James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
12:08 P.M. EST
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good afternoon, everyone.
Q Good afternoon.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I hope everyone had a restful and lovely Thanksgiving holiday. It's good to see everybody.
A couple of things at the top before I turn it over.
The President and the First Lady were horrified to learn about the three college students of Palestinian descent, two of whom are American citizens, who were shot Saturday in Burlington, Vermont.
The President continues to receives updates from his team about the ongoing investigation. These students were taking part in a uniquely American tradition: gathering with family and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving. They should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital room.
The President, the First Lady, and everyone here at the White House join Americans across the country in praying for their full recovery, and we send our deepest condolences to their families and the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities.
While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: There is absolutely — absolutely no place for violence or hate in America.
No person should worry about being targeted while going about their daily lives.
And too — and far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that.
Our thanks go to the Burlington Police Department, the FBI, AFT [ATF], and other law enforcement partners for their swift work identifying and arresting a suspect last night.
Now, on to the news of the day and what you're going to hear from the President in a couple of hours. So, want to say a few words here about what the President has been doing to work low- — to work in lowering costs.
This holiday season, families are seeing lower prices on everyday items from gas to groceries. As holiday — as holiday shopping starts, shelves are stocked and prices — prices for toys, TVs, and used vehicles are all down from last year. And we just saw record Black Friday sales.
In a couple of hours, President Biden will announce 30 new actions to threten — to strengthen supply chains and make sure families get the products they need when they need them. That includes creating the Council on Supply Chain Resilience, invoking the Defense Production Act to mitigate drug shortages, making new investments in clean energy and our food systems, and improving supply chain monitoring.
These actions build on President Biden's previous work to improve supply chains: signing an executive order to get goods moving again, establishing the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, and investing in our transportation and industry — industries of the future through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.
This work helped unsnarl supply chains and lower inflation. On Thanksgiving 2021, more than 100 container ships were waiting to dock at U.S. ports. This Thanksgiving, it was just eight. And supply chain pressures have declined from record highs to a record low.
As the graph behind me shows, inflation has fallen as supply chain pressures have eased.
Republicans in Congress want to undo that progress by cutting investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, and also workers. That will offshore jobs and make our supply chains more vulnerable. And they want to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid while providing giveaways to the wealthy and big corporations.
Now, the President won't let that happen. He's lowering costs for hardworking families, not for millionaires and billionaires.
And finally, while we're talking about lowering costs for American people, I also want to highlight the President's work to bring down the costs of healthcare.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are working to rescind healthcare coverage for millions of Americans; gut coverage for preexisting conditions; restore insurance companies' ability to kick you off your coverage if you get sick; throw Americans up to — to age 26 off their parents' health plans — healthcare; charge women more than men; eliminate free mammograms and colon cancer screenings; slash Medicaid; and increase drug costs, all in the name of new tax welfare for wealthy special interests.
This tax wer- — tax welfare could further hurt people by expanding the deficit and worsening inflation.
This is unacceptable. We will not stand for this. We need to be asking the wealthy to pay their fair share so we can invest in lower costs for hardworking families, not selling how- — hardworking families out with higher costs — healthcare costs so the wealthy can gain a new tax windfall.
And with that, I have John Kirby here. The Admiral is here to give an update on what's happening in the Middle East and take any other fo- — other foreign policy questions you may have.
All right.
MR. KIRBY: Thanks, Karine.
Good afternoon, everybody.
So, just right at the top, of course, we welcome the announcement just a little bit ago — I think in the last hour or so — by Qatar that the humanitarian pause in Gaza, now in its fourth day, will be extended for another two days through Thursday morning, Israel time. This humanization pause has already brought a halt to the fighting, together with a surge of humanitarian assistance.
Now, in order to extend the pause, Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days. We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages.
The President has been deeply engaged on this process throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. He spoke with the Amir of Qatar at a very critical moment to help resolve an impasse on the second day of the pause.
And then, yesterday, he spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu, with a focus on working towards an extension of the pause — the extension that, fran- — quite frankly, we're seeing today. His team then worked on that overnight and through the morning.
He was briefed this morning by the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, on the ongoing talks to extend the pause.
He and his entire national security team will obviously stay engaged on this over the coming days as we work to implement this extension of the original agreement, as well as efforts to extend the pause even from there.
Just a quick update on the figures. As of the morning of November 26th: Two hundred trucks were dispatched to the Rafah Crossing, and a hundred and thirty-seven trucks of supplies were offloaded by the United Nations reception point in Gaza, making it the biggest humanitarian convoy received since the 7th of October.
This brings the total number of trucks of aid and assistance, including fuel, to over 2,000 since the 21st of October. Our team has prioritized getting this much-needed relief into Gaza to allevi- — alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians there. Of course, most of them have nothing to do with Hamas.
And to date, we have assisted over 840 Americans and their families who have departed and sought the support of our team on the ground in Egypt.
And with that, I'll take some questions.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Ed.
Q Thank you, Admiral. A few things here. The President called conditional aid for Israel "a worthwhile thought." Is he actually considering conditioning aid or not?
MR. KIRBY: What he also said, right after acknowledging that it was "a worthwhile thought," was that the approach he has chosen to take so far has produced results and outcomes. Many of them I just walked you through in my opening statement.
So, the approach that we're taking with Israel and, quite frankly, with our partners in the region is working. It's getting aid in to people that need it. It's getting a pause in the fighting. It's getting hostages out. It's getting Americans out.
And, quite frankly, we continue to urge and will continue to urge the Israelis, as they conduct military operations, to do so with the utmost care for innocent civilian life.
Q So, to Democrats in the par- — in his party who say we need to start conditioning aid going forward, what would he say then?
MR. KIRBY: I think he would say exactly what he said to you all yesterday when he got asked this question: "It's a worthwhile thought, but the approach that I'm taking now is working; the approach that we're taking now is working. It's getting results."
Q The increasing dangers to U.S. military personnel in the Gulf — I know you outlined in a series of appearances this morning what happened, but are we to continue seeing this sort of —
Well, let me put it this way: Is that strategy of dealing with it as it happens going to continue to be the strategy? You've seen some say there should perhaps be a more robust response to these ongoing attacks, whether it's from Iranian-backed militias in Syria or Iraq, whether it's the Houthis. Is the — is there any thought of changing up how that's done?
MR. KIRBY: I don't think we're going to get in the business of telegraphing our punches, Ed.
We've — we've responded forcefully against the threats to our forces in Iraq and Syria and now our forces in the Gulf region — in the Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden. We'll continue to do that as appropriate.
Q Is striking in Yemen still an option?
MR. KIRBY: Again, I'm not going to telegraph punches.
We will take the steps appropriate to protect our troops and — and our forces in the Middle East region.
I would add that the Mason is attached to the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which the President dispatched to the region specifically to address the increase in the tensions.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Next question.
Q Any possibility that Americans will be among the 20 that will be released over the next few days?
MR. KIRBY: Well, we certainly hope so. I mean, we're going to watch this very, very closely. We're certainly hoping that another batch of hostages gets released today as part of the fourth and final day of the original agreement. We're going to be watching closely to see if any Americans are in that group.
As it — as it has come out over the last three days, we don't really know until you get into the endgame who's going to be actually on that list. And then, even then, you got to watch closely to — seeing if who's on the list is the folks that actually come out. So, we're watching and hoping.
Q And you spoke about the President's conversation at a critical moment to break that impasse. Can you talk a little more about what that impasse was and how that was brokered in his conversations?
MR. KIRBY: I mean, it was really — it came down to — oh, you're talking about over the weekend?
Q Yeah.
MR. KIRBY: It was really more about the lists and who was on it. And — and I don't want to get into more detail than that.
It's a similar issue to what we face today. The reason why there's been a little bit of a delay — because there was a difference of a view, if you might, over the — the list and the fact that mothers were not originally going to be allowed to come out with their children. And that's been resolved. So, it really had to do with the "who."
Q And very quickly, the newly elected leader of Argentina says he's coming to the U.S., also to D.C. Any meetings sche- — scheduled with administration officials, with the President, with anybody else while he's here?
MR. KIRBY: Yes. President-elect Milei will be coming to Washington, D.C., largely to meet with the IMF over — and the World Bank — over — over their fiscal and economic issues.
But while he's here in town, he'll have a chance to meet with some National Security Council folks, including Jake Sullivan.
Q No plans to meet with the President or anything like that?
MR. KIRBY: No plans to meet with the President. The President will, as I think you know, will be on travel in the middle of the week.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Mary.
Q Thank you. On the remaining Americans who are being held, do you have any more clarity on whether they're being held by Hamas or with one of these other terrorist groups?
MR. KIRBY: No.
Q And, you know, all along, you've been very clear about concerns that a broader ceasefire would only benefit Hamas. Sullivan was pretty clear yesterday in saying that, you know, Hamas has been able to gain some benefit from this. How concerned are you that the longer this truce lasts — now six days — that Hamas will benefit? And how do you weigh that?
MR. KIRBY: It's a real risk. You have to expect a group like Hamas — a terrorist group, which clearly doesn't abide by the laws of war — will try to take advantage of any pause in the fighting for their own benefit. So, we're watching that closely, as well as our Israeli counterparts. You can — you can bet that they're watching that closely.
But — and I don't want to speak for the Israelis — but, I mean, this is a calculated risk that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his War Cabinet are willing to take in order to get those hostages out. So, it's a — it's a balance.
And as you've also heard the Israeli say, that once the pauses are over, they intend to go right back at military operations.
Q And when you say that, you know, Hamas has been able to get some benefits so far, is that restocking, resupplying? What does that benefit look like now?
MR. KIRBY: It's — you know, I would just say that — without getting into intelligence issues — that any pause in the fighting could benefit your enemy in terms of time to refit, to rest your fighters, to rearm them, re-equip them. You know, a pause in the fighting can — can be seen as a benefit.
But, I — again, I want to stress, and this was always part of the calculus — any discussion of pauses was always part of the calculus that — that Hamas might try to benefit from it.
But so too have the Israeli people benefited by the return of — of their loved ones and hostages. So too have the American people benefited now, with little Abigail back with her family. So, again, it's a balance.
And, again, I won't speak for the Israeli Defense Forces, but when — but when they have — when these pauses are over, then they have made it very clear that they're going to continue to target Hamas leadership.
Q John, how many Americans are still being held hostage? And do you have proof of life?
We think the number is — well, it's less than ten. Probably in the neighborhood of, you know, about eight to nine. But we don't necessarily have firm, solid information on each and every one of them.
Q And why haven't the two American women who are with the — with Abigail — what happened with them? Why haven't they been released?
MR. KIRBY: Well, we certainly hope that we'll see them in — in — hopefully today. And if not today, certainly over the next couple of days. We want to see them back with their families where they belong as well.
The — the lists are developed by Hamas. And then, of course, there's — the Israelis develop their list of Palestinian prisoners that they're going to release.
So, we're not involved in the specific drafting of the lists and the determination on Hamas's side of who's going to come out on any given day.
Obviously, we want to see those two American women released as soon as possible.
Q And the truce being extended two days — what happens now? Do you want to get, like, three days next or a permanent truce? What — what's the thinking?
MR. KIRBY: It's like I said in my opening statement, Steve: We're grateful that we've got an extra two days to work with here. That'll — that'll result in the release of 20 more individuals — women and children.
And as I said right at the top, we'd certainly like to see even that extension extended further until all the hostages are released.
That's really the goal here: Get all the hostages home with their families where they belong. And we, you know — however — however long that could take.
Q Thank you.
Q Thank you. Just to follow up on the question about a Milei visit in Washington. You mentioned that most of his meetings would be with the IMF, but who will be — he meeting at the White House, at the NSC? And what are the expectations of the White House for this meeting?
And more broadly, what are the expectations of the President for the relationship between the two nations?
MR. KIRBY: I already answered that question. He is going to be — he'll have a chance to meet with Jake Sullivan and potentially other folks here at the Nat- — NSC. We'll have to see how that shakes out.
The President won't, unfortunately, be able to meet with him because of domestic travel.
But obviously, we want to continue to look for ways to cooperate with Argentina. Argentina is a — a healthy and vibrant partner in this hemisphere on many, many issues.
And so, we're looking forward to obviously hearing what the president-elect's ideas are and where he wants to go on policy issues and making sure that we have a chance to keep that line of channel — that channel of communication open.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: April.
Q John, I want to go to — to Africa and the Congo, if you will. Updates after the visit from DNI — the DNI head, national security, and State.
And also maybe connecting this with the President's meeting with the president of Angola on trade — the deals with the Congo and Zambia. Is that playing a part in also trying to stabilize the frictions there to try to quell all the violence there?
MR. KIRBY: I don't really have an update for you on the Congo, April. The President is looking forward to meeting with the president of Angola later this week — on Thursday. There's a — certainly a wide range of issues to discuss in terms of our bilateral relations and the situation on the continent.
I won't get too far ahead of that meeting, but he's looking forward to that.
And I — I will take your question back on — specifically on the Congo. I just don't have an update for you.
