President Joe Biden landed in San Francisco on Tuesday where he will hold a high-profile meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, while a possible government shutdown looms in Washington DC
Greeting him at the airport was California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has become a top surrogate for Biden’s campaign after being mentioned as a potential presidential candidate last year.
Newsom, who recently returned from his own meeting with Xi in Beijing, is hosting a major fundraiser for Biden’s campaign alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.
He was joined at San Francisco International Airport by his wife Jennifer, City Mayor London Breed and Representative Kevin Mullin (Democrat of California) to greet Biden.
Shortly before leaving the White House, the president spoke briefly about the strained relationship between the United States and China.
He demanded that they be returned to a “normal course of correspondence.”
“We are not trying to decouple from China.” “We are trying to change the relationship for the better,” he said.
Biden’s meeting with Xi on Wednesday is the main event of his four-day visit to San Francisco, where the leaders of the 21 economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum are meeting for their annual summit.
President Joe Biden greets California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, and his wife Jennifer, San Francisco London Breed, and Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., at the front, as he arrives at San Francisco International Airport for the APEC summit. Newsom has emerged as a top campaign surrogate for the 80-year-old Biden
California Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer wait to greet President Joe Biden at San Francisco International Airport. Newsom will host a fundraiser for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday evening
U.S.-China relations have been strained for months, but the White House is hoping a weakening U.S. economy and falling unemployment can give the country new credibility during Biden’s talks with other leaders.
“The president really feels like we have a tailwind here,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on the flight west.
Kirby also made some news while briefing reporters on Tuesday. He said Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had used tunnels under hospitals in Gaza to conceal military operations and hold hostages. It was just the first time that the war in the Middle East was expected to factor into the economic discussion that drew world leaders here.
In addition, Biden was urged to meet San Francisco’s homeless and see firsthand the city’s plight while in the city by the bay. Social rights advocates have criticized the recent cleanup on the streets of San Francisco, saying it was simply aimed at avoiding embarrassing the country when all foreign leaders are in the city.
But while Asia-Pacific issues are on the table, Biden will also work to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from escalating into a larger conflict and to convince Republican lawmakers to continue spending billions more on the costly efforts Ukraine, Russia’s nearly 21-month-old invasion.
President Joe Biden is in San Francisco for important talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC conference
Biden’s agenda includes international diplomacy, economic cooperation – and campaign fundraising
“President Biden will be doing much more in the coming week than just meeting with President Xi,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday.
He added that Biden will lay out his economic vision for the region, argue that the U.S. is “the preeminent engine” of sustained economic growth in the Asia-Pacific, and describe the region as critical to U.S. economic growth.
While in San Francisco, Biden will also attend a fundraiser for his re-election on Tuesday evening. He will also hold a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Back in Washington, Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avert a government shutdown faces a key vote on Tuesday as he tries to overcome tough opposition from his own Republicans but may receive some support from Democrats.
Johnson is trying to win Republican support for a “clean” two-stage continuing resolution, or “CR,” that would keep federal funding levels unchanged until early next year.
President Joe Biden boarded Air Force One to make his way to San Francisco for his important meeting with Xi Jinping
Biden is holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Biden is hosting the APEC summit in San Francisco this week
The president faces polling problems in his campaign and political problems in Washington as federal funding expires on Friday and House Republicans prepare to seek a “tiered” short-term funding extension
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in Congress, cautiously welcomed the proposal on Monday.
“For now, I am pleased that Speaker Johnson appears to be moving in our direction by pushing a CR that does not include the highly partisan cuts that Democrats have warned about,” Schumer said
But Republican hardliners in the House of Representatives are threatening procedural blockades to prevent the bill from passing.
And if it passes both chambers of Congress, Biden will still have to sign it into law. The deadline for government funding is midnight on Friday.