Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

3:17 P.M. EST

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good afternoon, everyone.

Q Good afternoon.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay.

So, this afternoon, President Biden welcomed the president of Indonesia to the White House. The two leaders commemorated 7- - 75 years of diplomatic relations and discussed global challenges, including Gaza and the South China Sea.

As the world's second- and third-largest democracies, the United States and Indonesia share a commitment to addressing evolving challenges and capitalizing on emerging opportunities.

The leaders also discussed sustainable approaches to food security, clean energy, democracy and pluralism, regional peace and stability, and people-to-people ties, as well as advancing our cooperation in humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

And earlier today, President Biden also welcomed President Herzog of Israel to the Oval Office. You heard from the president himself: His commitment to Israel's security is ironclad, and our two countries share a deep friendship.

We will have a readout later today on their meeting.

And with that, Will, you want to kick us off?

Q Terrific. Thank you. Yeah. I have two questions. Will President Biden meet with President Xi during APEC or the G20?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Don't have anything to share with you at this time. We certainly will have more to share on the details of his visit in - to Peru and also Brazil. As you all know, we're leaving on Thursday. We'll have more to share. And as we normally do, we will have a press - press calls for all of you to get some details on - on the trip - on the - one of his final OCONUS trips, as you all know.

But I don't have anything to share on - on a phone call with President Xi or a meeting with President Xi.

Q Okay. On another topic, why does President Biden feel compelled to - to invite President-elect Trump to the White House and continue a tradition that -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - wasn't followed four years ago? Is it possible that the politics in this country have sort of evolved past the norms?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, I - that's an easy question to answer, honestly, when it comes to why President Biden is doing this: because he believes in the norms, he believes in our institution, he believes in the peaceful transfer of power.

You s- - you heard him speak to this directly just last week when he was in the Rose Garden two days after the American people made the - their decision on this election. And it is important to him.

It is important not just because it's important to him, but it's important to the American people. He said the American people deserve this. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power. They deserve a smooth trans- - transition. And that's what you're going to see.

He reached out to President-elect Trump and asked for a meeting for - for them to meet in the Oval Office. You're going to see that tomorrow. That is what is the norm. That is what is supposed to happen. And, also, that's what the American people deserve.

Go ahead, Karen.

Q Thanks, Karine. Thirty days ago, the administration put a timeline on Israel to get more aid into Gaza. Yesterday, Secretary Blinken met with Israel's minister of strategic affairs to talk about the steps that Israel has taken to improve the situation inside Gaza.

But today, there are multiple international aid agencies that say that Israel has failed to address the concerns and that the situation is even more dire than a month ago. Does the administration think that Israel has taken enough steps, or do you agree with these aid organizations and their assessments?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, a couple of things. Let me just take a look back at the last 30 days. Israel has taken steps to address the measures laid out in the - in that letter from the two secretaries - Secretaries Bli- - Blinken and - and, also, Austin - and we are in a discussion with the Israelis about both the important steps Israel has taken as a result of the United States' intervention, as well as additional steps that needed - need to be taken.

So, those conversations continue. Those discussions continue. And we - the United States is indeed the largest provider of humanitarian assistant [assistance] to the Palestinian people.

And so, we wa- - - we are going to continue to do everything that we can to surge humanitarian assis- - assistance in Gaza. We understand how important it is. And to your - in your question, we understand how dire that is.

So, ultimately, the long-term solution here to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza is bringing an end to this war. And so, we're going to try and work very hard to continuing - to achieving, certainly, that goal.

And so, that is certainly continuing to be a priority for us as we talk about what's happening in the region.

Q Is the administration, is the president satisfied with those steps, though, that Israel has taken over these past 30 days?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I -

Q Is it enough?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I - I did say that they have taken steps, and those discussions continue, because we need more. We certainly need more aid to - to be surged into - into Gaza.

So, there's more work to be done. But we have seen, certainly, some improvement. And, again, we are going to do everything that we can - the United States. We are, indeed, the largest provider of humanitarian aid, humanitarian assistance into Gaza to relieve the pain of the Palestinian people and what we're seeing. And you're right, it is dire, but those discussions continue. And we're going to be laser focused on that.

Q And if I could just do one more on the meeting tomorrow. Can you just tell us: What are the top issues that the president is bringing to the agenda tomorrow, how long you anticipate the meeting lasting? Is he having senior staff there? Like, what - what's this going to look like tomorrow?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, President-elect Trump is coming to the White House because the president invited him as part of this transfer - peaceful transfer of power. There's going to be a pool spray at the top in the Oval Office before the meeting commences. And so, you all and some of your colleagues will certainly have an opportunity to hear from - or to - to see that, to - to see the two of them sitting down together.

I don't have anything beyond that. I don't have an agenda to share. It's a - you know, we try to keep these - certainly, these types of priv- - conversations private. And just don't have anything beyond that to share.

This is part of the process. When we talk about peaceful transfer of power, this is what you're seeing. It's kind of the beginning of that - when you see the current president and the president who's coming in sitting down in the Oval Office and having a discussion.

Don't have any details to share at this time.

Go ahead.

Q Thanks, Karine. Can you confirm whether or not Mrs. Trump has accepted Dr. Biden's invitation to come to the White House as well?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Don't have any updates - or we don't have any scheduling updates to give. I would certainly reach out to the Trump transition team to get more clarity on that - on that question.

I just don't have anything to share at this time.

Q Okay. And can you say whether President Biden is pleased with how the transition is going so far?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, what the president is committed to doing is making sure that this transition is effective, efficient. And he's doing that because it is the norm, yes, but also the right thing to do for the American people. That's what they deserve.

We're going to have a meeting tomorrow - they're going to have a meeting tomorrow. And certainly, that will continue. As you know, Chief of Staff Jeff Zients has been pretty - pretty open and available to the Trump transition team and will continue to do so.

We want this to go well. We want this to - to be - to be a process that gets the job done, if you will. And so, look, it's - it's certainly - we're going to do everything that we can. The president trusts his team to get that done and - and do it the best way possible. And that is our commitment.

Q And then -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That's what I can speak to.

Q - just lastly, are there areas that this White House or - or President Biden's administration are trying to shore up or protect from a Trump administration perhaps trying to push back or - or pull back on some of the legislative and other executive order and other gains that - that the president is proud of?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, no, I - I appreciate the question. Certainly don't have any policy announcements or anything like that to speak to.

What I can say more broadly, if you - if you will, is say that, look, more - more broadly, the president's legislation is helping all Americans across the country. And what we would say is that we saw what happened when Republicans in Congress tried to repeal, for example, the ACA, Affordable Care Act. They tried to do it more than 50 times. It was something that they were so laser-focused on.

And meanwhile, the ACA - the Affordable Care Act - was incredibly popular - became more and more popular. And under this administration, we expanded the Affordable Care Act so that more - millions more Americans could get that benefit, get that care that they so much - so very much needed.

And so - and we can't forget that if you think about beating Big Pharma, if you think about lowering costs, if you think about CHIPS and Science Act, those policies are overwhelmingly popular.

And so, I think if they were to try to do that - Republicans in Congress would try to do that in the next Congress, the country would speak out. They would make themselves ver- - speak out really loud and clear about taking away legislation, obviously, that are now laws that are helping the American people.

Whether it's creating good-paying jobs; whether it is attacking climate change in a way that is going to be effective - the most progressive climate change legislation that the president was able to get done; making sure that Medicare is able to negotiate to lower costs - all these things matter to the American people - are incredibly popular.

And they've tried to - to repeal that and go after that. I think the American people have something to say about it.

Go ahead, M.J.

Q Thanks, Karine. Just one more on tomorrow.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.

Q Do you know if President Biden has a message that he would like to convey either to the former president or the American people, just given the -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - unique setting we're talking about?

And just in terms of the choreography tomorrow -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - do you know if the former president will go to the sticks?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Will he be free to roam?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.) So, I would leave it to - (laughs) - "free to roam." I would leave it, certainly, to Trump's transition on whatever engagement that he'll have with all of you. I - I - you know, that's up to - certainly up to - up to him.

And - and I do appreciate the question, because he has a very clear message to the American people. And not to sound like a broken record, but this is indeed true. He wants to show the American people that the system works - right? - to st- -to trust on the institution; to trust that the norms are - do matter here; to trust that he is showing, by leadership, what a transition - a peaceful transition looks like - an efficient - hopefully an efficient, effective transition looks like, a smooth transition looks like. And that is the message.

When you all - when - when you all come in, when the pool comes in tomorrow and does a pool spray, that's what they're going to see, right? They're going to see these two - one president-elect and the current president sitting down and doing what is the norm.

And that - if you know Joe Biden - right? - if you know Joe Biden from following him in the Senate and - and as vice president, certainly the last almost four years, he cares about that. He cares about our democracy. And that's the message that he hopes resonates with the American people tomorrow.

Q And separately, the families of the American hostages are in town.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Should they, at this point, have any reason to hope that their loved ones will be released before the president's term is up?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, the president is committed to continuing to do the work to get families home, to get all of the - I'm sorry, "families" - the hostages home, including American hostages, obviously - all of the hostages. And that is his commitment to the families.

As - as you just stated, the families are here. They met with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan this afternoon. They've had regular engagement and meetings with Jake Sullivan but also many other members of the team here. And, you know, we're going to continue to work - do the work to get the deal done.

And, if anything, there's more to - there's more of an imperative to get that done, right? We want to make sure that we get them - get their fam- - their - get their loved ones home. And so, that is our commitment. It doesn't change at all. If - we are continuing to be eager to get that done and working around the clock, as we have for this past more than a year now - more than 400 days.

And so, it doesn't stop our commitment. It doesn't stop us from trying to get that done.

Q And y- - you said he's committed to doing the work and, you know -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. Continuing to do the work, yeah.

Q - and the White House is working around the clock.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q What does "doing the work" right now look like? What is "working around the clock"?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Trying to find ways that we can get to a deal, right? As you know, Qatar is very much involved. Egypt is very much involved. They're doing their part of the negotiations. And we want to pursue - and we believe there's a number of ways, a numbers of init- - initiatives to secure that hostage deal, to release those hostages. And we're going to work through it. We're going to do that work.

And that's what we can say is our commitment and will continue - has been our commitment and continue to do so.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Francesca.

Q Thanks, Karine. I know you don't want to get too far ahead of the conversation, but I did want to point to something that Jake Sullivan said over the weekend.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q He said that President Biden would "have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to Congress and the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine." So, is foreign policy going to be on the agenda for tomorrow? Ukraine, specifically? Israel's war with Hamas?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm not going to get into the details of what's going to be discussed tomorrow. That's not something I'm going to get into here. But, look, you heard from the national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, our commitment to Ukraine. I mean, that is something that we have showed for almost - what? - three years since the - Russia's aggression into Ukraine.

And you saw the president's leadership - global leadership on this, when you think about making NATO stronger, when you think about the partners and the alliances that he's been able to bring together. More than 50 countries have gotten behind Ukraine. And continuing - we talked about this on September 29th when we w- - talked about surging aid into a - security assistance aid into - for Ukraine so that they are able to beat back Russia's aggression.

So, you've seen our commitment. We've been very clear. We don't even need to say that privately because we've been very public about that.

And getting to - just went back and forth about making sure that we get a hostage deal and - so that we can get hostages home - all hostages home who have been held by Hamas.

And let's not forget Lebanon. We want to make sure that we get to a deal there too. And we're negotiating there - that negotia- - those negotiations continue.

And so, our commitment has been very clear. And our global leadership, this president's global leadership has also been very - very prominent, if you will, on the global stage.

Q And does the White House have any concerns about the number of foreign leaders who have been in conversation with the incoming president, even as President Biden heads to the G20 in the next few days, as well as Lima?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, here's the thing, he's the president-elect. Every president-elect receives calls from world leaders, takes calls from world leaders, has calls from world leaders. It is not unusual.

I don't have a comment beyond that. Any specifics or details, that's something for the Trump - Trump transition
to speak to.

Go ahead, Will.

Q Just briefly, a follow-up. Is the president - is he receptive of what the Israelis are doing to push humanitarian aid, or is he happy with what they're doing now?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I - I mean, there's no - I don't have a different answer for you to what I was asked by Karen. We are having those discussions. We've seen some improvement over the last 30 days. We want to see more, because there are dire - there is a dire situation happening in Gaza. Also, the U.S. has been leading in getting humanitarian aid.

And so, those discussions continue. We want to see more, and we're going to continue to have those discussions.

Q And just briefly, on Haiti. With the situation there, do you have any statement or reaction to what's going on there with the violence and those being - being targeted (inaudible)?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. So, look, we're certainly - as it relates to the commercial flight very recently, the gun - the gun shots that were reported - so, we're certainly concerned about the increase of violence in Haiti.

And as it relates to commercial flights and what occurred there, the airport, Toussaint Louverture Airport, is - operations are temporary close until November 18th. And so, certainly, the airlines could speak more to that.

But we are definitely certainly concerned by the increase of violence. And we'll continue to work with - as you know, there's a - a new prime minister that was named and recognized by the - the TPC, the Trans- - Transitional Presidential Council. And so - and so, we're going to continue to - to work with them and - and, hopefully, we can get to a better place.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Peter.

Q Thank you, Karine. Did President Biden invite Vice President Harris to this meeting with Donald Trump tomorrow?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: This is a meeting with the - with the president and the president-elect. This is the norm - that the incoming president and the current president sit down in the Oval Office and have a discussion. And that's how - that's what you're going to see tomorrow - is the norm - what we - what we normally would see when we are talking about a peaceful transition of power.

Q President Biden says that he's not going to pardon his son Hunter. Is he going to ask Donald Trump to do that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything else to share about that. I'm not going to get - go down a rabbit hole on this.
Q Okay.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I've been very clear, the president has been very clear when we've been asked this question.

Q And we know that at some point during the last Trump transition, then-President Obama warned Trump that the biggest threat to the U.S. at the time was North Korea. Is President Biden going to run through what he sees the biggest threats to the country are with Donald Trump?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I am not going to get into a specific agenda of what they're going to discuss. And this is very much, too, the question that I got from M.J.: What does the president want to - what's the message he wants to send tomorrow? And it is to the American people - the importance - the importance of keeping the norms, the importance of having a transition that is going to be efficient. This is what the American people deserve, and that's the message.

And I think when, you know, you all come into the Oval Office tomorrow, you do the pool spray, you capture that moment, that is an important message to send to the American people. That's what the president cares about.

I'm not going to get into details about any conversation or agenda.

Q And we know that today, a week after the election, President Biden and Vice President Harris had a private lunch. How awkward was that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't even understand. Why would it - why would it be awkward?

Q Because the president got squeezed out -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Why would it be awk- - why would you -

Q - for her and then she kept him at arm's length and then she lost, and now she's back.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: But why would - why would you characterize it as awkward? They have regular lunches. They meet and talk regularly. Why would you call it awkward?

Q So, there's no weirdness about the way that things have unfolded since July 21st?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Did you see them - did you see them together yesterday as well, when they honored our veterans and were together during the day, making sure that we didn't forget the brave men and women that fought for this country? Did you see them together yesterday? Did you see the - the show of force together?

This is - look, I'm not even going to take the premise of this - the question. What I will say is the president and the vice president had lunch today. They've had lunch many times. They have - they communicate with each other regularly. They had an opportunity to discuss the last 70 days or so of this administration, how important it is to get things done for the American people, and that's their focus. That is genuinely their focus.

Go ahead, Patsy.

Q Thank you, Karine. On his spray with President
Prabowo, the president said that he would discuss the issue of South China Sea -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific. Was he specifically referring to a deal that Indonesia signed a few days ago in Beijing that could be read as a de facto validation of China's nine-dash line that marks its extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea? And how concerned is the administration about this?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, we continue to encourage Indonesia to work with their legal experts to make sure any agreement they make with the PRC is in a- - is in according with international law, especially the U.N. Convention on the Law of - of the Sea.

I don't have anything beyond that. I read out at the top, more broadly, what - what they were hoping to accomplish, what they were going to talk about.

You just mentioned Indo-Pacific and China Sea. As it relates to this particular deal that was signed with Indonesia and Beijing, we are just going to continue to encourage that - that they focu- - that they really work with their legal experts.

Q So, is that a statement that the administration believes that Indonesia is not complying, that the agreement -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have anything beyond that. I don't have any beyond that.

Q Okay. And then - and I know that you said on your topper that there will be more briefing before the president leaves for APEC and G20.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. We'll have our usual, like we normally do -

Q Right.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: - ahead of an OCONUS trip. We'll have a - a press - a press call so you all will have more details on what those few days will look like abroad.

Q But just - just broadly, Karine, what would be his message, obviously, to leaders concerned about U.S. positions on various global issues?

And is - is he expecting that his conversation with President-elect Trump tomorrow to inform him on how he would speak to world leaders about these various issues?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Again, I'm not going to get into details. I understand the - the curiosity and the kind of excitement on what's going to happen tomorrow.

I don't want to get ahead of the fact that tomorrow is also part of the process that the president wants to send out to the American people having a peaceful transition of power.

Not going to get into details or even an agenda of what they're going to speak to.

As it relates to the president and the global stage, that's what you're going to see when he is in Peru and Braz- - and Brazil: the president again on that global stage.

He's going to continue to talk about and focus on the progress we've made in the last three years - three years plus - on an array of important issues that matter to the people who will be there, to all the world leaders who will be there, whether that's continuing to strengthen our alliances and partnerships, standing with Ukraine and standing up against Putin, and also, as you - as we were talking about, a range of issues when it relates to the Indo- - from Indo-Pacific to also the Middle East.

That's what the president is going to focus on. And - and I'm going to let the two leaders, the president and the president-elect, have their private conversation. Not going to get ahead of them. They deserve that.

But certainly, we are - we are indeed sending a message to the American people. That's what they deserve. They deserve this process, and that's what you're going to see tomorrow.

Q And just briefly on Francesca's question, just to hone in.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q I know that you say that the president-elect can have these conversations with these world leaders who call and congratulate him.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It's - it's not unusual.

Q But -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, it's not unusual.

Q But does the president have specific views on the president-elect potentially conducting foreign policy on these calls?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm not going to get into hypotheticals - I'm - I'm just not - on what's happening or being said on these calls. I'm just not.

It is not unusual for a president-elect to have conversations with world leaders. That's what's happening. I'm just not going to get hypotheticals.

Go ahead, Gabe.

Q Thanks, Karine. You mentioned a little bit ago that several countries were still working together to secure a ceasefire deal, and you mentioned Qatar and Egypt.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Didn't Qatar pull out of mediation - its mediation role over the weekend?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. And I will - I appreciate that. I will let Qatar speak to their own - their own decision. I'm not going to - to certainly speak to that, and I'm not going to get into any other private conversation.

What I said is that - what I'm trying to convey is that we're going to continue to pursue, certainly, a number of initiatives to get the hostages home to their families. That is an ongoing work in progress, if you will. And that's going to be our focus.

Q But doesn't that change that - Qatar pulling out of that mediation role, doesn't that signify that these hostage talks are very far off?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And so, look, Qatar is going to have to speak to whatever decision that they're made - they made. I'm not going to speak to that. I'm not going to get into private conversation.

What I'm trying to say is we're going to continue to pursue a number of initiatives, continue those conversations on how to make sure we secure the release of hostages. That is ongoing. That is certainly ongoing.

And so, not going to - you know, we're very careful. We don't negotiate from here. Not going to negotiate from the podium. But certainly, the work is ongoing.

Q And back to the humanitarian aid in Gaza that you discussed earlier. That was a U.S. deadline that was a month ago.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q You said that Israel has taken some steps, but among those steps are the U.S. had asked for 350 humanitarian aid trucks a day. We're nowhere near that point. Is the U.S. essentially giving Israel a pass when it comes to humanitarian aid?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, absolutely not. I mean, we're - that's why the cont- - the conversations continue and the discussions continue.

We have seen - we have seen Israel take some steps to address the measures of - of getting the measures laid out that were in the letter. We have seen that.

Q But is that acceptable?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We want to see more. That - that's what we want to see. That's why those discussions continue. The - just because we hit the 30-day mark doesn't mean that we go home and don't finish what we are trying to do here, which is getting and surging more aid to the Pale- - Palestinian people. We understand how important it is. We understand how dire the situation is, and that's what we're going to continue to do.

And at the same time - and you've heard us say this - the best way to deal with this, the best way to - to alleviate the suffering that we're seeing of the Palestinian people in Gaza is to get to a deal here, and we're going to continue to be laser focused on that.

Q And finally, has J.D. Vance been issued an invitation to the White House either tomorrow or in the future?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I would have to refer you to the vice president's office, I think. We don't have anything for you at this time, but the vice president's office can speak to that.

Go ahead.

AIDE: Karine, we have time for one more.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay.

Q Thank you. You said shortly after the election that one of the priorities for the president legislatively was going to be about judges and judicial nominations.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Can you talk about how you're preparing for Congress to return and then these next couple weeks as you try and make your final imprint on the courts?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. So, I will say that's something that we've been doing throughout the almost four years is push - is making sure that these qualified judges get through.

And so, there's - there's really nothing new to the process. It's just a continued focus that we want to make sure - in the next 70 days or less now, that we want to make sure that happens.

And it's important to the American people. And this is not a partisan issue. This is bipartisan. And we have seen this with - in other - this type of period of time, in other transition period, if you will, where - where the sitting president has been able to get some judicial judges go through, and that's what we want to see Congress. We want to see Republicans and Democrats come together, as they have, to get these key judges through.

Let's not forget, we're talking about what's right for the American people. We don't want to see, you know, backlogs, if you will, when it comes to getting criminal cases through. This is the norm. This is part of what we've seen in the past when we're talking about a transition period.

So, we're continuing to do that work. There's nothing new. We just are - we want to make sure that work continues.

Q Do you have a - a point when you expect to make your final nominations?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I - I don't have anything specific for you. I'm sure that we can talk to the Office of Leg Affairs on anything more specific on a timeline. But this is one of our priorities that we want to make sure that we get done for the American people.

Go ahead, Brian.

Q Thank you.

Q Thanks a lot. President Trump has promised to launch the largest deportation in American history when he - he becomes president. Are there steps that President Biden is taking in the next 70 days to try to protect certain populations in the United States from deportation? Does he want to extend parole or take other steps that would protect people from that deportation program?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, don't have any - any new policies to - to announce at this time. And I want to be careful. Like, I don't want to get into hypotheticals on what the next administration is going to do or not do. That's not something that I'm going to try to address from here. It is not something that we will be addressing from here.

What I can speak to is what the president has done over the past almost four years in dealing with a broken system - a broken immigration system that has been broken for decades now and trying to work with Congress on doing that.

And as you know, there was a - a bipartisan deal that came about from the Senate that Republicans and Democrat - obviously, bipartisan, as I just stated - worked on. And, you know, we, of course, would love to see that go through. We would love to see that happen.

The president was ready to go, and they - Republicans were told not to move forward because it would help Joe Biden, which is really unfortunate, because it would have dealt with this broken system that we have. It would have dealt with the challenges that the Border Patrol agents were facing at the border.

That is something that would be great to get done. But I - beyond that, I don't have anything to share - beyond that.

Go ahead, Skylar.

Q Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm going to start wrapping this up.

Q Thanks, Karine. President-elect Trump - there's reports that Elon Musk is having a lot of sway in terms of his decisions, in terms of who President-elect Trump is, you know, having come into his administration, sitting in on meetings with - with foreign leaders.

And Elon Musk has said - you know, there's reports that he wants to sort of reshape, maybe, the government. Is President Biden concerned at all over Elon Musk's influence -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - over President-elect Trump and potentially what that could look like for the country?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That is - that is for the president-elect to ma- - to decide on. I'm not - I'm not going to comment on personnel decision or personnel choices that the transition announces or is being reported or what's happening in that world. It is not for us to speak to.

The president is going to focus on the next 70 days and what's at hand, focus on the American people, focus on making sure that we have a process - a transition process that's orderly. And that's what we are - want to make sure that we keep our promise - right? - that democratic - those demo- - honoring our democratic principles.

What the president-elect does and speaks - who he speaks to and how he wants to think and envision his administration, that's up to him.

Q And just one more. Kind of quickly shifting gears here.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q But President Biden - you know, is it still the plan to travel to Africa at the top of December?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Is that still on the agenda?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That's still on the agenda. As I mentioned, I think from here at the podium, behind the lectern, when we had to pull that trip down and reschedule it, obviously, because of what was happening here domestically with a historic hurricane, we had said that the president would go the - the first week of December. That still is the case. The president is very much looking forward to visiting the continent, visiting Angola.

When we have more to share, we certainly will share that. We have an OCONUS coming up, so we got to do this - one OCONUS at a time, if you will. And we certainly will have more to share.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you, Karine. Could you talk about what are the key goals this administration would like to achieve in terms of the U.S.-China relations, as you have invested significantly into this relationship? So, what do you like to achieve before you're handing over to the next administration?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, I appreciate the question. If you indulge me a little bit, because I think this is important - so, the president, as you know, has prioritized investments in - in sources of U.S. strength at home, strengthening our alliances abroad, and taking commonsense measures to protect U.S. technology and also national security.

So, when he came into the office nearly four years ago, this president made it clear that the U.S. was going to advance and protect our interests here at home and also, obviously, abroad. And the framework of this administration's China policy - which is "invest, align, compete" - has remained constant for over those almost four years.

And so - but at the same time, the president has also been very honest and has emphasized the importance of responsibil- - responsibly managing the U.S.-China relationship.

So, that's also include opening lines of - of communications, cooperations in areas of - of shared interest, hence the important bilat - right? - that he had with the Indonesian leader.

And so, he's going to continue to advance the U.S. interests when it comes to engagement with the PRC, just as he's done for the last four years. So, that continues over the next several - several weeks, couple of months.

And so, I would say: Stay tuned. See - see how it goes.

Q Does the president feel urgency or importance to meet President Xi in person before his term is over?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have any- - anything to share about a meeting or a phone call. I - I just laid out the importance of the U.S.-China relationship. What we've been able to do the last four years, that's certainly going to continue. And - and if we have more to share on a possible meeting or, certainly, a phone call, we would certainly do that - share with that - with all of you.

Q So, quickly, why the phone call hasn't happened since Jake Sullivan previewed it two months ago?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, you know, things like this take some time. I just don't have anything to share with all of you. But I think we've - we've been - we've been pretty - you've seen that relationship and how that's developed, how the president approached the U.S.-China relationship.

And that invest, that align, that compete - the three things that I mentioned to you - is certainly going to continue. You've seen that the last four years. And if we have more to share, we certainly will do that.

Thanks, everybody. I'll see you tomorrow.

3:53 P.M. EST