WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th March, 2021) US President Joe Biden announced plans to run for re-election in 2024 and vowed to contain China's quest for global dominance during his first long-awaited official press conference.
During the hour and two minutes of the White House event Biden took questions from 10 out of 30 socially distanced reporters on Thursday. He defended his handling of the migrants influx, doubled his vaccination pledge and admitted that US troops are likely to stay in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 deadline.
Biden, who is 78 years old, produced the biggest political sensation of the show by disclosing his intention to run for a second term in 2024 on a ticket with his current Vice President Kamala Harris.
"My plan is to run for re-election. That is my expectation," Biden said.
Before exposing himself to reporters' grilling Biden boasted major accomplishments of the first 65 days of his presidency, which included 100 million in $1,400 relief checks sent to Americans and the same number of vaccines against COVID-19 administered on his watch.
"On December 8 I indicated that I hope to get 100 million shots in people's arms in my first 100 days. We met that goal last week by day 58, 42 days ahead of schedule," Biden said. "Today, I am setting a second goal that by my 100th day in office we will have administered 200 million shots in people's arms."
He cited unnamed economic forecasters who significantly increased projections on US economic growth - to over 6 percent. Biden, who has recently pushed his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package through Congress, vowed to unveil soon another big economic initiative - a plan to overhaul the country's physical and technological infrastructure.
However it was a growing number of migrants seeking to enter the US from Mexico that topped the agenda of the press conference.
Replying to journalists, who returned to the issue many times in multiple contexts, Biden downplayed the significance of the spike and attributed it to seasonal factors, calamities in Latin America and his predecessor's mismanagement rather than his own liberal migration policies.
"There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year," Biden said.
He accused Donald Trump of halting funds to deal with root causes of migration and dismantling the migration infrastructure.
"I can't guarantee we're going to solve everything, but I can guarantee we're going to make it better," Biden said.
He promised not to let migrant children starve to death at the border, but assured that the overwhelming majority of people are being sent back. Biden also took aim at Mexico for refusing to allow migrant families back. Top-level consultations are already underway and things will soon change, he promised.
The US is experiencing the greatest influx of illegal immigrants in the past 20 years with reports of at least 15,000 unaccompanied children kept in custody. Some 5,000 of them are being held at Customs and Border Protection facilities not designed for long-term housing.
Biden explained that 70 percent of minors are 16-17 years old and promised that as early as next week the first thousand will be more conveniently accommodated.
Biden warned that China seeks to become the leading, the wealthiest and the most powerful nation in the world and promised that it won't happen "on his watch." The president said that his administration seeks no confrontation with the Chinese, but expects steep competition.
"We are not looking for confrontation, although we know there will be steep, steep competition... China has an overall goal to become a leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, the most powerful country in the world. This is not going to happen on my watch," Biden said.
He promised to face the challenge by beefing up US economic and technological potential, reinforcing alliances and promoting American values globally. Biden described the stand-off with China as a competition between autocracy and democracy.
He accused North Korea of violating UN Resolution 1718 by its recent ballistic missile test and threatened "to respond accordingly" if the country chooses to escalate.
"We are consulting with our allies and partners, and there will be responses. If they choose to escalate, we will respond accordingly " Biden said.
He signaled that some form of diplomacy remains an option, "but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization."
Biden admitted that it will be hard to meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan pledged by Trump. The US president said, however, that he does not intend to keep forces there for long and is consulting with allies to have a safe and orderly pullout.
"We will leave, the question is when we leave." Biden said adding that he does not expect to have US troops in Afghanistan next year.
During the press conference he once mentioned Russia and its President Vladimir Putin - both times in the context of the US-China competition.
Biden had little to offer to those who expected from him gaffes and other possible signs of age-related frailty. He convened the press conference on day 65 of his presidency - later than any US president over the last hundred years. By this point Donald Trump and George H.W. Bush had each held five press conferences, Bill Clinton four, George W. Bush three, Barack Obama two and Ronald Reagan one, US media estimated.
