President Biden Holds a Joint Press Conference with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom
ladies and gentlemen distinguished guests the president of the United States and the prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland well good afternoon please please be serious I'd like to start with the permission of my British friends to just say a few words about the wildfires in Canada and the quality of the air here in the East Coast um this blanket of the communities in the east coast and uh and the smoke this past few days I just put out a more detailed statement so for the press and for the people to see but I spoke yesterday with prime minister Trudeau and I've decided to dictated a National interagency Fire Center response to Canada's request for additional firefighters and the fire suppression assets such as air tankers we already have 600 American firefighters on the ground have been there for a while in Canada including Hot Shots and the smokejumper crews and it's very important that affected communities listen to the guidance of their state and local officials from this point forward to keep up to date on the air quality in real time go to the app that we provide it's called airnow.gov and check on one another and by the way what you'll get is something that looks like this with a with a calibrated Feast that says when the air is clean and when the air is dangerous and hazardous and it dictates what to tell you the air quality in your the neighborhood now it's uh it's my honor my honor to welcome prime minister sunac to the White House appreciate we've probably tired of meeting we met in March and uh in San Diego to discuss August and with prime minister of Australia in April we were there for the 25th anniversary The Good Friday agreement in Belfast we met and discussed again today the uh the need to get the stormline institution Northern Ireland up and running last month together with our G7 Partners in Hiroshima we drove progress in everything from our shared support for the brave people of Ukraine to the common principles of engaging with China today in Washington we have had important and positive discussions to deepen our bilateral economic relationship and expand our cooperation to shape the challenges and future for this remainder this century it's a testament to the depth breadth and I would argue the intensity of our cooperation and coordination which has existed continues to mix between the United Kingdom and the United States there's no issue of global appoint of importance none that where our nations are not leading together and where we're not sharing our common values to make things better in our conversations today we continue to build on all that we've achieved over these past months we discussed how we can continue to adapt and upgrade our partnership to ensure our countries remain at The Cutting Edge I'm going to rapidly changing world our economic partnership is enormous strength and source of strength that anchors everything that we do together we want to harness that power to make sure we're creating good jobs and supporting working with class families in both our countries and the growth is shared broadly and no one gets left behind so today we're releasing a new plan to equip our economic partnership for the 21st century it outlines how we can enhance our cooperation to accelerate the clean energy transition that must take place and is taking place lead the development of emerging Technologies are going to shape so much of our future and protect Technologies critical to our national security and a key piece of that is working together to strengthen our critical mineral Supply chains and to make them more resilient so we're not depending any one country to meet our goals when it came when it comes to technology that will shape the future like semiconductors Quantum Computing artificial intelligence the UK and the US are working together to make sure they are developed safely and responsibly and jointly we're going to do more on joint research and development to ensure the future we're building remains fundamentally aligned with our value set in both our countries and we're doing more to prevent technologies that are are invented and developed in our countries from being used for for military or intelligence purposes by countries that do not share our values today we're also discussed are unwavering support for the people of Ukraine and defend who are defending themselves against most brutal aggression we've seen in a long time at the hands of Russia and Putin the UK and the United States together with more than 50 partners have committed historic levels of security assistance to Ukraine I want to thank the Prime Minister for a strong strong leadership contributing significant amounts of security assistance and training Ukrainian troops so they can effectively use the equipment and ammunition we've collectively provided them and I'm bringing the world together later this month to drive support from Ukraine's long-term economic recovery you're doing a great deal so Mr Prime Minister thank you for making the journey to Washington earlier this week we marked the 79th anniversary of D-Day and a timely reminder of a proud history of our nation's share and the values the values that we have long stood together to defend that's the unshakable foundation of this special relationship and it is a special relationship there's no country closer to us than Great Britain today as NATO allies Partners in Innovation as friends in the shared vision of the future and the two Nations our two nations are ready to meet the challenges of our time and meet them together and I'm confident the United Kingdom of the United States will continue to lead the world toward greater peace prosperity and security for all so thank you again Mr Prime Minister and the floor is yours thank you Mr President and before I begin my remarks a word if I may on what happened in France this morning all our thoughts are with those affected by this unfathomable attack including a British child and with their families I've been in touch with President macron we stand ready to offer any assistance that we can Mr President Joe it is an honor to be here at the White House and thank you for your very warm welcome not for decades has the relationship between our two Nations been so important the values we share our belief in Freedom democracy and the rule of law have never changed they never will but what has changed are the challenges that we face and standing here together as our predecessors have done for Generations I feel confident that through the strength of our relationship we can shape the world once again in our pursuit of Liberty prosperity and the possibilities of a new age and that begins with our highest priority National Security last time I was here in the U.S we signed orcas the most significant defense partnership in Generations because we recognize that the security of the Atlantic and Pacific regions are indivisible and just a fortnight ago in Hiroshima President Biden and I stood with president zielinski and our G7 allies in a powerful display of unity the UK is proud of our contribution including providing tanks long-range weapons and training Ukrainian soldiers but let no one doubt U.S leadership and resources are the decisive contribution allowing the forces of democracy and freedom to prevail as I said in Congress and I say again now to President Biden and to the American people thank you and just as we collaborate to protect our national security so was me increasingly do the same to protect our Economic Security on which our prosperity depends countries like China and Russia are willing to manipulate and exploit our openness steal our intellectual property use technology for authoritarian ends or withdraw crucial resources like energy they will not succeed today we have agreed the Atlantic declaration a new economic partnership for a new age of a kind that has never been agreed before yes a partnership that protects our citizens but more than that a test case for the kind of reimagined alliances President Biden has spoken so eloquently about that means new investment this week alone 14 billion pounds of new American Investment has been committed into the UK creating thousands of jobs it means stronger Supply chains with a new action plan on clean energy and it means reducing trade barriers in the Technologies of the future with a new secure UK US data Bridge helping tens of thousands of small businesses an agreement to work towards Mutual recognition of more professional qualifications and areas like engineering and we're launching negotiations on a new critical minerals agreement once concluded this will give UK companies stronger access to the U.S
market and we're building on our extraordinary shared strengths in cutting-edge future Technologies with joint research collaborations and areas like quantums semiconductors and AI now our job as Leaders is to ensure that this technological Revolution makes us more secure and not less week the pioneers of artificial intelligence warned us about the scale of the challenge as well as the opportunity the US and the UK are the world's foremost Democratic AI powers so today president and I agreed to work together on AI safety including multilaterally now the UK looks forward to hosting the first Global Summit on AI safety later this year so that we can seize the extraordinary possibilities of this new technological age and do so with confidence and we are well placed to do so I know some people have wondered what kind of partner Britain would be after we left the EU I'd say judge us by our actions we're committed to our values as ever as reliable an ally as ever as attractive an investment destination as ever but we're changing too we're strengthening our relationships not just with old friends like America and in Europe but with new friends in the indo-pacific too and we now have the freedom to regulate the new technologies that will shape our economic future like AI more quickly and flexibly that is the future that we are creating in Britain confident proud and free let me close with a personal reflection as Joe mentioned he and I have seen quite a lot of each other in recent months I gather our wives have even started to take spin classes together and we were talking earlier about our hometowns Joe is very rightly proud of Scranton and I was telling him a little bit about Southampton in England where I'm from now not everyone knows this but it was in a church in Southampton where in the days before he set sail for these Shores that John Winthrop first spoke about his dream of building a city on a hill and that reminds us that the relationship between our two Nations is unlike any other our alliance is so strong because it is not abstract it is rooted in our people and it's never been about our history alone but about our ability to grasp the future we share the same beliefs pursue the same purpose and act according to the same ideals and that's why today as we meet the challenges of our time we can depend on each other with absolute conviction when the United States and the United Kingdom Stand Together the world is a safer better and more prosperous place and that's why ours is the indispensable Alliance thank you thank you Mr Prime Minister all right first question goes to uh James of the financial times unless he left thank you Mr President um I appreciate the question um with um you spoke about your unwavering support for the people of Ukraine so much of that depends on funding from the U.S Congress and now with the counter-offensive underway when do you expect to return to Congress and ask for new funding and how much do you expect you will need and do you think that speaker McCarthy will agree to it giving some skeptical comments that we heard um earlier yes and and to uh prime minister sunac um you spoke earlier this week about the importance of finding long-term security arrangements and agreements for the defense of Ukraine for many years ahead um do you think that have you found a common position with President Biden uh on that issue what's your preferred model for a long-term security agreement with respect to Ukraine and does it need to be sorted out before the Vilnius Summit thank you let me Begin by answering your question first of all the uh ukrainians should speak to the military operations and I won't do that from here we've done everything we could collectively but individually in the United States to make them ready to support that that will they'll get us going to continue and an evolving situation that we're we're very optimistic in talks with the ukrainians and ukrainians and particularly with zelinski and our allies and partners on commitments to Ukraine long-term security long-term security to deter future aggression after this war ends is is a goal and we're advancing this goal by providing them the support Ukraine needs now on the battlefield and helping them strengthen their military over the long term the fact of the matter is that I believe we'll have the funding necessary to support Ukraine as long as it takes and I believe that we're going to that that support will be real even though there are you hear some voices today on Capitol Hill about whether or not we should continue to support Ukraine and for how long we should support them fact the matter is I ask people a picture what would happen if we were not supporting Ukraine do we think Russia would stop and keep do you think that's all there would be happening I think not I think the vast majority of my colleagues even the critics think that would not be the case as well there's much more to say about Ukraine but I hope that answers your direct question James thank you for the question if I if I might actually touch on your first question first and and so it's an actually entirely reasonable aren't the American people to hear what I say and hopefully acknowledge the thanks that we have for their support of the situation in Ukraine but also ask if everyone is doing their bit and that's why as I said the UK is proud to be behind the us the biggest contributor to the military effort in Ukraine and I think it's right that other countries also step up and do their part we're lucky to have America's investment in European security but we need to share the burden alongside you which is why defense spending in the UK has has been above the two percent NATO Benchmark it's on an increasing trajectory and we would encourage other countries to follow the lead that the US and and the UK set because our security is collective I think the other thing for you to know about us as an ally is we also view security as indivisible between the Euro Atlantic region in the Pacific that's why the orca's partnership is so important that's why we're strengthening our engagement and alliances in that region too so that the US can count on the UK as a partner and an ally sharing the burden but also working together in every sphere that it matters and on your latter question I agree with what the president said it's about deterrence President Putin will be thinking that he can wait us out that the alliance will Tire will get fatigued and will give up now that is not the case and the more we can put in place support for Ukraine not just in the here and now but support that will last for a time and for years to come I think it sends a strong signal to him that there is no point trying to wait us out we're not going anywhere we will be here for as long as it takes and hopefully that will speed up the calculation in his mind that he should withdraw his forces and stop what is an illegal and unprovoked act of aggression also if you don't mind my making an addendum I point out that uh not only do we have the Europe responding I spent a lot of time in Japan the Japanese have stepped up they've stepped up in terms of their budget they've stopped up in terms of their involvement they stepped and stepped up in terms of the support for Ukraine realizing that an event a a a glaring Invasion with no free text of anything other than conquering land occurring in the 21st century is a danger not only in Europe but everywhere in the world the next question from uh from the PBS news hour Laura thank you Mr President I think you're going to steal the mic that's why yeah Laura Baron Lopez with the PBS NewsHour all over the country Mr President republican-led states are passing laws uh passing anti-lgbtq anti-transgender laws that restrict rights in medical care intimidation is on the rise this week anti-lgbtq protesters turned violent in California and also recently I spoke to the parents of a transgender girl in Texas who told me that they're afraid and that they are considering leaving not just their state but the country sir why do you think this is happening and what do you say to parents like the ones that I spoke to to those families who are contemplating leaving the country because they don't feel safe anymore and then perfect prime minister sunac thank you you mentioned that AI has been a key part of your visit what are the U.S and the UK what is the UK doing with the US to protect elections and democracy from AI generated disinformation campaigns waged at scale by Foreign actors and you also mentioned the warning letter sent by AI leaders about the Potential Threat that this technology if misused can pose to humanity how is regulating artificial intelligence going to be any different than what has been done at the global scale so far to deal with climate change another existential threat let me answer your first question uh first of all maybe quietly when we finish this you can give me the number of that family and I will call them let them know that the president and this Administration has their back and I mean that look as president I was proud to end the band on Chan transgender troops in our military signed the respect for Marriage Act strengthen the Civil Rights protection so I'll be lbgt Americans and advanced LGBT human rights around the globe but our fight is far far from over because we have some hysterical and I would argue prejudice people who are engaged in all what you see going on around the country it's a it's an appeal to fear and it's appeal that is totally thoroughly unjustified and ugly it's wrong for that a person can be married in the morning in the United States and fired in the afternoon by their employer because they are they're gay it's wrong that the violence and hate crimes targeting lgbtq people is rising it's wrong that extreme officials are pushing hateful bills targeting transgender children terrifying families and criminalizing doctors these are our kids these are our neighbors it's cruel and it's callous not somebody else's kids they're all our kids where the kids that are and our children are the kite strings that hold our national Ambitions Aloft it matters a great deal how we treat everyone in this country and the fact is that I'm announcing today a series of new initiatives that we're taking to protect the LGBT community was going to do this at the four out on the south lawn we're having Pride day but we're going to have to postpone it because of the the climate because of the weather and the pollution out there because of the fires but number one we're going to strengthen the physical safety dedicated resources the federal coordination of better protect Pride celebrations marches community centers Health Care Providers and small businesses secondly we're addressing civil rights violations a new coordinator to protect LGBT students from book bands which make it harder for kids to learn and may violate their civil rights at the same time we're also engaging in mental health and and other supports more Mental Health Resources and funding to help families support their kids new efforts to protect lgbtq kids in foster care and steps to end the absolute end of lgbtq homelessness Congress has to pass and I'm not giving up on this just like you told me we couldn't get the Marriage Act passed Congress must pass must pass the equality act and send it to my desk lgbtq Americans especially children you're loved you're heard and this Administration has your back I needed we are not relenting one single second to make sure that they're protected Laura on your question it's clear that AI can bring incredible and will bring incredible benefits to society our economies to all of us and actually one of your leading Venture capitalists just published a an essay on this which made the point very eloquently yesterday I think it's also clear though that it does pose very real risks that we as Leaders need to be cognizant of and put in place the guard rails to mitigate against should president and Biden and I had a very good conversation on this just a couple of weeks ago in Japan in one of our sessions in Hiroshima and we are aligned in wanting to discuss with other countries what those guard rails should be I think here in the US you've convened all the companies together recently we've done the same in Downing Street just a couple of weeks ago and I think there are a series of measures that we can Implement working cooperatively as we have been discussing that will ensure that we can enjoy the benefits of this technology whilst mitigating against their risks and that's what our citizens would expect and you talk about climate change you know we come together at cop to work multilaterally across multiple countries to bring down carbon emissions to get funding to the countries that need it to share research on how we can develop the green technologies of the future indeed that's part of our conversations and agreement today that we need to bring that same Spirit of urgency I think to the challenges and opportunities that AI poses because the pace of the technological change is faster than people have anticipated and I think the letter that you mentioned kind of reminded us that we do need to work urgently to address this issue and I'm delighted that Joe and I and others will be doing that with all great haste and I think a couple of questions on our end could I call on the BBC thank you Chris Mason from BBC News prime minister your aim as a conservative party at the last general election was a full free trade deal with America isn't the simple truth of what's been announced today in acknowledgment of a failure to do that and to the president why won't you do a full trade agreement with the UK thank you so if you if you look at what we've announced today what it does is respond to the particular opportunities and challenges that we face right now and into the future and it asks the question what do we need to do working together that can bring most benefit to our citizens as quickly as possible and our agreement does that it's a first of a Kind agreement that's ambitious in what it seeks to achieve I think that I've structured around a couple of different areas the first is economic security because the challenges we Face are much more economic in nature big subject of our discussions at the G7 recently and the only way we're going to meet those challenges is to work together to strengthen the resilience of our supply chains to research the Technologies of the future together and that's what we've announced today is a partnership that will deepen our cooperation to strengthen the economic security and that's good for all our citizens at home and those risks have intensified in the past couple of years I think that's very evident but it also seeks to build prosperity and create jobs in both of our countries we've announced billions of pounds of investment into the UK which is going to support thousands of jobs and the agreement that we've struck today will continue to do that it will support tens of thousands of small businesses in the UK removing unnecessary red tape so that they can trade and do business in the U.S far easier and I think those types of specific targeted measures that will deliver real benefits to people as quickly as possible are the right things for us to be focused on but I think being no doubt as Joe and I were discussing earlier the economic relationship between our two countries has never been stronger uh the the trade is worth hundreds of billions of pounds of dollars a year over a million of our citizens in each other's country's work in each other's companies we're one of the largest investors in each other's countries and that trade is growing at something like 20 last year so the relationship is strong it's booming but our agreement today focuses on the particular challenges opportunities of the moment we're in and I think that's the right thing for us both to be focused on I think we had a really good discussion today about our economic relationship and uh we've launched negotiations on critical materials and an agreement to deal with climate crisis for example there is no reason why Great Britain will not play a major role in not only critical materials but in investing in the United States America and all of our initiatives relating the need for critical materials including Battery Technology and a whole range of things number one number two cooperating on data and AI it is uh a limitless capacity and possibility we but we have to do it with great care not relative to one another but relative to the issue because when I convened the leaders in AI about I think there were 13 here in the United States the very architects of this AI they're also very concerned about it getting out of hand and we got to make sure we're all on the same page and we're looking to Great Britain to lead that effort this fall and putting together a proposal a group of Nations to deal with how do we deal with this it not only has the potential to uh to cure cancer and many other things that are just beyond our comprehension but has the potential to do great damage if it's not controlled and so we're looking for I'll overstate it we're looking for watermarks on everything that has to do it's produced by AI so we know from whence it comes but there's a lot we have to do we're also addressing the National Security risk posed by certain types of outbound Investments I had a discussion with with Xi Jinping in China why was I not transferring certain technological capabilities and I said very simply because you're using them for weapons of mass destruction and intelligence intervention and I said if we can work out something on that we'd have a very different relationship so what we're trying to do is figure out how together we can make sure that we have the let me back up and say it this way I don't think ever in the history of human endeavor has there been as fundamental potential technological change as is presented by artificial intelligence it is staggering it is staggering you have some of these leaders in the industry talking about how they're concerned whether machine will be able to begin to think for itself not need to be programmed I mean it's just I know it sounds like science fiction but it is close to science fiction some of the things it has enormous potential and we're looking to uh Great Britain to help lead that effort to figure out a way through this so we're in full total cooperation because there's no one no country we have greater faith in being able to negotiate this not negotiate with individuals negotiate our way through this then then the Prime Minister and so uh we uh we're in lockstep uh last question thank you last question is the tides thank you Chris Knight from the times prime minister you've made clear your support for free trade but is today's agreement essentially a recognition that in light of uh covid the growing threat of China Russia's invasion of Ukraine that the era of unfettered globalization is over and if so the U.S made clear that it thinks that requires a much more interventionist industrial policy to respond to that why do you think that approach is wrong for the UK um and Mr President what do you say to those abroad who say that you all new Washington consensus is simply a fancier way of saying America First and in light of the warm words just now about UK US defense collaboration particularly in Ukraine do you think it's time for the first British NATO Secretary General in two decades I'm sorry is it time for a British NATO Secretary General maybe that remains to be seen we're going to have to get a consensus within NATO to see that happen they have a candidate who's a very qualified individual but we're going to have uh we have a lot of discussion between us but in NATO to determine what the outcome of that will be and with regard to uh the first part of your question you wanted me to respond to it was about it is the new Washington consensus that you and your National Security advisors set out Simply another way of saying America first which some overseas think it is well look my economic policy is totally consistent with what I think is in the interest of our NATO allies and our allies around the world one of the things that I decided to do and I find that uh The Wall Street Journal and I'm sure there's someone here from The Wall Street Journal another Publications they're talking about biodynamics I didn't realize it was uh I had diagnomics going but the bottom line was this that the fundamental change is taking place in terms of international trade nobody in at least very few people in the United States and I suspect around the world knew what a supply chain meant what were they talking about with supply chain when we found out during the pandemic that the reason why we couldn't build automobiles was because the outfit that we got our semiconductors from in Southeast Asia had shut down because of pandemic we realized that I decided that no longer would we rely on one Center of support for any of the things that are needed for our economic growth and I made it clear into all our NATO allies and our partners as well that although we were going to generate a for example an AI capacity here excuse me a semiconductor capacity here in the United States attracting literally several hundred billion dollars in investment that that was available to all of our all of our allies all of our friends and they're investing as we are and benefiting in a similar way the bottom line here for me is that I think that the world is changing in a way that globalization is still real but the measure of what we used to call in the United States trickle-down economics where if the if the trickle-down economics resulted in and Bo and democratican Republic administrations for Generations in making sure we found the cheapest labor in the world sent the product to send uh the work to those to that neighbor or those neighbors who have the cheapest labor and they sent back their products I'm not doing that anymore we're going to make sure that we in fact have a flip of that we're sending capacity here in the United States we're attracting capacity to build here in the United States to send product overseas not not the reverse and I know it sounds simplistic but it's working so far and it's not going to hurt any of our allies or friends in terms of the trade pieces matter of fact I'm finding they're benefiting from it as well because they're engaging in it with us and at home they're doing similar things so that's why we talked about the need to have relationships in terms of certain materials the battery technologies to share we rely on Great Britain to produce a lot of that for us so it is increasing trade but right now it looks like it is because the United States is doing so incredibly well it makes it look like it's only the United States it's not it's a change in Direction in terms of how we view generating economic growth and just to add to that I'd say I'm absolutely of the view that the United States this President does not believe in zero-sum competition amongst allies that's what we declared together with our G7 Partners just a few weeks ago in Hiroshima this is a president and an Administration that is completely attuned to the needs and concerns of its allies on these issues and you can see that today as the president said we are launching negotiations between the UK and the US on a critical minerals agreement so that the U.S can provide us with that interaction cooperation we need and the Atlantic declaration that we've announced today just talks about strengthening deepening our cooperation it's not about looking in and being protection it's about the exact opposite of that and it's about strengthening that cooperation across the full spectrum of economic technological and other spheres and and that's what you will see you'll see that from the president you'll see it from me you'll see the UK and the us working even more closely together on all the big economic issues of our time because that's what the moment demands and that's what our Citizens need us to do and that's what the president and I plan to deliver with our citizens look the global South they're going to be a billion people in Africa very shortly one billion at the G7 it was originally called build back better world but we're talking about there's a new PPI anyway an industrial policy that we're all signed on to to provide the countries in Africa and in the in the global South an opportunity to grow significantly grow which benefits the United States benefits your benefits every country because the reverse is true if we don't figure a way in which these countries can grow and participate and have to and be able to build infrastructure you know the Canadian the excuse me the Chinese have a part have a belt Road initiative well the Belt Road initiative turns out to be a debt and confiscation program not going very far but what we're doing and we're going to be doing with our NATO allies with the G7 is providing opportunities for example Angola should be in a position very soon to have the largest Glo uh um the largest solar facility in the world generating significant amounts of energy benefits us benefits them brings them into the 21st century in a way that they've never been before we're talking about building and I have my team putting together with other countries as well to build a railroad from the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Indian Ocean never occurred before how where our Departments of Agriculture are working with these countries so there's a significant amount of cooperation not to hoard capacity but to expand capacity to further expand opportunity because we all benefit from it and one thing I've learned is that we are not going to be able to deal with the global warming which is a consequential single most consequential threat to humanity if we don't do it unless we engage more together not fewer not not less together and so the United States will do what it can do well and invite all of our partners to be part of it if we can thank you ladies and gentlemen distinguished guests please remain in your seats as the principals and official delegations depart the East room I'm supposed to walk off the stage do you have a response to the Congressional Republicans where's the money I'm joking Mr President Milwaukee Mr President what do you say to Americans to convince them that they should trust the independence and fairness of the justice department when your predecessor Donald Trump repeatedly attacks it because you notice I have never once not one single time suggested you just Department what they should do or not do we're also bringing a charge and not bringing a charge I'm honest [Music]
2023-06-11 09:22
