Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:02 P.M. EDT
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi. Good afternoon, everybody.
Q Good afternoon.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, the safety of all Americans is the Biden-Harris administration’s first priority. As the security situation in Lebanon becomes increasingly volatile, I want to take a moment to talk about the numerous steps the Biden-Harris administration is taking to support Americans who seek to depart or relocate within Lebanon.
We are working around the clock to help Americans in Lebanon by providing as many options as possible to depart and offering loans to U.S. citizens who need assistance.
Since September 27th, the United States has secured more than 4,000 airplane — airplane seats for American citizens, lawful permanent residents, and their family members to depart Lebanon. We have reserved seats for Americans and their family members on daily commercial airlines that continue to fly out of Beirut, and we have organized additional flights for U.S. citizens; lawful permanent residents and their spouses, children, and parents to depart Lebanon.
As long as the Beirut airport remains open, we will continue to make more airplane seats available daily. To date, the number of seats available continues to exceed demand.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut remains open and can help Americans who need emergency passports or other documentation. We urge Americans to take advantage of these options.
Ultimately, a diplomatic resolution is the only way to achieve lasting stability and security across the Isra- — Israel-Lebanon border. We are in discussions for when we will be able to achieve that.
Now, earlier today, as many of you saw, the president and the vice president received an update regarding Hurricane Helene response and recovery efforts.
Under their leadership, FEMA has provided $344 million in direct assistance to survivors, along with an additional $180 million to ensure our federal partners can carry out their critical recovery work.
More than 8,000 federal re- — personnel are deployed, including FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistant teams that are in the neighborhood — in the — in neighborhoods across the affected states helping survivors apply for assistance. These personnel across the Southeast, including Florida, will both continue Hurricane Helene recovery efforts and respond to the impacts of Hurricane Milton.
As the president has said, we will be there for the communities devastated by this storm for as long as it takes.
The president and vice president received a briefing on the administration’s lifesaving preparations ahead of Hurricane Milton. The president continues to mobilize a whole-of-government effort to prepare for Hurricane Milton.
Earlier this week, the president quickly approved the state of Florider — Florida’s and the — and the Simo- — Seminole Tribe of Florida’s request for an emergency declaration pre-Milton landfall. He directed his team to keep working to increase the size and presence of our efforts as we prepare for Milton’s landfall.
The president spoke directly to Governor DeSantis, Tampa Mayor Castor, Clearwater Mayor Rector, and Pinellas County Chairwoman Peters to make sure we are meeting their needs and gave them his personal number so they can call him directly.
As the president’s — at the president’s direction, the administration has been in touch with more than 60 local officials in cities and counties along the likely path of impact to ensure needs are met in advance of the storm.
The president gathered his Cabinet, representing 16 agencies and departments, to ensure every corner of the U.S. government is assisting with Helene recovery and preparations for Milton.
And at the president’s direction, FEMA Administration — Administrator Criswell will travel to Florida tonight to join the pers- — the personnel on the ground and ensure every Floridian gets the help that they need. FEMA is pre-staging a full slate of response capabilities in Florida and the region, including eight Urban Search & Rescue teams; three U.S. Coast Guard swiftwater rescue teams; 15.6 million meals, 13.9 million liters of water already pre-positioned; an additional 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water ready to deploy as needed; more than 1,000 staff already in the region.
And as the president and the vice president have said, any attempts to price gouge Americans, whether at the gas pumps, airports, or hotel counter, during this storm are unacceptable. The Justice Department, FTC, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put out a statement warning consumers about those looking to take advantage of natural disasters.
The administration will also continue to work out — to — to work out and call out misinformation and conspiracy theories around the storm and federal and state responses. This is wrong, dangerous, and it must stop immediately. You heard the president speak to this just moments ago.
Everyone, especially those in positions of power, must do everything they can to encourage survivors to register for assistance, not discourage them by allowing these falsehoods to fester.
This storm will be catastrophic. It will be catastrophic. We urge everyone to listen to local officials and, if you are told to evacuate, do so — please do so immediately.
If you can’t evacuate or need a safe place to shelter, text “shelter” and your zip code to 43362 to get a list of open shelters near you.
With that, I will turn it over to Administrator Criswell, who is joining us virtually. Thank you so much, Administrator. I know you are incredibly busy today, but thank you for your time.
And with that, I’m going to just turn it over to you.
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: (Via teleconference.) All right. Thank you very much, Karine.
So, good afternoon, everybody. As you just heard from Karine, I just had an opportunity to brief President Biden and Vice President Harris on our preparatory actions as we prepare for Hurricane Milton to make landfall in Florida.
The entire federal family is leaning forward for Milton’s response. And right now, I am in North Carolina continuing to lead the response and recovery efforts for the impacts to Helene across many states. But I will be traveling this evening to Florida to be with the team that I have there on the ground, as well as meet with the governor and his team, to make sure that we are working side by side to meet the needs of Floridians as Hurricane Milton passes through the state.
I want to deliver a very important message to the people of Florida: This is going to be a catastrophic storm. It is going to be a potentially deadly storm. Please listen to your local officials, as they will be giving you the best information about what you need to do where you are located.
This storm is going to bring deadly storm surge, intense winds, flooding, but it is already bringing tornadoes across Florida. So, if you do get an emergency message on your phone right now for a tornado warning, please seek shelter immediately.
My heart goes out to all of the Floridians who have been in the path of many storms. They have had impacts from Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Idalia, and now Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. Floridians, they’re no strangers to these storms, but this one, Hurricane Milton, is expected to be catastrophic.
And I promise you that FEMA is ready. FEMA and the entire federal family will be there to provide those immediate lifesaving activities and begin to stabilize the incident after the storm passes.
And, again, I will be there on the ground to assess the impacts and prioritize the movement of federal resources to where the state needs them most.
Today, tonight, and tomorrow, these are going to be tough as we watch the impacts move across Florida. And, again, we’re already seeing impacts from this storm with tornadoes and high winds happening in different parts of Florida.
The most important thing is your safety. And I need everyone listening to do everything you can to protect yourself and your family as Milton passes.
Some of you may still be able to safely evacuate. Others, it may be too late. Again, I need you to listen to your local officials. They will know exactly what you are still able to do.
And if you receive, again, a tornado warning on your phone, through a NOAA radio, or from your local officials — there are tornadoes that are happening now — you need to seek shelter immediately.
I have also been in contact with Governor DeSantis, Mayor Castor, Mayor Welch, and Mayor Dyer, as well as all the Tribal nations in Florida that are in the path of this storm.
The president’s swift approval of the pre-landfall emergency declaration for Florida, as well as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, allows us to be able to employ the resources that we have staged to immediately begin to save lives and support the response activities.
In addition to the thousands of people that I already have on the ground in Florida for Hurricane Helene, as well as the previous storms from previous years, at the president’s direction, I sent an additional 1,200 search and rescue personnel, 6 incident management assistance teams, multiple power assessment teams, and dozens of medical facility assessment personnel into the area pre-landfall.
We’ve also staged over 500 ambulances, and the search and rescue teams include high-water vehicles and air assets, as well as boats, to support those lifesaving activities in the first hours after the storm passes.
As you heard Karine say, we’ve also pushed millions of meals and liters of water into Florida to support those immediate needs.
And let me be clear: The movement of these resources and these commodities are not taking away from our ongoing response and recovery efforts in North Carolina and the other states that were impacted by Hurricane Helene.
We are built for this. We have managed multiple simultaneous catastrophic incidents before, and we are prepared to do this again.
And I want the people to hear it from me: FEMA is ready. Our agency is postured to respond to this storm and maintain our current response and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene-impacted states. And we will be providing and I will be providing regular updates to President Biden and Vice President Harris as this storm passes so we can make sure that we are getting all of the federal resources that are needed to support their response. And they have directed me, as they always do, to make sure that Floridians continue to get everything they need.
I want to be clear, we at FEMA stand ready to both continue our support to Hurricane Helene and respond to the impacts from Hurricane Milton. This is what we do best. We manage complex incidents. We coordinate, we communicate, and we respond.
And, again, I will be traveling to Florida later today so I can join my team, as well as our state partners that are in the field preparing for the impacts from Hurricane loteim [Milton].
My leadership team, they are the best of the best. They are trained to work across multiple states and support the impacts that states are going to be feeling. And I want to know — I want everybody to know that we are prepared for what we need to do to support Florida, as well as all of the other states.
Before I take questions, I just want to emphasize, once again, because this is extremely important: People need to listen to their local officials. They need to take this storm seriously. It’s going to hit the west coast of Florida as a major hurricane, and it will still be a hurricane as it departs on the eastern coast of Florida. There will be flooding. There will be tornadoes, storm surge.
Take the actions you need to to protect yourself and your family. We do not need to lose any lives as a result of this storm. We have the time to prepare. Make sure that you’re taking those actions now.
And with that, Karine, I’ll take any questions.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much, Administrator. I just want to remind folks that she can only hear us; can’t see us. So, I’m going to start calling on folks right now.
Go ahead. Go ahead, Aamer.
Q Thank you. I appreciate you making this time. Do you have an estimate of the universe of how many people are not heeding the evacuation orders and remain at risk?
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: I do not have an estimate, but what I can tell you is that I was in Florida on Monday. I met with the mayor of Tampa and the mayor of St. Petersburg, and I saw people leaving the area. People are listening. They are leaving.
But we know there’s always a few that want to stay behind and protect their home. This storm is different. This storm is going to bring deadly storm surge, and so I want people who still have time to evacuate to make sure that they’re doing so but doing so safely, under the guidance and the advice of their local officials.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, M.J.
Q Thank you, Administrator. This is M.J. Lee with CNN. The White House has been talking a lot about the threat of misinformation, disinformation as it relates to storm recovery efforts. Can you talk to us about whether there’s one piece of incorrect information that you think, in your view, has been most damaging that you think would be the most important to clarify?
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: Well, honestly, I think all of it is damaging to our ability to be able to reach people. It’s intentional to create distrust, and that level of distrust is, as the president said earlier today, un-American. And what we need to do is make sure people can get the assistance that they need and they deserve.
And so, I want people to be able to come to us, register for assistance so we can help them on their road to recovery.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Nandita.
Q Thank you, Karine. Administrator, you have said that FEMA has enough money to get through both Hurricanes Helene and Milton, but that you’re assessing how much more you need from Congress. Is there an assessment that you can share with us?
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: We’re continuing to make that assessment, as we do not know what it’s going to cost us right now to get through Hurricane Milton. I think, as I briefed all of you before, we went into Immediate Needs Funding in August of this year. That allowed me to make sure I had enough money for this response, and I needed that for Hurricane Helene.
Without going into INF, I probably would not have had enough money to support Hurricane Helene.
With the full authority to spend against the president’s fiscal year ‘25 budget, I’ve been able to start paying the recovery projects that we put on hold. But the — the amount that we’re spending for Hurricane Helene and the amount that we anticipate we’re going to spend for Hurricane Milton, we are watching that very closely and assessing it every day so we can have a good estimate of how much more that we will need to be asking for in a supplemental.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Selina.
Q Thank you, Karine. Thank you, Administrator Criswell. Selina Wang with ABC News. Could you give any specific examples about the real-world impact that this misinformation is having, both in terms of are you seeing people who aren’t taking precautions because they don’t trust the government or FEMA or NOAA? And then, in terms of the threat to FEMA workers, have you seen examples of threats against them on the ground?
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: Yeah. I think the — the biggest thing is that — what I am hearing is people that are not coming to us and asking us for assistance. They’re not registering for the help that they need, or they are afraid to approach some of our staff because they are unsure of what the government is doing.
I think one of the biggest ones that I continue to hear is that we’re going to take their land from them. Simply untrue. When you register for assistance, we give you an initial amount of money, $750, to help support those immediate needs. And there were rumors out there that if you a- — you received this money and you didn’t pay it back that we would take your home. Simply untrue.
This is a series of — of assistance that we give over time, those immediate needs. We’ve already given out over $60 million in North Carolina alone for people’s property losses, as well as this immediate assistance. We will continue to give that money out.
And as it relates to my staff, I mean, it’s just demoralizing. I think that they take it personally. They have left their families and their homes to come here and support people in need. But they’re focused. They continue to stay focused on why they’re here. They know their purpose, and that is to help people, and we’ll continue to do that
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Gabe.
Q Thank you, Administrator. You said before that you have dealt with misinformation in the past. Why do you think that misinformation is so rampant this time around? Is it because of the election? Is it because of certain politicians? Is it become — because of tech platforms? Or is it because of, potentially, a foreign actor?
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: Yeah. I mean, I have definitely seen misinformation before. We have had misinformation for, you know, ver- — a long time. But we have seen it increase recently.
We saw a significant increase in the response in Maui and, even more — the greatest amount that I’ve seen in this response to Hurricane Helene. You know, I don’t want to speculate as to why we’re seeing this increase. It’s just damaging, and it’s — just makes it harder for us to do our job, and it’s a distraction for the people that are out there doing really hard work to help the people get the assistance that they need and deserve.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Ken.
Q Could you just describe the — the storm is going to be making landfall at — late at night on — on the west coast. To what extent does that add to the complications or the dangers for residents? And — and just how unique is it, the fact that it will be a hurricane when it hits the west coast but also a hurricane when it exits the east coast of Florida?
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: I think any time we see a storm hit during the evening, it just complicates things — right? — because we know that we will have power outages as a result of this. It will be dark. People will have to try to protect themselves without the same level of light that they’re used to. It just creates a whole other level of complication.
But as we heard from Director Brennan earlier today, it is very rare for a storm to be a hurricane when it makes landfall and as it exits the state. It’s going to move quickly, according to him, through the state, but that means it’s going to create these catastrophic impacts across the state. We’re going to see the most significant storm surge on the west coast, but we know, from Hurricane Ian, how much inland flooding and flash flooding that happened on the east coast in the Orlando area.
And so, we’re concerned about that, and that’s why I talked to the mayor of Orlando earlier today, to make sure he knew that even though the west coast is getting a lot of focus on this, that the east coast is going to have significant threats as well. And that’s why I’ve also got incident management teams right there in the Orlando area to help work side by side with the local officials so we can get those resources in as quickly as possible when this storm is making landfall and moving across the state.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And I know, Administrator, you have to head out.
Akayla, you have the last question.
Q Okay. Hi, Administrator. I’m just wondering if the administration is confident that the election will still be able to be conducted by November — that power outages, that roads will be safe to drive on so voters can cast their ballot.
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: So, you know, the election piece is with the states, and we have resources that we can help them with to ensure we meet whatever needs that they have, and — and we’ll continue to work with them if they have any specific requirements.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much, Administrator. Safe travels. I know you’ve been in —
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: Thanks, Karine.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — North Carolina for some time helping on the ground there. We really appreciate everything that you’re doing. And safe travels to Florida tonight. Thank you.
ADMINISTRATOR CRISWELL: Thanks, Karine. Thanks, everybody.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Aamer.
Q Oh, great. On the — the Netanyahu call earlier today. Was the president told by Prime Minister Netanyahu how he intends to respond to Iran after the October 1 attack? And then, secondly, the prime minister’s office and President Trump have confirmed they spoke last week. Was the White House informed of that call ahead of time? And do you know the contents of that call? And just generally, are you comfortable with that type of conversation happening?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, a couple of things. You a- — you just asked me a slew of things there. I just — I do want to say, I know there’s the rabbi call that the president is going to be doing momentarily. We’ll let you know when that happens. I think we’re running a little bit behind, and I know that there’s going to be an opportunity for all of you all to — to tune in.
Let me just give you a couple of just top lines on the call. It lasted about 30 minutes. It was 30 minutes long. It was direct. It was productive — obviously, the call that the president had with the prime minister of Israel.
They discussed a range of issues, and we are going to have a readout shortly that you all will — will have to — to get a better sense of what was discussed on the call. So, I’m not going to get ahead of that. I know the team is — is working through that at — at this time.
So, as you all know, the U.S. and — and the Israeli government have been discussing — have had discussion since last week after — certainly since after the Iran attack. And so, that — those discussions continued with the president and the prime minister. Certainly not going to get into those discussions. There’s going to be a readout. Don’t have anything else beyond — beyond that to share.
But I can say that they did have a discussion about that, and it is a continued discussion. It started off with, obviously, staff-level discussion in the last week. And obviously, the two leaders had an opportunity to — to talk directly. Like I said, it was productive. It was direct. It lasted about 30 minutes.
And this is on top of more than a dozen calls that the pr- — president and the prime minister have had since October 7th of last year.
As it relates to your — one of your questions there about the — the book, look, as you know, there are —
Q There wasn’t a — I’m sorry —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, okay.
Q About — about the Trump conversation last week.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh. Oh — wait.
Q Did I — did I ask about the book as well? But —
Q We can come back to the book.
Q We can come back. There’s plenty of questions, if you’d like to answer that as well. But —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay.
Q — particularly about Trump’s conversation, I think that’s more pertinent to today’s call.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, say more about the Trump conversation.
Q So, Trump spoke with Netanyahu last week.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, I see what you’re saying. Okay.
Q And —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Yeah, okay. (Laughs.)
Q And were you guys aware what that — and are you —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I — I don’t — I don’t — that’s something for, obviously, the Trump — the Trump team to speak to. I can’t speak to that, about their conversation. I just don’t have anything to add about that.
Q Well, I guess what’s more relevant —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q — are we having, like, two — two different — a former administration and a current administration doing foreign policy at the same time?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I mean, look, as you know, there’s one — one president as a — at a time. That has been the way that we’ve done this — right? — in this country. And so, that is what exists.
The president — the current president — the President Biden had a conversation with the prime minister. They’ve had m- — as I mentioned, more than — more than a dozen conversations since the past — the past year, since October 7th of 2023. And I think what you have seen from this administration is the continued support for Israel’s security.
You saw that over the past c- — past couple of days, obviously, since the — past couple of weeks. When Iran attacked Israel, the president directed his military to protect Israel. He was very proud to be able to do that. And that support continues.
They had a — as I said, a direct, a productive conversation, as they’ve had for many times. This is — when you think about the president and the — and the prime minister, they’ve known each other for decades — for decades. And so, that’s what I can speak to.
I’m not going to get into the former president and his conversation with world leaders.
Q And if I can just ask one about the book.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q Russia said today that the COVID testing material that was given to Putin by Trump was nothing abnormal. Back then, there was a lot of trading going on of material. Is that true?
And then, if it is true —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q — why was the president going after Trump yesterday at the Casey fundraiser over giving Putin this material?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, that was a — a political event, so I’m going to let the president —
Q Okay.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — speak to whatever he — what he said at that event. I’m not going to say be- — go beyond that.
What I will say is, when it — as it relates to what happened in the last administration, how then the president behaved and — and what he was able to — you know, to do, whatever is being reported, I’m going to leave it to the 2020 — that time in 2020 to that administration.
Look, what I can say and we can say very proudly and — and forcefully, I believe, is how this president responded to a once-in-a-century pandemic. He put forth a comprehensive strategy to move forward, to get shots in arms, money in pockets, at a time where the economy was at a tailspin. And this is a president that took that very, very seriously, along with a critical partnership that he had with the vice president, and that’s why we’ve seen the economy turn around. That’s why we all sitting here today without masks on, because the president actually took this seriously and made sure that we were able to get out of the pandemic. That’s what I’m going to speak to.
The president said what he — he wanted to say yesterday, and I’ll leave it as that.
Q But that — I guess, are you — is it just adding some misinformation then? Because that — what the president — the last president at that time was doing what it sounds like he thought was the right thing. Everybody needed material at that time.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’m going to let the former president speak for himself and how he behaved and the actions that he’s took. That is for him to speak to. What I can speak to is what the president has done over the last three and a half years.
And look, when we came into this administration, we did not have a comprehensive strategy to deal with COVID. That did not happen.
I mean, you had a former president who was telling people to inject bleach — to inject bleach. And you have this president and this vice president who took it very seriously and put forth a comprehensive strategy to deal with a once-in-a-century pandemic. And the economy is now — just looking at the data, the economy has turned around. We are leading with the economy worldly, globally. And, you know, we are in a different place. We are in a different place. And that is because of the leadership of this president.
We all saw — you all — some of you were in this room — when the former president would come to the podium to talk about the — the pandemic and the lies that was spewing and what was happening. And this president took it seriously. That’s what I can say.
Go ahead, Gabe.
Q Thanks, Karine. Regarding the Woodward book and Prime Minister Netanyahu, you said that — and you have referenced the dozen calls the president has had —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. More — more than a dozen calls.
Q — with the prime minister since the start of the w- –
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q As it was brought up last time, he hadn’t had one before this — before October — excuse me, before August 21st.
In the book, Woodward reports that the president used an expletive when referring to Netanyahu and calling him a bad guy and other disparaging remarks. What’s the White House response to that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I’ll say first that, look, there’s going to be many books that are written about this administration and many administrations. It’s — it’s a typical thing to — to occur. Nothing atypical about that.
I’m not going to weigh in on particulars in each one of those books. What I can say to that question that you asked me: I cannot confirm. That is not something that I can confirm from here.
Q But does — does it speak of the relationship of President Biden and Netanyahu?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — and this is what I’ve said moments ago, Gabe, which is this president and the prime minister have known each other for decades, and their conversations, their — their relationship have always been honest and direct. And this 30-minute conversation that they had today was also direct and very productive.
And, you know, you — you have heard the president say he doesn’t agree with everything and they have disagreements, but because they have had these decade- — decades-long
relationship, they’re able to be honest with each other.
I think what matters here is that this administration, this president’s commitment to Israel’s security is iron- — is ironclad. And that will be — conti- — certainly be — be — continue to be the case.
Q And quickly, on another topic, on the reporting in that book that he — that former President Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin at least seven times since leaving office, is that appropriate?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, we’re not aware of those calls. I certainly can’t confirm any of those calls from here, but it if — but if it is indeed true, are we concerns? Do we have serious concerns? Yes, if it is true. Again, I cannot confirm any of those calls.
Let’s not forget, it is concerning, especially when we know the former president was lobbying against more aid for Ukraine — to Ukraine to defend themselves against Russia’s aggression.
So, if true, it is concerning. But again, I want to be really clear, I cannot confirm any of these calls.
Q But is it — how is it possible that the intelligence community wouldn’t know that —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I can’t —
Q — a former president spoke with Putin?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I hear you. I just cannot confirm those calls happened.
Q And the president has not been briefed on this?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I cannot confirm any of these calls were true.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Karine. Given that the president canceled his foreign trip — he would have left, I think, tomorrow morning for Germany and Angola — can you give us just a sense of what the next few days will look like as he is monitoring Milton?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q Will he be here the whole time, probably? Is it possible he will go to Delaware over the weekend? Are you guys talking about a possible trip to Florida at some point —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q — already?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, as you saw this morning, the president is going to continue to get hurricane briefings, not just on Milton and how we’re preparing and what’s happening. Obviously, we’re all certainly very much focused — he’s going to be laser focused on that, as well as the vice president. And so, he’ll continue to be updated, continue to get those briefings.
I don’t have any travel to read out to you at this time, whether it is to the impacted areas or outside of that.
What I can say is the president is going to continue to — to be laser focused on the storms and what’s happening, the pre- — the preparations, how we are still certainly responding to the immediate needs of folks who have been impacted by Hurricane Helene as well. That is also very much in — in front of us and what we’re trying to do and get done there.
But that’s going to be his focus. You’ll continue to hear more from the president — I can guarantee you that — over the next couple of days.
But what we want to share very, very clearly with Floridians out there: It is important to evacuate. It is important to take this storm very, very seriously. It will be catastrophic.
You heard from the FEMA administrator. She is headed down to Florida to — to be there with her team, to assist on the ground as we are pre-positioning and preparing for this storm.
Q And just back to the phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Did the president at any point in this phone call — you said that it was constructive — urge the prime minister to not take certain actions as they relate to either the situation in Lebanon or potential retaliatory strikes against Iran?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I’m going to say what I said moments ago. This was a continued discussion on the leaders’ level. As you know, the staff level has been talking since last week. And it is certainly to continue to speak to the response on Iran’s attack and a — and a long — a long list of other — other conversations and issues that they wanted to discuss between the two leaders.
I don’t have anything else to — to speak to or to say. There’s going to be a readout shortly that will have a little bit more detail of that conversation. I’m just not going to get into specifics from here.
Q Would it — would it be safe to say that the president now has a clear understanding of and a clear picture of what Israel’s plans are for retaliating against Iran?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: What I can tell you is they had a discussion, a con- — they continued their discussion on — on a response to Iran’s attack, a discussion — last week, a discussion that certainly started at the staff level, and now the two leaders were able to have a productive, straightforward, honest conversation, as they tend to do.
I don’t have anything beyond that.
Go ahead, Selina.
Q Thanks, Karine. So, Vice President Harris was also on that call between President Biden and Netanyahu. Can you just explain the role she played in that call? Did she just listen in? Did she weigh in on the issues as well?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I would refer you to her team to speak to that.
Q And just going back to the contents of the call. I know there’s a readout coming out soon.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q But can you just describe the tone of that call in terms of was the president continuing to push back on issues that were being presented to him from Netanyahu?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It was dir- — direct, and it was productive. That’s what I’ll share.
Q And can we say at this point if Israel has made a decision on how they want to respond?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: They continue to have a discussion on Israel response to the attacked — Iran’s attack last week. I’m not going to go into specifics or details. There’s going to be a readout shortly.
Go ahead. Go ahead, Michael.
Q Thanks, Karine. Going back to your warnings against price gouging during the hurricanes. I’m just wondering, does the administration have any reports that that’s actually happening, or was this just intended to be a preemptory strike to keep it from happening?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I think certainly a preemptive st- — a preemptive attempt to keep it from happening. We’re keeping a close eye on prices at the pump, at the airport, obviously, and also these hotel counters to just make sure that it doesn’t happen.
We tend to see this type of behavior during this time, and we want to be very, very clear: It is not okay. It is not — there is no time to do that. But certainly when people are evacuating, when people are fearful about — about what’s — what’s to come, especially with a historic hurricane like Hurricane Milton, we want to make sure that this is not happening.
And that’s why the Department of Transportation is on top of it. You have DOJ, FDC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And so, they’re going to certainly take actions here and — to protect consumers. And that is what we want to make sure that we’re doing. We’re protecting consumers. We’re protecting Americans. And so, that’s our focus.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Karine. Going back to the reporting in the — the Woodward book.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q If former President Trump has been speaking to President Putin — he’s also had calls and meetings with other foreign leaders, both since he left office and since he announced his latest campaign for the presidency — is the administration at all concerned that he appears to be running a — a shadow foreign policy while campaigning for president against —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q — the incumbent administration?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And so, look, I’m going to give you the same answer that I give to Aamer here, which is, as we know, it’s one president at a — at a time. That is how we do our business here in this country, as you know very — very clearly.
Look — and I said, if there was a — we cannot confirm this — if there was a call with President Putin, if that is indoo- — indeed true, yeah, there are concerns, especially when you had the former president lobbying against Ukraine aid. Yeah.
But I cannot confirm that. I cannot confirm those calls.
Q What about hi- — his meetings with foreign leaders such as Viktor Orbán, who has opposed aid to Ukraine as well? Is — is —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I’m going to let the for- — the former president speak to his calls with world leaders. I’m not going to dive into that.
But what I will say is that this president is focused at — at what’s at hand, right? He had a conversation with the prime minister — 30 minutes, as I stated, half an hour. It was direct. It was very much honest. It was to show that, you know, we’re going to continue to have those discussions with Israel on how they’re going to respond after Iran’s attack last week. You saw what this administration, what this president directed his military to do. And our commitment to Israel’s security continues to be ironclad.
That is what I can speak to, and that is what we’re focused on.
Q One — one more —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And as you know, we have a hurricane, Milton, that’s coming, and you heard from the president. So, he has a lot to focus on —
Q Right. And one —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — and that —
Q One —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — and as a — as his le- — as a leader, that’s what he’s going to do.
Q One more on the same topic.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.
Q Traditionally, when — when former presidents do interface with — with foreign leaders, there — there is a process by which they can liaise with the incumbent administration to be possibly briefed on any — any policy concerns and — and possibly provide a readout of those conversations afterwards.
Has President — has former President Trump availed himself of — of any resources that might be available to him?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don’t have anything to speak to on that particular question. But I — I understand your question. I just don’t have anything for you at this time.
Go ahead, Aurelia.
Q Thanks, Karine. One more try on the Bibi call. Sorry.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.
Q Do — did the president, during this conversation, address the latest comments Prime Minister Netanyahu made, saying that Lebanon could experience the same level of destruction as Gaza if they don’t free themselves from Hezbollah?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, as I stated, they had a productive and honest conversation. But what I will say very clearly about that particular question is we — we cannot and will not see Lebanon turn into Gaza — into another Gaza. That is not what we want to see.
The suffering in both Gaza and Lebanon adds even greater urgency, as you’ve heard from us, to our efforts certainly to end the conflicts and lay a foundation for lasting peace and security in the region.
For over a year — you think about what has occurred for over a year. You’ve seen Hezbollah has attacked Israel and rejected all off-ramps to this conflict. That’s what you have seen.
The suffering we are seeing in Lebanon could have been avoided — could have been avoided, if — if Hezbollah would have stopped its rockets’ attacks on Israel.
So, look, I’m going to just reiterate what our position is when it comes to Lebanon. We are working our way back towards a ceasefire process, and that’s going to create a space to negotiate a diplomatic resolution that only ends the fighting — that’s what we’re going to continue to do — and allow civilians from both sides of the Blue Line to return — to return home. And we want to see that be done safely and certainly with security as well.
And so, that’s what our focus is going to be on.
Go ahead, in the middle.
Q Wh- —
Q Thank you, Karine.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, no —
Q I’ve got a — I’ve got a FEMA —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I keep trying to call her, and it’s a — let me let her go. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Q Thank you. So, more on the — on the Middle East.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q At this point, does the White House understand that Israel is planning to attack energy facilities in Iran?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, we’ve spoken to that. And, look, I’m not going to get into hypotheticals. I’m not going to get that — get into that from here. That has been asked of the president; that has been asked of us last week.
What I can say is that we’ve had discussions. We’re continuing discussions with Israel on their response to Is- — to Iran’s attack last week. I’m not going to dive into it. I’m not going to get into it from here.
And so, you saw that happening on the staff level. And now what you saw today was that happening on the leaders level.
I’m not going to get into hypotheticals or speculations from here.
Q And how would you describe right now the relationship between the president and Netanyahu?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, they’ve known each other for decades. They’ve known each other for decades. And because of that, they’re able to have that frank conversation. Because of that, the president is able to be honest, and they’re both able to be honest to each other.
And I think what — what I can report to you, and I’ve said this multiple times already: The conversation that they had today was productive and it was direct, very much in line with many other conversations that they have had, not just in the past year but over decades.
And I think you’ve heard the president speak directly about his relationship with the prime minister.
And so, they’ve known each other for a long time. They have had a decades-long friendship. And I think — I think that’s — that says — that says it all for me.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you. Staying on the Middle East. You said that the administration will continue evacuating U.S. citizens from Lebanon as long as the airport is open. Do you have any guarantee that Israel is not bombing the airport?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Say that one more time, the last part. I didn’t hear that.
Q Do you have — does the White House have any guarantee that Israel will not bomb Beirut airport?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, we’re going to have very direct conversations with the government of Israel about the shape and the nature — as we speak about Lebanon, specifically, right? — and the ultimate scope of their campaign. And those conversations are going to continue.
And I’m not going to get into specific conversations that we’re having, but it will be — it will continue to be very direct. And — and that’s what you’ve seen over the past year, and that’s what’s going to continue.
Q You also said that you are working towards a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q — as this outcome to the crisis. So, wh- — how exactly will this materialize, considering Israel has rejected a ceasefire, a diplomatic solution, and Hezbollah leaders are being killed one after the other? So, who are you talking to when you talk about ceasefire?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, we want to see — as the president has said, we want to reach a ceasefire deal — that’s what we want to see — and, again, to provide space for that diplomatic resolution, those diplomatic conversations. And we want to see civilians on both sides to return back home and — on both sides of the border, obviously.
And so, those discussions continue. We have been very clear that those conversation have been continuing for some time now. And ultimately — ultimately, we need a diplomatic resolution. We understand that. We have to have a diplomatic resolution, and that’s the only way to achieve that long-lasting stability — right? — when you think about security across the Israel — Israel and Lebanon border.
And so, that’s what we want to see. It doesn’t stop us from having those conversations, to having those discussions.
Today, you heard from me, you heard from — from us, that the two leaders spoke about an array of issues. They continued that discussion about how they’re — how Israel is going to respond to Iran’s attack from last week, and a bunch of other things that are incredibly important to both leaders.
We’ll have a readout shortly that will share a little bit more.
Q And one last question. In two weeks, there is already eight hospitals in Lebanon that are out of service. There is thousands of being — people being killed. There is 1 million forced to flee their homes.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q And the Israelis has calling for more troops. So, how can this not be a scenario in Gaza that we have seen it unfolding?
And second, is — isn’t that a mission creep? How do you agree with the Israelis on the outcome of the war if Netanyahu said, “We’re going to continue regardless of what the White House, more or less, is saying as long as we are not achieving our — our aims in Lebanon”?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look — look, I’m going to say what I said moments ago. We do not want to see Gaza — what happened in Gaza happen in Lebanon. That’s what I said, and that is something that we do not want to see.
And as we’ve said, Israel does have the right to defend itself and, you know, to go after their — their security threats that they see.
But one civilian casualty is too many, and we’ve been very clear about that. They must take — Israel must take every feasible precaution to prevent civilian harm. And those are the conversation, discussions that we’re going to continue to have.
And, look, you heard from us. We announced some huma- — humanitarian assistance for Lebanon for the challenges that they’re dealing with — $157 million — we announced that last week — to deal with those — to those humanitarian challenges.
And so, we’re aware of what’s going on, and we’ve been very clear. We’ve been very clear on this.
Go ahead, Jared.
Q Just two kind of clarifying questions — at least clarifying for me; they may be clear for others. But have you — in the talks that the president has had with the Israeli prime minister, sort of beyond just kind of the details or the readout, is there now an expectation that Israel would inform the administration in advance of action it’s planning to take against Iran?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: What I can tell you: that the discussions continue on how Israel’s going to respond to that attack, to the attack from Iran last week. Those discussions continue. I’m not going to get into details from here or specifics.
Q And then just quickly on — on the — Lebanon. You talked about kind of the efforts being made to help Americans get out.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, Americans who are in Lebanon.
Q So far, are those all — are those all commercial flights at this point? Or are you talking about, like, some military charters or diplomatic charters as well?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. So, what I spoke to was commercial flights and what we’re trying to do: get some seats on — certainly on these flights. I would refer you to the State Department. They did a very well — a very good laydown of this as well, and they’re certainly helping to lead that effort. So, I would refer you to the State Department on any specifics.
Go ahead, Phil.
Q Thank you, Karine. You’re pretty consistent: You don’t often speculate about hypotheticals. But today, on more than one occasion, you’ve said that if it’s true that former President Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin, then that’s concerning.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q I’m — I’m wondering: Why is this administration willing to speculate about that in particular?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I said if it’s true —
Q Speculation.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It’s speculation, but if it’s true — because I knew — right? — we all knew that you all will have — will have questions about — for us about the national security concerns, about our thoughts about this.
And so, if it is indeed true — right? — we’re talking about President Putin here. We see what’s happening in Ukraine. Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. That’s about democracy. That’s about Ukrainians fighting for their freedom.
And we’ve heard the former president say and lobby against the — the funding for Ukraine.
So, yeah, if it is true, it is indeed concerning, because we’re talking about our national security here. So, we wanted to be ver- — I want it to be very, very clear. And so, I’ll leave it there.
Q And then a second question.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.
Q Does President Biden regret making Merrick Garland his attorney general, as Mr. Woodward has reported?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, the reason I’m able to speculate — because that’s a national security concern. I wanted to be very clear about that. But as I’ve stated many times before, there’s going to be many books written about an administration. It’s not — it’s very much typical. And I’m just not going to comment on every specific — every — every matter that comes up or any particulars that come up.
Q And then a national security question.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q Mr. Woodward also reports that, according to intelligence reports, White House officials here believed that there was as much of a 50 percent chance that Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. I mean, is — is — that 50 percent odds number, is that accurate? And if so —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q — would this administration, you know, let the American public know that that kind of risk is real?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Again, I’m not going to speak to everything that is in a book, every particular. There’s going to be many books written, and we understand that. It’s not atypical. But I won’t respond to every piece in the book.
All right, guys. Got to go. Thank you so much. We’ll see you tomorrow.
2:52 P.M. EDT
