WH Reporter Asks If Biden Ireland Trip ‘A Taxpayer-Funded Family Reunion’ During Belfast Press Conference

At a press briefing in Belfast, CBS News White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe asked if the bulk of President Joe Biden’s trip to Ireland amounts to “a taxpayer-funded family reunion” for the president.

National Security Council spokesperson Amanda Sloat briefed reporters in Belfast Wednesday morning as the president was about to give a speech at Ulster University in Belfast, Northern Ireland marking the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. It’s the first leg of his trip through the Emerald Isle, which will take him through the home of his ancestors.

O’Keefe asked Sloat to respond to the charge that the remainder of the trip “is essentially, you know, tree planting, bell ringing, and a taxpayer-funded family reunion,” a description that Sloat disputed:

ED O’KEEFE: Thank you, again, for doing this. After today’s pretty meaty and sensitive interactions with political leaders here, I think there’s a perception that the rest of this week is essentially, you know, tree planting, bell ringing, and a taxpayer-funded family reunion. What would the White House say to that charge, that this is essentially the President coming to rediscover his roots and that there may not be much substance beyond that?

MS. SLOAT: I would, not surprisingly, dispute that characterization. Like I said, the President today is going to have the opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister of the UK.

I think the President feels very strongly that there is benefit, both here as well as in the United States, to mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. He is here two days after the 25th anniversary of that and, I think, feels it’s important to send a powerful signal of support by the United States for the progress that’s been made, the sustained support going ahead.

And then, on Thursday, the President will spend the day doing very active diplomacy with the leaders of Ireland. He’ll be meeting the President. He’ll be meeting the Taoiseach. I think there’s going to be a lot of conversations in both of those about Ukraine, in particular — which, as I said, has been a strong and effective partner with the European Union in the efforts in Ukraine, as well as the large number of other areas we’re working together around the world; peacekeeping; USAID and Irish Aid are working very tog- — closely together on food security, which is particularly relevant in the context of Ukraine. And I think the issue of immigration, not only is a personal one for the President, but, I think, is also one that speaks much more broadly to the shared experience of a large number of Americans.

And I think the President also finds it a useful opportunity to engage more broadly on these questions of immigration, to engage on the close economic ties between our two countries, as well as to have the opportunity to talk again in person with these Irish leaders about the shared foreign policy goals that we’re working on, including Ukraine, as well as to Ireland, which, of course, is a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and clearly has a vested interest in political developments here in Northern Ireland as well.

Watch above via The White House.