Saying that a key role of the White House Press Office will be “rebuilding trust with the American public,” Jen Psaki said that she, as President Biden, work for the American people and that her mission will be to provide accurate information to the American people.
This press conference was the first one in recent memory that a tweet wasn’t the subject of a question to the White House Press Secretary.
Asked about if Biden had made plans to talk to Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, particularly regarding the Solar Winds cyber attack, Psaki said she did not have a time set for that call. Biden’s first call with a foreign leader will be with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday.
Psaki said that Biden read a “generous and gracious” letter from Donald Trump, but that he would not unilaterally be releasing it.
The issue Biden wakes up every morning and goes to bed every night thinking about, Psaki said, is getting the coronavirus under control. Psaki said that Biden would like to have bi-partisan support for a relief bill, but that he has not ruled out a budget reconciliation process to get a bill first.
She said Biden’s focus will be to rebuilding America’s leadership around the world.
Psaki took questions about the attack on the Capitol, bipartisanship, foreign trips, oil rights, climate issues and coronavirus response. Peter Doocy of Fox News asked if Biden intended to follow Trump’s example and start his reelection campaign immediately on his first day in office. Psaki said that Biden has the work of the American people to do, and will put politics aside.
Unlike her predecessor, Psaki did not have to flip through a binder to find the script to read prepared answers for every question, although for a question on Iran, she referred to a prepared answer to make sure she got the diplomatic language correct. She spoke from knowledge about the various subjects brought up by the reporters. She also did not have a pre-planned insult to hurl at media which preceded her stomping out of the room.