Remarks by President Biden Before Air Force One Departure | Dover, DE

Dover Air Force Base
Dover, Delaware

2:38 P.M. EDT

Q    Mr. President, will you deploy more U.S. troops to the Middle East?

THE PRESIDENT:  No.

Q    Mr. President, has Netanyahu gone too far?

Q    Any comment on the strikes in Yemen, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT:  Spoke with both sides at the outset of the strike.  We support the collective bargaining effort.  I think they’ll settle the strike.

Q    Are you going to talk to Netanyahu?  Are you going to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu?  Do you have any- — anything to say to him?

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.  I will be talking to him, and I’ll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him.

Q    Yes, sir.

Q    Do you have any words for the victims of the hurricane?

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, it’s tragic.  As a matter of fact, they’re trying to get the exact number.  My FEMA adviser is on the ground in Florida right now.  There’s a distinction between the numbers that FEMA has used and the ones used by — by the locals.

So, it’s — it really is amazing.  You saw the photographs.  It’s stunning.

Q    So many —

THE PRESIDENT:  But — but it really is.

Q    So  many — so — such a wide area.

THE PRESIDENT:  And we — we gave — are giving them all the — all — everything we have.  Were on the ground ahead of time.  So, we’re working hard.

Q    Are there any more resources the federal government could be giving them?

THE PRESIDENT:  No.  We’ve given them — we have preplanned a significant amount of it, even though they didn’t ask for it yet — had — hadn’t asked for it yet.

Q    Mr. President, will you intervene in the dockworkers strike if they go on strike on Tuesday?

THE PRESIDENT:  No.

Q    Why not?

THE PRESIDENT:  Because there’s collective bargaining, and I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley.

Q    Can all-out — can an all-out war in the Middle East be avoided?

THE PRESIDENT:  It has to be.  We — we really have to avoid it.

We’ve already taken precautions relative to our embassies and personnel who want to leave, and — but we’re not there yet, but we’re working like hell with the French and many others to (inaudible).

Thank you.

Q    Thank you, sir.

2:41 P.M. EDT