We check out President Biden’s final week not solely within the White Home, but in addition as a life-long public servant.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
We’re joined now by NPR White Home correspondent Asma Khalid, who’s been watching the White Home response to the southern California wildfires and a lot extra in President Biden’s final days in workplace. Good morning, Asma.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So we simply heard the newest on these horrific wildfires in Los Angeles. How is the White Home responding, and the way are disasters which are unfolding throughout a transition like this dealt with?
KHALID: Yeah. I imply, the president was really presupposed to be in Rome this weekend for a kind of last farewell diplomatic journey assembly with the Pope, however that journey was canceled due to the fires. And what we hear from the White Home is that President Biden has been persevering with to talk with native officers on the bottom. Final week, when fires started erupting, he declared a significant catastrophe declaration, which is one thing that permits the federal authorities to step in and supply assist.
And he is been insisting that the federal authorities goes to stay round in California for so long as it takes. However as you alluded to, that is all taking place at an enormous second of political change right here in Washington. That is Biden’s last full week on the job, and Donald Trump will probably be taking on subsequent week. Biden instructed reporters that he is praying the subsequent administration will probably be centered on this.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We’re briefing the opposition – the opposition – the incoming administration pn what they are going to must do. Look, we now have an terrible lot of expertise on this, sadly.
KHALID: And Ayesha, a few of this reduction will probably recuperate – restoration effort will probably require further funding from Congress.
RASCOE: Opposition – what a Freudian slip there. That is attention-grabbing to listen to the president’s feedback. It looks as if he took some questions on Friday. He hasn’t executed that a complete lot because the November election, proper?
KHALID: Yeah, I imply, within the weeks following Trump’s victory, I’ll say, he hardly took any reporter questions. He has not but held a conventional end-of-term press convention, the type that, you recognize, a number of former presidents have. However on Friday, he did take various questions. And within the night, I’ll say, he had some actually attention-grabbing moments. One specifically was when he mentioned he didn’t suppose his resolution to run for reelection led to Trump’s victory. He mentioned he thinks he may have overwhelmed Trump.
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BIDEN: Regardless that I assumed I may win once more, I assumed it was higher to unify the get together, and I had – it was the best honor in my life to be president of the US, however I did not wish to be one who brought on a celebration that wasn’t unified to lose an election. And that is why I stepped apart.
KHALID: And Ayesha, I believe these are actually attention-grabbing insights into how simply the president is considering his personal legacy. He gave an analogous reply in an interview that revealed final week in USA Immediately. I’ll say additionally it is considerably a bewildering reply to these of us who cowl politics, proper? I imply, I am certain you had seen so many polls that confirmed him deeply unpopular. And admittedly, I believe it appears to considerably misread the underlying assist that the President-elect Donald Trump had from voters who had been pissed off by issues like immigration, the price of residing.
RASCOE: You talked about that is Biden’s last week on the job. What’s he is doing in his final days in workplace?
KHALID: Yeah. Nicely, over the weekend, he awarded the Pope a Presidential Medal of Freedom. One factor we will probably be maintaining a tally of, additionally, I’ll say, within the coming days is that this chance of preemptive pardons. That is one thing Biden was talking to in really that USA Immediately interview I discussed, and he mentioned it kind of depends upon quite a lot of issues. He hasn’t actually defined what precisely that’ll imply. I believe he is a number of the language he mentioned that the President-elect Trump makes use of within the coming days.
From a coverage perspective, on Friday, his administration introduced that it is extending non permanent authorized standing for practically 1,000,000 individuals from sure international locations like Ukraine and Venezuela. It is a program that may very well be curtailed underneath Trump, and what we noticed the Biden administration just do final week seems like an effort to offer some prolonged non permanent safety to these people.
After which Biden additionally has a few farewell speeches deliberate. The primary one on Monday is that he’ll be giving a international coverage deal with on the state division. And, Ayesha, that is kind of a full-circle second for the president. 4 years in the past, when he entered the Oval Workplace, he made a visit to the state division to ship a speech on America’s place on this planet. He will be speaking now on Monday in regards to the work that he is executed to strengthen alliances. And you recognize this. I imply, Biden is somebody who has spent 50-plus years in public workplace. A lot of these years had been concerned in international relations.
And I’ll say, a few of that is about attempting to defend his legacy. It’s a legacy that has actually confronted some criticism across the withdrawal from Afghanistan to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. And he has been criticized, actually by Republicans, however frankly, even at moments from some Democrats in his personal get together, about how he has navigated these challenges. After which lastly, on Wednesday night time, Ayesha, he’ll be giving a farewell speech to the nation from the Oval Workplace. It is going to be probably considered one of his last moments to say goodbye to the general public.
RASCOE: That is NPR White Home correspondent Asma Khalid. Thanks, Asma.
KHALID: All the time good to talk with you. Thanks.
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