Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2021

June 16, 2021

The President. I owe my last questioner an apology. I shouldn't have been such a wise guy with the last answer I gave.

Anyway, thanks for being here. And most of you've been here the whole route. I really do thinkânot me, but I think we, the country, has put a different face on where we've been and where we're going. And I feel good about it. I feelâyou know, one of things that I think, understandably, there was a good deal of skepticism about: would the Gâ7 sign on and give America back its, sort of, leadership role. I think it did. It wasn't me, but it meant they're glad America is back. They're glad America is back, and they acted that way.

And then, when we went to NATO, I think it was the same thing. We had really good meetings there and real response, as well as the EU. I didn't get one single personânot one of the world leadersâsaid to us anything other than thanking me for arranging a meeting with Putin.

And I thought, quite frankly, I was in a much better position to represent the west, after the previous three meetings with Putin, thatâknowing that the rest of the west was behind us. And so, I thinkâso I owe them all a debt of gratitude.

Infrastructure and Jobs Legislation

Q. Mr. President, since you're now heading home, can I just ask you briefly about two domestic issues?

The President. I'm not sure I can answer them, butââ

Q. If you could. First would be this fate of the infrastructure bill. There's now a bipartisan group that has a new offer. Have you had time to review it?

The President. I haven't seen it.

Q. Okay.

The President. No, I'm not beingâI honestly haven't seen it. I don't know what the details are. I know that my Chief of Staff thinks there's some room that there may be a means by which to get this done. And I know that Schumer and Nancy have moved forward on a reconciliation provision as well. So I'm still hoping we could put together the two bookends here.

Q. The Iran nuclear dealââ

Senate Minority Leader A. Mitchell McConnell

Q. And the second issue is: Yesterdayâor earlier this week, Mitch McConnell said that if Republicans were to take back the Senate in 2022, he did not see a way that you could get a Supreme Court Justice confirmed. Do you have a response to that?

The President. Uhââ

Q. So this would be next year.

The President. No, I know. I know. The answer is: Mitch isâMitch has been nothing but "no" for a long time. And I'm sure he means exactly what he says, but we'll see.

Iran/International Diplomatic Efforts

Q. Mr. President, did you talk with President Putin about the Iran nuclear deal?

The President. Yes.

Q. Did you makeâfind a way? What did you discuss, and did you find a way to make some progress?

The President. It was about how we would jointly work, and I'm not going to discuss what we discussed.

The President's Approach to Diplomacy

Q. Mr. President, Kaitlan's [Kaitlan Collins, CNN] question that you answered at the very end there, that you came over to talk about, I think at the heart of it was this question of whether or not you seem overly optimistic, given thatâwhat we all listened to President Putin essentially say the same, old things that he's said forever. Heâyou know, rejecting all responsibility for all that stuff.

And I guess the question that she was trying to get, and maybe you could take another stab at it, is: What concrete evidence do you have from these 3 or 3-plus hours that suggest that any movement has been made?

And I don't knowâI don't mean that to beâI'm notâit's not meant to be aââ

The President. No, no, no. No. I know, but you're allââ

Q. ââ"gotcha" question. Iââ

The President. Look, to be a good reporter, you've got to be negative. You've got to have a negative view of lifeâokay?âit seems to me, the way you allâyou never ask a positive question.

Why, in fact, having agreementâwe'll find out. We have an agreement to work on a major arms control agreement. I started on working on arms control agreements back all the way during the cold war. If we could do one when the cold war, why couldn't we do one now? We'll see. We will see whether or not it happens.

But what do youâI mean, the thing that always amazes me about the questionsâand I apologize for having been short on this before. If you were in my position, would you say, "Well, I don't think, man, anything is going to happen. This is going to be really rough. I think it's going to really be bad"? You guarantee nothing happens. You guarantee nothing happens.

And so, so farââ

Q. So there's a value toââ

The President. There's a value to being realistic and put on an optimistic front, an optimistic

face.

Look, you all said the same thing about the, you know, what was going to happen when we

had the first meeting of the Seven. "Oh, Bidenâthey're not going toâthey're not going to buy Biden's stuff. They're really not really"âany of you find that? Did that happen? Any of it? A little bit? Just a little sliver of it?

When I went to meet with NATOâ"Oh, boy, they're not going to be happy. They're all going to be against Biden meeting with Putin. They're not going to want that." Did you hear a single, solitary syllable?

Now, what would have happened if I had said, before I went into those negotiations: "You know, I think it's going to be really hard. I think it's going to be really difficult. I'm not so optimistic about it. I don't see anybody really changing"?

And the same way when I met with the EU. "The EU is not going to like the way Biden is operating."

Q. But this is Vladimir Putin. I mean, can you be optimistic about his change?

The President. Sure, it's Vladimir Putin. But look, it was alsoâI don't want to compare him to Putin, but it wasâthe French President said he will never go for more money for NATO. Guess what? He's agreed.

EveryâI mean, look, guys, I'm going to drive you all crazyâ[*laughter*]âbecause I know you want me to always put a negative thrust on things, particularly in public, and negotiate in public.

I don't have to trust somebodyâwe didn't have to trust somebody to get START II. It wasn't about our trustâ"Well, I trust the Russians. I can tell, man, they're reallyâthey'reâI can look in his eye, and they're really very, very truthful." It's not that at all.

You have to figure out what the other guy's self-interest is. Their self-interest. I don't trust anybodyâlook, I've got to get in the plane, but I'll say itâyou'll hear me say this more than once.

Q. It's your plane. You can go when you want. [Laughter]

The President. Yes, no, butâno, but here's the thing: Folks, I don't see any benefit ever to begin a negotiation asâand, I mean, you're the brightest people in the country. You're the most informed people on detail. I'm not being solicitous; you are. But it makes no sense for me to negotiate with you. It makes no sense for me to tell you what I'm about to do. It makesânot because I want to hide anything from you. Why would I telegraph that?

Russia/U.S. Leadership in Multilateral Affairs/Status of Democracy in the World

Q. Did he do anything that surprised you, sir?

White House staffer. Sir, we need to go. Sir, we really have to go.

Q. Was there any moment that you were really surprised by?

White House staffer. Sirâthank you, guys. Thank you, guys.

The President. No, I wasn't surprised because I was convinced thatâlet me choose my words. Russia is in a very, very difficult spot right now. They are being squeezed by China. They want desperately to remain a major power. You all are writing about, not illegitimately, "Biden already gave Putin what he wants: legitimacy, standing in the world stage with the President of the United States." They desperately want to haveâbe relevant.

They haveâand they don't want to be known as, as some critics have pointed and said, you know, the "Upper Volta with nuclear weapons." It matters. And I found it matters to almost every world leaderâno matter where they're fromâhow they're perceived, their standing in the world. It matters to them. It matters to them in terms of their support at home as well.

And so I think that there isâI'm trying to think how to shorten this so I can get in the plane. [*Laughter*] I'm of the view that, in the last 3 to 5 years, the world has reached a fundamental inflection point about what it's going to look like 10 years from now. I mean it literally. It's not hyperbole. It's not like I'm trying to pump it up. I think it's a genuine reality.

And so each of the countries inâaround the world, particularly those who had real power at one time or still do, are wondering: Whatâhow do I maintain and sustain our leadership in the world? That's what the United States is going through right now. How do we sustain us being the leading, most powerful, and most democratic country in the world? A lot is going on.

I don't know about you, I never anticipated, notwithstanding no matter how persuasive President Trump was, that we'd have people attacking and breaking down the doors of the United States Capitol. I didn't think that would happen. I didn't think we'dâI'd see that in my lifetime.

But it's reinforced what I've always known and what I got taught by my political science professors and by the senior members of the Senate that I admired when I got there: that every generation has to reestablish the basis of its fight for democracy. I mean, for real, literally have to do it.

And I've never seen, including duringâsince the Civil War, such an outward assault on voting rights. I mean, just a flat assault. I didn't anticipate that happening 4 years ago, but it's happening now.

So there's a lot at stake. Each of the countries, we have our own concerns and problems, but we stillâas long as I'm President, we are going to stick to the notion that we're open, accountable, and transparent. And I think that's an important message to send the world.

Thank you all so much.

Q. Thank you, Mr. President.

Q. Come back and see us on the plane.

NOTE: The President spoke at 8:21 p.m. on the tarmac at the Geneva Airport prior to boarding Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, MD. In his remarks, he referred to White House Chief of Staff Ronald A. Klain; Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer; Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; and President Emmanuel Macron of France.

Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: Geneva, Switzerland. Locations: Geneva, Switzerland.

Names: Klain, Ronald A.; Macron, Emmanuel; McConnell, A. Mitchell; Pelosi, Nancy; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Schumer, Charles E.; Trump, Donald J.

Subjects: Arms and munitions : Nuclear weapons and material :: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia; Civil rights : Voting rights; Commerce, international : Group of Seven (Gâ7) nations; Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Congress : House of Representatives :: Speaker; Congress : Senate :: Majority leader; Congress : Senate :: Minority leader; District of Columbia : Civil unrest and violence at U.S. Capitol; Foreign policy, U.S. : Diplomatic efforts, expansion; France : President; Infrastructure, national improvement efforts; Iran : International diplomatic efforts; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Russia : President; Russia : Relations with U.S.; Russia : Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with U.S.; Switzerland : President Biden's visit; White House Office : Assistants to the President :: Chief of Staff.

DCPD Number: DCPD202100514.