As Marine One was waiting and a rainstorm was approaching, President Biden stopped and took many questions from the press on Monday, May 29, 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n\n\n\n
2:40 P.M. EDT
Q Mr. President, give us an update on the debt ceiling deal. Are you confident it\u2019ll pass Congress?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, you know I never say I\u2019m confident what the Congress is going to do. But I feel very good about it. I’ve spoken with a number of the members. I spoke to McConnell. I spoke to a whole bunch of people. And it feels good. We\u2019ll see when the vote starts.
And, look, one of the things that I hear some of you guys saying is, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t Biden say what a good deal it is?\u201d Why would Biden say what a good deal it is before the vote? You think that\u2019s going to help me get it passed? No. That’s why you guys don\u2019t bargain very well.
Anyway.
Q Mr. President, what\u2019s your message to \u2013
Q Mr. President \u2013
THE PRESIDENT: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So that’s number one.
Number two, I spoke to Erdo\u011fan and congratulated Erdo\u011fan. And he — he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden, so let\u2019s get that done. And so we’ll be back in touch with one another. But I — it was basically a congratulatory call.
And \u2013
Q S- —
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q Sir, what\u2019s your message to House Democrats who have reservations about this compromise bill?
THE PRESIDENT: \u201cTalk to me.\u201d
Q And what would you tell them?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m not going to tell you.
Q Why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: Look, you guys all get on and say, \u201cTell them what a good deal it is.\u201d How about — how about if this was 100 percent deal for the Democrats? Do you think it would help me get it passed?
Q Well, who got the better deal?
THE PRESIDENT: Wai- — do you think it\u2019s going to help me get it passed? Come on.
Q Mr. President, who got the better deal?
Q What do you think of the way that the 2024 Republican field is shaking out?
THE PRESIDENT: I haven\u2019t been able to keep up with it. (Laughs.) It\u2019s moving so quickly. And, you know, I’m not being facetious; I\u2019m being very serious. I haven\u2019t focused on it that much. It seems to have a lot of competent candidates who are trying to get the nomination. So we’ll see.
Q Will you whip votes yourself among Democrats and progressives? Will you make personal contact or leave that to the Hill?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I\u2019ve made some calls already.
Q To who, Mr. President? Have you talked to Congresswoman Jayapal? And do you think you can get progressives on board?
THE PRESIDENT: The answer is: I don\u2019t know. I have a good relationship with Jayapal. I haven\u2019t had a chance to speak to her yet.
Q Who got the better deal? Who got the better deal — Democrats or Republicans?
THE PRESDEINT: It\u2019s a bipartisan deal.
Q Will this be done by June 5th?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yes.
Q No question?
THE PRESIDENT: Well — you guys are — you guys — you realize you\u2019re not in the real world. \u201cNo question.\u201d There is no reason why it shouldn\u2019t get done by the 5th. I\u2019m confident that we\u2019ll get a vote in both houses. And we\u2019ll see.
Q (Inaudible.) Russia is doubling down its attacks on Kyiv. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m not —<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q Do you have any reaction as to (inaudible) attacks on Kyiv today? They attacked three times today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: I\u2019m sorry, I don\u2019t understand the question. I can\u2019t — I apologize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q Russia is doubling down —<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: Russia is doubling down —<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q — on attacks on Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q Do you have any reaction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: It\u2019s not unexpected. And that\u2019s — it\u2019s just pure — it\u2019s not unexpected. That\u2019s why we got to continue to give Ukraine all that it needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q Are you expecting any movement on Sweden\u2019s membership in NATO on Erdo\u011fan\u2019s part?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: I raised that issue with him. We\u2019re going to talk more about it next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q Is it time for aid package for Ukraine? Aid package for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE PRESIDENT: That\u2019s still in play.
Q Mr. President, on defense spending, some of the — some Republicans are saying that this deal does not raise — does not give the Pentagon enough money. Can you guarantee that America\u2019s fighting force is going to have what it needs for the next couple years?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, whatever the fighting force needs, if there\u2019s another — first of all, they passed my budget, what I asked for in defense. They passed that. Obviously, if there’s any existential need for additional funding, I have no doubt we\u2019d be able to get it because we\u2019d jointly do it.
All right, thanks, everyone.
Q Does the U.S. have any (inaudible) to Uganda?
THE PRESIDENT: I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m having trouble hearing you.
Q On Uganda, sir — any message to the people of Uganda?
THE PRESIDENT: Not right now, no. I think I heard the question.
Don\u2019t get your feet dirty, man.
All right?
Q I got one. Did you see that Ron DeSantis said that if he became President, he would pardon Trump? Where are you on the idea of presidents pardoning Trump?
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs and waves.) (Inaudible.) It\u2019s a great question. Thank you.
2:45 P.M.<\/p>\n
As Marine One was waiting and a rainstorm was approaching, President Biden stopped and took many questions from the press on Monday, May 29, 2023. 2:40 P.M. EDT Q Mr. President, give us an update on the debt ceiling deal. Are you confident it\u2019ll pass Congress? THE PRESIDENT: Look, you know I never say I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biden","category-marine-one","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/DSC06282-scaled.jpg?v=1685449673","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2389,"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375\/revisions\/2389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tacdar.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}