Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2023

November 15, 2023

The First Lady. Wow. What a beautiful way to end our first night together. And speaking of beautiful, how about Gwen Stefani? Wasn't she amazing?

You know, the bonds that strengthen this week, the relationships we nurture, the connections we create, those are the things that help us build a resilient future that we all dream of. And it's not possible without all of you. So thank you.

May we keep close to our hearts the hope, happiness, and sense of possibility that we feel in this moment.

Joe.

The President. I'm Jill's husband, Joe Biden. And I work for the Vice President. [Laughter] That was a hell of a show, wasn't it? And I was just talking about Gwen; I didn't talk about the fireworks. [Laughter]

Folks, thank you all for being here. To all my colleagues, our colleagues from heads of state from the Pacific Islands and the Pacific region, it's just great to have you here. And this is aâwe owe a big debt of gratitude to the new mayor of the city of San Francisco. Where are you, Mayor? You're around here somewhere. And Governor Newsom. He's done one hell of a job.

Folks, you know, I had some comments to make to you. I'm not going to make them. I'm going to just summarize this way: You know, tonight, as I met with some of my colleagues that I've worked with from countries all across the region, including earlier today with Xi Jinping of China, you know, there's reason to be optimistic. There's reason to be optimistic.

I look at all of you and I see the enthusiasm, I see the sense of possibilities.

I was once asked by Xi Jinping in Chinaâ[*inaudible*]âa lot ofâspent a lot of time with him, traveled 17,000 miles with him. He said, "Can you define America for me?" I said, "I can in one word, and I mean itâpossibilities."

Anything is possible in this country if we do it together, and we're going to start that now.

And the Pacific is the place to start it.

Thank you all so, so, so much for being here. God bless you all. Thank you.

And by the way, the First Gentleman is here too. You've seenâhe was trying to keepâ [*applause*]âhe was trying to keep up with the dancers that Gwen had. I wasn't sure he'dâ [*inaudible*]. But thank you again. And thank the band. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 8:15 p.m. at the Exploratorium museum. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor London Breed of San Francisco, CA; President Xi Jinping of China; and Douglas C. Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala D. Harris. The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on November 16. Audio was not available for verification of the contents of these remarks.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, welcome reception in San Francisco, CA.

Locations: San Francisco, CA.

Names: Biden, Jill T.; Breed, London; Emhoff, Douglas C.; Harris, Kamala D.; Newsom, Gavin C.; Stefani, Gwen; Xi Jinping.

Subjects: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); California, Governor; California, President's visit; China, President; Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202301021.