing in America, what Bidenomics has done for the American people coming out of the pandemic. We can’t forget what happened when the president walked in. We saw literally the economy at a tailspin. And so the president has been working every day to get the economy back on its feet, make sure that we’re building a middle class from the bottom up, middle out. And that’s what you’ve seen him do. And the data shows, as you just mentioned in your question, inflation is moderating and you see jobs created at more than 14 million jobs. Unemployment is at under 4%. All of those things is part of Bidenomics, and you will certainly hear the president talk more about that over the next couple months as we finish out certainly the year. Go ahead, Steven.

Question on Ukraine and then one on impeachment inquiry. On Ukraine, President Zelenskyy told Speaker Johnson that additional US funding wasn’t so urgent, that it could perhaps wait another month or two. The White House has been communicating this is a much more urgent matter. Could you explain the disconnect?

I don’t think there’s a disconnect. We’ve said by the end of the year we would be in a place where we wouldn’t be able to help Ukraine. We would be running out of funds. I talked about this. I think Karen asked me a question about how much of the funding is left. I talked about it being about a billion dollars left. We are in a place where if we don’t get that supplemental, we will not be able to help Ukraine in the way that we have for almost two years as they are defending their country, defending their democracy, defending against Putin’s aggression.

(50:30)
And you heard the Admiral talk about, lay into what Putin said today and how he wants to basically wipe off the map Ukraine. And we cannot allow that. We have to be part of making sure that Ukraine is able to fight for their democracy. So we have some funds left, not much. And we really need that supplemental. That’s why we call it an emergency National Security Supplemental because we need it. Ukraine needs it. They need to continue to defend their country and fight against tyranny.

The impeachment inquiry, the House of Representatives voted last night to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry that started in September. For a lot of people at home who only view this in very broad strokes, could you explain to people why the President interacted with so many of his relatives who weren’t associates and why he continues to deny any interaction? How should people think about this?

Well, let’s be very clear here, and I talked about this yesterday and I’ll talk about it a little bit more, and the president put out a statement yesterday that was very clear. What we’re seeing from House Republicans is wasted time and it is certainly baseless political stunt. That’s what we’re seeing. And they’re leaving, House Republicans are leaving this week to go enjoy a nice holiday as most Americans should. But what happened to the funding to Ukraine? You just asked me about Ukraine. They haven’t been able to get that done.

(51:57)
They haven’t been able to help us fix what’s going on at the border. They haven’t been able to get that done. They haven’t been able to start a conversation on how we’re going to avert a shutdown in January. They haven’t been able to do that. And so look, there’s been zero evidence, zero evidence. You can ask me about engagement and what the President has done with his family in conversation. But there’s no evidence.

Well, but there’s [inaudible 00:52:20]-

Wait, wait. But there’s no evidence. There is no evidence that the President has done wrongdoing. There’s none. Absolutely none. None. And that is just a fact. You’ve heard it from Republicans themselves, so they’re wasting their time. Instead of doing the work on behalf of the American people, they go after the President’s family, but that’s a waste of time.

Is there an easy way to counter the central message though, that the President interacted with associates and has been lying about it since [inaudible 00:52:52]-

The President is not lying about anything as it relates to what House Republicans are trying to do. It is baseless. It is a political stunt and it has not proven that the President has done anything wrong, anything wrong. And so they are wasting their time. They’re wasting the American people’s time. And what they should be doing is the things that I just listed. They’re going to go home, but they haven’t taken care of what we need to make sure that we are helping Ukraine. There’s going to be potentially a shutdown next month. They have done nothing to avert that shutdown. Go ahead.

A few things. Just to follow up on, you mentioned the concerns of the Hispanic Caucus and some other groups. Have they now been contacted by White House officials and let into the ongoing conversations?

We’ve been in touch with them. That’s what I can say is we’ve heard their concerns. We’ve had conversations, we’ve been in regular touch. I’m not going to go into details about the conversation.

A few other things. You keep mentioning how the house has left town. Would the president consider postponing any Christmas vacation plans of his own if there’s no deal in Ukraine?

We’re hoping that a deal is done. I can’t talk about changes in the President’s schedule. We still have a week left before that happens. We know that the conversation is going well, it’s going in the right direction. We believe, we’re encouraged by that. The President’s team was on the Hill yesterday and also Tuesday. And so that’s encouraging. That’s encouraging, and that’s what we’re going to focus on. I just don’t have anything, we don’t have anything to share on the President’s schedule. He’s going to go, as you know, to Milwaukee on Wednesday and on Tuesday He’s going to go to the National Cathedral to give some words on behalf of Sandra Day O’Connor.

As we near the end of the year, just traditional presidential things, should we anticipate a year-end news conference?

He just did a press conference.

He had a co-star.

We got a co-star.

He took two questions.

He two questions? No, he took more than two questions. There were four, There were two plus two.

For American press.

Okay for American press. Look guys-

We’re a needy bunch.

You said it, not I, Ed. Look, he did a two plus two on Tuesday. Gosh, the week is going by really fast, on Tuesday with President Zelenskyy. You heard the President speak very passionately and an important way about the way forward with the foreign policy. How he wants to move. Certainly wants to make sure we continue to aid Ukraine. I don’t have anything else to add about an end-of-the-year press conference, but the president’s going to travel as you know on Wednesday. You’re going to hear from him today and so you’ll continue to hear from him before the end of the year, certainly.

What about pardons and commutations?

Oh, that’s a good question. I don’t have anything on that, but that is a good question. I know that tends to happen.

[inaudible 00:55:36].

All right. Okay, go ahead. Last question.

Just to follow up on inflation. Housing costs have continued to go up significantly, even as we’ve seen other prices moderate. I know that obviously you said there’s more to do, but what specifically can the White House do policy-wise here to make it easier for people to afford rent, much less ever have a hope of buying a home?

No, it’s a good question and you’re right. There are Americans who are very much still having a very hard time as it relates to housing, paying their bills. And so what we have done is, as you know, very early on in this administration, we put forth a housing plan, affordability plan that we believe is going to try to get some of these families to get over those hurdles. And we’re talking about thousands of families and we still need to do a lot more work on this, but we certainly have put forth a plan to make sure that we address some of the concerns.

(56:38)
And that’s why lowering cost the announcement today, the announcements that we’ve made on junk fees, the announcements that we have made on lowering costs when it comes to gas or eggs and products like that and TVs, are all important for Americans. But you’re right, there’s still more work to be done. The President has said this. We put forth, like I said, a plan to reduce mortgage insurance premiums, for example, to make sure that student loan borrowers qualify for mortgages. That’s a really important.

The Fed bucks too from here, but in terms of people’s perception of the economy, of Bidenomics, how much of a factor do you feel like where the Fed is setting interest rates, plays into that? And would it help [inaudible 00:57:21]?

I’m going to be really careful because even speaking on that is speaking on the Fed. It is as you know an independent agency, going to be super mindful on that. They make their own monetary policies, so I’m just not going to speak to that. But obviously we certainly understand that there’s more work to be done in lowering costs, but I’m not going to speak to the Fed’s monetary policy. Thanks guys.

[inaudible 00:57:44] Thank you.