Q: What does the President think of her? A: laughter
Reporter: Karine, you mentioned the Danish Prime Minister coming on Monday. What does the President think of her? And would he consider — (laughter) — ask — well, there’s a reason I ask that —

KJP: Okay.
Reporter: — which is: Is he thinking of asking her

Q: thaw T-H-A-W Thor thaaww thaaaww A: God of Thunder
Reporter: So, when the President of Japan — ears pricked up when he spoke of a thaw or maybe a possible coming thaw with China. A thaw.

KJP: Oh, say that one more time.
Reporter: A thaw. Yeah, my accent — T-H-A-W. (Laughter.)
KJP: Oh. (Laughter.)
Reporter: Yeah, I — I forgive you.
Reporter: Thaw.
Reporter: I forgive you. I’m not talking of Thor, the God of whatever, you know. (Laughter.)
KJP: Which is what we heard a lot yesterday.
Reporter: That would have been a hell of a (inaudible). Anyway.
Reporter: The God of Thunder —
Reporter: Yes, yes.
Reporter: — just for the record.
Reporter: So, thaw. Thaw. That sounded like —
KJP: “God of Thunder,” as we’re hearing from the back.
Reporter: Yeah, God of Thunder. Yeah, he had lightning bolts and stuff like that. (Laughter.)
Reporter: Thor.
Reporter: Thaw. I feel like I’m in a “Monty Python” sketch here. (Laughter.) I sort of — He — he spoke of a thaw, which everyone — everyone’s ears pricked up when he said that.
KJP: Oh, a thaw. A thaw.
Reporter: Yes, a thaaww.
KJP: Okay. (Laughter.)
Reporter: Can I say it like that? A thaaww.
KJP: A thaaww.
Reporter: A thaaaww.
Okay. (Laughter.) So, there we are.
KJP: There’s a lot happening here, folks. It’s Friday.
Reporter: Okay. It’s Friday.
KJP: It’s Friday.
Reporter: I have a follow-up, by the way. (Laughter.)
KJP: On the thaaww?
Reporter: Okay, so there we are: the President and his thaw. (Laughter.) We’ve since learned — today we learned that the CIA director was in China some time before this brief mention of “the word I won’t repeat” in Japan. Is that — are those two things connected? Did the director come back with some news that might make the President think about a thaw?

KJP: So, as — as it rela- — (laughs) — as it relates to the CIA director’s travel, I would have to refer you to — to the CIA directly to speak to that. I just do- — I’m not going to get into it from here, from the podium, so I would have to refer you to the CIA.

Karine Jean-Pierre: Biden Still Doesn’t Have A Call With Xi Jinping On The Schedule
Reporter: And how about a — how about any — I know you’re going to tell me you got nothing to share, but how m- — how about a phone call with President Xi?

KJP: Well, look, the President is looking forward to Pres- — to speaking to President Xi. As you know, they’ve spoken many times in the last two years. Just don’t have anything to read out. When the — the time per- — is appropriate, certainly that conversation will occur.

Q: Mountain Valley Pipeline A: budget deal protected Biden’s climate, environmental justice projects
Reporter: I want to ask you, if I can, very quickly about one of the items included in the debt limit deal, soon to become law, where Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said that he wasn’t alerted about the Mountain Valley Pipeline. As you know, that cuts — it goes from West Virginia; it cuts through parts of his state. Here, Tim Kaine said the White House doesn’t “even bother to pick up the phone and call me.” Has the President now spoken to Tim Kaine? And if not, why not?

KJP: I don’t have any — any conversations to read out … look, we believe that the bipartisan budget deal here that was reached is something that — that we all should be proud of, that congressional Democrats should be proud of. And it really protected — it protected some — some of — all of the President’s historical — historical legislation, but particularly on climate legislation as well. And I think that’s important, moving — it’s going to move forward the environmental justice projects

Q: Progressives criticism, Republicans play hardball A: most historic legislative
Reporter: Obviously, all Democrats aren’t celebrating. There’s still five Democrats and — at least in the Senate who voted against it. Progressives. So, what does the White House say to those progressives? And what does the White House say to combat the criticism from some Democrats that Republicans play hardball when it comes to these negotiations and the Democrats do not?

KJP: … we believe this bipartisan agreement, that’s soon to be law, really is going to make sure that we protect some of the most important programs for American families, and that matters. Right?

Reporter: What do you say to progressive Americans, though? Obviously, the President represents all Americans but certainly progressive Democrats are a part of the base of support he needs to be reelected. What do you say to those Americans

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KJP laughter, Biden Still No Call With Xi Jinping, Republicans play hardball