President Joe Biden’s speech with leaders from Japan and the Philippines was missed by reporters after their handlers left them stranded in a hallway.
The logistical blunder resulted in reporters missing Biden’s opening remarks to Philippine President Bongbong Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the White House East Room.
The day’s print pool reporter, Michael Shear of the New York Times, described the unexpected setback in an emailed update to colleagues eagerly awaiting quotes from the summit of major US allies.
In an alert titled “Pool missed the pool spray,” Shear informed his fellow journalists that “[as] a result, your pooler and most of the American and Philippine reporters were not taken into the East Room until after [Biden] had concluded speaking.”
Marcos was wrapping up his remarks as the press was finally ushered into the room.
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Although reporters were able to hear Kishida’s declaration that “today’s meeting will make history,” and Biden’s remarks that “when we stand as one, we are able to force a better peace for all,” they missed the bulk of Biden’s speech due to the delayed access.
The press’s belated entry into the room coincided with Marcos concluding his statements. Journalists who had just arrived were promptly escorted out as Biden ignored a shouted question about his message to China, a topic of interest given the three-country’s group efforts to counter Chinese influence.
The reason for the press mishap remains unclear, though recent turnover in junior staff within the press office may have contributed to the lapse.
Despite the oversight, a pool videographer captured the full opening remarks, which were later shared by C-SPAN.
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This incident adds to previous instances of poor staging and access issues involving Biden’s press team.
Notably, in February 2023, Biden embarked on a surprise trip to Ukraine, leaving behind most of the traveling press pool and bringing only one pre-selected US reporter and photographer.
Additionally, in 2021, White House press staff abruptly excluded US reporters from a summit in Brussels between Biden and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leaving reporters reliant on Erdogan’s press office for information.
