Karine Jean-Pierre and NSA Jake Sullivan hold a press briefing on Air Force One.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, hello, I just have a couple things at the top and I'll hand it over to Jake Sullivan.
00:06Earlier today you all heard the president announce new executive actions to secure our
00:11southern border.
00:13These executive actions would bar migrants who cross our southern border unlawfully from
00:19receiving asylum and would be in effect when there are high levels of encounters at the
00:25southern border as is the case today.
00:28This will make it easier for immigration officers to remove those who do not have legal
00:33basis to remain in the United States and reduce the burden on our border patrol agents.
00:38As the president said, he would have preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation,
00:43but the obstruction of congressional Republicans left him no choice.
00:48And lastly, we are on our way, as you all know, to France where the president and the
00:51first lady will honor U.S. service members, their families, and their sacrifices to mark
00:56the 80th anniversary of the D-Day operation.
00:59And with that, I will turn it over to our National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to
01:03take it.
01:04Thanks, guys.
01:06Just to set the stage for the next few days, as Kareem just said, the president's on his
01:12way to help commemorate and celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day, of D-Day, of
01:18the landing at Normandy by the Allies, which paved the way to victory in World War II.
01:27He'll have the opportunity on Thursday to meet with veterans who participated in the
01:33D-Day landing and also to join fellow leaders in celebrating that anniversary and giving
01:39a speech that will talk about, against the backdrop of war in Europe today, the sacrifices
01:48that those heroes and those veterans made 80 years ago and how it's our obligation to
01:54continue their mission to fight for freedom.
01:57Then on Friday, he will return to Normandy to speak at Pointe du Hoc, which is a 100-foot
02:05tall cliff that Army Rangers scaled under gunfire to take fortified German positions.
02:12He'll talk about the stakes of that moment, an existential fight between dictatorship
02:20and freedom.
02:21He'll talk about the men who scaled those cliffs and how they put themselves behind,
02:28they put the country ahead of themselves.
02:31He'll talk about the dangers of isolationism and how if we back our dictators and fail
02:37to stand up to them, they keep going, and ultimately America and the world pays a greater
02:42price.
02:43And over the course of the two days, he'll really be drawing a through line from World
02:48War II, through the Cold War and the stand-up of the greatest military alliance the world
02:53has ever known, the NATO alliance, to today, where we face once again war in Europe, where
02:59NATO has rallied to defend freedom and sovereignty in Europe, where NATO has in fact expanded
03:07under President Biden's leadership, and we're all working together with the Coalition of
03:11Fifty Nations to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia's brutal aggression, where
03:16today in 2024, eight years later, we see dictators once again attempting to challenge the order,
03:22attempting to march in Europe, and that freedom-loving nations need to rally to stand against that
03:27as we have.
03:30While he's in Normandy, he'll have the opportunity to sit down with President Zelensky and have
03:34an engagement with him to talk about the state of play in Ukraine and how we can continue
03:40and deepen our support for Ukraine.
03:42He will also have an opportunity several days later to see President Zelensky again at the
03:47G7 in Italy.
03:49And then, as you saw, he has asked Vice President Harris to represent the United States at the
03:55peace summit in Switzerland, and I will accompany the Vice President on that trip.
04:00So in the course of a little more than a week, the President will have two substantive engagements
04:05with President Zelensky, and the Vice President will be there to stand behind Ukraine's
04:09vision of peace, which is rooted in the UN Charter and in the principles of sovereignty
04:13and territorial integrity.
04:15And it's a signal of the depth of our commitment to Ukraine at this vital moment.
04:20And this opportunity for the President Zelensky to sit down twice will really allow them to
04:24go deep on every aspect and every issue in the war.
04:28He'll also have the chance to see and engage with a number of other of our allied leaders
04:32who will be there, and then, of course, the trip will culminate with a state visit to
04:36France.
04:37Of course, we'll be in France all these days, but then it converts, it elevates into a state
04:42visit in Paris, where he'll have the opportunity for an extended discussion with President
04:47Macron on the entire breadth of our relationship, on the war in Ukraine, on the situation in
04:54the Middle East, on our expanding cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and on everything from
04:59the climate crisis to artificial intelligence to emerging technology to investments in resilient,
05:06secure supply chains and the clean energy transition.
05:08Just across the board, France is one of our oldest – is our oldest and one of our deepest
05:13allies, and this will be an important moment to affirm that alliance and also look to the
05:17future and what we have to accomplish together, both in the immediate term and in the longer
05:22term.
05:23So it's going to be an action-packed, I think, extremely moving and extremely important
05:30three days in France, with business, with speeches, and with an opportunity for him
05:38to say thank you directly to the veterans who saved democracy, saved the free world,
05:43and set the stage for the decades of peace and prosperity that followed.
05:46And with that, I'll take your questions.
05:47Can you confirm that Ukraine has used American-supplied weapons to attack Russian territory for the
05:55first time in the past – in recent days, and does this signal – and have you seen
06:01any impact of the President sort of elucidating the rules of engagement for the Ukrainians
06:05for the use of that armaments?
06:06Does that change your assessment of what can happen around Kharkiv?
06:11So we've been pretty consistent in letting the Ukrainians speak to their military operations,
06:15and I will not deviate from that tradition here.
06:18I'll let them speak to their use of American munitions.
06:21As you know, what the President authorized was common sense.
06:27Russian forces are firing at Ukraine from just across the border north of Kharkiv, and
06:34the President thought it was right that if Russian forces are hitting Ukraine from Russia
06:39into Ukraine, that Ukraine should have the right to hit back, including with American-made
06:43weapons.
06:44And so he authorized the use of weapons for that specific purpose.
06:49And I will leave it at that for now.
06:53Jake, President Macron is apparently considering sending French military trainers into Ukraine.
07:01Is that something that President Biden would consider as well, sending U.S. trainers into
07:05Ukraine?
07:06No.
07:07As we've said several times on the record, we're not planning to send U.S. military
07:11advisors or troops, trainers, to train Ukraine – train Ukrainians in Ukraine.
07:19I will point out that the United States has stood up a substantial training infrastructure
07:25in Germany.
07:27It has trained thousands of Ukrainian soldiers on Western-made equipment.
07:32We stand ready to continue and, in fact, expand that training.
07:36We have communicated that directly to the Ukrainians.
07:38And all of the training that we do is very closely coordinated with our allies and partners,
07:43many of whom have also conducted extensive training of Ukrainians outside of Ukraine
07:48and will continue to do so.
07:49We'll have the opportunity to speak with the French president and the French team on the
07:53ground about what they are thinking.
07:56And obviously, I'm not going to get ahead of any announcements they make.
07:58I'll just say that for our part, we're not planning for a training mission in Ukraine.
08:03Jake, a Hamas spokesperson this afternoon essentially rejected the ceasefire plan that
08:10President Biden laid out.
08:11He said they wouldn't agree to a plan until Israel laid out its terms for a permanent
08:15end to the war.
08:17How disappointing is that for you?
08:19And I wonder if we can circle back to last Friday.
08:23And the president seemed like there were some statements afterwards.
08:27It seemed like there was sort of an opening here for a deal, which was quickly closed.
08:31So were you all surprised with the quick rejection, both from Israel and Hamas, to this latest
08:36proposal?
08:37First of all, I take issue with the end of your question, where you said Israel rejected
08:43the proposal.
08:44The prime minister's own advisor went out publicly and said they accepted the proposal.
08:48They have reaffirmed that they have accepted the proposal.
08:51The proposal, as described by President Biden, is a proposal that Israel accepted before
08:56and continues to accept today.
08:58And the ball's in Hamas's court as to whether they're going to accept it or not.
09:02Now, we are waiting for a response from Hamas.
09:05You're going to hear a lot of things in the media, a lot of statements from a lot of different
09:09voices and a lot of different people.
09:11We will regard a formal response as one that gets conveyed to the Qataris, who were the
09:16ones who transmitted the proposal from the Israeli negotiators to Hamas.
09:22We have not gotten that yet.
09:23We're in not just daily, but hourly contact with the Qataris.
09:26If we hear anything, we'll let you know.
09:28But I will point this out.
09:29The president said in his speech not that Hamas had accepted the proposal, but that
09:34they should.
09:35So he acknowledged on Friday Hamas may choose that they think it's just better to let the
09:40war and the suffering and the violence continue.
09:43That wouldn't be terribly out of character for a vicious and brutal terrorist group.
09:49But what we hope they will do in the end is see that the best pathway to an end to this
09:55war, the return of all the hostages, a surge of humanitarian assistance, is to accept this
10:00proposal, which is a good proposal that the United States stands behind, that Israel has
10:04accepted, that the G7 has endorsed, that the Egyptians and Qataris have endorsed, and that
10:09much of the rest of the world has rallied to support.
10:12The onus is on Hamas, and it will remain on Hamas until we get a formal response from
10:16them.
10:17Staying on with Israel, Jake, and also this week's theme of lessons learned from the past,
10:22how does the U.S.'s own experience in trying to root out Iraq's Baathist Party, how does
10:29that inform your view of Israel's desire to politically and militarily destroy Hamas?
10:37Is there any daylight between Israel and Washington on this issue?
10:40Look, I've stood at the podium and said that our view is that the comprehensive defeat
10:45of terror in Gaza, including Hamas and other terrorist groups, requires military action,
10:51and we've seen military action, but it requires that military operation to be connected to
10:56a broader strategy.
10:58And what we would continue to encourage Israel to do is to have a comprehensive, holistic
11:05strategy, including for a day after in Gaza, that builds an alternative vision for the
11:11future of a stable Gaza that is not a platform for terror, where people are protected, where
11:21there is the capacity for the civilian population of Gaza to get the assistance and rebuilding
11:31that they so badly deserve and that the United States is prepared to participate in, as well
11:35as the Arab world and the rest of the world as well.
11:39So what we would like to see, ultimately, is a comprehensive, coherent strategy that
11:44connects military operations to a strategic endgame, and we will keep pressing and encouraging
11:51the Israelis to follow that course as we continue.
11:54Taking on Ukraine, if I may, a few weeks ago this administration gave a pretty dire assessment
12:00of Russia making gains, et cetera.
12:04Now that American weapons are coming again, now that Ukraine is able to strike on Russian
12:09soil, are you seeing the first impact?
12:11Is the dynamic changing on the battlefield?
12:15I'm very careful about making assessments like that because it's a dynamic situation
12:22and because, as I've said, Ukraine was in a deep hole due to the delay of the passage
12:29of the national security supplemental and the sending of substantial flows of weapons
12:33to them, and they've been digging out of that hole.
12:36We have seen them firm up the lines in key places.
12:40We have seen them withstand the Russian assault.
12:44So for example, north of Kharkiv, the Russians came hard across the line, advanced a few
12:50kilometers and the Ukrainians are standing their ground.
12:53They're standing their ground in critical parts of Donetsk as well, and they do have
12:58now the ammunition and other supplies that are necessary.
13:01But they need more too.
13:03As the president has said, President Zelensky, they need more air defense and we are working
13:06on that.
13:07And they need a continued flow of weaponry, which we are going to supply to them.
13:12So we will watch in the coming days, but we certainly have seen the fact that weapons
13:18arriving on the battlefield at scale and quantity in the last few days and weeks have made a
13:24difference, have made an impact.
13:26And we hope they will continue to do so and that ultimately it will allow Ukraine not
13:30just to hold the line, but to push back against the Russian forces that are currently menacing
13:35them.
13:36Jake, you talk at all about what Bill Burns is doing in Doha.
13:39Is he there to figure out the Israeli position?
13:42No, he is not in Doha to figure out the Israeli position.
13:46If he wanted to do that, he would go to Israel, but we know the Israeli position.
13:50You'll hear a lot of speeches, a lot of statements from a lot of different people.
13:53It's a raucous democracy.
13:54A lot of politicians in America make a lot of statements.
13:56At the end of the day, the Israeli position is quite simple.
14:00They have put it down on paper.
14:01It is written in words.
14:03Those words have been transmitted on paper to Hamas via Qatar.
14:08And now we are awaiting a Hamas response.
14:10So we have no doubt as to the Israeli position.
14:13The issue now is what will Hamas do?
14:18And Bill Burns is going to be in Doha consulting with the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed,
14:27as well as the Emir of Qatar, who President Biden spoke with yesterday, have had extensive
14:31discussions with Hamas.
14:34Bill Burns will be quite interested in hearing firsthand in person what the nature of those
14:38discussions was and where things go from here.
14:41Secretary Yellen has laid out a way to leverage some of the seized Russian assets to potentially
14:46help Ukraine.
14:47I would imagine that as the President is talking to President Macron on Saturday and with allies
14:52at the G7 a few days later, that finding some kind of additional security guarantees, additional
14:57assistance for Ukraine is going to be a big focus.
14:59Can you talk about where that discussion stands and where you expect it to go, whether there
15:04may be something deliverable by the end of the G7?
15:10This will be a substantial agenda item in the President's meeting with President Macron.
15:15It will be a topic of discussion on the margins of the celebrations at Normandy, because obviously
15:24the clock is ticking down to the G7, and we're going to make a big push to see if we can
15:28get clarity on a path forward over the course of the next several days.
15:32This is a priority for the United States.
15:34We believe it's a priority for the entire G7.
15:37We want to see every country come on board with a method by which we can mobilize resources
15:44for Ukraine at scale so that they are able to have what they need to be able to succeed
15:50in this war.
15:51We believe there is a path forward.
15:53President Biden has given clear direction to the team, including myself, Secretary Yellen,
15:59our G7 Sherpa team, and we're hard at work on this issue.
16:03We may have more to tell you after President and President Macron are able to speak, because
16:08these intensive discussions are ongoing now and it's something the two leaders will be
16:12able to discuss.
16:13I don't want to get into the details right now, because these are sensitive diplomatic
16:17discussions, but they are intense, ongoing, and this is at the top of our priority list.
16:22The point of the speech, the isolationism component you laid out, seems at least in
16:28part squarely aimed at the President's general election opponent, so I'm wondering if you
16:33can describe how much of that speech is going to be focused toward an international audience
16:37versus a domestic audience, and is he going to be calling out any isolationists by name?
16:43The point to Oc's speech is a speech about, in his view, timeless principles, principles
16:48that have served as the foundation of American security and American democracy for generations,
16:57including the generation that scaled those cliffs, including today's generation, including
17:01the next generation.
17:03So he's going to be speaking in terms of principles and values and lessons from history that are
17:10applicable today, and I will leave it at that and leave anything to the other nature
17:23of your question to others who are better able to speak to it than I am.
17:28I can tell you that as the National Security Advisor, I'm very proud of the message the
17:31President is going to carry, both in his Normandy remarks and at points to Oc.
17:35Also on that speech, there are some critics who feel that President Biden's ability to
17:41be a messenger on this is undermined by his support for what some people believe is an
17:46autocratic government in Israel.
17:48Do you feel that that will undermine his remarks at all, or what would your response be to that?
17:53Well, Israel is a raucous democracy.
17:57I think I used that phrase once before in this gaggle.
18:00I didn't know I was going to get to use it twice, but it's absolutely a raucous democracy
18:05with democratic debate playing out as we speak.
18:08120,000 people were in the street rallying for the release of hostages.
18:15Members of the sitting government are out debating one another in public, going back
18:20and forth.
18:21So I think the characterization at the heart of your question doesn't reflect how Israel's
18:27government or society works, or in our view will work going forward.
18:32I think the president has shown in the way that he has cultivated, nurtured, and elevated
18:37democratic values-based alliances in Europe and in the Asia-Pacific just how central a
18:43priority he places on rallying our democratic partners to stand up for the cause of freedom.
18:49And that's fundamentally what's at stake in Ukraine, but it's also at stake on the larger
18:53global stage as well.
18:54Staying on Israel, there's some escalating rhetoric from the Israelis about its northern
18:59border, potentially opening up a new – escalating tensions along the border with Hezbollah.
19:06What is the U.S. message to the Israeli government right now?
19:09Is it still trying to cool tensions down and restrain, or do you believe that the Israelis
19:14are ready to launch some sort of a larger-scale operation against Hezbollah now?
19:19President Biden touched on this in his speech on Friday, and what he said was straightforward.
19:24A ceasefire in Gaza can lead to a calm on the border between Israel and Lebanon and
19:30end to the exchanges of fire that have destabilized but beyond that have caused death and destruction
19:37on both sides of the border.
19:39That calm, then, we believe can be converted into an enduring platform of security where
19:47people can return safely to their homes and stay in their homes.
19:51And we have been engaging in robust diplomacy on that front, will continue to, but we believe
19:56that that path is available and it is the best path forward.
20:00I've seen some comments in the press in the last hours, last couple days.
20:05I haven't had an opportunity yet to dig into this deeply with my Israeli counterparts,
20:10so I won't speak more to that until I can talk to them directly about what their latest
20:13thinking is.
20:14On Taiwan, Jake, if I may.
20:17In his interview with Time, the President said, not for the first time, that he's not
20:22ruling out using U.S. military force in case China invades Taiwan.
20:27Is this a change of policy?
20:29Can you maybe explain what exactly he means by U.S. military force?
20:34Well, the President said in that very same interview, maybe even in the very same paragraph,
20:38that there's been no change in policy.
20:40The United States stands behind the one China policy, the Taiwan Communications Act, the
20:45Taiwan Relations Act, the three joint communiques, six assurances, and we will continue to do
20:52that.
20:53The President also is a straightforward person.
20:55He's been asked this hypothetical question.
20:57He's given a response, but he has been consistent and emphatic that our policy has not changed.
21:03Sticking with China, President Xi is calling for a Gaza peace summit.
21:07Do you think that's a good role for China to play?
21:09What would you like to see them do?
21:11And also, it's the 35th anniversary of the events in Tiananmen Square.
21:15What is the White House's message to freedom seekers in China and elsewhere?
21:20The Secretary of State will be, and probably already has, put out in a statement that lays
21:26out, I think, quite clearly where the Biden administration, the President, the United
21:33States stands on this important anniversary.
21:36I will let that statement speak for itself and for us.
21:41On the issue of President Xi's discussion of a Gaza peace summit, I don't know what
21:48he has in mind.
21:49I haven't heard any details or seen anything further from them.
21:52I would just say if the PRC is interested in bringing an end to the war in Gaza, they
21:57should sign up to the proposal sitting on the table, support it, endorse it, and call
22:03on Hamas to accept it.
22:04That would be probably the best way to get an end to the war in Gaza.
22:09It's there.
22:10It's available.
22:11It should be taken.
22:12And that's where every responsible country should be putting its attention and energy
22:16in this vital moment.
22:17Jake, on migration, the President's order today obviously depends on Mexico to take
22:22back those migrants who've been returned.
22:26Is the U.S. satisfied with Mexico's current commitment to do that?
22:29And I'm wondering, coming away from the discussion yesterday with the President-elect, if the
22:34President is confident that Xi will continue the policies that AMLO's government has with
22:39regard to migration.
22:42I'll leave it to the Mexican government to speak to what they are going to do on their
22:45policies.
22:46What I will say is the President had a very constructive conversation with the President-elect.
22:51He believes that they see eye to eye on the issue and that we can continue our good, close
22:55cooperation on it.
22:56And he also had the opportunity today to speak with President López Obrador, who of course
23:01is in office for another few months.
23:03They had a good, constructive conversation and the President believes they see eye to
23:06eye as well.
23:07And he's frankly grateful for the support and partnership we've had from the Mexican
23:11government.
23:12He expects that it will continue.
23:13Jake, just a question.
23:14The meeting with Zelensky, is that going to be Thursday or Friday?
23:19And then, any other...
23:21I don't see it in my mandate for supplying you with highly sensitive information like
23:26scheduling information.
23:28I will leave that to the powers that be.
23:33Any other pull-asides that we should be expecting?
23:35Not that I have to announce today, but as you all know, this is going to be an event
23:42attended by critical allies and partners.
23:45People with whom the President has close relationships and he will have the opportunity to engage
23:50them on a number of issues.
23:51And if anything comes out of that, your faithful servant, your obedient servant, will report
23:55it to you post-haste.
23:56Can I ask one last one with regard to the speech?
23:59Is the President worried about the rise of right-wing parties in Europe?
24:05And particularly with the history that we're commemorating with regard to D-Day, there
24:10are elections this week, probably we'll hear Macron.
24:14Is that something that weighs on him?
24:17Look, the President obviously doesn't wade into or speak to ongoing elections in Europe,
24:25including the upcoming European elections, which are set, in fact, for this Sunday.
24:30But he's made no bones about the fact that he believes that anti-democratic forces, forces
24:35that are retrograde, forces that want to take us back, strip away rights, have a darker
24:40vision for democracy than he has.
24:43That's not his view.
24:44That's not what he sees as the right path forward for the United States or for the transatlantic
24:49alliance.
24:51He's not going to comment on the election or on a specific party or on a specific candidate,
24:58because European voters will have to make those decisions for themselves.
25:01Jake, just on the moment that we're in now, though, with this trip to France, then the
25:05Ukraine peace summit, the G7, and then later the NATO summit, feels like we're in a critical
25:10stretch for world peace.
25:12What do you think needs to happen?
25:14Well, I think, first and foremost, Hamas needs to accept the proposal.
25:19That would help a great deal.
25:21That would help us end the war in Gaza.
25:23Second, I think that the free world, the nations that have rallied to support Ukraine, need
25:30to not just reaffirm but double down on that support, and that part of that involves us
25:35making sure that we're delivering the actual material, tangible capabilities Ukraine needs.
25:41And I think over the coming weeks, you can expect announcements of further deliveries
25:45of substantial capability to Ukraine.
25:48Third, I think we need to send a clear message to Putin that he cannot outlast us and that
25:55he cannot divide us.
25:57And we have been very good at holding the line on those two messages, and this is going
26:03to be a great opportunity over the coming weeks to put not just a period at the end
26:07of that sentence but an exclamation point.
26:11And then finally, we have to look at the larger set of trends and currents in the world,
26:19from artificial intelligence to the climate crisis, and see that these geopolitical challenges
26:24are vital and we need to get them right, but we also have to make sure that technology
26:32is working for us and not against us, that we are mobilizing common action to solve the
26:36great challenges of our time, like the climate crisis, and that democracy can deliver.
26:41And in these next six weeks, the President will try to put all that on display, and he'll
26:45draw from history to do it, as you'll see in these next two days.
26:48He'll draw from the present, and he'll also speak about the future, and in between all
26:54of your guys' fun and frivolity in Paris, you'll get some good moments on this trip.
27:01So I'll leave it at that.
27:02Thanks, Jake.
27:03Appreciate it.
27:04Thank you, Jake.
27:05Hi.
27:06Hi.
27:07All right.
27:08Can you talk a little bit about how the President has been following his son's criminal trial?
27:15Is he getting briefed by White House staff?
27:17Is he just consuming the news?
27:21Look, as you saw, and I spoke to this yesterday as well, you heard directly from the President
27:27talk about how much he and the First Lady love his son and support their son, and that
27:34continues, obviously, to be the case.
27:37I don't have anything beyond the statement that he shared with all of you, and so I'll
27:45just leave it there.
27:46Go ahead, Zeke.
27:47Do you know what?
27:48The President dropped the First Lady off at her own plane on the way to Air Force One.
27:53Is she going back to Wilmington to attend the trial for day three?
27:57I would have to refer you to the First Lady's office on her travel, or her travel.
28:03I just don't have anything for you at this time.
28:05On the executive order today, how concerned is the White House that it may face legal
28:10challenges, and how confident are you that it will withstand those challenges?
28:14Look, we're confident that it will withstand legal challenges.
28:18Look, I think we have to take a step back here.
28:22This is a situation, when you think about the immigration system, you think about the
28:25challenges at the border that has been ongoing for decades now, and the President—
28:33—that he wants to deal with this in a comprehensive way.
28:36He wanted to deal with it in a bipartisan way.
28:39That's why we're able to get that proposal coming out of the Senate.
28:42We saw what Republicans in the Senate did.
28:44They voted against their own interest, their own proposal that they put forward, their
28:50own legislation.
28:52And it's unfortunate that they chose—they're choosing political partisan.
28:56And the President has always said—I even said this in the gaggle yesterday, I've said
29:00this many times—that he was going to look at every option, evaluate every option to
29:05deal with a serious issue that we're seeing with a broken system.
29:09And so he took that on.
29:10We feel confident in the legal component of this, but the President's never going to stop
29:17to take action.
29:18Of course, he's going to continue to say that in order to actually deal with this immigration
29:23system, we have to have legislation, we have to have a bipartisan option here, we have
29:29to make sure that Congress does its job and pushes forward and deals with the challenges
29:35at the border with a legislation that he can sign.
29:40And the one that they rejected, the Senate Republicans rejected, would have been tougher,
29:44would have been fairer.
29:46And you know, we are in a situation where the President said he's going to take action,
29:50and he did.
29:51On the border, border numbers have been trending low this month compared to previous months.
29:56So why do the proclamation now?
30:00It's still unacceptable.
30:02What we're seeing is still unacceptable.
30:04And so the President decided to take action.
30:08And so, look, we understand, and you all have reported, the majority of Americans care about
30:13this issue.
30:14They care about the challenges at the border.
30:17And the President has always said he's going to take action, and he has.
30:21And you're right, the numbers have been trending down.
30:25But it's still not where it should be.
30:27It's still not, it doesn't mean that we still shouldn't take action.
30:30And that's what you heard from the President today.
30:32Can I ask about the South African election and just how the White House sees its future
30:37with Pretoria now that the ANC, which was such a bulwark, has lost so much ground?
30:44I mean, look, so we, obviously, we're going to wish all South Africans a peaceful and
30:51democratic – well, they had an electoral process, which they had.
30:57And look, we have a strong relationship with South Africa, and that relationship is going
31:04to continue based on the priorities our two governments and people share.
31:08For example, together we are addressing the impacts of climate change.
31:11You just heard Jake give a pretty eloquent response to your question and talked about
31:16the importance of that diplomacy around climate change, just as we think about the world globally,
31:23obviously, and collaborating on renewable energy, strengthening health security through
31:27a robust health agenda, and advancing regional peace and security, and growing our bilateral
31:32trade and building inclusive economic growth for all of our people.
31:37And South Africa stands as a vibrant democracy, and we look forward to continuing and strengthening
31:41our work together in the years ahead.
31:44And as two constitutional democracies, the partnership between South Africa and the United
31:49States remains an anchor for peace and prosperity in the world.
31:53And so, look, that's what we're going to continue to do, continue that diplomacy, continue
31:57that partnership.
31:59And I'll leave it to them to speak about their party and their – obviously, their relationship.
32:03Speaking on the mother continent, do we have any updates on Kenya's Haiti mission, any
32:07efforts that the U.S. is putting into –
32:09So I don't have any updates.
32:11I think when the Kenyans were here, obviously, for the state visit, they continued to reiterate
32:17their commitment to their mission in Haiti, and we've seen some progress.
32:23You've heard Canada make some announcement as well.
32:26And as you saw, there is an interim prime minister, so obviously, there is movement
32:31happening that we support here from the United States, and we want to make sure that the
32:37Haitian people have, obviously, security and they have the ability to elect their government.
32:47That's where we want to get to a place to, and so we're going to continue to support
32:50that effort.
32:51At the end of the president's speech today, he said he would be talking in the coming
32:55weeks about efforts to make a more just and fair immigration system.
32:59Can you give us more details on that?
33:01Is that like speeches about stuff he's already done or like more executive action?
33:05So I'm being mindful not to get ahead of the president on making any announcement about
33:09what could be next.
33:10Look, I think today was an incredibly important action.
33:13We have always said, as I stated earlier in one of my answers, that we are going to do
33:17everything that we can to deal with this immigration system that has been broken for decades, and
33:22that's what you saw the president do.
33:23We, of course, want to see Congress move forward with a bipartisan legislation, pass that out
33:29of the Senate, out of the House, to get that legislation to his desk so he can sign it.
33:34But the president's always going to look at every option on the table to make sure
33:39that we're dealing with this broken system.
33:41I'm not going to get ahead of the POTUS at this time.
33:43All right.
33:44Great.
33:45One last one for you.
33:46When the president is writing his speeches for Thursday and Friday, is he thinking at
33:50all about the service of his uncles in World War II and his personal connection?
33:55Should we expect any reference to his familial connection to the conflict?
33:59I think Jake did a really great job in laying out kind of the president's thinking on this
34:05speech on Thursday.
34:07And so I don't really have much more to add to that.
34:10I'm going to let the president give that speech.
34:12It's going to be an important moment, right?
34:13This is a commemorative moment.
34:16This is going to be an incredibly important trip with our allies and lifting up the veterans
34:21and what we were able to accomplish so many decades ago.
34:27But I don't have anything more to share on what Jake eloquently, also eloquently shared
34:31on how the president is thinking about the principles, about democracy, and how to move
34:36forward looking at history, but also how to move forward.
34:38And I think that's what you can expect from the speech on Thursday.
34:42Karine, on the president's decision on Sunday to go visit another cemetery in France, a
34:48cemetery that famously his predecessor didn't visit, what's the message behind that?
34:55What does he want to tell the American people?
34:57Why is it important to go to that place specifically?
34:59I mean, look, I would say stay tuned.
35:01You'll hear directly from the president.
35:04But look, he's not just the president, right?
35:06He's the commander in chief.
35:08He is someone who is very, very well situated in the history of this country, right, understands
35:17the importance of our allies and our partners.
35:19And I think that's what you see from this president day in and day out and respecting
35:23that history, respecting that partnership that we have.
35:27And so, look, I think the president's going to speak.
35:29He is.
35:30He's going to speak more to this.
35:31And so I'm just going to let him have the last word on this.
35:33All right.
35:34Thanks, everybody.
35:35All right.
35:36Enjoy.
35:37You too.