Biden begins private meetings with world leaders at Delaware home ahead of secretive Quard meeting
President Biden is meeting privately with the three other world leaders that make up the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue at his Delaware estate.
The White House released statements acknowledging the arrival of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida already, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was spotted arriving at the home on Saturday.
The meetings are taking place in the president’s hometown of Wilmington — an excessively private affair that has sparked outrage from the White House Correspondents’ Association.
US Secret Service agents guard the entrance of President Joe Biden’s in Wilmington, Delaware. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The foreign leaders are invited to a low-profile dinner on Saturday night hosted at Archmere Academy, the president’s former school.
Administration officials have tried to characterize the unusual format and venue for the event as a gesture of hospitality, but media figures have protested the private nature of Biden’s final meeting with the world leaders.
“These are personal relationships that mean a lot to him. And he believes personal relationships are important to foreign policy,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby previously told the press.
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(L to R) US President Joe Biden, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a photo as they hold a “Quad” meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit Leaders’ Meeting. (JAPAN POOL/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)
“This is the first time President Biden will host foreign leaders in Wilmington as president, reflecting his strong relationship with the leaders, and their strategic importance,” the State Department said in a briefing.
WHCA president and Politico correspondent Eugene Daniels said in an email to the press obtained by Fox News Digital, “The lack of access to the president of the United States for these bilateral meetings due to a location chosen by the White House is unacceptable to the WHCA.”
In a message to the White House, Daniels said, “My understanding is that the current posture of the administration is for the press to only see the leaders drive in with no eyes, or cameras on POTUS in this historic moment. I can’t remember a time where this president has had a bilateral meeting on US soil and the press and therefore the American people were blocked from seeing it.”
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The motorcade of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the home of US President Joe Biden for a private meeting before the Quadrilateral Summit, in Wilmington, Delaware. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
He continued, “And the WHCA’s position is that shouldn’t be the case this time either. [We] have talked through different scenarios and possibilities for the pool to be able to cover these moments. While we understand that there are security concerns, it’s essential for the public to have direct and independent press accounts of the greetings at the very least.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was “not unusual” for the press to not have access to the president as he meets with foreign leaders at his home and continued to emphasize how reporters would be able to see Biden and the world leaders when they leave.
The meeting is expected to be one of Biden’s final summits with foreign leaders after he dropped out of the presidential election earlier this year.
Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
