Page 24 - White House

Biden-Xi meet: White House expects possible military communications revival

US officials expressed hope Monday that this week's highly anticipated face-to-face meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will produce some concrete results, including the possible reestablishment of military communication between the two nations and a shared effort to combat illicit fentanyl trafficking. The two leaders will meet Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. The Biden-Xi bilateral will be the marquee moment of the forum, which is dedicated to promoting trade, investment and economic development among nations around the Pacific Ocean. Biden and Xi have not spoken in a year. Their last meeting was at the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia last fall. And since then, tensions between the two nations have grown following a series of events touched off by the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that had wafted across the US earlier this year. The frosty relationship between the two economic ...

US govt announces steps to free up more wireless spectrum for advanced tech

The White House has said additional spectrum is key to next-generation wireless service and a variety of advanced technology, infrastructure and government needs

Trump's plans if he returns to White House include raids, tariffs, firings

A mass deportation operation. A new Muslim ban. Tariffs on all imported goods and "freedom cities" built on federal land. Much of the 2024 presidential campaign has been dominated by the myriad investigations into former President Donald Trump and the subsequent charges against him. But with less than a year until Election Day, Trump is dominating the race for the Republican nomination and has already laid out a sweeping set of policy goals should he win a second term. His ideas, and even the issues he focuses on most, are wildly different from President Joe Biden's proposals. If implemented, Trump's plans would represent a dramatic government overhaul arguably more consequential than that of his first term. His presidency, especially the early days, was marked by chaos, infighting and a wave of hastily written executive orders that were quickly overturned by the courts. Some of his current ideas would probably end up in court or impeded by Congress. But Trump's campaign and allied

Israel agrees to 4-hour daily pauses in Gaza to allow civilians to flee

The White House said Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, as the Biden administration said it has secured a second pathway for civilians to flee fighting. President Joe Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the first humanitarian pause would be announced Thursday and that the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance. Israel, he said, also was opening a second corridor for civilians to flee the areas that are the current focus of its military campaign against Hamas, with a coastal road joining the territory's main north-south highway. Biden also told reporters that he had asked the Israelis for a pause longer than three days during negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas, though he said the

US working to combat Islamophobia, but many Muslim Americans skeptical

President Joe Biden's administration is developing a national strategy to combat Islamophobia as the White House faces skepticism from many Muslim Americans for its staunch support of Israel's military assault on Hamas in Gaza. Plans for the initiative, which the White House billed as the first of its kind, were announced Wednesday. It is meant to bring together lawmakers, advocacy groups and other community leaders with the administration in order to counter the scourge of Islamophobia and hate in all its forms, the White House said. Moving forward, the President, Vice President, and our entire Administration will continue working to ensure every American has the freedom to live their lives in safety and without fear for how they pray, what they believe, and who they are, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement announcing the strategy. The White House originally was expected to announce its plans to develop the strategy last week when Biden met with Musli

Biden nominates top adviser on Asia to be State Department's No. 2 diplomat

President Joe Biden is nominating a top adviser on Asia to serve as the State Department's second-ranking diplomat, the White House said Wednesday, elevating one of the architects of the administration's efforts to develop a more Asia-focused foreign policy. Kurt Campbell currently is deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on the National Security Council. He has played an important role in helping Biden reinvigorate the diplomatic grouping of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, and has helped to ease historic tensions between South Korea and Japan and shape America's approach to China. If confirmed, he would replace Wendy Sherman, who retired in July, as deputy secretary of state. Kurt is a tremendous asset, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. His passion and commitment to our alliances and partnerships is unquestionably strengthening America's strategic position in the world and improving our abili

Donald Trump promises to revive Muslim ban, gets slammed by White House

Former US President Donald Trump has vowed to revive a controversial travel ban on people from some Muslim-majority countries if he is elected to a second White House term. While speaking at the annual summit of the Republican Jewish Coalition on Saturday, Trump, 77, said: "You remember the travel ban?" "On day one, I will restore our travel ban. We had a travel ban because we didn't want people coming into our country who really love the idea of blowing our country up." He said the travel ban imposed during his administration was an amazing success. "We didn't have one incident in four years because we kept bad people the hell out of our country. We kept them out. We didn't have one, not one instance," Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, said. In 2017, at the start of Trump's presidency, he imposed sweeping restrictions on the entry of travellers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and, initially, Iraq and Sudan. The White House immediately sl

White House, Google launch new virtual tour with Spanish translation

Can't come to Washington? Couldn't get a ticket to tour the White House? Don't worry. The White House, Google Maps and Google Arts & Culture launched a new virtual tour of the famous mansion on Friday, which is also National Civics Day. With a computer or smartphone, users will be able to see all of the rooms that they would have seen had they been able to go on a public tour of the building. The updated virtual tour is part of a mission by first lady Jill Biden to make the White House accessible to as many people as possible. Biden, a longtime community college professor, hopes teachers will use it to educate students about the White House and its history, said Elizabeth Alexander, her spokesperson. Not everyone can make the trip to Washington, D.C., to tour the White House, so she's bringing the White House to them, Alexander said. The tour is the first Google virtual tour of the White House to include audio captions for people with disabilities. The captions are narrated by ...

Israel has right, responsibility to go after Hamas: White House on war

Kirby added that President Biden has never stopped affirming the need for a two-state solution since assuming office. Calling it a lofty goal, he noted that the US has been working hard on that

Biden meets with new US Speaker Johnson, discusses aid for Israel, Ukraine

President Joe Biden met with the new House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House on Thursday to discuss his request for nearly $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other national security needs. Johnson, a staunch conservative allied with Donald Trump, has shown little interest in providing additional money from Congress to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden met with Johnson and Jeffries before a classified briefing for them and other congressional leaders on the assistance package, according to a White House official. Johnson, who inherited many of the same political problems that tormented past GOP leaders and challenged their tenure as speaker, had a busy first full day in office. He planned to met later with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Earlier, Johnson said prayer is appropriate as a response to the mass shootings in Maine. This is a dark time in America, Johnson said at the Capitol. He added: "Prayer is appropriat

Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for US House speaker after Emmer

House Republicans chose Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest nominee for House speaker, hours after an earlier pick, Rep. Tom Emmer, abruptly withdrew in the face of opposition from Donald Trump and hardline GOP lawmakers. Johnson of Louisiana is member of House GOP leadership, a lawyer specializing in constitutional issues who had rallied Republicans around Trump's legal effort to overturn the 2020 election results. Republicans are meeting late into the evening behind closed doors, desperate to find a way out of the chaos they created by ousting Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.

Emmer withdraws bid for US House speaker hours after winning GOP nomination

Republican Tom Emmer abruptly abandoned his bid to become House speaker Tuesday, withdrawing hours after winning the internal party nomination once it became clear he would not have enough support from GOP colleagues for the gavel. The House GOP whip, Emmer reversed course after Donald Trump objected to his nomination and hardliners in the House denied the party leader the votes he would need for the gavel. That's according to Republican sources familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. He is the third Republican to fall short, leaving the Republicans no closer to resolving the chaos they have created since ousting Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month. Emmer briskly left the building where he had been meeting privately with Republicans, and hopped into a waiting SUV. He said nothing in response to shouted questions as they drove off from the Capitol complex. Dejected Republicans retreated behind closed doors, desperately searching for a way out of the cha

US govt's assessment shows Israel not responsible for Gaza blast: WH

The United States assessed that Israel was not responsible for the attack on a Gaza hospital a day earlier, the White House said on Wednesday. The US government assesses that Israel was not responsible for an explosion that killed hundreds of civilians yesterday at the Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip, White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, overhead imagery, and open source video and images of the incident, she said. Citing intelligence reports, Watson said some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). As the President said earlier today, the explosion appears to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza -- and we are continuing to work to corroborate whether it was a failed PIJ rocke

Prez Biden's visit to focus on preventing escalation: White House

President Biden has ordered the National Security team to investigate the attack and find out who was responsible

US has no plans to send troops to Israel following attack: White House

The US has no plans to send troops to Israel, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. There is no intention, no plan, and frankly, no desire by the Israelis, he said. Kirby also said there have been ongoing conversations with Israel about the continued need for continued flow of humanitarian assistance" into Gaza. He said establishing corridors to provide safe passage out of Gaza for civilians is the right thing to do for innocent victims who are actually being held hostage as well by Hamas.

No specific information on role of Iran in latest Hamas attack: White House

The White House said Tuesday that there is no specific information about the role of Iran in the latest terrorist attack against Israel by Hamas, but it is complicit in a broad sense for funding the military wing of the militant group. We have said since the beginning that Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense because they have provided the lion's share of the funding for the military wing of Hamas. They have provided training.They have provided capabilities. They have provided support and they have had engagement and contact with Hamas over years and years, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday. All of that has played a role in contributing to what we have seen. Now, as to the question of whether Iran knew about this attack in advance or helped plan or direct this attack, we do not, as of this moment I'm standing here at the podium, have confirmation of that. We are talking to our Israeli counterparts on a daily basis about this question, he .

Biden interviewed by Special Counsel over classified documents case: WH

US President Joe Biden has been interviewed by a Special Counsel as part of a probe into classified documents found at his residence, the White House said Monday. The interview was conducted at the White House over two days on Sunday and Monday, said Ian Sams, the spokesperson of White House Counsel's Office. The President has been interviewed as part of the investigation being led by Special Counsel Robert Hur. The voluntary interview was conducted at the White House over two days, Sunday and Monday, and concluded Monday, Sams said. As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation, Sams said. He refrained from providing any other further details.

Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy: White House

The Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy, the White House has said. We've not recognised them as a governing power in Afghanistan. They want that. They want legitimacy. Then they need to meet their commitments, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday. I mean, how can you effectively govern, how can you effectively have a useful economy when basically half your workforce, all women, are prohibited from being a part of that process? So, we're going to keep holding them accountable for their commitments, he said in response to a question. Asked if this means that the US will not have any conversation with the Taliban, he replied, Of course not. We're still working to try to get our allies and partners in Afghanistan out. That takes conversation. It takes dialogue. But it's important to the United States to keep meeting our word to the people who hel

Biden hosts Zelenskyy, announces new military aid package for Ukraine

The United States will give USD 325 million in new security assistance to Ukraine, President Joe Biden has announced as he hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House and vowed to defend the war-struck country from Russian aggression. The White House meeting on Thursday was the sixth in-person meeting between the two leaders. "Mr. President, the brave people of Ukraine -- and that's not hyperbole; the people of Ukraine have shown enormous bravery and have inspired the world with their determination to defend these principles," Biden told Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House. "Together with our partners and allies, the American people are determined to see to it that we do all we can to ensure the world stands with you, and that is our overwhelming objective right now," he said, welcoming the Ukrainian leader for the third time at the White House this year. "Our regular dialogue has proved that our countries are really, truly allies and strateg

WH to announce first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention: Report

President Joe Biden is creating the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention, according to two people familiar with the plans. The office will coordinate efforts across the federal government and will offer help and guidance to states struggling with increasing gun violence, while taking the lead on implementation of the bipartisan gun legislation signed into law last year. Biden tentatively plans to announce the new effort with an event Friday at the White House, said the people, who had direct knowledge of the plans and who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. The office fulfils a key demand of gun safety activists who banded together as a coalition to endorse Biden for president in 2024, and is an effort by the White House to keep the issue front-and-centre as the president pushes for a ban on so-called "assault weapons" and urges Congress to act. "The creation of an Office of Gun Violence Preventi