Ardern was ‘greatly heartened by the nature of the discussion’ with US president Joe Biden this morning, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell for The Bulletin.
‘Good to see a not-so-old and good friend’
As prime minister Jacinda Ardern exited the White House after her meeting with US president Joe Biden this morning, she said she had “jacket regret”. It’s a steamy 33C in DC at the moment. Inside the Oval Office the diplomatic temperature seemed warm during the pre-meeting remarks. As former prime minister Helen Clark told Toby Manhire, the real value in these face-to-face meetings is the establishment of a rapport and a relationship. The leaders shared some laughs and stories of family members who’d served in the Pacific. In response to Ardern opening her remarks with “Can I say Mr President…”, Biden interjected saying “You can do anything you want”. Biden began his remarks by saying it was “good to see a not so old and good friend.” Newshub has the full clip of the pre-meeting here.
Biden wants to work together on Christchurch call
The mood was expectedly sombre as Ardern offered condolences on behalf of Aotearoa, New Zealand for the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings and offered to share what New Zealand had learned about gun control. Speaking about the shootings, Biden slightly misquoted a William Butler Yeats poem saying “too long a suffering makes a stone of the heart”. So far US coverage of the meeting has zoned in on Biden’s comments about his time with the families of the victims in Uvalde as gun control continues to dominate the national conversation. He responded to Ardern’s offer by saying the work being done with tech companies on the Christchurch call was really important and he wanted to work “with you” on that.
Meeting runs over time
The meeting, scheduled for an hour, ran for 90 minutes. As Anna Burns-Francis said in her report for Breakfast this morning, the New Zealand contingent will be very happy about that. After the meeting, Ardern held a press conference outside the White House. She was asked about China, the Pacific, the Christchurch call, Ukraine, gun law reform and the CPTTP. Climate change was also covered in the meeting. Ardern had already said yesterday that there wouldn’t be any “announceables” from the meeting. In a joint statement released after the meeting, Ardern said New Zealand was happy to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) but wanted it to be meaningful. “We believe it can assist with the removal of non-tariff barriers and seed greater economic cooperation and integration.” When asked whether she’d “given up on the CPTPP” she said no.
Ardern heading home today
Tuning into the live streams made me nostalgic about getting yelled at in the Capitol building in DC. East Coast efficiency was on display as White House staff cleared the room after the opening remarks and then a path for the motorcade after the press conference. Biden has a packed schedule today meeting with the Federal Reserve chair and hosting K-pop (Korean pop) supergroup BTS to discuss hate crimes targeting Asians. Sadly for BTS fans asking Ardern on Twitter whether she can get them to come to New Zealand, she will be long gone from the White House by the time they turn up. The prime minister is heading home today on a commercial flight. The rest of the delegation remain in DC waiting for the New Zealand defence force plane to be repaired. Godspeed and keep cool.
For more on Ardern’s time at the White House, including her separate meeting with vice president Kamala Harris, see live updates.