President Biden failed to take questions from reporters at the top of a trilateral summit meeting with the leaders of Mexico and Canada Thursday — shortly after White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed Biden regularly answered press queries.
Earlier Thursday, it was unclear if Biden was aware that his staff had axed the traditional press conference with visiting world leaders. At a morning bill-signing event, Biden declined to answer a shouted question, assuring reporters, “I’ll be happy to answer your questions after I meet with all of the leaders.”
But reporters were stunned just before 6 p.m. when Biden failed to honor his pledge.
The session with Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the White House East Room was closed to the press without the American president responding to a single question.
Instead, the three leaders took turns giving opening remarks before Biden asked US national security adviser Jake Sullivan to speak.
“Thanks,” Sullivan responded. “We’ll just give the press a couple of minutes to leave the room before we get the meeting underway.”
