Press briefings

March 16, 2009 -- MR. GIBBS: Let me just make one quick announcement before we get started with questions.

Today, Mexico announced its intent to take retaliatory actions against a range of U.S. exports. This is in response to the termination of a cross-border, long-distance trucking demonstration project that allowed a small number of Mexican trucks to enter the United States beyond -- beyond the border commercial zones, and provided reciprocal access to U.S. companies in Mexico. The 2009 omnibus appropriations bill terminated the project. Congress has opposed the project in the past because of concerns about the process that led to the program's establishment and its operation.    » read more »

March 13, 2009 -- MR. GIBBS: Good afternoon. Are we clear? Now that Chuck is done, we'll start with a couple of announcements. And I'm going to go ahead and do the week ahead beforehand, just to -- you know, it's a fun Friday here, the 13th.

The President is pleased to announce the appointment of Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow as the White House Advisor for the Summit of the Americas. As President Obama said on February 10th, he will attend the Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17th through the 19th. The President is looking forward to discussions with the leaders of the summit and to promoting a partnership based on mutual respect that would be beneficial to the people of the Americas.    » read more »

March 12, 2009 -- MR. GIBBS: Good afternoon. Mr. Babington, start us off? Let the record reflect that an N.C. State alum has asked a Tar Heel to start the questions. (Laughter.)

Q Very kind of you, and good luck tonight.

MR. GIBBS: In the spirit of what can only be said is bipartisanship. (Laughter.)

Q Robert, can you tell us anything -- there's a report that a suspected U.S. missile strike killed as many as seven people in northwest Pakistan. Do you have anything for us on that?

MR. GIBBS: I don't. And I don't -- and I wouldn't comment on something like that from this podium.

Q If I may ask a different question then. On the omnibus spending bill, is the President going to ask for Congress to rescind any items, and if so, roughly how many might be in that?    » read more »

March 11, 2009 -- MR. GIBBS: All right, ready and away we go.

Q A couple questions about the earmarks comments and spending bill. The rhetoric that he used on earmarks was remarkably gentle. He wasn't particularly critical of them. He went out of his way to compliment members of Congress in their ability to judge what is good and what is not good for their district. And he also didn't say anything specific to support, for instance, mandatory recision authority -- when he doesn't like a list of things in a bill, to send it to Congress and have them be forced to vote on it, as opposed to that being optional. Can you talk about those two things?    » read more »

March 9, 2009 -- James S. Brady Press Briefing Room -- MR. GIBBS: Good afternoon. How is everyone today?

Q Good.

MR. GIBBS: Excellent. I have no prerecorded announcements, so we're off.

Q Robert, the President's focus in his remarks about the manipulation and coercion of scientific research and community, I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on what he was referring to specifically.    » read more »

February 9, 2009 -- THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, everybody. Please be seated.

Before I take your questions tonight, I'd like to speak briefly about the state of our economy and why I believe we need to put this recovery plan in motion as soon as possible.

I took a trip to Elkhart, Indiana today. Elkhart is a place that has lost jobs faster than anywhere else in America.

Barack Obama holds Indiana Town Hall on Economic Recovery: White House photo 2/9/09 by Pete Souza    » read more »

January 28, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced at a White House briefing that he will be traveling to the Denver, Colorado office of the Minerals Management Service tomorrow to outline his first priorities for reform in the Department of the Interior. He is the first member of the Cabinet to participate in a White House Press Briefing in the Obama Administration.

His remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:

“President Obama has immediately set high ethical standards for service in the federal government. He has shown a commitment to reform that will change business as usual in Washington.    » read more »

January 27, 2009 -- Robert Wood, Acting Spokesman -- Washington, DC -- MR. WOOD: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the briefing. I don’t have anything, so why don’t we go to your questions.

Bob.

QUESTION: Robert, I have a couple of questions for you. One is, is it this Administration’s policy that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, that that’s an absolute redline, as opposed to the previous administration?

MR. WOOD: The Administration’s view is that it is unacceptable for Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. The Administration plans to consult closely with all of its allies to see what we can do to prevent Iran from doing so, so that is indeed the position of the Administration.

QUESTION: May I ask a second question?

MR. WOOD: Sure.    » read more »

January 26th, 2009 -- This afternoon, in his second press briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs fielded questions on energy independence, the stimulus package, and the auto industry. Here are some selected responses from the press conference.

On the remaining bailout funds:    » read more »

September 1, 2008 -- Aboard Air Force One, En Route Austin, Texas -- MS. PERINO: Okay, we're on our way to Austin, Texas. I'm going to just give you a little bit about the schedule, and then turn it over to Dave Paulison, the Director of FEMA, to give you a little bit more about the day and answer your questions on that. And then I can follow up on other topics or other questions that you might have.    » read more »

August 26, 2008 -- Crawford Middle School, Crawford, Texas -- MR. FRATTO: Good afternoon, everyone. Sorry for the delay. Let me just give you a quick update on something, and then we'll get into a little bit of the news of the day. And then I'll be ready for any questions you have.

The President this morning had his normal briefings, and was out on the ranch, working with some brush-clearing and trail-building. He obviously had a number of calls with senior officials back in Washington.    » read more »

August 25, 2008 -- Crawford Middle School, Crawford, Texas -- MR. FRATTO: Good afternoon, everyone. The President today had his normal briefings. He also went on a bike ride early today; has been in touch with some of his senior members of the administration back in Washington. Also this afternoon, the President will host the 100 Degree Club Run. I'm not sure we'll actually get to 100 degrees out there, so we'll see. I know there's some squawking from past members of the staff who have actually achieved the 100 degree run whether it's going to be hot enough.    » read more »

August 21, 2008 -- Crawford, Texas -- MR. JOHNDROE: Welcome. Welcome to some of our newer faces this morning. Okay, let me start off with a couple of announcements here, and then be happy to take your questions.

President Bush called Pakistani Prime Minister Gillani this morning. The President expressed his sympathies to the people of Pakistan for the recent terrorist attacks that have killed so many innocents there. The President and Prime Minister reaffirmed their mutual support for going after these extremists that are a threat to both Pakistan, the United States and the entire world.    » read more »

August 20, 2008 -- Aboard Air Force One, En Route Orlando, Florida - MR. JOHNDROE: Good morning. We're on our way to Orlando, Florida, and then to New Orleans, Louisiana and Gulfport, Mississippi. You have the excerpts of the President's remarks for the VFW, and I know you have the remarks for his speech in New Orleans. I've got one statement to make, and then I'm going to introduce Paul Conway, who is the Chief of Staff to General O'Dell, the Gulf Coast Coordinator. He's going to run you through a little bit of the day in New Orleans and in Gulfport, and then talk about the Gulf Coast recovery effort.    » read more »

August 19, 2008 -- Crawford Middle School, Crawford, Texas -- MR. JOHNDROE: Good morning. The President received his regular intelligence briefings this morning. He also received an update on the ongoing situation in Georgia, as well as a preliminary update on Secretary Rice's trip to Brussels.

Let me make a few points about what happened in Brussels today at the North Atlantic Council. Secretary Rice met with NATO allies today in an extraordinary session with her foreign minister counterparts to discuss Georgia. NATO was unanimous in their support for Georgia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and desire to provide humanitarian and other assistance to Georgia.    » read more »