President Joe Biden.
Live update of Joe Biden press conference can be accessed below.
NewsOne Nigeria reports that President Joe Biden held his first news conference since taking office more than two months ago. The high-profile event came as his administration grapples with the pandemic, a struggling economy, a border surge and new threats from North Korea.
President Joe Biden said Thursday that North Korea is the top foreign policy issue facing the United States, echoing former President Barack Obama’s warning to ex-President Donald Trump before he took office.
The comments at Biden’s first formal press conference since he was inaugurated came after North Korea conducted short-range missile tests last weekend. On Thursday, North Korea also tested its first ballistic missiles since Biden took office.
Biden said that North Korea’s tests violated U.N. Resolution 1718 and that the U.S. is talking with allies and partners. He warned that there will be “responses” if North Korea escalates, but signaled he was open to diplomacy.
“We will respond accordingly,” Biden said Thursday. “But I’m also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization.”
President Joe Biden on Thursday said he’s in negotiations with Mexico and hopes to get it to accept back all migrant families arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Biden said it is his administration’s goal to only allow unaccompanied minors arriving at the border to remain in the U.S.
President Joe Biden said Thursday that he “can’t picture” having U.S. troops still in Afghanistan next year, but acknowledged that they may not all be out of the country by the May 1 deadline set by his predecessor.
“I can’t picture that being the case,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question about whether troops will be there a year from now.
President Joe Biden on Thursday said he expects to run for reelection in 2024 with Vice President Kamala Harris on the ticket.
“The answer is yes, my plan is to run for reelection,” Biden said at his first presidential news conference. “That’s my expectation.”
When asked about the potential for another Biden-Harris ticket, Biden praised Harris for the work she’s done so far.
“I would fully expect that to be the case,” he said. “She’s doing a great job. She’s a great partner.”